Step 1 and Failing Classes

[thedoctor8706]

Here's my situation, and before I begin, let me say I'm not exaggerating by saying "failing a class," (I'm not the type to think OMG no honors? I'm FAILING); I really am close to failing two of my classes.

Spring Break begins tomorrow, and after that week there are 5 weeks of classes, 1.5 weeks of final exams, then 4 weeks of blank time before I take Step 1 (June 7). I'm not very closed off about anything, so it's no secret to anyone that I am struggling to pass 2 of my classes, microbiology and pharmacology, which to me are such a struggle since I can't seem to pronounce half the words. I did so poorly in them at the beginning of the year, that now I'm throwing myself into them in order to pull the grades up. I'll be able to pull that off, but it has taken a LOT of effort, and so basically I have NOT prepared for Step I yet AT ALL. I know I have to be wary of all the gunners and over achievers, but when kids are talking about finishing over half of Uworld and already reading Goljan and First Aid through, I can't help but feel behind, especially since I need to continue pushing hard to pass my classes.

How should I go about prepping now that I have limited time and I still need to pass classes? I have First Aid, Goljan RR and Audio, Uworld, and a DIT subscription. I just haven't used them yet... at all. What's the best way to organize/prioritize and make it through those resources while still putting considerable time into passing my main pharm/micro classes?

I mean seriously, Goljan Audio is what 40 hours? And RR is 500 pgs on top of First Aid? I don't mind the work, I just don't know how I'll have enough time to do it all. I don't overly care about acing Step I, I just want to pass comfortably so I can land a nice EM residency back home in Ohio (225?).

Thanks in advance for the advice, SDN has always been really helpful to me, even before taking the MCAT.

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[misplacedshadow]

are you a us medical student or a carribbean medical student?

 

[alternatego]

From what I've seen posted in the forums, you should focus on FA+UW, given the short amount of time you have at your disposal.

 

[thedoctor8706]

are you a us medical student or a carribbean medical student?

I'm a US medical student in an allopathic school.

From what I've seen posted in the forums, you should focus on FA+UW, given the short amount of time you have at your disposal.

Thanks Just didn't know how that would factor in given the extra time I have to push into passing those two classes, especially considering so many people sing Goljan's praises in regards to Step I. I have heard that maybe I should just go through and at least study all the pictures in RR if I'm limited? I don't know.

 

[shan564]

I'm a US medical student in an allopathic school.



Thanks Just didn't know how that would factor in given the extra time I have to push into passing those two classes, especially considering so many people sing Goljan's praises in regards to Step I. I have heard that maybe I should just go through and at least study all the pictures in RR if I'm limited? I don't know.

If you're looking to cover high-yield pathology in a limited time period, consider using Pathoma instead of Goljan. It's still 35 hours, but you can play it at 1.5x speed, and he follows along with his textbook, so you don't need to spend an indefinite amount of time with RR.

One major question will just be how much time you need to prepare. If you think you can get through 10 pages of First Aid every day, you can follow some derivative of the DIT 12-week study plan:
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-12Week-DIT-StudyPlan(3).pdf

You'd have to condense it down a bit, but you could do that if you include weekends and skip micro/pharm in your first revision of FA (since I'm assuming you'll cover those pretty thoroughly before your finals).


Basically, if you can aim to get all the way through First Aid once during the next 5 weeks, you can spend the last 4 weeks doing the DIT high-yield course. If you don't get through FA as quickly as you hoped, you could even use some derivative of their 6 week "emergency" plan:
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-6Week-DIT-StudyPlan(3).pdf


And if you're concerned about the lack of Goljan time, you can try to get through Pathoma at whatever pace is manageable for you.


But I think a lot of this will depend on where you're standing right now in terms of your general knowledge outside of micro/pharm. If you have time, I'd suggest doing the UWorld self-assessment or some other full-length practice test just to see where you stand. If you have specific deficiencies in certain subjects, you could just focus on prepping there... but if you need help across the board, a generalized study plan would be more appropriate. Or if you get a 250, you can take a nice vacation...

 

[Bernoull]

Here's my situation, and before I begin, let me say I'm not exaggerating by saying "failing a class," (I'm not the type to think OMG no honors? I'm FAILING); I really am close to failing two of my classes.

Spring Break begins tomorrow, and after that week there are 5 weeks of classes, 1.5 weeks of final exams, then 4 weeks of blank time before I take Step 1 (June 7). I'm not very closed off about anything, so it's no secret to anyone that I am struggling to pass 2 of my classes, microbiology and pharmacology, which to me are such a struggle since I can't seem to pronounce half the words. I did so poorly in them at the beginning of the year, that now I'm throwing myself into them in order to pull the grades up. I'll be able to pull that off, but it has taken a LOT of effort, and so basically I have NOT prepared for Step I yet AT ALL. I know I have to be wary of all the gunners and over achievers, but when kids are talking about finishing over half of Uworld and already reading Goljan and First Aid through, I can't help but feel behind, especially since I need to continue pushing hard to pass my classes.

How should I go about prepping now that I have limited time and I still need to pass classes? I have First Aid, Goljan RR and Audio, Uworld, and a DIT subscription. I just haven't used them yet... at all. What's the best way to organize/prioritize and make it through those resources while still putting considerable time into passing my main pharm/micro classes?

I mean seriously, Goljan Audio is what 40 hours? And RR is 500 pgs on top of First Aid? I don't mind the work, I just don't know how I'll have enough time to do it all. I don't overly care about acing Step I, I just want to pass comfortably so I can land a nice EM residency back home in Ohio (225?).

Thanks in advance for the advice, SDN has always been really helpful to me, even before taking the MCAT.

If possible try to do Qbanks on whatever u're currently covering, especially for pharm/micro since u're spending more time on those. This way you retain ur hard-fought knowledge leading to the beast. The idea would be to keep "fresh" pertinent Step 1 stuff that u're currently learning and ideally, u'll have that much less to review during ur dedicated period.

I think of it as "synergizing" between courses and boards, to the extent they overlap...

Goodluck with classes, I'm sure u'll do fine in the end

 

[islandCrazy]

If possible try to do Qbanks on whatever u're currently covering, especially for pharm/micro since u're spending more time on those. This way you retain ur hard-fought knowledge leading to the beast. The idea would be to keep "fresh" pertinent Step 1 stuff that u're currently learning and ideally, u'll have that much less to review during ur dedicated period.

I think of it as "synergizing" between courses and boards, to the extent they overlap...

Goodluck with classes, I'm sure u'll do fine in the end

I think this is perfect advice for you. I think you should get a subscription to USMLERx/Kaplan Qbank and do all the pharm and Micro questions.

 

[Medstudentquest]

Here's my situation, and before I begin, let me say I'm not exaggerating by saying "failing a class," (I'm not the type to think OMG no honors? I'm FAILING); I really am close to failing two of my classes.

Spring Break begins tomorrow, and after that week there are 5 weeks of classes, 1.5 weeks of final exams, then 4 weeks of blank time before I take Step 1 (June 7). I'm not very closed off about anything, so it's no secret to anyone that I am struggling to pass 2 of my classes, microbiology and pharmacology, which to me are such a struggle since I can't seem to pronounce half the words. I did so poorly in them at the beginning of the year, that now I'm throwing myself into them in order to pull the grades up. I'll be able to pull that off, but it has taken a LOT of effort, and so basically I have NOT prepared for Step I yet AT ALL. I know I have to be wary of all the gunners and over achievers, but when kids are talking about finishing over half of Uworld and already reading Goljan and First Aid through, I can't help but feel behind, especially since I need to continue pushing hard to pass my classes.

How should I go about prepping now that I have limited time and I still need to pass classes? I have First Aid, Goljan RR and Audio, Uworld, and a DIT subscription. I just haven't used them yet... at all. What's the best way to organize/prioritize and make it through those resources while still putting considerable time into passing my main pharm/micro classes?

I mean seriously, Goljan Audio is what 40 hours? And RR is 500 pgs on top of First Aid? I don't mind the work, I just don't know how I'll have enough time to do it all. I don't overly care about acing Step I, I just want to pass comfortably so I can land a nice EM residency back home in Ohio (225?).

Thanks in advance for the advice, SDN has always been really helpful to me, even before taking the MCAT.

Have you thought about taking extra time to study for step 1, and concentrating first on passing your classes? You certainly do not want to be in a position where you you fail and have to remediate your classes and/or repeat first year. If I were you, I'd concentrate as much as you need on passing classes, and then and only then would I concentrate on step 1. If you've had trouble passing these classes, it would not be a bad idea to take extra time to study for step 1. You can make up any additional time in 3rd/4th year and still graduate on time. Just my 2 cents

 

[thedoctor8706]

If you're looking to cover high-yield pathology in a limited time period, consider using Pathoma instead of Goljan. It's still 35 hours, but you can play it at 1.5x speed, and he follows along with his textbook, so you don't need to spend an indefinite amount of time with RR.

One major question will just be how much time you need to prepare. If you think you can get through 10 pages of First Aid every day, you can follow some derivative of the DIT 12-week study plan:
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-12Week-DIT-StudyPlan(3).pdf

You'd have to condense it down a bit, but you could do that if you include weekends and skip micro/pharm in your first revision of FA (since I'm assuming you'll cover those pretty thoroughly before your finals).


Basically, if you can aim to get all the way through First Aid once during the next 5 weeks, you can spend the last 4 weeks doing the DIT high-yield course. If you don't get through FA as quickly as you hoped, you could even use some derivative of their 6 week "emergency" plan:
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-6Week-DIT-StudyPlan(3).pdf


And if you're concerned about the lack of Goljan time, you can try to get through Pathoma at whatever pace is manageable for you.


But I think a lot of this will depend on where you're standing right now in terms of your general knowledge outside of micro/pharm. If you have time, I'd suggest doing the UWorld self-assessment or some other full-length practice test just to see where you stand. If you have specific deficiencies in certain subjects, you could just focus on prepping there... but if you need help across the board, a generalized study plan would be more appropriate. Or if you get a 250, you can take a nice vacation...

If possible try to do Qbanks on whatever u're currently covering, especially for pharm/micro since u're spending more time on those. This way you retain ur hard-fought knowledge leading to the beast. The idea would be to keep "fresh" pertinent Step 1 stuff that u're currently learning and ideally, u'll have that much less to review during ur dedicated period.

I think of it as "synergizing" between courses and boards, to the extent they overlap...

Goodluck with classes, I'm sure u'll do fine in the end

I think this is perfect advice for you. I think you should get a subscription to USMLERx/Kaplan Qbank and do all the pharm and Micro questions.

Thank you for the replies!! This is all really good advice. I had heard about Pathoma, but I'll give it a second look. And I feel dumb for not thinking of that before, but concentrating my qbanks on pharm/micro will probably help a lot. Thanks for the solid advice. I'll start by doing one of my self-assesment exams, then go from there.

Have you thought about taking extra time to study for step 1, and concentrating first on passing your classes? You certainly do not want to be in a position where you you fail and have to remediate your classes and/or repeat first year. If I were you, I'd concentrate as much as you need on passing classes, and then and only then would I concentrate on step 1. If you've had trouble passing these classes, it would not be a bad idea to take extra time to study for step 1. You can make up any additional time in 3rd/4th year and still graduate on time. Just my 2 cents

I had considered this, but I'm already scheduled to take Step 1 at the latest possible date in my program. If I ignored prep until I finished classes, I wouldn't have any time at all. I guess I'll just have to find my balance. And do lots of Uworld micro and pharm questions haha. I'm really not a gunner or anything haha, just don't want to get caught off guard. But yes, I will prioritize passing classes as much I can. We just finished our next to last round of exams this morning, and they actually went really well. I just wish I hadn't screwed myself over so bad in the very beginning.