Aapc.com Review:
Medical Coding - Medical Billing - Medical Auditing - AAPC - The nation's largest medical coding training and certification association for medical coders and medical coding jobs.
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- Dr. Emily Kurtz - Better than Wolf HallI loved this book! I liked Wolf Hall a lot but like so many other readers, I had trouble with pronoun confusion there. In this book, Mantel has fixed that problem and the book is in every other way fabulous. I found it well-written, riveting, humorous, and enlightening. However apocryphal, this story is immensely entertaining. I still recommend reading Wolf Hall first (the background on Cromwell's youth is vital to understanding him as a man), and I look forward to the last book in the trilogy.
- ProjectX - FirstAid step 1- Your new best friendFirst Aid is your medschool bible.. even if you are done with step 1.
First just to make this relevant and have validity I'm a medical student that scored a 244 on step 1. Not the best score out there but 240+ is really what you should be aiming for to keep your options open. If you are like me you only attend the mandatory things which accumulates to ~8hrs of class a WEEK (beware because that goes to 10+hrs a DAY in 3rd year... the year when medical school really starts...) and living the dream of being in your 20s and were not aware what step 1 was until midway through 2nd year. So you want only the high yield materials.
You need 2 things and BRS as a reference:
1) USMLEworld Qbank (I'd recommend all random questions in 46q blocks. Mix between timed and read answer after question mode) This is the best resource for your score PERIOD. I went with the 3 month trial which is what I would recommend.
2) FirstAid - This is a must. Make sure to get the color version which started in 2012. Dedicate a week to read once in the beginning/midway of 2rd year so your familiar with all the terms and reread 1 or 2 more times.
3) BRS PATH - In retrospect, I wish i would have read more of this. I read it for the more confusing path sections like repro. A section takes ~1-1.5 hr to complete and you are an expert. I looked through Goljan because people in my program wouldn't STFU about it but after glancing at it for a couple minutes I realized I just wasted ~$40.... LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE. I have an old edition of robbin's which pathologists love. It is a very solid book but very low yield. IMO Harrison's has a better more relevant path section. Again, grab color edition of BRS... black and white just makes you fall asleep for some reason.
After you finished 1 and 2 references and supplemented with BRS take a NBME exam... my program provided us with one exam. Take the newest one. If you go to bed at 10pm stay up until 3am when you think you would perform worst from being sleep deprived incase that happens on test day (which apparently it does to everyone because I've never heard of someone not giving this as an excuse even if they performed well on this exam). That score is very indicative in my experience. No need to take 5... if your like me in max student loans and have a balance on 4 credit cards you can spend your $$$ on something more useful like the new World of Warcraft expansion.
This was my strategy. There's no magic study strategy. You reap you sow. Since the first two years of medschool are like college undergrad,if you are doing it right, you are probably bored the majority of your time. So just put in 3-4 hours a day on weekdays to complete a block of qbank.
Good luck. Pick a test date and keep it.
*Remember there will be a lot of peers using performance enhancing stimulants. Do you need to take those to keep up? Of course NOT. You don't need 'em. And remember - leave the excuses/whining at home.
*There are also many students whining/crying on here over ~20 minor errors that are mostly irrelevant and will not impact your score/fund of knowledge. Med students are going to be med students. Be glad such a resource like this exists. Just with this book alone you can hit the national avg score of 226. Supplementing Qbank should pull you past 240.
Other references to keep around:
Harrison's(Sacred text... better than any resource out there. You read this cover to cover and I want you as my personal physician. 10/10 stars)
emedicine.medscape.net (IMO best online source... uptodate is 2nd)
wikipedia (no explanation needed)
Micro made ridiculously simple
First aid 2 CK
If any physician talks.... listen... especially an internal med doc of 10+ years. - Nicole Barrett - Amazing Testimony of Survival by FaithI loved reading this book. I especially loved Elizabeth's sarcasicm which made me laugh and surprised but delighted me. I find her story to be very inspiritional and I loved how honest and detailed she was about her traumatic encounters with her abductors. While she clearly went on a journey of fear of terror, there was clearly faith at the bottom of everything which sustained her. And to be left with such faith and gratitude after everything that happened to her is truly remarkable. I've seen people lose all faith and gratitude when much less is thrown at them. Elizabeth seems to have gained more faith and gratitude from her experiences. I am so grateful for this book because I know it will help so many people especially victims of abduction and rape. I am so grateful for Elizabeth being in this world to share her story and inspire others to live their lives to the fullest despite whatever traumas they may have encounters. She is truly making a difference in this world through her foundation and her willingness to share her story. I'm glad she recovered in her own way. As a mental health therapist, I agree with her that traditional psychotherapy is not for everyone. I also agree with her and her mom that the best punishment you can give someone who has tormented you is to be happy:)