Yo,
I am procrastinating and thought I would tell you my life story. I have benefited from everyone else's experiences, over the years(SDN and PR.com-which was a lot more fun by the way), so I thought I would try to repay the favor.
Here's my life on paper in a nutshell, along with some Reader's Digest style trite statments on life to amuse you.
I took step 1 last year, and am studying for step2 right now, so take this info with a grain of salt.
Childhood:
Spastic child, ran around a lot, got in trouble everyday- highly recommended.
The ladies loved me. Top of the world ma!
The Wonder Years:
Little luck with the ladies. Spent some nights crying.
High School: 50/700, GPA: 79 I think
SAT: 1440 (740V, 700M)
The black-out years:
Did better with the ladies, I think....
UG: Top 20 school (USNWR), GPA: 3.6 w/ major upward trend
MCAT: 10-10-10-R, bad day, studied 3 weeks
Youthful adulthood:
Top 30 (USNWR) med school- not a measure of your own personal worth so please, no flaming on USNWR- just for info.
Celibacy has set in. Crying occurs nightly.
Basic Science Years: Buy the text if you must. Read review books, seriously. Trial by fire is the only way right? Seriously, first and second years-don't spaz- use the review books to map a course out then read the text if you really want.
Me: did above average on most exams, we don't have grades here, so I don't know about relative performance.
Step 1:
Books: used mainly the same books as everyone else. Studied 5.5 weeks hardcore- reviewed embryo a few months before boards studying for some reason, took notes compulsively during studying.
Q-bank: sucks b*lls IMHO, didn't care for it at all, did about 30% got about 70% right.
Released Qs: Thought these were pretty easy- think I got about a 90%
NBME Exams: great resource- think these are great predictor of performance, and a great intro to how the actual questions work- these are retired questions according to someone in the know- if I remember correctly.
Test #1: 2 weeks out- 620
Test # 2: 1 week out- 700
USMLE Step 1: 268/99- got drunk for about a week.
Purgatory (aka Third Year):
Prisoner's love lives are looking appealing. Crying has devloved into sobbing. Drinking makes me more attractive to myself. Don't pity me.
Clerkships: Don't stress. Act like an adult, and treat these experiences like a job. You don't want to be candid with your boss, but you don't want to lie to him either. Be nice to your coworkers, and don't get nervous about every interaction you have with a resident or attending. The world does not revolve around you- so no one will remember if you didn't say exactly the right thing at the right time. You are not being evaluated every second of the day- nobody cares enough to do that. The residents and attendings are worrying about their own lives+/- their patients- this gives you a lot of leeway to make faces behind their backs. This makes the nurses happy. Use this pearl at your own risk!
Be your lovable self, and make friends. Read UTD on your patients when you get a chance- def the best resource (emedicine is a little more detailed and has more esoteric stuff in there). Pretend like you read NEJM or JAMA though- for some reason there seems to be a machismo about reading from those (or other) journals rather than reading UTD- go figure. Be confident when you are doing your presentations and be organized- think about what you want to say and what you are thinking before you present. Don't suck up, but feign interest even when you aren't interested.
Don't be annoying, but don't be passive. It is the resident's and the attending's job to teach you, but not babysit or pamper you.
Don't grade grub, but don't be a b*tch. You should get what you deserve (be rational here) and say something if you think you are getting screwed.
Studying hard for step1 pays dividends this year- esp pathophys and physiology. Anatomy, pharm and micro are of some value- significantly less than the other two.
Me: did reasonbly well, 1/2 H some HP and P. Got screwed by a couple of residents, and messed up a shelf- which was my fault.
Shelf exams:
First Aid, almost without exception was a great resource for most of my clerkships. These are pretty hard exams, but same sort of reasoning as step1.
MKSAP for students: you must do this for the IM shelf.
Me: Did ok. 70th-80th %ile on most, except Peds- did better.
Step 2:
FAs2 is good, I think- as an outline. Flipping through FA for each clerkship with waxing and waning amounts of dilligence and Prescription for Step2. Don't like Crush too much, but not terrible. B and W is great, just not suited for writing in- bad for me- great for you? I would definitely recommend B and W- esp b/w sections on the exam if it doesn't stress you out too much. I'm not being nearly as dilligent, and trying to do some easy clerkships. I think you will find that studying isn't as easy to motivate for at this poitn.
Released Questions: might do them
Q-bank- bought it- what can I say, I am a sheep. Haven't done much of it- 15% getting about 80%, but don't like it much.
NBME Exams:
First one- 4 weeks out- 630
Second one- 2 weeks out- 690
USMLE Step2- Priceless. Just hoping not to wreck my rep in a few days!
Good luck to everybody. Remember, a great score doesn't make up for acting like a jerk, and doing poorly on clerkships.
Proverb for the day: A good sense of humor will do wonders for your outlook on life and its outlook on you. I think Martha Stewart once said that on Dr. Phil- as true today as when it was written/said. Wish me luck.
All my love,
GMB
), and DON'T FREAK OUT when taking the exam (I did this too, and I bet I would have done better if I didn't lose my cool during that horrible exam). The exam is hard, but it is doable. Also, keep in mind prior to taking this exam is that you will be presented with concepts presented to you in very unfamiliar ways (this is what freaked me out during the exam). Don't let yourself freak out if you are bewildered by what you see. 
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