Are you stressed out on your rigid study schedule for USMLE? Here's a letter from one of the more driven and focused junior doctors I've handled. I'm sure he will succeed because he has a great attitude and is a hard worker.
LETTER:
> hi doc louise!
>
> nope! i came back home. i took d kaplan here instead so i could save up more money instead of taking it there. besides, the student visa requires me a lot of things so i just decided to come back home.
>
> ive been doing my kaplan since jan 2 & so far so good. just stressed out with my schedule though. i myt change it the next few days.
>
> how's ur interview so far? ive been telling my batchmates who are currently with me at kaplan to read ur blog. coz dey've been asking me wer i get advices im giving them, so i told them its from ur blogs. coz for me it helps me a lot. ur journey through life is amazing. i hope we could meet paths someday there.
>
> God bless!>
REPLY
schedule... what i did when i made my schedule, i alloted time for katamaran. Like for example, if i could finish one topic for five days, i'd chalk it up for six days, knowing well that i would be feeling blah and not want to study for at least a day. This way, wala masyadong stress.
You made a good move of taking kaplan here, for one, you are home and you don't have to deal with issues like missing your friends or NOT having someone close by to whack your head and encourage you to study.
I bet you are going for the 2008 match... Hmmmm basta make sure that your cs results get out early. PAra ecfmg certified ka (ie passed step 1, 2 and cs) when interview season comes. I got my certificate nung december 12, though i did get invites na kahit wala pang certificate. I guess the certificate kasi would go well if you want a prematch.
As for visas, i'm going for a j1 visa, kasi sabi nila better chances of going into fellowship but if you are placing more importance in having a green card then go for h1 visa (but this requires you find an institution willing to sponsor your h1, and you must have completed your step 3). I'm taking step 3 before residency starts (in your case march 2008), no rush for me kasi i am going for j1. Everyone needs to take the step 3, yung time factor lang when you should take it depends on the type of visa you want.
usmle tests your test taking ability , step 1 is very heavy on concepts so study well. A month prior to my scheduled test, i did two blocks of questions everyday from kaplan. One block (50 questions) was a mixed block, one block was subject specific (i.e. anatomy block., pharma block), this would help me focus what area i was weak in, at the same time, i wouldn't forget about the other subjects.
For step 1, qbank is good enough.
For step 2 cs, usmle world is best.
I know that you can make it I'm really happy i could help you out with my blogs. Please feel free to bug me with questions any time. You will have a lot of them as you go on. :)
God bless. I'm praying for your success!
Louise
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2 comments:
Could you share what schedule you made for step1? How many days did you allot per subject, how many times you read the notes (1st pass, 2nd pass?) and if you also watched the videos? Did you also use Goljan's patho notes? Hope you could help. I'm just starting to organize my study sched.
thank you
This is great info to know.
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