Would anyone have studied MP3 review books?

[Stark]

I am a PGY-3 who studied for all of the steps by recording my favorite review books (First Aid for the USMLE Step 1,2,3, UCV etc) and listening to them.

I am considering publishing these books as MP3 files for your IPod.

Would any of you have studied for your Steps this way? or is it just me?

Thanks,

Stark

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[Stark]

Here's my story and how I did it:

As a medical student, I studied for the first semester the usual way. I read the books, took notes and highlighted stuff. The problem for me was that I would always try to memorize things as I went along. Each topic and each line I thought was important. . . and usually it is. But this method of studying made everything go quite slowly and the first six months I averaged about an 80% overall and was in the 50th percentile of my class.

I knew I was smarter than that, so I decided to change my studying strategy. Our class scribed notes, so I would go to lecture, then take the scribed note and read them into my tape recorder rather than annotate, study and highlight. Before each set of block exams, I would listen to the notes on tape 3 times. I no longer read the books for class (my theory was that anything that a professor would test you on, he would mention at least once). I still did some practice questions with friends as well. This strategy paid off and I graduated in the top 10 of my class.

The approach worked so well, that I studied for the boards this way. I took First Aid for Steps 1,2, and 3 along the way, Step Up for the USMLE, and Underground Clinical Vignettes as well as a couple of other books and recorded all of them and listened to study. This resulted in top board scores for all three Step exams and an ophthalmology residency in New York.

When I graduated medical school, I threw most of the tapes away and had recorded over many of them.

As I began ophthalmology residency, I turned digital. Now I put all of the ophthalmology review books on computer as MP3 or MP4 and listen to them.

 

[Stark]

HOW I STUDIED AUDIO: I found the most effective way to study audio from a book such as First Aid is to sit down with the book open and put on my head phones. I would put the playback speed on fast, because your brain can usually think faster than a person can speak. I would look at the diagrams and flip the pages as I went along.

I didn't re-read the text while listening, just look at the diagrams, so I got the visual and the verbal portion of learning at once. I think it is essential to have both the book and the audio, one alone won't do for a lot of medicine. For example, all the path slides in the back of the book.

I would listen to the book three times through as fast as I could (my attention span was about 50 minutes at a time) with a five minute or so break. Retention of material is about 15% the first time through, 40% the third time through, and 85-90% the third time through. By the time of the exam, I was ready.


I will respond to a few other questions later,

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Third time’s a charm:

Whenever I would study for the board using audio, I would listen to the material three times.

The first time through, I would just become familiar with the material. I wouldn't actuall retain much but I would get through the ENTIRE book. The mistake a lot of people make is spending three days to memorize the first few pages and not getting through all the material.

The second time through, I would recognize a lot of the material and passages. Now I would begin to understand the diagrams and photos, and some of the data is sealed into memory.

The third time through, I would recognize almost all the material as I went. This is the point where I note the information that I DID NOT RECOGNIZE OR REMEMBER. I would put a note on these sections, this is the 10-15% of material you have to sit down and actually memorize from the book.

I would memorize as little as I could, and save the memorization for as late as I could.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Did you take time to learn it or just listen?

A: I would listen three times all the way through. Then just take time to memorize what I had to at the end. The learning builds as you go through the material, 15%, 40% then 85%, then memorize what's left.

Q: Are you giving it away for free?

A: For the past three years I have toyed around with the idea of publishing medical review books in audio to help students, but now I am considering it seriously. In order to publish these books, the copyright has to be purchased from the publisher. I roughly estimate this cost at $35,000. Therefore, I would make a legit business and sell the MP3 books for a "reasonable" price (maybe 30 to 45 dollars) over the internet. I would make it a realy business, but charge a more realistic price (not $1000 for a set of DVD lectures, or $350 for Step One review by another audio publisher).

Q: What did you get on the Step Exams?

A: Step 1 253:99, Step 2 255:99, Step 3 235:98

Q: Why not just post it on the internet?

A: I don't have the recordings available now. I would have to start over from scratch, but if it would help students, and enough would purchase the program to cover costs, I will get going. Piracy of the material will definately be an issue. For that reason, I would keep the cost of the program relatively low, so it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive to buy. I personally feel that the people who would pirate the MP3 material, would think that any price is too high. So I would keep it low for the people who would actually buy it.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

No MP3’s Now

At this moment, I don't have the books in audio. They were actuall cassette tapes (pretty cool, huh!).

But I have always thought this would help other people get through the boards.

I don't want to create any new text. I just want to put the best texts on MP3.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Pureride]

Hey guys.
I wanted to wait until I got my score until I posted in great detail my experience with the HARDEST STEP.....NUMBER 3!!!!!!!!!!!!

This forum was like a guardian angel to me. The ideas, advice and most of all the support I got knowing each one of you was praying for me is the only way I could have passed. SO here goes my story!

MY PREP:
I did not have much time to prepare very much for this thing but I gave it four hard weeks everyday after I got home. Sometimes I didn't even start studying until midnight and got a 1/2 hour or an hour in. However, on days that I was off, I STUDIED ALL DAY! So I would say, it was the equivelent of about 3 hard core weeks.

THE EXAM:
The first day was grueling. It was much like STEP 1 and 2 (I took step 2 before the whole CK/CS phenomenon) tons of MCQ's that I was clueless about, with long winding question stems. Although, the questions were definately shorter than the step 2 questions. So for me, time was not an issue. As far as content...it was a bombardment or FAMILY MEDICINE. Tons of HTN, DM, SLE, CHF. I also had lots of derm q's with about 10 small high res pictures of different common derm pathologies. There were two psoriasis pix, scabies, exzema and I think one guy had sporothrix but that was mostly based upon the clinical picture. Also, I had the immunization schedules memorized and when to give rabies and tetanus vaccine and toxioid but did not get any q's with that. What was repeated most was elderly cases with 3-4 different diagnoses (CHF, COPD, DM) on crazy polypharmacy. often they wanted medication tweaked or the patients status deteriorated and wanted to know about transferring to ICU, changing meds, ordering tests. So lots of Internal medicine in that regard. Also, very little surgical subspecialities, but some ortho, oph, and some complex GU. Lots of PEDS.

On day two, my day began with about 4-5 more blocks of what I felt where easier and shorter MCQ's. THis was followed by the 9 CCS cases. The cases where a nice break from the painfully long MCQ's. I felt they were easy except for one lady with HIV-Diarrhea (Iosporra/Cryptosporidiosis). Also, PLEASE >>>FOR THE LOVE OF G-D...REMEMBER TO ADVANCE THE CLOCK..I FORGOT TO DO THIS ON MY FIRST CASE AND IT COSTED ME BIG POINTS! If you dont know what I mean......do the sample 5 CCS cases that are given to you by FSMB on the DISC. After that you will know what I mean by ADVANCE THE CLOCK!!!!

Time Managment:
It was reccommended that I take a break between every block and case (CCS) and so I tried that. I have to say very helpful. Sometimes, I wouldnt get out of my seat and sign out, I would just sit and take a few deep breaths. Between every MCQ block I did get my pad out of my locker and write down all the MCQ's I could remember but I realize that posting that information here would be illegal. Anyway, as I said, time was not an issue.

What I studied.
I did the FSMB disc they give you about 10 times.
A freind of mine from med school gave me a CD with some CCS strategies and files that contained..sort of a crash course for step 3. THIS CD was my key to passing and my high score. I am currently, in the process of recording the material on that CD and converting the file to an MP3 and .wav files.
I also, used USMLE WORLD but was getting such low scores (50-55%) that I was ripping my hair out. After taking the exam..I can say that USMLE WORLD SUCKS. While studying from USMLEWORLD, the questions are so hard, and the explanations are so long and detailed I think we all say to ourselvest that this must be great. But, after taking the exam, it wasnt so good! If you are going to use one review book use STRONG MEDICINE.

I scored really well. I did better on Step 1 and 2 but, for step 3 I studied less.

I have to say...that THIS IS THE HARDEST OF THE THREE EXAMS BY FAR!!! I can see why the fail rate is so high on this one. IT'S INTENSE. I am not trying to scare you...actually ...........I AM trying to scare you...because I think the common knowledge that step 3, a # 2 pencil or whatever is completely misleading and probably started by some effing gunners who wanted to see people fail. STUDY HARD! The knowledge you gain from it will help you clincially if nothing else!

Good luck.

If anyone needs advice please feel free to email me anyime. People on this and other forums were very helpful to me during my preparations and I want to complete the circle!!!

-Jordan

 

[Stark]

Dear Pureride,

That is a very interesting story and I wish you the best of luck. Keep up the good work.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU SUGGEST FOR AUDIO STUDY
Several students have suggested that other books may be better to study in audio format.

What books would you suggest? Which books would be the most useful in audio?

I personally liked books with a lot of pictures, diagrams, and photos. This allowed me to listen to the text while looking at the figures (killing two birds with one stone). Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Hey everybody,

Thank you to everybody for responding to my online poll. The response and participation has been overwhelming throughout the web

As a compilation of votes from various sites, these are the statistics thus far,
53 total responses
40 total yes (75%)
13 total no (25%)

Thus far, it seems like people would really like to have board review books on tape.

Based upon your input, the titles you are most interested in are
The First Aid Series
The BRS Series
The High-Yield Series
Step-Up for Step 1
Lippincott Pharm and Biochemistry
And a few other individual titles

I would appreciate your vote either way, yes or no; and any suggested titles you think would be helpful.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Hey everyone,

As a compilation of votes from various sites, these are the statistics thus far,
131 total responses
105 total yes (75%)
26 total no (25%)
Thus far, it seems like people would be interested in an audio companion to your favorite board review books.

Although people are interested, the question is, would anyone actually buy the product (because I would have to pay for the audio rights to the books).
I believe that a reasonable price would be comparable to or a little less than the actual text price.

For example, the text of First Aid is about 40 dollars on Amazon, so the audio would cost around 35 dollars.
And, BRS Physiology is 37 dollars on Amazon, so the audio would also be around 35 dollars.
This assumes that this relatively low price would cover production costs.

What do you guys think? It seems like people are interested, but would people actually purchase these audiobooks?

Any input is appreciated,

Thanks,

Stark

 

[BIMS 01]

I doubt people will pay for the product. Of the 100 or so "Yes" respondents, you might get 10 or so that purchase it, and the rest will just download it for free. Just my $.02

 

[dc2md]

Audio makes a big difference. In undergrad I would record my lectures and then sit down afterwards and transcribe them into notes. It was awesome to go to lecture and hear the professor, then listen to them again on the tape, and then read the notes. A 4.0 cumulative gpa was the result.
In med school I didn't have time to record and then transcribe the notes but still did well. USMLE step 1 98/243, step 2 ck 89/219. I think an audio recording would've helped a lot for my steps. I would've easily paid $40 for a Crush or First Aid...as long as the voice on the audio wasn't annoying.

 

[Stark]

dc2md,

I did a lot of the same to study in college. Basically, I did it as a scribe for several of my classes, and it cut down on my study time when exams came.

I think that this stresses the point that repetition is key. When you study, don't get stuck going through the material only one time, slowly trying to memorize it. Go through it fast and get through it all. Then do it for a total of at least 3 times. Audio is the complement to reading and lecture. It helps you repeat, emphasize and memorize the material.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Hey Guys,

This forum poll is about to come to a close. I just put it up for one month. If anyone wants to vote or give a some additional input, this is the last chance.

This is what everyone has said so far:

134 total responses
108 total yes (81%)
26 total no (19%)

Thanks for your input,

Stark

 

[Stark]

BIMS 01,

That is my biggest concern with this whole project. It would be a problem if there were a billion copies of the audio supplement all over the internet. I will be looking into some of the antipiracy software out there and will emphasize to students that I am selling the product at a reasonable, affordable price - so they can afford to buy it rather than pirate it. That is why I would NOT sell the product for 300 or 1000 dollars.

Thanks,

Stark

 

[Stark]

Thanks everybody,

This poll is about to close. I appreciate everybody’s feedback.

Stark