hi guys, gals.. and sujata
i know a bunch of you have inquired about surfboards, ironing boards,
and cutting boards too, so i decided to send u all a mass email with my
awesome language skillz. if you've read this far, then (a) good job, and
(b) keep reading (it gets betteRrr). below is my "ThREe step guide to
Step ONe" i Hope this knowledge of the future will give the edge you
need to succeed in today's rapidly advancing society.
AjaY
_
step 1 4 step 1: "OMG he already started studying.. wat am i doing?!"
first of all, donT WoRRY about the boards until MARCH ['07], at the
EARLIEST (reallY). you can think about it, and talk to pple about it,
you can pray about it, you can polish your littlee good luck toothpick,
but don't freak out and don't start "studying," …and MoSt oF ALL don't
think that yo'ure already behind, regardless of what anyone says.. here
are some resaons:
reason #1: pple are crazy (and you might be one of them.. skitterz
;) jk) but really, don't think about what other pple are doing, and
don't compare what you're doing with what they're doing.. as illustrated
in the following example: after looking at intercalated disks in histo
lab with Dr. "C" you and some fellow classmates decide to LEAVE SCHOOL
and enjoy the weatheR. on your way out, you overhear soemone in room 343
discussing "STEP onE" and lo and behold, it's none other than, well,
we'll give him the generic name "Ajay Patel" the token indian guy (and
by token i mean one of twenty) in the class, who is discussing how he
wants to finish reading FIRST AID by JANUARY, so he can go over
everything an additional two times before he takes his exam on the LAST
DAY POSSIBLE, so he can have an additional 40 days to learn the stuff he
"missed" on his first four passes through everything.. what should you
do in this scenario?? LEAVEEE the dude is CrazY. do you really want to
do derm and look at skin all day? not me. not to detract from skin. it
is a great barrier to infection.
reason #2: ok, got a little off track there.. but reason #2 why you
shoudl not stress out about boards is that.. from seeing how everyone in
my class studied.. you will BURN OUT anywhere within 6-8 weeks of
intense studying (plesae see description of "intense studying" in
appendix A, section II). and if you start studying now, or in january,
or in march, you WILL forget 84% of what you learn. and the other 16%
you already knew before you started. even if you don't burn out.. you'll
just be so sick of studying and looking at the same things over and
over.. that you'll be wishing you took the exam a week earlier and just
took an extra wek of "summer" and as a "corollarY" 6-8 weeks is PLENTY
of time.. as long as you know what to do (and that's why talking to lots
of pple to see what they did is a good idea). i spent about 7 or 8 weeks
studying, but i'll talk more about that a little later. now's a good
time to take a break and get a cup of coffee.. cuz u might be here a while.
reason #3: paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria? rapidly progressive
glomerulonephritis? myelophthisis? exactly.
if you answered 'huh?' to any of the above.. welcome to the club..
thast' exactly wehre i stood when i started studying for boards.. but
don't worry, somehow it magically ALL COMES TOGETHER. and this happens
for 2 "subreasons" (a) you still hve a whole year's worth of learning..
and it happens to be the most important stuff.. until you finish
endocrine/repro (ie finish second year), things will always be choppy
and fragmented, and only once u've seen EVERYTHING, can you start
putting things together.. like, like.. hypotonic isovolemic
hyponatremia!?!? yeah you learned it in renal, but only once u do cardio
and endocrine will it all really make sense (maybe it does make sense,
in which case.. you're in great shape, but i nkwo for me i "learned it
well" in renal, but i never really understoood it, in terms of the
"bigger picture" until the end of second year) and so once u finish all
your other courses you can eventually put things together.
i coudl have summed up all of that by simply saying, everything is
easier when you see it the second time around. i guess i should keep
that in mind th e next time i write one of these novels. subreason (b)
is that while the organ system learning is great, it does unfortunately
leave out some things.. and certain things get overlooked.. so until you
sit down and start studying for teh boards, you won't make certain
connections that you should (and eventually will) make. you will just
see things differently when you're studying for boards.. b/c while there
is quite a bit of detail.. the emphasis is on the big picture, and
you'll learn things that way.. it's hard to explain.. so u'll have to
cut me some slack if that does'nt make sense.
and rememeber.. let pple do whatever they want.. don't let them get to
you. throughout the year you'll get constant reminders that you "should
have started studying already" which conveniently turns out to be true..
but if you're studying for baords, you're studying for the WRoNG thing.
study for yoru CLASSES.. and study that stuff WELL, b/c it will show up
again. and if you don't study it well the first time.. that's time
wasted during your 4-8 weeks of REAL board studying that you could be
using on seomthing else. a lot of pple (aka half the class) stopped
showing up during our endo/repro module, so they could study for boards,
but then a lot of them got burned b/c they never learned the stuff
well.. and before i forget.. during that 4-8 weeks it becoems ESPECIALLY
importnta not to be concerned with what other pple are doing.. stick to
your own schedule, your own pace, your own studying styles.. it's what
works for YOU, not them. pple freak out.. and try to freak yOU out. dont
do drugs. dont let it happen.
the way i see/saw/see-saw-ed it, you're really only competing with
yoruself. nobody else. there's no curve, there's no favorites, they are
no exam CHALLENGEs.. it's just you.. and the only thing that is holding
you back from that competitive residency is how well YOU do, and not how
well that other person did that took your residency spot. just my 2 cents.
speaking of $$ bling $$ i hope u got your checkbook out next to your
16oz juan valdez 100% columbian coffee. if u've read up to this point,
you can stop now and send me a check for $3. haha, im just kidding. keep
reading, and then send me the full payment of $4.50 when u finsih
reading the rest
okk so moving on! now that you hopefully realize that all the hype about
step 1 is just like all the hype behind the olson (spelliNG?) twins
turning 18.. you need not WORRy right now.. remember.. talk to pple, get
ideas, visit websites for medical students (student-doctor.net,
prep4usmle, etc.. do a google search u'll find a ton), read fee-based
review articles in online journals similar to this one. just THINK about
what POSSIBLE plans you might be considering as an approach to tackling
step 1. chances are.. once u start studying for a week you'll realize
that your plan isn't goign to wrok and it may need a little tweaking,
and that's OK.. you have the time. just do'nt wait until 4 weeks in, and
then realize you're doing things wrong. and again, that's why talking to
pple and hearing what did and didn't work for them is a good idea. but
remember.. everyone's differnet and you ahve to come up wit something
that wroks for you. but if you're worried just think.. you've been
studying like this for the last 10+ years.. you're an experT! or you've
just learned how to really beat the system.. either way.. GoOD jOB!
_
step 2 4 step 1: "dang.. how do i know waht to use!? hwo am i goign to
schedule my time?! what about TLC's what not to wear on friday night.. i
can't miss that!"
high yield basket-weaving? or BRS: welding? which one do you use??
chances are if you missed the last Future Farmer's of American
Milk-Defect Tasting competition, u may need to buy the Kaplan
Cow-Tipping Lecture series with 3 onion patch visits. it's kind of scary
how much stuff is out there.. but again, don't drop that valium on
yourself just yet.. talk to pple! find out what they used, and what they
did and didn't like about it.. most importantly here.. don't buy ONE of
the eVERYTHING. don't even buy TWO books for the same topic. ideally,
one would like to learn a subject, say anatomY! (my favorite! actually,
it is my favorite!) by learning it using one book, and then having time
to read over another book to "solidify" or even just to cross reference
the material. but.. this is where pple feel they dont have enough time..
there isn't enough time to do that. and if you do leave that much time,
you're probably learning way to much for the amt on the exam. (the exam
itself is 350 questions ONLY, divided up in 7 one-hour blocks of 50
questions, with break time) in other words.. that's less than ONe
question per page of First Aid (see below).. ie.. it's NOT muCH (for the
amt you have to learn)
basically, what you want to do, is figure out what the "classics" are..
for example, everyone seems to liek BRS Pathology, or Clinical Micro
Made Ridiculously Simple.. and you'll probably want to use those too.
then, you want to find out what books fit your style. the common ones
are BRS series, High Yield series, etc.. you can check them out at the
bookstore. but.. before you buy a complete set.. see if you can borrwo
them frm an upperclassman, or buy a few used when pple send out "books
for sale, furniture for sale, tattered clothes for sale" emails..
chances are you'll find a particular series that you like, and u will
probably like other subjects in the series as well. i'm from the east
side (of amherst) and i liked BRS for anatomy an d embryo, while a lot
of others (apparently from other sides of the compass) seemed to liek
the high yield series (but don't worry.. i schooled 'em HAHAH
JK!!!!!!!!) but see what you like.
bottom line tho: don't buy too m any books.. b/c you won't use them
all.. and will haev to sell them for $5 via lowly emails to the
listserv.. (ps look for a lowly email from me with a few books in the
near future!) save your money.. and go out for mexican (invite me!)
heHEhe.. i think im losing it.. you'll have to excuse me. i know this is
getting long.. it's too bad i was never this good at writing english
papers :-
ill talk about what i used and what i thought worked well.. but read on!
_
step 3 4 step 1: "phew last 'step'"
this one is easy. step 3 entails reading on about the following 4 steps
that will ensure you roster spot on the USMLE DREaM TEAM. haha jk (about
the 4 steps, not teh dream team) basically, im just goign to tell you
about what i did, and how it worked/didn't wokr for me.
it all began on a cold, lonely, rainy, ominous, lazy, mONdAy. which
monday it was, i do'nt rmemeber.. it was day 1 of 30 wihch i spent
thinking about what books i wanted to use, what schedule would work, how
much time i shoudl give myself, how well i wanted to do, what was for
dinner, what subjects i need to study, what to study first, what to
study last, what i wanted to drink with dinner, how could i relearn
everything from teh last 2 years in a month, what ill do with my
extended summer vacation.. all the important issues. so it was probably
march. every day that passed was just another where i said, "wooPs, i
was spposed to start studying for baords. i should at least review
something" ooH those long tortuous nights (on 10 hrs sleep) and long
grueling days (oh that bitter FOUR hours of lecture, taking up the
WHOLEE daY) hehe. ok. im done. basically i probaly went through the same
thing most of you are going through. even after reading all this, it's
inevitable not to think about the boards, or want to at lesat do some
studying to feel a little bit better, and that's NORMAL. it happens. so
no sweat! unless u don't have A/C. i don't know how many times i would
sit wiht my pile of books (i got a bunch from my sister who had already
finished step 1 etc) just thinking about what else i would need for a
particular subject.. which books might be useful, what other pple were
using. all the good stuff. i probaly used liek 10 lavender OMC computer
lab cover sheets with 'panchal2' written all over trying to figure out a
schedule. how many days for pathology? how many for physiologY? what
about embryO? HSITOLOGY!?!? i would use calendars to figure it out, to
"make the precise schedule" that i could stick to with a little
determination. advice!! it's not goign to happeN! at least not while
u're still in classes (unless you're really dedicated, in which case
you'll do great, but it does'nt mean the rest of you are behind).
so in essence, the skeleton of my studies was this:
1. i decided to study everything by subject (pathology, physio, cell
bio) etc, as an alternative to doing it organ-based as we learned in the
first two years of medical school. why? well i mentioned how certain
things would get left out doing it organ-based (the whole bit above..) i
felt that in learning it by subject, i wouldn't leave anything out, and
likewise i would fill in some holes. i just felt that for me it was the
best way to be comprehensive in my studying. nothing against organ-based
studying, b/c i know pple that did that and everything went well for
them - remember.. it's what YOU'Re most comfortable with
2. i used FIRST AID as THE MAN, i mean, the BOOK. basically everything i
did revolved around first aid. if u don't already know (and trust me, i
didnt!) first aid is a comprehensive review book that basically has ALL
the answers for step 1. the PROBLEM tho.. it's just INFORMATION, and the
book itself doesn't teach you anything. the easy way to think about it,
is taht in order to get the MOST out of first aid (and consequently get
teh answers right on the exam), you have to ALREADY KNOW stuff before
looking at first aid. ie.. you hve to study the material using other
sources that you can actaully learn better from, before looking through
first aid. ie. read BRS pathology and THEN look at the pathology is
first aid..
what's time consuming, but what i felt really worked, was to study from
other books/videos/bike rides through the mountains of Tibet and then
annotate/take notes (same thinG?) and write everything IN first aid, so
that if i ever needed to go back to something, it was there, in first
aid, and i didn't need anything else. some things required more note
taking than others, and often when i studied something and THEN looked
into first aid, i already knew what was there, and i was able to make
TEN TIMES the connections to things when i actually used first aid (as
opposed to just trying to study right out of first aid) so that's my
advice on first aid.
BUY IT. it's the best book out there, it has everything you need to
know, but extracting that knowledge from teh book requires a little
work. but if you can do it, you're all set.
3. so then it just came down to figuring out what to use to learn and
fill in wahtever i needed to in first aid (im running out of steam!).
basically if you're doing it by subject, this is what to consideR:
microbio/immunology
anatomy/embryology/histology
biochem/genetics/molecular and cell bio
biostats/behavioral science
physiology
pathology
pharmacology
am i leaving anything ouT? i think that's most of it. so i figured out
what takes the most tiem (physio, pathologY) and i tried to set up my
tiem accordingly, as best i could (although i always kept needing more
time.. go figure =P) but, knowing the subejcts, i had to find out what
to use for each. i bought a couple books here and there, but i also had
some kaplan books which i got from my sister (im not goign to say a ton
about books.. but ask around, pple will share a loT). i made the mistake
tho of getting a few too many books than i needed, and a bunch of them
just ended up sitting there.. wooPs! so eventually i figured out what to
do (see below) and i filled in first aid. it took a while, but it was
worthwhile (in my opinion).
4. ok, so what about practice questions!? you pretty much want to get
kaplan Q bank, and you don't need much else. you can get it early
(probably even like now), but dont dooo it.. they'll offer you like a 5
month subscription at a discount (like $399 or smething), but you do'nt
need it. just wait, and buy it right before you start studying ($279 for
like 3 months) it's more than enough timee. in terms of qbank itself..
there's liek 2100 questions, which iss quite a LOT.. so about q bank
a. it takes a long time to do questions, and then look at answers..
so make sure u leave enough time. the answers in particular take a long
time to read through.. and you want to read them all (see item 'c'
below). planning out to do 50 or 100 questions a day is doable, but it
will take a good 2-3 hours to do it thoroughly so just keep that in
mind.. and if you miss a day… you can fall behind easily. (just as
advice). but don't worry, it's not a lost cause.. and while some pple
get through all of q bank, some pple only do 50-70% (which is still a
ton of questions, and they do well on the exam too). personally i
recommend doing it all (again see 'c' below)
b. wooT.
c. ok. so q bank is pretty cool, b/c you can create your own tests,
which can be broken up almost any way possible (except you can't make a
test with only 1 question.. what's that about.) but you can divide it up
by subject, by organ system, you can mix'n'match it however you like,
and you can set it up to be as long as you like. so that's nice. pple
often just take "random" tests using any of the 2179 questions, and test
themselves as they go along. generally pple's scores tend to improve as
they study more, and while they might have started off getting only
30-40% right, they're up to 60 or 70% by the end. which brings up a
point (which perhaps could have been written under 'b' above.. and that
is.. a score of 50-60% on qbank is GOOOD.. and if yo'ure consistenly
above 60% you are doing GREAT..not what you're used to.. and we weren't
used to it eitheR). it makes sense if you think about it.. b/c on the
actual exam, a score of 60-70% will be on the higher end of the spectrum
(not bad, huh!)
ok but back to qbank itself. personally.. i dont think you learn as much
by always taking random tests. some pple disagree with me (and again,
did well using their own method) but just regarding my own thoughts
about qbank.. i feel that while it can be useful as an assessment tool,
given the questions they ask and the answers provided, it's much better
as a LEARNING tool. so what does that mean? well, to me it meant that i
never used my scores to gauge my studying, and more importantly, i only
did qbank questions that were relevant to waht i was studying at the
particular time.. so if i was studying physiology, i would concentrate
all my qbank stuff on the physiology questions. i would study physio,
and then once finished studying, i would do all the relevant qbank
questions. that way, i was still able to assess myself.. but assess
myself in light of what i just studied. did i learn what i was suppsoed
to learn? did i rmemeber what i just learned? do i need to look at
anything else? in other words, it reinforced my studying. at the same
time, no doubt there was stuff in q bank that i didnt cover, and so i
could use the questions and answers as a SoURCE of information to learn
new things. and i think that's what becomes most difficult with taking
random tests with qbank.. you are always jumping all over the place..
and it's often difficult to figure out what you need to take away from
it. again.. that's just my two cents. i didn't really set aside a
certain # of questions i would do a day, but any time i finished a
subject i would do all the related quesitons before moving on.. and
eventually i was able to get through all of it. all 2000 =
d. random points about q bank. you're definitely not goign to have
time to go back through q bank (and if you do, you likely won't get much
out of it the 2nd time).. the point being.. (and u'll find this with a
lot of your studying).. if you're used to "leaving things" that you want
to "come bacK to" at the end of yur studying.. chances are yo'ull run
out of time and won't come back to a lot of them.. so instead of putting
things off.. do your best to try and learn whatever it is yo'ure trying
to learn .. and do it at that particular moment.. it's not life or death
here… but you dont want to cram stuff in at the end.. so if there are
some qbank questions you want to 'mark' (which you can dO!) it's not a
problem.. just dont leave yourself with a lot that you ahve to come back to
remember what i said before? well.. yeah i said a lot (my bad) but don't
compare your qbank scores with others!1 everyone does qbank
differnetly.. and so while your score might appear way lower (or way
higher.. yess!) it can be deceiving.. so just go by how you think you're
doing - and remember.. if you're consistently scoring 70% you should
stop stuyding, taek the day off, and go eat MEXICAN fooD
_
*OKK.. break timE phew! almost done (i hopE) the other thing to
REMEMMBER… this is a LOT OF STUFF TO DIGEST.. do'nt try and remember
it all.. .im just writing out EVERYTHING i can think of from my
experience… and trying to share it all.. so just keep this email and
you can refer back to it whenver.. or you can request an additional copy
for $7.40 + S&H (no CODs). im just trying to give it all to you know so
maybe you can calm your nerves a little if yo'ure worried or you can
just procrastinate instead of learning your interstitial lung diseases.*
_
5. ok.. so i do'nt know where i pulled #5 out.. but it works.. what
about SCHEDULE!?? and TIME?! very important! as i mentioned.. i spent a
total of about 8 weeks studying. once endo/repro ends.. you have the
"review" course for 2 1/2 weeks.. they'll say it's important (and it is)
but i think that is FINALLY the time when you should crack down adn
start studying for reallz, yO. it's nice, b/c it gives you a two week
period where you can actaully see how your schedule/plan/NO plan is
going to work. you may find that you can stick to it without a problem
and get through what you need to in teh following weeks, or.. you may
have to make soem adjustments (like mE). after the review course..
there's a period of about 7 weeks before third year starts.. so that
time is split between summER and BOARDS studying (whY?? whY!!) so most
pple use about 5-6 of it for studying, and 1-2 for vacation.. you decide
what works for u.. for some pple.. they are most than happy with
studying for 4 weeks, taking the exam.. passing it, and moving on to
more important things.. to most of us.. it IS like liFe or deatH and
some additional time is well worth it (in the end).
so for me.. i decided to just pick a subject and finish it in that 2 1/2
week review course. what did i pick? well i decided to go wtih something
that i didn't have a very firm grasp on given the way our courses were
split it in yeras 1 and 2.. so i wanted to learn all the microbio and
immunology in that time. i did it.. b/c (a) i knew the review course
included a bunch of micro/immuno and so it would be useful in that
regard, but more importantly, (b) it was one of the weaker subjects for
me (and a lot of pple !) and so i wanted to learn it really well, so
that once i started my 5-6 weeks of studying other stuff, i wouldnt have
to wrory about learning it all. i did manage to get trhough it (but in
the end found out that afer 6 weeks of studying you forget the stuff you
started out with =P), and so then it was out of the way, and i had more
time to concentrate of other things.
i didn't mention taht over spring break.. i had planned to study a LOT.
and you know waht that usually amounts too. sPLaT. i did manage to read
a short 100 pg review of neuroanatomy (made ridiculously simple). it was
good.. b/c we had just finished the neuro module, it was smething i
actually enjoyed at the time, and since it was relataively fresh, it was
a quick read, and consequently i also had to spend less tiem on neuro
later on.. it was good b/c i felt like i had done seomthing (which i
had).. and it took a litle stress off of studying..
speaking of which.. i think it is wayyyy important to include DOWN TIME
in your schedule to destress.. everyone will say it "find time to
exercise and eat right blah blah" but honestly.. it's TRUE.. do
soemthing.. go for a walk, ride a bike.. play nintendo. SLEEP! drink
orange mocha frapuccinos, clip your toenails.. do wahtever.. to just
relax.. you may freak out adn think in retrospect you should have been
using that time to study.. but whatever little info you could have
crammed into your head was probably better spent otherwise.. i pretty
much ended up taking one day out of the week to just relax and get some
exercise in. initially i thought i could exercise and waste half the
day, and study the other half.. but that invariably turned into doing
absoluetly nothing the WHOLE day. oh well! but you need that. you may
have to take an extra week to study to make up for that lost time.. and
it will cut your break before a third yera a little shorter.. but you
wont NEED as much of a break b/c you in my opinion, it was like taking
breaks all throughout your studying! wahoo!
and on a similar note (b flat).. make a daily schedule that you LIKE. i
like sleeping in. so i sLEpt IN. i dont think my day ever started until
10. appalling i know! but i could FunCtIOn and i studied better.. i
would be up late… but i culd sleep in!!!!! you never have to go
anywhere which is niCE.. so you can do waht you want.. don't get carried
away tho.. i can't say i always kept pace… and i would be up TOO late
some nights when i slacked off, and that's not so good either.. but the
point is.. dont be afraid to sometiems adapt a 'screw it" attitude for a
few hours or even a whole day.. as long as you get back on track when
you start studying again. and when y'ure taking a break.. DONT be
THInkING about STUDYiNG.. cuz then waht's the point?
so finally.. (that's like the 10th 'finally') in terms of my weekly
schedule.. once i finished micro/immuno.. i then started on
biochem/moleculr bio/genetics.. b/c those were (and still ARe!) pretty
weak for me.. so i wanted to learn those well, and i wanted to get them
out of the way so i wouldnt have to think about having to still study
them.. i probably spent 5-6 days on that stuff (which is more than i
wanted to and probaly more than i could have afforded at the time) but i
wanted to do it ThoRouGhLY so that i woudlnt have t ocome back to it
..im repeating myself (again what i mentioned before about not learning
things with the attitude that you'll come back to it lateR). so i
studied the stuff.. and i did qbank.. and then i moved on. all the time
tho.. i kept an eye on when my exam was.. and how much time i would be
leaving for other stuff… (Important! do that!)
so i kept studying like taht.. studying, doing questions, taking a day
off, falling behind (hehE) but slowly i got through the
biostats/behvaioral science, followed by physiology and pathology (those
2 took the longest, but were the most "high yield" b/c they show up a
lOT) and eventually my time slipped away. i still had pharmacology to
do, but at that point i would say a good 5 weeks had elapsed, i had 4-5
days before my exam.. and i COULD have finished, but i felt taht i
needed more time b/c i didnt want to cram in the pharmacology and finish
reviewing things.. so i MOVEd my exam back! GASP! they say that you
should never postpone your exam and that you should take it when you
scheduled it (which is good advice).. but i had been keepign an eye on
my timeline and i knew that this would probaly happen.. so i planned for
it. fortuantely i found an exam at a later date (you can switch w/o a
fee as long as it's early enough and **granted there's a spot open =
almost my undoing! ps they'll TELL YOU all this stuff so d'nt try and
memorize it.. it's not like chemotherapy agents). but basically i pushed
my exam back, so that i could finish pharmacology, and then have time to
READ THROUGH FIRST AID cover to cover one last timE. YIkES, but nOT
yikES! b/c i had been annotating it all along, everything i had studied
and "knew" was in first aid, so it wa sjust a matter of going through
all of it again.. it was painful let me tell u! but in the end.. i had
like 4-5 days to read through it all again before my exam.. and it was
all IN first aid now.. and i understood how to LOOK at it (which is
keY!). so in total i spent a good 6-7 weeks studying.. but it wasn't too
stressful.. since i took a lot of breaks and a few days off in between..
taht was my schedule tho! i woudl give you a copy.. but i guess it
wasn't really a schedule seeing how it changed every other day.
_
wahoo! that's it. so to tie it all together..
1. remember… this is just a bunch of BS (board studyingN) advice..
that i wanted to share with you all before you all board the ship.. im
sure this email probably sTREsseD you ouT mORE than it did to calm you
down (WOOPS) but just relax.. and save it.. so you have soemthing to
refer to when you start thinking about boards stuff (not 'til february
tho.. remembeR?!?!)
2. THEY WILL TELL YOU ALL THIS AGAIN. dont worry about remembering all
of this.. and if you have questions.. it will likely be ANSWERED at some
point.. you will be well informed in due time.. so have a popsicle and
enjoy the ridE
3. im sure there's a bunch of stuff i left out.. not to mention other
advice or comments that may contradict with what i said. but that's
cool.. feel free to email me if you have any other quesitons or if i
didn't mention something.. i'd be more than happy to help (i have a lot
of tim eon my hands right now as you can probably tell)
4. don't forget to send me your check now that you're almost done
reading.. if youre still awake and/or haven't deleted this email yet
5. you guys are at the top of the class.. so unless you go to the
caribbean 2 weeks before your exam.. yo'ure going to do well.. and
rmemeber.. this test isn't eVeryTHING.. even tho it does and will feel
like it is.. but dont worry.. we all go through it =P
6. ill stop rambling.. also feel free to send this to anyone else that
would like.. i'd send it to the listserv but i think i might get hate
mail from pple that do'nt know mE. ajay patel wouldn't like taht.
7. also.. remember.. you'Re not me (pheW! haahh JK).. so like all things
you will hear about boards.. take it with the grain of salt.. i just
wanted to give u a brief (yet terribly long) heads up so that it may
help you out when your time comes mwhhwhaahah! i did my best, but of
course i have my biases.. so keep that in mind with whatever you hear..
from me, from classmates, from professors, from librarians, from
busdrivers, or the guy in the barrel at teh falls.
oK.. for now, good luck with pulmonary guys. don't worry about boards..
you'll all do well.. it's too bad i can't use this as m y thesis.
-third year AjAY
_
Appendix A
Section II
"intense studying" defined as the smashing together of one, intense
and one study, to yield a higher power
in·tense Audio pronunciation of "intense" ( P ) Pronunciation Key
(n-tns)
adj. in·tens·er, in·tens·est
1. Possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to an extreme
degree: the intense sun of the tropics.
2. Extreme in degree, strength, or size: intense heat.
3. Involving or showing strain or extreme effort: intense concentration.
4.
1. Deeply felt; profound: intense emotion.
2. Tending to feel deeply: an intense writer.
stud·y Audio pronunciation of "study" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (std)
n. pl. stud·ies
v. stud·ied, stud·y·ing, stud·ies
v. tr.
1. To apply one's mind purposefully to the acquisition of knowledge
or understanding of (a subject).
2. To read carefully.
3. To memorize.
4. To take (a course) at a school.
5. To inquire into; investigate.
6. To examine closely; scrutinize.
7. To give careful thought to; contemplate: study the next move.
"intense studying" defined as the smashing together of one, intense
and one study, to yield a higher power
