Study advice - need help, please!

[mercaptovizadeh]

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My resources are USMLE World QBank, BRS Physio, BRS Path, RR Biochem, Levinson Immuno, CMMRS Micro, and HY for Cell and Neuroanatomy. I also have HY embryo and anatomy on hand, but may drop them if I'm pressed for time.

I've been going through HY CM (half done), RR Biochem (1/4 done), and Physio (1/4 done), and it's been 3 days already and it feels like really slow going. I haven't even touched FA yet.

Is there any advice on how to speed up the studying, to rapidly get through material, etc. I'm very worried. I have ~8 wks to the exam.

What's the smartest way to study all this material? It's quite daunting.

 

[HEADintheCLOUDS]

My resources are USMLE World QBank, BRS Physio, BRS Path, RR Biochem, Levinson Immuno, CMMRS Micro, and HY for Cell and Neuroanatomy. I also have HY embryo and anatomy on hand, but may drop them if I'm pressed for time.

I've been going through HY CM (half done), RR Biochem (1/4 done), and Physio (1/4 done), and it's been 3 days already and it feels like really slow going. I haven't even touched FA yet.

Is there any advice on how to speed up the studying, to rapidly get through material, etc. I'm very worried. I have ~8 wks to the exam.​

What's the smartest way to study all this material? It's quite daunting.

Yeah, read faster. The smartest way to study all the material is to read it and memorize it on the first read. May not be easy but it is definitely the smartest way!

 

[MaxMoonMD]

Hi Mercapto,

first of all, there is no need to read the whole CMMRS Micro and HY Neuroanatomy book, I would only use them as a supplement to FA and UW and not read them from cover to cover.

I think it also depends how solid your foundation is in most of the subjects, in my opinion the Biochemistry Section in FA is very solid, but may need some supplementation. Haven´t read RR Biochemistry, but once again I would use it more on a supplemental basis.

To make a long story short, I think besides reading the whole FA, BRS Physiology and Pathology (maybe HY CM because it´s a fast read), USMLEWORLD does a really good job to help you with the other subjects.

I would suggest starting with FA now to get a good overview what you need to know, and reading BRS Pathology on a daily basis.
Doing some UW questions in mixed mode helps to reinforce the read material.

 

[lankysudanese]

8 weeks is plenty of prep time, even with your extensive resource list. instead of focusing on reading fast so you can get multiple reads of each book, i would make the same recommendation as HEADintheCLOUDS - make sure you understand everything [that you read] when you read it for the first time. this would improve your efficiency, and make your 2nd read much faster. i think that you are making a smart choice by reading the HY books before you move on FA. in my personal experience, FA is not that useful as a learning resource. What it is good for is being a great review for material that you had already learned from other books.

other suggestions that i would make:
1. you should plan to do all available NBME exams. you would be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not doing them.
2. what are you planning to do for behavioral sciences? i would highly recommend HY behavioral sciences, for such a high yield subject.
3. i am not a big fan of CMMRS (or any of the MRS books for that matter). my roomate read the whole book during his Step 1 prep, but still felt unprepared as far as micro went (and he ended up not doing too hot on micro on his test). also, it will take you a long period of time to read this book - so for this high yield subject I would suggest that you either pick up HY micro, read over your MS2 micro notes or just stick to the micro in FA and UW.

Hope this helps. Good Luck

 

[Time]

8 weeks is plenty of prep time, even with your extensive resource list. instead of focusing on reading fast so you can get multiple reads of each book, i would make the same recommendation as HEADintheCLOUDS - make sure you understand everything [that you read] when you read it for the first time. this would improve your efficiency, and make your 2nd read much faster. i think that you are making a smart choice by reading the HY books before you move on FA. in my personal experience, FA is not that useful as a learning resource. What it is good for is being a great review for material that you had already learned from other books.

other suggestions that i would make:
1. you should plan to do all available NBME exams. you would be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not doing them.
2. what are you planning to do for behavioral sciences? i would highly recommend HY behavioral sciences, for such a high yield subject.
3. i am not a big fan of CMMRS (or any of the MRS books for that matter). my roomate read the whole book during his Step 1 prep, but still felt unprepared as far as micro went (and he ended up not doing too hot on micro on his test). also, it will take you a long period of time to read this book - so for this high yield subject I would suggest that you either pick up HY micro, read over your MS2 micro notes or just stick to the micro in FA and UW.

Hope this helps. Good Luck

Lanky,

How is it going?

Do you recommend one do any of the resources you mention above if he were to use the Kaplan 4-book series?

Thanks.

 

[lankysudanese]

Lanky,

How is it going?

Do you recommend one do any of the resources you mention above if he were to use the Kaplan 4-book series?

Thanks.

kaplan would more than suffice for the micro. i would still read through HY behavioral sciences - it is a quick read, and i liked it better than the behavioral stuff in kaplan. the NBMEs, as always, are a must.

Good Luck

 

[registered user]

kaplan would more than suffice for the micro. i would still read through HY behavioral sciences - it is a quick read, and i liked it better than the behavioral stuff in kaplan. the NBMEs, as always, are a must.
Good Luck

Why do you say that? Is it that we will see some of these q's on the real deal? I feel like the fact that there are no explanations makes them less useful than other things might be. What's your take on why they are a must?

 

[lankysudanese]

Why do you say that? Is it that we will see some of these q's on the real deal? I feel like the fact that there are no explanations makes them less useful than other things might be. What's your take on why they are a must?

let me take that back - nothing is a must. you could take the exam the day after MS2 ends and get a killer score (i'm not kidding about this - some people just have such great command of the material during MS1 and MS2 that they don't require a "review").
it is just that the NBMEs comprise the most representative 1000 questions in the market. the content and level of complexity is almost identical to the real Step 1, and the scoring (both the predicted 3-digit score and the subject breakdown) is accurate, useful for identifying weak subjects and for keeping track of your progress.
also, some of the questions will also appear on your Step 1 exam.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

let me take that back - nothing is a must. you could take the exam the day after MS2 ends and get a killer score (i'm not kidding about this - some people just have such great command of the material during MS1 and MS2 that they don't require a "review").
it is just that the NBMEs comprise the most representative 1000 questions in the market. the content and level of complexity is almost identical to the real Step 1, and the scoring (both the predicted 3-digit score and the subject breakdown) is accurate, useful for identifying weak subjects and for keeping track of your progress.
also, some of the questions will also appear on your Step 1 exam.

Hey Lanky, thanks for the help. I am using BRS behavioral for psych/stats. What I wanted to ask about was the difference between USMLE World and NBME. I took NBME form 1 (timed) as a "screening" to determine what subjects to work on and got around the national average score for the USMLE. It felt like the questions were somehow "easy" - i.e you knew it or you didn't. Are NBMEs 2+ harder? I did a few USMLE world questions and they felt much more difficult, much more thinking required. Do you feel USMLE world accurately reflects what kinds of questions show up on the board, or is it more of a learning tool and also a tool to train us how to think quickly?

 

[lankysudanese]

Hey Lanky, thanks for the help. I am using BRS behavioral for psych/stats. What I wanted to ask about was the difference between USMLE World and NBME. I took NBME form 1 (timed) as a "screening" to determine what subjects to work on and got around the national average score for the USMLE. It felt like the questions were somehow "easy" - i.e you knew it or you didn't. Are NBMEs 2+ harder? I did a few USMLE world questions and they felt much more difficult, much more thinking required. Do you feel USMLE world accurately reflects what kinds of questions show up on the board, or is it more of a learning tool and also a tool to train us how to think quickly?

the NBMEs are the exact same level of difficulty as the real Step 1. in other words, out of each block of 50 questions, the NBME and your Step 1 will have the same proportion of "easy" questions, fair questions, tough questions and experimental questions. that is why they are such a great training tool. after having done all the NBMEs, i had a pretty good idea of what kinda pace i was looking for. I did NBMEs 1-4, and found them to be very similar to each other as far as how difficult they were. USMLEWorld is a great learning tool:- the 2-step and 3-step questions will really test your knowledge and thinking abilities, and the explanations are stellar. But it is not as representative as the NBMEs, mainly because it has way too many "difficult" questions. So i wouldn't use it for pacing purposes.

 

[LabMonster]

Is there any advice on how to speed up the studying, to rapidly get through material, etc. I'm very worried. I have ~8 wks to the exam.

Mercapto - I have 5 weeks to prepare by contrast. Even though there is a lot of material to cover - it comes back 😉

Don't panic, and STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE = all good.

 

[registered user]

Mercapto - I have 5 weeks to prepare by contrast. Even though there is a lot of material to cover - it comes back 😉

Don't panic, and STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE = all good.

What's up dirtball! Have fun on your cruise in 25 days!

 

[LabMonster]

What's up dirtball! Have fun on your cruise in 25 days!

Sun, water and NO MEDICINE for 7 days... AHHHHHH. Except if surgery is my 1st rotation - then I'll study - a little, in the airport. 😉

 

[LabMonster]

let me take that back - nothing is a must. you could take the exam the day after MS2 ends and get a killer score (i'm not kidding about this - some people just have such great command of the material during MS1 and MS2 that they don't require a "review").
it is just that the NBMEs comprise the most representative 1000 questions in the market. the content and level of complexity is almost identical to the real Step 1, and the scoring (both the predicted 3-digit score and the subject breakdown) is accurate, useful for identifying weak subjects and for keeping track of your progress.
also, some of the questions will also appear on your Step 1 exam.

Are the 'other' NBMEs available online - or do you need to go to a testing center. I thought they were available - but the only thing I've found is scheduling a practice test day.

 

[registered user]

Are the 'other' NBMEs available online - or do you need to go to a testing center. I thought they were available - but the only thing I've found is scheduling a practice test day.

https://apps.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main?candidate_page=urllogin&activation_code=1351

Have you tried this site?

 

[alpha06]

I would suggest starting with FA now to get a good overview what you need to know, and reading BRS Pathology on a daily basis.
Doing some UW questions in mixed mode helps to reinforce the read material.

Two questions:

1. I always thought RR Path was better than BRS. Also, for me its much easier to read the book while listening to his audio. And the BRS misses some key concepts that are in RR. What do you think?

2. How is doing UW Qs in mixed mode help while reading the material? How does it reinforce my knowledge? If I am reading Heme/Onc today and they ask me a CV question (in mixed mode)....how does that help? More than likely I will get that CV question wrong and I am just praying they'll ask me a heme/onc question....something I actually read. I don't understand.😕

These questions were for Max, but if anyone else could elaborate that would be cool!

 

[ORS]

Okay, everyone needs to breath deep. Then make out your schedule.

The first thing you have to assess is how well your med school prepares your for step I.

Do your second year exams cover the entire year? If not, start reviewing now.

The keys to Step I are path, path, path. But do not ignore subjscts such as beh science.


My books for step I were First AID, HY beh sci, HY histo, and MOST IMPORTANT BRS PATH (memorize this one).

I used first aid my entire second year and added to it throughout the year. Then I did all the online Kaplan Q bank for step I (questions only). When I performed this, I added to my First aid book.

After I finished the questions, I reviewed my first aid 3 times.

This was good enough for a score to get into ortho.

Wish you all the best. Relax, study hard (three weeks~) and you will do fine

 

[MaxMoonMD]

Two questions:

1. I always thought RR Path was better than BRS. Also, for me its much easier to read the book while listening to his audio. And the BRS misses some key concepts that are in RR. What do you think?

2. How is doing UW Qs in mixed mode help while reading the material? How does it reinforce my knowledge? If I am reading Heme/Onc today and they ask me a CV question (in mixed mode)....how does that help? More than likely I will get that CV question wrong and I am just praying they'll ask me a heme/onc question....something I actually read. I don't understand.😕

These questions were for Max, but if anyone else could elaborate that would be cool!

Hi Overfiend,

1. I´m sorry, I mixed the BRS Pathology book up with the one from Rapid Review.
I used RR Pathology myself and loved it, read it from cover to cover once and then focussed on the most frequently asked topics along with Goljan´s Audio and UW. The blue boxes, tables etc. did also a good job for a quick review.
About the BRS Book.
There are a lot of people here who achieved >240/99 Scores using this book, so I guess both books do the job pretty well.

2. I would use UW primarily as a learning tool, not (only) to assess your progress.
UW offers very good explanations and I strongly suggest reading them all, no matter if you answered the question right or wrong.
So even if you get questions on a topic you haven´t read yet / forgot about (assuming that you have at least a basic idea what they are talking about), it kinda offers you a small review on the topic and may help you to retain more of the info you will read afterwards in e.g. RR Pathology.

For what it´s worth, I´m not encouraging to do the whole UW question bank on cold turkey.
Especially in Pharmacology, Microbiology and Biochemistry it can get very annoying.
Doing the right mix between reading the material and doing questions in the beginning is the key.
The first 4 or 5 weeks I did only 50 questions every day, switching to 100 qs./day after I got through most of my review material.

I hope this helps you a bit. 👍