Pre-Study and USMLE Step 1

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tarheelpenner

tarheelpenner

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Typical neurotic premed. But I find myself with a TON of extra time right now, as most of my job requires sitting around waiting for incubation periods to be over. So I've had a lot of time to think. I have two questions:

1. I've heard its pointless to pre-study for medical school. I was thinking about maybe just learning the muscles and their attachments/innervations, as this was the part I struggled with the most in anatomy. Would this be helpful, or not really? (also considering learning neurotransmitters and hormones). You know, a lot of the stuff I know I will need to know and is mostly just memorization.

2. I've heard mixed reviews on USMLE step 1 prep. Some people are starting out right away, others wait until a couple of months before. Would it be worth it to start with the firecrackers when I start MS1? Or should I wait until MS2?

Just some bored, crazy pre-med thoughts.
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1. Pre-studying won't help. I tried it. Take a break instead and go travel somewhere if you can.
2. Effective Step 1 studying requires that you are familiar with second year curriculum (aka pathology). Also, the best preparation for Step 1 starting out as MS1 is to do well in your studies.
3. Go hang out with friends until med school.

I know you won't listen, so if you want to pre-study, start with learning anatomy (which you will forget by the time you start anyway).
 
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why not use the time now to increase your research productivity and get some nice posters/publications?

or save up the money you have and travel for few months?
 
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Theseus said:
1. Pre-studying won't help. I tried it. Take a break instead and go travel somewhere if you can.
2. Effective Step 1 studying requires that you are familiar with second year curriculum (aka pathology). Also, the best preparation for Step 1 starting out as MS1 is to do well in your studies.
3. Go hang out with friends until med school.

I know you won't listen, so if you want to pre-study, start with learning anatomy (which you will forget by the time you start anyway).
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lol i'll listen. just was wondering if would be worth it. if its not, its not. :)
 
Lawper said:
why not use the time now to increase your research productivity and get some nice posters/publications?

or save up the money you have and travel for few months?
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i have one presentation upcoming. unfortunately impossible to increase my productivity as the experiments I'm doing are sequential and rely on certain time points of blood samples. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to speed up time yet. I've asked around everyone in my lab to see if theres things I can do in my downtime with no luck :( Also, quitting work in June and traveling the month of July :) so excited!
 
tarheelpenner said:
i have one presentation upcoming. unfortunately impossible to increase my productivity as the experiments I'm doing are sequential and rely on certain time points of blood samples. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to speed up time yet. I've asked around everyone in my lab to see if theres things I can do in my downtime with no luck :( Also, quitting work in June and traveling the month of July :) so excited!
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what about using the downtime to learn R to help prepare for database research in MS1?
 
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A professor at one of the schools I interviewed at told us that it'd be useful to review and master Action Potential before med school. :whistle::shrug:
 
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tarheelpenner said:
Oh god. I knew stats would come back to haunt me....
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it's up to you. apparently stats is critical in medical school, and it's faster to get more stuff out via clinical/database research, and thus strengthen your CV for residency. these are just useful, productive ways to spend the time as opposed to prestudying for MS1 which doesn't help all that much.
 
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Lawper said:
it's up to you. apparently stats is critical in medical school, and it's faster to get more stuff out via clinical/database research, and thus strengthen your CV for residency. these are just useful, productive ways to spend the time as opposed to prestudying for MS1 which doesn't help all that much.
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Good point. I will take your advice as I haven't taken stats since my junior year. of HIGH SCHOOL. lol. luckily my brother is taking stat in high school right now, maybe I will just study alongside of him.
 
Edx has some pretty good stats courses. Code School has a cool little intro to R course that's very user-friendly and good for people with no programming experience.

Datacamp has a cool combo intro to statistics and r course where you learn both simultaneously.

If you want something medical related to listen to in the background while you workout or do experiments I suggest Dr. Najeeb. I used his lectures initially to prepare for my research gig since he had free ones for the thing I'm studying. His vids are very engaging, informative and easy to digest. If you want videos where you can turn your phone screen off and just listen to audio, then i suggest Lecturio (although their presenters aren't as enthusiastic as he is)
 
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Doggo said:
Edx has some pretty good stats courses. Code School has a cool little intro to R course that's very user-friendly and good for people with no programming experience.

Datacamp has a cool combo intro to statistics and r course where you learn both simultaneously.

If you want something medical related to listen to in the background while you workout or do experiments I suggest Dr. Najeeb. I used his lectures initially to prepare for my research gig since he had free ones for the thing I'm studying. His vids are very engaging, informative and easy to digest. If you want videos where you can turn your phone screen off and just listen to audio, then i suggest Lecturio (although their presenters aren't as enthusiastic as he is)
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will look into this! Thanks so much :)
 
Lawper said:
another option is to learn Spanish!
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Definitely suggest Spanish Pod 101 for any beginners out there. The hosts are so adorable and have great chemistry. There's also a site with other resources that I haven't checked out yet.
 
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Doggo said:
Definitely suggest Spanish Pod 101. The hosts are so adorable and have great chemistry. There's also a site with other resources that I haven't checked out yet.
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Is this beginning spanish? I am almost fluent so maybe I will need a higher level podcast, if you know any of those. Mostly just need to practice speaking, I can understand it pretty well.
 
tarheelpenner said:
Is this beginning spanish? I am almost fluent so maybe I will need a higher level podcast, if you know any of those. Mostly just need to practice speaking, I can understand it pretty well.
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It has advanced material too, I think.
 
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First OP receptive to critiques on pre studying....ever?


I'd also just add; go and see family, especially if some live far away.
 
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Lawper said:
what about using the downtime to learn R to help prepare for database research in MS1?
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Lawper said:
R: The R Project for Statistical Computing

it's a statistical package that's super useful for clinical research. that and relearning stats are good preparation to increase your research productivity in medical school, which will be huge when applying to residency.
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Lawper said:
it's up to you. apparently stats is critical in medical school, and it's faster to get more stuff out via clinical/database research, and thus strengthen your CV for residency. these are just useful, productive ways to spend the time as opposed to prestudying for MS1 which doesn't help all that much.
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+1

I just started learning R this past week and the learning curve isn't bad at all. I could definitely see how this could help make research ridiculously more efficient; anyone who has the time should learn R and stats (simultaneously, if possible).

Also, I recommend getting RStudio as an environment for R - https: Download RStudio
 
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walloobi said:
+1

I just started learning R this past week and the learning curve isn't bad at all. I could definitely see how this could help make research ridiculously more efficient; anyone who has the time should learn R and stats (simultaneously, if possible).

Also, I recommend getting RStudio as an environment for R - https: Download RStudio
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You doing the Hopkins course?
 
libertyyne said:
You doing the Hopkins course?
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I'm starting that one later today, I've just done the DataCamp Introduction to R course and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials so far. Planning on spending another hour or two repeating the DataCamp intro to make sure I remember everything and then starting the Hopkins course tonight. Any other courses that you recommend?
 
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walloobi said:
I'm starting that one later today, I've just done the DataCamp Introduction to R course and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials so far. Planning on spending another hour or two repeating the DataCamp intro to make sure I remember everything and then starting the Hopkins course tonight. Any other courses that you recommend?
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Those are both good. I am going through the python series on datacamp and edx right now.
 
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libertyyne said:
Those are both good. I am going through the python series on datacamp and edx right now.
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My friend recommended I learn python too, I might check it out if I have time before med school after learning R
 
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Lucca said:
1. Figure out how to live your life without the anxiety to be productive all of the time.
2. Live a happier life.
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This. Read a book or talk to your co-workers if you have downtime at work

tarheelpenner said:
Is this beginning spanish? I am almost fluent so maybe I will need a higher level podcast, if you know any of those. Mostly just need to practice speaking, I can understand it pretty well.
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Watch club de cuervos on Netflix. Vice en español has some cool documentaries. Get a Spanish speaking so though that might be hard to do during work hours
 
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libertyyne said:
Those are both good. I am going through the python series on datacamp and edx right now.
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curious, what would be the benefits of learning python for med school?


Also, I agree with what everyone has said regarding R, stats.
 
walloobi said:
I'm starting that one later today, I've just done the DataCamp Introduction to R course and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials so far. Planning on spending another hour or two repeating the DataCamp intro to make sure I remember everything and then starting the Hopkins course tonight. Any other courses that you recommend?
Click to expand...

Check out this video.
I thought it was pretty good.

 
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Astra said:
curious, what would be the benefits of learning python for med school?


Also, I agree with what everyone has said regarding R, stats.
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Python seems more flexible since it is an all purpose language, more flexible, more diverse sets of packages, ML, easy to use.
 
libertyyne said:
Python seems more flexible since it is an all purpose language, more flexible, more diverse sets of packages, ML, easy to use.
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How hard is it to learn? I learned the basics of R pretty easily. I know a decent amount of C++

Do u think I'll get minimal returns on spending extra time on python vs mastering R?
 
Astra said:
How hard is it to learn? I learned the basics of R pretty easily. I know a decent amount of C++

Do u think I'll get minimal returns on spending extra time on python vs mastering R?
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Eh, thats hard to say. Dammint Jim I am a pre-med not a data scientist.
 
libertyyne said:
Eh, thats hard to say. Dammint Jim I am a pre-med not a data scientist.
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come on bro. You're supposed to be the techie, data oriented Non trad.

This is how I imagine u lol

super-computer-nerd-580x3481-e1379439793236.jpeg
 
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