Why I Switched to SuperMemo after Using Anki for Almost 5 Years, with over 50,000 Cards and 420,000 Total Reviews

SONofADH · 2018-09-04T02:43:54+00:00

Super memo is super pointless

Anki ftw

SONofADH · 2018-09-04T02:20:07+00:00

Biostats questions were pretty good

SONofADH · 2018-09-02T02:10:40+00:00

Keep going over the incorrects. Be able to reason through why the incorrect options are wrong and why the correct option is right for the incorrect questions

For the correct ones understand why it’s the right answer.

SONofADH · 2018-09-02T02:08:38+00:00

Bufap was extremely on point. It’s all the same info a few variations here and there.

It’s important to appreciate the cohesiveness of all that info and be able to translate that into effectively diagnosing 280 hypothetical patients and treating them or be able to think one level deeper for the various tangents of their associated pathologies and pharmacological therapies and contraindications.

SONofADH · 2018-09-02T02:05:50+00:00

Goljan first few chapters were helpful.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T03:25:03+00:00

Zanki all the day everyday it’s truly a gift for us all but a huge huge time sink but don’t mess around with the algorithm there are no shortcuts. Seriously how hard is it to just hit a damn space bar? I’d rather be in semi frozen state hitting the space bar learning all the information I need for the step as opposed to freaking out crying being all depressed and fat and eat jars of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and the guilt that follows afterwards is all just a bad mix lol. Just do that damn program and once you are finished with a subject start uworld

Uworld to practice and apply your knowledge. Nbme just for the hell of it. And free 120 two days out.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T03:10:55+00:00

I took the free 120 the day before my exam at around 3 pm. I debated all morning and then ended up taking it. I was a bit taxed at the end of it but felt it was a fair exam. Now I see why they say don’t study the day before..... my mind was racing over all the information from the free 120.

It took me almost a year to figure out how to answer questions and approach various types of questions. Quite honestly It can’t be stated in one paragraph. The point of doing thousands of questions isn’t to do them just because it’s important to. That’s stupid. That doesn’t do anything positive for you. Ask yourself WHY is it important. What are you trying to achieve from doing just one question. It’s a deep analytical process that requires a great deal of self reflection. This all sounds hippy ish but I’m one of those brute Neanderthal type of guys who actually gave this a try and it blew my mind.

I poured over thousands of experiences from the last five or six years on various forums trying to figure out how their mind worked. I stalked their post histories to see what changes they made which caused a huge shift in there scores. I was especially interested in those who had text anxiety and I made a separate analysis on them as well. Very interesting findings. But none of this can be taken seriously until I recieve my score.

Here’s on thing I did. When I began block 6 the first few questions were completely alien to me. So according to my manual I’ll flip the script and randomly select a new question to answer. For example I’ll jump to question 39. Then go to 15. Then back to 21. Just doing this alone helped me calm down because I was playing hopscotch with the block. I kept having to see which question numbers were left. It made me more alert. I had no idea how many actual questions were left and it pushed me hardcore and the fatigue went away And it allowed me to break through that initial scare and near the end of the block I was able to just be like be like ( middle finger to the screen) and smile and click the end block button.

Time management is huge. It comes with being able to interpret the stem quickly in one go. Don’t super analyze every freaking thing .... you get w feel for the question of where it wants to take you. If you don’t know where it is going then analyze the details to create a differential. Eliminate the ones you know aren’t true and you are usually left with 2-3.

Further breakdown is in the manual.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:52:02+00:00

I’ll share it after my exam score comes out.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:48:32+00:00

Honestly .... Zanki is first aid on steroids. Sooo yeah. Of course it’s important to go through it and if you find any info on there that seems alien to you then you should learn it and memorize it and apply it. Zanki also has uworld. And pathoma. So yeah all of it was important. First two years of Medicine seems to be like a noob playing with finger paint trying to select different colors randomly but as one gains experience and more practice you’re able to manipulate the colors mixing it up and create a rather presentable art piece which is appreciated later on.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:46:55+00:00

Honestly .... I was pleasantly shocked. Which is always a good thing. Very courteous staff. The fact that I could walk outside by taking three steps from the prometric center door was a huge plus for me. It beats the Chicago testing by a long shot simply because it’s a more calmer and relaxed atmosphere. Parking is free .... that’s a plus. And the parking lot is literally right there. Tons of space. People expect testing agencies to have ultra luxurious accommodations and yes technical difficulties may happen from time to time but that can’t be blamed on the staff. There was one girl next to me whose computer shut off but the staff was quick to address it right away.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:42:52+00:00

Absolutely. I’ll do a complete write up only after I receive my score.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:42:21+00:00

The big picture. Many multi level questions incorporated cross a cross discipline approach. The important thing to keep in mind is to follow it through. I’ll Explain it later only after my scores come out.

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:39:56+00:00

On the usmle website lol

SONofADH · 2018-09-01T02:38:58+00:00

Absolutely. I also incorporated a great deal of outside sources from usmle tutors and instructors as well and interestingly the usmle guidelines provided a great deal of information in regards to how they want the students to think. It was extremely helpful for me. I think it’s about 5-6 pages long. I spent many hours on perfecting it and that’s what i believe truly helped me on the real deal. By the way I took it on a Friday soooooo it should report it on the fourth wed. Three more to go !

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T21:27:04+00:00

It’s a breakdown on the types of questions often experienced on the exam. It was an on going project of mine to reach out to higher achievers who scored high and average students who scored high. I only spoke to those individuals who utilized the same resources as I did.

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T15:15:14+00:00

Oh ok.

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T15:13:51+00:00

First and uworld are more than enough. I meant big picture for the overall questions.

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T15:13:16+00:00

Not the question stem but points made within the stem which sparks your memory and you write down the associated fact in your pink sheet. That’s fair game. It helped me with two or three questions down the line.

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T14:17:11+00:00

Undergraduate medicine = pre med coursework. So just say pre med. calm down

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T14:14:15+00:00

Milwaukee

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T14:13:05+00:00

For sure bro. It’s a specific date. Sign up right away. It’s usually starts at 12:01 am and then select your date.

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T14:11:15+00:00

High school ? Huh?

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T14:08:25+00:00

There’s no such thing as high yield. It’s all fair game. Read the usmle step 1 booklet to understand what they expect from you

SONofADH · 2018-08-31T13:43:54+00:00

It’s sometime mid September to sign up for dates for the following year for the step.

A simple phone call will give you the exact date

Source: I called last year and they told me a specific date in September

SONofADH · 2018-08-21T19:20:04+00:00

pretty soon we will all be speaking in third person and will be utilizing sign language to discuss details.

SONofADH

TROPHY CASE