Unbinding FA vs. Not

[Darkskies]

Hi,

I notice that more and more people at my school have had their FAs unbound and organized into a 3 ring binder. This has made me a little more nervous since it seems to be a standard recommendation. I, on the other hand have just been highlighting and annotating on Pathoma(PDF copy) as well as writing one line sentences on my FA book.I also made a Word document where I add information regarding various subjects that I glean from Firecracker or UWorld. Shouldn't that be good enough? Much faster than annotating FA by hand. Is it really that much more helpful to have it all in a binder?

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[Modeselektor]

What an incredibly important aspect of prep. Surely worthy of debate and deep thought.

That the difference between a bound or unbound First aid can make or break your score is no joke. No sir.

Highly important.

Worth becoming nervous over.

 

[Frozengrapes]

What an incredibly important aspect of prep. Surely worthy of debate and deep thought.

That the difference between a bound or unbound First aid can make or break your score is no joke. No sir.

Highly important.

Worth becoming nervous over.

I wasn't aware this was a forum where only topics "worthy of debate" were posted.

I've actually been wondering the same. Moreso than being nervous, I'm pretty much just wondering if it's more convenient for some reason and will make life even a little easier for boards studying.

 

[NeuroLAX]

This isn't something to stress over. Different strategies work for different types of people, so if what you're doing is working for you, then stick with it. I like writing little bits of info in the margins and having it in a binder helps with that. It's incredibly easy to do yourself, all you need is a hair dryer, a 3-hole puncher, and about 30-45 minutes of your time.

 

[Modeselektor]

You're going to have to read the book.

Some people like to hole punch it and put it in binders so they can add sheets of annotations. Others like to use post it notes. Some make flash cards. Some use anki.

Do it how you like to. Just read the damn thing. You know how you learn best. You know what works. You are your own best evidence. Don't fix what ain't broke.

I wasn't aware this was a forum where only topics "worthy of debate" were posted.

That's because it isn't. I'm just an ass.

 

[dyspareunia]

Normal book = sucks to write in the margins because the back of each sheet isn't flat.
Binder = risk of some dick at your school rearranging the pages = waste of your time to put it back together. Also dealing with pages tearing at the holes. FA pages aren't the thickest/most resilient things I've ever dealt with.
Spiral ring binding = irritating because the binding is larger than the book itself.
PDF = sucks if you prefer to have a hard copy.

Basically all methods suck unless you're talented enough to read, annotate, and learn from a digital copy.

 

[Petypet]

This isn't something to stress over. Different strategies work for different types of people, so if what you're doing is working for you, then stick with it. I like writing little bits of info in the margins and having it in a binder helps with that. It's incredibly easy to do yourself, all you need is a hair dryer, a 3-hole puncher, and about 30-45 minutes of your time.

Or $3 at kinkos 🙂

I have my Fa in 3 small 1" binders. Every chapter has about 5-10 pages of typed annotations at the end plus about 50-70 pages of kaplan med essentials. The benefit is that I don't have a huge binder with 600-700 pages.

 

[EazyE1907]

Highly recommend to get your FA unbound and 3-ring hole punched. it really helps in terms of being organized when studying, especially if you are annotating from UWorld and other sources. you'll find that when doing questions you'll have to flip through simultaneous FA pages to make the necessary connections on certain subject matter. there will be things you want to add to your FA from a variety of different sources and it makes it hella easier when the book is unbound. i think It's the best way to get the most out of your FA learning. i got mine in one of those trapper-zipper keeper things by five-star. keeps it nice and snug and easy to carry around. good luck!

 

[Polymyxin]

unbound mine and added spiral at FedEx. 3 hole punched pages might fall out of binder. Also, spiral is a lot less bulky, takes up only a sheet of paper-worth of desk space when I'm doing questions.
Its a small thing but it makes flipping throught FA a lot faster!

 

[001100010010011]

Spiral bind it. Just do it.

 

[Petypet]

unbound mine and added spiral at FedEx. 3 hole punched pages might fall out of binder. Also, spiral is a lot less bulky, takes up only a sheet of paper-worth of desk space when I'm doing questions.
Its a small thing but it makes flipping throught FA a lot faster!

perfect for preventing the falling out problem! I even sold some of these to a classmate for some coffee because he was having some fall out 🙂

 

[NeuroLAX]

perfect for preventing the falling out problem! I even sold some of these to a classmate for some coffee because he was having some fall out 🙂

I keep a few sheets of these tucked away in my binder at all times.

 

[Slack3r]

Normal book = sucks to write in the margins because the back of each sheet isn't flat.
Binder = risk of some dick at your school rearranging the pages = waste of your time to put it back together. Also dealing with pages tearing at the holes. FA pages aren't the thickest/most resilient things I've ever dealt with.
Spiral ring binding = irritating because the binding is larger than the book itself.
PDF = sucks if you prefer to have a hard copy.

Basically all methods suck unless you're talented enough to read, annotate, and learn from a digital copy.

Lolwut

 

[Transposony]

That's because it isn't. I'm just an ass.

😏

 

[urbanclassic]

I did 3 hole punch and the pages kept breaking and falling out because FA pages are like the thinnest sheets of paper that can possibly be made (seriously wtf)... so I got it spiral bound. WAY better. It's super easy to navigate through and a space saver, as wells as way more durable.

 

[urbanclassic]

I keep a few sheets of these tucked away in my binder at all times.

Yea, after using those for about 20 pages, I said eff-it and spiral bound my FA...

 

[Ismet]

I got FA and Pathoma spiral bound at Kinko's. Best decision.

 

[Darkskies]

Thanks for the replies, guys! If it's spiral bound, can you still add annotations and extra pages to it as you go along?

 

[swoopyswoop]

No, spiral bound looks like this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KOhovl0r4WA/TDTler3ue7I/AAAAAAAABOg/qrz3shRhppk/s1600/DSC_1489.JPG

You won't need to add extra pages though. If you are worried about it, just throw a blank piece of computer paper in between each section for them to drill & bind with the FA pages. Or just get it 3-hole-punched and put it in a binder... I don't really find that the pages tear so long as I'm turning them nicely.

 

[penguinism]

I tore a couple pages accidentally, but again nothing that reinforcements can't fix. I like having it in a binder because it lets me add pages as I please. It's really personal preference, though, to spiral bind vs. hole punch.

 

[rcdamania]

I bound the first aid as a spiral bound...I also annotate kaplan and pathoma into this resource. i started this during beginning of m2 year and once 2014 came out. i only put uworld (right and wrong answers) into first aid 2014. it sucks that i am carrying around 2 first aids, however condensing notes into one resource and also keeping familarizing with first aid is helping me hopefully and will pay off in dedicated study.

 

[Ionian]

Hi,

I notice that more and more people at my school have had their FAs unbound and organized into a 3 ring binder. This has made me a little more nervous since it seems to be a standard recommendation. I, on the other hand have just been highlighting and annotating on Pathoma(PDF copy) as well as writing one line sentences on my FA book.I also made a Word document where I add information regarding various subjects that I glean from Firecracker or UWorld. Shouldn't that be good enough? Much faster than annotating FA by hand. Is it really that much more helpful to have it all in a binder?

Omg, why are medical students like this, it annoys the crap out of me.

Everyone has to know what everyone else is doing, and they freak out if they aren't using the same resources/studying the same way.

Dude, putting your FA in a 3 ring binder is not going to give you an edge or get you a 250, stop being a little girl. Seriously.

Bunch of cattle, just following the herd.

 

[dyspareunia]

Omg, why are medical students like this, it annoys the crap out of me.

Everyone has to know what everyone else is doing, and they freak out if they aren't using the same resources/studying the same way.

Dude, putting your FA in a 3 ring binder is not going to give you an edge or get you a 250, stop being a little girl. Seriously.

Bunch of cattle, just following the herd.

Moo, mfer, moo.

 

[Brain Bucket]

I'm done with this.

 

[Donald Juan]

Omg, why are medical students like this, it annoys the crap out of me.

Everyone has to know what everyone else is doing, and they freak out if they aren't using the same resources/studying the same way.

Dude, putting your FA in a 3 ring binder is not going to give you an edge or get you a 250, stop being a little girl. Seriously.

Bunch of cattle, just following the herd.

Ha, nice try gunner. Stop trying to keep people away from the secret of unlocking the true power of FA.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Ha, nice try gunner. Stop trying to keep people away from the secret of unlocking the true power of FA.

sshhh they don't know about the 4th hole

 

[ArmyTiger]

sshhh they don't know about the 4th hole

Instructions not clear; dick stuck in First Aid.

 

[Ionian]

Instructions not clear; dick stuck in First Aid.

Reminds me of the the First aid short film I just saw,
There is a legit sex scene. So uncomfortable.

 

[Modeselektor]

Reminds me of the the First aid short film I just saw,
There is a legit sex scene. So uncomfortable.

I've heard some really bad freestyle in my days and I couldn't get through 10 seconds of it. Cringe in full effect.

 

[Modeselektor]

This thread reminds me of the secret code for getting unlimited time and having correct options underlined at prometric, used by NBME for testing out new blocks.

 

[Ionian]

I've heard some really bad freestyle in my days and I couldn't get through 10 seconds of it. Cringe in full effect.

Just skip to the sex scene

 

[Modeselektor]

Just skip to the sex scene

I have the weirdest boner right now.