Regarding the PASS program, Advice is appreciated

[eamonmon]

hey every one, I am getting ready to study for Step 1 right now, i only have a couple of months so i need every one's advice on the best way to get ready. I heard that First aid was the way to go So i tried studying that but it was not alone nor i got many questions right when i was doing the Kaplan qbank. So i got the pass program videos from one my friends, I think the person teaching it is F. Aguilar, Any one has any idea if that is any good, and if the notes that go with it are any good. After I finish the Pass I will probably do GOLJAN and first aid after that, Please let me know all your ideas and thoughts, Thanks...

[hunteradam07]

hey every one, I am getting ready to study for Step 1 right now, i only have a couple of months so i need every one's advice on the best way to get ready. I heard that First aid was the way to go So i tried studying that but it was not alone nor i got many questions right when i was doing the Kaplan qbank. So i got the pass program videos from one my friends, I think the person teaching it is F. Aguilar, Any one has any idea if that is any good, and if the notes that go with it are any good. After I finish the Pass I will probably do GOLJAN and first aid after that, Please let me know all your ideas and thoughts, Thanks...
In term of the pass program, there are a lot of wrong concepts for example; the electrolytes concept/ and length vs Resistent (obsese people losing weight example), i didnt know they were wrong until the guy from kaplan videos physio actually told me to my face they are wrong and prove it to me. So be careful with Pass, it's fun to listen yet if you get a wrong concept; In the long run u might not figure out the pathophysio on the real test. I would recommend that you stick with kaplan notes/videos, FA, and UW. That is it. U will get 90% if you do it.

[eamonmon]

Hey man, first of all thanks for your reply, wooooh some body finally replied. The thing that pisses me off about the kaplan physio is that it is too much and you know how first aid is right to the point, and I felt that the pass was on the point more than kaplan. How do you recommend studying UW by the way and the answers to them?

[MDIN2009]

First aid alone will not help you pass the boards...it is just a superficial guide. Like the Index page in a book with some explanations. As a prof explained to me you need to know more than a patient with internet access knows. Anyone can tell you what HTN or DM is now days. But do you know the mechanisms behind the Pathology?

Kaplan is already just the High Yield material...UW is good but you need a strong base before you jump in.


Hey man, first of all thanks for your reply, wooooh some body finally replied. The thing that pisses me off about the kaplan physio is that it is too much and you know how first aid is right to the point, and I felt that the pass was on the point more than kaplan. How do you recommend studying UW by the way and the answers to them?

[Chopdoc]

I passed step 1 in March. I attended the Pass Program.

The brighter students will note certain concepts that are taught at PASS that are simply wrong. True enough. I saw that myself. I was a bit amused to see wide eyed students nodding in understanding.....I was wrong to laugh (inside) at them.

But....and this is a big but.....

Those incorrect concepts will in fact get you points on the USMLE.

The PASS program is about concepts and method, not details and information. Watching the PASS PROGRAM videos is nothing like attending the course.

The course, for those who buy into it (most do), is revolutionary.

Let me tell you a little bout myself. Back in 2000 I graduated with my MD. I failed the USMLE Step 1 twice before graduation. Yes, I did Kaplan. After that, life collapsed for me financially and I ended up working as an executive for 8 years in another field to get my life back together. (don't ask....there's a divorce and more involved)

I was always determined to get back to the USMLE. I enrolled in PASS at the beginning of '08. I spent 9 weeks there. All I could afford. I have a family to support, with a disabled child and my father with Alzheimer's in my home.

I took and passed step 1 in March.

After EIGHT YEARS away from medicine.

I was never the best student, always middle of the pack, until clinicals, where I was always ahead of everybody else. Call it natural inclination.

There is no magic. It ain't etherial mojo either. There is a defined and specific body of information you need to know....and that's all they test you on. Nothing else. And the PASS Program addresses that body of information from the standpoint of nailing 90% of it. The key is that they go at it from the angle that the USMLE does. There are no straightforward questions on Step 1 in my experience.

They do that, and they do it extremely well.

If you want to sit and pick at conceptually incorrect things.....you will miss the whole point....and likely the question on the USMLE even if you know the concept correctly!

Why? Dr. ******* teaches those things the way he does, often knowing it isn't correct, with a purpose. Don't you think that he, surrounded by hundreds....in fact thousands, of highly educated students over the years has had the matters pointed out to him?

OF COURSE he has!

They are memory devices.

Simple.

Nothing more.

And if you can get your mind around that it will get you points on the USMLE. Guaranteed. For certain.

Dr. ******* will know your name. He'll know your situation and issues. He will. He makes sure he knows every student. His pace, and his hours will match your own at least if not more. He really cares personally for you and your progress. And when you sit down with him he will give you direction. Honest and incredibly insightful direction. Follow it.

In addition.....

I went to nursing school before I went to med school, my dad is a retired Anesthesiologist and my brother is a successful practicing specialist. We are all IMGs. So I grew up around this, lived and breathed it all my life. I understand medical practice. So I want to add one thing, consider it however you like....but consider it.

The PASS program actually approaches medical information (questions) in the EXACT same way that you will need to in order to properly practice medicine. That, in fact, is in great part the reason for their success. Why? Because that, believe it or not, is how the USMLE tests. My sincere opinion is that if you take the course with an open mind and heart, and "buy into it", it will make you a better doctor.

I do not believe that Kaplan, or any other course, offers that. But for many people something else, like Kaplan, will fit better....so don't go to pass if you just want to be handed a million pages of information to study and sit through accelerated basic sciences again. Kaplan can do that for you and get you through the exam.....but PASS goes way beyond that.

I'll be ECFMG certified this year, in time for interviews...and yes I will get some. I've been working on that already of course.

And that's all I've got to say about that. :cool:

[gringostudent]

Sweet post. I've been waiting to read something informative like that on the pass program. Good job.

[Chopdoc]

Thanks.

I have been reading around the forums a bit. Funny how the same topics have been so hot for thirty years. ......since my brother did it.

Anyway, I should mention something more.

I have seen it said that there are no PASS program clues, concepts, or buzzwords on the USMLE.

I beg to differ, they are all over it!

If you don't see them, then you didn't "buy into" PASS. Or you didn't "get it".

A clue, concept, or buzzword can be presented in camouflaged form. I admit that although they tell you this at PASS, they don't stress it enough.

From what I have heard from others, many go in very worried about not seeing the concept, clue, or buzz word. That is the poison. If you are expecting not to see them, you are setting yourself up not to.

I am here to testify that those things are not only there, they are there in abundance. And if you train yourself to use them you can answer many, many questions for which you simply DO NOT have factual knowledge about the details.

Consider something.......

Sometimes (how often?), it isn't the review course....it's the test taker. In fact, I would have to say that is almost always the case.....wouldn't you? After all the exam tests the examinees, not the course.

People base the quality of a review course on whether or not they pass? OK....I see why.......

But why don't they consider their own performance in there as well? For gawd sake they have been through at least two years of medical school by that point! Time to wear the big boy pants!

PASS program is great....so is Kaplan. But they are VERY different. If you are a guy that argued a point on a test in biochem....or picked every detail in a course.....PASS might give you problems.

I am not saying details are not important. I know they are. We are all high performance people here doing something difficult on which lives depend, so I won't skirt the idea that there isn't one single detail that's not important.

BUT......

Knowing when and how deatils are important is part of learning this well enough to be a good doctor! And they certainly are not very important on that exam!

You want to be a pathologist or biochemist? Go study those things! But if you wanna be a doctor, they are just one tool, one topic, that ou have to understand in context. That's what PASS program teaches you to do. And they teach you to do it quickly.

If you are "weak" in basic sciences, first really reconsider whether that is true. If after two years of medical school you can say honestly that, you have to really give some thought to what you are doing. I really think VERY FEW are actually "weak" in basic sciences.

BUT. If you admit that you just feel that way.....PASS can be for you.

If you really think you are "weak", and it isn't just how you feel. And you think some "semi-celebrity" lecturer" can teach you two years of medical school in a matter of days......hey....go for it.

The way I hear it, a lot of the schools have Kaplan on campus now. Good for them. Use it. Good review.

PASS isn't a "review" course. It's a different animal.....and better IMHO....but only if one "buys into it" and is really "on board".


Peace-