Shout out to the 2005 Step I Takers

[Yogi Bear]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Who's taking Step I this year? List what you plan/have been doing to prepare.

 

[Yogi Bear]

For me....
Prep during spring semester: I'll start this wknd and try to get in 5 hrs/wk if I'm lucky of just going through FA?!? (I doubt it)
Summer time for prep: 6-8 wks
Sources: Goal is for me to read through FA 2005 and do Qbook by end of classes. Then do BRS path/physio, MMRS, and supplement whatever problem areas i have as I work on mcq's during my 6-8 wks of intense prep w/o school to take up my time. Also have a set of UCV's for Step I.

 

[Ruban]

Step 1 Study Plan:
7:00-7:15am: Eat breakfast.
7:15am-10:00am: Pray to Jesus
10:00am-1:00pm: Pray to Allah
1:00pm-1:15pm: Eat lunch.
1:15pm-4:00pm: Pray to Buddha
4:00pm-8:00pm: Pray to Shiva
8:00pm-8:30pm: Eat dinner.
8:30pm-12:30am: Pray to Hippocrates

 

[joshua_msu]

Have you all registered yet? I gotta do that this weekend. Do you think I can still get a June date if I register now? I live in Chicago if that matters.

 

[omarsaleh66]

Who's taking Step I this year? List what you plan/have been doing to prepare.

Ive been using review books along with path, micro and pharm for classes. I listen to Webprep 60 minutes everyday for cardio.

Currently using:

General Study
-First AID
-Posts by Bigfrank and Idiopathic

Path-
USMLE Secrets
Robbins Review
Webpath
BRS
Goljan audio
Goljan Review
Path Recall
Pathophys for boards and wards
UCV

Pharm
lecture notes
Pharm Recall
Lippincott Pharm
BRS

Micro
Lecture notes
MMRS
Micro by Levinson

If i have time i do qbank. Ive done about 50Q total sofar...

I want to do more but thats all the time i got. Will study for 3-5 weeks after school's out. And try to do all Qbank, Appleton Lange, NMS, Qbook.

My goal is 220-230. Thinking about anesthesia, radiology or maybe surgery. Anything "interventional" LOL.

later

 

[buglady]

i'm taking mine in march, but classes don't end until the first week of february...our basic sciences last for 1.5 yr...i start in the hospital mid march.

i've been semi-hard core preparing since december, but obviously, the intensity and frequency has been stepped up.

i'm using FA and Step Up as my general outline, but supplementing with content from BRS Path, BRS Physio, Lipincott's Biochem Review, BRS Pharm flashcards and Micro Made Ridiculously Simple. I've also been doing Kaplan IV Qbank and will be digging into regular Qbank very soon.

i've made a study scedule and done a so-so job keeping up with it. i've allowed myself catch up days and days off to keep the sanity. i can only go for so long each day...weekends are a good time to punch in some solid study time, though.

i figure as long as i study, get the majority or all of Qbank done, i should be able to pass. i'm not going for huge numbers...i'd like to pass comfortably!

 

[DHMO]

My plan is to get first Aid DOWN by the time classes end in May. I've been taking two weeks per section in that book and looking up the stuff I don't remember all that well from class. At the end of each section, I do two question blocks from Q-bank and write notes in FA for the stuff that isn't in there (really, there's not a whole lot that isn't in FA). It's been working pretty well so far. I plan on reading review books in the 6 weeks after classes end and doing a butt-load of questions to 'wire my brain for the test.' By the way, everyone should check out Rapid Reviews Pathology by Goljan. It is much better than BRS path if you are looking for any kind of explanation/conceptual understanding of the material. It also brings in a buch of other subjects (micro, biochem, etc. . .) so it may help in making connections to other subjects.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Long Dong]

Ive been using review books along with path, micro and pharm for classes. I listen to Webprep 60 minutes everyday for cardio.

How can I get a hold of webprep audio to listen too when I do cardio?
I've already gone threw goljan a few times while working out I'm tired of listening to his fart and spitting jokes.

 

[sapience8x]

i started out last semester trying to review things relevant to classes i was tkaing like review pulmonary anatomy and physiology when doing pulmonary path, etc. however when time got scarce, that was the first thing to go. i'm really trying not to do that this semester.
this semester i am trying to review topics relevant to classwork AND topics that aren't and am tyring to do QBank.
i went from doing 50 questions every week in qbank to 25 every week to 30 every other week. i like to write down the explanations to the questions i get wrong and i geuss i get too many wrong but i can't keep up!
every day i review answer explanations for past qbank questions that i have gotten wrong- for 1 or 2 subjects. i also add whatever else is on my list for that week- it may be a subject related to something we're studying in class or not. i guess i get in about an hour a day give or take. sometimes i listen to the relevant webprep. 2x a month i review FA rapid review and FA is an intregral part of my studying. i use it to figure out what is important and i am going ot try to use it to review everything i've studiee board wise for that month, at the end of each month.
i learn best but review things over and over again and i am trying to figure out the best way to do this. i deiscovered the studying quetsions technique while studying for the micro shelf and it worked really well. plus if you take notes from the explanations not just fromt he corretc answer but the other answers also, it is a way to briefly review a wide reange of topics.

 

[carrigallen]

I am more of a textbook person for learning - I like to read prose instead of lists. I am kind of a tangential learner.

Pathology:
Robbins (some of the chapters)
Rubins (this is our school's textbook)
Robbins Review of Pathology

Pharmacology:
Appleton & Lange
First Aid

Microcards
HY books
Annotating First Aid

Is BRS Physiology very good?

 

[Doc Ivy]

Is BRS Physiology very good?

Yes. Very good. It's all I used last year for Physiology in class-- and I can't think if anything it didn't cover very well, except for maybe neuro, and MSK.

 

[sapience8x]

I am more of a textbook person for learning - I like to read prose instead of lists. I am kind of a tangential learner.

Pathology:
Robbins (some of the chapters)
Rubins (this is our school's textbook)
Robbins Review of Pathology

Pharmacology:
Appleton & Lange
First Aid

Microcards
HY books
Annotating First Aid

Is BRS Physiology very good?

how do you find that rubins compares with robbins?
is the robbins review that you are talking about the question book or is there another one?

i found kaplan decent for the micro shelf

 

[bulldog]

sent in photo/signature last week. application complete today. just waiting to set up the date for the exam.

 

[Long Dong]

sent in photo/signature last week. application complete today. just waiting to set up the date for the exam.

Oh snap I better go online and start my application.

 

[Ramoray]

I am more of a textbook person for learning - I like to read prose instead of lists. I am kind of a tangential learner.

Pathology:
Robbins (some of the chapters)
Rubins (this is our school's textbook)
Robbins Review of Pathology

Pharmacology:
Appleton & Lange
First Aid

Microcards
HY books
Annotating First Aid

Is BRS Physiology very good?

wow! someone who actually reads a text book, between sdn and my classmates i was beginning to feel crazy for actually reading a textbook and not only using review books. I am the same way i would rather pound my head against a wall then sit down with a "list" type book for a few hours. I am able to study for long periods of time like 12 hours a day when i read books cause i enjoy a prose too, its interesting and i feel like i am leraning and not jsut memorizing whereas alot of classmates cant study for that long but they sit there starting at lists, no wonder, that wouldnt be very intresting. Anyway if there is a text book out there, i am reading it now.
I am also taking step 1 this june,
path-big robbins
micro/immuno- lange micro/immuno
pharm-Katzung big and small review + lippincotts
physio-costanzo stars book, not the brs
anatomy-Moore Essential Clinical anatomy w/HY
Neuro- Nolte text + HY
embryo-HY
biochem-lippincotts
histo-->squat
Questions?? i am still debating on how much time to spend on questions v. spending the time learning and cramming more stuff into my head. What do you guys think is a good number of questions to do without going overboard. Personally id rather spend the time learning more material than doing questiosn> I mean i have spent the last 2 years doing questions in medschool, 1000s of them, i think if you know the material the questions are easy, if you dont know the facts then no matter how much question practice you do, you wont get it right.. what do you guys think.

 

[omores]

Add me to the club.

Unfortunately, some of the material is long gone from my brain: had one year of basic science classes, one year of wards, and am winding up two years in the lab. At my school, most folks take Step 1 during the middle of their first research year when it's still (fairly) fresh; I went and had a baby instead.

The worst is biochem; hadn't looked at this stuff since fall 2001, and it didn't get reinforced at all on the wards (surprise surprise). I'm in better shape with Path and Pharm; that stuff gets refreshed all the time. Have been studying semi-intensively since January, and test is scheduled for mid-April (will push back if first NBME is a disaster). Hope to take two weeks off from the lab to prepare beforehand, but that's all I'll get.

Using a combo of review books and textbooks; relying heavily on Q-bank and Robbins Review Qs as well. For me, questions are absolutely key -- I never know if I know something until I have to answer a question about it it. I may think I've got it, then realize I'm missing some key bit of information. It's the questions I got wrong during my first year tests and during pimping sessions that I really remember now.

What's working best for me is doing short blocks of Q-bank, and when I run into a question I don't know, I don't immediately open the EXPLANATION box. Instead, I finish up the questions I do know and suspend the test. Then I think about the questions that stymied me, really mull them over, and eventually look to a primary source for the answer if I haven't already figured it out (e.g., big Robbins). This really helps things stick.

Now if only I could get rid of this damned perma-virus URI that's lodged in my nose, I'd be all set. Oh, and if my baby would only learn how to sleep through the night, that'd be a bonus as well!

 

[automaton]

long dong, when do ucla students take the boards?

 

[kanyanta]

I've just started incorporating FA into my study time, hoping to go through it several times before the semester ends. I'm also using high yeild pharm and BRS path. I take the exam june 10 hopefully I'll beat the mean.

Omarsaleh66 or anyone using goljan audio how helpful is it?????

 

[omarsaleh66]

I've just started incorporating FA into my study time, hoping to go through it several times before the semester ends. I'm also using high yeild pharm and BRS path. I take the exam june 10 hopefully I'll beat the mean.

Omarsaleh66 or anyone using goljan audio how helpful is it?????

Hi kanyanta

I like it alot. He's really good at explaining some of the pathophysiology behind some of the pathology. I really wish I used him more at the beginning of second year. For example, some of the stuff he says just sticks. U will not forget it. U could read the same thing in review books 3 times and not get it. So thats one thing I like about his lectures.

 

[the_equalizer]

Get hyped! What time is it? Just about test time! Get it on! Let's rock this thing!

OK, so I coached a little junior league hoops in my day, so...

For path I'm doing brs, the robbins q's and webpath.
Everything else is high yield, except brs physio and mmrs.
gonna do a block of q's or so everyday.
am probably going to have to open FA soon, and then once I've gotten to know it, you know, "intimately", I'll probably marry it and look at it all day, pondering how something so beautiful could have ever been made. But then I'll start to realize how complex it is, how disorganized it is, and the haphazardness of it's emotions will lead me to hate it. Then, as the test approches, I'll realize what a mistake I've made by scorning FA, and will return to it upon my knees, and try to squeeze every minute I can out of it.

Whether it earns a choice spot on my bookshelf or a visit to my grill, while it's lit and burning and what not, all depends on how I do on the test.

 

[aerial]

Yeah, the_equalizer, my game plan and ritual practices are similar to yours. In addition to praising the holy FA, I've been practicing some mental exercises:

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and out. Imagine that you have just received your score report. You tear it open and look!-- you got a kick ass score. Take a moment and let every cell of your being absorb that internal joy. Oh, what a feeling.​

All I have to do now is do a little less imagining and a little more studying and I think it'll work.

Looking forward to destroying this exam with all of you...

 

[Long Dong]

long dong, when do ucla students take the boards?

They said we have to take it before june 23 the begining of clinical foundations.

Does anybody wanna share their study schedule? And why they are sticking to that schedule?

 

[kanyanta]

Hi kanyanta

I like it alot. He's really good at explaining some of the pathophysiology behind some of the pathology. I really wish I used him more at the beginning of second year. For example, some of the stuff he says just sticks. U will not forget it. U could read the same thing in review books 3 times and not get it. So thats one thing I like about his lectures.

Omarsaleh66 - Thanks I think I'll try it.

 

[j802002]

I'm taking the test August 11th. My school orders NBME shelf tests for the subjects so we can prepare for taking the test. We just had biochemistry today. I don't think I'm really going to study for the shelf tests, just do a FA look through and familiarize myself with the main content.

I figure the only subject I'm really going to focus on before the summer starts is Path. Go through baby robbins and BRS Path as much as I can. As for everything else I'm honestly just focusing on a 6 week study schedule starting in July. I don't think I can take studying for second year and the boards without going insane.

I've figured out a schedule where I do only questions every thursday and take friday's and saturday's off. I give myself 6 days of just questions and FA review at the end and the day off before the exam. Each day I plan to go 10-6 with 2, 30 min breaks in between. During the last study hour of the day I'll do a block of questions. I'm trying to strike the right balance of questions and studying.

The books I'm using are:

Physiology - BRS Physio
Pharm – Kaplan Pharm, Lange Pharm + FA
Biochem – BRS Biochem + FA
Path – BRS Pathology
Histo/Embryo/Anatomy – Kaplan Anatomy + FA
Beh Sci – Kaplan Beh Sci + FA
Micro/Immuno – Kaplan Micro/Immuno