Spending too much time on Micro?

[TheMaestro]

---

Members don't see this ad.

So I've spent the past 4 days trying to master Micro and honestly I haven't got very far. There is just way too much detail and the antibiotic and all the drugs are driving me crazy.

Im thinking of giving up testing myself on flash cards and just keep on rereading the First Aid section like everyday while doign the UW questions (There are only 200 Micro questions in UW so I think I can finish them all in a week).

Btw, I haven't started any system yet. I only have a little under 6 weeks till my exam and I was thinking these next two weeks I would master my "basics" which consist of : (Micro, Pharm in FA, Immuno, Basic Path from Golijan up to Neoplasia, and Biochem). After getting the basics down I will hammer in the systems over the next 3 weeks. The last week I will go over all the systems one more time per day. So far I have only read through Micro Pharm and Immuno and I still have to do the Path and Biochem.

This micro though is taking way too long and so I'm off to super slow start!! There is no way I'm going to know all of this stuff. I don't think pharm is that bad because a lot of it ties into physiology but this micro is just str8 memorization.


Maybe if I just finish all the UW questions in micro it will be better than me doing flashcards and trying to memorize facts all the time?

Am I spending too much time on Micro? Any help or information on my study strategy would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[IM Substance P]

So I've spent the past 4 days trying to master Micro and honestly I haven't got very far. There is just way too much detail and the antibiotic and all the drugs are driving me crazy.

Im thinking of giving up testing myself on flash cards and just keep on rereading the First Aid section like everyday while doign the UW questions (There are only 200 Micro questions in UW so I think I can finish them all in a week).

Btw, I haven't started any system yet. I only have a little under 6 weeks till my exam and I was thinking these next two weeks I would master my "basics" which consist of : (Micro, Pharm in FA, Immuno, Basic Path from Golijan up to Neoplasia, and Biochem). After getting the basics down I will hammer in the systems over the next 3 weeks. The last week I will go over all the systems one more time per day. So far I have only read through Micro Pharm and Immuno and I still have to do the Path and Biochem.

This micro though is taking way too long and so I'm off to super slow start!! There is no way I'm going to know all of this stuff. I don't think pharm is that bad because a lot of it ties into physiology but this micro is just str8 memorization.


Maybe if I just finish all the UW questions in micro it will be better than me doing flashcards and trying to memorize facts all the time?

Am I spending too much time on Micro? Any help or information on my study strategy would be appreciated. Thanks!

You're probably spending too much time on Micro. The FA section is a little dense if you ask me.

You're much better understanding basic immunology and microbiology and then knowing the major clinical manifestations of bacterial, viral, and fungal illnesses. Memorizing which agar plates are used to grow bacteria, which family viruses belong to, etc. is totally overkill. Studying in that depth provides only marginal benefit.

 

[FutureDoc4]

I honestly find it impossible to sit down and "memorize" the FA section of Micro... have you tried CMMRS?

Basically, I read each section (very leisurely) and look at how it's corresponding section in first aid. They also do all (most) of the micro drugs as well. This has been extremely helpful for me.... but, the book is no small read (I think like 350 pages). Though you have 6 weeks until your exam, so you are not in a crunch yet.

 

[FutureDoc4]

P.S. If you need to learn Micro and drugs just go here 😀:

http://thehealingblade.com/video.html

This was posted in the pre-allo forum... im kidding, it won't help you learn anything.... it just happens to be the nerdiest thing I have ever, EVER, seen and will make you at least smile about micro

 

[blahwhatever]

Have you tried Kaplan videos? I watched the 2007 Kaplan videos for micro, and used CMMRS charts that summarize the bugs to follow along and annotate anything that wasn't on there(Most of the stuff on Kaplan IS already on there so not much writing necessary). It took me about 3 days to do the whole thing, the videos are only 11 hours total.

I haven't watched biochem videos for Kaplan yet, but I've read that those are highly recommended too, and it's about 18 hours. My plan for that is to reference FA while I watch the videos, and use the videos just to understand everything on FA.

 

[axeon123]

Have you tried Kaplan videos? I watched the 2007 Kaplan videos for micro, and used CMMRS charts that summarize the bugs to follow along and annotate anything that wasn't on there(Most of the stuff on Kaplan IS already on there so not much writing necessary). It took me about 3 days to do the whole thing, the videos are only 11 hours total.

I haven't watched biochem videos for Kaplan yet, but I've read that those are highly recommended too, and it's about 18 hours. My plan for that is to reference FA while I watch the videos, and use the videos just to understand everything on FA.

were the microbio videos helpful in teaching (ie did they actually teach)? i'm going thru a chunk of microcards each day, would be great to have the videos solidify everything. but i enjoyed the biochem/immuno/physio/pharm from kaplan videos, though iheard the pathology was very bad.

 

[username456789]

To go along with this discussion, do you guys think it'd be more helpful to go through the individual bugs before going back to the first few pages of FA Micro with all the random categorizations? (odd stainers, bugs with toxins, left handed red haired bacteria, etc).

 

[JustSomePreMed]

So I've spent the past 4 days trying to master Micro and honestly I haven't got very far. There is just way too much detail and the antibiotic and all the drugs are driving me crazy.

Im thinking of giving up testing myself on flash cards and just keep on rereading the First Aid section like everyday while doign the UW questions (There are only 200 Micro questions in UW so I think I can finish them all in a week).

Btw, I haven't started any system yet. I only have a little under 6 weeks till my exam and I was thinking these next two weeks I would master my "basics" which consist of : (Micro, Pharm in FA, Immuno, Basic Path from Golijan up to Neoplasia, and Biochem). After getting the basics down I will hammer in the systems over the next 3 weeks. The last week I will go over all the systems one more time per day. So far I have only read through Micro Pharm and Immuno and I still have to do the Path and Biochem.

This micro though is taking way too long and so I'm off to super slow start!! There is no way I'm going to know all of this stuff. I don't think pharm is that bad because a lot of it ties into physiology but this micro is just str8 memorization.


Maybe if I just finish all the UW questions in micro it will be better than me doing flashcards and trying to memorize facts all the time?

Am I spending too much time on Micro? Any help or information on my study strategy would be appreciated. Thanks!

Gahhh, I'm in a similar situation (but less time until my exam). I've spent all of today on micro and feel like I've wasted half of a day completely. I just don't know how to make this crap stick . . . I have FA and MicroCards . . . I kind of just figured CMMRS would be too long a read at this point (I read through some of it about 3 months ago as a refresher).

Keep the suggestions coming, guys! I absolutely hate micro!

 

[metalrex]

I've found the FA micro section to be pretty solid.Added to that I keep looking up the CMMRS charts ( annotated CMMRS--> FA 6 months ago,so I don't bother with the text).

Someone once mentioned here that the Micro tables below were a good read:
www.firstaidteam.com/cases/

Printing those CMMRS charts out and having em next to your bed helps retain those nasty bugs in your head 😉

 

[metalrex]

Also I have wondered how long it takes on an average to get a system /subject done? I take like 3 days for a single subject/system sometimes and hope I am not blowing away my time.

How bout ya guys?

 

[username456789]

That sounds about right. I spent 3 on Biochem which pissed me off (but I started a day earlier than originally planned, so bonus). I'll probably spend 2-3 days on organ systems, which will hopefully leave me enough time to then go back through them quickly (I learn a lot better with multiple passes).

I plan on doing Behavior Sciences in one day and Embryology in one day (anyone think that sounds unreasonable?)

As for micro, I've been slow as well, but I'm doing FA/MicroCards (pseudo-simultaneously) and I'm just gonna plow through as much as I can, hope some of it sticks today/tomorrow(/maybe Friday), and then try to do a few MicroCards each night to stay fresh.