26malik
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hi.
i am a recent graduate who is preparing for step 1. i hope making this prep diary and updating it regularly will keep me motivated. and will also help me keep things in perspective.
i will apply for mayjunejuly triad. so i have about 3 months before my triad begins. i have given one reding to pathology, physiology, micro, BS and biochem. my anatomy, histo, neuro, embryo and pharma are still left. i started neuro today.
my books are
BRS for patho, physio, BS
HY for anatomy, neuro
Lippincot for biochem and pharma.
MRS for micro.
Q book and Qbank for questions.
i will also listen to Dr Goljan lectures. i have listened to 4 of them and they are really wonderfull. and use his high yeild notes.
and ofcourse First Aid and step up for comprehensive review.
i have been studying for four months now. but as it is obvious that i have done very little work. actually it some times creeps me to think that how little work i have done. one of the reasons was that i tried to study at home and here there was too much distraction.
my fault. so now i am going to make the repairs. inshallah.
also there was the problem of long periods of time during which i studied nothing. like
i finished patho from 20th dec to 1st jan. but after that i started studying today. after 25 days. ')"> this sort of thing and behaviour is why i have done so little work.
so now i am changing my strategy. i started going to library from taday. i will go from 8 am to 4 pm eveyday. and than do some exercise. and than from 8 pm to 12. i will avoid all distractions. tv, news, novels, friends etc. absolute no to all. also internal distractions in the form of negative thoughts. i will now actively fight them as there is no other way.
i also discovered the power of a good routine. how it improves the quality of life. so i will keep a good routine with sleep, food, prayers and exercise on time.
our behaviour is a result of the amount of chemicals in our body. we all know that . and good routine helps kep them normal.
i am doing neuro. i have done nothing much today. hope i will get more work done tomorrow.
Edited by 26malik on 01/24/06 - 01:04 PM
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| 26malik
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i plan to finish anatomy, neuro, histo and embryo before 10 feb.so i should try to finish neuro in about 4 days. as for me it is a very difficult subject. i never understood it well. my consepts and knowledge is very poor. i started to study from clinical neuro made reiculously simple but didnt like it. so i am doing it now from high yeild where it is very well written.
i will post tomorrow now to see how much i have done.
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| 26malik
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i didnt prformed as i expected. not at all.first i slept late. than i got up at 10 rather than 630. got library at 11 than at 8am. so it all got disturbed. i could only study for two hours, from 2 to 4pm. and i am advised to go for 12 to 14 hrs a day. and i should. as i am giving it all i got. i am not doing any job for the last 5 months and still taking money from my parents. i must give it mty best. what am i doing.
and than after excercise i watched tv for 2 hrs. summing up a complete day lost.
any way. why do we fall, so that we can learn to stand again. i will sleep tonight at 12. get up at 630 and be at library at 8. inshallah.
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| Malithahe
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Hi, It is better to stick on to a daily routine. It is really effective.
I would like to mention my experience, I wakeup at 5.45 am. Finish house hold things, mails, news etc.. and sit for studies at 7.30 am. From that onwards I spent time on studies up to 5.00pm then again sit at the table at 8.00 pm and continue until midnight. This is my daily routine but some times it is distracted by household chorus, shopping, visitors and my husband's work. As a wife and a house wife I can't help. In addition to that, inner thoughts, anxious feelings regarding the exam and the future steal my valuable time available to study. I can minimize it if I go to the library, but during this winter I prefer studying at home.
The main thing is I WAKEUP AT 5.45 AND GO TO BED PAST MIDNIGHT EVERYDAY. I DON'T WATCH TV.I gave up this a couple of years back. I could not at once fix in to this routine
. If you try hard a week, then it won't be a problem any more
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| 26malik
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dear Malithahe
thanks for help. your routine is realy very good. one of my problems is that it is very difficult for me to get up early. even if i sleep early. so it makes things difficult if i want to get library at 8. but i will work on it.
your other idea about quieting tv is also very good. i will do it as well. it is really true that one has to act differently to produce different results.
thanks alot.
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| 26malik
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hi
i am studying neuro. it is after so long, so it is taking me alot of time. but i think that i must give it time and give my full concenteration as it is not a conceptual thing like physio or patho which i like and understand easily and whish are also very interesting. i will try to finish it in the next 2-3 days. than gross anatomy...
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| 26malik
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i did well today. got up early, started study immidiately, and took minimal breaks. i hope tomorrow will be better.
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| 26malik
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today i went to library on time. finished anatomy from first aid. as exam is coming close, tension is getting high. i am stopping my self from thinking to much and just working. there is so much to be done. Persistence is the key now. persistently giving good work. that is something i am not very good at but i have to do what needs to be done.  Discussions with other guys preparing for step 1 at library makes me realize how little i know. i need to put in huge effort. and may is only 3 months away. i hope every thing will turn out fine. inshallah
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| 26malik
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NO study for last 4 days. oh i am getting so tense. 
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| 26malik
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i have finished neuroanatomy. it is not well done but i hope i will do it better next time. so i have decided to do it regularly, every day for two hrs.
now i have started my second riv. first of all i will revise first aid as it will help me get some perspective on things. i have done biochem today and revised BS, anatomy and pharma on last few days.
other important thing i will be doing is the maintanence of a good routine. the routine i will follow is going to be this.
get up at 530. prayers. study 6-1pm.lunch at 1pm. study 2 to 5. gym. study from 8-11pm.
it will give me about 10- 13 hrs per day. i will ex daily, eat on time and focus.
So i am not in very good shape but i am still hopeful and going.
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| malinda
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may God be withu. good luck.
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| 26malik
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last week
27th - 4th march
i had plans to finish whole anatomy in that week but couldnt. only thing i could do last week was to watch 16 kaplan DVD lectures on anatomy. they were really good.
but i was also planning to finish neuro anatomy lectures and solve MCQs from q bank. but couldnt. why? because of same reasons, laziness , lack of time management.
so i am very depressed due to that.
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| 26malik
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last week
27th - 4th march
i had plans to finish whole anatomy in that week but couldnt. only thing i could do last week was to watch 16 kaplan DVD lectures on anatomy. they were really good.
but i was also planning to finish neuro anatomy lectures and solve MCQs from q bank. but couldnt. why? because of same reasons, laziness , lack of time management.
so i am very depressed due to that.
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| malinda
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hey malik.You say your fajar prayers in the morning ...Allah is happy..and when Allah is happy,He makes sure the person who gets up from the warm cozy bed for Him ,gets everything he wants in this life and hereafter,, .you are fine..just dont waste time on any thing and concentrate on studies..
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| 26malik
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week 2
5 - 11 march
i plan to finish pharmacology. i will do it from lippincot, solve the whole q bank, read UCV and listen to kaplan lectures.also i will listen 7 hours of goljan audio lectures.
my mistake last week was lack of routine and distractions and lack of place of study. i will go to library. listen to lectures when i come back.
one imp thing i plan to do is to get up at 5am and solve questions from 5-7 am daily.
my routine will be:
5am-7am MCQs
8am-4pm Library
4pm-8pm Exercise etc
8pm-12pm kaplan lectures
inshallah i will get the job done this week.
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| 26malik
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studied 2 chapters from lippincot. very bad. i cant understand why i am performing so poor. 
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| 26malik
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i will finish blood, respiration, GIT, thyroid today. than finish cvs and cns in 3 days. i will than do micro with chemotherapy. may allah helps me.
i was going well. than last 3 days got wasted. i hope things will run smoothly now.
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| 26malik
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i am back. did 3 ch from loppincot today. tomorrow i will finish blood, thyroid, estrogens and also try to finish cvs as only 4 chapters of it will be left. than on saturday i will do cns and hopefully finish it in a day or two as i have done it recently. that will be 19th. than chemotherapy. i plan to do it along microbiology from MRS. inshallah that will be done in about 5 -7 days. the problem is that i also have to watch all the dvds as i found them really well. hope i will find some solution to that too. please god!!!! help.
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| 26malik
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i havent finished cvs, 3 days late. its not that its too hard but actually i am being too slow. inshalla i will finish it today.
anti arrythemics are tough. but i must focus on things that i am good at. or they will be left behind. also i am not listening lectures. instead of watching tv on weekend, i should have finished the lectures.
ok. next week.
i will reach library on time daily
in library do 7 hours of study
and make sure no time is wasted when i get home
inshallah
GOALS:
finish cvs, cns from lippincot.
do micro from MRS with chemotherapy from Lippincot.
finish Trevor' lectures. that would be tough but i can do it
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| 26malik
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90 days left:
i plan to give exam in the end of june. so i assume that i have a total of 90 days left , considering today as day 1, to keep things in perspective.
is my prep good. not a all. must be focused, resign all other activities, its time to work now.
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| sobia naeem
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good luck malik..3 months is ample time for good preparation and to master step 1 content.
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| 26malik
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Thanks for your good words sobia. i really need them.
As right now i am very very depressed. i didnt studied for the past 3 days. just got tooooooo tense and slept and watched tv.  so i am very very upset now.
May be my problem is that i set my expectations too high. when things start going well i think they will stay that way. another problem are my thoughts. mind jumbles. i must change things. change my behaviour.
ok. as right now i am totally lost and out of any order or energy, lets see what i CAN do. there must be something i can do. i will just open my books and start studying. i will give this damn exam what i can. And actuslly that is all i can do. isnt ot.
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| sobia naeem
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good lord.my exam is in 5 days and even i am not that tense...
just chill and have fun while u study..if u enjoy the experience it will seem less hard and frustrating.
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| malinda
Forum Guru
Topics: 162
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it is good to have anxiety.Infact I believe there should be a moderate amount of anxiety all the time..But no extremes obviously.Try to set realistic goals.Goals that you can meet.A person working full time CANNOT study 8 hours a day..So his realistic goal is to study 4 or 5 hours a day.A full time mom cannot study 8 hours a day so her realistic goal is whatever time she gets off taking care of the kids..Similarly we cannot finish half pharacology in one day so make it 2 ir 3 days..The beauty of this exam is organization and being practical..You can add days to your preparation but if you miss one day's target,you are all off balance..So make small targets and if you meet them during the day,add something extra from the next day..Its not retro studies ..it is always plannign ahead of schedule,moving ahead of schedule..
When you panic,its okay to be nervous and anxious.Take a break,watch TV but then get back to studies as soon as possible or you will forget everything.These days will be over soon.Put all your efforts and then there will be 3 weeks when you will bang your head against the walls as what to do in the free time.. honestly waiting for the results is the best time ever..so work hard and your time will come too
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| hodgkins
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well said Malinda..very nice suggestion..being organized and being practical...planning and moving ahead of the schedule that is really good thought!!
All the best 26malik..
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