Step I studying, summer between MS1/2

[kazza2ud]

Hey guys, this summer (between MS1 and MS2), I was wondering what to review. Yea I'm going to relax and drink a lot of beer, but I also want to spend some time reviewing/studying for Step I. I figure FA and RR Path are probably too much for me at this point... should I just read Robbins? I was thinking of just flipping through the basic textbooks, but I can't really decide between splitting up my time between various subjects, or just hitting path hard. I know path is the more board-relevant, but I'll probably be doing a lot of path 2nd year as well.

Any ideas?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[winkleweizen]

I vote review all of it. Super high yieldh

 

[kazza2ud]

hah, yea but how much can I really do in like 10 weeks. I'm thinking I might attempt to read Robbins cover to cover, supplementing with other books if I don't understand something.

 

[ArcGurren]

Don't try learning new stuff like Path (this is assuming you have a traditional curriculum)... if you're going to study spend time reviewing stuff you already have learned. I recommend at least going through neuroanatomy or physiology one more time as it's a huge tough chunk of material.

 

[ProtossCarrier]

hit big robbins and cecil medicine.

 

[VanBrown]

don't study for step one until you're 10 weeks out... it is absolutely worthless to waste your time on it until then

 

[kazza2ud]

based on the responses, i have decided to do everything and nothing

 

[michigator04]

The only subject I feel like I would have benefited from studying before M2 would have been biochem/molecular. My school's curriculum pretty much skipped that, so I have been relying on what I knew in undergrad plus UWorld to fill it in a bit. But as the others have said, you'll just have to do it again after M2, so it doesn't really matter that much.

 

[Daedra22]

I was planning to review flashcards in GT that were covered in my M1 courses... I've only been using it for the last few months, and I like it. Is this a decent idea? I've heard GT is something that really takes a while to work on.

 

[winkleweizen]

I was being sarcastic btw....i vote nothing unless you wanna do GT then do some of the cards you covered in first year.h

 

[CatFactorial]

based on the responses, i have decided to do everything and nothing

This.

 

[lord_jeebus]

It's pretty much futile. It would be a good time to work out your overall strategy and plan, however.

 

[lrkoehle]

don't study for step one until you're 10 weeks out... it is absolutely worthless to waste your time on it until then

These sorts of comments confuse me. If it's a waste of time to review for step-I the summer before MS-II (presumably because we won't remember it), then why would we be more likely to remember things covered in class (conventional wisdom here seems to be "just focus on doing well in your classes" to do well)? Does this mostly just apply to more traditional curriculums where most high yield stuff is covered second year? For those like me on a true organ based curriculum (we've covered physio, path, histo, etc. in neuro, psych, musculoskeletal, cardio, etc. etc. in MS-I) I fail to see how reviewing that stuff would be a "waste of time." I don't expect to come away remembering everything by the time step-I rolls around in a year, but every piece of information I do remember will be one less thing to re-learn and the other stuff should come back more quickly. Wouldn't that extra knowledge most likely lead to a better score, which is the ultimate goal, right?

 

[ArcGurren]

These sorts of comments confuse me. If it's a waste of time to review for step-I the summer before MS-II (presumably because we won't remember it), then why would we be more likely to remember things covered in class (conventional wisdom here seems to be "just focus on doing well in your classes" to do well)? Does this mostly just apply to more traditional curriculums where most high yield stuff is covered second year? For those like me on a true organ based curriculum (we've covered physio, path, histo, etc. in neuro, psych, musculoskeletal, cardio, etc. etc. in MS-I) I fail to see how reviewing that stuff would be a "waste of time." I don't expect to come away remembering everything by the time step-I rolls around in a year, but every piece of information I do remember will be one less thing to re-learn and the other stuff should come back more quickly. Wouldn't that extra knowledge most likely lead to a better score, which is the ultimate goal, right?

Organ based systems are different, but he didn't state whether or not he had a traditional curriculum.

Anyway I don't see anything wrong with studying Step I stuff during second year (say, doing UW or Rx along with each pathology unit, which I imagine would be extra useful if you're organ systems based). I actually did that with my pathology class (just the path, pathophys, and phys) and it worked out nicely for me.

 

[lrkoehle]

Organ based systems are different, but he didn't state whether or not he had a traditional curriculum.

Anyway I don't see anything wrong with studying Step I stuff during second year (say, doing UW or Rx along with each pathology unit, which I imagine would be extra useful if you're organ systems based). I actually did that with my pathology class (just the path, pathophys, and phys) and it worked out nicely for me.

Good to know. Since we do phys, path, and all that stuff for each organ system at the same time, I've been following along with some review books like RR, BRS, and FA just so I'm familiar with them come time to review. Also, since we did neuro & psych in the fall, I feel like reviewing that stuff this summer would be helpful, because if I don't then by the time step-I rolls around it will be over a year and a half since I will have seen that stuff. What do you guys think? Reactivate those synaptic connections this summer so they don't disappear next year when I start dedicated review time?

 

[ArcGurren]

Good to know. Since we do phys, path, and all that stuff for each organ system at the same time, I've been following along with some review books like RR, BRS, and FA just so I'm familiar with them come time to review. Also, since we did neuro & psych in the fall, I feel like reviewing that stuff this summer would be helpful, because if I don't then by the time step-I rolls around it will be over a year and a half since I will have seen that stuff. What do you guys think? Reactivate those synaptic connections this summer so they don't disappear next year when I start dedicated review time?

As long as you keep enough time to stay sane during the summer as well

 

[lrkoehle]

As long as you keep enough time to stay sane during the summer as well

I'll do that for you.