260+ bare bones

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phd89

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I'm speaking for the average person and not someone who has honored all their classes in the preclinical years...
So people have a lot of sources they recommend and some are rather comprehensive. In order to get a 260+ what is the bare minimum that you must study?

I know the triad of UW+FA+RR is recommended, but is that all or should we add to this. Kaplan qbank? Step 2 sources such as a medicine book? I guess what im asking is that can 95% of the questions be answered using the triad only or would we have to add to that?
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MilkmanAl said:
I also dabbled with all 3 qbanks, and Kaplan is by far the worst. Rx is a noticeable step down from UW but is still quite good and leagues ahead of Kaplan.
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didn't do Rx but i didn't think kaplan was as bad as you make it out to be. it's biggest redeeming quality is the page references to first aid followed by the screenshots of the kaplan version of first aid and the the video explanations.
 
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skinMD said:
didn't do Rx but i didn't think kaplan was as bad as you make it out to be. it's biggest redeeming quality is the page references to first aid followed by the screenshots of the kaplan version of first aid and the the video explanations.
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Ehhh then just read FA, the point of UW is it teaches you to think about questions. Referencing FA doesn't teach you to think through the questions. You may as well just read FA.
 
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sylvanthus said:
Ehhh then just read FA, the point of UW is it teaches you to think about questions. Referencing FA doesn't teach you to think through the questions. You may as well just read FA.
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its very easy to read without retaining. i cant tell you how many times i got a kaplan question wrong, go to the referenced page in FA and find that it was one i read recently or read several times

noone is arguing with the fact that UW is the creme of the crop. getting through 100% of it is a requirement before taking step 1. i was just pointing out some things i perceived as positives in the kaplan qbank
 
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sylvanthus said:
Ehhh then just read FA, the point of UW is it teaches you to think about questions. Referencing FA doesn't teach you to think through the questions. You may as well just read FA.
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Can you please point out that your scores on both USMLE and COMLEX were extremely high and that the average medical student shouldn't be taking your advice?
 
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The average medical student should be taking my advice because they tend to try and tackle far too many resources and become overwhelmed. UW is more than adequate. There is no need to add Kaplan to it as it is a subpar resource that will serve only to distract students and waste their time.

If you have a problem with me specifically, by all means send me a private message.
 
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sylvanthus said:
The average medical student should be taking my advice because they tend to try and tackle far too many resources and become overwhelmed. UW is more than adequate. There is no need to add Kaplan to it as it is a subpar resource that will serve only to distract students and waste their time.

If you have a problem with me specifically, by all means send me a private message.
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Why? It's more fun this way.

And no I don't.
 
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thepoopologist said:
Can you please point out that your scores on both USMLE and COMLEX were extremely high and that the average medical student shouldn't be taking your advice?
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People shouldn't be taking his advice because it's not good advice, not because of his scores. I performed almost a full SD higher on the USMLE while using many different resources, directly in opposition to his advice.

Do what works for you. You should never neglect UW or FA in favor of other sources, but if you want a more thorough prep, go ahead and use other resources. I highly recommend BRS physio, BRS path, CMMRS, and RR biochem, and I personally used quite a few books in addition to supplement my studying.
 
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Tig2575 said:
People shouldn't be taking his advice because it's not good advice, not because of his scores. I performed almost a full SD higher on the USMLE while using many different resources, directly in opposition to his advice.

Do what works for you. You should never neglect UW or FA in favor of other sources, but if you want a more thorough prep, go ahead and use other resources. I highly recommend BRS physio, BRS path, CMMRS, and RR biochem, and I personally used quite a few books in addition to supplement my studying.
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I suppose it's a rare thing, finding a poster who was an equal to me as a student M1/M2 but ended up performing solidly on the boards. My opinion is that just as I wouldn't take the advice of the top student in the class, who has his/her own crazy way of doing things, I wouldn't take the advice of someone like sylvanthus, who posted earlier about how the COMSAE (the DO equivalent to NBMEs) underpredicted his score by 200+ points, as if it was a common occurrence. Some gambling soul may take his advice to heart and dive into a real board thinking that maybe, just maybe, that'll happen to him too. His board scores are impressive but he's been posting such careless advice since getting them back. My 2 cents.

I agree with "do what works for you," although taking heed of some of the people's approaches on here does help a lot.
 
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Tig2575 said:
People shouldn't be taking his advice because it's not good advice, not because of his scores. I performed almost a full SD higher on the USMLE while using many different resources, directly in opposition to his advice.

Do what works for you. You should never neglect UW or FA in favor of other sources, but if you want a more thorough prep, go ahead and use other resources. I highly recommend BRS physio, BRS path, CMMRS, and RR biochem, and I personally used quite a few books in addition to supplement my studying.
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Actually, you should probably learn to read. Did I mention anything about what books to use? Did I say only use UW and NOTHING else? I merely said Kaplan is worthless and UW is more than adequate FOR QBANKS! 270 my ass.
 
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thepoopologist said:
I suppose it's a rare thing, finding a poster who was an equal to me as a student M1/M2 but ended up performing solidly on the boards. My opinion is that just as I wouldn't take the advice of the top student in the class, who has his/her own crazy way of doing things, I wouldn't take the advice of someone like sylvanthus, who posted earlier about how the COMSAE (the DO equivalent to NBMEs) underpredicted his score by 200+ points, as if it was a common occurrence. Some gambling soul may take his advice to heart and dive into a real board thinking that maybe, just maybe, that'll happen to him too. His board scores are impressive but he's been posting such careless advice since getting them back. My 2 cents.

I agree with "do what works for you," although taking heed of some of the people's approaches on here does help a lot.
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I went back through my last 6 board related posts to see what horrible advice I have been giving out and found this.

UW is a superior qbank to Kaplan
DIT is worthless as it is essentially someone reading FA to you
If only 2 weeks left, do a practice test and hit your weaknesses
People annotate too much into FA
use FA as a review book not a primary text
Don't get FA first year, just focus on your coursework

Oh ya that was all terrible, horrendous advice that only the top students should use.
 
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thepoopologist said:
I suppose it's a rare thing, finding a poster who was an equal to me as a student M1/M2 but ended up performing solidly on the boards. My opinion is that just as I wouldn't take the advice of the top student in the class, who has his/her own crazy way of doing things, I wouldn't take the advice of someone like sylvanthus, who posted earlier about how the COMSAE (the DO equivalent to NBMEs) underpredicted his score by 200+ points, as if it was a common occurrence. Some gambling soul may take his advice to heart and dive into a real board thinking that maybe, just maybe, that'll happen to him too. His board scores are impressive but he's been posting such careless advice since getting them back. My 2 cents.

I agree with "do what works for you," although taking heed of some of the people's approaches on here does help a lot.
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And this isn't twisting my words? I was merely trying to point out that I did not believe the comsaes were predictive. Not that tons of people will go up 200 points.
 
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skinMD said:
its very easy to read without retaining. i cant tell you how many times i got a kaplan question wrong, go to the referenced page in FA and find that it was one i read recently or read several times
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Just to address this for a second, Rx is by the authors of FA, has FA page references, and has an image of the actual page in the explanation. It also doesn't suffer from the atrocious wording, poor answer choices, and unbelievably picky questions that plague Kaplan.
 
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Uhm.. just a question: When you guys say, FA+UW = 95% of the exam questions... then why isn't everybody getting a 260+ ? Because like nearly EVERYbody reads FA 2-3 times and does UW once?
 
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because it's impossible to know all FA and all UW and there are a significant number of questions that are to interpret graphics and experiences that 20 Goljan reads wouldn't answer
 
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rashy said:
Uhm.. just a question: When you guys say, FA+UW = 95% of the exam questions... then why isn't everybody getting a 260+ ? Because like nearly EVERYbody reads FA 2-3 times and does UW once?
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lol, with this reasoning you should have 100% on every exam in medical school.
 
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rashy said:
Uhm.. just a question: When you guys say, FA+UW = 95% of the exam questions... then why isn't everybody getting a 260+ ? Because like nearly EVERYbody reads FA 2-3 times and does UW once?
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Everyone on this forum has made +260. If you don't, we will set you on fire, tie you to a horse, set the horse on fire, and then push you off a cliff...into some more fire or some spikes.

I feel like grillin' now :D
 
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Alvarez13 said:
Everyone on this forum has made +260. If you don't, we will set you on fire, tie you to a horse, set the horse on fire, and then push you off a cliff...into some more fire or some spikes.
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Haha yea, that's what keeps me pushing most :p

Jack is Back said:
lol, with this reasoning you should have 100% on every exam in medical school.
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I didn't say 100%, but if 95% of the questions can be answered by reading FA, then 90% correct shouldn't be "that hard" to get. And with "that hard" I mean from more than just 5% of the people. But then again, I really started to understand FA after having read my review books. So maybe it's also about being able to put what you read into context.
 
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well, try to memorize the whole UW and see if you get 260. even if 200% of the test were in FA+UW it would be near impossible to get 260. only gifted and hard working people can manage to do that
 
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I think some greatly over-exaggerate the downsides of Kaplan QBank. It is most certainly not worthless, despite the 100 posts from sylvanthus that say so. UW is clearly the best question bank, and if you only use one, you should use that. But I think using a qbank during second year and going through sections of it as you do them is helpful. I used Kaplan throughout second semester second year and did it by subject along with systemic pathology (and the other, first year subjects thrown in between) and thought it was helpful. Sure, they have specific questions and some of them are difficult, but so does Step 1. Some people have an unreasonably negative attitude toward QBank for no reason. If you want to use it during second year in untimed/tutor mode, I think that is helpful, even if some of the questions are nit-picky and detailed.
 
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I'll second that. I don't think Kaplan is worthless, by any means, but it is very clearly the worst of the three main options, in my opinion. However, it will certainly help you prep for Step 1 and is still a useful tool. It's just not one I would choose to use.
 
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In order to get an 260+ which of the two textbooks should be preferably read during coursework?

Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease?
Or
Robbins Basic Pathology?
 
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Dallas,I am complementing the ones you mentioned above with Guyton and Langmans Medical Embryology and I hope I will do great.

Let me rephrase.
I have not started my Pathology course yet. I am not going to start studying Goljian's bullets as a first read. All I am asking is which INITIAL textbook I should use, and more specifically whether I will benefit more from studying the big Robbins compared to medium Robbins.
 
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All kidding aside, if I were to redo pathology in school.

I would start with Pathoma videos. Seriously, his explanations of concepts etc are superb and will give you the big picture before you can start on learning all the details and particulars.

After the pathoma vids I would do Robbins or Goljan, your choice. Be sure to annotate into FA as you go along. Also do questions.
 
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Dallas said:
All kidding aside, if I were to redo pathology in school.

I would start with Pathoma videos. Seriously, his explanations of concepts etc are superb and will give you the big picture before you can start on learning all the details and particulars.

After the pathoma vids I would do Robbins or Goljan, your choice. Be sure to annotate into FA as you go along. Also do questions.
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Thank you very much for your suggestion, I will implement it.
Which Robbins would you choose?
 
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NeoAnderson said:
Thank you very much for your suggestion, I will implement it.
Which Robbins would you choose?
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The big one is for path residents, alot of overkill details in that one. But the pictures are pretty, and the first 7 chapters are good.

On second thought I would just use robbins as reference and go with goljan.

To sum up: Pathoma -> Goljan + Robbins for reference
 
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Medium Robbins. I read the thing back to back and it was worth it and pretty much all you need. Even a pathology resident can do pretty well with it. It's an easy read. IMO easier than Rapid Review in the initial stages of learning path for first time.

That said, I suggest you do what Dallas says about watching the pathoma lectures and in addition, once you finish a chapter in Robbins, read Goljan which is pretty much the identical extract to start getting familiar with it.

Robbins (medium one) and Goljan's RR- both great books. :thumbup:
 
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So if I understand correctly, medium robbins for cover-to-cover reading and big robbins only for reference, right?
 
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I think Robbins is way overkill for a 260 so as long as you put in a lot of work learning the material for the first time during the first two years of medical school.
 
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Theres nothing "bare boned" about a medical education and definitely not 260.
 
Last edited:
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Thank you all.

For the first-time reading of pharmacology, which do you suggest, Rang and Dale's or Harvey?
 
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