Tau's Method for Step 1, Coursework,Videos, Q-Banks, Iphone apps...Kind of Lost

[Gunneria]

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Hey guys,

I'm a bit lost when it comes to studying for Step 1 in terms of resources, question banks, etc...don't get me wrong, I've talked to people, read the forums a bit, and I realize there's a ton of variability in what works for each person (for me, I'm more a visual learning, condensing, learn the quick shortcuts, acronyms, read-your-own-notes type of person). I really like Tau's method and I think this the method I want to follow down the road since it condenses the amount of review material into several books.

I think the basis for me being lost/confused stems from spending all my time as a 1st year on purely my course materials/atlas/etc...Having taken biochem, anatomy, physiology, embryology, and histology, my main focus was on the course notes and gearing myself up for the nature of questions asked by my university exams as opposed to step 1 exams. I did integrate some step 1 books (BRS physio-awesome, BRS anatomy-awesome, and BRS embryo). I mostly used these for questions but also for review as in the case of BRS anatomy and physio...which is kind of funny because it seemed extremely helpful annotating my BRS books with lecture notes and realize oh, I just have to review my BRS vs. lecture notes/slides to review. I also watched some of the Kaplan videos which were super helpful breaking things down.

Anyways, at this point as I get my feet wet into Step 1 materials (I'm not really gung-ho right now so I'm at the the preparatory phase), I realize there is so much out there even though I realize 2nd year path is where the meat of the exam, there's still a lot of stuff out there on the subjects I have completed so far. So I have a couple of questions (and I think a lot of people might have similar concerns given the amount of information out there that it's become more of an information-overload scenario)...?

1.) I think I am planning on following Tau's method of consolidating most stuff into First Aid. Hence, at this early stage, I'd like to start the annotating process of putting additional info from outside books into First Aid. But what books and subjects do you recommend gathering information from? At this point BRS physio, and Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple are stand alone for physio and micro respectively. But what about Anatomy, Biochemistry, Embryo, and Immuno? From what review books for these subjects should I extract info to annotate onto FA? I think it's a bit frustrating because you have so many review books from various series (BRS, Rapid Review, Kaplan, (moore blue boxes for anatomy), etc...) and I want to "fill in the gaps" in my 2012 FA by perhaps the most superior (being very comprehensive for a great step 1 score) source or two (while realizing one book doesn't cover all).

2.) It appears that the whole approach to the USMLE in terms of being questioned in a long "clinical vignette" or case type of setup is something new to me...test-taking wise in comparision with how I've been tested in med school. There seems to be a LOT of books and even iphone apps out there. For example, there is the Underground Clinical Vignette series for different subjects. There is a "Case Studies in Immunology" text. I have the Lange and USMLE_consult appts on my phone which basically present everything in a clinical vignette setup. What are your thoughts on the usefulness of these/recommendations?

3.) I like watching lectures and having someone teach me. Hence, I also have the DIT (Doctors in Training) videos (which follows FA) and I wanted to integrate that with Tau's. Any suggestions? (This isn't something I'm going to do now but down the road but I'd like to get all my strategies aligned)...since we're on the video lecture topic, should I not use the Kaplan video series (aside from coursework...i.e.- I hear its great for pharm)

4.) Now my last question....question banks. There are so many out there (http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-s...176-what-best-usmle-step-1-question-bank.html) on top of the review problems provided at the end of each review book (rapid review, BRS, kaplan, etc...) How do you integrate these with Step 1 preparation.

Thanks so much guys for your help and reading this long message. It's really an issue of foresight and planning at this point (nearing end of 1st year and start of 2nd year) that I want to get down before becoming inundated with 2nd year coursework and etc...

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Hey guys,

I'm a bit lost when it comes to studying for Step 1 in terms of resources, question banks, etc...don't get me wrong, I've talked to people, read the forums a bit, and I realize there's a ton of variability in what works for each person (for me, I'm more a visual learning, condensing, learn the quick shortcuts, acronyms, read-your-own-notes type of person). I really like Tau's method and I think this the method I want to follow down the road since it condenses the amount of review material into several books.

tldr (j/k i read), still too long

I conducted a two year study at my medical school, trying to find out what the "right" approach was. The study, which albeit was a poor one, showed that

NO METHOD WORKS.​

The most important lesson I learned from this, both anecdotally and from teh study, is that you pick resources, pick a schedule, and stick with it. You are going to hear "oh this is awesome, you HAVE to use it" and "no no, that sucks, use THIS" or "my method worked for me! you should try it!"

NO.​

No book has superior information; they all have the same ****. No Qbank is THAT much better than another. No method has it down, nailed and sealed. If anyone had that success, everyone would get a 255 and the test would be instantly changed.

Choose books you WANT to read. If you heard "Micro Redic Simple" was an awesome book, but you don't like reading it, then you won't get anythign out of it. If you heard Goljan's lectures were the bomb (albeit stealing pirated material is illegal), but you hate his cackling voice, don't use it.

That being said, there are only some very few rules and generally accepted principles to follow

(1) Don't listen to anyone's advice. Including mine. Maybe mine, because I speak from analysis and not just from personal experience. But only maybe.

(2) You must use First Aid and Rapid Review Path

(3) You must have at least one Qbank. In general, Kaplan is harder with better explanations, reKaps, and references to First Aid while Uworld is more like the real deal. If you do only ONE Qbank, use Uworld. If you do TWO Qbanks, do Kaplan first (for learning) and UWorld last (for training)

(4) You should start studying at the beginning of second year. Questions, reading, whatever. Do it.

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Understanding the Hinge Question.

They will ask you some small detail about a disease. That is the last sentence in the vignette. BUT, you cannot answer the question until you identify the disease. That is what the vignette is for. You have to get teh diagnosis, recognize where you are in the pathway, what bug you are talking about, before you can answer the question. You get 4-5 lines of information (all of it relevant and there are no curveballs) to get a diagnosis, then, once you have the diagnosis, BAM, hinge. Its a two step process.

1. What are they talking about (buzz phrases comes in real useful here)
2. What is the answer to the specific question

Without 1, you cannot even begin to contemplate 2. Which means, this test is grueling. You have to answer two questions on every vignette: interpret what disease is being described THEN answer some small detail question about the disease. Whoo!

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Purpose of learning

First Aid, Rapid Review, and to a lesser extent, Qbanks have the must know info. The questions you are almost guarenteed to see on teh exam. By studying mainstream resources, you are seeing and reinforcing the most commonly encountered material for the exam, pushing you to average or just above.

Kaplan review courses, BRS series, and to a lesser extent, Qbanks have extended information. To get a 250, you have to not only have complete mastery of the must know info (the questions that everyone is going to get right), but also 10 times that information. The reason why you need to know so much more is becasue there are an infinite number of questions on the test possible. You have to know 10 things that WONT show up on YOUR exam (that might) in order to get the ONE thing that DOES shouw up on YOUR exam. That dedication requires a lot more effort, which is why 250s+ are so highly covetted. You don't need 250+, that's why thats 90th percentile.

Thats enough from me. GOOD LUCK!

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Don't listen to anyone's advice. Not even mine. Pick a method, pick resources, stick to them. Do NOT change your strategy because some one tells you they found "the magic bullet" They didnt.