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starting step studying in january, a thread 
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(it's important to know who you're getting advice from. I scored competitively and would feel comfortable applying to almost any specialty. If I wanted to do derm or IR, I probably would want to score a lil higher.)
--(it's important to know who you're getting advice from. I scored competitively and would feel comfortable applying to almost any specialty. If I wanted to do derm or IR, I probably would want to score a lil higher.)
where I was by winter break last year:
1. dabbled in sketchy
2. watched pathoma chapters that corresponded to my curriculum
3. did 0 anki and UW
1. dabbled in sketchy
2. watched pathoma chapters that corresponded to my curriculum
3. did 0 anki and UW
GENERAL RULES I FOLLOWED
- keep up with pathoma and sketchy videos that were related to my in-house curriculum
- keep up with the corresponding anki cards
- try and fit in extra videos where I could and get ahead
for more specifics
- keep up with pathoma and sketchy videos that were related to my in-house curriculum
- keep up with the corresponding anki cards
- try and fit in extra videos where I could and get ahead
for more specifics
ANKI, GENERAL MECHANICSI cannot learn NEW material through flashcards, I use flashcards to prevent forgetting material I already learned. To facilitate this, I:
- suspended all my cards
- unsuspended only cards related to subjects I have already learned
ANKI, SPECIFIC DECKSby the time I saw the value of anki in january, I thought it was too late to start and finish anking (40k cards). So I opted for shorter individual decks so that I finish them.
- duke (pathoma)
- pepper (sketchy)
- brosworld (all subjects)
- brosworld (2.7k cards) was great because it tiers its cards into HY vs. lower yield information! absolutely genius.
- when I finished bro's, I used specific anking decks to augment my learning in topics I felt I was weak in that wasn't covered in bro's (like biochem)
- when I finished bro's, I used specific anking decks to augment my learning in topics I felt I was weak in that wasn't covered in bro's (like biochem)
PATHOMAstarted cardio block?
- finish the cardio chapter videos within the first few days of the block so that I can unsuspend the related anki cards asap
- annotated my book with the video and also with in-house info
SKETCHY PHARM+MICRO- watch videos that correspond to lectures
- corresponding anki***
- try and fit in videos whenever I could
UWORLD- at first, aimed for at least 40Q/day using tutor mode, randomized subjects. Definitely randomize, so you don't anticipate questions!
- read the explanations and annotated in my FirstAid about little tidbits of info I didn't know or info I wanted to emphasize.
- annotating FA was time consuming but worth it when I finally started reading FA (see below).
- once I finished my video resources, I had more time to do more UW Q's daily
- once I finished my video resources, I had more time to do more UW Q's daily
- at first doing UW questions and reading the explanations took forever. Doing a block of 40 took me about two hours. But you get faster as you learn more and require less annotation. At the end I did 40 questions in less than 40 minutes.
pro tip!!!!!find an PDF version of your FA index. Doing that allowed me to ctrl+F what page I was looking for in FA instead of physically flipping to the index of my book.
FIRSTAID- I divided all the pages of FA I needed to read by the # of days I wanted to finish the book by. Ended up reading 3-4 pages a day, but I fell really behind in reading. I put FA low on my priorities compared to UW and anki bc reading is passive learning.
- FA became more of a reference book when I wanted to see why I got something wrong on a UW question.
- You'll find yourself getting questions over the same topics wrong over and over again, and when you flip to the same topic you'll already have your annotation from last time.
- You'll find yourself getting questions over the same topics wrong over and over again, and when you flip to the same topic you'll already have your annotation from last time.
- I read the majority of FA during dedicated and it worked out for me. By the time I went through FA, it was filled with annotations from going through UW and it made reading the book so much easier and rich!!! 
CLOSING ADVICE:
1. Try to finish your video resources asap. Watch a video during random gaps in your schedule, esp sketchy micro b/c they are so short! The faster you finish your videos, the more you can focus on UW and question-style learning.
1. Try to finish your video resources asap. Watch a video during random gaps in your schedule, esp sketchy micro b/c they are so short! The faster you finish your videos, the more you can focus on UW and question-style learning.
2. Anki was ESSENTIAL to not forgetting information and making the most of the videos. The spaced repetition works.
3. I stopped all in-house material related to path, micro, and pharm and relied on pathoma and sketchy. It was enough to pass classes with grades with 70-85%.
3. I stopped all in-house material related to path, micro, and pharm and relied on pathoma and sketchy. It was enough to pass classes with grades with 70-85%.
4. If you can, try and go through UW more than once. I actually failed in this matter, I was only able to do one pass of UW. It was difficult balancing NBME practice tests, actually grading them and learning from my mistakes, and trying to do UW again.
Feel free to ask questions under this thread rather than DMing me! your questions may be relevant to others and this helps me not repeat myself. In addition, if other MS3/MS4's want to chime in, go for it! :)
Don't forget that we all have different styles of learning! you might need less time to study, you might need more than me. I hope all of you guys are successful in this one aspect of medical school and don't forget, it really is just one aspect of your ERAS!
