start early?

[echod]

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i just finished my first year. if i want to torture myself, what subjects/stuff are good to study this summer? thanks a lot!

 

[JayZee]

that's a BIG "IF"

since you just finished first year, path will not be high on ur list.
I don't know how ur curriculum is set up, but if you've covered micro and pharm at all, i think thad be a good place to start.

also basic science subjects that you may have just covered: physio, anatomy
good luck!

 

[VincentAdultman]

i just finished my first year. if i want to torture myself, what subjects/stuff are good to study this summer? thanks a lot!

Buy First Aid. Then, have your friend smack you around with it until you're sane.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I think a better use of your time than review would be to think about your study plan for later.

Read old posts in this forum and find out what books people used, what questions they used, and how long they needed to prepare. Read amazon.com reviews and anything else you can find to get more perspective about what books are worth buying and what books to ignore.

Get a book for one subject you've done already and flip through it to get a feel for the amount of content and how closely it matched your 1st year course. The purpose is not to review but to get an idea of how much time it might take you to get through a book like that. You can then compare this with other reports on this forum to figure out if you're faster, slower, or about the same as others. Think about how you could put together a system that would help you retain that information.

Think about your 2nd year schedule and figure out how much time you can spare during spring (and perhaps winter) for prep and how much time you have available between 2nd and 3rd year.

These are things I did during my post-MS1 summer. You have to do them sooner or later, and it's much less painful than actual review. If you review now, you'll just have to re-review later, but if you make a tentative plan now, you'll save that much time down the road.

 

[Abacus1050]

I read through brs phys during my post m1 summer, but now I realize as I'm studying for the real thing (10 days, gulp) that i am having to relearn it all anyways. So, i can't say it made a difference beyond making myself feel productive. Getting familar with the review books before you have to cram from them can't hurt though.

 

[PeterGriffin]

Buy First Aid. Then, have your friend smack you around with it until you're sane.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

i just finished my first year. if i want to torture myself, what subjects/stuff are good to study this summer? thanks a lot!

All of the studying for Step1 is glorified cramming. The only possible thing you might do is if you really sucked at something try to nail down some concepts in that topic (skip the details for now). I can tell you it is NO fun to be learning stuff for the first time when your test is 2 weeks away.

 

[predodoc]

I know alot of people study all the subjects in cycles and usually get through 1-2 of them. Has anybody ever gone through a cycle(minus most pathology) during the summer after M1 just to write notes in FA, get familiar with the books and of course to review what all you didnt learn well the first time?

It seems like NOBODY recommends this, but to me it looks like a good idea. I would say that about 85% of questions from USMLE/COMLEX thread are about which books are good, how much time it takes to review, what is important,ect..... If you get through one round of this during your summer and work out all the bugs Why would this be a bad idea? Even if you dont remember much 9 months later at least you will know what to do and maybe have some good notes in FA to review. Can anybody who may have done this shed some info? Thanks

 

[tupac_don]

i just finished my first year. if i want to torture myself, what subjects/stuff are good to study this summer? thanks a lot!

I'd cover all subjects in first year (if you can), if you can't do subjects you were weakest in. I mean people say, anatomy, histo, embryology is low yield and it's true, but if you can nail those 10-20 q they give you from these 3 subjects, why not. You have time now.

Also someone said to familiarize yourself with the review books, that's also a great idea, it's much easier to study something, that you seen before, than cracking it open for the first time weeks before a test. Most of those BRS books are quite easy to pass, in a couple of days, if you are intense, if you take it eazy, you can do it in a week. Plus it's a nice review to keep concepts fresh in your head.

Also buy first Aid and go over all subjects of first year. I mean first aid is pretty shady and covers the most imp concepts, but at least you can start burning them into your brain.

Good luck.

 

[PeterGriffin]

All of the studying for Step1 is glorified cramming. The only possible thing you might do is if you really sucked at something try to nail down some concepts in that topic (skip the details for now). I can tell you it is NO fun to be learning stuff for the first time when your test is 2 weeks away.

or 2 hours away, for that matter