Flesh and Bones

Question: Has anyone used the Elsevier site "Student Consult." It's an online Q-bank, similar to Kaplan, containing 2000 questions. I haven't tried it, nor do I know anyone who has. If anyone has some experience with this Q-bank, please post it here!

BTW, I am thoroughly dissapointed with the lack of understand with the preview message. I am, of course, making reference to Darmok and Jalad. Just in case you've been sleeping under a rock for the past decade or so, here's the translation: My Step 1 application has been approved! I'm now anxiously waiting for my scheduling permit to arrive in the mail. The next step will be to contact Prometric and schedule an actual date to write the exam.

Eureka! (Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra)

ECFMG, with fist closed.
Me, with fist open.
Me, on the ocean.
ECFMG, on the ocean.
Me, on the island.
ECFMG, on the island.
Me and ECFMG, on the island.
ECFMG, its arms wide.
Me, with arms wide.
Me and ECFMG, on the ocean.

ECFMG Website Maintenance

Due to scheduled maintenance, ECFMG's on-line services will be unavailable beginning at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, January 31. These services are expected to be available no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, February 3. All times are calculated using Eastern Time in the United States.

First Aid for the USMLE

There is a lot of discussion these days about which version of First Aid to buy/use. Lots of people have hand-me-downs from recent years. Well, the news is, everything up to the 2005 edition is similar, obviously, with subtle changes and error corrections. However, the 2006 edition is pretty different - at least in layout. I don't actually have my 2006 edition yet, but the word on the street is, all of the pages have been re-organized so the information is now presented as a system based resource. This might be good for some people, bad for others, and even still, some might not even care. Personally, I'm the traditional rigid and conservative old school type. I liked the old version, and have never been a fan of these new age system based teaching fads. And yes, it is just a fad. The next big thing will show up and the deans of all of the schools will be tripping over themselves trying to keep up with the trend. The truth is, intelligent people will excel in any environment, whether it be old school or systems based. Bottom line, if system based is for you, go for 2006. If not, stick with 2005.

Progress schmogress

Got an email from ECFMG stating they received Form 183. Less than 10 days to go before they approve me :)

Ok, enough with the procedural stuff for now. Let us begin the first segment in our series of discussions on USMLE study books. I recently purchased the Robbins Review of Pathology 2nd Edition. A 419 page tome of titillating material composed of case-oriented multiple choice questions. It's pretty comprehensive and compared to the Pre-test pathology book (which I also have, but wouldn't quite call titillating) I would say the Robbins questions contain longer cases, more pictures, are slightly harder and are more detailed. However, the Pre-test answers are often more detailed. Robbins has different chapters on male/female genital pathology, while Pre-test combines the two topics. Robbins also has a section of Micro, which I thought was pretty brutal. But then again, I sort of suck at Micro anyways. In contrast, Pre-test has an entire book just on Micro. Pre-test has some high yield notes at the beginning of the book, but to be honest, they are not that good. Check your local book store to see for yourself.

Talk About Snail Mail

Guess what? I just received the rejecting letter for my initial ECFMG Step 1 application TODAY. Thats Jan 8 2006! It took them about 3 weeks to get the letter to my house (my home mailing address is in a 1st world country, with no postal strikes at the time). Talk about snail mail. In the mean time, I have already corrected the problem, and resubmitted my application (from scratch). Incidentally, they address the letter to Dr. My Name (as in me), which is always a strange feeling.

Starbucks Hack

Here's a little secret that Starbucks doesn't want you to know: They will serve you a better, stronger cappuccino if you want one, and they will charge you less for it. Ask for it in any Starbucks and the barista will comply without batting an eye. The puzzle is to work out why. Read more here.

Snail Mail and E-Mail

Good news! The application is finished. I just printed out Form 183, and went to the school to get their stamp and signatures on the form. I told them my situation and they were very sympathetic. They even offered to mail the forms the same day! Hopefully, I’ll be hearing back from ECFMG with good news very shortly. Also, I just received an email from ECFMG confirming my online portion of the Step 1 application. Now, they will wait for Form 183 to arrive before moving forward.

Starting Anew

Happy New Year! Phew! I’m back at school after more than 15 hours of plane travel, delays and layovers. I’m just about to start my Step 1 application, but I find myself a bit apprehensive. I’m going to grab my roommates and have them read over what I’m typing. I’m not risking any more clerical errors.