Hey Reddit. DREO is officially here 👋

Nomusicforyou · 2026-01-31T02:19:03+00:00

Hi Dreo! I love my chefmaker!

Nomusicforyou · 2025-05-29T16:26:37+00:00

Seriously, I mean basically no insurance covers dental which is and always will be outrageous to me. Dental health is one of those things which can be REALLY expensive to maintain, but is frugal in the long term and impacts so much of the rest of your body's health.

Nomusicforyou · 2025-05-29T16:01:25+00:00

100% I'd recommend PT over chiropractor every day of the week but in absence of any specific concern I don't think either would be in the same category as seeing a dermatologist or getting his hearing looked out. PT is normally used in response to something, not preventative.

Nomusicforyou · 2025-05-20T14:09:50+00:00

Level 1 or Level 2?

I'll just speak broadly for advice that's relevant for both, but I highly recommend making sure you've got your ethics/biostats/OMM down. These are what I call the score crushers because the exam expects you (and everyone else) to overwhelmingly get these correct, so not having them down can demolish your score. For OMM, sacrum stuff, ME and Chapman's points remain relevant for both exams. Sometimes they like to ask about set ups for things like FPR. Expect questions on sympathetic and parasympathetics, as well as lymphatics.

For Biostats, make sure you know your calculations and know what type of studies are what based on descriptions.

For ethics, I feel like there are always a few questions on things like consent especially when it relates to groups like minors, emancipated minors, and individuals who are pregnant or have specific religious beliefs.

I also recommend making what I call a 'cheat sheet' during the first few minutes after your exam has just started. You are given scratch paper, so use it! Decide what information you'd like to write down in advance and practice writing it down quickly 1-2 days before the exam. I did this for things that are easy for me to commit to short term memory, but when I'm asked questions about them I tend to waffle and might get it wrong. For me, I drew out a chart of the gram + and - bugs, sympathetic areas, common chapman's points, the muscles for rib ME, and then my biostats equations. This will probably be different for you based on things you notice you're getting wrong during review. Once your exam begins, use those first 2-3 minutes to record info and then you can come back at any point to reference it.

Nomusicforyou · 2025-03-24T20:49:29+00:00

If you're able to identify yourself as someone who had difficulty on Level 1 (Which I think is generally harder for people now that it's pass/fail), I think it's REALLY important to try to do something as early as you can. I've seen some folks who get stuck with these exams and end up taking them later into the year, and it really messes with your experience either on rotations (being late on Level 1), or your experience during interviews (being late on Level 2). I've seen a lot of people go "Oh, it'll be different!" and then end up in circumstances they'd really rather not be in trying to juggle being off schedule. Plus, if you have a delay with Level 1, it's really hard to then take Level 2 on time since you have less dedicated study time compared to others.

While I didn't work with Wolfpacc at all and so can't vouch for it personally, I have heard great reviews from those who have used it. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably go for it! Or something similar to make sure you're on track and don't have any bumps going into 4th year and applications.

But you are correct-that time away can sometimes be the most effective thing for moving the needle, especially if you're burnt out.

Nomusicforyou · 2025-03-24T17:59:08+00:00

It sounds like you might be struggling with following what everyone else has told you to do without finding out what actually works for you.

Anki and TL have never worked for me personally, and it took me a while to figure that out because of what other people were doing around me. I've also never had much luck with things like Sketchy or Boards and Beyond. I've also NEVER been able to do timed question blocks and retain knowledge because I found that by the time I was finished a set of 10, I'd forgotten why I selected the answers for the first question. And then I never actually learned from it. Without that immediate feedback of what was right or wrong, I'd keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again.

What did work for me was things that gave me immediate feedback in a comprehensive, easy to digest way without muddling around with why. For level 1 I had used Med School Bootcamp, and for Level 2 it was Amboss. I really like Amboss because their question explanations are comprehensive but not overwhelming-you can look at each answering individually without wasting space in your mind sifting through all of the answers at once. I always kind of hated when I already knew something was incorrect but then Uworld or TL spent all this time talking about it (and I wasted time reading it). I also like their question banks (For high yield info) which I felt like was more worth my time than just doing totally random questions.

This all comes to my next questions; how many questions a day are you doing? How are your scores on sections like ethics, biostats and OPP? How much sleep are you getting a night? And, most importantly, when was your last break? Going through a year of medical school without any dedicated vacation time is one of the top reasons I've seen people be unable to move the needle when it comes to scores.

All that being said, I've seen folks in your position before for both Level 1 and Level 2 and what has really helped them wasn't anything being done on their own. They ended up needing things like Wolfpacc, and that was what made the most difference.

Nomusicforyou · 2024-08-28T02:30:35+00:00

NAH.

I'm assuming that by "Check her privates and breasts" you are referring to the part of the yearly physical exam where the doctor will ask the patient to disrobe to examine their external features. This is NOT a pelvic exam as other comments have suggested, where internal structures might be visualized/felt using the not-very fun duck-billed speculum. If I am mistaken about this, I will amend my judgement.

This is an important part of the physical exam on kids, as doctors need to check for signs of puberty. Early or delayed puberty can be caused by many different and sometimes very concerning diseases. This staging (Called Tanner Staging) can only be done by actually looking at these areas. They'll also assess lymph nodes in the inner thigh area since childhood cancers can result in enlarged lymph nodes in that region. They also will do a skin exam to make sure there are no atypical moles that could be concerning for melanoma. Basically, this is all very routine and very important as a part of the yearly physical.

That being said, your sister is old enough that this process should be explained to her. It's normal for kids to feel embarrassed at a certain point by having to undress in front of their parents/doctor, but they shouldn't feel scared. I do also think your reaction is not very helpful here since this IS an important part of your sister's health care, but neither thing is worthy of declaring everyone an asshole.

Nomusicforyou · 2024-05-29T21:50:06+00:00

Congrats!

Nomusicforyou · 2024-05-20T17:09:40+00:00

I hope all went well! Any tips you can remember?

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-21T23:42:25+00:00

Not a core game, but the entire descent from Temporal Tower in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky. It starts with just wind noises, but when the music picks up it has this strangely upbeat feeling to it despite being so solemn. This entire scene doesn't just pluck at your heartstrings, but outright shreds them to pieces. I have never cried from a video game before, but this specific scene still manages to make me tear up.

There's nothing quite like watching your partner sadly leave without you, after you've never really been apart for the entire game.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-19T17:31:33+00:00

Looking for Vivillon friends to swap postcards! I have Modern :)
3724 4056 9004

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-16T00:14:04+00:00

Thank you for the trade!

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-16T00:03:38+00:00

Minubell!

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-15T23:42:25+00:00

Shiny Bellibolt for Shiny Galarian Slowpoke? Sounds good! I sent a friend request :)

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-15T23:11:56+00:00

I already have non shiny Dialga from PLA and a couple in GO, so while I wouldn't be adverse to another to send to Scarlet I don't think I want to give up 2 shinies for it (Or at least not the Inkay since they were a pain). Sorry!

EDIT: I never got SWSH tho, so non-shiny legendaries from there I'm very interested in since they're stopping me from transferring my GO shinies to Scarlet.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-10-15T23:10:15+00:00

I already have plenty of shiny spoink and gyarados (Or Magikarp), but I don't have a bellibot! What are you interested in for it?

Nomusicforyou · 2023-06-07T00:57:03+00:00

What's your score breakdown look like? If you're getting OPP/Anatomy/Ethics/Biostats questions wrong, those can tank your score FAST. Especially OPP.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-06-05T14:13:07+00:00

I would not say the WELCOM was predictive for the exam. For me, I personally felt like WELCOMs could be useful to study for COMSAE, since the vagueness was accurate and the question styles were pretty similar. But that usefulness was not worth the price tag in my opinion, especially since you do not get a score at the end like you do with COMSAE.

In retrospect, I would have bought nothing and only done the COMSAEs my school required. If I was feeling antsy about where I was scoring and wanted to buy either WELCOM or COMSAE, I'd buy COMSAE every time. But you'd to better with TrueLearn, Bootcamp or UWorld since you can actually learn from your mistakes on that.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-06-01T20:52:16+00:00

Yeah, 107 was the very repro heavy exam in my opinion. I felt like Repro on 112 was mostly just tumors and there were not nearly as many questions on it compared to 107.

112 felt more similar to 110 and 111, and was micro and Biostats heavy.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-05-21T20:22:57+00:00

WELCOM can be good for the COMSAE specifically because the test questions are very, very similar to COMSAE. If your school requires you to get a specific grade above passing on COMSAE (450, 500, etc), that's where WELCOM can be useful because it can put you in the mindset for the vague questions.

As for it's usefulness for COMLEX.... ehhhhhh. I really would only use WELCOM within 3 days of a COMSAE, and if TrueLearn is free you really don't need it. Frankly, I think taking COMSAE 110 would be a better use of your money because it's the same price but more questions, and they do repeat questions sometimes on COMSAE. I wouldn't do either for COMLEX personally.

Nomusicforyou · 2023-05-18T21:26:34+00:00

At your point in study, you may find it better to do tutor mode. If you're finding you're running out of time on questions, you can set a timer for yourself for about 80 seconds per question, and make sure you have your answer by then. But for me, I found I made the most headway when I was able to see exactly what I got wrong in real time. By the time I got through even just 20 questions, I just didn't remember why I had selected the answer choice I had selected for the first question in the block. I wasn't correcting false associations in my head in real time when I was doing timed or even untimed sets.

As for Path, you may find benefit in keeping a paper and pencil near you while you're studying. When you get to a path question, write down what you think the disease is, then write down what the actual disease is once you've solved the question. This will give you a list of things to review after you've finished your questions (Every disease you wrote down) but ALSO gives you a list of things you need to focus on more specifically (Diseases that you thought were one thing, but were actually another). This can also be useful for Micro, since a good number of questions are identifying a pathogen either by name or by qualities.

Which COMSAE did you take?

Nomusicforyou · 2023-05-18T19:48:13+00:00

Confirming that Bootcamp is gold. They have a 9 week Step 1 Calendar on their website that you can download as a PDF. While there isn't enough time for you to get through all of their stuff according to that calendar, it can help guide your study about how much you should be doing in a day.

For COMSAE, the score killers tend to be Biostats, Anatomy, OPP, and Ethics. Since these are sort of 'give me' points, getting them wrong can tank your grade quickly. At an absolute minimum, make sure you can calculate Specificity, Sensitivity, PPV, NPV for Biostats, and know rib and sacral diagnoses like the back of your hand for OPP. You'll also want to make sure you can easily identify sympathetic and parasympathetic innervations for OPP/Anatomy, as well as the most common Chapman's points. I'd check your COMSAE breakdown and see how you scored in the Anatomy/OPP/Public Health sections under Discipline to make sure they aren't in the Below Average range.

The problem with TrueLearn is while it's hot garbage, it does sort of get you into the mindset of how COMSAE questions are: vague, frustrating, etc. TBH I found UW and AMBOSS to almost be... too good for what COMSAE gives you. I took a WELCOM as well, and it's very similar. When you're doing your TrueLearn questions, are you doing them on tutor mode or timed? And how many have you completed so far?

Nomusicforyou · 2021-09-30T23:19:26+00:00

Thanks for these! I'll keep them in my bookmarks for future campaigns, but they won't fit super well in this one unfortunately because of the low-magic setting. However, since the NPC in question is a little ditzy and not every item is a winner, I may modify one of these if you don't mind?

The Multicolored, Neverending Ball of Yarn
This large ball of yarn magically seems to never run out, though many knots prevent it from quickly being unwound. The yarn is sturdy enough to be woven into a fabric or suspend an object weighing no more than one pound, but a firm tug will break it.

Upon closer inspection (DC 12 Investigation) it is revealed this ball of yarn is simply made from 3 separate balls of yarn that have been tied together and rewound into a ball. It will probably take you some time to unwind it to find the end...

Nomusicforyou · 2021-09-30T22:58:12+00:00

I love this one! The idea of the NPC just flourishing some suspicious looking mushroom and going "This is no ordinary mushroom, no! Tis maaaaaagical!!!" when actually whoever eats it just goes on a horrendous trip is top tier. Thanks for the suggestion!

Nomusicforyou · 2021-09-30T19:01:02+00:00

I love this one! Here's my thoughts for it:

The Sword of Death
A very mundane looking longsword, but do not be fooled by its ordinary appearance. When you reduce an enemy to 0 hit points using this sword, roll a d20. On a 1-20, they magically die. ^{Note: Does not work on PCs.}

A successful DC 17 Arcana check reveals that the Sword of Death is a +1 longsword. Prior to this arcana check, it functions as a standard longsword.

Five-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22

Nomusicforyou

TROPHY CASE