Take extra month or not? and how to use the extra time effectively.

[The Masked Duck]

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A few days ago I was informed by my school that due to my poor academic performance it was “highly recommend” that I should consider taking an additional month to study for the boards.



Deferring the boards for a month means instead of taking the boards in June I would take them in mid July instead. Unfortunately, our 3rd rotations start on July 5th which means I would be starting third year late. Fortunately I will still be able to graduate on time as my school has built into the schedule two 4 weeks periods we are given to study for step 2, vacation, research month, and/or residency interviews.


Here are some important things consider in my case:

The Facts:
We get done with 2nd year at the end of April boards must be finished by June 22. This gives me 7 weeks to take the boards.
With the extra month I would have 11 weeks to study as I could take the USMLE on July 9th and the COMLEX on July 18th.


Resources:
My school provides me with Kaplan for the COMLEX and I have already brought Doctors In Training for USMLE. I also plan at some point getting USMLE world and COM bank.

My Academic record 🙁
In the bottom 10% of class
Medical School GPA is 2.3
2 A's
4 B's
11 C's
I going to be honest, I am not a great student most of the time I barely make through my classes. Obviously, I didn’t master the material which means my board prep will have to be more than reviewing the material I unfortunately need to relearn it some of it.



The Original Plan
Throughout remaining school year I review First aid. Come April 29th, I focus mainly on DIT for the entire month of May and use Kaplan for back up on my weak subjects. Along the way I try to fit in USMLE world. I take the USMLE sometime in the first week of June and the COMLEX on June 13th.



The New Plain - If I take the extra month.
I reduce amount of time I need to review first aid during the school year allowing me focus on my classes. Hopefully try and make one through first aid by end of spring break if not April. Once school ends at the end of April, I spend most of May focused on Kaplan and going through first aid so that I can have a strong background before going on to DIT. With the extra month I can spend June focused on DIT and making another pass through first aid. Along the way I will try to do as many USMLE world questions as I can.


Advantages:
With an extra month I could spend May focusing on the Kaplan course, and work on relearning the material. That way I can use DIT the way it was meant to be used as review course. An additional benefit is that I can do more USMLE world questions. Finally the extra time allows me to focus on my remaining courses instead trying to find time to study for the boards while in school.
==> It is my best chance to get as high a USMLE score as I can to make for my terrible pre-clinical grades.


Disadvantages
==> BURN OUT! - studying nonstop for 1 and half months is tough. Studying nonstop for 2 and half months is hell. (I am hoping by going to through two different programs, the change of pace well help prevent this)
è 11 weeks is long time!!! How do I sure I remember everything!!
==> Forgetting stuff that learned in the beginning. I need to make sure I have retain what have learned over the past 11 weeks.

==> I lose time for interviews, because I am sure that I will have to use my remaining 4 weeks off to study for Step 2 exam and PE. I have no idea how easy or hard it is to set up interviews during forth year when you are in the middle of rotations.
==> I don't know how good Kaplan is and whether or it is worth using up an extra month. I need a little more than what DIT provides so I hoping starting out with Kaplan which cover the material in greater detail will allow me to make better use of DIT and help prevent me from forgetting stuff.

==> It will most likely mess up my 3rd year rotations
=> Physiological factor - while everyone else celebrates on June 22, I am still hitting the books. 🙁


Finally, the most important thing of all is that I find a way to use that extra time effectively or else all extra time in world isn’t going to save me.

So my mains questions are:
Do I take the extra month?
If I do, does my plan make sense?

How do I prevent burnout and keep myself focused?
How do I ensure I do not forget what I have learned?

I have spent of lot of time thinking this but I want to make sure I am not forgetting anything.


Thoughts? Suggestions? Mods feel to move this appropriate forum if it does not belonging here.

 

[The Masked Duck]

I know this is a really long post so I really appreciate what ever advice I can get. I have until January 31st to make a decision

 

[BelieveTheHype]

I haven't start preparing for the USMLE myself, but I can tell you what I would probably do in your situation. If you are in the bottom 10% of your class, you need to quickly pin-point the reason you are there:

1) Bad test taker? Improve your test taking strategies. Whether it your confidence level, inability to time manage well, etc. Practice a lot of questions timed and stimulate a test environment.

2) Undisciplined? Then get off your buns, and hit up the library or anywhere else where you aren't surrounded by constant distractions from computer, etc. You should know by now where and where you can't be productive. Don't keep fooling yourself and regretting it later. Maybe the course like Kaplan will help you with scheduling, but doing both DIT and Kaplan is overkill. In DIT, someone is reading First Aid to you (basically word for word) like a bed time story, do you really think that is productive use of your limited study time? In the end, if you really don't know how to get your act together and study, then do Kaplan

3) Slacker? Basically #2 and #3 go hand in hand. There are slackers who bomb and fail the exam, and then there are other slackers who are the bottom pool of their class that trump the top 1% of their class. So you may have the smarts, but you may not have the motivation, desire, push of the other anemic looking guy with bloodshot eyes handcuffed to his Mama Robbins.

4) Efficiency? There are students in my class who study 15 hours a day like they have a gun to their head, yet score lower than the other guy who spent 5-7 hours a day. Just because you spent more time doesn't mean you are studying efficiently. You must know by now what type of learning style suits you the best (visual, audio, etc) and effectives use that method. Make connections and learn concepts, stop the blind memorizations of factoids -- its all just loose info, so keep it to a minimum. When a strong wind comes, what is left standing? The tree or the pile of twigs? Take breaks during studying, do some physical activity (biggest problem with most students, esp., medical students), socialize a bit. Don't be a robot, your not made to live like that.

Best way to assess your progression is take an NBME Form before your studying (to know where you stand and what are your weak areas) and then take another one close to your exam date, to see if you score within your target area. That way you can know if you need more studying or ready to take the exam.

Retention is best kept with repetition. The more you revise something the more you will remember it, its pretty simple. You can do this with flash cards, etc...

Preventing burnout is by taking the much needed breaks and doing some other hobbies (physical activity). I personally don't think that studying 7 days a week is a good thing, and that a 6 day study/1 day off would be the best method for USMLE studying. Other people may have different opinions about this, but I think the brain needs a day of rest at least from the constant bombardment of info.

Point being, it can be a variety of reasons or a combination of everything. You have realized you are in a bit of a pickle, but realized that its GO TIME. What does that mean? Its time to work harder than you ever have and also to work harder than your classmates, because you have more ground to cover than they do. This is the biggest exam of your life so far, and you have the realize that fast -- the sooner, the better. The score of this exam will be a stamp on you for the rest of your life, so you want to make a lousy effort? Think about your future and the long term implications. I really hope you can summon the inner strength and do a 180. Action is the key here, being passive is the worst thing you can do. Talk to upperclassmen who have passed and take some advice or read the experiences thread here. In the end, talking will only get you so far, you have to walk the walk. So strap on a helmet and start pounding away....on the books. If you believe in God, pray.

 

[The Masked Duck]

To be honest I think it's combination of 2,3,4. My biggest problem is number 4. I need to find a better way to study and then put the time in. You rise a valid point. All the time and resources won't matter if I don't figure out a way turn things around. Thanks for the honest feedback!
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[whatsupdoc7]

Agreed 👍

 

[MossPoh]

For most people in med school it is that efficiency thing. I'm kind of known for spending A LOT of time studying, but oddly enough...I almost never memorize stuff. I'm also studying and reviewing at a greater depth than each class entails. I wouldn't say I do better (or worse) than people who study less for exams, but I'm also not studying for the exam all the time.

Anyway, most things I've seen show a plateau in what scores you can achieve once you start getting past 4 weeks. Even with breaks, it is just hard to keep that drive for so long.

I treat every day like I'm studying for the boards whether class material or review stuff. I do try to do a minimum of 15-25 random questions and spend real time going over the answers each day. If class material is slow then I may do more. Aside from that, I listen to Goljan almost religiously and go over each area with DIT audio as well (being as active as I can and not just listening).

Sunday is my day where I do the regular progression for DIT. I worked it out that I will almost have gone through FA twice before dedicated studying even begins.

If I ever reach a point where I truly do not have a clue what to do....I just do practice questions.

I'm a little more neurotic than most with the stuff, but I also noticed that I tried the whole study efficiently and do other things stuff last year and just flat out didn't do well. This year I really grind it out and SHOULD have had all A's (I'm a little frustrated with some stuff that screwed me over)