Spend the time on Big Robbins or RR?
Started by Trisphorin
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if you can get through big robbins during step 1 studying, then you are a god among mere mortals.
I am currently a MSI studying for path class. Trying to pick out the best material
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Is this just an intro to basic path class or will you be taking pathophysio alongside physic? I loved Big Robbins. People will say it's not worth it... just skip the diseases that you don't cover in class. Alternatively, there's Robbin's Basic Path, which is much shorter, or RR, or Pathoma.
I bought both Big Robbins and Medium Robbins (= Robbins Basic Pathology) at the start of second year. I tried using Big Robbins initially, but it was way too heavy on the details for me. I did read through a good chunk of Medium Robbins and felt a lot of it was very good for learning path/pathophys - I highly reccomend it for second year, but not for your dedicated Step I study time at the end of 2nd year.
So then which is it? Are you asking for which one to better learn it for the first time in the course or for board review? Your original question is different.
Thanks for suggestions! I am trying to find a source that I can use now and ultimately for the board, instead of jumping around between different books. I tried to read the big robbins initially but it was extremely time consuming for me because i am a very slow reader. The only concern I have for RR is that I am afraid I might be losing testable details that are in the big robbins.
Big Robbins is very useful
It keeps the door to my dining room propped open very nicely
It keeps the door to my dining room propped open very nicely
The information in Big Robbins is way too much to retain. Your head will explode and you're not given enough time to truly absorb it anyways. It is however great to look at for all the gross and histology pictures. Medium Robbins is probably best (you said you're currently an M1 learning Path, right?), when learning for the first time, bc you have a much greater chance at retaining it.
That being said, for board review, most people are now using Pathoma, and have shied away from RR Path with the Goljan audios.
I tried medium robbins for like a day and then I lost the book. Good riddance. I bought RR Path and don't use it at all although I will try to look at the blue boxes later. I listen to Goljan audios in my car and Pathoma for my study. I think they complement each other with pathoma being good for explaining things and goljan being good for integration and correlations.
Neither. Pathoma the way to go for step 1. Add in RR during 2nd year
He's an MS-1. He has yet to learn Path at all.
Yeah but in his OP he asked about efficiency for Step 1. And besides, I started using Pathoma halfway through M1 and through M2. Was an amazing resource...way better than all that superfluous other stuff out there.
Oh, ok. I was going based on his post where he said, "I am currently a MSI studying for path class. Trying to pick out the best material."
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Read general path from medium Robbins, it's important.
I think it's the first 7 chapters.
I think it's the first 7 chapters.
goljan's pathology book + pathoma. they complement each other perfectly.
big robbins is worthless. it's too thick, full of too much detail and organized poorly.
big robbins is worthless. it's too thick, full of too much detail and organized poorly.
I personally kinda liked Big Robbins. I appreciated the huge amount of unnecessary detail. Of course, one year later I now remember nothing from it, but it's interesting to know just about everything there is to know about the disease.
All that said, it's not a good use of time if efficiency is the goal. I would essentially read Big Robbins if it was interesting, skim it if it wasn't, and then actually use Pathoma/Rapid Review for real studying. Robbins is just too beastly to actually study from.
For board review, Pathoma is sufficient IMO. Rapid Review is a good second source if you want more detail.
All that said, it's not a good use of time if efficiency is the goal. I would essentially read Big Robbins if it was interesting, skim it if it wasn't, and then actually use Pathoma/Rapid Review for real studying. Robbins is just too beastly to actually study from.
For board review, Pathoma is sufficient IMO. Rapid Review is a good second source if you want more detail.
If Big Robbins didn't go into such great molecular/cell biology/chromosome locus detail (I mean like a ridiculous), it would be more readable. Kudos to you if you were able to retain Big Robbins information for class exams.
Lol, definitely not. It was more like intellectual masturbation for a few minutes that quickly dissipated after I was finished reading. Personally I find the cell bio stuff extremely interesting despite how totally irrelevant it is to anything. But clearly it wasn't interesting enough to actually remain in my memory.
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LOL! I thought I was the only one that had the quick dissipation. Was nice to learn it in-depth while it lasted.
"intellectual masturbation," that's just fantastic lol.
My school test directly from big Robbins. Some questions even have the exact same stems. It is like we are being forced to go through the big Robbins.
What I personally do is.
Pathoma for quick intro ----->>> golian for review of materials learned from pathoma and new stuff. ------->>>> quick read of big Robbins.
When you have studied pathoma and golian then it won't be difficult for you to go through Robbins because many things would overlap.
What I personally do is.
Pathoma for quick intro ----->>> golian for review of materials learned from pathoma and new stuff. ------->>>> quick read of big Robbins.
When you have studied pathoma and golian then it won't be difficult for you to go through Robbins because many things would overlap.
....
Doesn't it depend on his curriculum, I'm a first year and have learned all the path for General Path, MSK, Neuro and Finishing up CardioPulmonary.
IMG schools teach different than U.S. schools.
Median Robbins (Basic Pathology) + RR Goljan + Pathoma.
May it lead me to success.
May it lead me to success.
You should have left your anger in the thread in which you called me a troll.
What do your ellipses mean?
I admire your ambition, but you're fking nuts! That is way overkill and there is no way you will thoroughly learn all of it. Better to stick to one source, learn it really well, and supplement anything you don't understand with an outside source for clarification. But hey, do whatever makes you happy.
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I want to use Median Robbins as my go to textbook during 1st/2nd year and RR + Pathoma for board review.
Isn't RR Path by Goljan itself enough to get through alone? I can't imagine doing RR with the audios along with Pathoma.
Don't waste your time.
Brain fart
Robbins has some good sections. For instance, the section on stroke is pretty good, it sums up some things nicely for understanding. But if you plan on using Robbins as a primary resource, good luck. For instance, glycogen storage disease is a monster in Robbins. Anybody that reads sections like this in detail I think is probably not doing things efficiently.
I use robbins probably more than most, but it's mainly to help understand some things or for clarification. Whether or not you use Robbins will probably depend on how your school teaches path
Robbins is not an efficient use of time imo. RR Path is plenty heavy on details. If you compare RR path to Pathoma, RR path has way more in-depth coverage of diseases. I used Big Robbins in the beginning but it is just a ridiculous amount of details that you will no doubt get lost in and lose focus of the big picture. RR path is the perfect amount of details while keeping a good overall picture.
I use RR path for learning and Pathoma for review before exams, it works perfectly for me.
I use RR path for learning and Pathoma for review before exams, it works perfectly for me.
Darn. I guess I'll put it in my office when I am an attending to make me look smart.
Makes for a great doorstop too.
well either way robbins isn't the answer, imo
What? Is Mean Robbins not good enough for you?
Never owned/opened any book by Robbins. Pathoma didn't exist when I was in school.
For me it was class notes and RR Pathology + Goljan audio all day errrryday.
For me it was class notes and RR Pathology + Goljan audio all day errrryday.
You're also at the very high end of the bell curve @GuyWhoDoesStuff (compliment).
Unfortunately I'm a rather inefficient note taker/slow reader, so I'm not sure I would've had time for any Robbins action.
If you're referring to Big Robbins that's all of us. If you're referring to Medium Robbins, then I think you could handle it, if you can handle RR Path. I always thought RR Path read very disjointed, it's in outline format after all. I think the key was the Goljan audios. then it just clicked for some reason and it stuck.
I will counter and say that I almost exclusively used Red Robbins (the question book). It's organized by system and reinforces the testable topics through its explanations. Won't give you a lot depth, but it's fast and hits basically everything testable (with the benefit that it's entirely questions and thus entirely relevant to exams).
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I don't think we would have gotten along
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