commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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10 years old graduate, learned in non-English language, so a lot of catchup to do. However, all that cannot stop me pursuing a high score, at least dreaming. I know I can do it. Full-time job with about 2-4 hour every night.
Started preparation this Jan. Will finish the first read around 3/4/2008. First read is pretty rough. Only skimp through the important concepts. Wil try to finish Qbook in the next two weeks, if possible. Pathology, Anatomy, and BS needs a lot of work to do.
After that, will start UW for three months. Will try to finish another read in that three months. Will monitor and update my block percentage. It will be the most critical three months in my whole prep. Will take one NBME form at the end.
June and July will finish my third read, depending on my strength and weakness on different subjects. Will take one more NBME form at the end.
August, will focus on FA. Going through notes. Late August or early Sep to take the test.
Lessons learned so far:
1. Don't be scared by those drug names or microbes, if you repeat enough, it will stick. It also helps to write down the names several times.
2. Flashcards are good. Tried the cards on Pharm, very good experience. Will try the online cards often at gotmedbooks.com
3. Pathology is important and hard for me. Need to pay more attention on it.
4. For some questions, you can answer correctly right after you review that subject. It dosen't mean you really remembered though. Gives you a false sense of security. Need to revisit the old questions once in a while. Try to rember how the question is set up and what is the point of question.
5. It's a long battle. Keep coming back at it. You will succeed. Don't be frustrated by temporal setbacks.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Another lesson. Everybody's time is limited. Spending some time on reading others' exam or prep experience can help me to find the right way for myself. However, too much time on this will affect my precious study time. It won't be cost effective any more.
Will significantly cut down the distractions, like sports or TV.
However, will still spend significant time with family, because they are the real reasons and motivations for my study.
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| Luka
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 21
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WISH YOU LUCK , YOU CAN DO IT 
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| janaki
Forum Senior
Topics: 15
Posts: 99
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hi commit i really like your login name .welcome ,and good luck preparing for your exam and thankyou for posting the lessons .i found them to be completely true.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Thank you for all your encouragement!
As somebody said, preparing USMLE is like to developing a relationship with your lover. Pay every bit of attention, know her well, be patient, be faithful, be consistent, be passionate, be confident, THINK OF HER ALL THE TIME. She will eventually reward you with a nice score.
Today, I will have about 5 hours to study. Will spend 3 hours on pathology, try to finish 50 pages of the BRS pathology. 2 hours on Goljan audio, take notes on 1 hour course. If I get extra time, will finish off pharmcology and more pathology.
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| genbot
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 490
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Hey good luck!
Have faith in urself. Work hard. And no dream will dare stay a dream!
___________________
Step1 267/99. Step2 269/99. Match 2009. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ME (The one they call the strong nuclear force!)
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| atomakande
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 18
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Keep up the faith. It is doable! All the best.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Reached yesterday's goal.
This week, I will finish BRS pathology. Next week will start UW anyways.
Repetition is the key. My study material is mainly Kaplan, with BRS pathology and FA. Will also get Goljan Rapid review and finish his audio. Hopefully that will be sufficient. Anatomy is boring and I have a hard time remembering stuff. Behavior science is also difficult for me, since I don't really know what is important and what is not.
I am using an old FA. Maybe I should get a new 2008 FA soon.
Anyway, I will try my best. I can do it.
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| precious
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 60
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Trying hard, commit. 
I know you can do it.
I think we walk in the same way. Now I'm working in Community hospital and
preparing my English a lot as to improve myself for communicating with patients.
GL in exam. 
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| doctorDee
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hey .. am in the same time frame... good luck to us both....
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| doctorDee
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hey .. am in the same time frame... good luck to us both....
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Thanks, precious and doctorDee. Yes, we can do it. Let's dream big and work hard.
Reached my target yesterday, finished 60 pages of BRS pathology, on pace to finish it this week. Look forward to starting UW next week. I know it is going to be tough. I have forgot most of the biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology already, physiology might be better, pathology needs a lot of more work. I haven't finished Anatomy and BS yet.
I am just about to finish the first reading. The first reading is to have a quick idea and a good understanding. Have not spent enough time to memorizing stuff. So I will accept any score I can get from UW. My vision is to start from 45-60% and finish off with 70-80%. 45-60 in first 1.5 months, and finish about one third of the Qs. Then for the last one third to get to the target 70-80. It is abosolutely daydreaming at this point. But daydreaming gives directions and inspirations.
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| mjbapana
Forum Senior
Topics: 26
Posts: 152
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Hi!! Commit. i think u've done a great job so far already. I really admire te enery u have and i must say ireally liked u r description of USMLE!!!
All the best and study well!!!
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Thanks mjbapana.
Found some useful info in kalyann's journal. The SQ3R stuff. I think it's pretty decent. I have always tried a similar approach. But I never systemetically set up a system like that. One single most important step for me is the Survey. I need to skimp through the whole book or whole chapter first to know the outline, the setup. I need to have a structure in my mind after that. Then I can attach more detailed info on the structure.
I probably should enhance my skills on recite. I tends to be satisfied with just understanding. Needs to pay more attention to recite.
Revision on BRS pathology are going well, all on target. However, don't remember much details. Will do more Qs and come back more often. It has to start from somewhere.
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| tiasharma
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
Posts: 250
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hi commit good luck ul get a lot frm here i have got immese support frm here all d best 4 ur score
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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tia, you are doing great. Good luck to you.
I took a day off for Saturday. Was a little busy with family stuff recently. However, I felt very satisfied with my busy life right now. I think I am having a good time juggling with family, work and USMLE. I will keep pushing it.
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| tiasharma
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
Posts: 250
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thank u commit nd good luck 2 u...
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| doctorDee
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hey commit how long u took for first reading?
its goin too slow for me....
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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hi, Dr Dee, it took me about 2.5 months to finish the first reading. Really, I still have quite some Anatomy and behavior left. I honestly don't remember much after the first reading.
Anyway, I went ahead and got the UW yesterday. It was doable, I just feel really ashamed that I missed so many easy questions. I feel like I have seen them somewhere and I just cannot remember the answer. But that seems giving me a lot of room for improvement, ha. I got a 54%. Hopefully, by the end of this month, I can reach 60% steadily. After two months, I am aiming for 70%. I still cannot get too caught up in the scores. All I need right now is a good and solid second reading. This time around, I need to remember and recite and retain more stuff.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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UW seems to be a great learning tool. There are a lot of gems in the explanations of the answers. Only thing I am a little confused is how to study while doing Qs. Learning from Qs and going over certain topics is quite time-consuming. But my gut feeling tells me that only this is not enough. There is nothing better than a solid second revision of the books, since my first reading is quite sketchy. Will allocate more time for revision than solving Qs. It is certainly interesting to do this now.
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Second revision. 110 pages of Biochem from Kaplan, that was easy. Try to finish in 4 days.
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| genbot
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 490
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Thanks for the wishes commit.
How's the prep comin along?
___________________
Step1 267/99. Step2 269/99. Match 2009. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ME (The one they call the strong nuclear force!)
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Hi genbot, thanks for stoppign by. I am sssooo tired. But everything seems to come along. Because I learned the whole thing in another language, my first revision was basically an outline and simplely knowing the meaning of those fancy medical terms. This time around, for my second revision, I feel more in control and things are falling into places. I like my chances. Although we don't know your score yet, I think I will be quite happy to get a score 20 points lower than yours. So wish you a great score. I am now aiming for 20 points lower than yours.
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| genbot
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 490
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Man i'm no yardstick you should be measuring you yourself with! I'm just an ordinary guy who happens to work a lil harder than most. Nothin more to it. I'm sure you deserve atleast as much and perhaps even more when you're done with your prep. Your hardwork will surely pay you well. You dont worry bout that.
___________________
Step1 267/99. Step2 269/99. Match 2009. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ME (The one they call the strong nuclear force!)
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| commit
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
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Ha, thanks, genbot. You are a true star, so humble. I really respect your hard work ethics. It is not just usmle, with that attitude, you are going to be successful no matter what you are doing. Best wishes for your future, match and everything.
Back to my prep, read another 100 pages of biochem yesterday (selectively). Did another block of UW today, felt pretty bad, clueless on so many questions. However, got a surprising 66%. Wish I will have good luck like this all the time. Although it is only two blocks, there are some encouraging news. I am probably not as bad as I thought. Hopefully, I can maintain this kind of score for the first 10 blocks, around 60%. My goal is to eventually improve 15-20%. Then I should be fine.
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