hi,there...as the cliche goes i have been secretly observing the posts here....withoout having contributed till now...because i wanted to get my score first n then share the experience....now that i got the score n pretty decent one at that....i feel obliged to give back some of the things i have taken from the community....
exam taken 30th july .
score reported 22nd august. 239\99
my experience.
well i am doing my pg in pulmonary medicine in india and i studied with the bits n pieces time i had.
1st reading wid tapes. (4 hrs/day). 3mths..didnt touch the books 3mths after that...as i was busy with my thesis.
2nd reading. 1mth(8hrs\day)
3rd reading..system wise(wid questions 4m u-world)...2 weeks
final revision..read all exam posts on prep 4 usmle...n noted some of my weak topics(1 day)...med essentials( 4 days)
u can see mine was not a typical preparation as i operated under various constraints...i have to admit that exam was frighteningly close to u-world...n i regret having done less of them..though i am a theory type person...i could not do all marked n weak topics on u-world..n i got at least 10 questions wrong on exam because of that.
advice in hindsight.
1st read wid kaplan tapes( goljan for path..i didnt do it because of lack of time..but they are damn good..)...(2-3 mths)
2nd read with u-world questions....mark the questions u got wrong...(1.5 mths)
3rd read. (3weeks00 wid focus on ur weak areas n topics.(nything less familiar in book on ur3rd read is ur weak link)
final revision(1 week). med-essentials..must..beautiful book.!(along wid questions u got wrong or had to think over in u-world)
MY EXPERIENCE:
1.ANATOMY
: well it was pretty clinical,lots of ct images,eg: they showed up spleen in ct n asked its embryological origin, lots of brain sections on bord..for example they described a person with kluver bucy like symptoms n asked to recognise the site of lesion.on section. the famous visual fields were there..n i got superior quandratopia wrong...!!!..which lobe lesion causes it?....
advice: study HY gross anat wid kaplan . do neuroanat sections well. brace urself to read ct.prepare urself for nerve lesions. embryo will be simple.just learn arches n derivatives well..don research on it.
2. BIOCHEM: carbohydrate metab questions n purine metab dominated. few of questions stat from u-world. n i got them wrong due to lack of revision. questions on sorbitol metabplism n reducing sugar.fructosuria et al.
advice: kaplan material is the best. lionel rayman is the best teacher around. (after goljan ). u-world questions r excellent. THIS IS THE SUBJECT FOLKS. YOU CAN SECURE ALMOST 100% MARKS IN IT. JUST STUDY IT LAST SO THAT U DONT 4GET PATHWAYS, M MORE THAN SURE U CAN GET IT ALMOST 100% right.
3. GENETICS. i dunno what to say bout the subject. u cant anticipate its questions. lots of pedigree charts.,western blots, ..edward syndrome expressed in its genetic notation(i got it wrong). operon question as well.
advice: just study kaplan. solve lot of questions..u world n kaplan q bank.... biochem n genetics pre-test is good resource
4. PATHOLOGY. respi n cvs dominated..thankfully being a pulmonologist i aced them....skin..do it well...quite a few stroke questions.neuroanat mark the tracks.
my advice: do a systemic revision after 1st read. eg. cardiovascular physio..cardio pharma..then cardio path...
5. PHYSIO. endocrine n feedback loops dominated. along wid lots of respi n cardio. 2 questions of note. effect on physiological parameters of 2nd lung if one lung is removed. effect on physiological parameters of 2nd kidney if one kidney is removed.
my advice. do physio kap. notes followed b the questions at end of chapter. make it a habit to do the questions. even in 2nd n 3rd read as they reinforce ur concepts
5. micro n immuno.
study bacteria wid an emphasis on toxins. (4-6 questions on diarrheogenic bugs)got bombarded wid positive n negative sense rna viruses n their mechanism of actions. immuno though hard were solved as basics from kaplan( canal syndrome n mhc 2 deficiency) typical ones.
advice.
kaplan micro is the best kaplan book. read bacteria wid emphasis on pathogenesis only. read viruses n classification n mech. of action of positive n negative sense well. always do questions at back of each chap (specially in viro n immuno)even in 2nd n third read. immuno will be tough but the extensive immuno coverage n questions at back of chapters will help u ace it. use last 3 chapters 4 revision of baceriolg.
6.pharma:
this will hit u folks from all places. prepare urself. i had quite a few graphical questions on pharmacokin n dynamics n alot of mechanism questions on antivirals n immunopharmacol.
my advice:
do katjung n trvor review questions ain ur weak area topics. always study a chapter wid mechanism of drugs , drug of choice in diseased states n side effects in mind.
7.behaviour.
i have not been able to figure out what hit me there. i got a lot of confusing questions on doctor-patient relationships n defenses. despite listening to daugherty tapes n these specific topics thrice n solving u-world questions. ( n some questions 4m kap. q bank)..i could solve only 50% of them confidently. rest were wild guesses in the wind. n lookin at my borderline performance in the subjects it was well the last straw..!
advice:
ask better people.
biostats.
well i m bond at it in fact my pupils start twinkling when i see numbers..i would say it wid a sense of immodesty...as i hv a did lots of stats 4 my thesis..i scored a90% in u-world. n the exam was a fair game..got a few questions on determination of power of studies n prevalence n ppv stuff..jus waltzed them through.
advice: kaplan text..lots of questions from wherever u get them.
the last word:
in the end..i will say only one thing. fortify ur weak areas. study ur strong areas normally...emphasise on pharma... if u cant improve all ur weak areas..at least splint some of them wid extra effort so that u can score well. overall in mean..( for example in second read on doin u-wrld questions i found dat i was terribly weak in behav. science n endo n repro as well as skin..)..i put an extra effort..i ended up getting a just above borderline score in behav. a decent score in endo n repro n i did pretty well in skin. i aced in cvs,respi,renal(all fundey waale subjects..at which i was naturally good at.)
n in the end... do u-world,system wise revision, 9 wid an emphasis on ur weak systems) and med-essentials..i can assure u it will be a richly rewarding experience.
i love the forum. u can pose ur doubts. i will be more than happy to give back what i received from here.
exam taken 30th july .
score reported 22nd august. 239\99
my experience.
well i am doing my pg in pulmonary medicine in india and i studied with the bits n pieces time i had.
1st reading wid tapes. (4 hrs/day). 3mths..didnt touch the books 3mths after that...as i was busy with my thesis.
2nd reading. 1mth(8hrs\day)
3rd reading..system wise(wid questions 4m u-world)...2 weeks
final revision..read all exam posts on prep 4 usmle...n noted some of my weak topics(1 day)...med essentials( 4 days)
u can see mine was not a typical preparation as i operated under various constraints...i have to admit that exam was frighteningly close to u-world...n i regret having done less of them..though i am a theory type person...i could not do all marked n weak topics on u-world..n i got at least 10 questions wrong on exam because of that.
advice in hindsight.
1st read wid kaplan tapes( goljan for path..i didnt do it because of lack of time..but they are damn good..)...(2-3 mths)
2nd read with u-world questions....mark the questions u got wrong...(1.5 mths)
3rd read. (3weeks00 wid focus on ur weak areas n topics.(nything less familiar in book on ur3rd read is ur weak link)
final revision(1 week). med-essentials..must..beautiful book.!(along wid questions u got wrong or had to think over in u-world)
MY EXPERIENCE:
1.ANATOMY
: well it was pretty clinical,lots of ct images,eg: they showed up spleen in ct n asked its embryological origin, lots of brain sections on bord..for example they described a person with kluver bucy like symptoms n asked to recognise the site of lesion.on section. the famous visual fields were there..n i got superior quandratopia wrong...!!!..which lobe lesion causes it?....
advice: study HY gross anat wid kaplan . do neuroanat sections well. brace urself to read ct.prepare urself for nerve lesions. embryo will be simple.just learn arches n derivatives well..don research on it.
2. BIOCHEM: carbohydrate metab questions n purine metab dominated. few of questions stat from u-world. n i got them wrong due to lack of revision. questions on sorbitol metabplism n reducing sugar.fructosuria et al.
advice: kaplan material is the best. lionel rayman is the best teacher around. (after goljan ). u-world questions r excellent. THIS IS THE SUBJECT FOLKS. YOU CAN SECURE ALMOST 100% MARKS IN IT. JUST STUDY IT LAST SO THAT U DONT 4GET PATHWAYS, M MORE THAN SURE U CAN GET IT ALMOST 100% right.
3. GENETICS. i dunno what to say bout the subject. u cant anticipate its questions. lots of pedigree charts.,western blots, ..edward syndrome expressed in its genetic notation(i got it wrong). operon question as well.
advice: just study kaplan. solve lot of questions..u world n kaplan q bank.... biochem n genetics pre-test is good resource
4. PATHOLOGY. respi n cvs dominated..thankfully being a pulmonologist i aced them....skin..do it well...quite a few stroke questions.neuroanat mark the tracks.
my advice: do a systemic revision after 1st read. eg. cardiovascular physio..cardio pharma..then cardio path...
5. PHYSIO. endocrine n feedback loops dominated. along wid lots of respi n cardio. 2 questions of note. effect on physiological parameters of 2nd lung if one lung is removed. effect on physiological parameters of 2nd kidney if one kidney is removed.
my advice. do physio kap. notes followed b the questions at end of chapter. make it a habit to do the questions. even in 2nd n 3rd read as they reinforce ur concepts
5. micro n immuno.
study bacteria wid an emphasis on toxins. (4-6 questions on diarrheogenic bugs)got bombarded wid positive n negative sense rna viruses n their mechanism of actions. immuno though hard were solved as basics from kaplan( canal syndrome n mhc 2 deficiency) typical ones.
advice.
kaplan micro is the best kaplan book. read bacteria wid emphasis on pathogenesis only. read viruses n classification n mech. of action of positive n negative sense well. always do questions at back of each chap (specially in viro n immuno)even in 2nd n third read. immuno will be tough but the extensive immuno coverage n questions at back of chapters will help u ace it. use last 3 chapters 4 revision of baceriolg.
6.pharma:
this will hit u folks from all places. prepare urself. i had quite a few graphical questions on pharmacokin n dynamics n alot of mechanism questions on antivirals n immunopharmacol.
my advice:
do katjung n trvor review questions ain ur weak area topics. always study a chapter wid mechanism of drugs , drug of choice in diseased states n side effects in mind.
7.behaviour.
i have not been able to figure out what hit me there. i got a lot of confusing questions on doctor-patient relationships n defenses. despite listening to daugherty tapes n these specific topics thrice n solving u-world questions. ( n some questions 4m kap. q bank)..i could solve only 50% of them confidently. rest were wild guesses in the wind. n lookin at my borderline performance in the subjects it was well the last straw..!
advice:
ask better people.
biostats.
well i m bond at it in fact my pupils start twinkling when i see numbers..i would say it wid a sense of immodesty...as i hv a did lots of stats 4 my thesis..i scored a90% in u-world. n the exam was a fair game..got a few questions on determination of power of studies n prevalence n ppv stuff..jus waltzed them through.
advice: kaplan text..lots of questions from wherever u get them.
the last word:
in the end..i will say only one thing. fortify ur weak areas. study ur strong areas normally...emphasise on pharma... if u cant improve all ur weak areas..at least splint some of them wid extra effort so that u can score well. overall in mean..( for example in second read on doin u-wrld questions i found dat i was terribly weak in behav. science n endo n repro as well as skin..)..i put an extra effort..i ended up getting a just above borderline score in behav. a decent score in endo n repro n i did pretty well in skin. i aced in cvs,respi,renal(all fundey waale subjects..at which i was naturally good at.)
n in the end... do u-world,system wise revision, 9 wid an emphasis on ur weak systems) and med-essentials..i can assure u it will be a richly rewarding experience.
i love the forum. u can pose ur doubts. i will be more than happy to give back what i received from here.
5 comments:
Thank You for giving ur exp to others ,whoz in need .
Doctor Sb! First of alll thanx for nice and helpful comments, i have got a query .......... that u have written SECOND READ WITH U WORLD............ Does it mean to do ..... Kaplan lecture notes read on second time with solving questions from USMLE WORLD????????????????????
AM I right!!
hi......have definitely gained a lot from ur experience...thanx a lot n all the best......
Thanks man! I'm having trouble with behavioral science too. Keep us posted on your next step. Best of luck.
hi sir... thanks a lot for ur experience...
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