I would like to announce that I’ll be accepting applications for the September Class of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course which will start on September 1, 2009 and end on March 3, 2010. This is the 5th batch of enrollees for this course. Please click on this link to go to the Home Page for . . . → Read More: September Class – Accepting Applications for USMLE Step 1 Prep Course
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*Note: Enrollment for September Classes have started. Please go to this link I would like to announce that I’ll be accepting applications for the June Batch of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course which will start on June 1, 2009 and end on November 30, 2009. This is the 4th batch of enrollees for this course and again due to experiences with the previous batches, changes are being implemented to the program for this batch. As you may well be aware, the first batch started last September, 2008. No fees were collected, however, the applicants were required to have failed Step 1 at least once. Tong, the first to take the exam from that batch has passed with a score of 97/232. The second, Marlene just passed with an 88/213. Most of you may know Marlene. She was the one who was ardently negotiating a position in the prep course on this blog last July to August when I first announced the course. Well she finally made it. You can read more about their exam experience here. The February batch is mostly on schedule to take their exams in June and July, except for two who have requested to be move the June batch and one who is MIA. So a total of 4 will be taking their exams soon. Continue reading June Class – Accepting Applications for Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course We will now continue with Part II of our series on “Answering USMLE Type Questions”. In Part I we discussed the 3 most common problems people have with USMLE type Questions. In part II we will discuss various strategies to correct these weak points. There are strategies you implement during the preparation phase and other strategies you do during the exam itself. However, the strategies during preparation is more effective than those you employ during the examination and therefore it makes sense to fix these problems before the actual examination day. The main challenge in clinical vignettes is to be able to diagnose the case as fast as possible. As a medical student, the way we learned clinical cases starts with a diagnosis, say Myocardial Infarction. Then we study the signs and symptoms that accompany myocardial infarction followed by laboratory tests that suggest or confirm the diagnosis. Lastly we study therapeutic interventions. That is how clinical vignettes are presented in Underground Clinical Vignettes, which is fine for medical students having their first taste of medical cases. Unfortunately for most people who are ready to take the USMLE, they’ve already gone through that process and will probably need only a short review and it will still not help them with diagnosing clinical vignettes. The reason is that clinical vignettes are presented the other way around with signs and symptoms as clues while you come up with the diagnosis. Continue reading Answering USMLE Type Questions – Part II  2 comments  Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1  buzzwords, clinical case, clinical rounds, clinical vignettes, competence, differential diagnosis, differentials, Flashcards, high yield, key words, medical students, Outline, pattern, review, signs and symptoms, step 1, step 2, step 2 CK, step 3, study, underground clinical vignettes, usmle I wrote this initially in response to someone who was really having a hard time answering tough USMLE type question. Most of the time, when people think their problem is answering tough USMLE type question. the reality is that they have a KA (Knowledge Acquisition) problem. In other words, they did not do their review properly and their problem is primarily with insufficient knowledge base rather than difficulty with USMLE type questions. Therefore, I always make it a point to test their knowledge base first. This is usually done by testing them using straightforward questions that test knowledge and recall without the common tricks that accompany USMLE type questions. Now as you may know, I have an online prep site at http://prep.askdoc-usmle.com. The prep site contains all the courses available to course participants of my USMLE Step 1 prep course. There is a demo prep course for Review of Pathology which features the first chapter out of 25 total chapters of Review of Pathology. It covers cell pathology. The online quiz is a straightforward quiz which directly tests recall and does not use USMLE type question. Do well there and it proves you do not have a knowledge base problem. Continue reading Answering USMLE Type Questions – Part I 23 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1 Bank, cell pathology, course participants, demo, examination, good chance, hard time, information, insufficient knowledge, knowledge acquisition, knowledge base, nbme, Q Banks, quiz, reason, review, risk, score, Step, step 1, step 2, straightforward questions, study, test knowledge, tough questions, type question, type questions, usmle, USMLE Step 1 Everyone knows the usefulness of keeping a large amount of high yield information in your head just before the actual examination. This can help a lot in boosting your score up in the last few days before the actual examination. Although I am never an advocate for last minute cramming for an examination like the USMLE, the benefits of having a large number of high yield facts in your immediate memory is something no one can ignore. The reason is that unless the information is in your immediate memory, chances are it will take some time for you to recall that information and in the context of timed examination like the USMLE, that can make or break you. Most reviewers acknowledge these facts. First Aid for Step 1 has its Rapid Review section. Levinson and Jawetz has its “Brief summaries of Medically Important Organisms. and Trevor and Katzung’s Pharmacology Review has it’s “Key Words for Key Drugs”. All to be reviewed just a few days before going into the examination. Continue reading High Yield Fast Facts for the USMLE We begin part 4 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. In Part I, we discussed the need to choose our review material based on what we want to achieve in the exam. We also discussed the use of substituted judgment when we rely on reviewers to know what to review for the examination, and the need to make sure that these judgments are based on the same goals we have with regards to passing, scoring well or acing the exam. In part 2, we discussed that the score you want to achieve not only dictates the review materials you choose, but also how much of those review materials should be mastered and not just read through. In part 3 we talked about the various materials you used for review and the need to go back to textbooks for concepts you do not know, since you cannot review concepts you do not know. You have to learn them first and you need textbooks for that. In part 4, we will discuss the two types of text reviewers you should be using for your review and how to use the concept of different types of recalls with the reviewers to maximize the amount of material you can store in your head for the exam. Continue reading What to Study for the USMLE – Part IV 8 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK, USMLE Step 3 Blueprints, board, board examinations, examination, forum, Immunology, information, Jawetz, kaplan, Levinson, Medicine, Microbiology, multiple times, NMS, note, Outline, review, reviewers, score, Shelf, Step, step 1, step 2 CK, step 3, study, textbook, usmle We begin part 3 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. For those just joining us, please refer to previous post here and here. Due to the sheer number of review materials available to examinees, we need to classify them in order to make it easier to choose and mix and match between them. Broadly, we can classify our study materials into three. First are reading materials, mainly books and other written study aids, eg. Flashcards, etc. Second are Question Banks, which by themselves are very important and crucial study materials. Lastly and increasingly gaining importance are audio and visual resources like lectures both audio and video. Continue reading What to Study for the USMLE – Part III 6 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK, USMLE Step 3 audio, Bank, buzzwords, capacity, concise explanations, examination, Flashcards, hard time, kaplan, maxim, memory, Outline, poor performance, Q Banks, question banks, review, reviewers, right solution, score, second time, Step, study, study aids, textbook, usmle, visual resources Back in 2004 when I was just starting my preparation for the USMLE, my greatest fear was in failing this examination. My status as an old graduate made failing a stark reality for me. Every person I asked told me that as an old graduate I have no chance. The most encouraging response I got was, “maybe you’ll pass, but it’s impossible to match with really low scores.” When I went to forums, I hear horror stories of people failing which frightened me even more. Then once in a while, when I read of people celebrating and crowing about their 99′s, I secretly wished that that was me. Even my own family thought it was impossible for me to make it. It got so bad, it took me over a year to get around to seriously preparing for it. Now 4 years later, with a double 99 in my belt, I feel bad whenever, I read about people failing the examination. If I can make it, they should be able to make it, too. 2 years ago I wrote an advise to someone who had failed already thrice and was plaintively asking people “What to do”. I’m happy she eventually passed her exam with an 82. Since that time, I am happy to note that a lot of people have passed and raised their scores and even got 99′s using that advise. A couple of them had the opportunity to catch me between Steps and was couched by me through emails to raise their scores with varying results. However, since that time, hundreds of people still failed. Some had read my advise but were doing exactly opposite of what I had written. Others, I found out did not understand how to implement what I had written. Today, we will talk more about the NBME self-assessment tests. We previously discussed what the NBME self-assessment tests are and how they impact your USMLE review. You can read the posts here. Now we will cover three important topics. When to use the NBME self-assessment tests, how to use the NBME self-assessment tests and how wise it is to use the USMLE World self-assessment tests instead. Continue reading NBME Self-Assessment Tests and USMLE Review – Part II 187 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK accuracy, AMGs, Bank, best time, confirmatory test, correlation, everything, examination, forum, good chance, kaplan, leeway, measure, measure progress, nbme, nbme assessment tests, nbme self assessment, parameters, predictability, predictor, readiness, reason, review, score, screening, screening test, self assessment tests, similarity, Step, step 1, step 2 CK, step 3, study, test takers, Today, usmle, usmle world, usmleword, usmleworld assessment tests, valuable tool, World The NBME self assessment test is another of those tools that I feel is responsible for the increasingly high scores in the USMLE. It is a great tool that allows the test-taker to assess his or her readiness for the exam. To a certain extent, if used properly, it is also a useful tool for the examinee to target a certain score, even 99′s and achieve it. Continue reading NBME Self Assessment Tests and USMLE Review 64 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK, USMLE Step 3 AMGs, Bank, correlation, examination, forum, high scores, important concepts, kaplan, nbme, nbme self assessment, pool, predictability, predictor, readiness, review, score, self assessment tests, Step, step 1, study, time constraint, tough questions, usmle, usmle questions, usmle scores, usmle world, World
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