Soon to begin M2 -- preliminary study goals?

[drdude21]

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I'm about to begin 2nd year in less than a month, have read through several posts in this forum and was wondering about input, esp. from those who have recently received their Step 1 scores.

I am not the super gunnerish type -- I haven't done any studying this summer, favoring a light but productive research/shadowing schedule and lots of R&R -- but have encountered several people in my class who have already begun seriously studying. My understanding is that this is on the ridiculous side, but I'm also not kidding myself about the work I'm going to need to put in to get 240(245?)+, since I am interested in some of the more competitive specialties (optho, uro, ENT), and am also skittish because my MCAT score, while sufficient to get me in to a good school, was not super high--admittedly due to half-assed studying.

My general plan while classes are in session is to:
(1) follow along in First Aid from the start, to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of minutiae professors might emphasize vs. what's more likely to be on Step 1;
(2) listen to Goljan lectures related to the material being covered as we go along;
(3) start a subscription to USMLERx from the beginning and go over questions related to the material we're learning as we go along.

Is this sufficient? Overkill? Of course I also plan to study like hell, but find that my school is VERY not Step 1-minded in the focus of its courses.
I understand I should save all the practice tests and especially USMLEWorld until the real study period comes after classes end?

Also on the burner is the fact that my school is TRUE P/F for the first 2 years, and I have heard anecdotally of students who basically neglect class slides, etc., in favor of boards-oriented studying from the beginning, sliding by with bare passes on tests and then killing Step 1. Any thoughts on this strategy?

 

[Rollo]

Your plan is good. It's not overkill, and it's not half-assed. I'd stick with it.

As far as choosing to board-study over learning insignificant details? I chose to focus on boards studying over wasting time memorizing small details that might have gotten me an extra point or two on the class exams.

Don't ignore the details so much that you're barely passing the exams because you don't want the stress of failing exams and possibility of failing a course. At the same time, don't get so caught up in the details that you overlook the important concepts for boards.

 

[235009]

i think your plan is solid. i would suggest you not only look at FA but also annotate it, either to improve your understanding or to add important facts that were left out. you'll mostly find these in the QBank but they might come from the class material. remember that everything is fair game on step 1, FA just has the most commonly tested stuff.

As for the QBank, i can't say anything about USMLERx but i had kaplan throughout the school year and it was really good, helps you solidify the basics so you can make sure you understand the material and adds a few lower yield yet important facts. The physio qbank was also useful at times.

 

[Brewmeister]

Follow along with FA as well as RR Pathology (written by Goljan). I've heard not so great things about USMLERx (didn't use it myself)--I used Kaplan qBank throughout the year and thought it was very good (most of my systems courses had NBME finals and Kaplan got me ready for these). People in your class will start panicking about step 1 sometime around november and will start reviewing 1st year stuff instead of focusing on 2nd year material--bad idea. I started reviewing 1st year stuff around January and was more than fine.

 

[DoctwoB]

I'm also about to begin M2 and was hoping to get a critique of my study plan. For a little background I've been a solid student through M1, been doing Gunner training along with classes starting midway through M1. I really need to kill step1 though as I want to do a very competitive specialty and would really need to match in an area of the country that is also very competitive, and am willing to make the sacrifices to do it.

My basic plan for each class (in an integrated organs system curriculum):

Bank all GT material/do questions and memorize
Read BRS physio, RR path, and First aid, preferably 2x
listen to Goijan audio
Learn all class material in syllabus and memorize as best as possible, but I will not be going to class outside of required PBLs.
Go over all questions + incorrects in Kaplan Qbank and annotating into either a high yield study guide that I would make or first aid.

Things I'd consider adding

Another Qbank (Uworld?) where I do blocks of random questions of all the subjects I've completed to that date.
Pathoma instead of or in addition to RR + audio

Questions:

Does this seem like way too much? Could I be doing more?

I'm thinking of taking important facts that I don't know (from qbank questions, etc.) and making a very condensed study guide/factbook so I can quickly review things that I didn't know and got wrong on questions and such. Has anyone done something like this and would you recommend it instead of or in addition to annotating into first aid?

 

[neuromaniac]

hey I'm doing the exact same thing. I'm making a list of high yield facts. Here's my plan. Materials used: FA 2012, Goljan RR Path, 3rd Ed., Kaplan, and U-World. I will use Kaplan/U-World questions through the fall and after each test block, I will write the test question subjects down in a notebook. When FA 2012 comes in I will then transfer all of my high yield information I jotted down from the Q-banks into FA if needed. Sometimes FA does such a great job that everything U-World or Kaplan explains is already in FA.

Also, I wanted to shed some light into buying programs in order to ace the boards. I tried a free trail of Kaplan's questions and they sent me an e-mail (weeks later) about this cardiology course. The instructor was literally reading, aloud, from FA...haha! and I was sitting there going why would I but a course that reads out of FA. One caveat: somestimes the instructors will say "THIS WILL BE ON THE BOARDS" and I'm sure every student, including myself, circles that topic and remembers that that will be on the boards. However, in all technicality, everything in FA and elsewhere could be on the boards.

Finally, I hope our plans work. For me--I'll stick with Goljan and FA and those 2 Q-Banks and study. A lot. 🙂

 

[Rollo]

Some of you guys are doing a little too much with doing multiple Qbanks and annotating every single detail.

You will burnout.

Don't study like a madman (and yes, annotating every single detail from multiple Qbanks qualifies).

Work on the foundations, and glean over board material every now and then (2-3x week). Trust me, studying constantly for 8-10 hours for at least 4 weeks will exhaust even the most gunnerish hard-working SOB.

 

[Brewmeister]

You guys are nuts. Board review services during M1? Seriously, cancel that GT subscription and spend your money on something more worthwhile (vaca after step 1?). Except for 5-8 space cadet questions, there is nothing on step 1 that doesn't come straight from UWorld, FA, RR Pathology, BRS physio or RR Biochemistry. Why people obsess over Goljan audio is also beyond me. It is literally the same thing as his book. Unless you are an auditory learner, concentrate on the book.

 

[JasonE]

You guys are nuts. Board review services during M1? Seriously, cancel that GT subscription and spend your money on something more worthwhile (vaca after step 1?). Except for 5-8 space cadet questions, there is nothing on step 1 that doesn't come straight from UWorld, FA, RR Pathology, BRS physio or RR Biochemistry. Why people obsess over Goljan audio is also beyond me. It is literally the same thing as his book. Unless you are an auditory learner, concentrate on the book.

LOL.

"there is nothing on step 1 that doesn't come straight from UWorld, FA, RR Pathology, BRS physio or RR Biochemistry"

 

[Brewmeister]

LOL.

"there is nothing on step 1 that doesn't come straight from UWorld, FA, RR Pathology, BRS physio or RR Biochemistry"

Sorry...for those who thing they are gonna break their conservative goal of 280 I guess you can read Robbins pathology as well

 

[neuromaniac]

LOL.

"there is nothing on step 1 that doesn't come straight from UWorld, FA, RR Pathology, BRS physio or RR Biochemistry"

👍👍

 

[neuromaniac]

Hey, guys what do you know about Gunner Training? I signed on for a free trial and it looks cool. They pretty much outline FA and they have very good pictures that FA doesn't have. Also, they believe in spaced learning, which in my opinion, is very helpful for retaining all this information. It is pretty much an interactive FA and they ask you questions over topics you just read. What do you all think