Pharm

Pharmacology topics worth reviewing in Katzung & Trevor's Pharmacology Review:

basic principles
adrenergics
cholinergics
CVS
The rest can be done from FA because it's straight up memorization and is relatively
easy once you have the above topics down.
Set aside time intervals in your schedule to review material you have already covered
up to that point. For example, 5 day interval of new material followed by 1/2 day of
review of old material. Repeat.
Review1
so to begin with during my 2 years of basic sciences at Saba i probably did on the
order of 12,00+ questions. rubins, robbins and coltran, lippincotts, brs, pre test, web
path, u world, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.
During the last 2 semesters I did Uworld questions with my course work along with
kaplan videos one time through. Finished Uworld with a 89% the 1st time.
when I came home in Dec i took a 2 week break before beginning studying which
commensed about dec 27th. my method was by organ system spending around 4
days on each.
For example- Mon- Cardio anatomy and embryo- with UsmleRx and Kaplan
questions. Tues-wed Physio Path w/ ?s Thur- Pharm and finish all Rx and Kaplan ?s. I
did all the way up to Feb 3rd, which left me about 3 weeks till the exam, and what I
viewed to be the most crucial period.
During the last 3 weeks my schedule was repetitive and strutured
630 a.m breakfast and random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 1 subject chapter ex. renal
random 46 ? uworld timed exam
First aid step 2 ck 8th ed subject chapter ex. renal
and so on until 8 pm at which point i went to the gym, ate dinner, watched an
episode of The Wire, and drank a glass of wine, asleep by 11:30-12 most nights
SLEEP IS KEY- IF YOU IGNORE THIS STEP YOURE SCORE WILL
SUFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
Got through all of Uworld in 3 weeks with a 98%
as for NBME and UWSA scores
NBME 13- IN DEC BEFORE STUDYING- 257
NBME 12 MID JAN- 268
UWSA 1 END OF JAN- 265+
FEB 8TH - NBME6- 258- GOT FRUSTRATED AND DID 11 RIGHT AFTER AND GOT 266
5 DAYS BEFORE EXAM DID NBME 7- 264 FOLLOWED BY UWSA 2 265+

Got through first aid step 1 3x between jan- and my exam and step 2 ck 2x
step 2 ck was an amazing adjuvant for clinical presentations, and x rays. dont focus
to much on diagnostic and treatments in that book, that is more appropriate for
clinicals.
Books
-Neuro- High Yield- fosuc on lesions- tracts, and scans, dont bother with crazy
disease names (ex. foster kennedy syndrome),
-anatomy- the step ?s were pretty knowledge based and not that out of the orderkaplan and I used high yield just for some extra x rays and CT scans
- Pharm- first aid was enough, but I had 2 of the most amazing pharm professors so
my preparation was very little for this subject, but if you're weak here, Kaplan is
amazing. but you really want to know the molecular changes of EVERY RECEPTOR,
that is KEY, ex B1 vs B2 ............
- Behavorial science- kaplan is fine
- Biochem/Genetics- dont stray from first aid
- Micro/Immuno- this was another high yield subject that I had great teachers forbut first aid covered 95% of the info in this area, if you need som e extra help in the
biotechnology areas such as flow cytometry- kaplan is a solid resource.
- Physio- brs or kaplan- both are good - stratight up physio ?s were few and far
between- know you basic concepts of water compartments- ex add hypertonic
saline infusion- what happens to intra/extra cellular compartment size- arrow ?'s
- Pathphysio- GOLJAN RAPID REVIEW IS GOD
- PATH- PATHOMA VIDEOS- ESSENTIAL
as for tips the day before- NO NEW MATERIAL- if you don't know it by then count it
as a loss. I woke up sped through first aid micro- drove down to my hotel which was
right scores from the testing center. got some food, gym, hot tub- went to my room
took an ambien at 8pm and read conrad ficher pharm flash cards until i fell asleep.
woke up at 5:30 am- stretched for 20 mins, showered, hotel breakfast, went to the
campus an hour early, psyched myself up, and got to it. as for time on the test
READ THESE WORDS- READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE
PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- If they are asking for a bacteria and you are
spending precious time absorbing ABG values that are thrown in as EXTRA
INFORMATION (WHICH THEY DO PUT THERE ON PURPOSE)- you will not be using
time efficiently. I finished every section with 15+ mins left- some with 26 mins,
which gave me plenty of time to go back to those questions with 2 graphs, 3
paragraphs, ect.... and spend the time needed on them.
p.s forgive my spelling and grammar, I've never been much of a proofreader. plus
my MAC is busted so I am doing this from an ipad.. If i missed any of your ?s or
concerns please ask again, hope this was some help to you all. As a recap of my 3
best tips- SLEEP, PRACTICE ?S, READ THE QUESTION BEFORE THE VINGETTE!!