Q bank

[itsnosolution]

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Simple question: for those using q-banks, how do you use them?

do you take notes on paper for each question, make anki cards, just do the questions, etc?

it seems taking notes is taking a really long time per question and i never really have time to go bank and do the anki cards I make, so I'm at an impass!

 

[coldcase331]

Simple question: for those using q-banks, how do you use them?

do you take notes on paper for each question, make anki cards, just do the questions, etc?

it seems taking notes is taking a really long time per question and i never really have time to go bank and do the anki cards I make, so I'm at an impass!

I'm currently using Kaplan until January, at which point I will switch over to Uworld. Right now I'm using Kaplan to do questions that go along with the material I'm covering (Path/Immuno/Micro/Genetics). And if I have time (which seems to be almost never) I do ~20 questions on first year material. I do all the questions in simulated testing scenario, then I review all the questions and anotate first aid. Usually this just involves writing a sentence or a quick "trigger word" that I didn't recognize before the read the explanation. For me, it takes about 1.5 hours to do ~20 questions and review.

 

[mistafab]

I'm using USMLE RX along with my class blocks. I save the questions all for the end of the block the 3-4 days before the exam when I finish the material. I finish all the questions per block and review every single answer choice for every single question. The corresponding first aid pages that are linked to each question I review until I know it pretty cold. I do take notes but just when I finish the exams when I start my answer review part.

Edit: I also include the relevant biochem/anatomy/phsyio/embryo on the relevant section along with my actual questions so that I can review all that stuff as well.

 

[Iwannaknow]

I'm using USMLE RX along with my class blocks. I save the questions all for the end of the block the 3-4 days before the exam when I finish the material. I finish all the questions per block and review every single answer choice for every single question. The corresponding first aid pages that are linked to each question I review until I know it pretty cold. I do take notes but just when I finish the exams when I start my answer review part.

Edit: I also include the relevant biochem/anatomy/phsyio/embryo on the relevant section along with my actual questions so that I can review all that stuff as well.

How do you make sure you only get questions on stuff you reviewed? Like how do you make sure you get only the relevant biochem? I tried using it for my biochem block and even though I clicked just biochem, it gave my questions on cardiac glycosides I couldn't do.

 

[mistafab]

My school is organ-system based. So in the cardio block, I got cardio-relevant biochem. I'm not sure if RX is really usable for if you are still learning biochem. RX and kaplan seem more like year two type stuff. Maybe someone else can help you.

How do you make sure you only get questions on stuff you reviewed? Like how do you make sure you get only the relevant biochem? I tried using it for my biochem block and even though I clicked just biochem, it gave my questions on cardiac glycosides I couldn't do.

 

[Save a life]

How do you make sure you only get questions on stuff you reviewed? Like how do you make sure you get only the relevant biochem? I tried using it for my biochem block and even though I clicked just biochem, it gave my questions on cardiac glycosides I couldn't do.

I don't know about Rx but I'm an M1 taking biochem and I've found BRS to be very close to how my school tests me on exams.

 

[Styrene]

Simple question: for those using q-banks, how do you use them?

do you take notes on paper for each question, make anki cards, just do the questions, etc?

it seems taking notes is taking a really long time per question and i never really have time to go bank and do the anki cards I make, so I'm at an impass!

I do Rx and UWorld questions 3-5 hours per day in the week or so leading up to each exam. I just do every relevant question several times and continue to do quick Google searches on things I don’t remember. Never took notes on anything in med school.

 

[831929]

How do you make sure you only get questions on stuff you reviewed? Like how do you make sure you get only the relevant biochem? I tried using it for my biochem block and even though I clicked just biochem, it gave my questions on cardiac glycosides I couldn't do.

USLMERx has biochem specific questions. I try and do 20 questions a day a week leading up to a unit test

 

[Frogger27]

USLMERx has biochem specific questions. I try and do 20 questions a day a week leading up to a unit test

Did you buy the 2 year access to make sure you had it through Step1??

 

[831929]

Did you buy the 2 year access to make sure you had it through Step1??

I'm actually an M2 so I just got the 6 month until step and then getting you world in January.

However, I wish I got this Q bank last year and used it to study for each of my finals. We are still on the old style curriculum (biochem, anatomy, etc) so it would've been easy to test my knowledge and fill in the gaps at the end of each block.

If you can, I think it's a good idea to either get Kaplan or USMLERx and use one of them up until M2 winter and then get uworld

 

[Frogger27]

I'm actually an M2 so I just got the 6 month until step and then getting you world in January.

However, I wish I got this Q bank last year and used it to study for each of my finals. We are still on the old style curriculum (biochem, anatomy, etc) so it would've been easy to test my knowledge and fill in the gaps at the end of each block.

If you can, I think it's a good idea to either get Kaplan or USMLERx and use one of them up until M2 winter and then get uworld

Would kaplan or USMLERx be better for using alongside my classes? I have NBME tests if that makes a difference

 

[831929]

Would kaplan or USMLERx be better for using alongside my classes? I have NBME tests if that makes a difference

I have not used kaplan. I saw a presentation by them and they seemed like they had a great resource but I got USMLERx for a good deal and it goes along with first aid so its easy to reference back to it for the questions.

I don't think it matters too much but I would probably recommend USMLERx since it has a very simple format and I really like it. Maybe get kaplan second year if you run out of questions.