Junito
02-10-2006, 09:40 AM
Some people have asked how I managed to study for the boards while taking ICM in Maine, and here is what I did.
1- Mental prep: I saw the board exam as any other obstacle I have encountered before and dealt with. I viewed the exam as something that could be done, in other words I prepared myself mentally and did not panick. I found that when I worried it distracted me from concentrating.
2- I then developed a routine and stuck to it. The routine took me about a month to develop. Trial and error. I tried all the books. In the end I stuck to reading all the HY first. Once I reviewed all the subjects via HY, I then switched to another review mode.
3- I used the Pass videos, along with the book from pass that has the funny pictures, and their ppt presentation. The Pass videos were awesome because the guy integrates everything, and while I was studying all the subjects separately, my thinking was still fragmented. The videos help me integrate all that I learned. So everyday I would watch 2 1/2 hours (150 minutes) of the videos.
After a while I knew Jesus and Tina (actual students in the video). I was like "come on Jesus, you have to know that one". My wife caught me one time talking to the video, thought I was losing it (maybe I was). I was able to beat Tina at times for the answer and really got into it.
4- I then incorporated Goljan. I would first read a chapter and then listen to the corresponding lecture. At most I would listen to 2 hours of goljan lectures. I broke up the longer sections and coordinated their readings to follow those sections that did not have any audio corresponding with them.
5- Planning: I would make sure if I was going to cover the kidney, that both my goljan review and Pass review were on the kidney.
6- Questions: During Icm I did the IV qbank that covered the system of the week along with the Pretest book called "Integrated basic sciences". It follow the systems based approach, and made easier to incorporate it into my study for ICM & the boards.
7- After ICM was over I was able to begin hard core studying for the boards, since I already had my routine started. I finished ICM on Dec 9th. I took a week off to spend time with friends and family then got back to studying. No time was wasted. I was actually ready by the beginning of Jan, but there were blackout dates for when I could take the step. The earliest was Jan 16th, but that meant I would have to fly out to Indiana. I opted to wait till Jan 18 and take it in NYC instead. The rumor by the way that taking the exam at a remote location (some small town) proved to be false. I know two people who tried it...It didn't work.
8- Qbank: During ICM I managed to do 25 questions a day. After ICM I jumped to 50. A week before the exam I would do 100 a day. I did the regular qbank, not the IV. At first I did the IV qbank, but after taking the NBME self assessment, I saw that it was junk, and abandoned it completely in mid October.
9- Once I had my routine established, and relocated to NYC I encountered a problem...Noise! My neighbors & the city are very noisy. I didn't want to waste time commuting back and forth between my apartment and a college, so I studied later in the day...I would begin my studies after 6pm (would listen to all the audio first) and would study as much as I could to 5am. I must admit it took a while before I was able to fly through it all. I kid you not there was an intensive two week period that I did not even see the sun (I never went outside during that time).
10- Assessment: THIS IS KEY!!!! I started to assess my performance during ICM. I took the first NBME self assessment in October. November we had the Comp shelf, and December we had the Kaplan Mock Step 1. Info from all these were used to gauge my performance. I then took two more NBME self assessments before the test (in January). Passing these exams gave me a boost of confidence.
11- I got my eyes used to looking at a computer screen for hours. After getting used to sitting down and answering 50 questions back to back, watching videos, reviewing ppts, etc...When I took the exam it was a piece of cake. I was not phased at all sitting down for 7 hours infront of a computer.
12- I made sure not to drink red bulls while I prepared for the step. That way on the day of the exam, I would definitely feel their effects. I don't know about others, after a while they don't work anymore on me. I took a bag of skittles and three red bulls to the test center with me. During the break I took some skittles and drank some red bull. I was alert. My problem during the exam was that the temperature in the room I was taking the test was unbearable. If it weren't for the red bull I would have been out (sleeping). I complained and it took three hours for the place to finally be comfortable. I was nearly done already.
So this is the bulk of what I did. Hope this helps. Take care and crush the step.
1- Mental prep: I saw the board exam as any other obstacle I have encountered before and dealt with. I viewed the exam as something that could be done, in other words I prepared myself mentally and did not panick. I found that when I worried it distracted me from concentrating.
2- I then developed a routine and stuck to it. The routine took me about a month to develop. Trial and error. I tried all the books. In the end I stuck to reading all the HY first. Once I reviewed all the subjects via HY, I then switched to another review mode.
3- I used the Pass videos, along with the book from pass that has the funny pictures, and their ppt presentation. The Pass videos were awesome because the guy integrates everything, and while I was studying all the subjects separately, my thinking was still fragmented. The videos help me integrate all that I learned. So everyday I would watch 2 1/2 hours (150 minutes) of the videos.
After a while I knew Jesus and Tina (actual students in the video). I was like "come on Jesus, you have to know that one". My wife caught me one time talking to the video, thought I was losing it (maybe I was). I was able to beat Tina at times for the answer and really got into it.
4- I then incorporated Goljan. I would first read a chapter and then listen to the corresponding lecture. At most I would listen to 2 hours of goljan lectures. I broke up the longer sections and coordinated their readings to follow those sections that did not have any audio corresponding with them.
5- Planning: I would make sure if I was going to cover the kidney, that both my goljan review and Pass review were on the kidney.
6- Questions: During Icm I did the IV qbank that covered the system of the week along with the Pretest book called "Integrated basic sciences". It follow the systems based approach, and made easier to incorporate it into my study for ICM & the boards.
7- After ICM was over I was able to begin hard core studying for the boards, since I already had my routine started. I finished ICM on Dec 9th. I took a week off to spend time with friends and family then got back to studying. No time was wasted. I was actually ready by the beginning of Jan, but there were blackout dates for when I could take the step. The earliest was Jan 16th, but that meant I would have to fly out to Indiana. I opted to wait till Jan 18 and take it in NYC instead. The rumor by the way that taking the exam at a remote location (some small town) proved to be false. I know two people who tried it...It didn't work.
8- Qbank: During ICM I managed to do 25 questions a day. After ICM I jumped to 50. A week before the exam I would do 100 a day. I did the regular qbank, not the IV. At first I did the IV qbank, but after taking the NBME self assessment, I saw that it was junk, and abandoned it completely in mid October.
9- Once I had my routine established, and relocated to NYC I encountered a problem...Noise! My neighbors & the city are very noisy. I didn't want to waste time commuting back and forth between my apartment and a college, so I studied later in the day...I would begin my studies after 6pm (would listen to all the audio first) and would study as much as I could to 5am. I must admit it took a while before I was able to fly through it all. I kid you not there was an intensive two week period that I did not even see the sun (I never went outside during that time).
10- Assessment: THIS IS KEY!!!! I started to assess my performance during ICM. I took the first NBME self assessment in October. November we had the Comp shelf, and December we had the Kaplan Mock Step 1. Info from all these were used to gauge my performance. I then took two more NBME self assessments before the test (in January). Passing these exams gave me a boost of confidence.
11- I got my eyes used to looking at a computer screen for hours. After getting used to sitting down and answering 50 questions back to back, watching videos, reviewing ppts, etc...When I took the exam it was a piece of cake. I was not phased at all sitting down for 7 hours infront of a computer.
12- I made sure not to drink red bulls while I prepared for the step. That way on the day of the exam, I would definitely feel their effects. I don't know about others, after a while they don't work anymore on me. I took a bag of skittles and three red bulls to the test center with me. During the break I took some skittles and drank some red bull. I was alert. My problem during the exam was that the temperature in the room I was taking the test was unbearable. If it weren't for the red bull I would have been out (sleeping). I complained and it took three hours for the place to finally be comfortable. I was nearly done already.
So this is the bulk of what I did. Hope this helps. Take care and crush the step.