Using a Q bank during MS2

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Which Q bank did you use or would you recommend for general study during MS2?

  • USMLERx

    Votes: 12 30.8%

  • Kaplan

    Votes: 12 30.8%

  • USMLE World

    Votes: 19 48.7%

  • Gunner Training

    Votes: 3 7.7%

  • Other (please specify)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    39
Random Anesthesiologist

Random Anesthesiologist

Random Anesthesiologist
Verified Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2008
Messages
1,541
Reaction score
310
Members don't see this ad.
I did a search and couldn't find any solid focused advice, but saw a smattering of posts of people who talked about using a question bank during M2 to help with extra study outside of Step 1 prep.

School starts 8/9 and I was thinking of getting a subscription to some online q bank to help with my classes. I do the best on exams when I do solid prep q's, but it's so much easier to have them in computer format than book.

So.... I've read it's important to save UWorld until Step 1 prep.... which other q bank would be good to go through during my regular school time?

Gunner Training?
USMLERx?
Others?

Thanks!
 
I personally used Kaplan, starting second semester, and finished most of it with a month left (when my classes ended). I used UW for the rest. It worked for me.
 
Random MS said:
I did a search and couldn't find any solid focused advice, but saw a smattering of posts of people who talked about using a question bank during M2 to help with extra study outside of Step 1 prep.

School starts 8/9 and I was thinking of getting a subscription to some online q bank to help with my classes. I do the best on exams when I do solid prep q's, but it's so much easier to have them in computer format than book.

So.... I've read it's important to save UWorld until Step 1 prep.... which other q bank would be good to go through during my regular school time?

Gunner Training?
USMLERx?
Others?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Theres a thread on the step1 forums asking people who already took it what they wish they had done and a lot of people seem to really like USLMEworld and wish they had started using it as soon as they started the year
 
I used UWorld to help with my organ systems class then reset to study for step 1. You can do this if you have a subscription that's over 6 months. Overall, it was helpful.

I definitely didn't get through all the questions and it was pretty rare that I was recognizing questions when I was studying for step 1. I think it helped through the year. If you're going to get a qbank, it's definitely the best one on the market.
 
Mr hawkings said:
Theres a thread on the step1 forums asking people who already took it what they wish they had done and a lot of people seem to really like USLMEworld and wish they had started using it as soon as they started the year
Click to expand...

Ah. I don't venture over to the Step 1 forum too much yet to not freak myself out. I'll go check it out now though, thanks!
 
Depakote said:
I used UWorld to help with my organ systems class then reset to study for step 1. You can do this if you have a subscription that's over 6 months. Overall, it was helpful.
Click to expand...

vicinihil said:
Kaplan during MS2, Uworld right before step 1. Magical
Click to expand...

These are two perfectly good advice. I personally would lean toward what Depakote said just because of how massive the UWorld Qbank is (2000+ questions). With a time machine, I would have gotten UWorld earlier and try to do the Qbank twice.
 
I'd recommend Rx during the year and UW during your dedicated study period. I did Kaplan, Rx, and UW and thought Kaplan sucked.
 
I am using GT right now, plan to start Rx when M2 begins, and then UW before boards prep. At least that's the plan.
 
vicinihil said:
Kaplan during MS2, Uworld right before step 1. Magical
Click to expand...

This is what I have been doing/plan to do. Currently finishing up my 4th semester.

I think that even if you don't consciously recognize that you have seen the question before... and you are forced to guess both times. You will on average "guess" better the 2nd time around.
 
Aphtalyfe said:
This is what I have been doing/plan to do. Currently finishing up my 4th semester.

I think that even if you don't consciously recognize that you have seen the question before... and you are forced to guess both times. You will on average "guess" better the 2nd time around.
Click to expand...

This is why I'm not going to just do Uworld twice, I have a weird ability to remember what the right answer to a question I've done before was even if I have no idea why it is the right answer and it seems like that would kind of spoil Uworld which everybody says is great in terms of teaching you how to think through problems.

C5toC9 said:
I am using GT right now, plan to start Rx when M2 begins, and then UW before boards prep. At least that's the plan.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm doing as well, except that I'm still trying to decide on kaplan vs Rx (i also have a 2008 First Aide Q&A book) for use during 2nd year.
 
Encephalectomy said:
This is why I'm not going to just do Uworld twice, I have a weird ability to remember what the right answer to a question I've done before was even if I have no idea why it is the right answer and it seems like that would kind of spoil Uworld which everybody says is great in terms of teaching you how to think through problems.



This is what I'm doing as well, except that I'm still trying to decide on kaplan vs Rx (i also have a 2008 First Aide Q&A book) for use during 2nd year.
Click to expand...

Kaplan is just really detail oriented and less useful for big picture things. There are reviews of the test banks in the back of FA.
 
I was thinking about GT for general study questions during MS2 after looking at it. The reviews seem to be okay, and the price is right.

I'm going to save the pricier stuff (namely Rx and UWorld) for step 1 study.

I know there are written questions in the back of books, but since I'm taking step 1 on a computer, I want to approach questions in computer format too.

So, can anyone expand on Gunner Training? (for better or worse)
 
I bought USMLEWorld with a 1 year subscription. I plan on using it to study the organ systems, review phys, biochem, anatomy...then reset when it's prep time.
 
Random MS said:
I was thinking about GT for general study questions during MS2 after looking at it. The reviews seem to be okay, and the price is right.

I'm going to save the pricier stuff (namely Rx and UWorld) for step 1 study.

I know there are written questions in the back of books, but since I'm taking step 1 on a computer, I want to approach questions in computer format too.

So, can anyone expand on Gunner Training? (for better or worse)
Click to expand...

I haven't used GT, but I am going to using Rx during the year. Since so many people say that First Aid is so important and Rx is based off that. I know it's more expensive than GT but it just seems smarter to reinforce one of the most important things than another resource.
 
Encephalectomy said:
This is why I'm not going to just do Uworld twice, I have a weird ability to remember what the right answer to a question I've done before was even if I have no idea why it is the right answer and it seems like that would kind of spoil Uworld which everybody says is great in terms of teaching you how to think through problems.



This is what I'm doing as well, except that I'm still trying to decide on kaplan vs Rx (i also have a 2008 First Aide Q&A book) for use during 2nd year.
Click to expand...

I'm not really convinced someone can remember the answers to thousands of questions. You might recall seeing it, but there is still a certain degree of understanding why behind it, especially with multi-tier questions. Most people I know don't even get through UW once anyway.
 
Maybe I'll make a poll and see what others have done. There have been 750 views and only 18 responses 🙁

Or maybe it's just a bunch of others wanting to know the same thing!
 
Hi, all.

This is a follow-up to my other thread. I got a smattering of answers for different Q banks but tons of views on the thread. I probably should have made a poll from the beginning, but hindsight is 20/20.

So, which Q bank did you use or would you recommend for use during MS2 - NOT for Step 1. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use UWorld for that! 👍

It would be great if the mods could merge these two threads (?) 😀
 
MossPoh said:
I'm not really convinced someone can remember the answers to thousands of questions. You might recall seeing it, but there is still a certain degree of understanding why behind it, especially with multi-tier questions. Most people I know don't even get through UW once anyway.
Click to expand...

My first pass through UW was 85% and second was 97% fwiw... Yeah I think I remembered a few answers haha
 
Random MS said:
I was thinking about GT for general study questions during MS2 after looking at it. The reviews seem to be okay, and the price is right.

I'm going to save the pricier stuff (namely Rx and UWorld) for step 1 study.

I know there are written questions in the back of books, but since I'm taking step 1 on a computer, I want to approach questions in computer format too.

So, can anyone expand on Gunner Training? (for better or worse)
Click to expand...

They had a free two-week trial of GunnerTraining available through your facebook account, at least at the end of June. Unfortunately, I couldn't actually bring myself to look at anything related to med school and not my current research project before my subscription expired, but maybe you'll have better luck if the trial is still running 🙂

From the cursory look I had at it, it looks pretty helpful, the fact that they do practice 'fill-in-the-answers' will really make me know the material and not just be a good educated guesser, so I'm going to buy it, most likely. Not sure about QBanks yet.
 
yea I start MS2 in a month and I think i'm gonna do Rx during fall semester to go along with the course and Uworld for spring semester. good plan?
btw since Rx follows FA, is it better to use the most recent version of FA? (get 2010 now and 2011 when it comes out)...cause right now i only have the 2007 one that my friend gave me.
 
Yeah 2007 is too old. Use 2007 until 2011 comes out then get that.
 
I hear that World is considered pretty good for MS2 depending on what school you go to though.
 
Random MS said:
I did a search and couldn't find any solid focused advice, but saw a smattering of posts of people who talked about using a question bank during M2 to help with extra study outside of Step 1 prep.

School starts 8/9 and I was thinking of getting a subscription to some online q bank to help with my classes. I do the best on exams when I do solid prep q's, but it's so much easier to have them in computer format than book.

So.... I've read it's important to save UWorld until Step 1 prep.... which other q bank would be good to go through during my regular school time?

Gunner Training?
USMLERx?
Others?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


MS1-2: USMLERx for sure because of integration with FIRST AID
MS3-4: USMLE World

Really this has worked well. Board review books have lot of questions but using a qbank helps a lot
 
sunset823 said:
They had a free two-week trial of GunnerTraining available through your facebook account, at least at the end of June. Unfortunately, I couldn't actually bring myself to look at anything related to med school and not my current research project before my subscription expired, but maybe you'll have better luck if the trial is still running 🙂

From the cursory look I had at it, it looks pretty helpful, the fact that they do practice 'fill-in-the-answers' will really make me know the material and not just be a good educated guesser, so I'm going to buy it, most likely. Not sure about QBanks yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Your research - are you in the Gateway program or is this something on your own?
 
Thanks for the responses, guys.

I'm leaning toward getting both Rx and GT (since GT is pretty inexpensive for a year with their special) during MS2 and UWorld for Step 1 study.

I'll be sure to come back after the year and give an update. This has to be a topic others want to know more about!
 
C5toC9 said:
how are you liking GT?
Click to expand...

I like it so far. I've been using it for about 3 weeks now and I'm definitely going to stick with it through the rest of the summer and almost definitely going to continue it up until the end of 2nd year (I haven't really checked out the sections for material that I haven't covered). I think that it definitely is effective in getting you to memorize more or less everything that is on their flashcards in a not terribly painful way. It is very convenient to use, and I like how they lay out your schedule for you and all you have to do is put in the time to do your review questions each day which really doesn't take that long. Also asking free response questions does really force you to see what you know vs. multiple choice questions where you can muddle through (which is important to be able to do, but maybe not as helpful as a learning tool).

It is designed as a review and I think that in general it is only effective for things that you've learned in more detail/depth in other places. It is really best for memorizing facts and while there is some info to help you tie it all together I feel like you need to have studied in classes/used another resource for that kind of top down perspective.

Is it perfect? no, there are some poorly worded questions and some of the flashcards use too many abbreviations and could use more illustrations, but all in all I think it will definitely be worth the money as I'm already very much on top of the type of information that I'd otherwise have a lot of trouble remembering.

I think that making your own flashcards on the computer and loading them into supermemo or an equivalent program would probably be better than using GT, but at this point there is no way that I'm going to go back and make computerized flashcards for all of the stuff from first year.


so yea, i give it👍👍 so far
 
MossPoh said:
I'm not really convinced someone can remember the answers to thousands of questions. You might recall seeing it, but there is still a certain degree of understanding why behind it, especially with multi-tier questions. Most people I know don't even get through UW once anyway.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, but even if I don't remember the why and I just recognize the question and the correct answer it makes it less valuable as a learning tool, since you are reasoning towards an answer you already know. It doesn't make it useless, just less valuable.
 
starting MS2 at the end of the month... leaning towards USMLERx during the school year then USMLE World for dedicated study time.
 
hey guys.
i currently have GT that i used a teeny bit during MS1. it looks to follow first aid quite closely and there is an exam simulation part of the site that is not just review questions of the flash cards i believe (not 100% sure, havent looked at it enough).
I also bought a year long subscription to Uworld (i cant believe 6 months is $299 and 12 months is $399...) i jsut fgured id get the 12 months and do it as well as GT during MS2.
im hoping those two will be enough bc i dont want to shell out another $200-300 for UsmleRx.
 
ar2388 said:
hey guys.
i currently have GT that i used a teeny bit during MS1. it looks to follow first aid quite closely and there is an exam simulation part of the site that is not just review questions of the flash cards i believe (not 100% sure, havent looked at it enough).
I also bought a year long subscription to Uworld (i cant believe 6 months is $299 and 12 months is $399...) i jsut fgured id get the 12 months and do it as well as GT during MS2.
im hoping those two will be enough bc i dont want to shell out another $200-300 for UsmleRx.
Click to expand...

If GT does follow First Aid, then it would either one is okay. UW seems to be the most important one. The others are just used to reinforce concepts that's what I'm using Rx is for anyways. Also, want to ask GT claims to have 6000+ questions is that true or does that include the flashcards
 
It is in addition to the 775 flashcards. I think the "6000+" includes both the open-ended and MCQ's.

Haven't tried the exam simulation, is that like random blocks of MCQ's?
 
gatoradedrinker said:
starting MS2 at the end of the month... leaning towards USMLERx during the school year then USMLE World for dedicated study time.
Click to expand...


This seems like an excellent idea so I'll probably be doing the same along with First Aid.
 
XRanger said:
what books did you use for board studying or which ones did you find helpful besides the usual FA+RR?
Click to expand...

I posted my list in the step 1 forum, I think the post is called "comprehensive list of step 1 resources"

I think i'll be fine with my score in the end. Honestly, I think there's diminishing returns for scores over 250. That said, the average of my last practice tests was > 265.
 
I'm going to try GT. It seems like a decent price for a year long subscription and I like how they space out your review of the material.
 
drizzt3117 said:
My first pass through UW was 85% and second was 97% fwiw... Yeah I think I remembered a few answers haha
Click to expand...

Are you sure you're not Taus masquerading in disguise? 😀 That's phenomenal, I know people with scores in the 250s who got 65% on their first pass through and maybe 85% on their second pass
 
theVster said:
Are you sure you're not Taus masquerading in disguise? 😀 That's phenomenal, I know people with scores in the 250s who got 65% on their first pass through and maybe 85% on their second pass
Click to expand...

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the "Taus method" exactly?

thanks
 
rockydoc said:
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the "Taus method" exactly?

thanks
Click to expand...


Scratch that...i found out

another question though...

If I dont want to shell out hundreds of dollars for USMLERx or GT during MS2 study but still want some sort of questions to use w/ classes, would simply buying FA Q&A work OK? (I plan on getting UWorld second semester for the real deal).
 
Last edited:
bump

do you guys think using something like FA Q&A for practice during 1st semester M2 and then getting Uworld 2nd semester is still a legit option? or is USMLERX or GT recommended?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Don’t use ChatGPT during rotations
Replies
17
Views
3K
VincentAdultman
VincentAdultman
Nul Nul
Need advice : Global Health Trip Overlaps with Start of MS2
Replies
5
Views
626
Tenk
Tenk
pola465
Research during MS1
Replies
4
Views
1K
Dr. Robb Bassett
Dr. Robb Bassett
T
More effective Anki Cards using AI
Replies
2
Views
879
turtleai
T
cherrylizard
Financing braces during medical school? Or wait?
Replies
2
Views
492
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top