Studying by organ-system or subjects??

[liquidreams]

Regarding step 1 preparation,do u advice me to study by "systems" or by "subjects"?

for example:should I study physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, etc....separately

OR should I read the organ-system such cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, ...etc from each subject..

Hope you got my message

[dr z]

I also have the same question from seniors
as I did once subject-wise and now started doing system-wise,
it is helping me as I am doing this with FA, and also improving in making connections, my score is now increasing in Qbank too.

But seniors guidance is needed.

[fin-84]

Originally Posted by liquidreams

Regarding step 1 preparation,do u advice me to study by "systems" or by "subjects"?

for example:should I study physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, etc....separately

OR should I read the organ-system such cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, ...etc from each subject..

Hope you got my message

I am doing subject-wise. I first looked kaplan's O-system-wise. Perhaps it is good for comprehending the info. But I decided that I need little more information and got book from each subject. Maybe last review good be system-based...

[NYMatcher2012]

Originally Posted by liquidreams

Regarding step 1 preparation,do u advice me to study by "systems" or by "subjects"?

for example:should I study physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, etc....separately

OR should I read the organ-system such cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, ...etc from each subject..

Hope you got my message

I depends on how you took them in med school. Also if you are following Kaplan then do it in subjects and if you are following FA then do it in systems.

[heights]

I am doing a mix of sytems and subjects...basically following FA. So some subjects like microbiology, pharmacology and biochemistry I do the subjects. I also do the system and incorporate the subjects, so for example in the gastrointestinal system, I am doing the micro (bugs that cause diarrhea, ulcers, etc) and the pharmacology of the GI system along with the path and the physiology. I would say it depends on what books you're using, but FA should be your guide mostly.

[fin-84]

Originally Posted by heights

I am doing a mix of sytems and subjects...basically following FA. So some subjects like microbiology, pharmacology and biochemistry I do the subjects. I also do the system and incorporate the subjects, so for example in the gastrointestinal system, I am doing the micro (bugs that cause diarrhea, ulcers, etc) and the pharmacology of the GI system along with the path and the physiology. I would say it depends on what books you're using, but FA should be your guide mostly.

I moderately disagree. First Aid should be mostly guide if your basic science learning is somewhat fresh. I don't i my track is the most useful, but I have decided that first is the subject-wise and not intention to all high-yield fact remembering. It is like to make skeleton of information. Then In January I start hard learning when I am going to use FA + qbanks. Am not sure if I am going to buy Kaplan LN, because they are expensive and I have quite good book collection - although this is my opinion .

But everybody should do how they feel is the best approach. I need little bit skeleton that I can more effectively use my capacity.

[heights]

Originally Posted by fin-84

I moderately disagree. First Aid should be mostly guide if your basic science learning is somewhat fresh. I don't i my track is the most useful, but I have decided that first is the subjectwise and not intention to all high-yield fact remembering. It is like to make skeleton of information. Then In january I start hard learning when I am going to use FA + qbanks. Am not sure if I am going to buy Kaplan LN, because they are expensive and I have quite good book collection - although this is my opinion .

But everybody should do how they feel is the best approach. I need little bit skeleton that I can more effectively use my capacity.

I didn't mean that FA should be used for primary study, I meant it should be used as a guide/ outline for studying. I use RR, Kaplan LN, Costanzo physiology, CMMRS etc right now, but FA is a primary guide for me to structure my studying. I agree that FA is mostly outline and not sufficient on it's own, but as an outline for studying it's great.

[fin-84]

Originally Posted by heights

I didn't mean that FA should be used for primary study, I meant it should be used as a guide/ outline for studying. I use RR, Kaplan LN, Costanzo physiology, CMMRS etc right now, but FA is a primary guide for me to structure my studying. I agree that FA is mostly outline and not sufficient on it's own, but as an outline for studying it's great.

Okay. Well, it seems that we have quite same system. Haven't yet even bought FA. When the new version should be in the stores.

[liquidreams]

Originally Posted by dr z

I also have the same question from seniors
as I did once subject-wise and now started doing system-wise,
it is helping me as I am doing this with FA, and also improving in making connections, my score is now increasing in Qbank too.

But seniors guidance is needed.

I think in some subjects,like for example CNS,its better to do the neuroanatomy then neurophysiology,etc.. ,following the "organ-system approach",since you wont be able to master the physiology part without -at least-revising the anatomy part!!

what do u think??

[fin-84]

Originally Posted by liquidreams

I think in some subjects,like for example CNS,its better to do the neuroanatomy then neurophysiology,etc.. ,following the "organ-system approach",since you wont be able to master the physiology part without -at least-revising the anatomy part!!

what do u think??

CNS is very information rich topic and this sounds good to me. not that I am there yet... maybe next week

[dr z]

I totally agree neuroanatomy is more tested than neurophysiology.

Right now I have done respiratory, renal , endocrine, CVS and GIT from FA and KaplanQBank.
but I want to clarify that in my first read I did subject-wise from Kaplan LN and now I understand FA much better.

I haven't added Kaplan on my FA but instead adding my wrong or difficult concept QBank questions on it.

[Dr_Kal_El]

This is what i'm doing.....I did the 4 big ones subject wise first namely Physio, Path(I skipped kaplan path and used goljan instead), pharm and biochem....and now i'm doing organ systems, which honestly if ur doing kaplan, FA and goljan links everything together Nicely!

but as I go through systems wise I realize that some of the things in Kaplan physio were very poorly taught in terms of understanding, so I give a quick read through of BRS (which is astonishingly well written)....and if this is coming from a guy who would rather watch videos than read everything himself, that means that this book really gives you the tools to understand everything in the 1st try!

good luck!

[Dr.Sidd]

I personally beleive that during your first ever read i.e during your med school you shoulc do subject wise. But while preparing for USMLE officially i find it more effective to do subject wise. It helps you keep things on track and more organized. And besides you tend to get relaxed after doin one subject. And for every subject each system will be revised time and again everytime you start a new subject and you can look back on the concepts you werent able to retain on the previous subjects.

Agin its a personal thing, everyone is different with different style of studyin. During your med school you should explore which method suits you best and stick to it for the final prep.

[bash rcs]

Hey guys,

so im going to start my Usmle step 1 studying soon .. giving it around 10 weeks more or less .. i wanted to ask what peoples intake is on studying for it systematically (cardiology, respiratory, ...) or just sticking to the subject approach (biochemistry, physiology, pathology)

need your help .. thanks everyone



bash

[eesfee]

In our med school, we were taught everything system wise so when I started my Step 1 prep I decided to go with system based study. Although I could integrate a lot of things, somehow it was taking me more time to cover the stuff system wise. So I shifted to subject wise study and its been much better. I think its a lot easir to integrate stuff when you're going system wise but trust me its gonna take double your time as compared to subject wise study. Hope this helps.