Trying to prepare for Step 1..

[atiffarooqi]

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Hi everyone,

I am currently about to finish my first year of DO school, and since day 1, boards have been on my mind.
I have been tryingto really engage myself and learn things well, because as cliche as it sounds, i dotn want to be an average doctor, i want to be excellent at what i do. For this reaosn, i dotn want to be a "review book" doctor. At the same time, i cannot do anything if i dont have an organized plan. This brigns in First Aid. Since my school presents info quite haphazardly, i figured First Aid would be a great start to giving me the topics i need ot know, even though the information per topic is sparse in it. SO my logic was that i would take hte topics FA presents and elaborate on the info by annotating it with books. At this point, im convinced that im only studying for lectures to pas exams, but my learning is goign to have ot come form my own reading and board prep. I really want to do some questions to start building confidence, but i knwo if i try, ill get everything wrong and i wont learn a thing form the questions out of frustration.

Im sure tons have asked this quesiton before, but im really worried that using FA as a compass wont be enough. there is no doubt my summer is now gone already since im goign to have to spend it learning what was covered in first year since i spent so much time worrying , ibarely learned a thing. So is this a good ldea? Is it possible to excel o nthe boards by using FA as a guideline on what topics to study?

I apologize sincerely if this is a repeat, and i hope you all can help.

 

[strv04]

Studying for step 1 during the summer after first year is about as useful as studying for the MCAT before taking bio, chem, phys and ochem. Review first year material is just as useless becasue you will be going thorugh all the important stuff again next year and even if you do study you will forget the details before step I.

Enjoy your summer, pass your tests and read some review books next year in conjunction with your classes and do some robbins/webpath questions throughout the year and you'll be fine.

 

[scube]

Enjoy your summer. the next one will be painful no matter what you do now.

 

[atiffarooqi]

I dont mean to be stubborn, but the reaosn why i am considering looking through first year again is because so far i have relied solely on class notes, so now i dont remember a thing, and i know other peopel say that, but for me its really bad. I feel like if i wait till second year, ill just have to learn first year agai nwhile doing second year. One thing about our curriculum is that the systems we covered in first year we wont see again, we covered musculo, neuro, heme/immuno, and soon derm, and next year we wont touch those at all. so now, im planning to use books like robbins, so that in the summer i could say listen to goljan and use some other books to esseintially make a comhrehensive review source by annotating first aid, i know i wont remember it, but at least itll be another round, and my main goal is not to memorize it all but to make a complete review resource soi have a single set of notes to go back to whe ni do start board studying. Plus, since i plan to do most of my summer review in the last month right before second year begins, i can als odo questiosn and immeidately get in the groove of doing questions after each system.

I mean i never usually do much during my vacations anyway and i get bored of time off after like 2 weeks max. So i figured why not do somethign like this to make sure i do really well.

 

[Bitsy]

I'm going to have to agree with most of the other posters who said NOT to study/restudy over the summer. At best, it will be pointless and at worst, you could get burnt out during the middle of second year right when you should be gearing up for boards studying. Plus this is one of the last free summers you will have....after second year, you will be studying/taking boards and starting 3rd year and after 3rd year, you don't get a break unless you use your vacation month. It sounds like you have been spinning your wheels worrying so much. Over the summer, you could relax and work on your possible issues (don't know you but you sound like you waste a lot of time worrying) w/ anxiety whether that be relaxation techniques or possibly seeing your doctor & getting on anxiolytic. Like I said, I don't know if you have a genuine generalized anxiety disorder but the anxiety is only going to get worse the closer you get to boards so it may be something to investigate now..... Good luck! Learn second-year material well (once second year starts not over the summer) and if you want you can begin reviewing board material that you feel you may be weak on (1st yr subjects) during second year.

 

[hsmooth]

It looks like you've made up your mind on what you want to do. Good luck with it!

I dont mean to be stubborn, but the reaosn why i am considering looking through first year again is because so far i have relied solely on class notes, so now i dont remember a thing, and i know other peopel say that, but for me its really bad. I feel like if i wait till second year, ill just have to learn first year agai nwhile doing second year. One thing about our curriculum is that the systems we covered in first year we wont see again, we covered musculo, neuro, heme/immuno, and soon derm, and next year we wont touch those at all. so now, im planning to use books like robbins, so that in the summer i could say listen to goljan and use some other books to esseintially make a comhrehensive review source by annotating first aid, i know i wont remember it, but at least itll be another round, and my main goal is not to memorize it all but to make a complete review resource soi have a single set of notes to go back to whe ni do start board studying. Plus, since i plan to do most of my summer review in the last month right before second year begins, i can als odo questiosn and immeidately get in the groove of doing questions after each system.

I mean i never usually do much during my vacations anyway and i get bored of time off after like 2 weeks max. So i figured why not do somethign like this to make sure i do really well.

 

[atiffarooqi]

To Hsmooth, if youre saying what i think you are, then youre right, i came for advice andi should take it when i get it.

My problem is that i tell myself that a person of my level of smartness cant afford to take a break, and that those giving the adivce are way more intelligent and deserve/can afford the breaks, if that makes any sense. I just really want to ace my boards, as everyone else does of course, im just not known to be good at ace-ing things. I do appreciate everyone's advice. I considered going over first year during second year, but i sometimes wonder if ill have the time.

Do you guys think its a bad idea if i casually went through goljan's lectures or at least just the physio of what ive done so far over the summer, or is that still overkill?

I hope yo uall can understand where my concer nis coming from, and once again, i immensely appreciate all your advice and patience with me.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

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[atiffarooqi]

Zona, i agree, i have from about late may till mid august, so i was gonna definitely take some time off. I planned on starting reviewing in like late june. But with the advice i got so far, i def dont wanna burn myself out right when board studying really kicks in.

I think ive been blaming my anxiety a little too much though. It isnt debilitating, its just a lack of confidence, which has improved over the last few years, but i tend ot be pessimistic so i see myslefi nthe worst scenarios all the time. The only real reaosn im so anxious riht now is because my desire to push my limits in learning are peaking at this time in my life, and i feel like the more time i spend not doing something the right way, the more time is gone, and in med school, time zooms. But all your input is really helping out.

As far as what im adding, i try to add things that enhance my understanding of the topic for now. Im definitely goign to honestly consider waiting till second year to start reviewing, but in case i end up reviewing over the summer, would it be a better thing to maybe flip thru physio that ive done or path ive done, or go through all of it?

 

[rabiya]

find yourself the goljan audios, and start listening to him. you don't have to take notes or anything. just listen. the more you listen the better. someone told me to that my summer after first year, and i sorta did, but now, studying for my boards right now, and i wish that's all i did last summer. just listen over and over again. don't take notes or try to memorize anything. just listen to him.

 

[harrypotter]

My two cents: I love medical physiology by boron. If I had to do my summer over, I would read the book, not study it but just read it to get familiar with it. I wish I had found it earlier. But to study hard core? You'll end up burning out and hating school in a major way.

Even if you end up just veggin thru summer you'll be fine during 2nd year. I found 2nd year to be the time where the playing field leveled a lot more. G'luck!

 

[scube]

If you read the posts on board study most people agree that you peak. Be careful and don't burn out. Listening to goljan one or two lectures a day would be about perfect. Im sure you are more capable than you think you are.

Good luck

 

[simpledoc123]

This advice might not pertain to your school but for me all the upperclassmen told me to read to Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple during the summer between first and second year because our microbiology is extremely weak. The book is an easy read and u will surely use it during board studying. Also, I agree with the others that if u have time try to listen to Goljan this summer to get a feel for his audio. Don't take notes. I am studying for step 1 and wish that I had listened to him before.

 

[atiffarooqi]

Listening to Goljan sounds like a good idea, ill give that a whirl. Since there are systems that we havent covered yet, should i still listen to that or just listen to the path ive covered?

I got Micro MRS, and im using it along side our micro lectures since our professor loves to stick in extra info. But yeah, we cover micro all throughout, thank you though.

 

[rabiya]

the easiest part of summer studying is the planning part. the hardest part is the ACTUALLY studying part. a lot of people make plans....and at the end, it ends up that;s all they did.

My advise to you is...stop making grand plans and actually start doing it if you want to use your summer. Listen to goljan- starting with the parts you've already covered, and THEN think about what to do next.

 

[knovecc]

Listen to goljan- starting with the parts you've already covered, and THEN think about what to do next.

Does listening to the Goljan help for a first-year graduate student? Even he hasn't learn more than half of it?

I will be finishing my first yr with patho, microbio-immuno, hemato, neuro, psychiatry and locomotor syst.

thnx

 

[juiceman311]

Haha. Reminds me of me. I hand a grand plan to review all of first year casually during the summer. I got through 12 pages of BRS Physio and went to the pool and gym with my girlfriend instead. Now, I am about to start my Step1 studying and do not for a moment regret being a bum last summer. I barely remember the stuff on my last exam 7 days ago. My personal experience advice is that during second year, when you start new organ system (if that's how you're classes are set up), review the pertinent physiology from BRS physiology and biochem. That's what I started doing this semester, and my grades have gone up 8%. Enjoy your summer.

As for Goljan audio--I have found the audio most useful to me when I listen to it AFTER I have started studying an organ system's pathology. I could not imagine listening to it after first year, you just do not have the knowledge base or vocabulary to realistically keep up with him. His audio is a review, not a lesson.

Quite honestly I just do not see the utility in studying anything after first year. Anatomy and embryology are particularly low yield, and pertinent anatomy and embryo will be emphasized as necessary throughout second year. Molecular bio is brought up as needed. Biochem and phys underlie all of pathology, but these concepts aren't retaught at our school, they're mentioned under the assumption that we know what's going on. That said, I doubt if I studied all of Biochem and Phys again in the summer I would remember the G-protein associated with LH (I made that up, it may not even be a Gprotein, I just had a test covering this a few weeks ago, proving the futility of studying 9 months in advance).

 

[atiffarooqi]

To juiceman, that is why i figured to only listen to the audio of what ive covered of path so far. As for reviewing phys and biochem for each system next year, i kind of have to do that since we cover everything abou the systme at that time. I knwo some schools cover the physio and stuff of every system first year, then the path and all the next year, but unfortunately we dont do that; we cover half of the systems first year, the nthe next half second year.

 

[rabiya]

During my first summer, we hadn't started Pathology, and I did about 9 chapters of RR and listened to the corresponding lectures. I thought it was enormously helpful, and I look back and I wish that I had the patience to get through all of it.

The point of this first review, is just to get familiar with the new words, I felt. But each person is different...for me, i did feel as though it gave me a heads start into second year.

 

[knovecc]

To atiffarooqi: I am an first-year (like you) MD student from Canada, and I have basically the same question as yours.
Have you ever TRIED board exam sample Qs? I tried some on the systems that my med school already covered in the first year (neuro, hemato etc)... and... I just wanna CRY...
I basically have NO clue where the heck the Qs are from --- much more detailed than our study objectives of first-year MD student!

To those who did their 2nd yr: is it normal for a first-year student to be almost killed by the USMLE Qs, even for the already learned systems? I mean really, almost KILLED.

 

[cgscribe]

To those who did their 2nd yr: is it normal for a first-year student to be almost killed by the USMLE Qs, even for the already learned systems? I mean really, almost KILLED.

--This isn't uncommon AT ALL. I remember doing some micro questions immediately after we had finished that block, and being like "WHAT?!" And I know plenty of classmates that felt the same way. Boards questions/knowledge, for most, is probably beyond what they learned at the time in classes. But, that's why months of studying and tons of sample questions are so essential. You get used to the style of q's they ask, start studying smarter, and notice big patterns and high-yield ideas, etc.