In need of advice for 4th term

[platinumxx80]

Im about to start 4th term in a matter of days. I was wondering if former 4th termer can give some advice on how to approach path, micro and the other lil things of 4th term. Thanx

[rsgillmd]

Depends on how you study. For path, you'll be in groups that'll meet everyday to go over slides -- at least that's the way it was with us. Our group contained people with clinical backgrounds -- mainly experienced EMTs -- because you get to choose your own groups. So we went beyond just the path and would often get into the Pathophys aspects of it.

The main thing is to understand what makes each slide unique, and the details of the underlying disorder. The slides on the exam are usually easy to recognize, but the questions ask you about the disease.

Micro, I'll leave for someone else. I was not a big fan of the class. I feel as if I basically taught Micro to myself. Lots of nit-picky details. Hopefully it's better by now.

Ravpreet

[Hburg]

The one thing that really helped me out 4th term is my path group's method for presenting slides. It saved us a ton of time in the long run and made studying easier. At the beggining of each module your group will get slides assigned to it. We divided up the slides amongst our members. From there each person would write up a detailed summary of the slide itself and relevant pathology and clinical aspects. We typed up the slide presentations and gave them out at the start of lab. This made lab go very quickly. Other groups who did not do this took forever because everyone was trying to take down notes on each slide as it was being presented. Also when it comes down to test time you have a whole binder with all the slides in there in an organized fashion. This is what worked for us. We took about half the time other groups did in lab and in fact got in trouble because we kept leaving so early. This is what worked for my group. Ultimately the best advice for fourth term is find what works for you. It may take a few weeks but once you find it stick to your plan and forget what others do.