Wow, corticosteroids

Started by CuriousGeorge2
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CuriousGeorge2

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Last week, I had a 2 hour lecture on corticosteroids with 10 pages of single spaced pages of lecture notes, with only 1 figure, on corticosteroids. We basically had to memorize like 10 different steroids, the differences in their structure (which has x chemical group on Carbon Y), their differences in degree of mineralo-, gluco-, and sex steroid activity, and their differences in half life. I just took a look at first aid and basically there is just a tenth of a page dedicated to steroids at the end of the endocrine section with basically just the MOA, Clinical use, and SEs - no molecule specific details. Is this really the level of detail we are expected to know steroids for Step I? If so, I'd like the 15 hours or so I wasted learning the details of all these steroids back...
 
CuriousGeorge2 said:
Last week, I had a 2 hour lecture on corticosteroids with 10 pages of single spaced pages of lecture notes, with only 1 figure, on corticosteroids. We basically had to memorize like 10 different steroids, the differences in their structure (which has x chemical group on Carbon Y), their differences in degree of mineralo-, gluco-, and sex steroid activity, and their differences in half life. I just took a look at first aid and basically there is just a tenth of a page dedicated to steroids at the end of the endocrine section with basically just the MOA, Clinical use, and SEs - no molecule specific details. Is this really the level of detail we are expected to know steroids for Step I? If so, I'd like the 15 hours or so I wasted learning the details of all these steroids back...
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From the practice questions I have finished and talking to 3rd years who have taken step I, the level of detail needed for the exam is much less than that of what you are taught in some cases.
 
CuriousGeorge2 said:
Last week, I had a 2 hour lecture on corticosteroids with 10 pages of single spaced pages of lecture notes, with only 1 figure, on corticosteroids. We basically had to memorize like 10 different steroids, the differences in their structure (which has x chemical group on Carbon Y), their differences in degree of mineralo-, gluco-, and sex steroid activity, and their differences in half life. I just took a look at first aid and basically there is just a tenth of a page dedicated to steroids at the end of the endocrine section with basically just the MOA, Clinical use, and SEs - no molecule specific details. Is this really the level of detail we are expected to know steroids for Step I? If so, I'd like the 15 hours or so I wasted learning the details of all these steroids back...
Click to expand...

Definitely know the side effects of corticosteroids. And the mechanism of immunosuppression. Would probably fit on one page.
 
CuriousGeorge2 said:
Last week, I had a 2 hour lecture on corticosteroids with 10 pages of single spaced pages of lecture notes, with only 1 figure, on corticosteroids. We basically had to memorize like 10 different steroids, the differences in their structure (which has x chemical group on Carbon Y), their differences in degree of mineralo-, gluco-, and sex steroid activity, and their differences in half life. I just took a look at first aid and basically there is just a tenth of a page dedicated to steroids at the end of the endocrine section with basically just the MOA, Clinical use, and SEs - no molecule specific details. Is this really the level of detail we are expected to know steroids for Step I? If so, I'd like the 15 hours or so I wasted learning the details of all these steroids back...
Click to expand...

(a) welcome to med school. get used to it.

(b) the goal of your med school curriculum is not to prepare you for Step I. My pharm class (and all my other classes come to think of it) went WAY beyond step I level in terms of depth and breadth of teaching. No it didn't all stick, and I'm not going to sit here and try to preach from a soapbox you that you need to know all that information about structure, etc - but a fundamental understanding of pharmacology and the other basic sciences is why you're attending med school.
 
PMPMD said:
Definitely know the side effects of corticosteroids. And the mechanism of immunosuppression. Would probably fit on one page.
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For sure. Knowing relative degrees of mineralo- and glucocorticoid activity would be icing on the cake.
 
CuriousGeorge2 said:
Last week, I had a 2 hour lecture on corticosteroids with 10 pages of single spaced pages of lecture notes, with only 1 figure, on corticosteroids. We basically had to memorize like 10 different steroids, the differences in their structure (which has x chemical group on Carbon Y), their differences in degree of mineralo-, gluco-, and sex steroid activity, and their differences in half life. I just took a look at first aid and basically there is just a tenth of a page dedicated to steroids at the end of the endocrine section with basically just the MOA, Clinical use, and SEs - no molecule specific details. Is this really the level of detail we are expected to know steroids for Step I? If so, I'd like the 15 hours or so I wasted learning the details of all these steroids back...
Click to expand...

i am glad that i do not attend your medical school.

the other thing to ask yourself is: were you actually tested at that level of detail? sure maybe you had to know everything in that notepack to honor, but was all that necessary to simply P/HP? here we occasionally get notes that look like what you're talking about, but stuff like structures etc is just fluff.

you might be working too hard.
 
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