lealf-ye said:
Do you mind to share some of your experience? How you studied and what topics/materials are high yield? Thanks.
okay here is my advice it is long, but just take it with a grain of salt. You need to compliment your learning style with other peoples stratergies and see what works for you.
If you know what kind of a learner you are then that = success.
Numero uno: If a book is not working for you toss it.
2) Keep your resources to a miniumum.
3) Use First Aid as your guide on "what to focus." However, do not totally rely on first aid. Also, you need to try to understand "why" and "how" the facts and concepts in FA are tied together.
4) Do as many questions as you can. Do lots and lots and lots and lots... get the point?
5) if you have any weak areas attack those first.
6) Books I thought were great and why:
a) FA, lists the most pertinent info, but not everything that you will see on boards.
b) HY embryo, dont go through the entire book but pick the very high yield topics (again use FA as a guide) but also add things like molecular genetics stuff in embryo ( I believe the last few chapters in High yield embryo, and they are really short).
c) HY anatomy, again only look at pics in this book. I would not look at every pic but I would definately look at the lung CTs, spine CTs, and GI stuff. Its really a good book. As far as anatomy on the boards, know brachial plexus very well, and GI anatomy very well. If you have time look at other stuff but not do not waste too much time on this topic.
d) I really like Kaplan's Biochem book. However, realize that if you are short on time it might be overkill. If you still got weeks to go then read (in order of importance) the cell and molecular stuff, then read metabolism, and then read the last few chapters. Again, if you are short on time only read the cell and molecular chapters and YOU MUST READ HY CELL and MOLECULAR (this was the only book I read cover to cover). IF you are short on time then you must absolutely read his chapter on signal transduction. YOu will see LOTS of questions about this.
e) Pathology: In my opinion, the most important subject tested. Listen to Goljan. Dont pay to much attention to what he said was asked on boards. Pay ATTENTION to the concepts he is teaching. If you understand the concepts he talks about you can handle just about any path question.
f) know your CV phys pretty well as well as Renal. Again, understanding is key here not just memorization. And, get comfortable with using formulas and being able to convert units. They will throw hypothetical situations at you. Dont let it intimidate you just think through the question.
g) Now, the final and MOST IMPORTANT thing you must know: WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD YOU ABSOLUTELY GO THROUGH
1) all of qbank
2)try some of the NMS questions out of there step I book
3) Step I kaplan QBook (this is really an excellent set of questions) many people neglect it because they think qbank is better. However, these questions are alot harder than qbank.
4) WEBPATH!!!!!!! questions. You can google webpath and look at these questions. They were very similar to the board path quesitons I saw. He is one of the authors of the Robbins Question book (which is also good, but stick with webpath).
5) if you have a weak area in path (for me it was female reproductive) I would look at the pics he has and read the little explanations and do all the questions. Again, you dont have to do this for every organ system but definately do this for the ones you are really weak in.
6) usmleasy questions (
www.usmleasy.com) you gotta pay, BUT, these are the same as pretest books. So, if you dont want to fork over money go to the library and check out some pretest books. They were harder than the real thing but very good set of questions.
7) OOps I forgot to mention one more book. You need to read high yield biostats. Again, dont read everything. Use FA as your guide. I got alot of statistics questions on my board exam and if it were not for this book I gurantee you my score would not have been as high. If you have time really read this book. As far as behavioral sciences you got two options and only pick one do not try to do both. You can go with Kaplan OR high yield. If you dont want to read the kaplan book then at least do some of the questions in the book.
8) You must know endocrine really well. This is the most highly tested topic. Do as many questions you can in this area. Know how this system works you can easily boost your score.
9) know your genetics. Dont get intimidated if they present you with a situation you never heard of (trust me you will see this alot on your test) however, pay attention to what the question is asking you. Its always the most basic concepts that "seem" like the most difficult quesitons. They do such a good job of hiding the concept. So HUNT FOR IT in the question. And, practice doing this with any question you do.
10) know enzymy kinetics. If they present you with an enzyme that is 20 letters long and you never heard of it. Well, who cares? YOU KNOW its an enzyme and just use your basic understanding of how enzymes work. And, this can really be applied to almost any situation. For example, if you get a drug you have never heard of pay special attention to the profile of the drug they describe and think about what drugs you know act like this "new" drug. The answer will jump at you.
11) Know the immuno system well. Read the first few chapters of Levinson and Jawitz micro review. If you are particularly strong then dont read it.
12) pretest physical diagnosis is also and excellent question book. If you are short on time do the CV and resp questions. If you can go through the other systems. Pay attention to the physical exam (goljan is saying the truth when he said in his audio that if you understand the physical exam you can get lots of questions correct)
I go on, and on, and on....
Summary of my high yeild points:
STAY focused on your studying. Dont overload yourself with too many books. Dont read and reread everything. Prove to yourself that you know the material ( by doing quesitons).
Always do questions random, even if you have not studied a particular topic. Just keep doing them, you will actually learn the concepts by doing the questions.
Do not get intimidated or worried during the test, just do your best and move on to the next question if you cant figure out a question. And, dont tell yourself that you will comeback to the quesiton. You will not have time. Just pretend as if you were not going to see that question again. If you are spending more than 3 minutes on a questin you will miss other very easy questions. I just made it an habit not to go over 2 minutes if I was stuck on a question. When my 2 minutes were up, I just moved on. If, I had time then I went back.
Push yourself and do difficult questions.
Know the endocrine system like the back of your hand. You will see this on your exam. I dont care who you are or what form of a test you get. Some people get lots of cardio, others renal, others biochem. But, you can bet you everyone will see this system. So, if this is your weak point. You need to fix it quickly.
Take your time during the test. Some blocks will be easy but becareful because its usually the easy ones that people miss simply because they did not read clearly.
Take breaks in between blocks and eat something.
If your block starts out tough, just suck it up and move through it. Dont get all pissed and agitated. Just answer questions w/o any type of emotional reaction. Your bascially a computer machine that will just spit out answers.
**** Very IMPORTANT Do the NBME exams, in my opinion they are well worth your money. Spread them out during your studying and begin doing them. They look alot like the real thing. I took the last one 2 days before the really thing and it really boosted my confidence (however, if your score goes down, dont let this ruin your confidence just do your best).
Again, questions, questions, questions, constantly do these and build your endurance. By the time I got close to my test date I was able to do at least 425 questions in the same amount of time we are allowed on the real exam. What was the advantage to doing this? The exam did not wear me out . I was able to remain focused for every block and therefore make good answer choices. If you dont build endurance, I dont care how smart you are, the test will wear you out. So push yourself to go the extra mile.
Also, aim high,dont give yourself the excuse that you dont want to go into anything competitive and therefore you dont want a good score. Give yourself a chance to do well. Anyone can do well on this test if you work hard. If your really super smart, then yes it does help but if you are not supersmart this does not mean that you cannot do well. Trust me, I am not the most intellecutal person but I am a hard worker.
Last, but not least. Many people take the day before the exam off. Which is not a bad idea. However, I did questions everyday even the day before my exam. Granted, I did not do many questions but I still did quite a few. And, I think this is what really helped me the most. Some people read through FA the last two days, again this is not a bad idea. But, reading FA is so passive. Doing questions is very active and therefore you are more likely to retain info in your head.
After going through this test I can honestly tell you that doing well your second year and first year of medschool are the best gurantee that you will do well. However, dont get discouraged if you have not done well. Just keep your spirits high and work really hard.
I hope this helps. Good luck and feel free to aks anymore quesitons. Sorry this is so long but just trying to give you a honest idea of what you must at least be able to accomplish.
