Preparing for boards starting at M1

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Don't bother until Xmas of your 2nd year.

That used to my golden rule too, but gunners gonna gun and I wanted to keep them happy. Using (Z)anki first year probably has some utility as does Beyond the Boards as it explains some normal concepts like anatomy/physiology/biochemistry independently pretty well.

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I'm gonna hijack this thread because I don't want to make a brand new one...I get that medical school is a good portion of memorizing details, but there's another huge part of it that requires understanding the concepts you are being taught. What resources would help you best with that?
 
I'm gonna hijack this thread because I don't want to make a brand new one...I get that medical school is a good portion of memorizing details, but there's another huge part of it that requires understanding the concepts you are being taught. What resources would help you best with that?

Well, I did use that phrase a few times...but keep in mind medical school is not the same thing as mathematics or physics where understanding is everything, but there is a good amount you can gain from understanding.

(Optional) Physiology: Costanzo. A good book written in prose to emphasize explanations.
(Core resource) UWorld: A QBank to both assess what you don't know and then have an explanation why 4 other answers (diagnoses) are not right simultaneously explaining 5 topics to your.
(Core resource)Pathoma: Video+Book series to explain Pathology which is the basis of disease as well as going into the Pathophysiology of some areas like the Lung.
(Core resource)Beyond the Boards: Similar to Pathoma, but for normal topics like Biochem, etc.

It fits neatly really. 3 core resources emphasize understanding, 3 are there to drill things down (First Aid, Zanki, and Sketchy). Of course, there's some overlap between. Refer to the guide in my signature to see how and WHEN I used these.
 
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You know how I know youre a gunner? Because you call yourself an "M0."
Seriously tho I'm team "prestudying is a waste of time." But you gottta do what you feel most comfortable doing.
 
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Well, I did use that phrase a few times...but keep in mind medical school is not the same thing as mathematics or physics where understanding is everything, but there is a good amount you can gain from understanding.

(Optional) Physiology: Costanzo. A good book written in prose to emphasize explanations.
(Core resource) UWorld: A QBank to both assess what you don't know and then have an explanation why 4 other answers (diagnoses) are not right simultaneously explaining 5 topics to your.
(Core resource)Pathoma: Video+Book series to explain Pathology which is the basis of disease as well as going into the Pathophysiology of some areas like the Lung.
(Core resource)Beyond the Boards: Similar to Pathoma, but for normal topics like Biochem, etc.

It fits neatly really. 3 core resources emphasize understanding, 3 are there to drill things down (First Aid, Zanki, and Sketchy). Of course, there's some overlap between. Refer to the guide in my signature to see how and WHEN I used these.
Great thank you so much! I also know that with memorizing... mnemonics, mind mapping and SRS are really helpful. Are there ways techniques to help you understand concepts better? I know that teaching others and putting things into your own word helps..anything else?
 
Great thank you so much! I also know that with memorizing... mnemonics, mind mapping and SRS are really helpful. Are there ways techniques to help you understand concepts better? I know that teaching others and putting things into your own word helps..anything else?

While I enjoy discussing the cognitive aspects of learning, I'm not really an expert. Things that have worked for me are SRS (recent). Mnemonics are great. Mind-mapping (depending on what you mean by that) is something I do less of. One underrated strategy I use is like coming up with caricatures of things like a disease, but then Sketchy does this already so I started using those. For diseases, I try to start with the primary pathophysiological deficit like high iron and then derive symptoms, lab findings, etc. from there. The more you can incorporate, the more you know the disease. Then, to perfect it I'd try to make a mnemonic out of HIGH IRON to describe every cardinal symptom, lab finding, etc. This is what Dr. Williams from OnlineMedEd calls an advanced organizer.
 
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Do questions often and early (from topic specific sources), if thats how you learn.
Annotate first aid, if thats how you learn.
Read review sources, if thats how you learn.
Use spaced repetition with anki, if thats how you learn.

Some people thrive on reading, others have to see it in question form. Do whatever helps you LEARN the info. Just avoid mindless memorization.
 
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Does doing Zanki sound like it would be worthwhile to do as an M1?

Never used Zanki so I don't know it specifically. I would (and did myself) use things like Anki to supplement what you are learning in your classes, not just forcing down random facts you don't understand. So if you are able to use relevant cards to what you are learning from a pre-made deck I would suggest that rather than just randomly trying to go through the whole deck or something.
 
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You know how I know youre a gunner? Because you call yourself an "M0."
Seriously tho I'm team "prestudying is a waste of time." But you gottta do what you feel most comfortable doing.

Working harder and longer than others does not make me a gunner. Telling other people not to study and enjoy their time would make me a gunner.

If I said I were an M1, that would be factually inaccurate. M0 seems to fit the best. Anyway, I'm not sure how calling myself an M0 proves that I'm going to go out of my way to hurt my classmates.
 
Working harder and longer than others does not make me a gunner. Telling other people not to study and enjoy their time would make me a gunner.

If I said I were an M1, that would be factually inaccurate. M0 seems to fit the best. Anyway, I'm not sure how calling myself an M0 proves that I'm going to go out of my way to hurt my classmates.

Now I DEFINITELY know you're a gunner because you don't respond well to jokes!

Cmon man I'm just messing with you.
 
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Your current plan is fine. As someone else in the thread mentioned, I'd recommend skipping Firecracker for Zanki or Brosencephalon (I highly prefer Brosencephalon). I'm also a believer in saving UWorld for dedicated. You could do Kaplan instead of UWorld during MS2. During dedicated you can do a full pass of UW + another of incorrects depending on how long you get.

Keep in mind, I did zero studying before dedicated and scored well into the 250's. The best thing you can do for boards during MS1 is learn whatever subject you're learning really well and supplement your curriculum as you go along. Specific board studying in MS1 is a waste of time, but if you're anything like the average MS1 (myself included, for a time), nothing anybody says is going to change your mind because you think know better than anyone else and advice doesn't apply to you. So the least SDN can do is guide you along to make that realization yourself somewhere along the path. Then, when you're an MS3, you can tell the new MS1's the same thing.
 
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Now I DEFINITELY know you're a gunner because you don't respond well to jokes!

Cmon man I'm just messing with you.

Lol my bad dude. SDN got me on edge

Tired of all these beta plebs calling me a gunner forreal
 
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So short and simple, what should we buy as incoming M1s? Ive read that buying the textbooks required through classes is a waste of money, but I also feel a little weird not buying ANY books
 
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So short and simple, what should we buy as incoming M1s? Ive read that buying the textbooks required through classes is a waste of money, but I also feel a little weird not buying ANY books

-Boards and Beyond: As soon as you want to. The videos actually explain M1 subjects very well.
-Anki app: If there's any possibility that flashcards could work for you, I'd recommend using Anki. It's the secret to acing med school if everyone was willing to deal with the bore and chore of flash cards.
-After Winter Break of your MS1 year, the newest edition of First Aid. Use it to reference the material during the curriculum.
-Whenever your school touches Pathology: Pathoma
-Whenever your school does Micro: Sketchy
 
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Incoming M1 and I am not familiar with most of the things being discussed in here. My plan has been to get acclimated and then start layering resources on. I'm a nontrad with no science background. I'll survive without a long list of books and study aids, right? (Right??)
You'll be fine.
Start Boards and Beyond and a spaced repitition software (FC or Zanki) from Day 1. If you choose FC, please do not wait until summer of M1-M2. It is an absolute beast that can not be completed in only second year. Use your SRS every single day, including weekends and breaks. Do Pathoma chapters 1-3 before organ systems and then do the corresponding chapters throughout your organ systems. Do Sketchy Micro during your microbiology course and do Sketchy Pharm during organ systems on the related drugs. I tried using RX and Kaplan before organ systems and only doing “Anatomy” or “Biochemistry” sections, but I kept getting questions on material that I hadn’t seen yet. I started doing the questions again during organ systems, and it works much better. So, definitely wait till your organ systems start before doing any Q-banks.

Most importantly, do not listen to anyone that tells you it’s too early to start studying or to trust your curriculum.

Boards and Beyond is useful if you're not a textbooks person, I suppose. Pathoma is good review once you've learned the material in other ways.
Disagree about FC requiring more time. I'm doing Step after clinicals and I've managed to knock out 50% of FC in just the first half of my first clinical rotation, while getting through the Step 2 UW (I'm using FC to keep up on Step 1 stuff while I mostly focus on shelf study).

As for when to start Qbanks, well...not all schools do 'normal' and then 'organ systems' curricula. Many jump straight into organ systems, mixed physio and patho, from day 1. Those schools are much easier to get a jump on Qbanks (and FC) in.

Sketchy Micro/Pharm depends on how you learn. Also, the quality of Micro >>> Pharm.
 
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Hello everyone,

I would like to start preparing for boards as soon as classes begin and was wondering how you think I should go about it.

My plan (as of right now) is to watch B&B alongside my coursework and do USMLE-Rx practice questions from the very beginning until I take Step 1 in ~ 2 years.

At some point, probably during the summer between M1-M2, I will begin using Firecracker and go through pathoma. My school is systems based and we don't start pathology until 2nd year anyway.

Around Christmas of 2nd year, I will start going through UWorld and will hopefully be finished with most of my resources by mid-March, which is when my dedicated period will start.

I know I'd be jumping the gun by actually starting any of this now (as an MS0), but I just want to make a good plan to follow when school starts in a couple months.

Does this sound like a solid plan to you?

Thank you
for whatever topic you're going to cover in class, watch and read whatever board review material is relevant for it> make anki flashcards> don't stop reviewing them until you see that passing score

i always hear students saying "i wish i had studied more for boards"
but i never hear anyone say "wow i didn't really need to study that much for boards"
 
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Don't purchase anything before orientation because your school might provide some of the resources that you are considering.

For example, my school provides Sketchy, Pathoma, First Aid, Firecracker (and about to start providing UWorld also).
you lucky bastard
 
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because i get first hand advice from real people i know in medical school and not trolls on an anon forum on the internet

So I'm a gunner because I ask people on SDN for advice but you're not because you ask "real people".....okay? 0_o
 
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... why dont you post in the [redacted] fb group. there are third and fourth ye... oh wait you dont want everyone knowing youre a gunner so youre gunna keep asking on an anon forum

Yo man! I'm not a moderator and I don't know if your assumptions are true, but you can't dox on such a large platform. Not a nice thing to do. I get that it annoys you that Dr. Scribe is not listening to the conventional wisdom, but that's his or her decision...its not your job to mock them in that manner...... Seriously what is going on here? Do the 3 of ya'll have some sort of pre-Allo beef because if so, keep it there...
 
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Let’s be clear about what “doxxing” is: it is revealing information about another user that you have obtained either through private means or has been shared with you confidentially. It is not posting information that someone doesn’t like or want repeated.

All information posted on SDN is searchable here and else where. Other users may recall previous posts or search for them and make comments. Therefore users are advised that if they do not wish personal information to be posted by themselves or anyone else on SDN then they should refrain from discussing such things.

We take true doxxing very seriously: it is grounds for removal from our site. Another user posting something that you have posted previously is not a terms of service violation. If another user has posted something that you now regret and have deleted them please contact that user and ask if they will edit their post.

That being said, referring to personal information previously posted by aanother user, which is irrelevant to the topic at hand, and is being done simply to harass or annoy them, is a violation of the terms of service and just isn’t cool. So let’s all be civil and professional in our discussions here.
 
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Let’s be clear about what “doxxing” is: it is revealing information about another user that you have obtained either through private means or has been shared with you confidentially. It is not posting information that someone doesn’t like or want repeated.

All information posted on SDN is searchable here and else where. Other users may recall previous posts or search for them and make comments. Therefore users are advised that if they do not wish personal information to be posted by themselves or anyone else on SDN then they should refrain from discussing such things.

We take true doxxing very seriously: it is grounds for removal from our site. Another user posting something that you have posted previously is not a terms of service violation. If another user has posted something that you now regret and have deleted them please contact that user and ask if they will edit their post.

That being said, referring to personal information previously posted by aanother user, which is irrelevant to the topic at hand, and is being done simply to harass or annoy them, is a violation of the terms of service and just isn’t cool. So let’s all be civil and professional in our discussions here.

Thanks WS for the clarification. What I saw was someone publicly post a curriculum description with no tag. Someone then recognized it either through familiarity or google and then supposedly named the school and then asked them why don't they ask the XYZ school FB group publicly...seemed pretty rude to me and borderline bullying... then the offended user made a personal retaliation (since deleted). Just looked bad all around which is why I spoke up, but I was wrong in that it was not doxxing.
 
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I personally use Firecracker and Zanki. FC can get a little tedious when class gets heavy, but it works well.

Not sure if someone's asked this already, but how's using both FC and zanki going? I've only heard of pple using one or the other and they tend to form a strong preference. How do you make the time for both and is it helping? Do you use them for separate reasons?
 
I initially was using FC while in school, making my own anki cards for my classes. FC is really helpful in reviewing current material while in class. I decided to use Zanki over the material I have already covered, to continue my daily anki habit. I haven't been doing it enough to really comment, but so far I think it's been going well.
 
This. Add Pathoma second year and do UWx2 no need for Rx and you'll be fine. Don't worry about qbanks until second year. Have fun and be laid back too. Enjoy

But this would be different for schools that teach the pathophysiology and pathology with systems later in the first year, correct? Is anki still better than say the kaplan Qbank to test our knowledge if learning everything by systems?
 
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