Hey folks,
Guy from Sweden here. Since the start of medical school here in Sweden I have had the goal of doing residency in the US and while 1 year has passed since then I do question the way I deal with all the study material. Am I doing it correct if the desired goal is a minimum of 262? Main focus is on step 1 right now, which I will be taking in August 2019.
Right now I use FA, pathoma and Robbins Basic Pathology for our pathology course. The latter is mostly used when trying to understand the concepts in FA rather than just memorizing them. I will now list the kind of literature I've been using so far:
For the physiology course, I used FA and Costanzo's physiology (not the review book; the big one).
For the microbiology course, I used FA and Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple.
For the pharmacology, I used FA and Lippincott Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology
For the biochemistry, I only used FA + Youtube.
For the neuroanatomy/neuroscience I used FA and Purves Neuroscience.
The principle is the same for other topics - FA has always been involved in conjunction with a thicker, more detailed literature. On top of that, my own school's histology/anatomy presentations and associated texts have been used (to pass my school's own exams).
But here comes the twist: While I did list Purves Neuroscience, Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple etc. that does not mean I've read them all from page 1 to the end. I read only FA this way and read the same material in those sources just to understand them better (and to understand the concepts my own school thinks is important to know). So my first question will be: Should I read all the detailed material completely at least once and then focus entirely on FA while making occasional checks in the detailed material, or keep doing what I'm currently doing?
Question banks are vital. I know that. However, the plan is to begin with the three banks Kaplan, UWorld and RX starting in the summer 2018 and work on them from that time. 1 year should be fine for the question banks, no? Note that the only time where I'm completely off from my school is during the middle of June-end of August.
By the point it is August 2019, I will have passed 5 school semesters in total (2,5 years of medical school). This is close to when the US students take their step 1.
Additional information: - I study 47 hours every weekend consistently. Should this be higher/lower with my desired score in mind? Note that not all of these hours are used to study FA or material relevant for USMLE but also things that my school finds relevant (which usually is irrelevant for USMLE).
- My IQ is average (100).
Any feedback is appreciated!
Guy from Sweden here. Since the start of medical school here in Sweden I have had the goal of doing residency in the US and while 1 year has passed since then I do question the way I deal with all the study material. Am I doing it correct if the desired goal is a minimum of 262? Main focus is on step 1 right now, which I will be taking in August 2019.
Right now I use FA, pathoma and Robbins Basic Pathology for our pathology course. The latter is mostly used when trying to understand the concepts in FA rather than just memorizing them. I will now list the kind of literature I've been using so far:
For the physiology course, I used FA and Costanzo's physiology (not the review book; the big one).
For the microbiology course, I used FA and Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple.
For the pharmacology, I used FA and Lippincott Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology
For the biochemistry, I only used FA + Youtube.
For the neuroanatomy/neuroscience I used FA and Purves Neuroscience.
The principle is the same for other topics - FA has always been involved in conjunction with a thicker, more detailed literature. On top of that, my own school's histology/anatomy presentations and associated texts have been used (to pass my school's own exams).
But here comes the twist: While I did list Purves Neuroscience, Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple etc. that does not mean I've read them all from page 1 to the end. I read only FA this way and read the same material in those sources just to understand them better (and to understand the concepts my own school thinks is important to know). So my first question will be: Should I read all the detailed material completely at least once and then focus entirely on FA while making occasional checks in the detailed material, or keep doing what I'm currently doing?
Question banks are vital. I know that. However, the plan is to begin with the three banks Kaplan, UWorld and RX starting in the summer 2018 and work on them from that time. 1 year should be fine for the question banks, no? Note that the only time where I'm completely off from my school is during the middle of June-end of August.
By the point it is August 2019, I will have passed 5 school semesters in total (2,5 years of medical school). This is close to when the US students take their step 1.
Additional information: - I study 47 hours every weekend consistently. Should this be higher/lower with my desired score in mind? Note that not all of these hours are used to study FA or material relevant for USMLE but also things that my school finds relevant (which usually is irrelevant for USMLE).
- My IQ is average (100).
Any feedback is appreciated!
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