USMLE study choices...

[gioia]

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What were the best study methods for you? I am getting flyers in the mail for Kaplan, USMLE, First Aid, and other programs that claim to be the best ways to get ready for the USMLE.

So, what worked for you or what woulf you do differently? When did you start studying?

I perused the first few pages of threads but didn't see a discussion on USMLE study preferences: Books only, Books + Q Banks, Programs with Q Banks (like Kaplan)....

And of those of you who did an actual program - was it worth it?

So forgive me if this is redundant, but I am curious to get opinions on how other people approached the Step exams.

Thanks!

 

[lattimer13]

went the organ systems approach for 4.5 weeks:

first aid, step up, q bank

throw in BRS phys, path, and behavioral sciences and micro made ridiculously simple too.

very happy with my score.

 

[VincentAdultman]

What were the best study methods for you? I am getting flyers in the mail for Kaplan, USMLE, First Aid, and other programs that claim to be the best ways to get ready for the USMLE.

So, what worked for you or what woulf you do differently? When did you start studying?

I perused the first few pages of threads but didn't see a discussion on USMLE study preferences: Books only, Books + Q Banks, Programs with Q Banks (like Kaplan)....

And of those of you who did an actual program - was it worth it?

So forgive me if this is redundant, but I am curious to get opinions on how other people approached the Step exams.

Thanks!

If you get no other study aide get qbank...I don't think there's a better way to train yourself to handle USMLE-style ?s. Other than that, there's FA, but that's obvious. Looking back, I wonder if my score would have been better if I had purchased FA at the beginning of 2nd year and studied that as I went along.

As far as programs are concerned, I did Kaplan, which helped tremendously, I thought. The major downside is, of course, the price. Also, I personally had some great instructers who were not only experts in their field but knew what was high yield and focused on that. They also made sure to deliver it in an entertaining manner for the most part. But those were my teachers and I imagine some can teach path, for example, better than others. You may get screwed by who gets assigned to teach at your respective center.

 

[jendc08]

SO you thought kaplan was worth the time and effort? And, did you use a lot of other books in addition to taking the kaplan course?

 

[MD999]

If you get no other study aide get qbank...I don't think there's a better way to train yourself to handle USMLE-style ?s. Other than that, there's FA, but that's obvious. Looking back, I wonder if my score would have been better if I had purchased FA at the beginning of 2nd year and studied that as I went along.

As far as programs are concerned, I did Kaplan, which helped tremendously, I thought. The major downside is, of course, the price. Also, I personally had some great instructers who were not only experts in their field but knew what was high yield and focused on that. They also made sure to deliver it in an entertaining manner for the most part. But those were my teachers and I imagine some can teach path, for example, better than others. You may get screwed by who gets assigned to teach at your respective center.

If youre familiar with the Kaplan Videos or Webprep, how similar are they to the Live Lectures? I mean, do they essentially go through the same stuff...tell you whats likely to be tested and whats not...?

 

[VincentAdultman]

SO you thought kaplan was worth the time and effort? And, did you use a lot of other books in addition to taking the kaplan course?

Definitely worth the time/effort, but I don't think I have a lot of dicipline and the live lectures forced me to maintain focus aon the material for 7h/day. When you sign up, you also get the lecture notes for each dicipline, which I used almost exclusively.

 

[gioia]

Definitely worth the time/effort, but I don't think I have a lot of dicipline and the live lectures forced me to maintain focus aon the material for 7h/day. When you sign up, you also get the lecture notes for each dicipline, which I used almost exclusively.

Does the kaplan step prep have detailed answers for the Q bank? I remembered that I I tried Kaplan for the MCAT and really liked the Online tutorials and practice tests but everything else wasn't worth the time (the live lectures and video tapes)...

 

[jendc08]

So with kaplan do you also then need the other usmle review books?