I’m about 36 hours away from the USMLE Step I, the first of three tests on the road to becoming an MD. This one marks the halfway point of medical school, and proves that our mastery of basic science/medical trivia is sufficient to start learning to be a doctor.
Seven hours, 350 questions, spread out among the disciplines of anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, behavioral science, microbiology, pharmacology, and pathology.
As we say in my neck of the woods, sheeee-it.
I have been studying like mad for three weeks now, and I’m afraid I’ve reached the “replacement point”–that is, anything I learn now will only push information out the other side. I’m full. I should probably spend the next 36 hours watching television, so I’ll be sure not to learn anything.
So if anyone would like to pimp me (med school slang for “ask me questions”), lend words of encouragement, share your favorite test-taking strategies, offer prayer/invocation/chicken sacrifice to your favorite deity, or sell me the appropriate answer key, feel free to do so.
DoctorJ, I don’t have any advice to you, as my postsecondary education extended to only a bachelor of arts, but I certainly wish you the best of luck! And as I’m only a stone’s throw away from you IRL, perhaps my good wishes will reach their mark.
If you must watch TV, be glad ER’s not on tonight! I recommend Nichelodian. “The Wild Thornberrys” is my favorite.
Ellen–Dr. Nick is from “The Simpsons”. (“Hi, everybody!” “Hi, Dr. Nick!”) He is a graduate of Beverly Hills Upstairs Medical College, and is also the inventor of the Juice Loosener. He’s just as good as Dr. Hibbert–his Yellow Pages ad says so. I like to think of him as the patron saint of medical students.
Yojimbo–a hydrocele is a mass of fluid accumulation in the scrotum. Unlike an enlarged testicle, it transilluminates–that is, when you apply a light to the scrotum, light shines through a hydrocele, whereas it does not shine through a testicle. (The real question is–why am I going into a profession that involves applying a light to someone’s scrotum?)
Not sure on the treatment–that’s far too practical for the pre-clinical years–but I imagine you’d drain it.
I have a question…how many years do you think it is going to take for you to pay off your student loans? Or are you simply one of those lucky bastards who was born into wealth? If the latter is the case, are you married? I’m already married, but I certainly wouldn’t object to a sugar daddy on the side
Being a clumsy bloke, you trip over your Birkenstocks and fall onto your pencil. You pull your once-favorite pencil out (oops) and hear the faint sounds of whoosh, like air coming out of a tire (okay, an exaggeration). What can you except your BP and heart rate to do?
Hey man, good luck and good thoughts to you. Think state-dependent learning. Drink coffee/tea while studying? Drink up before you take the exam. And get a good nights sleep.
Diverticulitis–peritoneal inflammatory signs (rebound tenderness, guarding) particularly in left lower quadrant of the abdomen, fever, vomiting, constipation. Treatment–take it out.
Pneumothorax–causes the blood pressure to drop, and the heart rate to rise. (Not sure about the heart rate.)
Shadowfox–I’m paying off my loans by working in rural eastern KY for four years. Be warned, also, that I’m going into the glamorous and high-paying fields of family practice and/or psychiatry. I, too, am attached, but I’m always up to being someone’s sugar daddy.
Everyone–thanks for the kind words and encouragement.
Homer: But Marge! Every time I learn something new, I forget something else! Remember the time I took the home wine making course and I forgot how to drive?
Marge: Homer! You didn’t forget how to drive! You were drunk!
Homer: And how!
And be careful about pushing stuff out the other side. That can make quite a mess.
From the sounds of it, Doc, you’ve done well in your studies. Best thing for you to do, is take a break. A REAL break, as in go outside for a few hours. Nothing fancy, just do something like take a long walk or a bike ride. Pick up a sandwich and eat it at the park. If you’re starting to feel like you’ve crammed too much into your head, chances are, you’re right. Your mind needs some time to digest everything.
I just finished my first level of finals for culinary school a few weeks ago (even though, I must admit, these tests were NOTHING next to what you’re going through!). Three days of tests-- day one, written & knife skill (cutting perfect 1/4" cubes–not throwing them!), and the other two were cooking 3 dishes a night, from memory (had to pick them out of a hat). After the studying I had put in, the night before the final, I actually put down the notebook and relaxed with my BF for the evening. I know it sounds crazy not to be studying like mad the night before, but since I had been studying for 3 weeks prior, I felt good about it, and went to bed early. Did it work? You betcha. After all was said and done, the score for my finals came to 101 (I got the bonus question on the written test).
I wish you the absolute best of luck. You sound like a brilliant guy, and would make the best of doctors.
JavaMaven–thank you. Congratulations on your finals! Culinary school is probably what I would have done if I hadn’t gotten into med school. (Seriously.)
I’m planning on taking it fairly easy tomorrow. I have notorious pre-test insomnia, so I’ve decided to stay up late tonight and get up early in the morning so I can sleep tomorrow night. (Sounds bizarre, but it has worked before.) My mom and sister are going to be in town, so I’m going to go out to dinner with them. I might go to a movie. I am going to review some finer points tomorrow (especially pharmacology), but really, if I haven’t learned it by now, I’m not gonna.
Or, alternatively, I might go score some crank in the morning and work straight through the test. Depends on my state of panic at the time.
I’m taking the LSAT on Monday, so I feel your pain, man…
At least you can study for yours. I always feel better about tests I can know the material for. This is an aptitude test. I get to sit down for 5 hours and do logic problems and examine syllogisms and find fallacies and read long passages about stuff I sometimes only vaguely understand and then answer questions about them.
I alternate between being completely terrified and resigned to my fate, whatever that might be. I’ve been preparing for the past six months, and I’ve managed to markedly improve on one of the two sections I was fucking up on a consistent basis there at the beginning. If anyone can help me figure out the Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT in a way that five books have failed at doing, I’d appreciate it. And oh, yeah, you have 5 days, 12 hours, 38 minutes, and 35 seconds to do it. Or, well, I do.
Good luck on yours, DoctorJ. I’m sure you’ll do fine–you’ve answered everyone else’s questions just fine. Of course, I have no idea how many of those you frantically scrambled to look up, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Thinking of you, Dr. J. You’re exactly the sort who should be a doctor–and dontcha fergit it. Anyone who can stay sane, funny, giving and human through the grindstone of med school has The Right Stuff.
As far as tactics, it’s mostly a mind game. Go with whatever your patterns dictate. FWIW, you sound a lot like me–born night-owl. I’d recommend some carefully timed study, w/ built in “down time” and then some solid rest. (You’ll need the downtime to decompress enough to sleep.)
The data are already in your brain, you just need to call it up on demand.
As with most tests, it’s a game of nerves as much as learning. Take a few deep breaths, remind yourself why you’re doing this and then do a “Spencer Tracey”: plant your feet, look the other guy in the eye and tell the truth.
I recommend Nichelodian. “The Wild Thornberrys” is my favorite.
