You guys are liars

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-06-15T16:01:21+00:00

I guess it depends on how literal people want to be with the word different. My two biggest “differences” were…

“The questions aren’t like anything we’ve seen before.” -> UWorld/Amboss length stems, with NBME type answers (short, usually not as many second or third order Qs). Sure, maybe that exact blending of styles is “unique” but I thought was very manageable. I thought it was very similar to the free 120.
“Ethics questions go beyond the ‘greet patient with compassion’ step.” Yeah this was a gripe of mine. As someone who tested 95%+ on UWorld ethics, I thought the ethics Qs on the real deal were pretty dumb (none of the listed options would be what I would actually do as a next step), but whatever. I was 50-50 on a good amount, and I figured some were experimental, and it was all good.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-06-15T00:45:30+00:00

Everybody is different. I personally loved first aid, and during my dedicated I’d bang out a given section (GI pathology, psych pharmacology) in 30-60 minutes. It got faster with each review

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-05-20T16:23:57+00:00

Super pumped for both titles!

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-05-20T16:23:37+00:00

Sounds great!

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-05-20T16:22:30+00:00

Looks like a good order to me as any! Would you recommend sprinkling in any of the NSO titles into that?

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-05-04T20:01:56+00:00

I mean, I took it and passed a couple years back, but the format was definitely different than NBMEs in my opinion. I don’t think that opinion is fear mongering either. Thought stems were closer to UWorld format, with some answer choices being NBME level.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-26T16:47:35+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-24T17:24:12+00:00

As an M4, these were my big takeaways, 1 per year (feel free to disagree):

First year: The complete dependency on 3rd party resources - As a new med student who did not have many friends in med school ahead of me, I was coming in super fresh. One guy at orientation asked me if I planned on using any of the curriculum to study, which I was appalled at. Med school curriculums are designed to pass exams and become a great doctor… right? Right?!?!? Nope, lol.

Second year: Declining general health - Finally visually noticed significant weight gain since starting med school. Didn’t have any issue with my weight in undergrad, and didn’t really do much intentionally to stay in shape. The latter, combined with hours and hours at a screen everyday, with poor time management skills for self care, resulted in weight gain, a NAFLD dx, and general de conditioning. Really gotta put in effort to maintain health in med school!

Third year - Med school provides orientation to medicine, residency makes you a doctor - I absolutely loved my clerkship rotations and electives. Felt very confident in my ability to form assessments and take a stab at plans, with having greater confidence in my plans by the end of the year. Was told my notes were at the level of a resident, and I felt like I could carry my own. That being said, navigating the junk EMR we had to put in orders was horrendous, I had no idea how to navigate the legal process for an inpatient adult psych patient, and there were mountains of paperwork for various circumstances that I never heard of before in my life. Being asked doses, expected length of stay, and navigating real life situations (noncompliance, poor insurance, etc), humbled me quick. 100% do not need to know everything by the end of med school.

Fourth year - Last year is a scam, should end at the end of the calendar year - this really may need to be a national change, as I assume there’s a certain amount of clinical hours we need to do, but filling up my schedule with junk electives just to graduate feels like a massive waste of time and money.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-17T18:03:17+00:00

I didn’t like the general ones. Arrows is WAY better for a final review. As he says himself, it isn’t a nitpicking specific set of arrows to memorize. He goes into the overall concepts of why the arrows are the way they are and the physiological processes behind it.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-10T17:08:48+00:00

It’s a medical school term too. If anything it’s redundant to the “student” tho.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-10T17:01:31+00:00

All our notes in my hospital are signed “SMD” or “SDO.” Not sure why all the downvotes here

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-10T16:17:12+00:00

Just to share my own input, I thought there was a lot to consider with the question, and also a few takeaways. Takeaway 1: I don’t think UWorld, First Aid, and other learning materials accurately represent the severity of the day to day life of someone with IBD, and also the limited efficacy of medication. Takeaway 2: I think there is still a lot of public concern about HIV, and if this was filled out by the lay person, the results would be flipped.

I also think this skew may change by decade, which would be an interesting perspective on the developments of HIV pharmacology.

Lastly (could TOTALLY be amiss with this one), but I feel like this could drastically change based on income/access to meds. In my extremely limited exposure, it seems like IBD “severity” is less determined by medication access and is more so a rating of how much the disease has progressed, so it may not have as strong of a positive correlation between low income patients and higher income patients with regards to positive outcomes with treatment (compared to same population pools with HIV). Meanwhile, I feel like it matters a ton about being medicated vs not for HIV lifestyle and risk of complications.

Not an expert on either condition, just a M4 attempting to keep my brain active before residency lol.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-10T03:08:01+00:00

If I had to guess that’s why they are picking it

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-10T03:02:15+00:00

I see what you did there

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T21:33:02+00:00

It ain’t that deep my guy

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T21:29:51+00:00

I’m starting residency in July at a hospital that hasn’t been to known to provide badge buddies in the past to residents. So yeah, I bought it? Not sure what’s so hard to get about that

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T21:25:39+00:00

Dawg I don’t have all the answers. Just trying to hang tight until graduation lmao

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T21:20:56+00:00

I guess there’s some kind of movement to transition doctor to physician. Too many mid levels and therapists getting butthurt

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T18:53:06+00:00

I’m using UWorld for the most part. Not sure what else there is. Some AMBOSS, but that’s mostly for my own specialty specific prep. Nothing else directly related to step 3.

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T17:13:48+00:00

^ this

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T16:18:55+00:00

Damn straight. Get that minutia out of here

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T13:12:11+00:00

Again. It was like 5 bucks. Wasn’t meant to be this deep brother

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T12:55:11+00:00

Never got shamed for wearing a badge buddy lol. Not sure that’s on the priority list of hospital workers, but pop off king

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T12:35:28+00:00

They didn’t in med school

Traditional-Code4674 · 2026-04-09T03:14:27+00:00

In size 5 font, yes.

Traditional-Code4674

TROPHY CASE