mjl1717
Forum Hero
Topics: 958
Posts: 5,465
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mjl1717 wrote:
congratulations and good luck buddy!
Also tolito's right some of the qs are like qs on this foum
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| jaide
say wat!~
Topics: 18
Posts: 541
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hey....congrats on finishing the exam...
all the best....i'll b praying for u.......
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| mano
Forum Senior
Topics: 25
Posts: 92
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thanks tolito. gl
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| Nan
Forum Senior
Topics: 12
Posts: 159
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Good luck with your score. Thank you for sharing your experience. Take it easy now.
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Tolito wish you all the best...
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original mazinger z
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| Dragonfly
Forum Elite
Topics: 27
Posts: 338
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thanks alot for sharing.
Good luck
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| USMLEGladiator
ck, CS Finish by Feb09
Topics: 131
Posts: 481
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i pray to god to reward u by 99.ur posts provided inspiration & hope to many souls.God bless.
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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sorry i have not replied. i have been busy with funeral arrangements for my 'adopted' mum's husband. we are burying him tomorrow.
thanks star1, ing, keepgoing, plastic girl, mhp, laura, mjl, jaide, mano, nan, mazinger, dragonfly, usmle gladiator.
ing. being an old grad makes this exam even more challenging. guys and gals have done it and so can we. we only need to put in more effort into the studies. november is far especially for someone who has been studying so long. i think you should target 2 months' time. read like you will die at your desk. read every 'spare' moment you have. cut sleeping hours to just 6hrs ( incl naps). your brain will take so much in you will be amazed at the power of recall you will get. but if you string along for another 4mo's you will have lazy brain syndrome like i did. i would say to myself ' i will memorise that 2 weeks to my exam'. i designated unpleasant stuff to 2 weeks to the exam. stuff like the metabolic pathways in bioch ( i had like 20q in these and God help me cos at one point i was actually confused between the cycles!!) 2 weeks to the exam, i was frantic cos of all the things my lazy brain had put aside and now had to know. but guess what, my brain had no choice than to wake up, but at what cost? i went to bed at 4am (after taking 2.5mg diazepam) and woke up at 7 am for the exam. crazy. i was worried i would be worn out and wont be able to think. had to drink a strong cup of coffee in the morning. bathroom break after almost every block!!! see, ing, even though i studied really hard for 5mo, i had been studying for about 9 months. i started with physiol and pharma. guess what my weakest (after genetics and cell biology) were from qbank and NBME physiol (first NBME) and pharma ( second NBME). the night before the exam, i had forgotten the details of autonomic drugs. if you were on the forum in my pharm days, you would know i was good in pharm. well on the dday, i did not remember what phentolamine was!! so in essence, i am trying to ginger you to target for 2 months from today. take the NBME in 2months time and see where you are. dont wait till november. dont waste time reading MMRS again. do kaplan. do qbank. just check a few points now and then like the virulence factors. i would suggest the underground clinical vignettes to you cos micro q are like that. easy if you know them!!! be able to recognise bacteria from the culture and staining characteristics. be able to figure out stuff like vancomycin is not used in GN infections, aminoglycosides not used in anaerobe infections.. and of course, you must know the how and not the what alone. you will surely do good.
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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laura, i had probably a zillion strategies!!! if you followed my journal, you would probably laugh at me some days. i will attempt to answer your questions.
i had a variable number of questions and pages per day. in the beginning, i would target 100pages a day. i simply made a schedule. looked at how many pages i had for the subject and then divided it up by the number of days i had to study. more than 75% of the time, i was unable to meet my deadline. towards the end, last 2weeks, i was doing over 200pages a day including 50- 100q. remember, i am an old grad so i had to read all the texts that newer grad read while in school cos it was more of fresh course than a refresher course for me. so i had volumes to read.
i also had a different style in terms of readings. i am a fast reader so i tend to gloss over stuff. if i read thro physiology first reading, i would go thro the book in 3 days but i would have missed out more than half the detail. so i did first - third reading per topic and not per subject. i would read a topic fast, go over it a second time with more attention to detail, then answer questions, make notes and then read it a third time. then i was done with the subject. so i did questions along the way. i subscribed to 3months qbank. cos i was blank in virtually all the subjects, i would score low in qbank but that never bothered me. as per review, i always checked things up while studying another subject. for eg. i am reading about heroin addiction, i remember that they get SBE, i want to confirm the org so i open up micro, i want to confirm the MOA of penicillin, so i open up pharma. i remember SBE is common in defective valves and CHD, so i open up emb to look up emb of the heart. i always read surrounded by all my books so i could do point checks. in the last 2weeks, i changed my system. i would write down all the questions per subject in a little book and then check them out at the end of my study time.
if you are going oct to dec, you have a lot of time to go. my advise remains the same. do it at the shortest time possible. read until your brain starts to fizzle thro your ears!!! it is always nice when it is short and sweet.
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| ing
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 435
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Thank you so much tolito. I will follow your suggestions. May God bless you.
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| klimt
Forum Guru
Topics: 27
Posts: 605
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You seem like you've been confident and optimistic and organized during ur exam and I think that counts A LOT! Don't lose heart, you'll get your dream score!
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
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thanks klimt. i will keep my hopes high.
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| muzammil
Forum Guru
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best of luck tolito
i wish u get ur miracle 99 and i am sure u will get one
tolito i am really confused about using first aid how wud u suggest to use first aid. i am doing kaplanmainly, did goljan patho and highyeild gross antomy now i want to integrate first aid into my prepartion but dont know how shud do it and what shud i emphasize in first aid.
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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everything in FA is high yield. so read FA as many times as you can. once you are done with a subject, read it in FA. if anything crops up in FA that you dont know well, then you will have to go back and re-read it. that way FA will guide you so you dont miss out on 'essential' facts. however, FA does not have everything so once you start revision, you will need to go over kaplan once more. FA by this time would look more like a story book. i wish you the best of luck.
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| drpkaur
Forum Guru
Topics: 196
Posts: 810
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Good job ,tolito..i am sure you will succeed with excellent scores.may god fulfill your dreams..
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| pallav
Forum Elite
Topics: 56
Posts: 180
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tolito
"fod daala yaar"
means u cracked it man 9in my mothertongue)
anyways thanx for the motivation and
i know that u'll breach the 95 mark
the 99 is in his hands
and i know he's with u
luv
pallav
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| pallav
Forum Elite
Topics: 56
Posts: 180
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tolito
buddy i need one more advice
in path i have done kaplan and only kaplan
please tell me if along with q bank it will suffice
i mean can i score good marks with that
or doing brs and goljan is mandatory
please do tell at the earliest possible
luv
pallav
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| Nan
Forum Senior
Topics: 12
Posts: 159
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I really admire your guiding spirit. You have helped so many people along your way with your kind words and generosity. I am very happy for you that you have finished the exam, however, I miss reading your journals. You should be a writer.
I have a question: I am a very old graduate. I am looking for a neuroanatomy textbook as a supplement. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks and take care. 
Edited by Nan on 08/01/06 - 09:53 AM
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| zenith
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i agree with nan - you are truly a blessing to this forum! i wish for you God's choicest blessings - 99 on step-I being one of them..........
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| guest007
Forum Senior
Topics: 11
Posts: 106
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Good luck for ur score,tolito!God bless you.
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| nico-
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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THANKS FOR SHARING.
GOOD LUCK !!!!! :-)
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| seems
Forum Elite
Topics: 7
Posts: 282
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hii tolito
congrates, u got over the war . wish u a 99 score and i m sure ull gte it ,cz u worked hard 4 it.
thanx 4 sharing ur experience. one question, which FA is better . 2005 or 2006.
thanx and goodluck 4 da score
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| ozric
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 3
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Hello tolito,
I have just started reading your odyssey of preparation in your journal entries. SUch an inspiration, such honesty. I have failed multiple times, and am an old graduate to top it. I need all the inspiration I can get, and your chronicles really have helped boost my morale. You will rock the exams, I'm sure! You are the Goddess, remember!
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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thanks for all the good wishes. sorry am replying late.i have been on a break. my birthday was 4 days ago and i had friends over to celebrate with me.
pallav, i cannot advise for now till i have my scores in. but kaplan seems to have most, if not all, the facts. trouble is will one remember??? that is why i like to hear the same facts from another source. it always looks new. and i remember better.
nan, dont waste timewith books for neuro. from the kind of questions i got, even kaplan was too much for neuro. just high yield and neuro made rid simple are adequate. look up a few ct slides if you care for more detail.
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| Nan
Forum Senior
Topics: 12
Posts: 159
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Thank you so much tolito. Good luck for ur score. God bless you!
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