DrPak
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I'm starting my CK prep in a few days time and would like to run some ideas I have for my prep by you guys.
When I was studying for Step 1, I realised that I learnt a lot from doing questions. To me, it was a far more effect means of reviewing material for the exam than simple repetition of the books over and over again. Based on this experience, I'm formulating a plan of study that revolves mostly around solving questions for the exam.
I plan to go through the kaplan books and dvd lectures once in about 30-45 days (Can I do it in as little as 30 days, do you think??). After going through entire course for the first time, I plan to solve questions from then onwards till the exam arrives, doing as many questions as I possibly can.
I'll like to clarify that I do the questions very throughly, I would not only read the explainations but also open the book (for step 1, this included FA and Goljan) and would memorize the thing from there. Also, when I would get a question on, for example, a type of antidepressant, I would revise all the antidepressants in that class. So for me, the questions were used not just in of themselves, but also as beacons that pointed towards material I revised from the book. The reason this approach appealed to me was because I hated going serially through subjects, page by page, and enjoyed skipping across subjects from question to question. Furthermore, solving questions forced a critical thought process that helped me retain the material better.
I only really took this approach towards the Step 1 in the last month and a half. I don't want to make the mistake in CK of leaving it too late, but make sure I start doing questions much earlier. Thus, my current plan is to finish the course once (but thoroughly- because my first reads are intense) and thereafter go full speed ahead on questions, doing those thoroughly as I described above). I'm thinking that if I do something like 4000 questions, I'll be set for the exam as long as I do them well.
Let me know what you guys think of this overall plan.
For the course books, I'm sticking to Kaplan lecture notes and DVDs. For the questions, I'm a bit stuck. I'm definately going to do USMLE World, which I know is the most highly rated. However if I want to do 4000 questions, I also need another source. I haven't heard good things about the kaplan qbanks or qbook, so I don't know if I should get that. I don't have any feedback on the other qbanks, so I really don't know which question source besides usmleworld I should get for myself. Please advise.
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| study_ing
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dr pak, i think ur plan's superb..if u go intensively over qs, then i think 45 days is good idea..just start UW after 30.
Q book isnt to bad for the first read..do it in the beginning. ithink it wud help u cover loads of facts, which u wud overlook if just doing notes. u cud get a 2 month UW subscription ( its a dif of 35$..) an dstart UW late in ur first read..that will be around 3000 qs.
the remaining is ure choice...
if u want simple qs, not predicive of teh exam , but stuff helpful for first read and ez to digest, try pretest.
i used usmleeasy qs, a cd i borrowed from a friend and they rnt bad either...but for first read
Conrad's fischer's q book seems like a good choice, but i dont think its available easily..( i remeber someone posting pretest and ipseg psoting q book..seen none with C fischer's...)
i have heard about harrison's review, but not done them so i gues u cud ask around for that...
kaplan..q bank..200 $...err...i dunno
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| DrPak
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Hey study_ing,
Thanks for the feedback. So basically UW is the center of my question-based approach to this exam. Besides that, you say I have the option of Kaplan's Qbook and usmleasy for the first reads. I've got both with me, so I'll use those during my first read then and try to do as many questions as I can during my first read. I'm thinking I'll spend 5 hours with the books and videos and another 3 hours with questions during my first read period. I'll see if this is sustainable.
However when it comes to predictive, exam-like questions, are there other banks out there besides usmleworld which get high marks? I wouldn't want to waste my time doing questions that are not going to hone the skills needed for this exam.
Btw, how many questions does usmleworld have?
Thanks for the reply
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| study_ing
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2091 in all...UW is the one most frequently recommended..and its pretty time consuming...way more tahn kaplan q bank ( step 1) ..personnaly i feel kaplan style of teaching and its explanations are better than uw..in some qs here, i feel they have inadequately explained y the second best option is not the correct one..
kaplan eplanations were definitely 5 star..but i just know that about the step 1 bank..if u feel u need the qs, i think it wud definitely merit consideration..
though i think u have load sof qs to do already!! good luck 
if not remember dr q fischer's q book too..its around 750 qs i think...
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| DrPak
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I looked up Conrad Fischer's Qbook on his website and on Amazon, and it seems that it's for the IM boards, not for Step 2 (or Step 3).
For now, I've decided I'm going to go for UW, Kaplan Qbook and Kaplan Qbank, with a clear emphasis on UW. I'll do the Qbook with my first read. I won't get the qbanks until at least a month from now, so till then I'll keep my ears open for new qbanks that might be clearly superior to Kaplan's qbank. I think usmlerx will have it's CK up and running quite soon... I'll see what comes of that.
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| spebeeto
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good plan. i think usmleworld is the way to go. They definitely are the best for step 2.
there's also a book from usmlehelp.com that helped me. simple book, easy to read, and really just highlights the facts that you need to know. sort of along the lines of First Aid, but everything is on one page, there's enough room for your own notes/drawings, and extra pages for new topics. i liked it and used it and still use my ck book for step 3 (studying for now). i keep harping about this book because not a lot of people know about it, but it's really good, i think. it has tables and images in it that pulls a lot of the "broad topics" together on one page. some of the graphics need to be in better quality, but i'd say about 95% of them are fine the way they are.
i heard on another forum that they are planning cs stuff, but nothing real concrete about that yet. if they get it done within the next month, i'll definitely be getting that book too. just to see what they're doing with that.
i relly can honestly recommend this book for everyone.
good luck on your studies, you're gonna do fine.
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| study_ing
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great going dr pak..ur all set...
thanx speebeto
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| npas
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I'am doing Harrison's review and its good.U can use it as an additional question source if u r planning to study retrograde..by the way Dr Pak,ur idea is really good but keep in mind not to spread ur study materials too much,that is whatever u learn now should be revisable at the end.
all the best
npas
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