Starting board prep

[YayPudding]

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Hi all,

Excuse my vague inquiry, but I think I want to start integrating board prep into my studying for classes. Where's a good place to start?

I bought First Aid for USMLE and COMLEX but I'd like some practice questions and flashcard sets. Is Firecracker my best bet? I hear it integrates multiple sources.

For what's it's worth I'm a military student who will probably take both COMLEX and USMLE

Thanks

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If you're going into a military residency, there is no point in taking the USMLE. Just focus on doing both COMBANK and COMQUEST instead. Create your own flashcards from things you learn in the bank.

 

[Rekt]

Hi all,

Excuse my vague inquiry, but I think I want to start integrating board prep into my studying for classes. Where's a good place to start?

I bought First Aid for USMLE and COMLEX but I'd like some practice questions and flashcard sets. Is Firecracker my best bet? I hear it integrates multiple sources.

For what's it's worth I'm a military student who will probably take both COMLEX and USMLE

Thanks

So you're a first year right? You just started a few months ago. Incorporating board questions right now is a waste of questions. You know barely anything at all at this point. Firecracker is a good resource if you have the stamina to use it correctly everyday for the next 1.5 years. Follow along in First Aid only for subjects you've actually covered. My overall best advice is destroy your classes and it makes board studying easier when everything is review instead of learning new things. This isn't a popular opinion on SDN for whatever reason, but there's an obvious correlation to how well you do in pre-clinicals and on boards.

 

[pstrick]

Firecracker is a good resource if you have the stamina to use it correctly everyday for the next 1.5 years.

How do you use firecracker 'correctly' or incorrectly?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

How do you use firecracker 'correctly' or incorrectly?

Basically don’t skip days. Ever. The ones who get benefit out of it are the ones who are very consistent with it.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

We have a systems based curriculum that is going to start in January. The only “board” stuff I’m doing is Bros. I found a thread on Reddit that the guy would do the Phys, path, and pharm cards for whatever system they were currently doing and then when we was done with the system would transfer those decks to a new “master deck” that he would review for just like an hour in the morning before doing the new cards for the other system.

Sounded decent so I’m going to give it a shot and see how it goes. If I don’t like it then I’ll do something else.

 

[Scrubs101]

Im just doing firecracker right now, supplementing with B&B, and skimming along in FA. As of right now i spend probably 60-75% of my studying time on school provided resources. Will probably B&B some subjects that werent covered in our basic science courses that are in FC/FA basic science sections this break. But thats about the exent of it. Will integrate either Kaplan or Rx once we start systems, and save the rest of the board resources for later in 2nd year.

For what it’s worth I talked with my school advisors (who have years of data to back this up) and they have said those who do well in class typically do well on boards, so don’t distract yourself too much away from class this early in the game. However this could also mean people who were on their A game in school courses were also on their A game with board resources. Im just a first year so I don’t have any experience to back this up, and many SDNers don’t fully agree with that sentiment

 

[Goro]

Hi all,

Excuse my vague inquiry, but I think I want to start integrating board prep into my studying for classes. Where's a good place to start?

I bought First Aid for USMLE and COMLEX but I'd like some practice questions and flashcard sets. Is Firecracker my best bet? I hear it integrates multiple sources.

For what's it's worth I'm a military student who will probably take both COMLEX and USMLE

Thanks

COMBANK!

I have mixed feelings about Firecracker. The questions can be poorly written (ie, some are pseudo questions, with a lot of info, but all you really need to do is look at the last sentence; some questions do test on minutiae.)

I'm a fan of doing as many practice questions as possible, no matter what the source though.

I also recommend USMLE Step 1 Secrets in color, and FA Cases for the USMLE Step 1 (2nd ed).

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I'm a fan of doing as many practice questions as possible, no matter what the source though.

I’ve been told this too by some upper class men. Some of our third year’s that wrecked boards said they just started by using any questions they could get their hands on and worked their way up to starting UWorld the 6 months before their exam.

 

[YayPudding]

I found practicing questions for the MCAT and now for classes to be critical. I don't really know something unless I'm under some pressure.

 

[cjcarter]

I don't see the point of starting to study for boards when we just started med school 4 months ago and haven't even finished anatomy.....????

 

[YayPudding]

I don't see the point of starting to study for boards when we just started med school 4 months ago and haven't even finished anatomy.....????

My school has finished anatomy. We're into cell and below which is moderate to high yield for boards.

 

[jcve34]

I use firecracker. I only use it towards the end of a course to test my knowledge of stuff. That way I can confirm what I know to that level and then see some of the smaller details/diseases that weren’t introduced in class.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

My school has finished anatomy. We're into cell and below which is moderate to high yield for boards.

I'd really focus more on getting your systems and the physiology down for the sake of knowing it. Not trying to get every detail in now.

 

[pstrick]

COMBANK!

Any thoughts on ExamMaster? That's what I get free through my school

 

[Goro]

Any thoughts on ExamMaster? That's what I get free through my school

I like Exammaster too.
EDIT: some thing to consider is that exam banks that explain why the wrong answers are wrong are very useful.

Don't merely go through questions until you get the right answer...that's simply trying to memorize the correct answers. It's often just as helpful to know why something is NOT correct!

 

[t5Nitro]

Any thoughts on ExamMaster? That's what I get free through my school

You should start now with USMLE-Rx (severely underrated resource as a starting Qbank). Then go through combank and UWORLD. Make your way through Pathoma and Goljan's path rapid review textbook. It's a lot of material to get through. I don't recommend reinventing the wheel with what is known to score people in the >250 range. Take your FA book in and have the binding cut and put into a 3-ring binder. Annotate as you go through, add blank pages with your own notes or helpful memory tools. My school had exammaster too. I don't know anybody that used it.

 

[Vrachika]

Hey just a first year here myself so take what I have to say with a grain of salt obviously, but for "boards prep" I have mostly just been trying to kill my classes, by studying lectures/powerpoints, then filling in a little extra with googling/textbooks/review books or maybe sketchy/pathoma if it applies. I'd say most of my time (~85-90%) is focusing on class material, then I use the other stuff just to fill in blanks/solidify topics if needed.

When I have time (usually 3-5x/wk), I do some Anki cards (downloaded Zanki deck, put all stuff we've already gone though into one master review deck) to stay fresh on old stuff. I would like to work in some Qbank stuff but haven't yet, might not worry about that until beginning of 2nd year.

Basically my strategy is to learn as much as possible, as well as possible, along with class. After first year I plan to start adding in actual boards prep by being more serious with Anki and getting serious with a quality Qbank.

 

[shadowlightfox]

If you're going into a military residency, there is no point in taking the USMLE. Just focus on doing both COMBANK and COMQUEST instead. Create your own flashcards from things you learn in the bank.

I beg to differ. Even if you are only taking COMLEX, UWorld is still the best prep tool around at least because it does a good job explaining to you concepts that will be on COMLEX, which is very similar to concepts the USMLE wants you to know. Obviously the questions are not asked in the same style as COMLEX, which is what COMBANK and COMQUEST are for. Hence I recommend UWorld for learning, and COMBANK/COMQUEST for getting used to COMLEX style questions.

I second using pathoma for pathology. For pharm, depends on your curriculum, but my school's pharmacology curriculum is terrible, which is why I'm relying on sketchypharm. Sketchymicro for microbiology is a MUST.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I beg to differ. Even if you are only taking COMLEX, UWorld is still the best prep tool around at least because it does a good job explaining to you concepts that will be on COMLEX, which is very similar to concepts the USMLE wants you to know. Obviously the questions are not asked in the same style as COMLEX, which is what COMBANK and COMQUEST are for. Hence I recommend UWorld for learning, and COMBANK/COMQUEST for getting used to COMLEX style questions.

I second using pathoma for pathology. For pharm, depends on your curriculum, but my school's pharmacology curriculum is terrible, which is why I'm relying on sketchypharm. Sketchymicro for microbiology is a MUST.

Right, COMBANK and COMQUEST questions do not train you how to think about material. They simply provide questions that rudimentarily analyze whether or not you have gotten the material. UWORLD is undoubtedly and unquestionably a resource that everyone should complete before their exam if they wish to have a solid chance of scoring well.

 

[pstrick]

I don't recommend reinventing the wheel with what is known to score people in the >250 range.

What does the schedule look like for someone shooting for a 220?

 

[t5Nitro]

What does the schedule look like for someone shooting for a 220?

One round of UFAP and sketchy micro.

 

[Preston Garvey]

If you are really going to start studying for boards your first year PLEASE take the summer off to have fun. Once second year starts the **** doesn't stop flowing. Personally I think a great time to start studying is the beginning of your second year. Speaking as a 4th year burnout is real, and the last thing you want to do is burn out before the biggest test of your life.

 

[68PGunner]

Hi all,

Excuse my vague inquiry, but I think I want to start integrating board prep into my studying for classes. Where's a good place to start?

I bought First Aid for USMLE and COMLEX but I'd like some practice questions and flashcard sets. Is Firecracker my best bet? I hear it integrates multiple sources.

For what's it's worth I'm a military student who will probably take both COMLEX and USMLE

Thanks

220+ on Step 1 will be enough to get matched to almost every specialties in the Army. For example, the # of slots for Urology for this past year exceed the # of applicants. Just pass all your classes and PT, and do average on the Steps.