Term 3 is a hodgepodge of a bunch of subjects crammed into a short term with an excellent schedule. The tests are not easy, and you need to study, but it just didnt seem as bad as the other terms at all. Keeping yourself upto date, organized, and having fun is probably your best bet. Might be your best opportunity to see around the island.
No prep necessary. Behavioral Science in Medicine by Barbara Fadem is the MAIN book you need for term 3. It has all the information in the notes, plus a few things that should be in the notes (and aren't) yet, are in the objectives (atleast, it felt that way when i took the course). It is written very straight forwardly, the link is to your right ==========================>
Reading this is better than lecture in most cases, but occasionally theres stuff in lectures not mentioned in here. For the most part this is most of the Behavioral Science part.
As for the other parts of term 3, BRS statistics is perfect, as the statistics notes were waaaay too much material.
For the Health Care section of Term 3, the Lange Understanding Health Policy book was recommended by somewhere, i forget, however I don't know how useful this text may be for the tests. I would stick with the... notes. sorry.
FIRST AID, first aid, first aid.
It has really good stuff for Term 3 (and 4), don't forget about First Aid!
** Term 3 is a vacation. The schedule is nice, so the best advice really is: Don't Get Too Behind... I know
Grenada is nice, but don't forget to study!!!**
* UPDATE * - make sure you are getting the most upto date FIRST AID book by now so you have something you've scribbled in that you can use by the time youre ready for USMLE Step 1. You dont want to have to re-write all your notes.
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Term 4
1st) PUT TOGETHER A GOOD GROUP OF 12-13 people for your Pathology Lab Group. These people you will be spending 10 hrs a week presenting pathology slides to each other. This is kind of like Histology lab in term 1, except you are responsible for 1 slide, instead of 50, and you must know what you're talking about. Don't be worried if you don't get into a group, there tends to be a lot of drama involved in this. Group lists will be posted a week before term 4 starts, and anyone not in a group can email the group leader and find a spot. Don't stress out about it.
4th Term Prep - for those of you who want to get a head start.
The worry for a lot of people is decelling. I can only guess that people neglect other courses (like micro) to do well in Path. Here's the secret. don't prepare for pathology. Prepare for MICRO. Do some preparation during the 3rd term and during the first couple weeks of Path. Especially for those of you who are skipping the Micro-Mandatory Lab sessions, the lab manual is IMPORTANT. They take a few questions from there in the midterm, and bunch for the final, so don't forget to learn that stuff as well.
When to do this: BEFORE you start term 4, during Term 3.
okay. So its a few weeks before term 4 starts...
A) Make sure you pick up a copy of BRS Micro and Microbiology Made Simple. You can go ahead and start memorizing the first 2 chapters of Microbiology made simple. This will help you put everything in perspective. Just get acquainted with BRS micro. To see what's in store for you.
B) Watch the General Microbiology Kaplan Videos - some of this won't come in till post-midterm and will sound foreign, but when you need to apply it, it will be so nice knowing what is going on. Memorizing which bugs were +'ve and -'ve and what shape helped later, and will lessen the burden of memorizing these things in a pinch later as well.
C) First Aid. During the course, there are some really helpful mnemonics and categories that First Aid Puts together for this course. Just know they exist and don't forget about them.
You're going to want to make a differential chart for as many of the organisms possible for both Bacteria and Viruses. First Aid begins to do this, but it is not detailed enough for what you need to know for exams. Don't worry about this until later. Just be aware. For questions, you should turn to UWorld, BRS, Exammaster, flashcards, whatever you can find. I have some good links in "helpful links" on the right margin for you. Bookmark them. Micro Question Block is good.
If you care to do some Pathology Prep:
1) Get familiar with the KAPLAN VIDEOS and Goljan Audio Lectures, the WebPath Website (ALL OF IT, tutorials, examinations (Both picture + MCQ), and special secrtions (includes sections on MI's, AIDS, etc). Then you'll know how things are setup when you need them. Don't bother memorizing quite yet. Remember, its the lecture notes that are important, not the Kaplan video material, although for the most part they are the same. You may start watching the General Pathology Kaplan Videos, this can help you along, but to be honest, the first leg of Pathology is a breeze compared to the second and third parts, so relax. Just get ready for the storm when it hits. BE PREPARED.
2) This is more important. Review Immunology, again, the Kaplan videos are a great way to do this. especially at 1.4X speed.
3) read about general pathology in Robbins, don't worry about Systemic pathology because we will not cover everything in the book, you skip around the sections a lot and you don't want to fill your brain with a lot of pathology you don't need. Trust me, theres plenty you have to learn already, don't make it worse. Read PATHOLOGY - 4th term, to see what to expect when you get there.
So, yea, lightly prepare for general pathology for now.
Goodluck guys, 4th term is a mental battle. You will get frustrated, you may even get angry. Just keep your cool, try the best you can, and make it through. Don't forget about micro. CPD you can cram for and do okay. Don't argue with the CPD department, its tempting, but it wont help you.
CPD
Oh yea.... almost forgot. ... its a frustrating class. Make sure you pick up your PD Kit items, you WILL need them for exams and practice. The department threatens that you will lose 5% if you don't goto class and they use your clickers as attendance markers. I cannot tell you this isn't true, but the department won't prove it. So, its up to you if you want to call their bluff. See, you're already getting the feeling of frustration. Just get used to this feeling, put a smile on your face, and move on. You have path to worry about, don't let this kind of non-sense stress you out.
When you actually DO get around to studying for CPD, a lot of great questions can be found in the back of Bates Guide to Examination (big green one), i think its in the version with some kind of cdrom package. I saw these questions in the FileTube pdf Version. The pink pages and boxes in this book are testable stuff. But honestly, I think this book is lacking detail and full of shortfalls to be the GO-TO book for training doctors. I have seen quite a few people carrying the Pocket version, although I think the pictures are worth a thousand words. In short, I have nothing to offer in terms of a better resource. It was decent enough to pass the course. Honestly, the best things available for this class are the information the Lab tutors give you, the handouts from Lab, and study notes from previous students. So milk them for what theyre worth!
Nutrition
This is an easy class. Goto class if you like, but its MUCH faster to sonic it. Do listen because there are a lot of annoying graphs that need interpretation, and its just easier to have someone explain it to you.
Make your own notes, you can do this in a couple days, I think you have 16 lectures. I do not endorse "Nutrition Monsta". There are lots of versions of this, and some of them have blatant errors, some are completely out of scope of the class. I don't know what people are thinking. Best shortcut? Study someone's notes who took the time to put together thorough, complete notes that listened to/went to all the lectures. Everything is in the notes, and I think with the exception of 1 question out of 50, that was true.
Cheers!
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