dreamcatcher
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Hi Guys!
Here I am on my journey of USMLE STEP 1.........
This journal is for giving and receiving ideas ,strategies , motivation, frustrations, hopes and dreams......while we stride on the path of the first step in achieving our goal of doing residency in USA. It would of course serve as an yard stick to measure progress .By posting our plans we are accountable not only to ourselves but to everyone here!
A LITTLE ABOUT ME: I am an IMG 2003 graduate ( an 'old IMG' by definition! )Have been among the toppers in med school ( those good old days!!!!)After graduating from med school, I entered into a constant state of "Euphoria"!!! (Please do not get me wrong, I was not into drugs ) Just the euphoria of emerging victorious thru all the hardships of med school....and becoming a doctor!!!!.....Have been working since graduation ...and yes, all the 'saving lives' in ERs and the 'delivering babies' in the LRs added to the 'euphoria' ( man!!! who needs grass???!!!! )
Finally, one bright sunny day...I saw light!!!! (again...its just a figure of speech...and not dope!) I realized how much time has passed...and that I was just a med school graduate with a bit of experience...(well, there's nothing 'just' about that unless you have ambitions, which we all do, I'm sure!) All my friends had moved on ...some already MDs/MS , some about to become...And all I had done was nurture the dream of doing my Residency in the USA.....just nurturing!!!!( God! What was I thinking!?!).
Anyways , then finally I decided to quit my job and embark on this journey .....So here I am , finally an opportunity to chase my dreams!
WHERE DO I STAND:I have taken the Kaplan center prep at my home country, in Feb- March. Then had to travel to US. So have not come in physical contact with my books since march end (except while packing). So all the stuff I learnt would have pretty much vanished form my grey matter huh? .....I do hope not!( coz then I would stamp myself as a case of pre pro senile dementia and take an early retirement!) Anyways, we will see what I have retained later...But for now I am officially done with watching the Kaplan videos !...and I will take it from there!
Edited by dreamcatcher on 07/15/08 - 04:25 PM
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| dreamcatcher
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Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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My Dream Score: a nice , bright and shiny
99
I know it is a tough journey esp. when there has been a gap between med school and now ....but hey, no one ever said it would be easy ! And life would be such a humdrum affair without difficulties and challenges!
Being and ol' IMG with no USCE so far, I think a high score will serve me well...and as the saying goes:
'Aim for the moon!And if you fail, you will land among stars!'
Edited by dreamcatcher on 07/18/08 - 10:09 AM
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| sakot08
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Topics: 4
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Welcome my friend. We r all in this together. Ups & downs,whatever maybe we shall sail the boat together.
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| dreamcatcher
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Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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MY PREPARATION STRATEGY:
PREP TIME: 100 DAYS
Why 100 days...well for starters ,its a nice round number....No really , I dont think we need more time than that when studying full time. Its just over 3 months ..and knowig myself , if I have more time I'll waste half of the day dreaming.....I did rather work real hard for there 3 months and get done with it!
PREP MATERIALS:
Well everyone knows what the norm is, but still I;ll just jot them down.
1.Kaplan LN for all subjects except pathology
2.Goljan audio lectures and RR for Pathology
3.USMLE WORLD qs
4.Kaplan Q-Bank ( if time permits) or Q-Book
5.FA
Will refer other sources if and when necessary.
And yes, NBME ( atleast 2 forms ) for assessment.
PLAN OF ACTION:
Will divide my preparation into 3 parts.
Phase1.One thorough reading of all subjects ,along with USMLE WORLD an avg rate of 1 subject per week, 2 for pathology...This I plan to do in under 9weeks, and then assess my progress with one NBME form.
Phase2..Will focus on my week areas as reflected on NBME. and do Qs,Qs,Qs and more Qs....preferably from Kaplan Q-bank....random test mode so that I can random review all subjects.Will do another NBME and freeze a date.
Phase 3. Final rapid review of all subjects from KLN in under 10days...and FA and self notes and flashcards.
I know people say you need 3 or 4 through readings to ace the exam , but I am not a fan of multiple readings , rather like revising the stuff while doing the Qs.
This exam is not only a test of one's knowledge, but also how well you know the stuff that matter really. Preparing for this test is about strategizing on answering the questions correctly..on how well you select the best option ...so the key is to truely understand the concepts and apply it. Ofcourse its a test of your memory, but its a given fact that med students can cram...so they do not really test your memorization skill, but how well you apply what you know ...
Preparing for USMLE is not a sprint...it is a marathon! There will be long and tiring days....but despite that we have to train ourselves to go on...It is a mental calisthenics !
And we have to train for it! So in my opinion it is better to get into a steady pace and maintaining it...rather than studying for 14 hrs for 2 days and then 2 hrs for 4 days.So I will focus on achieving 8 to 10 hrs of effective studying per day and maintain that till my exams. Ofcourse there will be days when we will not feel like studying but we have to persevere....and never for one moment entertain the thought of giving up!
So lets get on with our preparation, with passion in our hearts and dedication in our minds........
p.s. any comments and suggestions are more than welcome and appriciated.
.
Edited by dreamcatcher on 07/18/08 - 10:11 AM
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| pursuit
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Posts: 116
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all the best! and welcome...
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| dreamcatcher
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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Thank you sakot and pursuit. !
MY SCHEDULE:for Part 1 of my prep.
WEEK 1: PHYSIOLOGY
WEEK 2:HISTOLOGY AND ANATOMY( including Embryology and Neuroanatomy)
WEEK 3:MICROBIOLOGY and IMMUNOLOGY
WEEK 4:BIOCHEMISTRY and GENETICS
WEEK 5:PHARMACOLOGY
WEEK 6 and 7:PATHOLOGY
WEEK 8: BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
I have spread out my schedule over 8 weeks which might seem a bit long , but I have plans of doing UW along with it and also FA.Also I want to be practical and give myself room for the breaks ,catch-ups and the occasional unplanned circumstances life hurls at you when you least need !
I have keep Pathology towards the end becoz I wanted to get done with the other subjects as Goljan really correlates different subjects in his lectures which can be better grasped, I feel.
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| dreamcatcher
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Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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17th JULY
Today I begin my journey of achieving my dream score on USMLE step1....
Y'day I went to office max and put my FA 2008 in a binder (as advised by someone on the net), a good thing to do I think, so that all the extra highyeild points can be added to it for the final review. A concise review material is imperative in order to touch all the high yeild facts during the couple of days before the exam.
I also subscribed to USMLE WORLD yesterday. Reading all the exam prep experiences , I have gathered that it is never too early to start UW....and doing Qs early in our review will help us focus on on the important concepts more than rest of the material and help in fine tuning our knowledge.
I also got myself a cute white board( well actually its yellow ) and fixed it besides my study table, just to write in some inspiring thoughts or my day's schedule, etc...and got a good table lamp (I have been here since 2 months and still kinda settling down! ).I converted one wall of my study room into "The Wall of Review" where I can put my chrats and memory diagrams, ( will stand on one leg and review them when I feel sleepy while studying )
so I am all set to begin.......
And yes , the most important thing.....I took the UW assessment online .Maybe it was too early for that since I have not even started my prep in the real sense, but I just needed to know my starting point. I got a correlated score of 80/200. I know thats very low for a target of 99/240 but at least now I know where I stand and how much effort I need to put in....and from here on it will be an improvement in leaps..
So all that done , I will start with Physiology. This I will do only from KLN( and FA ofcourse.)Hope that will be enough!
Schedule For Week 1: PHYSIOLOGY
Day 1 :
1.General Topics
2.Excitable tissue
3.Peripheral Circulation
4.Skeletal Circulation
DAY 2:
Cardiac muscle
DAY 3 :
Respiratory
DAY 4:
1.Renal
2.Acid-Base
Day 5:
Endocrine
Day 6:
1.Reproductive System
2.GIT.
Day 7:
UW Qs.
Time to begin now....
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| dreamcatcher
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My DAY 1 is going slow but strong....well it would be unfair to my poor 'brain' which is in the 'trying to do my best and you cant stop beating the horse ' mode...if I call it slow.....rather I would say its going slower that the expectations of my enthusiastic mind!
So far I have completed the first two sections of Physiology KLN including the questions at the end of chapters  ...so far its been a smooth sail and we are still best of friend, Physio and me!!!.....But soon its gonna get heavier with concepts, as I encroach into Peripheral circulation,and I hope the relationship doesn't crumble all together!......
My sleep cycle is pretty messed up now and my only task for this afternoon was to keep myself from taking an afternoon nap.....which is a habit that has slowly but ever so steadily crept into my unsuspecting being!!!!!Well have to get rid of that habit asap if I want my sleep cycle fixed......so while my sleep centre is sending the corrupt signals to my body and mind, I am trying to inspire it by watching some really inspiring videos on you-tube!!! ....my victory over sleep was inevitable today as it is DAY 1 and my motivation is up!!!
So now I am off to begin the second phase of my studies.....
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| dreamcatcher
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It 9am at my end of the world and I just woke myself from 'deep slumber' with great difficulty........the bed still looks alluring and I am having a tough time staying away from its wide open arms...! Well looks like my sleep cycle didnt change after all ...slept at 2 am last night.
y'day I got a bit stuck at Peripheral circulation! At first I read it real fast with hope of getting done with it, but when I went to the Qs, I was like  ....so reread the whole thing this time more slowly...till I felt more comfortable with the concepts and could do the Qs correctly. That done, it was already 11pm...though had plans of sleeping at 11, but had to finish Skeletal muscle (hate backlogs! ), but my productivity just goes down after 11- 12....good that this topic was easy! Made short notes of HY fact of each chapter and added to FA for quick review. Anyways, done with the general principles of Physio.
Today, on DAY 2 I plan to do Cardiac Muscle. As it is high yeild as compared to the number of pages (as quoted by Dr.Dunn) I'll go slow with this one. will also watch the videos again (with 2* playback speed of course) and in the end top it with relevant portion of FA....so here we go....
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| dreamcatcher
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Topics: 2
Posts: 11
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"Begin doing what you want to do NOW.
We are not living in an eternity.
We have only this moment,
sparkling like a star
in our hand and
melting like a snowflake."
M.B Ray
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