Why can't I just take my USMLE by self study?

[Babylonian]

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Class and bullcrap professors interfere with my educamacation. I can't stand this crap. I don't get it. I especially don't get why anybody would attend any lectures. I have been like this since undergrad. Just showed up for exams. What sucks though that some of undergrad grades suffered because I did not show up for wack discussions. The funny thing about this whole crap is that I bombed my mcats and now scoring in the top 2% of the class. This guy in my anatomy group could use two of his mcat sub scores to topple my entire mcat score and I am blowing this guy out of the water. On one test he was like yeah I wacked the physio exam and said his score 88% (the mean was around 67)and asked me what I got. I was hesistant because I am not use to discussing my grades with people so I told him that and he said come on it is just a test. Maybe he wanted to feel better. So we kept dissecting and he's like come on so I told perfecto and he said uh, so I said I got a hundred percent and he started into the cadaver as if he was falling through space. Then it hit him and he said damn it was an easy test I suppose. The pass level was 51% go figure. He then proceeded to ask me my for my mcat score and just told me his (36). I said why don't I give you my amcas and you give me yours and we could become really good friends. The guy shut up. Never asked about grades again.

 

[dr.weiner]

I feel you man. I dropped out of college, and only got into med school because I found kiddie porn on a dean's computer when I was clearing his spyware while working an IT job. Since I've been at school, I haven't gone to one lecture, and study by constructing elaborate flip book animations on my lecture notes. I've gotten perfectos on all my tests. Needless to say, I have mastered life and my schoolmates are quite envious.

 

[tncekm]

Well, ****...everyone knows anyone could be a doc, the cirriculum isn't that hard, and school really isn't necessary. Its all about $ and "the man". That and Haliburton gets a cut out of student enrollment. If it wasn't for that stuff, USMLE would be a self-study course that most people would complete (and probably get higher scores on all steps, especially step 1) before getting their HS Diploma or GED.

 

[FenderHM]

yeah we wouldnt get the big bucks without experiencing the mystique that is med school

 

[RSAgator]

you can...

...just doesn't mean you'll do well.

 

[U4iA]

I feel you man. I dropped out of college, and only got into med school because I found kiddie porn on a dean's computer when I was clearing his spyware while working an IT job. Since I've been at school, I haven't gone to one lecture, and study by constructing elaborate flip book animations on my lecture notes. I've gotten perfectos on all my tests. Needless to say, I have mastered life and my schoolmates are quite envious.

ROTFLMFAO...

 

[Arctic Char]

i'm with ya. i get little comments and even emails frequently saying things like "wowa wee wa! i can't believe you don't go to class!?! you must be SO smart, SO disciplined . . . very impressive."

huh? i think its just about realizing that my time is my time, my life is my life. school is my highest priority, but that doesn't mean it is my ONLY priority, or studying being the only way to pass a minute.

get lives, people

 

[willow18]

Well, ****...everyone knows anyone could be a doc, the cirriculum isn't that hard, and school really isn't necessary. Its all about $ and "the man". That and Haliburton gets a cut out of student enrollment. If it wasn't for that stuff, USMLE would be a self-study course that most people would complete (and probably get higher scores on all steps, especially step 1) before getting their HS Diploma or GED.

Let's not forget Big Oil and Big Pharm and Big umm, hmm, oh, Big Professors. Right. 😀

 

[tncekm]

Let's not forget Big Oil and Big Pharm and Big umm, hmm, oh, Big Professors. Right. 😀

Exactly...those from the big class are just, well...evil. 😀

 

[AK_MD2BE]

I completely agree with the OP about why can't we just study for Step 1? Are we ever really going to need to know that Glycogenin is the anchor and primer of glycogen synthesis and that it initiates glycogen synthesis by an auto-glycosylatoin reaction that adds 8 glucose units to the TYR? That could really come in handy when my patient is bleeding out on the table and crashing. Priceless. And on it goes, memorizing all of these minute details, only to forget them within weeks (or days). What's it all for? Why can't we just know the "big picture" items extremely well, and utilize that information for the rest of our careers. The problem is that it is an institution, and "we have to do it because they (our predecessors) did it". Oh well. I am still going to love my career as a doctor. 🙂

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

Hate to break it to you: I had a patient on the ward that was a 9 month old with glycogen storage disease. No we didn't remember exactly what the glycogen storage pathway was, but we knew where to look to remind ourselves. If we hadn't of known that stuff the kid would have died.

No, I didn't go to class either . . . I didn't learn that way. And I've had residency program directors compliment me that I was albe to be an independent learner because of that. But, unfortunately, some of that biochem crap shows up later. Even if you don't see it with patients, you'll see it on Step 1

 

[8744]

Hate to break it to you: I had a patient on the ward that was a 9 month old with glycogen storage disease. No we didn't remember exactly what the glycogen storage pathway was, but we knew where to look to remind ourselves. If we hadn't of known that stuff the kid would have died.

No, I didn't go to class either . . . I didn't learn that way. And I've had residency program directors compliment me that I was albe to be an independent learner because of that. But, unfortunately, some of that biochem crap shows up later. Even if you don't see it with patients, you'll see it on Step 1

I agree. I may have forgotten a lot of the stuff from first year but the major concepts are wired somewhere in my brain as part of the deep background of knowledge. More often then people think, you will encounter a patient with some non-obvious problem and you will vaguely remember reading or hearing about something similar in medical school. You won't remember much but it will be just enough for you to do an intelligent Google search.

But I also think that most of first and second year is self-study. I went to most lectures but in hindsight if I had spent that time studying I probably would have done a lot better.

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

Class and bullcrap professors interfere with my educamacation. I can't stand this crap. I don't get it. I especially don't get why anybody would attend any lectures. I have been like this since undergrad. Just showed up for exams. What sucks though that some of undergrad grades suffered because I did not show up for wack discussions. The funny thing about this whole crap is that I bombed my mcats and now scoring in the top 2% of the class. This guy in my anatomy group could use two of his mcat sub scores to topple my entire mcat score and I am blowing this guy out of the water. On one test he was like yeah I wacked the physio exam and said his score 88% (the mean was around 67)and asked me what I got. I was hesistant because I am not use to discussing my grades with people so I told him that and he said come on it is just a test. Maybe he wanted to feel better. So we kept dissecting and he's like come on so I told perfecto and he said uh, so I said I got a hundred percent and he started into the cadaver as if he was falling through space. Then it hit him and he said damn it was an easy test I suppose. The pass level was 51% go figure. He then proceeded to ask me my for my mcat score and just told me his (36). I said why don't I give you my amcas and you give me yours and we could become really good friends. The guy shut up. Never asked about grades again.

gosh maybe you just have a photographic memory and are actually stupid. afterall, you dont have to be smart to get through med school right? hate to break it to you buddy, but mcat scores are correlated to USMLE scores. so better start cracking.