Study Plan for MSI/MSII and Boards

[Pokedoc]

Hey everyone! I've been perusing SDN since getting accepted to DO school last September, and have been looking through various study plans that were used by successful students on here. I ended up combining the ones I liked and thought would work well with my learning style into one big study plan for the first two years and boards, though was curious if anyone could provide feedback or advice to make changes or add onto it? I'd like to enter medical school with a solid plan that I can then make small changes to if needed so that I don't just enter blindly since the amount of information I'm about to take on will be ridiculous. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

P.S. A lot of this information was copied directly from various posts, so the information is definitely not all mine.

General Study Plan for Each Day

• Watch lectures from that day online.
• Tackle one lecture at a time. Thoroughly go through the lecture, reference text books, and make flow charts when needed to make sure you really understand what is being taught. For example, a 1 hour lecture may take 3 hours to really get through. This part is key, because after the first pass through the lecture you should have a very solid understanding (understanding = remembering) and should have a majority of the material down where you want to be for the test day.
• Turn the lecture into a Quizlet deck (try this out to see if it works).
• Move on to the next lecture for the day. Don’t go to bed until the entire day’s lectures are covered.
  • Studying is first understanding the concepts and taking notes on those concepts -- this can come from powerpoint lectures, listening to lectures, however you can get the info.
  • Then make sure you clarify whatever points you don't get from various available resources (here's where textbooks, professors, tutors come in).
  • Once that's done, then organize your notes over the key areas and their requisite minutiae.
  • Then go over those notes until you have the minutiae memorized and the concepts embedded like a rock in your mind and are appropriately placed in the database of info you are building. Check your understanding with practice questions.
• On Saturday and Sunday spend all day going through the Quizlet decks you made for the week. If there is any material from the week that you still feel weak on/are lacking in understanding, go back over that on the weekends. By the end of the weekend you should have the material for that week down 90-95%.
• Do the same thing the following week.
• Before an exam, go over the cards again and brush up on any weak areas from that block.
• Understand physiology from every angle you possibly can, not just the angle/table/mnemonic your PhD teaches. Emphasize understanding physio, don't "learn it." By the time you take step 1, every body system should read like a story in your head, not a table of values. Physio is the basis for pathology (basically physio gone wrong), pharmacology (how does drug X affect normal physio), toxicology/micro (protein toxin X affects normal gut physio by reversing Cl- ion pumps, etc). Rapid, accurate recall of phys/mechanisms during the exam make answering higher order questions so much easier.
• Make sure to understand the concept and how everything connects, don’t just memorize the information.
• During anatomy block make sure to work with the cadavers daily. This is incredibly important for a good grade.
• Get adequate exercise and rest.

Studying for Boards

• Don't get carried away with resources, and prepare to stop listening to your panicked peers about their studying. Set a plan and stick to it.

• 1st year
  • Go into med school and make sure to give 110% every single day, so that no matter what happens, you don’t regret anything because you know you did everything you could.
  • Focus on class work and build a solid foundation. Don’t spread yourself too thin with board resources, because this leads to wasted time studying these rather than focusing on class work.
  • 100% focus on classes. Do not use board materials.
    
• Summer between 1st and 2nd year
  • Do nothing EXCEPT Sketchy Micro. Watch one time through during the summer. Watch again as the sections are gone over in class during the second year to reinforce the information. If gone through thoroughly enough then this will be easy come boards.
    
• Second Year
  • Diligently watch the Pathoma videos along with the course work. This is crucial (watch as many times as needed to get this down).
  • Start using First Aid alongside course work but don’t read it, reference it.
    • Use it like wikipedia. Every time you come across a subject you don't fully understand in a different resource, make it a point to reference every instance of that word in FA (using .pdf version is very nice for this, just Ctrl-F search for every instance of the word within minutes).
    • Don’t annotate FA. This is wasted time that you could be using to answer questions. You will have many classmates who make it their goal to "read 20 pages per day" - meanwhile you will be doing questions, sketching out physio charts, etc.
  • Fall Semester of Second Year
    • Start Kaplan Q bank and USMLERx.
    • Only do these along with with class work (ex: if you are learning the cardio path, only do cardio path questions).
    • Also dabble around in COMBANK as much as possible to get used to the style of questioning.
  • Spring Semester of Second Year
    • Start UWorld at the beginning of the semester. Do these questions alongside coursework in untimed tutor mode. However, if you are learning the GI path for example, instead of JUST doing GI path questions do ALL of the GI questions. This will re-expose you to anatomy, biochem, histology, and other topics from first year.
      • Create a step journal (a running .doc file containing a few bullet points of every weak boards topic you come across). At the end of your study period you'll have a concise list of all your problem topics, which is golden. Use this alongside questions, with any answer (right or wrong) that you don't fully understand getting an entry in the journal along with a few bullet point high-yield words about that topic. If you're reading all the explanations right & wrong, you'll come up with a ton of entries (example final journal file was 11pt font, >100 pages long).
      • Towards the end of your study period with a couple weeks left, print this sucker out and browse through it every night as you fall asleep. You just rehashed all your weak points.
    • If this is done then both Pathoma and UWorld should be completed fully by the time “dedicated time” comes around.
      
  • Spring Break
    • Watch the entire Kaplan Biochem series to review biochemistry.
    • Make very detailed, yet simple notes, and from then on only work from these.
    • Use “pathway time” daily: 15 minutes a day, stop what you are doing and draw out a biochem pathway. Re-draw that same pathway for several days until you know it cold, then move to the next. You should have all of the pathways down in about 4-5 weeks. This will help immensely on the USMLE and COMLEX.
      
• Dedicated Time
  • The most important part of this is regularly scheduled assessments (just like the MCAT). Take as many NBME assessments as possible.
  • Don’t get scared of taking assessments, continue studying blindly, take an assessment a month or two later, do poorly, and then feel like you wasted those one or two months with ineffective studying.
  • Space the assessment exams about 1 week apart. This way you can track your progress, and quickly make adjustments to your study methods if needed. This will also allow you to identify any weak points and quickly address them.
  • Finish UWorld a second time. Finishing UWorld early and then going over it a second time during dedicated time will be the best decision you can make in board prep. There will be many things that you pick up on the second time around that you would have otherwise missed only doing it once. Start this in your spring semester, and do it in tutor mode, along with class work. Your second pass during dedicated should be random timed. UWorld should NOT be about tracking scores; it is about learning from the questions and explanations.
  • Go through Pathoma and First Aid a second time.
    
• Do as many practice questions as possible. The number of practice questions done strongly correlates to increased board scores. If everything above is done as planned then you will do plenty of questions to get a great board score (do at least 10k questions by the end).
  
  
• Schedule the COMLEX 4-5 days after the USMLE. In that time go through the green book and as much of Combank as possible.

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[Pokedoc]

Didn't realize how long this was gonna be until after I posted it....

 

[ortnakas]

"MS-0" posts on boards studying are usually super annoying, but this is actually solid.

Things I'll add:
--if what you're doing isn't working for you, change it! What worked in undergrad might not work in med school. What works for one class might not work for the next. Don't be afraid to be flexible.
--if what you're doing IS working for you, don't change it! You'll be tempted to add other resources or change tactics because your classmates are doing something different, but if it's not broke, don't fix it.
--SketchyMicro and SketchyPharm are life. Your class will have the good fortune of SketchyPath as well, for which I am eternally jealous.

 

[mackin95]

As an incoming DO student myself, your thread has been so helpful! Thanks so much for making it! I've been getting mixed information from so many different threads and this really helped condense all of it. I'm curious to see what insight current DO students have to add. To OP and everyone in general: would you recommend doing flash cards (anki, quizlet, FC) only on the weekends or on weekdays after reviewing lectures too?

 

[GrignardsReagent]

As an incoming student I too find this helpful

 

[Pokedoc]

"MS-0" posts on boards studying are usually super annoying, but this is actually solid.

Things I'll add:
--if what you're doing isn't working for you, change it! What worked in undergrad might not work in med school. What works for one class might not work for the next. Don't be afraid to be flexible.
--if what you're doing IS working for you, don't change it! You'll be tempted to add other resources or change tactics because your classmates are doing something different, but if it's not broke, don't fix it.
--SketchyMicro and SketchyPharm are life. Your class will have the good fortune of SketchyPath as well, for which I am eternally jealous.

Yea I didn't want to come off as super naive since I obviously have no experience at all, but I thought it could help to get some advice from people who have been/are currently going through this. Thanks for your advice specifically. Throughout undergrad I went to every class religiously but I think I am going to give watching the classes online a shot when possible, and change that if needed. I'll definitely keep an eye out for SketchyPath then! Thanks again.

 

[Scrubs101]

Incoming DO student as well - stealing this


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[IslandStyle808]

Hey everyone! I've been perusing SDN since getting accepted to DO school last September, and have been looking through various study plans that were used by successful students on here. I ended up combining the ones I liked and thought would work well with my learning style into one big study plan for the first two years and boards, though was curious if anyone could provide feedback or advice to make changes or add onto it? I'd like to enter medical school with a solid plan that I can then make small changes to if needed so that I don't just enter blindly since the amount of information I'm about to take on will be ridiculous. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

P.S. A lot of this information was copied directly from various posts, so the information is definitely not all mine.

General Study Plan for Each Day

• Watch lectures from that day online.
• Tackle one lecture at a time. Thoroughly go through the lecture, reference text books, and make flow charts when needed to make sure you really understand what is being taught. For example, a 1 hour lecture may take 3 hours to really get through. This part is key, because after the first pass through the lecture you should have a very solid understanding (understanding = remembering) and should have a majority of the material down where you want to be for the test day.
• Turn the lecture into a Quizlet deck (try this out to see if it works).
• Move on to the next lecture for the day. Don’t go to bed until the entire day’s lectures are covered.
  • Studying is first understanding the concepts and taking notes on those concepts -- this can come from powerpoint lectures, listening to lectures, however you can get the info.
  • Then make sure you clarify whatever points you don't get from various available resources (here's where textbooks, professors, tutors come in).
  • Once that's done, then organize your notes over the key areas and their requisite minutiae.
  • Then go over those notes until you have the minutiae memorized and the concepts embedded like a rock in your mind and are appropriately placed in the database of info you are building. Check your understanding with practice questions.
• On Saturday and Sunday spend all day going through the Quizlet decks you made for the week. If there is any material from the week that you still feel weak on/are lacking in understanding, go back over that on the weekends. By the end of the weekend you should have the material for that week down 90-95%.
• Do the same thing the following week.
• Before an exam, go over the cards again and brush up on any weak areas from that block.
• Understand physiology from every angle you possibly can, not just the angle/table/mnemonic your PhD teaches. Emphasize understanding physio, don't "learn it." By the time you take step 1, every body system should read like a story in your head, not a table of values. Physio is the basis for pathology (basically physio gone wrong), pharmacology (how does drug X affect normal physio), toxicology/micro (protein toxin X affects normal gut physio by reversing Cl- ion pumps, etc). Rapid, accurate recall of phys/mechanisms during the exam make answering higher order questions so much easier.
• Make sure to understand the concept and how everything connects, don’t just memorize the information.
• During anatomy block make sure to work with the cadavers daily. This is incredibly important for a good grade.
• Get adequate exercise and rest.

Studying for Boards

• Don't get carried away with resources, and prepare to stop listening to your panicked peers about their studying. Set a plan and stick to it.

• 1st year
  • Go into med school and make sure to give 110% every single day, so that no matter what happens, you don’t regret anything because you know you did everything you could.
  • Focus on class work and build a solid foundation. Don’t spread yourself too thin with board resources, because this leads to wasted time studying these rather than focusing on class work.
  • 100% focus on classes. Do not use board materials.
• Summer between 1st and 2nd year
  • Do nothing EXCEPT Sketchy Micro. Watch one time through during the summer. Watch again as the sections are gone over in class during the second year to reinforce the information. If gone through thoroughly enough then this will be easy come boards.
• Second Year
  • Diligently watch the Pathoma videos along with the course work. This is crucial (watch as many times as needed to get this down).
  • Start using First Aid alongside course work but don’t read it, reference it.
    • Use it like wikipedia. Every time you come across a subject you don't fully understand in a different resource, make it a point to reference every instance of that word in FA (using .pdf version is very nice for this, just Ctrl-F search for every instance of the word within minutes).
    • Don’t annotate FA. This is wasted time that you could be using to answer questions. You will have many classmates who make it their goal to "read 20 pages per day" - meanwhile you will be doing questions, sketching out physio charts, etc.
  • Fall Semester of Second Year
    • Start Kaplan Q bank and USMLERx.
    • Only do these along with with class work (ex: if you are learning the cardio path, only do cardio path questions).
    • Also dabble around in COMBANK as much as possible to get used to the style of questioning.
  • Spring Semester of Second Year
    • Start UWorld at the beginning of the semester. Do these questions alongside coursework in untimed tutor mode. However, if you are learning the GI path for example, instead of JUST doing GI path questions do ALL of the GI questions. This will re-expose you to anatomy, biochem, histology, and other topics from first year.
      • Create a step journal (a running .doc file containing a few bullet points of every weak boards topic you come across). At the end of your study period you'll have a concise list of all your problem topics, which is golden. Use this alongside questions, with any answer (right or wrong) that you don't fully understand getting an entry in the journal along with a few bullet point high-yield words about that topic. If you're reading all the explanations right & wrong, you'll come up with a ton of entries (example final journal file was 11pt font, >100 pages long).
      • Towards the end of your study period with a couple weeks left, print this sucker out and browse through it every night as you fall asleep. You just rehashed all your weak points.
    • If this is done then both Pathoma and UWorld should be completed fully by the time “dedicated time” comes around.
  • Spring Break
    • Watch the entire Kaplan Biochem series to review biochemistry.
    • Make very detailed, yet simple notes, and from then on only work from these.
    • Use “pathway time” daily: 15 minutes a day, stop what you are doing and draw out a biochem pathway. Re-draw that same pathway for several days until you know it cold, then move to the next. You should have all of the pathways down in about 4-5 weeks. This will help immensely on the USMLE and COMLEX.
• Dedicated Time
  • The most important part of this is regularly scheduled assessments (just like the MCAT). Take as many NBME assessments as possible.
  • Don’t get scared of taking assessments, continue studying blindly, take an assessment a month or two later, do poorly, and then feel like you wasted those one or two months with ineffective studying.
  • Space the assessment exams about 1 week apart. This way you can track your progress, and quickly make adjustments to your study methods if needed. This will also allow you to identify any weak points and quickly address them.
  • Finish UWorld a second time. Finishing UWorld early and then going over it a second time during dedicated time will be the best decision you can make in board prep. There will be many things that you pick up on the second time around that you would have otherwise missed only doing it once. Start this in your spring semester, and do it in tutor mode, along with class work. Your second pass during dedicated should be random timed. UWorld should NOT be about tracking scores; it is about learning from the questions and explanations.
  • Go through Pathoma and First Aid a second time.
• Do as many practice questions as possible. The number of practice questions done strongly correlates to increased board scores. If everything above is done as planned then you will do plenty of questions to get a great board score (do at least 10k questions by the end).
  
  
• Schedule the COMLEX 4-5 days after the USMLE. In that time go through the green book and as much of Combank as possible.

Looks pretty good I will add some things

1) Don't be afraid to not have everything down the 1st time. If you are hitting a wall, it is always good to take note and move one. Sometimes breath is more important than depth.
2) Have someone you can bounce ideas off of. This can be a mentor, an upperclassmen, or learning specialist. It can give some perspective in terms of how to tweak study techniques if they don't work.
3) Always leave some room for down time. You can use this down time to relax or you can use it to help you with subjects you have a difficult time with. As its been said before its a marathon and not a race. There will be times where you are not feeling it.
4) Always reevaluate yourself. This is a life long thing and will always follow you. Always think to yourself can you do better or are you getting the most out of your studying/schedule.
5) Do something fun every so often. You will have moments where you want to forget being a medical student, not that being a medical student is a bad thing. So go see that movie, or go camping, or go to that restaurant you heard about. With each test, do something you enjoy, because that free time will feel like it went by in an instant.

Good luck!

 

[Pokedoc]

Looks pretty good I will add some things

1) Don't be afraid to not have everything down the 1st time. If you are hitting a wall, it is always good to take note and move one. Sometimes breath is more important than depth.
2) Have someone you can bounce ideas off of. This can be a mentor, an upperclassmen, or learning specialist. It can give some perspective in terms of how to tweak study techniques if they don't work.
3) Always leave some room for down time. You can use this down time to relax or you can use it to help you with subjects you have a difficult time with. As its been said before its a marathon and not a race. There will be times where you are not feeling it.
4) Always reevaluate yourself. This is a life long thing and will always follow you. Always think to yourself can you do better or are you getting the most out of your studying/schedule.
5) Do something fun every so often. You will have moments where you want to forget being a medical student, not that being a medical student is a bad thing. So go see that movie, or go camping, or go to that restaurant you heard about. With each test, do something you enjoy, because that free time will feel like it went by in an instant.

Good luck!

Thanks! I know that I'm going to be leaning on my wife a lot to keep me grounded when things get tough so I at least have that going for me. Is there usually some kind of process in place to get connected with upperclassmen? I know I'm going to have questions about how clinical rotations are when I start since I can't find any information here or in other locations online for my school.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

This looks really good, but one thing that I would change (IMO) would be NOT starting UWorld that early. This is purely my opinion, but during dedicated you can easily get through UWorld 2x in 2-2.5 months. There is no need to start it in the beginning of spring 2nd year when you haven't finished school. You only have ~2500 UWorld questions and doing them right after going through GI like you said will give you a false sense of "knowing the material" because you will have just seen it. UWorld is THEEEEE golden set of questions and by "wasting" questions like that I think will do you a disservice.

During your second year, I would focus on really learning your course materials and turning those last few classes you take second semester of second year into your strong points. Like you said, use Kaplan and Rx during class (for example, do the neuro questions in neuro, etc. to really drill in concepts and to see what is important for boards). Then, once you start hitting UWorld 2-2.5 months from your test, you will have a strong foundation and 5000+ board questions already under your belt. This is purely my opinion and I have NOT taken USMLE/COMLEX yet.

By the way, did you make this up yourself? It's really well thought out and pretty much a dead-on hit with what seems to be the "SDN Way" of doing well on boards.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile

 

[750335]

As an incomer myself, I appreciate this post immensely. You could add some of the tweaks the current students have suggested, and then honestly this should be stickied for MD and DO students alike. Solid post.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Thanks! I know that I'm going to be leaning on my wife a lot to keep me grounded when things get tough so I at least have that going for me. Is there usually some kind of process in place to get connected with upperclassmen? I know I'm going to have questions about how clinical rotations are when I start since I can't find any information here or in other locations online for my school.

Your school might have a mentor system in place to help underclassmen. However, you can also just make small talk and they will tell you a lot of good stuff. The tough part might be getting information on clinical rotations if the 3rd years travel far for them.

 

[68PGunner]

The goal for your first two years is to beast Step 1. Your preclinical grades mean jack if you can't recall the important things on gameday. With that said, here are my advice:

1) Use Anki w/ Bros deck when you get into the system. I would add about 5-10 cards per hr of lecture to that system deck. Don't be that person who adds 90-100 cards per hr of lecture. That's *****ic. Anki has a lot of bugs to it but it's a great tech to convert facts to your long term memory.

2) Go through Kaplan and USMLE-RX qbank per system as you are going through the course. I would convert all quests to ANki flascards. For USMLE-RX, there are about 200-300 quests for each system on all levels.

If you do those two things, I guarantee you that you will likely do very well in your preclinical classes and board.

 

[Pokedoc]

This looks really good, but one thing that I would change (IMO) would be NOT starting UWorld that early. This is purely my opinion, but during dedicated you can easily get through UWorld 2x in 2-2.5 months. There is no need to start it in the beginning of spring 2nd year when you haven't finished school. You only have ~2500 UWorld questions and doing them right after going through GI like you said will give you a false sense of "knowing the material" because you will have just seen it. UWorld is THEEEEE golden set of questions and by "wasting" questions like that I think will do you a disservice.

During your second year, I would focus on really learning your course materials and turning those last few classes you take second semester of second year into your strong points. Like you said, use Kaplan and Rx during class (for example, do the neuro questions in neuro, etc. to really drill in concepts and to see what is important for boards). Then, once you start hitting UWorld 2-2.5 months from your test, you will have a strong foundation and 5000+ board questions already under your belt. This is purely my opinion and I have NOT taken USMLE/COMLEX yet.

By the way, did you make this up yourself? It's really well thought out and pretty much a dead-on hit with what seems to be the "SDN Way" of doing well on boards.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile

Oh I didn't realize that you could get through UWorld that quickly thanks! I'll definitely take that into consideration when I get to that point.

I did not write a vast majority of this info. I essentially made a google doc, copied a bunch of ideas that I liked and gathered from going through the forums over the past few months, and then put them together in a way that made sense to me. A lot of the people who posted their study plans and were really successful on the boards had similar processes and they sounded like they would mesh well with my study style. It sucks that I didn't write down the names of the different people who actually came up with ideas so that I could give them credit!

 

[Pokedoc]

The goal for your first two years is to beast Step 1. Your preclinical grades mean jack if you can't recall the important things on gameday. With that said, here are my advice:

1) Use Anki w/ Bros deck when you get into the system. I would add about 5-10 cards per hr of lecture to that system deck. Don't be that person who adds 90-100 cards per hr of lecture. That's *****ic. Anki has a lot of bugs to it but it's a great tech to convert facts to your long term memory.

2) Go through Kaplan and USMLE-RX qbank per system as you are going through the course. I would convert all quests to ANki flascards. For USMLE-RX, there are about 200-300 quests for each system on all levels.

If you do those two things, I guarantee you that you will likely do very well in your preclinical classes and board.

So essentially with that first point just make the 5-10 cards out of the concepts that I am truly struggling with? I usually avoided flashcards in the past because I would end up spending more time making them than using them but I keep seeing Anki coming highly recommended so I might have to try it out.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Oh I didn't realize that you could get through UWorld that quickly thanks! I'll definitely take that into consideration when I get to that point.

I did not write a vast majority of this info. I essentially made a google doc, copied a bunch of ideas that I liked and gathered from going through the forums over the past few months, and then put them together in a way that made sense to me. A lot of the people who posted their study plans and were really successful on the boards had similar processes and they sounded like they would mesh well with my study style. It sucks that I didn't write down the names of the different people who actually came up with ideas so that I could give them credit!

UWorld has about 2500 questions I think. If you are doing about 80 questions a day (which is very doable and from what I have read, some people more per day), you would get through it in 30 days. Your second pass should be much quicker than your first.

 

[darknecrosforte]

Look into Lecturio instead of Pathoma. Slightly higher production value, transcripts of audio are available, mid-video quizzes and higher clinical presentation of info so you can actually develop thinking via differentials. Offline downloading on my non-data tablet for long drives is nice and the interesting, but understandable accents of the lecturers (British, Irish, Indian so far) holds my attention.

UWorld and NBME (purchases) are reserved for 6 months out. UWorld teaches you how to take the exam and how to think so do this 6 months out because it won't help you as much if you start it 2 months prior. As you get closer to the exam, you do NBME. NBME will predict your score if you average several of the most recent results. They are "closest" to the USMLE apparently in terms of style and difficulty so you want to condition yourself and treat this like periodization training for athletes. You want to peak during the exam and not burn out early.

Kaplan is okay to do if it's free and you are > 6 months away from your exam and you don't have some other decent activity to do. Might be better to do something "fun" instead - like practice knot-tying or going to the gym.

 

[gergles]

Tackle one lecture at a time. Thoroughly go through the lecture, reference text books, and make flow charts when needed to make sure you really understand what is being taught. For example, a 1 hour lecture may take 3 hours to really get through. This part is key, because after the first pass through the lecture you should have a very solid understanding (understanding = remembering) and should have a majority of the material down where you want to be for the test day.

I think this is a great way to approach material, if you need to feel constantly on top of things but I also feel this is unrealistic for many people and is also what hurts them. They feel the need to have everything understood on the first pass and many people do not attend lecture for that reason alone (waste of time because they can't focus). However, if you are spending more time watching a lecture on 1.5-2x speed on the first pass than you would have if you were sitting in lecture, I actually think you may be hurting yourself more than helping. I think its better to accept you won't understand everything on the first go through and instead really try to solidify it on the 2nd or 3rd go through. Initially I found myself watching a lecture and feeling like because there was so much information, I didn't learn a thing. The truth is you just have to accept that as a new style of learning you kind of learn a lot of the material 'passively' and it will start to make more sense after repeated exposure. Also you may not need a 3rd pass on everything and it actually may be more beneficial to get a 4th pass on a weaker area than getting a 2nd pass on something you felt you understood well on the 1st-2nd pass.

 

[BK2681]

Good thing to drill your Quizlet cards on Friday and Saturday, but if you have an exam Monday, make sure you're doing a lot of practice questions. You might know the material cold, but if you aren't ready for the convoluted clinical vignette questions you'll end up screwing yourself over. I'd say half the battle is just trying to understand what the question is asking you. Doing practice questions will help you familiarize yourself with the different ways they can ask questions over a single topic. For example, a question over respiratory alkalosis could be asked like:

A 55 y/o male presents to the ER with a severe headache, abdominal pain, and a cough. His wife says that he has been taking an OTC cough suppressant but cannot remember the name of the medication. She states he drinks around 2 beers a night and sometimes takes Benadryl if he's having trouble sleeping. Upon examination, you notice he is breathing at an increased rate and hear wheezing upon auscultation. His lab work indicates an acid-base disorder. Which of the following is the most likely disorder?
A) respiratory acidosis
B) respiratory alkalosis
C) metabolic acidosis
D) metabolic alkalosis


You might know that a decrease in serum CO₂ leads to a increase in serum pH but if you can't apply that knowledge to these types of questions then you're screwed. If I received this question (mind you, I'm only an MS-1), I would read the last sentence first to try and figure out what the question is trying to ask me and then go back through all that extra fluff and pull out only the relevant information. After I've pulled out all the relevant information, I would turn it into a first order question in my head. I'd think, "Okay, he has an acid-base disorder so I'm either looking for something related to CO₂ or HCO₃⁻ in the fluff". Thinking like an MS-1, I would key in on the increased breathing rate because it is really the only thing in the fluff that I can relate to a change in CO₂ or HCO₃⁻. I would think, "Okay, so he is breathing fast which means he is blowing off a lot of CO₂ so the CO₂ levels in his blood have to be going down".

Thus, through all that fluff, the question turns into "A decrease in serum CO₂ concentration most likely leads to which acid-base disorder?".

It took me a good 4 months in medical school to finally feel comfortable with these types of questions. Do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on from materials that you are most likely not going to use for boards. Get the BRS books, High-Yield Series Question books, Gray's Review, etc. There are only so many ways for them to ask questions about respiratory alkalosis so you'll start to recognize questions on exams that are very similar to practice questions you've done. I've even had some questions on exams that were verbatim from Grays Review.

However, the most important thing about doing practice questions is understanding why you got questions wrong or right. You have to change the undergrad mentality of using practice questions to gauge how well you know the material to the mentality that practice question are something you're supposed to learn from. Taking time to learn from the answer explanations and looking up confusing topics will allow you to get the most from practice questions. I do practice questions in chunks of 10 at a time and then review those 10. Make sure you have a good template or notebook and that you're taking notes on the questions you got wrong and right. I attached a copy of the template I use for practice questions.

Another key point is to not get discouraged by getting questions wrong. There are some exams where I would average around 5-6 correct for each chunk of 10 practice questions and would end up scoring 10% above the class average (FYI I was scoring below the class average before I started religiously doing practice questions). Just keep in mind that this is what has worked for me... don't try to draw elaborate blood flow diagrams with 16 different colors because you saw a bunch of people in the library doing it if you suck at drawing. I tried to do this in the beginning even though I suck at drawing because people I knew who were doing extremely well were drawing diagrams. Just do what works best for you and adapt study advice you receive from other people to fit how you learn best.

 

[IslandStyle808]

The best way to approach the whole, how many passes you need is to use Anki cards. It will do the spacing for you. If you only need that 2nd pass to be solid, then Anki will push the review further down. If you need 3+ passes, then the cards can be set up to increase the amount of times you see it in a week.

As for the UWorld thing, you will get multiple answers from people. Trust me on this, I have read multiple posts on here to the point of being nauseated. The big three are 1) do it beginning of second year, 2) do it half way through 2nd year, 3) do it during dedicated. It will be dependent on what type of score you are aiming for and how fast of a learner you are. So remember to keep reevaluating yourself through the 1st year to see how early you will need to go into UWorld.

 

[Pokedoc]

Good thing to drill your Quizlet cards on Friday and Saturday, but if you have an exam Monday, make sure you're doing a lot of practice questions. You might know the material cold, but if you aren't ready for the convoluted clinical vignette questions you'll end up screwing yourself over. I'd say half the battle is just trying to understand what the question is asking you. Doing practice questions will help you familiarize yourself with the different ways they can ask questions over a single topic. For example, a question over respiratory alkalosis could be asked like:

A 55 y/o male presents to the ER with a severe headache, abdominal pain, and a cough. His wife says that he has been taking an OTC cough suppressant but cannot remember the name of the medication. She states he drinks around 2 beers a night and sometimes takes Benadryl if he's having trouble sleeping. Upon examination, you notice he is breathing at an increased rate and hear wheezing upon auscultation. His lab work indicates an acid-base disorder. Which of the following is the most likely disorder?
A) respiratory acidosis
B) respiratory alkalosis
C) metabolic acidosis
D) metabolic alkalosis


You might know that a decrease in serum CO₂ leads to a increase in serum pH but if you can't apply that knowledge to these types of questions then you're screwed. If I received this question (mind you, I'm only an MS-1), I would read the last sentence first to try and figure out what the question is trying to ask me and then go back through all that extra fluff and pull out only the relevant information. After I've pulled out all the relevant information, I would turn it into a first order question in my head. I'd think, "Okay, he has an acid-base disorder so I'm either looking for something related to CO₂ or HCO₃⁻ in the fluff". Thinking like an MS-1, I would key in on the increased breathing rate because it is really the only thing in the fluff that I can relate to a change in CO₂ or HCO₃⁻. I would think, "Okay, so he is breathing fast which means he is blowing off a lot of CO₂ so the CO₂ levels in his blood have to be going down".

Thus, through all that fluff, the question turns into "A decrease in serum CO₂ concentration most likely leads to which acid-base disorder?".

It took me a good 4 months in medical school to finally feel comfortable with these types of questions. Do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on from materials that you are most likely not going to use for boards. Get the BRS books, High-Yield Series Question books, Gray's Review, etc. There are only so many ways for them to ask questions about respiratory alkalosis so you'll start to recognize questions on exams that are very similar to practice questions you've done. I've even had some questions on exams that were verbatim from Grays Review.

However, the most important thing about doing practice questions is understanding why you got questions wrong or right. You have to change the undergrad mentality of using practice questions to gauge how well you know the material to the mentality that practice question are something you're supposed to learn from. Taking time to learn from the answer explanations and looking up confusing topics will allow you to get the most from practice questions. I do practice questions in chunks of 10 at a time and then review those 10. Make sure you have a good template or notebook and that you're taking notes on the questions you got wrong and right. I attached a copy of the template I use for practice questions.

Another key point is to not get discouraged by getting questions wrong. There are some exams where I would average around 5-6 correct for each chunk of 10 practice questions and would end up scoring 10% above the class average (FYI I was scoring below the class average before I started religiously doing practice questions). Just keep in mind that this is what has worked for me... don't try to draw elaborate blood flow diagrams with 16 different colors because you saw a bunch of people in the library doing it if you suck at drawing. I tried to do this in the beginning even though I suck at drawing because people I knew who were doing extremely well were drawing diagrams. Just do what works best for you and adapt study advice you receive from other people to fit how you learn best.

Woah this is huge thanks! I definitely learn better the more practice questions that I do. Do most of the supplemental textbooks that you see getting recommended (like BRS) have a good amount of practice questions in them then?

 

[TheOther]

during dedicated you can easily get through UWorld 2x in 2-2.5 months.

That's a long dedicated, braj!

OP: I'm in the middle of board studying and in the camp of "start UWorld at the start of your MS2 Semester2". Maybe even a bit sooner. My argument for this is: a lot of people underestimate 1. how long it takes to get through UWorld questions, if you use it properly as a learning tool and 2. how exhausting it is to start off doing "80 questions a day". There's a reason why you see so many posts about "I wish I had made it through UWorld 1x" or "I only made it through 1.5x when I intended on 2x". This is my personal method for using UWorld just to shed some light on the process. Again, it's only an n=1 so take everything you read on here with a grain of salt. Plus I'm sitting for the exam in May, so I guess I'll let you know how this actually worked out for me then haha.

1. I started with 10 questions a day in January and that took roughly 12-15 minutes a question (2-2.5 hours) just to get familiar with how they present/test details and going through each explanation in depth. This is also because we're all neurotic med students and assume you need to write every single word down (which is fine and is another argument for why I believe giving yourself more time is better to get down your own system of going through UWorld). I annotated FA/made Anki cards for the questions I got wrong and marked the questions I got right for the wrong reasoning. Always had FA open and would watch relevant Pathoma/Sketchy videos.

2. After about 20% of the bank (~500 questions), it took me ~10 minutes a question on average (roughly 3-3.5hrs for 20 questions).

3. After about 40% of the bank (~1000 questions), it took me ~6 minutes a question on average (roughly 3 hours for 30 questions).

4. I'm at about 60% of the bank done and it takes me about 3 hours to go through a full block of 40 questions, annotating and all. My first full block of 40 questions took around 4 hours and it was exhausting. I feel fine now at the end of a block.

The rest of my day is spent pounding out Bro's cards, Pathoma and Sketchy. I'm projected to finish with my first pass of UWorld late-March (almost 3 months) and plan on doing 2-3 blocks a day for my second pass (1.5 months of dedicated). Since I've been going through my UWorld Anki deck, I'm sure this second pass will be much faster as I've been focusing on filling in the gaps. The point of me sharing the details of my UWorld progression is to show that it's better to overestimate how long it'll take you to get through UWorld than to underestimate. Finding yourself going faster than you expected and slowing down (fill in the remaining time with FA, P, S) is a much better situation than to think "oh sh-- I have to pick up the pace" and feel more pressure than you already do.

I know you're still a couple years out from this place, but overall your plan seems solid. As others have said, be prepared to be flexible in figuring out what works for you. And having a wife in med school is so freakin' sweet. It has its challenges, but it's really a huge blessing. She will be your biggest support so make sure to communicate well (especially during crunch times), share your appreciation often and make time for them even when it feels like it's hard to. It'll do wonders for your mental state. Best to you!

Edit: grammar

 

[cjcarter]

This thread is gold for an incoming MS-1 like myself. Thanks to OP for compiling all of this advice and for the contributions of current students! I will definitely be looking back at this thread once school starts.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

That's a long dedicated, braj!

Yeah, I said that wrong. What I meant was if you are doing 80 a day you can get through it 2x in 2 months or so. However, I havent started uworld yet, so I dont know much about how long it actually takes to review questions, etc.

 

[NotYou20]

Looks pretty good but I'll add a few things. At my school getting through all lectures in a day isn't realistic. If you try to do that with 6-7 lectures you'll sacrifice quality. We also have Fridays off so there's a catch up day. Figure out what works, but you'll probably fall behind a little bit and it's ok.

If you have a test in a week but haven't seen some of the lectures in ~2 weeks, a quick read through before seriously studying helps a lot

Be aware of what works and what doesn't and don't be afraid to change things

 

[IslandStyle808]

Yeah, I said that wrong. What I meant was if you are doing 80 a day you can get through it 2x in 2 months or so. However, I havent started uworld yet, so I dont know much about how long it actually takes to review questions, etc.

I think if you are doing 2 passes, then it would be better to start earlier than 2 and half months. Most people who did multiple passes of UWorld did it 6 months out of the exam.

 

[Pokedoc]

Looks pretty good but I'll add a few things. At my school getting through all lectures in a day isn't realistic. If you try to do that with 6-7 lectures you'll sacrifice quality. We also have Fridays off so there's a catch up day. Figure out what works, but you'll probably fall behind a little bit and it's ok.

If you have a test in a week but haven't seen some of the lectures in ~2 weeks, a quick read through before seriously studying helps a lot

Be aware of what works and what doesn't and don't be afraid to change things

Yea I'm not exactly sure what the curriculum is like day-to-day, so if it does end up being too much then I'll make sure to keep that in mind. I know that we have tests every week so I feel like I would need to try and get the information down as much as possible in the first pass, but I'll see what it's like when I start and adjust from there!

 

[FourniersGreenGang]

Yeah good schedule, just make sure like others have said, to have time for freedom from material. This has been CRUCIAL to my success so far in med school in that when the time to start hitting the books hard is there, you can do it easily. A lot of people get addicted to studying and it's really sad when you're the one enjoying life and outperforming them on the tests , but it tells you a lot about quality over quantity. Just take everything one day at a time and keep your goals at the forefront of your mind.

 

[68PGunner]

So essentially with that first point just make the 5-10 cards out of the concepts that I am truly struggling with? I usually avoided flashcards in the past because I would end up spending more time making them than using them but I keep seeing Anki coming highly recommended so I might have to try it out.

Your 5-10 cards per hr of lecture should have clinical relevance that are 3rd or 4th order that bring a lot of concepts together. If you are making 50-100 cards like some people, it means that you haven't properly learned the materials in the first place.

 

[Pokedoc]

Your 5-10 cards per hr of lecture should have clinical relevance that are 3rd or 4th order that bring a lot of concepts together. If you are making 50-100 cards like some people, it means that you haven't properly learned the materials in the first place.

Ah gotcha, thanks for clarifying!

 

[BK2681]

Woah this is huge thanks! I definitely learn better the more practice questions that I do. Do most of the supplemental textbooks that you see getting recommended (like BRS) have a good amount of practice questions in them then?

BRS is like the Cliffs Notes of medical school. They'll have 20 or so good questions. It's good to make sure you understand the big picture. The bulk of the questions I do come from Gray's Review for anatomy and Pre-Test Physiology. There are a ton of board study books out there that you're not going to likely use for dedicated.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

MS-1
- Do lectures and study whatever way you want.
- Do relevant Bro's deck, Pathoma and add any sketchymicro/pharm/path that may help.

Summer
- Continue Bro's.
- Finish off all sketchy and review MS-1 Sketchy.
- Give first year topics in Pathoma a second pass.

MS-2
- Continue with MS-1 like schedule.
- Do USMLE-Rx in random in the fall starting around October. Add into random subjects as you learn them. Don't ever do them by systems.
- January do all questions you got wrong on USMLE-Rx.
- February start UWorld.
- Give all second year Pathoma a run again.

Dedicated
- Abandon Bros, but re-do all sketchy and pathoma.
- Do all NBME.
- Do 2nd run of UWorld.
- Add on all topics you were weak on first pass UWorld to Kaplan.
- Do all COMBANK OMM questions for 4-5 days after USMLE and take COMLEX.