Taking CBSE this summer. Best resources and advice?

[GimmeTheScalpel]

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Hey I'm looking for the best resources for prep and practice questions for the CBSE. Also, if anyone has a particular schedule or timeline they followed I'd really appreciate the advice.

 

[BlackThought]

You'll find tons of resources on SDN and other places on how to study for the CBSE and what materials to use. Here are my $0.02:

Materials I used:
- First Aid (aka the bible)
- Pathoma (I primed myself with this before diving into FA. Sets up a good foundation, but do not delay starting FA.)
- Uworld (I got it a month out and got through about 40% of it. Ideally I'd recommend getting it more than just a month out.)
- Sketchy Micro (Having a good micro foundation can really help your score. This subject is super HY for the CBSE.)

Try not to over do it with the number of materials. Honestly, you really only need FA, but some of the adjuncts are helpful . Try your best to keep on reviewing things over and over. Do as much Uworld as you can and annotate in FA as well. I cannot emphasize enough how critical Uworld is. It's not too important to get through all of it (I didn't) or get good scores. Rather, make sure you understand the questions that you do.

Good Luck.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[BlackThought]

Did you have a specific schedule/timeline you followed? For example, on any given day did you tell yourself you were going to watch the Pathoma/Sketchy videos for these corresponding sections of First Aid? Did you get all of this out of the way and then do exclusively UWorld, or did you mix it in with UWorld? Perhaps both?

No, I didn't really have a formal "schedule" per se, but I know many people that did. It depends on the type of studier you are. I did however set daily goals. For example, like you mentioned, get through a certain number of sketchy videos, pathoma lectures and/or UWorld questions. Sometimes I reached these goals, but most of the time I did not. Don't get discouraged. It's a beast of information and just being able to solidify one major concept in your studying after coming home from clinic at 6pm, is a victory.

I started Uworld pretty late (one month out from test day), but I would not recommend doing that. Start it early; maybe after one round of Pathoma? You can never really do too much Uworld. On the otherhand, focusing too much on something like Pathoma can potentially be disastrous.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[ucsfbound2017]

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[Scumbag_Steve]

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[GimmeTheScalpel]

Can I take my CBSE after D1 if I have not taken all the basic sciences yet? We cover organ systems in D2. But can I just study First Aid on my own and use Pathoma and UWorld as resources also? Or do I actually need to wait to take those systems courses before I start studying.