Step Materials to Have During M1

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Afp0731

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Hey guys. Incoming M1 this fall. Ive been advised by friends ahead of me to incorporate step 1 prep as I go through M1/2. If anyone has advice on how to do this and what materials they used, I would appreciate the help.
I would like to buy anything I need while I still have the funds to do so comfortably. Thanks!
 
Huggy said:
I'd say the single most important thing you can do for boards prep is to start either Anki or Firecracker as early as possible and stick to it.

Other than that, I would purchase Pathoma, Sketchy Micro and Pharm.
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Thanks for the reply! When you say start anki/firecracker do you mean step-specific decks that have already been made?
 
Huggy said:
I would suggest using a pre-made deck rather than building your own. Zanki, Bros, and FC are your main options. They are geared towards Step 1 prep, but are comprehensive enough to also be used as a resource for excelling in your classes.
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Thanks so much for the help!
Guess it's time to figure out this whole anki thing.
 
Zanki vs. Bros alongside classes.

Pathoma alongside pathology. Zanki/Bros can be used to reinforce this material.

SketchyMicro for bugs as you get them.

All of this is secondary to doing well in your classes.
 
sovereign0 said:
Zanki vs. Bros alongside classes.

Pathoma alongside pathology. Zanki/Bros can be used to reinforce this material.

SketchyMicro for bugs as you get them.

All of this is secondary to doing well in your classes.
Click to expand...


Thank you!
 
If i were to redo first year again, i would spend less time with low yield small details that my lectures offer and just do follow FA with lecture/system that i was being taught... + Zanki corresponding to the system.

but o well
 
shisong said:
If i were to redo first year again, i would spend less time with low yield small details that my lectures offer and just do follow FA with lecture/system that i was being taught... + Zanki corresponding to the system.

but o well
Click to expand...

This is what I hear people complain about at the school i'm going to. Certain professors over-emphasizing extraneous minutiae at the expense of board relevant material. Thanks for the input!
 
Afp0731 said:
This is what I hear people complain about at the school i'm going to. Certain professors over-emphasizing extraneous minutiae at the expense of board relevant material. Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...
Although this may be true. The flip side of this is consistently high scorers on Step indicate that they picked up a question or two based on their knowledge of something that was not in UFAP or something thatthey learned in class. do well in your classes.
 
libertyyne said:
Although this may be true. The flip side of this is consistently high scorers on Step indicate that they picked up a question or two based on their knowledge of something that was not in UFAP or something thatthey learned in class. do well in your classes.
Click to expand...

Good point. Thanks for the input my friend.
 
Never got into Pathoma or sketchy. I can usually link new stuff onto old memories and don't need to invent mnemonics or memorize images if I rely on Anki to space out reps for me. I mostly SIT in a class, but do cards/QBanks since they are repeating so much info at this point. But for the ultimate path resource...

I started reading big Robbins during winter break of M2. If I read ~20 pages/day, I'll finish it by Step 1. I wish I started looking at it during systems. It explains the logic of histo and disease processes better than most of my professors and allowed me to lay eyes on very obscure conditions that are not in FA (ie. Alexander disease - defective GFAP, a protein that stains to identify astrocytes and glial scars). Its basically 1343 pages total so you could go as low as 4 pages a day and pick up a lot of good info. I highlighted only stuff that NEVER showed up in class (30% of paragraphs have a sentence or so), orange for the term and yellow for explanation. As I go through UWorld, Rx, and Kaplan I'm perceiving pathology Qs to be less complicated. It is a modest contributing factor, imo.
 
I really like Firecracker because i find the iphone app user friendly and the scoring system motivates me to get through cards. I also use it as a reference source. For example, the other day during a group session I was called on (while sitting in front of my computer) and quickly typed the topic into the Firecracker search bar.😉

Here is a discount code if you're interested! 🙂
http://mbsy.co/g6jpc

Through January 31st, the link will give you the sale price: $180 for 1 year. On February 1st, that will change to $200 for 1 year.

I am an M2 and wish I started using this last year more.
 
darknecrosforte said:
Never got into Pathoma or sketchy. I can usually link new stuff onto old memories and don't need to invent mnemonics or memorize images if I rely on Anki to space out reps for me. I mostly SIT in a class, but do cards/QBanks since they are repeating so much info at this point. But for the ultimate path resource...

I started reading big Robbins during winter break of M2. If I read ~20 pages/day, I'll finish it by Step 1. I wish I started looking at it during systems. It explains the logic of histo and disease processes better than most of my professors and allowed me to lay eyes on very obscure conditions that are not in FA (ie. Alexander disease - defective GFAP, a protein that stains to identify astrocytes and glial scars). Its basically 1343 pages total so you could go as low as 4 pages a day and pick up a lot of good info. I highlighted only stuff that NEVER showed up in class (30% of paragraphs have a sentence or so), orange for the term and yellow for explanation. As I go through UWorld, Rx, and Kaplan I'm perceiving pathology Qs to be less complicated. It is a modest contributing factor, imo.
Click to expand...

idk how you are reading big robbins holy crud props to you....

pathology was only made easy (personally for me) via pathoma...
 
darknecrosforte said:
Never got into Pathoma or sketchy. I can usually link new stuff onto old memories and don't need to invent mnemonics or memorize images if I rely on Anki to space out reps for me. I mostly SIT in a class, but do cards/QBanks since they are repeating so much info at this point. But for the ultimate path resource...

I started reading big Robbins during winter break of M2. If I read ~20 pages/day, I'll finish it by Step 1. I wish I started looking at it during systems. It explains the logic of histo and disease processes better than most of my professors and allowed me to lay eyes on very obscure conditions that are not in FA (ie. Alexander disease - defective GFAP, a protein that stains to identify astrocytes and glial scars). Its basically 1343 pages total so you could go as low as 4 pages a day and pick up a lot of good info. I highlighted only stuff that NEVER showed up in class (30% of paragraphs have a sentence or so), orange for the term and yellow for explanation. As I go through UWorld, Rx, and Kaplan I'm perceiving pathology Qs to be less complicated. It is a modest contributing factor, imo.
Click to expand...

I too have been reading big Robbins. I like it for an overview. I just read it before my immunology class and infectious disease class and it gave me a great introduction, for example things like hypersensitivity reactions and complement weren’t so foreign when presented in lecture. I plan on reading the chapter the weekend before every new block. It’s like a 5 hour investment per block but I don’t mind putting in the time, I like reading about all the diseases.
 
FA is great, I started using it to review before exams (in addition to my lecture material) and my scores increased significantly. We've gotten a lot of discounts by buying things like pathoma as a class so you might want to wait. Also, try out the free trials to save yourself from getting popular resources that don't work for you (I found I hate sketchy).
 
Anyone have a schedule/timeframe that incorporate Zanki, q-banks, or Uworld during MS1? Ive heard the didactic years are all about step one and the sooner you start studying/reviewing for the test the better.
Just looking for a schedule of sorts to incorporate step one prep early on
 
While it's not necessary by any means, as an M2 I wish I'd had Boards and Beyond first year to help with physio and biochem. I'm using it this year as my main review tool for those two subject and it definitely would have helped highlight the high yield material and better solidify certain concepts.
 
darknecrosforte said:
Never got into Pathoma or sketchy. I can usually link new stuff onto old memories and don't need to invent mnemonics or memorize images if I rely on Anki to space out reps for me. I mostly SIT in a class, but do cards/QBanks since they are repeating so much info at this point. But for the ultimate path resource...

I started reading big Robbins during winter break of M2. If I read ~20 pages/day, I'll finish it by Step 1. I wish I started looking at it during systems. It explains the logic of histo and disease processes better than most of my professors and allowed me to lay eyes on very obscure conditions that are not in FA (ie. Alexander disease - defective GFAP, a protein that stains to identify astrocytes and glial scars). Its basically 1343 pages total so you could go as low as 4 pages a day and pick up a lot of good info. I highlighted only stuff that NEVER showed up in class (30% of paragraphs have a sentence or so), orange for the term and yellow for explanation. As I go through UWorld, Rx, and Kaplan I'm perceiving pathology Qs to be less complicated. It is a modest contributing factor, imo.
Click to expand...

How do you remember what you read though?
 
Lnsean said:
How do you remember what you read though?
Click to expand...
I cross reference my scant highlights with the Zanki deck of that system. If it isn't included, I usually make a card. Most of the time, it's actually explaining something that students habitually memorize via Sketchy, Pathoma, etc. Like what does pseudorosetting of ependymomas actually mean and why does it happen. It does more to solidify weak associations in my learning, which was usually attained by brute memorizing. Stuff slips through the cracks sometimes, but I happen to enjoy books.
 
Any Zanki users realize how scarce the antibiotics are in the deck? I went through them on boards and beyond and sketchy and had close to 0 cards for most of it.
 
YoungDoc25 said:
Any Zanki users realize how scarce the antibiotics are in the deck? I went through them on boards and beyond and sketchy and had close to 0 cards for most of it.
Click to expand...
It’s explocity said that the original zanki doesn’t have micro in it on the reddit post. The two popular alternatives are pepper micro and torky micro.
 
kb1900 said:
It’s explocity said that the original zanki doesn’t have micro in it on the reddit post. The two popular alternatives are pepper micro and torky micro.
Click to expand...
Dang I missed that. Have you used either?
 
kb1900 said:
It’s explocity said that the original zanki doesn’t have micro in it on the reddit post. The two popular alternatives are pepper micro and torky micro.
Click to expand...
pepper micro being the sketchy micro deck with images? Never heard of torky
 
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