- Joined
- Oct 8, 2009
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
Hello everyone you can Call me Al and I'm starting this new thread for the IMG students from the caribbeans to share study methods, plans and schedule. I finished my two years of basic science in April 2008 and since then I didn't study and all I did was goof around and wasted my time and kept studying on and off I'll study one day then take 3 days off. I kind of lost my path and didn't know if medicine was really for me. Now I got back and found my way and decided to do everything I can to do good on the boards and I was average student but, I want to rock the boards so After extensive research and monitoring boards and trying everything and getting bored from different methods and giving up on studying and losing my self, the first thing I asked my self if I really want to do this. Yes I was a good student in my class and I did way better than alot of students who already passed the boards and getting ready to apply for the match.
So no more playing around of goofing around because, this is it. My last chance and approach and everything that have to do with medicine. I'm going to give it my best like how I did when I was on the island.
My goal is to take this exam before christmas and pass it and I'm going to. Trust me in those year and half I took off that I didn't do anything beside eating, working out, screwing around with women and be somebody who I'm not and craving attention. I ended up losing my way and finally, I found it and got back because, now more than ever I know that medicine is for me and I want to be a doctor. Remember passing this exam is all about attitude and who really wants it so bad and if it's a passion or not.
I don't want to prolong this but, all I was trying to do is try to tell any fellow IMG student not to take a year and half out of their time and then decide to come back and study because, you'll forget your material and yes I DID. I FORGOT MOST OF MY MATERIAL, EVEN ANATOMY, MICRO AND PHARM WERE THE STRONGEST SUBJECT and did pretty well in them I FORGOT ALMOST EVERYTHING. I found out when I took NBME 1 yes I know it's not a good test or it's very easy but, I failed it miserably because, I started getting a headache, I lost my stamina of taking exams and I FORGOT MY material. I don't care I have nothing to hide and alot of students were happy that I was behind and alot of people started calling me a failure even my dad.
In conclusion, Not to prolong anything if you were lost and found your way then congratulations and let's do this together. I'm going to post my NBME 1 to show you after a year and half how much info you're going to lose and I'm going to study everything from the beginning throughly because, I decided I want to ACE the boards and I'm going to because, I'm perfectionist and I have a neurotic attitude that doesn't let me be an average but, be the best and do the best in everything.
I just finished talking to a friend of mine and told me Al. If you want to pass the exam and get 210 then just memorize the first aid and do usmle world and I heard that from alot of people and to tell you the truth I can't do that and I want to read materials despite my ADHD that I refuse to take anything for it lol.
Now after extensive research this is by far the only method that suits me and feeds my hunger to read everything so I can feel prepared.
Study time is 2.5 Months
1) Look up TAUS METHOD TO STUDY THE BOARDS AND FOLLOW IT !
2) I have FA and all kaplan books and videos but, I'm not going to watch the videos and instead of the physio kaplan book I'm going to read BRS physio and instead of the kaplan pathology I'm going to read Goljan Rapid Review and supplement it with Goljan audio.
3) In the Taus Method because, I don't have money so some books Taus recommended I don't have so I decide to supplement it with kaplan books for i.e. Microbiology and Immunology are very good and concise in kaplan books so you don't need to buy any other book. Biochem/Molecular and Genetics are amazingly explained in Kaplan books and I read them once already so I think it's pretty good so no need to buy other books if you have those. As of neuroanatomy I really want to buy the HY neuroanatomy but to tell you the truth Again kaplan's anatomy/embryo/Neuro book is amazingly complete and again more than enough.
4) I have kaplan Q book and I have usmle World and I only finished 15% of it and my average score is 45th percentile so don't get discouraged because, this only 15% of the questions I completed so I have 85% of the questions left to finish and I'm sure my score will get better.
5) DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON NBME 1 ya go over it if you can find a copy of it online. According to Taus after your first read you should Do NBME 4, then NBME 2 and the final one is NBME 3. TRUST ME THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO DO. I've been searching forever.
6) DON'T GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED. I'm serious, I'm the biggest womanzier and this is one of the reasons why until now I haven't taken my steps because, I wasted time on women instead of worrying about my future. Seriously, yes I know life is lonely, things get lonely but, consider this YOU'RE IN THE ISLAND AGAIN BOOT CAMP STUDYING ! everything can wait and if you're planning to study until Dec 23rd then I think you can afford to go out every saturday night so you can take 1 day off every SUNDAY.
7) DON'T GET DISCOURAGED BY YOUR PEERS ! IF SOMEONE IS READING SOMETHING OR DOING SOMETHING DOESN'T MEAN IT WILL WORK FOR YOU !... PICK A SCHEDULE MAKE ONE AND STICK TO IT. do YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND DON'T I SAY DON'T study with guys who only read first aid and doing usmle questions because, as it is you get freaked out and they will come and be like here you'll take forever or maybe another 2 years to take your exam. I heard that alot matter fact I HEARD THAT YESTERDAY and guess what before we left the library the same guy who told me that, let's do random questions together and I was like sure I'm sick of studying so lets goof around for an hour with some random 50 questions. Guess what I read the question and figured the answer and yet he didn't even finish reading the question yet and when he did he came up with the wrong answer. So don't let anyone discourage you.
8) PLZ DON'T EXPERIMENT WITH DRUGS ! for i.e. these two kids were studying for the boards, they started taking adderal and even when they read about propranolol they started taking it to. A better approach, trust your self, TAKE MULTIVITAMINS, eat healthy and workout. I don't give a damn if it's wasting time or not. Even if you were a body builder you can work out one muscle a day for 30 mins.
9) Your schedule should be 8-12(study), 12-1( lunch), 1-4(study), 4-7(gym,dinner,no caffiene because your workout already pumped you up and gave you enough endorphins to run in ur body and you are quite alert to do questions for study for another 2 to 3 hours) 7-9 or 10 do questions subject based only the first run through the Taus Method.
10) GET IN THE HABIT OF GOING TO BED EARLY AND WAKING UP EARLY. I know even if the exam is in 2 or 3 months it's better to start now instead of a week before the exam.
11) GET LAID lol. I don't want to contradict my self by saying don't get emotionally involved, but, if you do it's good for you as long your partner your seeking understands that you are studying and you only can see them in a studying setting if they're planning to study next to you seriously or can handle seeing you on ur day off like saturday nights or sundays.
12) BEST WAY DEACTIVATE YOUR DAMN FACEBOOK ! and when you go to the library, LEAVE YOUR CELLPHONE IN THE CAR AND YOUR LAPTOP AT HOME. Trust me the days I bring my laptop to the library if i'm not doing questions I start youtubing, watching hulu, looking up facial trimmers and etc.... Only bring your laptop when you're going to do questions that's it that's when you're allowed to do so.
13) Throughout the year and half being away from studying I read all kaplan books once so I know what's good and what's not so that's why I decided to use some of the kaplan books where TAUS recommended different books because, kaplan books are complete and that's what I think.
14) Starting today officially it's my first day of studying so I'm starting with Biochem so I decided to read Goljan the two chapters that Taus suggested for Biochem and continue along.
15) Try to finish the Taus method in 5-6 weeks while annotating stuff to First aid. Easiest way to do it. Let's say you're reading Aortic stenosis from goljan book open FA at the same time on cardio section and look up aortic stenosis. After you're done reading the passage from goljan you read the first aid to see if there's any point is missing or if it needs more detail and so on. Don't add to much just stuff to explain more and guess what by the time you finish your frist read you already read the first aid the first time without you even realizing that !
16) DON'T FORGET TO LOOK UP A GOOD RESOURCE FOR THE HEART SOUNDS BECAUSE, NOW THEY'RE ON THE EXAM
17) HURRY UP AND STUDY AND TAKE YOUR EXAM BEFORE END OF THE YEAR BECAUSE, PEOPLE FROM THE BOARDS ARE DOING A MEETING IN DECEMBER AND THEY MIGHT EITHER HIGHER THE PASSING SCORE OR LOWER IT SO LET'S NOT GET SCREWED UP !
18) HAPPY STUDYING AND let's all work together because, this is a new thread so if there's any questions or you have any advice please post it here so we all can help each other out.
19) DO A SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT
20) DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU, YOU'RE A FAILURE BECAUSE, YOU CAN DO IT ! YOU CAN DO IT ! YOU CAN DO IT !
Download Taus Method here :
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6192274&postcount=12
Heart sounds great tutorial website :
http://www.blaufuss.org/
So no more playing around of goofing around because, this is it. My last chance and approach and everything that have to do with medicine. I'm going to give it my best like how I did when I was on the island.
My goal is to take this exam before christmas and pass it and I'm going to. Trust me in those year and half I took off that I didn't do anything beside eating, working out, screwing around with women and be somebody who I'm not and craving attention. I ended up losing my way and finally, I found it and got back because, now more than ever I know that medicine is for me and I want to be a doctor. Remember passing this exam is all about attitude and who really wants it so bad and if it's a passion or not.
I don't want to prolong this but, all I was trying to do is try to tell any fellow IMG student not to take a year and half out of their time and then decide to come back and study because, you'll forget your material and yes I DID. I FORGOT MOST OF MY MATERIAL, EVEN ANATOMY, MICRO AND PHARM WERE THE STRONGEST SUBJECT and did pretty well in them I FORGOT ALMOST EVERYTHING. I found out when I took NBME 1 yes I know it's not a good test or it's very easy but, I failed it miserably because, I started getting a headache, I lost my stamina of taking exams and I FORGOT MY material. I don't care I have nothing to hide and alot of students were happy that I was behind and alot of people started calling me a failure even my dad.
In conclusion, Not to prolong anything if you were lost and found your way then congratulations and let's do this together. I'm going to post my NBME 1 to show you after a year and half how much info you're going to lose and I'm going to study everything from the beginning throughly because, I decided I want to ACE the boards and I'm going to because, I'm perfectionist and I have a neurotic attitude that doesn't let me be an average but, be the best and do the best in everything.
I just finished talking to a friend of mine and told me Al. If you want to pass the exam and get 210 then just memorize the first aid and do usmle world and I heard that from alot of people and to tell you the truth I can't do that and I want to read materials despite my ADHD that I refuse to take anything for it lol.
Now after extensive research this is by far the only method that suits me and feeds my hunger to read everything so I can feel prepared.
Study time is 2.5 Months
1) Look up TAUS METHOD TO STUDY THE BOARDS AND FOLLOW IT !
2) I have FA and all kaplan books and videos but, I'm not going to watch the videos and instead of the physio kaplan book I'm going to read BRS physio and instead of the kaplan pathology I'm going to read Goljan Rapid Review and supplement it with Goljan audio.
3) In the Taus Method because, I don't have money so some books Taus recommended I don't have so I decide to supplement it with kaplan books for i.e. Microbiology and Immunology are very good and concise in kaplan books so you don't need to buy any other book. Biochem/Molecular and Genetics are amazingly explained in Kaplan books and I read them once already so I think it's pretty good so no need to buy other books if you have those. As of neuroanatomy I really want to buy the HY neuroanatomy but to tell you the truth Again kaplan's anatomy/embryo/Neuro book is amazingly complete and again more than enough.
4) I have kaplan Q book and I have usmle World and I only finished 15% of it and my average score is 45th percentile so don't get discouraged because, this only 15% of the questions I completed so I have 85% of the questions left to finish and I'm sure my score will get better.
5) DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON NBME 1 ya go over it if you can find a copy of it online. According to Taus after your first read you should Do NBME 4, then NBME 2 and the final one is NBME 3. TRUST ME THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO DO. I've been searching forever.
6) DON'T GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED. I'm serious, I'm the biggest womanzier and this is one of the reasons why until now I haven't taken my steps because, I wasted time on women instead of worrying about my future. Seriously, yes I know life is lonely, things get lonely but, consider this YOU'RE IN THE ISLAND AGAIN BOOT CAMP STUDYING ! everything can wait and if you're planning to study until Dec 23rd then I think you can afford to go out every saturday night so you can take 1 day off every SUNDAY.
7) DON'T GET DISCOURAGED BY YOUR PEERS ! IF SOMEONE IS READING SOMETHING OR DOING SOMETHING DOESN'T MEAN IT WILL WORK FOR YOU !... PICK A SCHEDULE MAKE ONE AND STICK TO IT. do YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND DON'T I SAY DON'T study with guys who only read first aid and doing usmle questions because, as it is you get freaked out and they will come and be like here you'll take forever or maybe another 2 years to take your exam. I heard that alot matter fact I HEARD THAT YESTERDAY and guess what before we left the library the same guy who told me that, let's do random questions together and I was like sure I'm sick of studying so lets goof around for an hour with some random 50 questions. Guess what I read the question and figured the answer and yet he didn't even finish reading the question yet and when he did he came up with the wrong answer. So don't let anyone discourage you.
8) PLZ DON'T EXPERIMENT WITH DRUGS ! for i.e. these two kids were studying for the boards, they started taking adderal and even when they read about propranolol they started taking it to. A better approach, trust your self, TAKE MULTIVITAMINS, eat healthy and workout. I don't give a damn if it's wasting time or not. Even if you were a body builder you can work out one muscle a day for 30 mins.
9) Your schedule should be 8-12(study), 12-1( lunch), 1-4(study), 4-7(gym,dinner,no caffiene because your workout already pumped you up and gave you enough endorphins to run in ur body and you are quite alert to do questions for study for another 2 to 3 hours) 7-9 or 10 do questions subject based only the first run through the Taus Method.
10) GET IN THE HABIT OF GOING TO BED EARLY AND WAKING UP EARLY. I know even if the exam is in 2 or 3 months it's better to start now instead of a week before the exam.
11) GET LAID lol. I don't want to contradict my self by saying don't get emotionally involved, but, if you do it's good for you as long your partner your seeking understands that you are studying and you only can see them in a studying setting if they're planning to study next to you seriously or can handle seeing you on ur day off like saturday nights or sundays.
12) BEST WAY DEACTIVATE YOUR DAMN FACEBOOK ! and when you go to the library, LEAVE YOUR CELLPHONE IN THE CAR AND YOUR LAPTOP AT HOME. Trust me the days I bring my laptop to the library if i'm not doing questions I start youtubing, watching hulu, looking up facial trimmers and etc.... Only bring your laptop when you're going to do questions that's it that's when you're allowed to do so.
13) Throughout the year and half being away from studying I read all kaplan books once so I know what's good and what's not so that's why I decided to use some of the kaplan books where TAUS recommended different books because, kaplan books are complete and that's what I think.
14) Starting today officially it's my first day of studying so I'm starting with Biochem so I decided to read Goljan the two chapters that Taus suggested for Biochem and continue along.
15) Try to finish the Taus method in 5-6 weeks while annotating stuff to First aid. Easiest way to do it. Let's say you're reading Aortic stenosis from goljan book open FA at the same time on cardio section and look up aortic stenosis. After you're done reading the passage from goljan you read the first aid to see if there's any point is missing or if it needs more detail and so on. Don't add to much just stuff to explain more and guess what by the time you finish your frist read you already read the first aid the first time without you even realizing that !
16) DON'T FORGET TO LOOK UP A GOOD RESOURCE FOR THE HEART SOUNDS BECAUSE, NOW THEY'RE ON THE EXAM
17) HURRY UP AND STUDY AND TAKE YOUR EXAM BEFORE END OF THE YEAR BECAUSE, PEOPLE FROM THE BOARDS ARE DOING A MEETING IN DECEMBER AND THEY MIGHT EITHER HIGHER THE PASSING SCORE OR LOWER IT SO LET'S NOT GET SCREWED UP !
18) HAPPY STUDYING AND let's all work together because, this is a new thread so if there's any questions or you have any advice please post it here so we all can help each other out.
19) DO A SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT
20) DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU, YOU'RE A FAILURE BECAUSE, YOU CAN DO IT ! YOU CAN DO IT ! YOU CAN DO IT !
Download Taus Method here :
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6192274&postcount=12
Heart sounds great tutorial website :
http://www.blaufuss.org/
. As of the 210 , some guy told me that and I never said I want to get a 210 and no one would be happy with a score like that and if you're coming from the caribbeans you should aim for something hire than that and As I stated I WANT TO ACE IT so I'm talking 240+. Have a great night.
