Path I: read the book or what?

[link626]

Path I seems to be a mess so far, with messed up handouts, and subpar lectures.

the big potbellied white-bearded teacher seems to imply that we should read Robbins to succeed on the exams. for those who have taken this class already, do you agree?

or is it better to just stick to BRS, powerpoint slides, and Robbins review book, and skip some lectures.... I'll tell you... these powerpoint handouts are almost useless. The ink is faded, and you can't see the diagrams in the tiny boxes. I feel my time is wasted sitting in class.
Plus, the teacher is not very punctual about putting his slides on the G drive.

[Havelock]

You got to think longterm, USMLE is mostly pathology, so at least skim through Robbins picking up important points potbellied man leaves out. You definitely dont need to read Robbins for his sections of the exam.

[FoxTrot]

I tried to read Robbins throughout 3rd consistently and did just average in the class. In 4th, I never read it at all and used Goljan pathology review book, BRS Pathology and went to class everyday and took good notes and made a high A in the class. With that method in 4th, I was able to go over my notes at least 3 or 4 times while in 3rd when I tried to read the book, I'd only have time to go over it once, maybe twice at the most.

It's just too much to read and even if you do keep up with the reading, by the time the exam comes around you wont even remember 75% of what you read, plus you'll probably fall behind in some other class doing so. So it's better to just use the text as a reference only and not as a main source of study. I bet you'll do better. The mini questions are generally fairly straight forward questions that asks mainly the important concepts and not the tiny details the book covers.

You'll eventually find the method of study that fits you best.


Path I seems to be a mess so far, with messed up handouts, and subpar lectures.

the big potbellied white-bearded teacher seems to imply that we should read Robbins to succeed on the exams. for those who have taken this class already, do you agree?

or is it better to just stick to <A HREF=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=valuetheplace-20&keyword=Board%20Review%20Series&mode=books>BRS</A>, powerpoint slides, and Robbins review book, and skip some lectures.... I'll tell you... these powerpoint handouts are almost useless. The ink is faded, and you can't see the diagrams in the tiny boxes. I feel my time is wasted sitting in class.
Plus, the teacher is not very punctual about putting his slides on the G drive.

[link626]

good insight Foxtrot.

i have also heard about students in the US who don't touch Robbins either, and manage to do well. Honestly, I'd rather not touch textbooks at all. I'm a review-book type of person. But in this case, I had to ask, as i didn't know what to expect.

[awdc]

Third semester, I didn't read Robbins that much but I probably would have liked reading the Robbins pocketbook. In fourth semester, I enjoyed reading Robbins but it can be tough to get through. The Robbins Review is great and if anything, definitely use that as a study aide. The questions can be tough but they're the kind of things you need to know for Step I. BRS was good, too... I used it as a preview to any chapter I thought was overwhelming and as a review before the exams. Btw, I aced both path I and II. Definitely do what's been working for you, though. And the above poster was right, even in U.S. schools some students choose not to read Robbins (based on friends and roommates who are in U.S. schools). I personally could not learn off the handouts in path very well; kudos to those who can.

[RossMD2006]

If you are going to read any Path book I would suggest reading the Goljan book. I wouldn't suggest you read the big Robbins unless you are a Path resident. Too much info, too little time.

BRS Path is a recommended book for Step 1. Be sure to understand the how and why of things of all things Path. This will help you immensely for Step 1. Do questions. The Review of Pathology book is supposedly a great resource.

Step 1 will take that Path and integrate it with everything you learned thus far.

Good Luck!

[Diegodoc]

Transcribed notes and path secrets was all i used. BRS is not enough to cover his exams. If you don't have transcribed notes get them from a 4th semester. Also do all the questions in the robbins review book as well as the exams on webpath. He tends to repeat questions verbatim from those sources. Good luck.

M

[Cuando2]

There are people practicing pathology that havent even read that book. the professors will tell you anything while you're in class to get people scared and studying. but some do this wrongly. robbins, like any book of that size with text so small, is a reference book. its not really meant to be read straight thru. its obvious, judging from its size. no matter where you learn the concepts, whether its from Robbins or from Pokemon book of Pathology, the concepts are the SAME and can be applied to anything. Dont believe people when they tell you review books are bad. as long as you follow up on things in robbins that are not clear to you in review books, you will be fine. Good luck.