Share Your Wisdom for 2nd Year

[sideways]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Any sage advice for how to approach 2nd year? Anything and everything you think may be helpful to know for how to do 2nd year right would be very helpful and much appreciated.

 

[VoiceofReason]

don't stop exercising and eating well.

alternatively, start exercising and eating well you ninny.

 

[phantomx87]

don't stop exercising and eating well.

alternatively, start exercising and eating well you ninny.

The "ninny" and your avatar made me

 

[kryptik]

learn the material well the first time, get a question bank to quiz yourself on what you are currently studying and some MS1 material

 

[dude1344]

learn the material well the first time, get a question bank to quiz yourself on what you are currently studying and some MS1 material

Suggestions? USMLE qbank is the only one I'm aware of...

 

[littlealex]

Save USMLE for boards. Start with Kaplan during the year.

 

[Mr hawkings]

Save USMLE for boards. Start with Kaplan during the year.

Probably a dumb question but are you referring to USLMEworld?

 

[Perrotfish]

Use USMLERx or Kaplan Qbank to both review for upcoming exams and to periodically review previous material from the year (don't kill yourself reviewing, 6 hours a week max). Save the UWorld Qbank for when you're actually studying for boards.

Use a lot of high yield materials like Goljan and Goljan audio. I was also a big fan of lange flashcards for path and pharm.

As many have said, don't kill yourself. Eat, sleep, exercise, and find time to recreate.

 

[AggieSean]

For classes, medium Robbins is your friend. For boards, check out www.gunnertraining.com

 

[MossPoh]

Use USMLERx or Kaplan Qbank to both review for upcoming exams and to periodically review previous material from the year (don't kill yourself reviewing, 6 hours a week max). Save the UWorld Qbank for when you're actually studying for boards.

Use a lot of high yield materials like Goljan and Goljan audio. I was also a big fan of lange flashcards for path and pharm.

As many have said, don't kill yourself. Eat, sleep, exercise, and find time to recreate.

Can anyone else remember when 6 hours a week for review was considering killing yourself?

 

[sideways]

Can anyone else remember when 6 hours a week for review was considering killing yourself?

👍

 

[thesauce]

Use USMLERx or Kaplan Qbank to both review for upcoming exams and to periodically review previous material from the year (don't kill yourself reviewing, 6 hours a week max). Save the UWorld Qbank for when you're actually studying for boards.

Use a lot of high yield materials like Goljan and Goljan audio. I was also a big fan of lange flashcards for path and pharm.

As many have said, don't kill yourself. Eat, sleep, exercise, and find time to recreate.

Better yet, don't touch Kaplan Qbank. Stick with USMLERx for 2nd year and then switch to USMLEWORLD for board prep. Kaplan books and Goljan materials are good to learn from, though. Good luck OP!

 

[Perrotfish]

Can anyone else remember when 6 hours a week for review was considering killing yourself?

Well, most people don't do that, so I guess it could still be considered killing yourself

 

[username456789]

LEARN the material. Yes, keeping up with boards stuff is nice in theory, but reading FA a million times isn't terribly helpful if you don't understand what you're reading.

The subjects that were taught well (or I learned well) during M2 are the ones I'm flying through in boards review, and scoring well on practice exams. The occasional thing I never learned during M2, no matter how hard I try to cram into my brain, just doesn't stick with a month left before the exam.

Monitor what you're learning in class by comparing it to what's in FA/RR Path/etc, just don't fall into the trap of using FA as a primary study tool (and I didn't really find RR Path entirely helpful until I had already studied the class material hard . . . but I know other people found it helpful as a "primary source." My school overall had what I would consider a slightly above average path program (at least for the majority of the systems), and I feel like busting my ass during M2 is what's gonna help me through boards.

I actually sort of wish I did a little Medium Robbins reading, but textbooks aren't really my thing. Still, it would've provided some good framework for the rest of what I was learning, even if it was just the occasional quick read-through of a section and then never looking at it again.

And gunnertraining seems really cool, so check that out too.

 

[sideways]

With first year behind me, and reading about 2nd year and boards and whatnot, here's my impression of things - let me know if you guys agree. . .

1st year is not so much about the material (a lot of low yield stuff, and whatever is high yield you'll have opportunity later on to "re-learn"), but it's about learning how to become a medical student - learning to deal with the stress and volume and speed and general malaise while at the same time having to perform.

2nd year is about taking these experiences and insights from the first year, taking a deep breath, and really getting down and dirty. What you're now learning is the definition of important, the stakes are higher, boards loom on the horizon, and you need to be on the top of your game as best you can.

My sense is that 1st year is really about mentally preparing you to have your act together for 2nd year, when much of the real learning begins.

Any truth to this?

 

[mordounhas]

More or less. Second year is a harder year academically but didn't seem nearly as stressful to me much of the time (read: I was finally over the worry I was going to flame out at some point). The boards do loom, but don't stress out about them too much during the year. As others have said, learn the material, occasionally read First Aid or RR path, and maybe do a qbank to help you with the subject you're on.

As an ignorant second year, my guess is that the hardest years in terms of learning curves in medical school are the first and third. The second you're just doing more of what you were doing in first year, and the fourth year seems kind of disjointed to me but not necessarily as difficult academically.

 

[engineeredout]

Better yet, don't touch Kaplan Qbank. Stick with USMLERx for 2nd year and then switch to USMLEWORLD for board prep. Kaplan books and Goljan materials are good to learn from, though. Good luck OP!

How does USMLERx rank in terms of difficulty compared to the other problem banks and Step 1?

 

[kryptik]

How does USMLERx rank in terms of difficulty compared to the other problem banks and Step 1?

its has ~3400 questions, if i should rank them i would say a third of it challenging, and the rest medium to easy, the good thing about rx is the FA connection but it has a lot of questions to play with

 

[DrJosephKim]

Study in groups and prepare early for Step 1.

 

[Construct]

Best advice: Start reading Goljan's RR Pathology as early as possible. Use it in conjunction with your med school classes and you'll be golden for the Step 1.

 

[thesauce]

How does USMLERx rank in terms of difficulty compared to the other problem banks and Step 1?

USMLERx is (overall) easier than the other question banks, but it has most of the important information in there. From what I remember, there aren't many "double jump" type questions. It pretty much just asks factoids that are included in FA. This is great for learning the material, but won't be sufficient Step 1 prep. Good luck!