Ramadan Mubarak!

Well it's been a little less than a week into the holy month of Ramadan, where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, so Ramadan Mubarak! I knew that I'd have to find a way to manage USMLE studying during Ramadan and let me tell you, it is not easy. With the night time being super short, and day super long, it's hard to function like a normal human being let alone study for hours and hours without sustenance. Have I figured out the best way to study during Ramadan? No....it's still a work in progress, still going through that trial and error phase!

• I've tried staying up all night and sleeping during the day time, but I've realized that I don't really wake up with much energy, making it counterproductive. 
• So I tried sleeping at night, from 10:30ish to about 3:15 am (gotta wake up to eat suhoor- meal before fasting), I'd start studying by 5 am and then by about 9:30 I get sleepy again, and I cant use coffee to wake me up! So that didn't work.
• Today I slept super early by accident, at around 9 pm and I woke up at around 1: 30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. I took it as a sign and got out of bed and to my study station. I guess I will be awake until about 4:30 am, go back to sleep until about 9 or 10 am.

Unfortunately, I'm still studying anatomy, I'm about halfway through the Kaplan book, but man the chapters take forever to finish! I wish I didn't need the videos, but I do...it better pay off :P I've rearranged my USMLE study schedule, and according to it I should be done with my first read by mid September, which makes me very happy!

I try to find motivation in the small things...or else I'd give up and that simply will not work, now will it?!

Until next time....

I finally registered for the Step 1...well kinda

I thought I needed a bit more motivation, a little push if you will; so I decided to be brave and pick a date for my step 1 and register! All along I've been aiming to take the exam at the end of December/beginning of January, so as I was filling out the online part of the application, they only had 2012 dates and therefore there was no December-January-February eligibility period. But hey, I took the risk and decided that I will take the exam at the of December, God willing! I thought the process would be super quick , but it seems to be a bit lengthy. It was also quite pricey. I knew that the exam was 700 something bucks but since I'm an international med student, I get to pay an extra $140 for international fees, oh and don't forget the $50 charge for the ECFMG certificate itself! After filling out the application and paying they give you a form to print for your school to fill out and mail to ECFMG. Your application will only be processed once they receive the documents from your school, why am I rewriting the ECFMG Website?

Anyways, long story short, since its summer, no one's available at my uni to fill out those documents, so I have to wait until August when all faculty come back.

Because I finally half-registered, I made a 3 month long study schedule and hopefully I'll kick into high gear and kick the Step 1's butt!


Until next time =)

Distractions...They're everywhere!

I know it's been a while since I've updated you all, but I have been trying to figure out some sort of study schedule. Since its summer time, I have a lot of distractions at home, and unfortunately I don't have access to a library nearby. So I came up with this hardcore study schedule, that was definitely too intense and flat out unrealistic considering my study environment. I am still on my first subject, Anatomy, which is a little discouraging but I'm trying to stay positive!

I'm also quite talented at distracting myself; yesterday I was worrying about the summer electives I was going to take....a year from now. Just thinking that far ahead and all the work that I have to do this year kind of freaked and stressed me out and there's no studying when you're freaking out...at least not for me!

Who knows, maybe studying at home is an environment that is too comfortable and relaxing, when I feel like it I can help myself to some food, the internet (which is unavoidable no matter what...so I better exercise some strict self control, real soon), and the TV, even though there's never anything good on. So I'm going to try studying at a coffee shop that's known to be nice and quiet! Hopefully this works, I am starting to worry that I won't have enough time to finish the material...Aaaah I have to stay positive =)

What are some ways you avoid distractions while studying?

Until next time...

The Ultimate USMLE Study Plan

After researching the Step 1 and all that it entails along with reading other people's experiences I came up with the "Ultimate USMLE Study Plan."

First...My Study Materials:

• Main Books:
• First Aid
• Kaplan Lecture Notes (got off of amazon) and Videos(from a friend)
• Goljan Rapid Review of Pathology & Audio (offline)
• Supplementary Books:
• High Yield Neuroanatomy
• BRS Physiology
• Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple
• Lange Pharmcards

Second...Plan of Action

1. First Read: I will/am reading the Kaplan Lecture Notes, watching the corresponding video and taking notes, and then transferring those notes onto my lecture notes while reading the Kaplan lecture notes again. My main goal is to fully understand and visualize the concepts. I'm not memorizing per se I'm just taking it all in! After each subject I finish I will solve the corresponding section in the Kaplan QBook as a form of revision for that subject. I'm sure I'll get mistakes, so I will take notes on the questions I solved incorrectly. 
2. Second Read: During this time I will transfer the important concepts from Kaplan into First Aid to make one large USMLE resource. This will be time consuming as I will also be memorizing First Aid and Kaplan as I transfer the information into FA. I haven't figured it out yet, but I will also start solving questions, preferably timed. 
3. Third Read: Ensuring that I know my huge USMLE resource and implementing the concepts by solving tons of questions, I'm planning on using USMLEWorld and the NBMEs, maybe even KaplanQBank. 

In order to monitor my progress and ensure that I am absorbing all the information, or at least the majority of information, I will take a 'diagnostic test' after each read, I think I'll be using the NBMEs. That way I can tackle my weaker areas before it's too late! About a month before my exam date, I plan on going to my local Prometric testing center and taking the practice test they offer.

As a future International Medical Graduate, it's been recommended by Kaplan advisors that I take an average of 6-8 months to study for this exam. Now it's the end of June, so I plan on taking the exam at the end of December or early January, right in the middle of my clinical rotation to avoid conflict with my end-of-rotation exams.

In order for me to get the US and complete residency there in the program that I want, I need to get a 99 on the USMLE Step 1 exam.

I hope I didn't leave anything out....I'm still in the process of carrying out my ultimate study plan, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Until tomorrow =)

Join Me On My USMLE Journey

I've been thinking about making a blog for a while now, but never actually went through with it, so here I am!
It's 12:50 am, and here I am studying for my Step 1. I am currently on my first read of my first subject, Anatomy, and it hasn't been easy! I've been off school for an entire month, and I still have not been able to get in a solid 7 hours of studying a day. Since I'm home for the summer, I don't know anyone planning on taking the USMLE Step 1 in my town, so what better way to keep me on track than a daily blog!! I'm here to lend support to others, and hopefully get some support from you.

I will go into the details of my educational background, the books I'm using and my overall plan for the Step 1 in my next post, so look out for that tomorrow.

Now I have to get back to Anatomy, more specifically histology....not one of my favorite subjects but I'll live, won't I?

Until tomorrow...