USMLE Dilemma From The Middle East

[7atem]

Hello everyone 😀
this is my first time to be here

I'm Hatem a fourth year medical student

and Hatem is a male name by the way

from Saudi Arabia , Riyadh

I'm planing to register in Falcon review courses in Dallas I think

But till now I'm not sure ,,

should I join Falcon or Kaplan is better ?

even though I have all the Kaplan lecture notes + question book right now


Second question

which is better to study for the USMLE the kaplan lecture notes or the review resources written in First Aid USMLE step 1 " such as High-Yield Embryology and Neuroanatomy, BRS costanzo physiology ...etc" ?





HELP 😡

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[7atem]

R my qestions this hard to answer ?!

about 40 who saw the thread and no single reply 😱

ohh its either I'm one scary dude 😎

or U R really lazy to answer

seriously Help 🙁

 

[pathdoc68]

It's been a long time since I prepared for these exams - but I am a big fan of First Aid, High Yield and BRS - but I would also read Robbins pathology as much as possible. Supplement maybe with PharmCards too.

 

[7atem]

yeah on the First Aid, "High-yield Embryology and Neuroanatomy " are rated A

and BRS physiology, Goljan Pathology I think I will consider these for sure

and also I have Lange Flash Cards for Pharma

but I don`t know about
Microbiology and Immunology
Gross Anatomy
Behavioral Sciences
Histology and Cell Biology
Biochemistry

R Kaplan notes sufficient for these topics or there R better resources

and ThanX for the reply =)

 

[MrBigglesworth]

Don't read Robbins.

First Aid is enough for most of those subjects if you learned the material properly the first time around. Basically, if you can look through that section and be like 'yeah that make sense' then you don't need additional resources. If your having trouble, then you need other sources.

If you have the Kaplan material, then use that till you know it well and then do another review course to fill in the gaps.

best of luck.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

R my qestions this hard to answer ?!

about 40 who saw the thread and no single reply 😱

ohh its either I'm one scary dude 😎

or U R really lazy to answer

seriously Help 🙁

Hatem, let me give you some advice.

First: If you want people in a forum to pay attention to you, lose the crazy font. That is irritating and makes you look like a child, or a 14 year old girl posing as someone who belongs. Along the same lines, stop using emotocons to punctuate your sentences. Periods do just fine. I get it, there is a language barrier. Ok. Overcome the barrier by spending more time on the sentences and less time on coloring the font, changing the size, and putting in eyebrows and sunglasses.

Second: If you are an FMG and want to do well, its Kaplan. Kaplan Kaplan Kaplan. Go to the live review course. Do their Qbank. Read their book. You will ALSO do First Aid. You will ALSO do UWorld. Together, you will destroy the step.

Third: I hope, for your sake, that your english is better spoken and reading then you writing. If this is your proficiency in english you will not succeed on Step. This isn't foreign bashing, this is just the truth. The pace is grueling, the break time slim. Even if you know the medicine, even if you have the knowledge, you have to be able to synthesize full paragraphs of information in seconds to be on pace. The test is designed to keep people who don't speak english out of this country and out of practicing medicine. That, and there aren't special permissions for live review courses... the professors just hit the floor running.

So, for you, I wish you luck in the coming months. It sucks. But, it is necessary to practice here. Its worth it on the other end.

 

[7atem]

Hatem, let me give you some advice.

First: If you want people in a forum to pay attention to you, lose the crazy font. That is irritating and makes you look like a child, or a 14 year old girl posing as someone who belongs. Along the same lines, stop using emotocons to punctuate your sentences. Periods do just fine. I get it, there is a language barrier. Ok. Overcome the barrier by spending more time on the sentences and less time on coloring the font, changing the size, and putting in eyebrows and sunglasses.

Second: If you are an FMG and want to do well, its Kaplan. Kaplan Kaplan Kaplan. Go to the live review course. Do their Qbank. Read their book. You will ALSO do First Aid. You will ALSO do UWorld. Together, you will destroy the step.

Third: I hope, for your sake, that your english is better spoken and reading then you writing. If this is your proficiency in english you will not succeed on Step. This isn't foreign bashing, this is just the truth. The pace is grueling, the break time slim. Even if you know the medicine, even if you have the knowledge, you have to be able to synthesize full paragraphs of information in seconds to be on pace. The test is designed to keep people who don't speak english out of this country and out of practicing medicine. That, and there aren't special permissions for live review courses... the professors just hit the floor running.

So, for you, I wish you luck in the coming months. It sucks. But, it is necessary to practice here. Its worth it on the other end.

Are you giving me orders or an advice ,, if you see a font with black and white is better than colors (which is the matter that God gave you to see through your eyes) then in my opinion that's a reflection of your personality (which may be pathological by the way).


I was doing all that coloring and putting glasses and smiles because I was psyched about the forum.

and thanks for the advice about Kaplan but I was personified with Falcon and the offers that they give; and I think with the Falcon course and the Kaplan Q-bank and Question book I would do fine , wouldn't I ?


And about my proficiency in English , this is not my native language, and the words that I speak are Arabic (which is one of the most complicated languages on the face of the earth).

And I thought that the test contain only multiple choice questions, isn't it ?

 

[Chirurg]

Are you giving me orders or an advice ,, if you see a font with black and white is better than colors (which is the matter that God gave you to see through your eyes) then in my opinion that's a reflection of your personality (which may be pathological by the way).


I was doing all that coloring and putting glasses and smiles because I was psyched about the forum.

and thanks for the advice about Kaplan but I was personified with Falcon and the offers that they give; and I think with the Falcon course and the Kaplan Q-bank and Question book I would do fine , wouldn't I ?


And about my proficiency in English , this is not my native language, and the words that I speak are Arabic (which is one of the most complicated languages on the face of the earth).

And I thought that the test contain only multiple choice questions, isn't it ?

OveractiveBrain just gave you solid advice, not only which path to follow in terms of prep but also how to conduct yourself in a forum like this to be taken seriously.
fair enough, you pointed out that it is your first time on here. but in the future just try to follow the social protocol and leave out the sense of entitlement.
ignoring the above was the reason for me, and I'm sure many others, to ignore your post.
OveractiveBrain didn't.

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Are you giving me orders or an advice ,, if you see a font with black and white is better than colors (which is the matter that God gave you to see through your eyes) then in my opinion that's a reflection of your personality (which may be pathological by the way).


I was doing all that coloring and putting glasses and smiles because I was psyched about the forum.

and thanks for the advice about Kaplan but I was personified with Falcon and the offers that they give; and I think with the Falcon course and the Kaplan Q-bank and Question book I would do fine , wouldn't I ?


And about my proficiency in English , this is not my native language, and the words that I speak are Arabic (which is one of the most complicated languages on the face of the earth).

And I thought that the test contain only multiple choice questions, isn't it ?

Hatem, I totally agree with Overactivebrain. If you want someone to help you out, then you just need to ask nicely and don't need to over react.


As far as USMLE step 1 goes, i did not find Falcon review program to be significantly helpful. I did not fly to Dallas or anywhere else because Falcon program was sponsored by my Medical School. It was a 6 week program (8-4pm pretty much everyday). So may be long hours caused us to burn out quickly. If i had a choice, i would have chosen Kaplan because its better from what i have heard.

Answer to your 2nd question. Kaplan notes are fine, but first aid is a MUST. Also, i would highly recommend Goljan (audio's or PDF transcript). Hope this helps and welcome to the forum.

 

[stepvictory]

U do need pace for this exam.there are 7 blocks 322 Qs.but do not get intimidated by that.
i am an IMG i use to complete one block in 80 minutes in the beginning of my preparation and now it takes me just 55 minutes.as i will practice i know i will reach less than 55 .
after completing my first question bank my speed improved.i think its just getting use to the questions.i did not do anything special just uworld qbank that everybody does.
do not let anybody tell you it cant be done.👍

 

[dreamdoc7]

Falcon vs Kaplan.. Most people like Kaplan better but there are some who also think the Falcon course is good.. If u have already signed up for Falcon and its too late then thats fine, it doesnt mean u wont pass or anything.. I say u should take the Falcon course and then after the course see where u stand on ur NBME practice exam..

Make sure u are doing questions everyday to help apply ur information and to help pace urself.. im sure all ur books were in english so u shouldnt have a problem understanding the questions on the exam (u will know by doing a question bank like UWorld after u finish Kaplan QBank.. Make SURE u do UWorld, its a MUST)..

First Aid, UWorld, and one other very reliable source (such as goljan path along with audios) should be more than enough.. For subjects like Pharm and Micro, First Aid should be enough for those..

Honestly, I read ur post because of the larger font size and color, as did everyone else who replied.. but that doesnt mean u push ur luck lol.. clearly people dont enjoy reading posts with too many smileys and fonts either because they are pretty stressed studying, love to just back up others who are successful MDs to make themselves feel better (even tho it has NOTHING to do with ur question), or MOST IMPORTANTLY, because it can look as if ur not as serious about ur work..

anyways, i hope my advice along with everyone who replied isnt completely wrong about ur studying OR about the forum, i wish u best of luck and hope u pass this exam with flying font colors.. so get to work and thats an order !! until then i cant even express to u how i feel right now, its something like this -------------> 😀 🙁 🙂 😱 😡 😛

 

[Substance]

I think the OP really needs a lesson in humility.

Overactivebrain was being gentle. That didn't work. Time for the big guns.

Nobody is impressed about where you came from, how smart you were there, or how difficult your native language is. The test you want to write so that you can practice in the USA is in English, not Arabic. The test is fast-paced and you need to be able to read the question in English fast, think in English fast, and pick an answer that was written in English fast. You need to become more proficient in English before you even hope to write the thing, because if you go in with this lack of fluency you will surely fail.

Remember, thousands of other students write the USMLE at the same time as you. The Americans, even if some by chance happen to do worse than you, will have an easier time getting a position than you ever will. Not to mention you will be up against lots of other IMGs with far better English fluency than you who will smoke the crap out of even the Americans, and even they will have a difficult time landing a position.

My suggestion is to not write it until you learn English fluently, both spoken and written. Then you can start studying and taking the Kaplan courses. But until then, don't waste your time.

And what is it with IMGs coloring their fonts and using emoticons and putting certain phrases in caps for emphasis? They also tend to break up their paragraphs into one-line sentences. Anyone can spot an IMG post from a mile away.