- In this day and age of information explosion, most of us have TOO many instead of too few study resources at our finger tips. Having too many resources is not innocuous, it actually can be detrimental to your success, as a test taker and as a human being.
- I saw firsthand, how some of the most brilliant minds and dedicated human beings suffer professionally and personally when they tread through piles and Giga-bites of study material (books, questions, videos, audios, review work books, medical school notes, flashcards, and other crazy test prep tools I can’t possibly fathom). They study 16 hours daily, time their bathroom breaks and skip lunch, cut communication with friends and family, yet unfortunately, their test results reflect neither their intelligence nor their diligence.
- On the other hand, I worked two jobs and had a young child, and used a small fraction of the time and study material compared to most of my peers and students I tutored. My USMLE I score reflected my effort appropriately. Truth is we are a pretty homogenous group of intelligent and diligent people. That’s what it took to get into medical schools. Then why in some cases, are effort and result on USMLE I so disproportional?
- Many students and colleagues ask me this question. For the past decade plus, I have been sharing with others how to learn and study SMART, rather than hard. After watching many students go on to doing well on their exams and progressing to the next stage of their training, I decided to write this series of books titled “A Minimalist’s Approach to (a high stake exam you are dealing with).” I hope to assist more future physicians and colleagues by turning pricy tutoring sessions into affordable books.
- So save yourself the money and the hours of toiling, choose at maximum 3 resources to prepare from USMLE. If you ask me, will one single source suffice? My answer is yes, if you go through your one source thoroughly and effectively. As we speak, I get no financial gain from saying this, “If you have time and money for ONE single USMLE I review source, U-world Q-bank is the way to go.” I reached this conclusion from my personal experience, my students’ experiences, from interviewing ROAD (radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, and dermatology) applicants along my interview trail and talking with my co-interns and residents.
- If you use my book
A Minimalist’s Approach To USMLE I: You Can Excel in Medical Boards and Beyond. to maximize your gain from using U-world Q-bank, your USMLE I score should reflect your effort well.
- Now for cream on top, you are welcome to select another 2 resources to supplement Q-bank. Again, this is not necessary, but won’t hurt if you utilize them Well. I will outline some ways of sneaking in the second (and third) study resources in later posts. The trick is to maximize efficiency, not shear number of study hours.
Less is More when it comes to USMLE prep