Reading "USMLE Step 1 First Aid"

[noworkhistory]

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That's not how this works. This isn't noworkhistory's private forum where you get to spew out drivel when you feel like it. Being that you're troll, you will likely be banned by the end of the week, so enjoy the remainder of your time here.

(sent from my phone)

Not a troll, but again, there's a difference between poor reasoning and mean-spiritedness. Most of the time, normal people don't respond to poor reasoning with mean-spiritedness. 👍

 

[mehc012]

Not a troll, but again, there's a difference between poor reasoning and mean-spiritedness. Most of the time, normal people don't respond to poor reasoning with mean-spiritedness. 👍

There's also a difference between poor reasoning and claiming that you're going to change your major/life's goals based on a single comment from an anonymous person on the internet. 🙄

Seriously...

Are you being sarcastic? If so, then I might not drop Chem 1 and Bio 1 tomorrow....

I hope mehc012 comes back tonight....

You can't claim that going "I'm going to give up my dreams on your say-so...I hope you come back tonight in case you were being sarcastic" doesn't seem a whole lot more like someone trolling than even the most poorly-reasoned real reaction.

What were you hoping for, me to rush back on here and go "Oh noes! I repent my sarcastic ways, please don't change your major and I promise to be nicer on the interwebz from now on!"

Your comments aren't 'poorly reasoned', they're ludicrous. You can't really blame people for reacting badly to them, even if they were somehow just the result of you not thinking.

 

[noworkhistory]

There's also a difference between poor reasoning and claiming that you're going to change your major/life's goals based on a single comment from an anonymous person on the internet. 🙄

Seriously...




You can't claim that going "I'm going to give up my dreams on your say-so...I hope you come back tonight in case you were being sarcastic" doesn't seem a whole lot more like someone trolling than even the most poorly-reasoned real reaction.

What were you hoping for, me to rush back on here and go "Oh noes! I repent my sarcastic ways, please don't change your major and I promise to be nicer on the interwebz from now on!"

Your comments aren't 'poorly reasoned', they're ludicrous. You can't really blame people for reacting badly to them, even if they were somehow just the result of you not thinking.

IN MY DEFENSE! (lol) 1) I wasn't upset with your sarcasm - I just wanted to know if you were serious or not; 2) The reason for all my "ludicrous" reasoning is actually just that my heart's just not in it yet and so therefore I'm kind of obsessive-compulsive with wanting to know whether medicine is good for me or not before actually doing the work to find out. If anything, I should make that clear that I'm a bit OCD with just about everything. That's the source of the ludicrousness.

For example:

"Want to shadow right NOW so I can eliminate medicine as a career choice, 'cause I have a really good feeling that I'm going to absolutely despise it, but there's always a chance I'm going to like it - one or two shadowing experiences should suffice - BUT I have to wait until the hospital calls me back tomorrow about shadowing" is all I've been thinking for the last 12 hours straight

 

[soundnin]

fo sho fo sho thanks man! 🙂 Most stuff's already been done unfortunately...

sarcasm hasn't spread to your corner of the universe has it?

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

 

[cxp119]

For example:

"Want to shadow right NOW so I can eliminate medicine as a career choice, 'cause I have a really good feeling that I'm going to absolutely despise it, but there's always a chance I'm going to like it - one or two shadowing experiences should suffice - BUT I have to wait until the hospital calls me back tomorrow about shadowing" is all I've been thinking for the last 12 hours straight

If you're looking to "eliminate" medicine as a career choice, you're really not going at this the right way.

 

[dmf2682]

This thread still going?

Tl;dr op's an idiot but just smart enough to be dangerous.

 

[SpecterGT260]

If you're looking to "eliminate" medicine as a career choice, you're really not going at this the right way.

+1

You don't even really have to start doing anything FOR medicine until after sophmore year....

Just worry about grades, which is/should be important for anything you do, and get to the rest later.

 

[KnuxNole]

Most people aren't mean spirited, they are just being blunt and honest. It's kinda sad if people are too scared or don't have balls to say how they feel, and would lie to someone to not make them sad. Of course, if someone cries at the sight of some critical comment, they really, really, really need to get some thick skin, cause you are gonna get criticism right and left. Like that one comment about how anyone can write a good movie, Hollywood would have a field day with critical comments if someone said that.

So yeah, chase your dreams and such, but you shouldn't be shocked that everyone is all rainbows and sunshines, especially when 90% of the stuff is delusional and flat out wrong. And you can't base things on comments alone. You are probably smart, do tons of research and make an informed decision.

 

[mehc012]

IN MY DEFENSE! (lol) 1) I wasn't upset with your sarcasm - I just wanted to know if you were serious or not; 2) The reason for all my "ludicrous" reasoning is actually just that my heart's just not in it yet and so therefore I'm kind of obsessive-compulsive with wanting to know whether medicine is good for me or not before actually doing the work to find out. If anything, I should make that clear that I'm a bit OCD with just about everything. That's the source of the ludicrousness.

For example:

"Want to shadow right NOW so I can eliminate medicine as a career choice, 'cause I have a really good feeling that I'm going to absolutely despise it, but there's always a chance I'm going to like it - one or two shadowing experiences should suffice - BUT I have to wait until the hospital calls me back tomorrow about shadowing" is all I've been thinking for the last 12 hours straight

Yeah, that's not called OCD, that's called stressing over a decision. It happens to people with or without OCD thinking.

Anyway, my point wasn't that you overreacted to my sarcasm, it's that you were just gonna drop everything and change your major BECAUSE A PERSON ON THE INTERNET TOLD YOU TO. That's not 'poor reasoning', that's insanity.
Trying to guilt trip me about it after was just amusing.

Stop looking for ways out and just make a freaking decision. If you don't think medicine is for you (before you even get to any of the hard parts), than have the guts to actually act on that. Don't sit there waiting for some excuse to push you off the premed track...get up and walk off it before you tank your GPA 'failing' chemistry so that you finally have a concrete reason to give up on it.
I don't know about your school, but at mine art classes are nearly impossible to get into due to overwhelming interest, so you'd be better off starting early. Best of luck to you.

 

[Praefectus]

OP, I assume that you'll start looking at bar exam books next week and you'll eliminate law from your future too. Obviously that's the best way to approach these matters.

 

[SpecterGT260]

I ruled out being a chef after reading some cookbooks

 

[noworkhistory]

There are just way nicer ways of being nice and offering criticism. I have thick skin - I just find that the fact that I had to grow thick skin in the first place very strange and I'm kind of bitter about that still.

I have a feeling medicine is going to suck and I'm going to go into music with a concentration in vocal performance instead, which is my true passion and the passion I would find the most attractive in the opposite sex. But I just want to be sure because of all this financial security involved with medicine.

mehc - I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty😕

"Tl;dr op's an idiot" - No, not mean-spirited at all

Hmm, I wish I knew the right way to eliminate medicine....probably job shadowing. I've called the HR dept at my hospital twice so far over the past 2 days and left 2 messages and they haven't called me back at all. I think that's a sign to avoid medicine?

 

[noworkhistory]

sarcasm hasn't spread to your corner of the universe has it?

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

I guess I didn't catch on to the sarcasm because I thought the idea would be really fun😕

 

[mirimonster]

Hmm, I wish I knew the right way to eliminate medicine....probably job shadowing. I've called the HR dept at my hospital twice so far over the past 2 days and left 2 messages and they haven't called me back at all. I think that's a sign to avoid medicine?

I've been nice to you up until now, because I think you mean well, but this needs to stop. You're going to avoid medicine now because one busy person at a hospital doesn't drop everything to attend to your every need? Your behavior is erratic and obsessive. I suggest that you set up an appointment with a psychologist ASAP.

 

[hiyaman]

lol can't believe noworkhistory hasn't been banned yet.

 

[mehc012]

Hmm, I wish I knew the right way to eliminate medicine....probably job shadowing. I've called the HR dept at my hospital twice so far over the past 2 days and left 2 messages and they haven't called me back at all. I think that's a sign to avoid medicine?

Holy failstorm, Batman!
I refer you to the second half of my last post...quit looking for excuses to get out of premed and GTFO of premed!

 

[487806]

OP, I assume that you'll start looking at bar exam books next week and you'll eliminate law from your future too. Obviously that's the best way to approach these matters.

Hey, it all makes sense now! No wonder I got so confused. I should read more medical textbooks in college so that I know for sure I want to pursue medicine. 🙄

 

[noworkhistory]

Holy failstorm, Batman!
I refer you to the second half of my last post...quit looking for excuses to get out of premed and GTFO of premed!

I've been singing all day. I'm not exaggerating when I say that that's ALL I do is sing, no matter what I'm doing, even shopping at the grocery store, even while watching movies and TV. I've always loved singing and music, I just never thought of pursuing it because I'd probably be broke and because I always wanted to be a badass growing up because I thought that's the way others wanted me to be (think Nutty Professor or one of those types of characters) and so anything in art or music would have been too soft to fit that image, but these days I know better and I know that it's cool to be soft and that there are tons of people out there like that. Unless I were a professor or something, I probably couldn't make a living with vocal performance, and now I'm reading that humanities professor positions are really hard to come by these days.

Gotta start shadowing a pharmacist and a physician and maybe moonlight with music!

"And listen to the music of the night................." lol...

 

[cbrons]

Man First Aid 2011 had so many errors in it. Seriously if you are in med school you should check the errata on their website, it took me like 2 hours to annotate it.

 

[cbrons]

I ruled out being a chef after reading some cookbooks

I had to rule that out b/c I learned how to make grilled cheese my junior year of college (pasta the summer before senior year). Long story short I did not have the pre-reqs for that and would've need a few gap years to catch up.

 

[noworkhistory]

Man First Aid 2011 had so many errors in it. Seriously if you are in med school you should check the errata on their website, it took me like 2 hours to annotate it.

Hey, I was peeking at the medical forum on SDN and I noticed you post there, and I noticed there's something called QBanks - are these things a good reflection of what you'll encounter on the job as a physician, or are they mostly designed just for the USMLE?

 

[noworkhistory]

i had to rule that out b/c i learned how to make grilled cheese my junior year of college (pasta the summer before senior year). Long story short i did not have the pre-reqs for that and would've need a few gap years to catch up.

+1

 

[mmmcdowe]

Hey, I was peeking at the medical forum on SDN and I noticed you post there, and I noticed there's something called QBanks - are these things a good reflection of what you'll encounter on the job as a physician, or are they mostly designed just for the USMLE?

USMLE and other related exams.

 

[noworkhistory]

USMLE and other related exams.

Thank you! 🙂

 

[HSUReddie]

Oh there is something about insomnia that just spurs me to read ridiculous threads. This one really merited a response - and I don't even post frequently.

OP - I am no stranger to the fact that there's a fair share of people in medical school who are probably in it for the money, but I find you to be rather offensive. Let me put it like this. What do you plan on doing when you hit organic chemistry and actually have to hardcore study for an undergraduate exam? I mean you were talking about dropping general biology and general chemistry. If you think freshman year is "buckling down" you're in for a rude awakening. What do you plan on doing when you have to review all the relevant information you've learned, multiple classes worth, for the MCAT? What do you plan on doing when you get those scores back, and you have to take it a second time or improve EC's because you don't get in the first? What do you plan on doing if you make it in and are faced by the fire-hydrant of information that is the first two years of medical school? If you happen to make it through those and clinical years, what do you plan to do when you're working long hours in residency? Oh, and all those other tests like the USMLE 1,2,3 in-between? Is it worth the pay then?

No offense, but you're making complete bullcrap excuses. To be already wavering in your decision, when you have all of the points to turn back that I listed above and more... seriously? And this is all over reading the USMLE Step 1 book? Good grief. Being prepared is one thing. Looking for a way out is another. You take every year. You do your best. You think it's the hardest you could ever push yourself, and then you just tackle even more the next year. If you would have told me my freshman year that I'd be starting an accelerated one year, forty-five hour, more hard science-leaning public health degree three weeks after graduating undergrad, then moving to a different state, taking the MCAT, filling out applications, volunteering, and still finding time to have fun - I would have thought you had lost your damn mind and likely **** my pants. And I'm sure some other people here would have too if they would have known things they would struggle with along the way, but you don't know it until you just get in there. You can't jump freaking five years ahead and expect to be thrilled about the USMLE book as a freshman. I get you're ridiculously neurotic, but focus on this year. If you happen to end up, heaven forbid, liking medicine and not pursuing it for money, then you wouldn't want to have failed general chemistry.

 

[SpecterGT260]

I had to rule that out b/c I learned how to make grilled cheese my junior year of college (pasta the summer before senior year). Long story short I did not have the pre-reqs for that and would've need a few gap years to catch up.

and I heard the adcoms look down on this pretty harshly. Looks like I will just have to settle for medicine 🙁

 

[noworkhistory]

Oh there is something about insomnia that just spurs me to read ridiculous threads. This one really merited a response - and I don't even post frequently.

OP - I am no stranger to the fact that there's a fair share of people in medical school who are probably in it for the money, but I find you to be rather offensive. Let me put it like this. What do you plan on doing when you hit organic chemistry and actually have to hardcore study for an undergraduate exam? I mean you were talking about dropping general biology and general chemistry. If you think freshman year is "buckling down" you're in for a rude awakening. What do you plan on doing when you have to review all the relevant information you've learned, multiple classes worth, for the MCAT? What do you plan on doing when you get those scores back, and you have to take it a second time or improve EC's because you don't get in the first? What do you plan on doing if you make it in and are faced by the fire-hydrant of information that is the first two years of medical school? If you happen to make it through those and clinical years, what do you plan to do when you're working long hours in residency? Oh, and all those other tests like the USMLE 1,2,3 in-between? Is it worth the pay then?

No offense, but you're making complete bullcrap excuses. To be already wavering in your decision, when you have all of the points to turn back that I listed above and more... seriously? And this is all over reading the USMLE Step 1 book? Good grief. Being prepared is one thing. Looking for a way out is another. You take every year. You do your best. You think it's the hardest you could ever push yourself, and then you just tackle even more the next year. If you would have told me my freshman year that I'd be starting an accelerated one year, forty-five hour, more hard science-leaning public health degree three weeks after graduating undergrad, then moving to a different state, taking the MCAT, filling out applications, volunteering, and still finding time to have fun - I would have thought you had lost your damn mind and likely **** my pants. And I'm sure some other people here would have too if they would have known things they would struggle with along the way, but you don't know it until you just get in there. You can't jump freaking five years ahead and expect to be thrilled about the USMLE book as a freshman. I get you're ridiculously neurotic, but focus on this year. If you happen to end up, heaven forbid, liking medicine and not pursuing it for money, then you wouldn't want to have failed general chemistry.

Thank you for this response - it definitely helped me to put things more into perspective.

 

[Geebeejay]

I bought and looked through this and I'm kind of bored by the material. Do you think it would be a good/bad idea to base my decision to pursue medicine based on this year-1-undergrad-look at this book?

Don't base your decision on reading a summary of the materials found in a step 1 review book ....that's like judging whether or not you like a novel based on only reading the cliff-notes summaries.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey, I was peeking at the medical forum on SDN and I noticed you post there, and I noticed there's something called QBanks - are these things a good reflection of what you'll encounter on the job as a physician, or are they mostly designed just for the USMLE?

Just stop. These are not useful to you. That should be obvious by now. No books or question banks designed to help med students pass one (of several) early tests on material that is simply foundation is going to be useful to you in deciding if medicine is interesting to you. Shadow. Volunteer. At your stage everything else is extremely low yield.

And yes, as to your prior question, you will learn a ton of material in med school that will not be useful to your practice of medicine. Much of the first two years is foundation. Stuff every physician should know but most won't use. Thus the first two years of med school still often won't even help you know whether you'd enjoy medicine, (let alone the tests taken during those years) and most people figure out what they like during clinical rotations. You won't do yourself any favors focusing on med school materials of any sort. You need to find avenues to see what doctors actually do for a living because it sure isn't what first and second year med students do.

You are probably a troll, but I guess I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are just over eager and being pretty dense. But you have to have a much thicker skin than you've shown in this thread to enjoy medicine. One of the benefits of this field is you don't spend a lot of time wondering if you are being foolish -- people are very upfront about it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Don't base your decision on reading a summary of the materials found in a step 1 review book ....that's like judging whether or not you like a novel based on only reading the cliff-notes summaries.

But not even the cliff notes of that same book. Cliff notes of books that author found inspirational and used as foundation. Step 1 isn't medicine. It's a test to see if you have a minimum grasp of the foundation you need before you "start" into clinical rotations, which eventually start having some resemblance to medicine.

 

[noworkhistory]

I got a call back from the HR department at my hospital for shadowing....called em back to set something up....never called me back....jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[SpecterGT260]

Weird. Normally if you say you are pre med they all but fight over you to get you shadowing opportunities and patient contact.

Stick to your guns here. You don't wanna make the first move and seem too eager. They hate eager

 

[noworkhistory]

Just stop. These are not useful to you. That should be obvious by now. No books or question banks designed to help med students pass one (of several) early tests on material that is simply foundation is going to be useful to you in deciding if medicine is interesting to you. Shadow. Volunteer. At your stage everything else is extremely low yield.

And yes, as to your prior question, you will learn a ton of material in med school that will not be useful to your practice of medicine. Much of the first two years is foundation. Stuff every physician should know but most won't use. Thus the first two years of med school still often won't even help you know whether you'd enjoy medicine, (let alone the tests taken during those years) and most people figure out what they like during clinical rotations. You won't do yourself any favors focusing on med school materials of any sort. You need to find avenues to see what doctors actually do for a living because it sure isn't what first and second year med students do.

You are probably a troll, but I guess I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are just over eager and being pretty dense. But you have to have a much thicker skin than you've shown in this thread to enjoy medicine. One of the benefits of this field is you don't spend a lot of time wondering if you are being foolish -- people are very upfront about it.

But not even the cliff notes of that same book. Cliff notes of books that author found inspirational and used as foundation. Step 1 isn't medicine. It's a test to see if you have a minimum grasp of the foundation you need before you "start" into clinical rotations, which eventually start having some resemblance to medicine.

Weird. Normally if you say you are pre med they all but fight over you to get you shadowing opportunities and patient contact.

Stick to your guns here. You don't wanna make the first move and seem too eager. They hate eager

Are you being sarcastic here, or do they really hate eager? I was seriously thinking about calling tomorrow.....

 

[SpecterGT260]

Are you being sarcastic here, or do they really hate eager? I was seriously thinking about calling tomorrow.....

I was being sarcastic.

Remember this about med school: if you aren't demonstrating that you really want it, someone else will.... and that matters as much as your GPA/mcat

 

[BlueLabel]

I'm seriously wondering why this thread hasn't been locked yet. Is this honestly the kind of thing that anyone could pull some valuable insight from? Other than "how not to behave on an internet forum"?

 

[noworkhistory]

I'm seriously wondering why this thread hasn't been locked yet. Is this honestly the kind of thing that anyone could pull some valuable insight from? Other than "how not to behave on an internet forum"?

Jeez, I'm sure other pre-meds wonder about the USMLE. This thread supports the idea that the USMLE 1) should not be worried about till med school, and 2) has nothing to do with actual medicine. While it seems that most here are experienced enough to know (2), I think that there's value in knowing that the USMLE doesn't need to be worried about at all till med school since it's a big test and I'm sure many people wonder about it and wonder about how to do well on it. It seems like most people will do well on it even if they aren't preparing for it at all before med school. As far as the USMLE giving insight into the medical profession, that was just a pipe dream shortcut of mine.

I hope to provide more value in future posts.

 

[SpecterGT260]

It would probably be better to just purchase a UWorld Qbank account and start working problems. These are USMLE style questions so they are pretty much about the kind of stuff you will do as a doctor. That would help you figure out pretty quick if you like it or not.

 

[487806]

I got a call back from the HR department at my hospital for shadowing....called em back to set something up....never called me back....jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Welcome back OP! I see that you succumbed to your attention disorder and returned to create new posts/threads as if we actually care (I came here for fun though). Let's see the resumed battle.

 

[noworkhistory]

It would probably be better to just purchase a UWorld Qbank account and start working problems. These are USMLE style questions so they are pretty much about the kind of stuff you will do as a doctor. That would help you figure out pretty quick if you like it or not.

I actually asked this question, and everyone was saying the exact opposite, that it wouldn't be helpful at all and isn't a representation of the stuff doctors do.

Unless you're being sarcastic again....?

 

[noworkhistory]

Welcome back OP! I see that you succumbed to your attention disorder and returned to create new posts/threads as if we actually care (I came here for fun though). Let's see the resumed battle.

No, I don't try to fight my attention disorder---there was no succumbing involved---I just logged right on and began posting again.

Thanks for all the attention so far, guys! Keep the replies comin'.... 🙄

 

[487806]

No, I don't try to fight my attention disorder---there was no succumbing involved---I just logged right on and began posting again.

Thanks for all the attention so far, guys! Keep the replies comin'.... 🙄

Attention given! Reply.

 

[tiedyeddog]

It would probably be better to just purchase a UWorld Qbank account and start working problems. These are USMLE style questions so they are pretty much about the kind of stuff you will do as a doctor. That would help you figure out pretty quick if you like it or not.

I actually asked this question, and everyone was saying the exact opposite, that it wouldn't be helpful at all and isn't a representation of the stuff doctors do.

Unless you're being sarcastic again....?

rofl, no, go ahead and buy the Qbank. Make sure to write about it in your medical school application essays. You got this, kid!

 

[SpecterGT260]

I actually asked this question, and everyone was saying the exact opposite, that it wouldn't be helpful at all and isn't a representation of the stuff doctors do.

Unless you're being sarcastic again....?

Yea

Your best plan is to just focus on college and grades this first year. Don't post back until you are a late sophmore looking for volunteer advice for the following semester

 

[slowbutsteady]

I can't do any intimate contact, let alone have sex, without becoming attached. Like life-long monogamous marriage attached. This used to be my priority before I figured this out about myself. Ha!

This is pretty hilarious if you are a troll. If not, wow.

 

[noworkhistory]

This is pretty hilarious if you are a troll. If not, wow.

No! It's true----I used to be all about trying to be a womanizer until I realized I can't do anything intimate outside of marriage (maybe kissing, but absolutely no further than that). I don't like frenching or blowies either (or the opposite of blowies). Life can be very confusing before you figure all that out about yourself because all of it's natural for so many people, which is pretty much the only reason I mention all of it, because it was such a huge revelation for me, so I'm sure I can find at least one other person I can help on here, potentially. We're talking of Coveyian Paradigm Shift proportions here. Like whoa....

 

[tiedyeddog]

No! It's true----I used to be all about trying to be a womanizer until I realized I can't do anything intimate outside of marriage (maybe kissing, but absolutely no further than that). I don't like frenching or blowies either (or the opposite of blowies). Life can be very confusing before you figure all that out about yourself because all of it's natural for so many people, which is pretty much the only reason I mention all of it, because it was such a huge revelation for me, so I'm sure I can find at least one other person I can help on here, potentially. We're talking of Coveyian Paradigm Shift proportions here. Like whoa....

do tell, what is the opposite of a blowie?

 

[noworkhistory]

do tell, what is the opposite of a blowie?

I dunno....munchies? Gross. Let the marijuana jokes ensue! (Yet ANOTHER popular thing I tried to like with no success....)