I earned honors in my last five rotations once I optimized this study plan for myself!
1. Buy a quality spiral bound notebook and some high-quality pens. I recommend Mead Five Star one subject college ruled. Use a single subject notebook for each of your rotations. I recommend Jetstream Uniball 0.38 pens and Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball pens. Buy a lot of colors so you can color-code notes.
My third-year study notebook for internal medicine. Blue = OnlineMedEd notes. Black = UWorld notes. Green = Amboss notes. Highlighter = key points I keep missing. Sticky note tabs added for quick & easy flipping to each subject (Pulmonary, GI, Endocrine, etc.)
2. Listen to all OnlineMedEd lectures for the rotation you are in. Online Med Ed should be where the bulk of your learning during third year comes from. As you are listening, write out his lessons in your spiral bound notebook, leaving plenty of space for future notes. Use a single color for all OME notes.
3. Quiz yourself with UWorld! Yes, your old Step 1 friend. Buy it immediately at the beginning of third year. As you learn from UWorld, use a different color to add notes from UWorld into your notebook alongside your OME notes for the same topic. Add topics to the end that weren't covered in OME. If you miss the same concept twice, highlight it in your notebook. Don't write in too many full sentences of UWorld notes - just a quick phrase or keywords.
4. Be weary of reading entire review books. Remember, the best way to efficiently learn information is to constantly quiz yourself. You will learn most of what you need to know just by listening to OnlineMedEd and reading UWorld answers. If needed, use review books only as a reference if there is a topic you don't understand or need more info on. However, I HIGHLY recommend you use Amboss (pictured below) instead of books as a reference point for concepts you don't understand. You can do a quick search of their "interactive knowledge library" for any topic and receive really useful explanations, diagrams, imaging, and anything you need to know! There is even a high-yield setting which you can turn on to only show high-yield material.
5. Supplement UWorld with Amboss. UWorld of course is your first priority. However, some rotations such as surgery and family medicine aren't covered in great detail in UWorld. I used Amboss's extensive question bank to supplement UWorld and HIGHLY recommend.
6. Start practice NBMEs early and allow plenty of time to review. Schedule once practice NBME every Saturday once a week leading up to the day of your shelf exam. This allows you to allow enough time to review carefully all answers and help you key on important areas of studying before it is too late. Keep a separate notebook of notes from NBME questions, and quickly review these in the days preceding the exam.
7. Don't let NBMEs scare you. They are bound to include topics you have never heard of or ask a question in a completely different way than UWorld does. Don't be afraid! Be confident in your knowledge! You "guess" a lot of answers using your brain!
Comments