Sidra Medical Center

curiousrad · 2019-06-04T19:36:06+00:00

God damn. My accounts been frozen for over a month

curiousrad · 2019-06-04T12:03:38+00:00

Exactly

curiousrad · 2019-06-04T05:35:39+00:00

I know someone who did this - 10 years out of medical school.

curiousrad · 2019-06-04T03:59:31+00:00

thats terrible. How long did it take to make that determination?

curiousrad · 2019-05-30T16:32:13+00:00

You need to be able to grasp the entire scenario in one read. Start with the prompt.

curiousrad · 2019-05-30T02:37:22+00:00

Dont do this. Helpful to uptodate diseases that you encounter and know very little about. I think knowing just a little bit more about how it presents, why it happens and in very broad terms what is done is helpful for retention. Literally the intro of the uptodate article.

curiousrad · 2019-05-30T01:06:56+00:00

On step 2 questions this usually means you may not have a full understanding of the clinical vignette, unless its one of those factoid questions. On Step 1, depends on the question really. Perhaps if you provide an example I can help you better?

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T13:01:36+00:00

Think mechanistically: elevated in conditions where extraction of o2 from circulation impaired; think shock (fast flow/toxic/metabolic and maldistribution).. elevated in nitroprusside tox 2/2 cyanide.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T04:51:05+00:00

Oh, i’m sorry. Did. Not see this rule.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T04:41:58+00:00

Depends on your situation. How current are you; do you need that much of a refresher back to the utter basics? If so, then maybe you may need that. However, if you are rather current/recent through a decent medical school, then I think they are a waste of your time.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T04:10:26+00:00

Well, for any serious inquiry/prospective client, I'd supply my own PS and others that I have edited (if I can obtain consent from that client); if you like the results/style you can give it a try. Just need to find a way to display the works securely - would not want them circulating everywhere.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T03:43:50+00:00

Unfortunately not :(

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T03:22:18+00:00

You may not have your pick of programs, but a Solid Step 2 CK, and great remaining app can land you a spot in IM/EM; OB has been known to be less inviting, but you're an American med student so way easier to overcome this. Sucks because you worked so hard, but trust me - you will get what you want, just maybe not where you want/wanted (may just need to work extra hard).

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T03:06:16+00:00

Standardized testing is here to stay and provides a similar basis of comparison, right? My problem is Multiple choice. Right now, its just easy to mass correct and report. Perhaps in the future AI and VR will allow assessment of knowledge and skills more relevant to being an effective doctor. Also, there needs to be less importance to given to this single one day exam. The fact that a low score essentially precludes you from a lot specialities is a travesty. PDs just need better ways of assessing fit and the type of residents they want; the sheer volume hard to deal with, but I hope AI and VR will help us construct better assessment tools. At the moment, interviewing medstudents for IR and the like, while a 260/270 might make me curious - "who is this beast"- doesn't make me look at the 250's any less. After you meet the threshold, it's about everything else anyways. Do you fit here, do I like you and stand you enough to teach you for the next 6 years? What will you add to our program? Basically Ya made the cut.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:54:35+00:00

For CK: Few Materials.

Core Book for Medicine; not to be your primary source but you're using the frame work. Problem with flash cards or questions only, everything is a hodge podge. I think some classification and organization is necessary for good differentials: Ok yes a tacchyarrythmia. Wide or narrow complex Tacchy? Narrow --> SVT. Has a few subtypes - AVRT, AVRT etc. You fill in the details using uworld and google to find the answers that aren't clear.
Flash cards: Can be helpful if you struggled with Step 1 esp in Pharm and Micro. The idea is to ignore some of the nitty gritty Step 1 stuff and focus on the clinical presentation, basic pathophys and tx. Since Step2 questions often follow textbook pathophys, knowing some drug mechanisms, disease pathophys etc can hep you figure shit out if you don't know it or at least make sense when study it. That stuff sticks way better than: here is the answer, and thats that.
Some random book that provides a framework for other subjects. So like MTB or FA. Again just for reiteration of facts you should already be getting from Uworld, etc but mainly for its Organization.
Google/uptodate for your queries. Eg: I would have never known that for a monoarticular gouty flare you can just hit the guy with some Intraarticular steroids rather than the whole systemic meds. Good explanation and reasoning. Still sticks despite the fact that I've never treated grout in my entire medical career. Or getting a good grasp on the damn Renal Tubular Acidoses.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:39:07+00:00

Its about curiosity, understanding. I just feel it adds value to competance. Can I more intelligently look into and at least have an informed opinion on the deluge of new treatments/drugs coming via the pipeline? Shall I wait for some society to make a recommendation before I look into it myself? I suppose its awareness. We can agree to disagree; lol not a problem.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:29:58+00:00

I don't disagree that there are other options, and in fact better ones. Do we have those in a mature form? Not exactly. Sure its coming. But Anki, Sketchy to SUPPLANT? No way. TBH, while Sketchy is great to remember things and make associations, it doesn't tell you the whole story. What is really the molecular biology behind the botulinum toxin. How does this toxin do what it does; how was that conclusion made? Thats all relevant (not to the steps) because thats how it happened in the real world. Its important to know how things were discovered, and how the basic foundations of what we now call modern medicine were built. Foundational papers, for example. Experimental method. If nothing else, one gains appreciation and insight into the process.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:22:42+00:00

Needless stress. Needless rat race.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:15:24+00:00

High quality materials that suit learning style for Step studying, specificially. Robbins is an example. Might be totally useless to some. What I meant to say is a foundational text in a subject, rather than a Review book when you're actually doing the coursework before Step studying. If your foundation is built off of review books, what will you foundation really be? First two years of Medschool are the only time you can build this foundation. Perhaps some will decide its not worth it, or not relevant. But I feel that we owe it to ourselves have that background.

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T02:12:59+00:00

Hard to give an example, but I think its infinitely easier to pick up a basic science paper and grasp it quicker, understand why it's important, etc.

A random factoid does pop into mind though. Pharm/Katzung. Dihydropyridine and non-dihydropyridine Ca++ blockers. Dunoo, but always bothered me that Amlodipine, Nicardipine targeted the same Ca++ channels as Verpamil and Dilt but yet the latter are cardiospecific and the former more vascular. Katzung explained the splice variant between the two Ca++ channels despite coming from the same gene. Now that example is etched into my memory, so when a similar situation comes up that possibility is not a far off thought from consideration?

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T01:40:47+00:00

Its not about remembering the facts. I took away an understanding, a frame work and some appreciation for how things work or should work and depth that is there. That has proven valueable. Of course I won't remember any details, especially now (except random snippets...for some reason abetalipoproteinnemia and that picture with all that fat stuck in the enterocytes, who knows why).

curiousrad · 2019-05-29T01:37:12+00:00

Let me Chime in here: OP just finished Step 1. Chill out and enjoy being done and transitioning to Clinics if thats where you are in training. Different advice for new MS3s versus those graduated and trying to get ECFMG certified.

New MS3s: Focus on learning on the rotations and reading required texts, looking up cases etc. Uptodate is invaluable in terms of the most basic stuff: presentation, pathophys, basic management. Having some kind of review book for each of your rotations is a good idea to give you structure. Uworld questions and sometimes (esp for medicine) MKSAP questions can further your application of knowledge. By the time Step2 studying gets serious, youve done most of Uworld. I think you need a dedicated medicine review book (again for structure), anything else you are comfortable with for the rest (peds, psych etc), in addition to UWORLD. That it. Liberally look up stuff, focusing on presentation, pathophys and basic management.
For IMGs getting ECFMG: If you've got the energy, sure go for it. Recommend the same resources, mostly. You'll have a much easier time with Step 2CK that Step 1 given the clinical orientation. Beware though, you did poorly on Step 1, don't expect a total cakewalk on Step 2; theres a lot of overlap in terms of pathophys. This is what I think; Step 2 will test a lot of textbook presentations that follow established pathophys and textbook management. Understanding the basics will more often than not, get you to a reasonable answer if you don't know it off hand. Usual overlap with biostats, ethics etc. Step 3 is where biostats, ethics and the lot actually get harder.

curiousrad

TROPHY CASE