Resources to use alongside course material?

[Xiao]

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I'm starting medical school this fall. my school's curriculum has a lot of room for self-directed learning. while i love this, i'm also afraid that i might run off track--that is, not properly focusing on content i will need to know for USMLE STEP 1 and 2

i'm interested in some competitive specialities and want to do well on my USMLE tests. what kind of test preparation resources should i review alongside my course materials to make sure that i'm grasping the most important information?

I've heard people suggest First Aid or Gunner Training. But I'm a total n00b at USMLE preparation and don't know which suggestions to trust.

experienced folks -- what resources would you use and what pros/cons does each particular resource offer?

thanks!!

 

[bassvp]

I'm starting medical school this fall. my school's curriculum has a lot of room for self-directed learning. while i love this, i'm also afraid that i might run off track--that is, not properly focusing on content i will need to know for USMLE STEP 1 and 2

i'm interested in some competitive specialities and want to do well on my USMLE tests. what kind of test preparation resources should i review alongside my course materials to make sure that i'm grasping the most important information?

I've heard people suggest First Aid or Gunner Training. But I'm a total n00b at USMLE preparation and don't know which suggestions to trust.

experienced folks -- what resources would you use and what pros/cons does each particular resource offer?

thanks!!

Along with this, if someone could also note resources that are NOT appropriate to be doing along with classes (i.e. materials that are more inclined to dedicated Step prep time that have too much integration that would be fruitless until the base material is all learned).

 

[equinsu ocha]

I'm starting medical school this fall. my school's curriculum has a lot of room for self-directed learning. while i love this, i'm also afraid that i might run off track--that is, not properly focusing on content i will need to know for USMLE STEP 1 and 2

i'm interested in some competitive specialities and want to do well on my USMLE tests. what kind of test preparation resources should i review alongside my course materials to make sure that i'm grasping the most important information?

I've heard people suggest First Aid or Gunner Training. But I'm a total n00b at USMLE preparation and don't know which suggestions to trust.

experienced folks -- what resources would you use and what pros/cons does each particular resource offer?

thanks!!

This has been discussed time and time again on this forum. If you're resourceful enough to get into med school then I think you can hunt the threads down and devise a high yield list of your own. 😎

 

[bassvp]

This has been discussed time and time again on this forum. If you're resourceful enough to get into med school then I think you can hunt the threads down and devise a high yield list of your own. 😎

thanks for your help.

 

[normtheniner]

I'm starting medical school this fall. my school's curriculum has a lot of room for self-directed learning. while i love this, i'm also afraid that i might run off track--that is, not properly focusing on content i will need to know for USMLE STEP 1 and 2

i'm interested in some competitive specialities and want to do well on my USMLE tests. what kind of test preparation resources should i review alongside my course materials to make sure that i'm grasping the most important information?

I've heard people suggest First Aid or Gunner Training. But I'm a total n00b at USMLE preparation and don't know which suggestions to trust.

experienced folks -- what resources would you use and what pros/cons does each particular resource offer?

thanks!!

They're going to test you based on their notes. I wouldn't waste a lot of time on extraneous books and such unless you're completely confused on a topic.

With that said, some of the review books seemed to have really good questions in them that helped me to know whether or not I have mastered the material we were going to be tested on. Among those:

Biochem-- BRS Biochem
Neuro-- Fix's BRS Neuro -- and get a Thieme Atlas, they're great!
Physiology-- Costanzo's BRS Phys
Micro-- Micro made ridiculously simple
Histo-- Good luck.. I just used the Netter's Histo book
Anatomy-- I just used our syllabus with Rohen as my atlas

 

[Alvarez13]

I'm starting medical school this fall. my school's curriculum has a lot of room for self-directed learning. while i love this, i'm also afraid that i might run off track--that is, not properly focusing on content i will need to know for USMLE STEP 1 and 2

i'm interested in some competitive specialities and want to do well on my USMLE tests. what kind of test preparation resources should i review alongside my course materials to make sure that i'm grasping the most important information?

I've heard people suggest First Aid or Gunner Training. But I'm a total n00b at USMLE preparation and don't know which suggestions to trust.

experienced folks -- what resources would you use and what pros/cons does each particular resource offer?

thanks!!

Start gunner training now and go along with your classes. It's a very long term program, but has pretty much everything FA does.

Here's a 1 mo trial code if you'd like to mess around and see if it's right for you: http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1336239. PM me with questions or check out the Step I thread on it.

 

[Xiao]

thanks!! my school is P/F with no rankings so i am primarily concerned with STEP 1 preparation.

i will look into gunner training -- is it intended to be used over the course of year 1+2? how many hours a day would it take to go through it comprehensively over the span of 2 years?

 

[GladifImakeit]

SDN is full of meanies who just post sarcastic, unhelpful comments. You kinda have to accept it and just look for the hidden pearls. Well, I recommend using the Blueprints books (they have a whole series that is pretty comprehensive) for step 2 and third year prep. Also, the Kaplan notes are really good for both step 1 and step 2. They are expensive but worth it in my opinion.

 

[Evil_Abed]

SDN is full of meanies who just post sarcastic, unhelpful comments. You kinda have to accept it and just look for the hidden pearls. Well, I recommend using the Blueprints books (they have a whole series that is pretty comprehensive) for step 2 and third year prep. Also, the Kaplan notes are really good for both step 1 and step 2. They are expensive but worth it in my opinion.

On the flip side, SDN's also full of lazy, unmotivated people who are unwilling to take the (less than) 5 minutes it takes to do a cursory search on a topic that clearly pops up frequently for discussion before making a new thread and asking the same question we've seen asked a thousand times already.

Xiao, there are multiple, multiple threads regarding this exact question all over these forums. Heck, there's an entire multi-page thread solely devoted to Gunner Training in the Step 1 forums (in addition to threads devoted to other extremely useful resources, such as Pathoma, etc). A simple search would've directed you to those threads. I hope you at least realize that there is a forum dedicated solely for Step 1 studying and tips; I'm not sure why you didn't look there first. All the answers you seek are there.

TL;DR: Don't be lazy and do a search. Pointing that out doesn't make us any meaner or unhelpful than posting a new thread on a frequently discussed topic without taking the 5 minutes it takes to search for previous threads does.

 

[SMCmedicine]

Good physical exam video resource.

I got my OSCE this week! This is messing up my labor day weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9UiwA8BBLI

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9UiwA8BBLI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[ucladoc2b]

I bought Netters with the online 3D access. Really cool. Integrates MRI scans and the Visible Human project, too. Much easier to dissect than a real cadaver. A little pricy, but worth it.

 

[flatearth22]

Is there much advantage in making your own flashcards on a program like Anki vs. using GT? Would it be too overwhelming to use both if there is significant overlap? On the GT thread they say that there is a lot of stuff missing so one shouldn't use it as their only source...

 

[JackShephard MD]

On the flip side, SDN's also full of lazy, unmotivated people who are unwilling to take the (less than) 5 minutes it takes to do a cursory search on a topic that clearly pops up frequently for discussion before making a new thread and asking the same question we've seen asked a thousand times already.

Xiao, there are multiple, multiple threads regarding this exact question all over these forums. Heck, there's an entire multi-page thread solely devoted to Gunner Training in the Step 1 forums (in addition to threads devoted to other extremely useful resources, such as Pathoma, etc). A simple search would've directed you to those threads. I hope you at least realize that there is a forum dedicated solely for Step 1 studying and tips; I'm not sure why you didn't look there first. All the answers you seek are there.

TL;DR: Don't be lazy and do a search. Pointing that out doesn't make us any meaner or unhelpful than posting a new thread on a frequently discussed topic without taking the 5 minutes it takes to search for previous threads does.

Agreed. The answers are the same. In fact, they are better.

Someone recommended BRS biochem above... what? I've never seen that book recommended before. Lippincott's is better for class and RR biochem is probably a better condensed review, with FA being enough likely for the boards.

We've all seen these questions before and some have written pretty good detailed answers. Do the search.

I forget who said this: it's always easier to help a man when he's already tried to help himself.👍

 

[Valadi]

Agreed. The answers are the same. In fact, they are better.

Someone recommended BRS biochem above... what? I've never seen that book recommended before. Lippincott's is better for class and RR biochem is probably a better condensed review, with FA being enough likely for the boards.

We've all seen these questions before and some have written pretty good detailed answers. Do the search.

I forget who said this: it's always easier to help a man when he's already tried to help himself.👍

Agree I think BRS biochem is probably the worst choice.

I've posted which review books to use by subject in the past if you want to search my history, OP. Gluck. Also you haven't even started yet, so don't worry. Everything will come in time.