[MedicalDR14]

Hi all here

After I did gather many info from here and everywhere. I decided to start my path to residency and here I will post my experience with you step by step.

So I am aiming to take exam at may 2011 so that gives me 7 month..

I will divide it in 4 month studying + 3months reviewing and practicing.

Am not saying that this is my strict timetable, it is flexible I can change it any time if I see that it has to be changed

So for October I will start with anatomy + biochemistry and will keep you guys updated in my mission

 

[MedicalDR14]

now here is the thing

should i register for the exam first

or i should do it when i finish studying

cause in my plan i have to take the exam in may

and the people says you have to register six month before the exam

what to do

second thing

now i divide my schedule into 2 division

Mastering:with books like high yield ,brs,nms,lipincott and lange series for 4months
Reviewing:with books like kaplan FA usmleworld and any online questions for 3months

the total is 7 month and starting from October i should be finish in April and thats i decide to enter the exam in May

i arrange 5hrs a day for studying the usmle cause i am still at 5th year medical school studying medicine,surgery,pediatrics and gynecology

so am i on the right path?????

 

[Haisook]

You should register for the exam as early as possible just to make sure you don't get any delays, although actually it doesn't take a lot of time to process your application. In my case, it took a week for my papers to reach ECFMG, and a week for them to approve my application. So that's a total of 2 weeks. I also registered pretty late; just 3 months before my exam.

If you feel nervous now, you can delay registration for a few months, say 3 months, when you have read some stuff and feel more confident.

About the plan, it's good, although don't try to push yourself so much with many books. Choose one source for each subject + FA. Nothing more. For me, I did Kaplan notes/videos + FA + UW (may be I'll do Kaplan Qbank as well). The last few months should only be qbanks + FA.

P.S. I'm from Egypt also; feel free to PM me if you need any specific help.

 

[MedicalDR14]

You should register for the exam as early as possible just to make sure you don't get any delays, although actually it doesn't take a lot of time to process your application. In my case, it took a week for my papers to reach ECFMG, and a week for them to approve my application. So that's a total of 2 weeks. I also registered pretty late; just 3 months before my exam.

If you feel nervous now, you can delay registration for a few months, say 3 months, when you have read some stuff and feel more confident.

About the plan, it's good, although don't try to push yourself so much with many books. Choose one source for each subject + FA. Nothing more. For me, I did Kaplan notes/videos + FA + UW (may be I'll do Kaplan Qbank as well). The last few months should only be qbanks + FA.

P.S. I'm from Egypt also; feel free to PM me if you need any specific help.

thanks for your reply
about the registeration i think am going to make it two month later when i did do some real studying

can you give me a link that guide me on how to register for the ecfmg and then usmle step by step

abt the plan yours is good but for me it is an opportunity to study real medicine so why i dont get advantage of it
so thats why i want to study from refrences such as lipincott and so onand yeah every subject i choose one resource but i say it all together in my previous post then the review with kaplan and usmleworld and so
the FA and the qbank will be in the both parts :mastering and reviewing

speaking of you when are you going to take the exam? for me it is may 2011 i think

and what your are now graduate or not?
i am a fifth year medical at cairo university

 

[MedicalDR14]

i have there question

is the kaplan noptes for studying or reviewing

and if there is subjects for studying and subjects for reviewing which and which

thanks

 

[Haisook]

i have there question

is the kaplan noptes for studying or reviewing

and if there is subjects for studying and subjects for reviewing which and which

thanks

Kaplan notes are complete review books, especially if combined with the videos. They can be used as a main source for USMLE information.

If you mean "quick review" by the term "review", then First Aid is the one. It's more of a summary of all subjects.

 

[MedicalDR14]

ok here is the deal

i start today with anatomy
hopefully i will finish it in 15-25 days

so from this topic i saw that high yield is the best ever in anatomy

so my questions

1-what do you think cause i did start studying from it?
2-should i buy anatomy-neuro-embryo-histology or anatomy only will be enough?
3-is this enough for me to prepare for usmle cause i wont study from any other source but this one?
maybe when i do the review 3months before the exam i will look at FA and kaplan reviews

thanks

 

[Haisook]

Don't waste a lot of time on choosing between books and freaking about what would be the best. There's no such thing as "best book". Every book has a different approach to the same thing.

FA + a decent Qbank will cover up any defects in any book.

So, it's all about the time available. If you have enough time to read large and numerous books, do it. If you don't, stick to one book. A book with the highest votes must be safe, so go ahead and start using it.

 

[MedicalDR14]

hi again

nice day and nice fresh air

ok here is my status

27weeks remaining from my exam (of course i didnt schedule it yet though i just put it in my time schedule)

i finish 1/2 of gross anatomy

the remaining is
upper limb
lower limb
head and neck
eye
ear

of course not to forget
embryology
nueroanatomy


from tomorrow i will study nuero for 3 days
the next 3 days i will study embryology

then i will return to what missed in gross anatomy

in my schedule this week suppose to be my last week in anatomy but i think i am going to add extra days from the next week to finish what i left

though i have OSCE(objective structured clinical exam) in surgery tomorrow which i have to revise now but i cant keep my self away from usmle cause i wake up very fresh and i hate not to use this opportunity in get whatever i can from my preparation for usmle

last week i was lazy i just finish 2 chapters only so i have to compansate



hope i have good news by next post

 

[MedicalDR14]

hi again

its been a 3 weeks right now since i start my pathway to usmle

here is my status

i start the pathway with a partner with me in the same college and same year

i did start with anatomy using HIGH YIELD series

high yield gross anatomy (i finish half the book)
high yield neuroanatomy (i finish half the book)
high yield embryology (today is the second day to read from and i will start from chapter 5 hopefully by tomorrow i can complete the book)

in college we finish our first round which is surgery and next week will start OBS/GYN so from next week i will stop anatomy and start Physiology

sorry didn't look into FA or qbook cause I can't do it without actually finish reading

i plan 3 week for physiology in which i will do the first 2 weeks from it starting on Sunday
i will listen to the chapter from Kaplan with Kaplan book with me (just for following the video)
then i will study it from BRS Physiology

then i will stop it and take one week for anatomy trying to finish what i left and reed FA ans solve QBook cause that week it will be holiday the entire week so it gives me much time to finish everything regarding anatomy

i am hoping to continue with this path cause i really put my bet on it and i don't want to fail

tell me guys what do you think

 

[Seetal]

for pathology it is VERY important that u read Goljan rapid review or Goljan path secret notes that goes with the Goljan audio files. u wanna add to it u can read Kaplan pathology. but if u don't have time, ONLY Goljan can save u. (i came across a few questions in the step 1, that i thanked God for giving me time to read Goljan).

 

[MedicalDR14]

for pathology it is VERY important that u read Goljan rapid review or Goljan path secret notes that goes with the Goljan audio files. u wanna add to it u can read Kaplan pathology. but if u don't have time, ONLY Goljan can save u. (i came across a few questions in the step 1, that i thanked God for giving me time to read Goljan).

That's great but for pathology I won't start now its is later on my schedule

u have physiology

biochemistry

micro and then pathology

but thanks anyway

 

[MedicalDR14]

ok so hi again

this is the 6th week since my first day on my path to USMLE

as i dayed before i did start with physiology 3 weeks ago but there was so many interruption last 2 weeks from confrences and exams

so i did finish 5 sections out of 10 sections from Kaplan Physiology

General Topics
Excitable Tissue
Peripheral Circulation
Skeletal Muscle
Cardiac Muscle

this week is holiday in college so i hope to finish the remaining
and start solve some question from Kaplan notes,Kaplan QBook and pretest physiology with some FA reading

2 important notes come to my attention
1 FA 2011 is now available in Amazon website so what is that suppose to mean?
2 i get to look at kaplan 2010 notes and videos
for physiology just 3 modification i become aware of

a-50% of lessons by DR.Conrad Ficher (so amazing) and the remaining for DR.Wazir Qudrat (i hope i write right spelling) and is greater than 2007 edition because I didn't enjoy the DR who was giving the first 2 sections
====
b-they made some arranges to the chapters the move chapters from section to section like ch1 in cardiac muscle they move it to be in section 2 :excitable tissue
====
c-finally they made some addition,deletion of some subjects in the chapter i will try to mention it here later on

that's for now

thanks

 

[MedicalDR14]

hi again

this is the seventh week since i started my preparation for USMLE

so I am still playing cat and mouse with physiology which never want to finish at all

till now i finish this chapter

General Topics
Excitable Tissue
Peripheral Circulation
Skeletal Muscle
Cardiac Muscle
Respiration

which is not much of progress since last week but hey who cares I still got plenty of time

150 days till my exam so i hope i am still on the right track

OK tomorrow i will start Renal and Acid Base as they are both related

on Monday i will study Endocrine and hopefully I can finish it cause it is way too big to be done in one day and maybe i will complete it on Tues where i finish the GIT

on Wed i will revise the first 2 chapter cause i didnt study them well and i will revise Embryology from Anatomy Branch

Thursday Friday and Saturday i will revise the whole gross anatomy and hopefully i will finish from them this time once and for all

so in Physiology after each chapter i solve question both in Kaplan notes and in BRS Physiology plus i do the FA pages dedicated to the chapter i studied and add some note

to Keep you guys with me I upload my schedule here so that you can follow up with me and if anyone want to follow my path i will be more than welcome

ok one important thing
i decide to solve kaplan QBook and pretest books in the Kaplan QBank week which is one month from one whihc by then i take a break from the study and start solving the questions cause in the meantime i will start to prepare for my end round exam in college in OBGYN

so thats it for now
i will be delighted to hear your thoughts

this is tribute tohttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...d=0CBUQvwUoAQ&q=wwe+tribute+to+troops&spell=1 you guys to chill you up

YOU ARE NOT ALONE
THIS IS MY LIFE IN THE NEXT 150 DAYS

thanks

 

[Dr.Sidd]

That video You are not alone was ammmaaazinggg!!! SO motivational!!!

 

[Seetal]

hi again

its an excellent move starting with kaplan qbank early before u finish all ur studying. this will help u remember ur facts after u have studied. also i would strongly suggest u read up on ur FA (maybe even memorize at least 60% of it) before ur exam. u could do this while doing the UW n NBME.

GL!

 

[Seetal]

and that video is AWESOME! i shared it on my fb page.

 

[MedicalDR14]

many people appreciated my time table so i thought to put my original one over here so every body can have the experience with me

as soon i take the exam i will post the excel file which you can modify it according to your status

thanks

PLEASE IF YOU LIKE IT THANK ME BY CLICKING THE BUTTON THANKS AT THE END OF THIS POST

tomorrow i will post my weekly update regarding my situation in my pathway

 

[MedicalDR14]

So Hello again to the exciting pathway

2months since i start my preparation for the usmle

had some obsticles but i manage to get through it

ok so far i have finish

Anatomy
Physiology

well for really am not sure abt them really cause i didnt solve any question and i didnt study the FA and move my notes to it

now i am studying Bio which i start today

so i plan to do it in 2 weeks videos+lecture notes
then one week for revision and FA and solve question and i have faith that i will solvev questions this time cause i devoted an enitre week for that matter

i suppose that this will be the period for biochemistry 28/11-18/12
3 weeks and the week after that i will start my kaplan qbanks subscription and devoted one week to solve block questions compose of anatomy,physiology and biochemistry with revesion of FA

my question is
what is better in Bio Kaplan or BRS or something else

thanks

 

[Seetal]

biochem kaplan n FA is enough in my opinion.