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Pathoma is the new goljan

17K views 35 replies 19 participants last post by  Barıs Olten 
#1 ·
Hey guys i recently gave my exam and got a score of 258 :)

I dont want to bore everybody by writing a huge post of my whole preparation and stuff , but since this forum has been such a huge help to me so i wanted to chip in with a little help regarding a problem which lots and lots of STEP 1 students face and that is

WHERE SHOULD I DO PATHOLOGY FROM?

i had the very same question i had in mind when i started my prep and never got a satisfactory answer

Pathology of kaplan was too random with scattered knowledge and worst lectures in which they just merely read the slides

Goljan book was so huge that even the sight of it gave me headaches and i never felt i could learn from that bullet style of presentation of knowledge without reinforcing what is important what is not. Its lectures although helpful but still were very old and with very little content compared to what is required

Then finally i came across Pathoma , it was like a glass of fresh water for a guy in desert ;) , at first i thought it didn't covered much in detail but the more i listened to Dr.Sattar's lectures and the more i read it the more i loved how he takes you from scratch and builds up your knowledge foundation. I am not saying it covers everything , it doesn't , but the things not covered by it are the ones you will learn from uworld. This book gives you perfect foundation in very very very little time to start with uworld which will reinforce your concepts and also do make sure you annotate and add all the extra knowledge from uworld in this book . Trust me you wont be disappointed by this pathoma/uworld combination.

I had a star in Pathology in both my NBME's (13/15) and also in the real exam. Also i had stars in almost all of my systems.

I am just posting this to help those who are in dilemma about pathology , because i know i was once too, badly !
 
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#2 ·
First congrates for the score..

My exam in dec end and i studied patho from goljan almost 2 3 months back and that was quick read....now can i study pathoma??how much time will it take??
secondly hw was patho qs in exam??like were they asking pathological process identification based on slides finding?r on epidemiology of disease etc...asking becoz wat one should focus while doing path..
and also hw much were frm basic path??
thanx
 
#3 ·
Thankyou :)

First Goljan is a great book , I am not saying its not a good book . If you feel confident about your prep then you should not change the book at this moment of your study. But if you feel very much lacking in your knowledge then you should listen to pathoma lectures which you can do in around 10 days and go through its book. Pathology is highly tested specially alot of pictures based questions. I would highly recommend to only sit in exam after you feel you have command over this subject.
 
#4 ·
goljan

hi , congrats u again.. infact u r raising a very imp issue as Patho is d most imp subj of concern in step 1..goljan..wen I started prep nd also last few years, I knew everyone recommending goljan ..I did not hear of pathoma ..so I stick on goljan..now i'm on my 2nd some chapters 3rd read goljan nd frankly i'm so afraid of d book, it is though wonderful but so much full of informations I cannot remember, many chapters seem like I never readHappy-2 ...my exam in 31st jan but guess I may not b ready by then nd need to postpone , is it wise now to try Pathoma and if so, how ?? wat u suggest ?? I want to have complete command on patho before taking this exam.
btw, awesome score u have !!! all d best !
 
#6 ·
hi , congrats u again.. infact u r raising a very imp issue as Patho is d most imp subj of concern in step 1..goljan..wen I started prep nd also last few years, I knew everyone recommending goljan ..I did not hear of pathoma ..so I stick on goljan..now i'm on my 2nd some chapters 3rd read goljan nd frankly i'm so afraid of d book, it is though wonderful but so much full of informations I cannot remember, many chapters seem like I never readHappy-2 ...my exam in 31st jan but guess I may not b ready by then nd need to postpone , is it wise now to try Pathoma and if so, how ?? wat u suggest ?? I want to have complete command on patho before taking this exam.
btw, awesome score u have !!! all d best !
Exactly , i was also told about goljan again and again , even alot of my seniours told me that its not possible to get 245+ without goljan at all. But i never was able to read even one chapter of that book. There is just toooo much knowledge in goljan which in all fairness you don't really need for the exam. Pathoma is concise , its to the point. Covers almost 85-90 percent of the topics and points in almost 1/3 rd the time compared to Goljan and the rest of the gaps are filled in beautifully by Uworld. if somebody wants to supplement a little he can go through the goljan audios . They can serve as a quick review and a taste of goljan without the hassle of going through the BULKY Goljan book. That being said i am not discouraging people from studying Goljan , those who can they should , Its a great book . I am just here to help blowoff this MISCONCEPTION that Goljan is absolutely necessary to get great scores.
As for you i would still say that in the last 1 month you should never change the books , since you have around 80 days still to go , going through pathoma lectures and book in 10 days wont harm you . If you are feeling confident about patho then its all good and just stick to the RR Goljan.
 
#7 ·
firstly many many congratulations on getting a great score

im starting my prep again, should i be starting with pathoma + UW and then gradually other subjects.. what do u recommend? ?

Goodluck to u
NO you should not start uworld before your second read. First read should be all about getting done with lectures/books first to get baseline concepts of all the subjects
 
#25 ·
My performance in Pathology in NBME 15 and the Real exam . And i just studied Pathoma with uWorld.
can u please mention ,I have only Kaplan lecture notes and vedeos and usmle world...off line version...if I add web patology too...is that enough..means good source for exam....or pathoma is a must...does it exists in ebook form...or any pdf version of pathoma...
 
#10 ·
what about microbiology? can kaplan be skipped in favor of MRS and is there a need for a pathology atlas kind of thing?
Kaplan micro is useless , last time i went through it was 4 months before my exam n i ditched it. FA+UWORLD covers 95% of questions you will encounter. But make sure you do it cold..

Pathoma has alooot of pictures and if you want to augment it you can go through webpath . My exam had alooot of pictures
 
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#12 ·
Thank u rizwan bhai for ur response:cool:
I think its time for full fledge prep guide.
Thanks
Ali Akhtar Tirmizi
Hey its nice to see you here bro :) , There is alot of prep guides on this forum you could lay your hands on ;) , But the most important part of your study is uworld :)
 
#13 ·
Hey truepassion, I've already gone over the Pathoma videos a while ago and they were super helpful because they took my pathology from horrible to decent. Now, Im glad I made progress but I don't wanna go into the exam with "decent" pathology. I want my pathology to be superb! I have about 22 days before my exam, So I cant really rewatch the videos again (because I wanna go through high yield neuro before my exam) so do you think if I go over the Pathoma book without the videos it would be helpful?
 
#14 ·
I personally think the step from Decent >>> Superb is taken through uworld pathology questions and by reading and learning them really good. I am personally against reading any new material in the last month before exam but i think since uve been gone through the lectures before so i think it might help you . Best of luck :)
 
#17 ·
congrats on great score ...
I'm about starting my prep ...

1-How was ur basic before step 1?I mean did u watch kaplan videos and helped u bcz my basic is weak & I'm afraid those videos won't do the job ?did u use dr.najeeb videos?

2- what sequence did u use in subjects ?

3- what do u recommend about CTs ,MRIs?

4- I don't know when I should to start registration process (paying $ ,choose eligibility period ) now or after 1st read ?



sorry for those long Qs and best of luck on ur CK :)
 
#19 ·
congrats on great score ...
I'm about starting my prep ...

1-How was ur basic before step 1?I mean did u watch kaplan videos and helped u bcz my basic is weak & I'm afraid those videos won't do the job ?did u use dr.najeeb videos?

2- what sequence did u use in subjects ?

3- what do u recommend about CTs ,MRIs?

4- I don't know when I should to start registration process (paying $ ,choose eligibility period ) now or after 1st read ?

sorry for those long Qs and best of luck on ur CK :)
Thanks alot :)
Ok in all honesty i am a very average student of my class , so i had a poor basic concepts of most of subjects , that is the reason i did uworld in subjectwise mode in my second read. Pathoma is way better than kaplan for those people having a poor base.You can always add any other source later on if you feel like it , but i would recommend to give an honest effort to really try to learn from pathoma lectures first and i am sure you wont be needing any other source , & NO , dr.najeeb videos are like waaaay too detailed , i listened to one or two of his lectures and always felt that it was an overkill and it would take a long long time to even end it.

2- Sequence doesn't matters much in first read , i picked every subject randomly

3- At this point of time you shouldn't worry much about CT/MRIs , they are really very minor part of your exam

4- Just make an ecfmg account but don't apply for step 1 eligibility period too early because no matter how much you study you wont be sure right now how long it is going to take you and you might not be able to take exam within your eligibility period (even after extension ) and your money might go wasted , i know alot of people who had such experiences. So don't start this process before 2nd read or more precisely at least 4 months before exam but not more earlier then that
 
#20 ·
@truepassion: thank you very much for your post, I really appreciate it.
Would you suggest getting pathoma for 3 months or one year? There is not much difference in price, so maybe just to be sure I am thinking get one year? Would be interested to hear your take on this, and also everyone else's.
 
#21 ·
I think that totally depends on your way of studying and how slow/fast you are . If you are just starting your prep then you can go with the year , otherwise if you are midway then 3 months would suffice. Just be sure to learn it in full detail and listen to it , read the book , revise it , absorb the concepts and then retain them by doing as many questions as you can. Your interest in learning and how you make good use of it will decide how you score in exam :) Best of luck
 
#29 ·
Other study material

I think Pathoma is very very good. I wanted to know if anyone has tried Picmonic. For people who are visual learners its really good! Covers all of the micro from First Aid and has TONS of pharmacology and pathology. Visual representations for everything to help you remember important details and relationships.

www.picmonic.com
Try the free trial.
 
#30 ·
HELP

i have my exam in may and my performance is very bad :( i am done with 60% uworld . completed my first reading. i did uworld blocks simultaneously with my first reading! and now when i take blocks i score in 42 - 48% range. took nbme 6 for fun to see where i stand. and i failed:( i dont know whats wrong and how should i study. i did pathoma for pathology and now planning to hear goljan audios. is that a right decision?? how do i improve my score????
 
#31 ·
Pathoma account for sale, Expires April 29 2014

Hi guys,
I just took my Step 1 and still have Pathoma valid till April 29th.
Selling the rest of my Pathoma subscription for $50.
Let me know if you're interested. Pay using paypal.
Thanks!

Also selling Pathoma textbook for $10. Excellent condition!
 
#32 ·
I read pathoma countless times and watched his videos twice. I was getting very bad scores in uworld pathology. 15 days ago ı started goljan and i am now having better scores. I am now pretty sure that goljan is much more better source for pathology. There is no comparison for me. İn addition to that ı found kaplan patho book ( Not videos) better than pathoma book too although most of my friends contradict me Happy-2
 
#33 ·
Hi

Barıs Olten;344505 said:
I read pathoma countless times and watched his videos twice. I was getting very bad scores in uworld pathology. 15 days ago ı started goljan and i am now having better scores. I am now pretty sure that goljan is much more better source for pathology. There is no comparison for me. İn addition to that ı found kaplan patho book ( Not videos) better than pathoma book too although most of my friends contradict me Happy-2
Hi. I think UWorld performance shouldn't be taken for evaluating your studying. TRUEPASSION20 said several times: UWorld is used as learning tool. Don't get upset if you answer wrong, even if 80% answered it correctly! Just scroll down and add your notes to Pathoma! If you want to assess your preparation, take NBME. Many guys who had good scores recommend Pathoma+UW!
 
#36 ·
Hi. I think UWorld performance shouldn't be taken for evaluating your studying. TRUEPASSION20 said several times: UWorld is used as learning tool. Don't get upset if you answer wrong, even if 80% answered it correctly! Just scroll down and add your notes to Pathoma! If you want to assess your preparation, take NBME. Many guys who had good scores recommend Pathoma+UW!
I am actually in 85th percentile almost every subject except pathology and pathophysiology . This makes me upset bc ı used most trusted source for them. It should be my best subject considering the fact that i almost spent half of my time for them. I am kind of confused tho.
 
#34 ·
UWorld

I will quote this useful post from truepassion20. ;)

Uworld is for learning , PERIOD.

If you are doing uworld to test yourself and not learning from the explanations properly , YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

If you are rushing through uworld quickly thinking that you already know this stuff from books , YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

If you feel like you are doing more questions per day than you can easily read explanations and learn from them and anotate/make notes of them , YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

If you are worrying more about uworld cumulative as compared to worrying about whether you know everything you see in uworld or not and learning what you dont know , YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG

If you are trying to estimate your step 1 score from uworld cumulative instead of NBMEs , YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG
 
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