Weeks 1-4 studying for the USMLE Step 1 - May 17th, 2012
I feel like I needed a blog ... a way to
quantify my studying in order to feel productive and keep the struggle going :)
What better way then my facebook!!
Week 1 (after MD5): took the week off to spend
time with family - much needed break!
Week 2: application for ECFMG certification
and the Step 1; paper-work completed and sent, slow start to studying, felt
totally overwhelmed with the amount of resources to study from AND the amount
of stuff I needed to go through!
Week 3: made myself a schedule, started uworld
questions in addition to my studying; felt less stressed
Week 4: still finishing off Behavioral
Sciences - my experience: seems very easy and common sense BUT questions can be
very tricky ... if you leave to study this in the end, you will end up just
brushing over it so in my opinion it was best to study this first :) Also,
Behavioral covered some Psychiatry and Neuroscience stuff from the First Aid so
that was good ... I think I'm going to go over those sections in the FA over
the weekend and get that over with as well :)
that's it for now ... I'll keep posting
updates on my studying :)
This week was tough to get through - a tad bit
of low motivation and a little bit of being tired.
This week I realized what a long way I have!
But thank God and supportive friends that I've made it through Week 5 and feel
energized for this coming week :)
I've been working on Pathology and also worked
on one of the NBME forms.
Pathology is a fun subject since everything
makes sense and I don't have to memorize :)
Hoping to continue this week and work on more
uworld questions.
Hey there again!
So, this past week was ... let's just say,
weird! I've heard of getting on a rocky-road in terms of how your studying goes
but this week was definitely a rocky-road combined with a roller coaster
combined with bumper cars ... lol! My level of enthusiasm, motivation, focus,
positivity, and health was all down and it was most definitely the most I've
struggled in terms of studying. I just couldn't seem to find the right mind-set
for studying efficiently.
I initially had my schedule set for 3 weeks of
studying Pathology (as well as the other two P's, Pharmacology and Physiology),
but somehow managed to change it and have Pathology for 2 weeks instead
--> BAD idea! Now I feel like I'm behind, especially because last week
was so blah! I guess I'm going to have to step it up this week and make it
stronger than ever! Soooooo, off I go to studying Pathology for the day - and
for the rest of this week!!
Week 7: After having a couple weeks of low
productivity in terms of studying, this week was so much better. I managed to
get in 3 eight hour days of Pathology! And a couple five hour days as well.
However, I was stressed out about having fallen behind schedule. The week was
otherwise quite uneventful until Friday night when my right eye felt very
irritated. Little did I know what was in store for me..
Week 8: I spent the weekend self-diagnosing
(like most medical students do) my right eye. I went from contact lens
irritation to allergies (and taking an antihistamine) to "I have no idea
and now my iris has a whitish dot on it; it must be something bad!" lol I
went to my optometrist on Monday, who was out and had to see another doctor who
was covering for him. She said I had a corneal infection and put me on Pred
Forte (antiinflammatory) and Polymyxin B Sulfate/Trimethoprim (antibiotic) ..
and told me to follow-up the next day with my doctor. I went to the doctor
again on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday! He had me switched to other
two antibiotics, Moxifloxacin and Bacitracin Zinc/Polymyxin B Sulfate. My
infection was still there but getting better each day. However, what this
did to my studying was a very stressful situation. My eye was light sensitive
for a huge majority of the week and I had to apply eye drops on the hour and
the whole condition was just uncomfortable in my eye! But I did manage to
listen to some audio lectures for Pathology and started studying Microbiology
as well. I've been studying one bug a day and reviewing every day so that I
don't forget. Looks good so far ... hoping to keep up with it. The pressure
seems to be building when I think that I'm planning on taking the Step in less
than 3 months!
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