Step 1 studying going into first year?

[massmocha]

Would it be unwise to sign up for something like Gunner Training going into MSI, and just review throughout the first 2 years to get a rough overview of the material that will be covered on Step 1 prior to really starting to study?

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[zebalong]

Would it be unwise to sign up for something like Gunner Training going into MSI, and just review throughout the first 2 years to get a rough overview of the material that will be covered on Step 1 prior to really starting to study?

I'd sign up 18 months out from your step 1 approx. test date. It will allow you to do the program in full (not the short version) and you won't be stressed out trying to get through it. Been doing it along with my classes and its great. The program has two steps, getting through the flashcards, then "mastering" the material... unfortunately the harder you push to get through the flashcards the harder it is to master the material and the more overwhelmed people tend to get. so starting early i believe is key

 

[Daedra22]

I'd sign up 18 months out from your step 1 approx. test date. It will allow you to do the program in full (not the short version) and you won't be stressed out trying to get through it. Been doing it along with my classes and its great. The program has two steps, getting through the flashcards, then "mastering" the material... unfortunately the harder you push to get through the flashcards the harder it is to master the material and the more overwhelmed people tend to get. so starting early i believe is key

Agreed. I don't think that you need to start GT on day 1, but I started it midway through this current semester and it's been helping me immensely in my first year classes. I wish I had started it in January.

 

[ProtossCarrier]

Don't do gunner training, you want to use the hardest text in first year and really get the basics down.

 

[da8s0859q]

Would it be unwise to sign up for something like Gunner Training going into MSI, and just review throughout the first 2 years to get a rough overview of the material that will be covered on Step 1 prior to really starting to study?

Depends on you, OP. GT is largely based on flashcards and spaced repetition, so if you're into that kind of thing, then by all means consider it as a review for what you're doing in class. Will also help you get a better idea of what's "high yield" with respect to Step 1 like you said. Admittedly, little of M1 is all that high yield for Step, but it's still of some importance to know what's going on.

I used to use GT for their practice questions since I usually can't do flashcards, especially for my curriculum's block exams in organ systems, but now that I'm a couple months out from Step, UW >> all.

Don't do gunner training, you want to use the hardest text in first year and really get the basics down.

Agree with the point, disagree with the method. Definitely try to know your stuff, but do whatever YOU need to do to know your stuff. Constant flashcarding, hard texts, rewriting notes, singing songs about C3-C5 keepin' the diaphragm alive, whatever. Whatever works for you.

 

[UAAWolf]

Gunner training is not for learning brand new material.

Use it to review old classes

 

[zebalong]

Don't do gunner training, you want to use the hardest text in first year and really get the basics down.

I used gunner training along with normal texts - i don't substitute them for each other. GT is to help me retain important points of things I've alread learned well. For the most part I read robbins (or BRS physio b/c my normal phys is already pretty strong) along with my classes and then do the GT pretaining to what i already covered - or if im doing something in GT that sites something i'm not familiar with then i go read it in Robbins.

Again if you have your time management down it is very doable to do both. But I would never use GT as my primary mode of learning.

 

[massmocha]

I used to use GT for their practice questions since I usually can't do flashcards, especially for my curriculum's block exams in organ systems, but now that I'm a couple months out from Step, UW >> all.

Thanks, this is really helpful. What is UW? Also, how do you use GT along with your classes, does it allow you to set up questions by category?

 

[da8s0859q]

Thanks, this is really helpful. What is UW? Also, how do you use GT along with your classes, does it allow you to set up questions by category?

UW = USMLEWorld. One of the major question banks that we use closer to Step 1, and kind of the gold standard as far as qbanks go. I think it'd be a bad idea for you to get started on that early in M1 though -- that's something better left for closer to your Step date.

In GT, you can create exams from the questions they have available -- timed, tutor mode where you see the answers and explanations after you answer, whatever you want to do -- and yes, you can specify category. So you could do a bunch of general pathology questions, or for organ systems, a bunch of questions relating just to neurology.

 

[Zarika]

I started using gunner training this semester (M1) and I like it. I do well with conceptual classes (like phys, if you understand it, there isn't much to memorize) but I struggle with straight up memorization. Gunner training seems to be helping.

It got a little overwhelming at one point, because I banked too many flashcards at once and then took a while to get to the mastery level so I was having 100-120 questions a day, which is a lot with classes. Now, I'm more careful about that and get around 60 questions a day, which is manageable. I usually do them before class or right before bed, depending on what time the day's classes start.

Gunner Training is great for straight up memorizing. It's not intended (in my opinion) for use as a primary learning tool.