MD & DO Seeking advice to go from average student to conistent top performance

[inthemaking1]

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Hey all, M1 here who has been consistently performing right at the class average for NBME exams. There's nothing wrong with performing at the class average but I want to realize what is holding me back (resources, superficial understanding of knowledge base, not studying as long/hard, not doing as many practice questions, discipline.. etc) and push myself to perform higher.

From your experience, what changes did you make that helped improve your performance/scores in pre-clinical years? This could be anything from resources/question banks, study habits, lifestyle hacks...etc. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

 

[vernhart]

Hey all, M1 here who has been consistently performing right at the class average for NBME exams. There's nothing wrong with performing at the class average but I want to realize what is holding me back (resources, superficial understanding of knowledge base, not studying as long/hard, not doing as many practice questions, discipline.. etc) and push myself to perform higher.

From your experience, what changes did you make that helped improve your performance/scores in pre-clinical years? This could be anything from resources/question banks, study habits, lifestyle hacks...etc. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

anki

 

[Redpancreas]

Hey all, M1 here who has been consistently performing right at the class average for NBME exams. There's nothing wrong with performing at the class average but I want to realize what is holding me back (resources, superficial understanding of knowledge base, not studying as long/hard, not doing as many practice questions, discipline.. etc) and push myself to perform higher.

From your experience, what changes did you make that helped improve your performance/scores in pre-clinical years? This could be anything from resources/question banks, study habits, lifestyle hacks...etc. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

There's no trick, especially not ANKI. Just do your best, try to have hobbies on the side, and have a regular schedule. If you do all that and are still not best in the class, I think you need to think about coping with your abilities rather than striving to be the best.

 

[zero0]

anki

Second this, making anki decks yourself is for suckers though. Get you that zanki 3.0 beta

 

[vernhart]

There's no trick, especially not ANKI. Just do your best, try to have hobbies on the side, and have a regular schedule. If you do all that and are still not best in the class, I think you need to think about coping with your abilities rather than striving to be the best.

heresy

 

[Redpancreas]

heresy

You got me 😉

 

[operaman]

How are you studying right now?

 

[Redpancreas]

Guys don't you think there is a potential confounder to all this and it's not just ANKI --> Success? I could see mood/experience/motivation/perseverance driving people to use ANKI to relieve neurosis but also study a ton and therefore have success. Yeah, maybe I'm hard on ANKI but this is coming from someone who's tried to use it continuously to no avail using the Reddit guidelines.

 

[68PGunner]

On my way to destroying board w/ Anki here. If your class is tested w/ NBMEs, I would dump all PhD lectures and go straight to that Zanki deck.

 

[Newyawk]

Guys don't you think there is a potential confounder to all this and it's not just ANKI --> Success? I could see mood/experience/motivation/perseverance driving people to use ANKI to relieve neurosis but also study a ton and therefore have success. Yeah, maybe I'm hard on ANKI but this is coming from someone who's tried to use it continuously to no avail using the Reddit guidelines.

In that case every student who uses outside resources is unreliable. Most students who use outside extra resources are very hard workers. Whether they use anki or uworld their scores would likely be higher.

Hey all, M1 here who has been consistently performing right at the class average for NBME exams. There's nothing wrong with performing at the class average but I want to realize what is holding me back (resources, superficial understanding of knowledge base, not studying as long/hard, not doing as many practice questions, discipline.. etc) and push myself to perform higher.

From your experience, what changes did you make that helped improve your performance/scores in pre-clinical years? This could be anything from resources/question banks, study habits, lifestyle hacks...etc. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

Just haul ass. Theres not much else to say about this honestly. Use the resources you know are good and haul ass. You wanna do better than everyone else? Work harder and smarter. That includes taking breaks when necessary etc

 

[Redpancreas]

Alright maybe I'm wrong. Whatevs. Still didn't like ANKI and I used Brosephelon's deck and tried making my own based on some Reddit guide.

 

[Redpancreas]

On my way to destroying board w/ Anki here. If your class is tested w/ NBMEs, I would dump all PhD lectures and go straight to that Zanki deck.

Is there anything for Internal Medicine Residency MKSAP?

 

[sammiesings]

Y'all how/when do kids with traditional curriculum start incorporating Bros/zanki etc? I want to start trying it but we've only done anatomy, histology, embryology and are in biochem and phys.

Also, what decks can you use to study for biochem and phys ? We have an nbme exam at the end of each class and I'm looking to do better on those/use them for some kinda step practice.

Apologies in advance if I'm being very noob-y

 

[68PGunner]

Y'all how/when do kids with traditional curriculum start incorporating Bros/zanki etc? I want to start trying it but we've only done anatomy, histology, embryology and are in biochem and phys.

Also, what decks can you use to study for biochem and phys ? We have an nbme exam at the end of each class and I'm looking to do better on those/use them for some kinda step practice.

Apologies in advance if I'm being very noob-y

You learn physiology concurrent w/ other organ blocks. At your stage, I would hit that Zanki Biochemistry and Immunology decks and commit them to memory. Once you hit the organ system, everything is self-explanatory.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

You learn physiology concurrent w/ other organ blocks. At your stage, I would hit that Zanki Biochemistry and Immunology decks and commit them to memory. Once you hit the organ system, everything is self-explanatory.

Where do you find the newest Zanki deck?

 

[spartan25]

Anki, first-aid, pathoma, sketchy, Qbank (Kaplan or rx)

Use class lectures as a guide through above resources (do not actually attend lectures if possible). Don't worry about minutiae details from lectures

 

[Aerus]

Note that this advice is solely in regards to class performance, not Step 1, so don't apply this to boards studying:

I'm performing within the top 20% of my class and I don't think I'm putting in that much time to studying for my class standing. Maybe 15-20 hours a week total (lecture+studying, but excluding mandatory TBLs) on non-exam weeks. The difference in performance is really active learning. Whether that's using flashcards or teaching your classmates or any other method you have for making sure you are ACTIVELY recalling material and ACTIVELY understanding everything. It's a painful process, but it's how you really master the content.

Yes, med school is largely multiple choice, so recognition is sufficient, but that's playing a risky game in terms of answering questions, since I see recognition as being on the "periphery" of understanding the content, so a lot of it may slip out of your grasp on the actual test.

One thing that may seem so common sense that you may ignore it is good lifestyle balance. I go the gym every day out of habit and find that some form of exercise (weights or cardio) is very helpful to your overall performance. A healthy mind is a happy mind is a high performing mind. Also, don't skimp out on your diet just because you're a student. Try to eat healthier. Hanging out with friends is also important. We are social creatures and need some interaction. Plus, they can be useful resources for you too, so don't isolate yourself!

 

[doc05]

Hey all, M1 here who has been consistently performing right at the class average for NBME exams. There's nothing wrong with performing at the class average but I want to realize what is holding me back (resources, superficial understanding of knowledge base, not studying as long/hard, not doing as many practice questions, discipline.. etc) and push myself to perform higher.

From your experience, what changes did you make that helped improve your performance/scores in pre-clinical years? This could be anything from resources/question banks, study habits, lifestyle hacks...etc. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

If you're at the class average, then you're at the class average. Maybe you can make some improvements, but it's not likely you'll dramatically improve.

 

[0ncogene]

I was class average in college. I got really good at studying and excelled during medical school, and the biggest difference was that I made an extra effort to understand the material (both lectures and stuff I read). If I didn't understand something, I googled it and read more about the subject until I do.

I also made ANKI cards for the things that I need to memorize (drug and bugs).

 

[mistafab]

Biggest changes for me to go from avg 1st year to top quartile 2nd year was study habits.

I’ve probably posted before, but my general work per block is:

1. One pass through primary source (Robbins for path, sketchy for micro... etc) taking notes throughout.
2. One pass through high yield review resource (pathoma, kaplan whatever), notes throughout
3. One pass through all the lectures at your school, notes throughout
4. One pass through every single USMLE-RX question on your block subject after finishing #s 1 and 2, notes throughout

Edit: Just want to add, I feel like Primary source is the meat and potatoes. Pathoma and stuff is spices and flavors. Lectures are salt and pepper. Practice questions are the meal, and boy you gotta eat! I usually would finish #1 in a few days, #2 within the first or early second week, and would stick along with #3 each day and do practice questions for the rest of the block.