path

[ndndevil2x]

Whats up the GIT packet? that packet contains 10% of the objective...its crazy!
i think, dr. B thinks we have JUST path and so much free time!!

[Saora1]

Free time = not going to class.

I thought the VP kind of sucked. Went Mon and Tues and then wrote him off.

Actually, not going to class didn't cut it either. This was a rough week getting back into the groove of things for me. My mind wasn't very focused.

[ndndevil2x]

ya i dont' go to class either. not even for micro. but i just feel so overwhelmed with everything.
i tired to read the chapters in the book, got throught it once, i tried to answere the objectives, but i felt like i was retypng teh entire Robbins. so i gave that up.

i just feel like i am not going to remember all this stuff in 4 weeks when we have our 2nd exam!!!

[Silenthunder]

If you thought GI blew, get ready for CVS.

the VP teaches it like a seminar. He rarely hits the objectives, and goes on about things like replacement heart valves (which I admit are really cool - but not something we'll be directly tested on)

something similar is going to happen for respiratory (if the same VP comes back)

the hematopoiesis person last term was great. She covered just about all the objectives - hopefully they get her to come back.

infant was insane last term. objectives were changed twice for it.

bear down and make Robbins yer best friend,
(personally : I have a love/hate relationship with it :) )

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[Sam2004]

Whats up the GIT packet? that packet contains 10% of the objective...its crazy!
i think, dr. B thinks we have JUST path and so much free time!!

That's not the only thing that bothers me. I really don't like having a new prof every week for Path. You just can't get into a groove and you are continuously having to adapt to a new style of teaching and a new set of notes.

[ndndevil2x]

If you thought GI blew, get ready for CVS.

the VP teaches it like a seminar. He rarely hits the objectives, and goes on about things like replacement heart valves (which I admit are really cool - but not something we'll be directly tested on)

Silenthunder


thats wonderful!
i am sure bush is plannin' on giving us a 48hr day for all this work! 24hrs isn't cutting it.. he's gotta!

[daguru]

oooh....wait for cardio.....oh man....if you think its bad now....

[daguru]

oh, i should leave something helpful here too besides dire messages.

it sucks. it really really sucks. but i dont know what Dr. B. does, but the class sucks, and yet you learn so much.

You might not actually THINK you are learning anything....but you are. So, take heart, as long as you get through 4th term, you will be ok...



This is why you always saw 4th termers walking around all stressed out, never out to the parties, and always in the library or path lab. welcome to 4th term!

[emt036]

oh, i should leave something helpful here too besides dire messages.

it sucks. it really really sucks. but i dont know what Dr. B. does, but the class sucks, and yet you learn so much.

You might not actually THINK you are learning anything....but you are. So, take heart, as long as you get through 4th term, you will be ok...



This is why you always saw 4th termers walking around all stressed out, never out to the parties, and always in the library or path lab. welcome to 4th term!
True - you will actually learn something. Come to think of it, all the questions I get right in Pathophys I learned in Path. :-)

[sgutexan]

i took path 2 terms ago. i too, didnt like the profs and since the lecturers dont make their own q's like in vinnies, i didnt go to class. the q's stay the same whether the visiting profs cover the material or not. its all in robbins. robbins should be your best friend. skip class and read it, then highlight it and then make your own notes. trust me if you do it right the first time it makes it easy to make a high A in path and pathophys, but ultimately it makes all the difference for the USMLE.

[AKdoc]

cardio prof for path is horrible. don't waste your time in class.

[Saora1]

It's probably true but will make my own decision as always. I try to go to the first couple lectures to see if the person's style works for me. If not, I skip and study on my own.

Again, probably is, but just to check if it's the same person - is their name/initials Dr. J. [first] B. [last]??

And thanks for the tips. It's good to know that we are, indeed, going to be prepared for later.

[tralfaz]

Yep, I just looked at the bloated cvs packet. That plus the 50 slides in 3 days is going make this week just fly by:shock: . About 11 weeks of torture left.
While I am at it, a few questions:
- What exactly is it that makes the second test so hard -- do they use different slides, emphasize different points...etc? Everyone is always vague about it. I thought the first exam was really no different from other exams we have had so far. Any thoughts on that.
-Also, do they pick the people who will do cpc's that very day, or do you get advance notice?

[emt036]

For me, what made the 2nd exam more difficult was having the hardest section (hemat) the last section right before the exam. Also the wealth of material in CV and GI. And the stupid questions, like with an EF of 17% what is the 1-yr mortality? 70%, 80%, 90%? Or was that Pathophys? Either way it annoyed me - the guy is going to die soon.

And for CPC's - they pick the lucky person out of an envelope at the beginning of the session - no advanced notice. If you are not there when your name is called then Dr. B sends a letter to the Dean for inclusion in your record on how bad a of a medical student you are. That's how they make sure people actually show up to these things.

[ndndevil2x]

Dr. B didn't do anything directly, but since he is the course director i just blame it all on him.

[kingalls]

I can't remember how much our class average dropped from first to second exam, but it was a pretty substantial amount. 5-10% I think. First test is for general concepts and to hand out points. Second test is a chance to take some of those points away.

[Toddaa1]

I can't remember how much our class average dropped from first to second exam, but it was a pretty substantial amount. 5-10% I think. First test is for general concepts and to hand out points. Second test is a chance to take some of those points away.

The first path exam was a joke. there is a reason they give u 27 bonus points in the course, you will find out why on exam 2. Im pretty sure the drop in average was 10% or higher.

You do learn alot of stuff that term, but you will find it is what u read on your own in robbins.

As for skipping class, we once had this incident where we had a lousy VP and no one showed up for class (well maybe 25% of the class showed up) and then Dr B decides to have clinical tutors guard the doors and take attendance. and said that anyone who didnt sign would lose all there bonus points. (In the end enough people made a stink about it and we didnt lose them).

-T-

[stephew]

learn your cvs WELL. its on the boards and wards. you'll need it and dont let this section slide.

[kingalls]

Oh whatever. CVS is one of those things that you talk about in med school but will never see in real life. GI too.

[rokshana]

Oh whatever. CVS is one of those things that you talk about in med school but will never see in real life. GI too.

basics science years isn't about the real world - its about USMLE world and you WILL see them both there(esp that GI!!).
But Dr. J. B****y is NOT the way to get the info!! He was horrible and if I had to listen to him talk about his wife and his girlfriend one more time....a little pervy if you ask me(I was I admit a little offended by his behavior -and it takes a lot to offend me!!).

[kingalls]

haha I was kind of kidding with the 'not seeing the CVS or GI in real life' comment. Bad jokes are just another way to avoid studying for the BSCE 2. My brain checked out about 4 hours ago.

[tralfaz]

The notes on the subject are the absolute worst I have ever encountered (and I've seen some pretty bad ones). It's just maddening trying to go over them. It would be better if they just assigned pages in robbins and left it at that. Arrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!!

[ndndevil2x]

Do you guys think that the 2nd exam will be much harder than the 1st?

i was talking to bunch of people that droppped/repeating path, they said that our 1st exam was soo much more harder than last term. So i was hoping that they would keep it at the same difficulty level for the next two exams.....

wishful thinking?

[bruwn2004]

the second path exam is about ten times harder then the first. The 2nd exam is probably one of the hardest exams you will ever take at SGU. even if your first exam was more difficult than last term's, i doubt dr B. will make your second exam any easier. its mean to say but if you had trouble with the first exam, youre gonna have a hell of a time passing the second one.

get ready for new slides you have never seen before and 3rd order questions. study hard and good luck.

[kingalls]

I took it last term but if I had to guess I'd say no such luck. The first test is all introductory stuff - the basics. Things like hematology suck regardless of how they test it. My guess is that the tests are pretty similar difficulty-wise from term to term as well. What was the class average on the 1st? It's the same profs every term though teaching the same material though, so I'm not sure how different it could really be. And no offense meant but a person retaking path may not be the best source, especially if they had trouble the first time. Path just sucks. It sucked last term, and it will still suck a year from now. You learn a ton though and the material can be very interesting, almost nobody fails, so you'll make it through just fine.

[ndndevil2x]

Dr. B said that our class average for the 1st exam was almost 85% (with 9 bonus ponts) and it was same as the term before.
BUT, i heard that last term's class avg as 91% and dr. B was just **-ing about the avg being the same as last term...

[AKdoc]

Dr. B... **-ing? no way (note: sarcasm)......

I think that sounds about right though.....86% avg last term on the first exam......

[kingalls]

Yeah and any way you shake it down the vast majority of the class will end up with A's and B's. The work is a pain, but the grades usually end up nice.

[kidsdocorbust]

Hey all, I don't usually post too much here, but after reading this thread I felt compelled to... yes, the second Path exam is more difficult, but as someone had mentioned before, it's because for the second exam you aren't tested on the general, foundation topics, but on all the specifics of all the diseases you've learned. But it's NOT impossible! As someone who kind of struggled through 2nd term, trying to DES 1st term classes as well as balance Physio, Neuro, and that fun self-teach class we all know as Immuno... my 2nd term grades were NOT impressive at all. But in 4th term, I focused on making my study time as efficient as possible and really tried to LEARN (and, let's face it, memorize as much as humanly possible) the loads of material thrown at us in Path. My mantra has always been to really learn this stuff for future retention (ie, keeping my eye on the prize of a good grade on Step 1). And you know what? Not only did I rock Path AND Micro, I'm doing pretty well here in Vinnie's with much less effort than I put into 4th term. Plus I wasn't even a huge hermit during 4th term - I worked out plenty, went out when I could, and spent a decent about of time on the beach.

So as for the second exam, yes, my grade dipped slightly from the first exam, but I was prepared for it and did very well on the 1st and 3rd exams. After the 2nd exam, you kind of realize how they test you on the specifics of different diseases, and if you work hard, you are definitely prepared for the 3rd exam. The moral of my post is, despite what people may say here, getting a strong A in Path is definitely doable - if I can do it, you all can too. And you leave Grenada realizing that despite bad VPs, Dr. B being set in his ways, and feeling like you spend WAY too much time with your Path group, this will be one of the most valuable (and for me, one of my favorite) classes you take at SGU. Good luck!

PS - S******'s audio reviews don't hurt either. :D

[kidsdocorbust]

PPS - I didn't even realize that my prior post illustrates what kingalls said - that the vast majority of the class will end up with As and **, so despite what it seems like sometimes, the Path Dept. is NOT out to get you :)

[Silenthunder]

PPS - the Path Dept. is NOT out to get you :)

You LIE!!!! (just kidding :) :) :)

that being said - the disorganization in path sometimes drives me nuts. The lung packet for next week wasn't handed out, and the CPC for next week still isn't online....

I remember last term when we got one of the CPC's late on a tuesday and it was due on thursday.

happy (chocolate!!) easter everyone,

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[seagoddess]

the GI packet is big but learn the big picture. what i did for that packet is to make condensed notes and only read them right before the exam. GI lecturer my term wasn't bad. cardio really really sucked.

path is a great course and if you learn it once you won't have to study as hard for pathophys in vinnies. and the same material in the boards.

[tralfaz]

Neither lung nor the cpc is still availible:confused:
It doesn't help that we have a clinical skills quiz this week (or is it next week?).

[emt036]

Neither lung nor the cpc is still availible:confused:
It doesn't help that we have a clinical skills quiz this week (or is it next week?).
We always got our CPC's like 2 days beforehand. And don't worry about the PD lab quiz -- everyone gets an A on it if you attended the practical sessions. The written exams is where they screw you.

[Saora1]

We always got our CPC's like 2 days beforehand. And don't worry about the PD lab quiz -- everyone gets an A on it if you attended the practical sessions.

Yeah, so far they've seemed easy enough.

The written exams is where they screw you.

That's what I've heard. Based on the 5 MC questions they've been giving us after each lab session, I can easily believe that.

Where the hell do they get those Qs? I haven't even heard of some of the crap they have as options for the answers...

[tralfaz]

We always got our CPC's like 2 days beforehand. And don't worry about the PD lab quiz -- everyone gets an A on it if you attended the practical sessions. The written exams is where they screw you.


Well at least we get a whole weekend to study for that one.
It's the 2nd path exam that's making me worry with all of the rumors I hear.
Best not to pay attention to them, but it is human nature I guess.

[emt036]

Well at least we get a whole weekend to study for that one.
It's the 2nd path exam that's making me worry with all of the rumors I hear.
Best not to pay attention to them, but it is human nature I guess.
Actually, I was talking about ACS, but sure you can apply that to path too... But seriously, don't worry too much, most people do decently.