study_ing
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| | 08/19/06 - 08:56 PM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
hello all..
i took my exam on the 25th and my score got dispatched on the 17th.
have found out i passed though i await my score.
ppl unfortunately my own study scheuele ended up very bizarre coz of interruptions so there were several 1 -2 week unplanned NO STUDY slots. i'll share what the plan was.
6 months of prep..im a fresh graduate. needed more time since 2nd year was along itme ago.
usual stratergy; aim for 3 reads..first to familiarise, second to learn and for q bank. third to revise. the latter is aimed in a time of 15 days. the former's duration was variable. i ended up merging some of my subject's first and second read coz of the time constraint.
my study resources included kaplan lecture notes and dvds. i watched all the dvds in my first read and infact , did go over some of the biochem sections again if i couldnt take my books any more.
one thing i omitted from my first read was High yields. i believe they r vdery 'intensive' books and infact, one can save time by doing kaplan first and then picking them up. otherwise they really slow u down in first read. HY anat, groos, histo, embryo and neuro anat i aimed to do but only managed to complete histo and gross. neuroanat i used as refernce. but it is a great book. if i had more time i definitely wud have gone thru it.
i spent a lot of time mastering q bank. it paid off. was definitely worth it. it really helps improve ur speed and learn little details u wud otherwise easily ignore. luckily my subscription was extended by 15 days ( i dont know y) or else i dont htink i wud have done a fair job.
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| study_ing
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Topics: 180
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i wud really like to emphase on stress management . i dunno what my score is but i know that on the big day itself, i spent a lot of effort trying to calm myself down effectively. a lot of questions i feel one cud answer wrong just coz of the nerves.
goodluck.will keep u updated
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| raves
Forum Elite
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hey study_ing,good luck.u will do great.
i really agree with u on the 'stress management'factor.i cant describe what i had to go thru during the first four blocks,i was panicking n i was feeling so worn out.m waiting for my scores too......
please guys plan ur study schedule n dont burn urself out near the exam.go to the exam center relaxed and with confidence,this can surely make a whole lot of difference.
good luck study_ing and good luck everybody.
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| Cedrick
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Congratulations
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| drpkaur
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congrats...
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| focusmle
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Thanks study_ing ........BEST OF LUCK !!..........we will be praying for your WONDERFUL SCORE!
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| suv
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thanks for ur post study_ing can u please tell me about ur qbank cumulative score?
did u take subject wise?
thanks in advance good luck for ur score
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| Cedrick
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| study_ing
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| | 08/24/06 - 05:45 AM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #9 |
hello all...its here and by god's blessing, its good news...
i got 261/99
i did kaplan q bank..unfortunately i didnt have time to do the entire 8 hour simulated test.
i bought q bank online. did it mainly as miscellaneous tests . but i spent a lot of time writing down its explanations.
my overall avg was 80. howver i started pretty low...lots of 50s here and there in my lest favorite subjects.
kaplans question style definitely helped me in the real exam. and its explanations were brilliant. basically what i tried to mentally chart out in the tough or wrong questions was the approac to handle questions. eg if a case talked about different forms of dementias, i d reread the explanation trying to figure out how to deal with a similar question in future....
eg...relatively rapid clinical course, myoclonus---CJD ( prion disease)
personality changes> memory loss--> Pick's disease ( look for imaging dtudies--> fronto tempral ares esp)
memory loss> personality---'usual'---alzheimer's
well there are loads of useful threads on the forum.. i remember learning about supranuclear palsy that way...did uncountable questions on the forum..in fact when i got sick of my books, sometimes i wud simply aim to visit the forum threads and try to find out answers for the given qs rather than guessing them.
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| study_ing
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| | 08/24/06 - 05:50 AM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #10 |
kaplan dvds are amazing. biochem and bs are FIVE STAR. when u listen to them ure like boring ...he's talking no rocket science here..but i personally believe that both kaplan notes and FA are very memory intensive. there's a lot of stuff there but either u dont realise its there or u miss its significance. the BS lectures are a must. i listened to his section on ethics twice..once near the exam instaed of trying to lern that boring set of ethical rules.
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| study_ing
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Topics: 180
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| | 08/24/06 - 05:58 AM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #11 |
i'll list my study material again
Kaplan lecture notes and dvds
rapid review series. goljan and audio. did not have time to go thru his 100pg or 36 page unfortunately but id rate his audiio as a must have. there are zillions of resources out there. the problem is cramming them in ur cranium...and he helps. definitely worth listening to. once in ur first read and once later.
did no tdo any book in the brs series.
HY gross anat, histo, embryo
gross neuro ant as reference. mainly did kaplan..but i was lucky in the exam to be spared of angiograms which i still cant get hold of.
for doing the questions on the forum i used jawetz ( micro and immuno) and katzung ( pharma ) mainly...referred to goljan and occasionally robbins..and supplemented it by internet searches too.
if i have left any hting out..please remind me. remeber god is with u when u work towards the good of humanity.
good luck
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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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| study_ing
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Topics: 180
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| | 08/24/06 - 06:02 AM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #12 |
and one more thing...NEVER TRY TO MEMORIZE STUFF...always ask people to explain their answers ( even if u feel as the only one in the forum who knows nothing)...stick to simpler explanations and learn to rule out options. there was hardly any question which directly wanted me to recall a given answer. with one exception..the usmle CD questions. there were a couple of them, word by word in my ex. ( i still spent 2 minutes on them, to confirm they hadnt changed it!!)
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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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| ALS
Forum Senior
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Congradulations! I knew you did super wonderful job!!!
Now it is my turn to be anxious and hopefully I will get a great score too!
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| unique1
Biochemistry
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Congratulations I am happy for you.
Thanx for sharing your study material and experience.
Best of luck for all your future endeavors.
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| foco
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Congratulations! you sould change your nick to study_King
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| docrhea
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Congratulations! Awsome job!!!
Thanks for sharing your preparation and exam experience....
Good luck for step2....but do hang around here(a lot!!) to advice and guide....
Sure you wud ace step 2 too.
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| wyvern
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Congratulations for that great score!!
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| p53
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wow - 261 - congrats for the excellent score!
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| nadiabarati
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a BIG congratulations for a Wonderful score. Wish you the best for the rest.
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| mitty
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Topics: 52
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wow study_ing. I am happy for you.
My exam is after 5 days.I feel like I know nothing.And nothing is consolidated in my mind.Can you ps give me last minute tips?
Congtatulations and good luck in step 2.
Edited by mitty on 08/24/06 - 08:25 AM
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