Venting/Hoping for Advice on Test taking

[pampiniformplex]

Perhaps it's just me, but I feel that many of my exams (MS2) are testing on very small details, often on research or studies or minutiae that are covered in passing in a random slide of a lecture.

I find that there are often questions that test on things that one should not have to memorize, yet these questions appear on my exams.

Does anyone else struggle with these sort of questions on exams?

How do you strike a balance between learning enough to pass the exams (my school is P/F, no grades) and learning the important stuff for Step 1?

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[colbgw02]

If what you need to study now is to the detriment of what you need to know for step I, then don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of time to study for step I. For the time being, study whatever you have to and just worry about your grades.

 

[Brain Bucket]

If what you need to study now is to the detriment of what you need to know for step I, then don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of time to study for step I. For the time being, study whatever you have to and just worry about your grades.

+1.

I'm in the same boat as you. When I have a little time to hit up FA or Qbanks, they seem SO much easier. If you stick with doing well in class, you'll find that you'll make connections that few people who just relied on Step prep material would make.

 

[Etorphine]

+1.

I'm in the same boat as you. When I have a little time to hit up FA or Qbanks, they seem SO much easier. If you stick with doing well in class, you'll find that you'll make connections that few people who just relied on Step prep material would make.

Do you have any way to substantiate this assertion?

 

[Brain Bucket]

Do you have any way to substantiate this assertion?

Nope. n = 1. I mean other than my QBank %s and those of others who have to study the way I do. And our shelf scores. So, not in any statistically meaningful way.'

Fair warning: we end up doing ~1k questions per block. Sometimes more.

 

[Etorphine]

Nope. n = 1. I mean other than my QBank %s and those of others who have to study the way I do. And our shelf scores. So, not in any statistically meaningful way.'

Fair warning: we end up doing ~1k questions per block. Sometimes more.

Only reason I ask is because it is something I am still trying to figure out for myself. It sounds like you're lucky in that you're getting what you want out of the work you put in.

 

[Brain Bucket]

It's pretty simple (albeit not easy) to do that. Assuming you have blocks like we do, split your FA into blocks. I've done this digitally. Say for Path, as you go along Big Robbins / RR / w/e, pay particular attention to the stuff that overlaps and make sure you can elaborate (in your own words) on every single term in FA. Do a run of Pathoma before and after the block (if you have a great memory, 1 is sufficient and you can do Goljan audios to close out the block instead). Do as many quality questions as possible. That way, you're sure you're hitting the HY stuff for the step as well as going over the minutia required for your exams. It's a pain in the behind, but it sure as hell is worth it. Try it for a bit and see how it goes.