How To Study USMLE Questions FAST

Рет қаралды 98,522

Күн бұрын

To learn more about the study techniques I use check out "The Science of Effective Learning" for free: santiagoaq.notion.site/The-Sc...
Want to support me? Buy me a coffee! ☕️
www.buymeacoffee.com/santiagoaq
Timestamps 🚀
0:00 Intro
0:20 Choose the Appropriate Mode
1:58 Note Taking
3:31 Concentration
4:27 Tailored Approach to Review Q&As
6:44 Priorities Straight
How to Use The Flow: • How I Can Study for 12...
Who am I?
I'm Santiago Acosta, a Medical Intern from Universidad del Rosario 🇨🇴 on its way to become an Internal Medicine Resident in the US 🇺🇸
I use this channel as a platform to share tips and tricks about studying, productivity, medicine, personal growth, tech, and fitness 📚
I also run a second KZfaq channel where I teach Internal Medicine 🩺 to Spanish-speaking students and interview awesome doctors from all around the globe 🌎
/ tutoríasmedicinainterna
If you have USMLE 🇺🇸 related questions please check out my FAQ page here:
docs.google.com/document/u/3/...
If your questions are not addressed on the FAQ page, feel free to leave them in the comment section ⬇️ (honestly the quickest way to get a response).
For business inquiries, please send a message to santiagoaqmd@gmail.com ✉️
Music: Studying by GodaSax @godasax
Freestock videos downloaded from www.pexels.com

Пікірлер: 138

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

In 0:40 it should read: What EXAM* mode Really Improves. Pardon my Dyslexic editing skills hah

@Moh1234ize 3 жыл бұрын

please can you tell your instagram?

@fernandafernandes3658 3 жыл бұрын

Most videos on USMLE advice leave me more stressed and overwhelmed than before watching it but not yours! Always feel more empowered to tackle step 1, thank you!

@mikejank5106 3 жыл бұрын

That tailored strategy of yours is just what I needed 😁

@geniuspeng 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making such solid and insightful videos. I’ve found your emphasis on practice questions and POE super super useful!!

@FIGHTER_mlbb 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for making this!! I remember asking if you can do this topic on another one of your videos, I really appreciate that you listen to our comments. Learning a lot from your channel I hope to see it keep growing

@mcmd1714 3 жыл бұрын

Halfway through UWORLD. Needed this. Keep it up!

@MDPowerhouse 3 жыл бұрын

Using those categories for the questions really help. Great content as always!

@sunshine8512 3 жыл бұрын

Best youtuber! Whose content is actually valuable rather than just uploading videos 💥👍

@Dr.Aayushi 2 жыл бұрын

You deserve a million views and subscribers. Absolutely brilliant advice!

@khanjanpatel2632 3 жыл бұрын

at the right tme as always ! bang on !

@eeo.6175 3 жыл бұрын

hi santiago congratulations for your channel really its far beyond all the other channels that you can find on youtube. I was watching your new videos and are asome, about how to build your knowledge. Im an older img trying to start the journey into the usmle step 1, so most of the basic concepts are gone from my mind and with two jobs, house, kids, and covid by the way its hard to start, but thankfully there are people on the world like you that share their experience and the tools that the usedto be successful on the steps. congratulations again and please keep working because we need that tools please.

@JuanGarcia-kx8ez 3 жыл бұрын

Great content as always. Keep it up!

@psychonaut912 2 жыл бұрын

que alegria que hayan mas doctores hispanos! yo estoy en 3er año de med school en USA y soy la unica hispana en mi clase :( gracias por este video!!

@DeeperThanCards 3 жыл бұрын

interesting ideas. this channel has a great future. keep it up and be safe 💪🏿

@plg1293 3 жыл бұрын

One of the most sensible videos out there on how to handle UWorld! I love how practical - and realistic - what you’re saying is. Thanks! And nice job on keeping your message short, direct and not-anxiety-inducing!!

@JavaughnJPorter 3 жыл бұрын

Exactly

@ayabshina7522 Жыл бұрын

I Find this very helpful Thank you!, keep up the great work

@fannyirinapimentelmarmol8613 3 жыл бұрын

Me encantooo, sigue asi tu contenido esta nitido

@loliwemoyo5680 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you my ADHD been acting up needed a new method.

@syrianhustler4751 2 жыл бұрын

Phenomenal video by my favorite “usmle youtuber”

@Dr.Contra 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the advice, i will definitely start doing "from NPME's heaven" thingy everytime i see a WTF Q :)

@BruceWayne-eh4im 3 жыл бұрын

Hey man, this is the first time I am seeing this video but our methods are insanely similar. Wise men think alike.

@smokerx6291 3 жыл бұрын

This video finna be a banger!!!✔✔✔

@user-ve7ee6qs8e 11 ай бұрын

You are great doctor ❤

@BeeGrateful7 Жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏

@faizanshahzad8598 2 жыл бұрын

great vid!

@tsaftaridis 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you :)

@tansahasonyu1071 3 жыл бұрын

I'm in Cameroon-Africa, I've not been encouraged watching any USMLE video preps like this one. Thanks so much.

@brown6159 Жыл бұрын

Van I found u here 😊

@mlsandyjr 3 жыл бұрын

I do anki cards not notes. Works out so far.

@emilioabufele6871 9 ай бұрын

While I do understand what you are trying to say about performing versus comprehending I do think comprehending is also important since in the end you are after all preparing yourself to become a resident

@nicolassuarez4259 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Santi, crack

@kevinrivera5554 3 жыл бұрын

Colombia!

@Cosmuex 3 жыл бұрын

Lack of this skill single handedly made me have to take another year off to have more time to study the mcat

@Idkjk971 3 жыл бұрын

I am following your strategy and it’s working. Thats how I liked before but like you said some prefer time mode so that you don’t take up so much time on the exam. Regardless, how much time should we take per block on tutor mode ? I am taking about 2 hours and some explanation are repetitive so i just glance over them quickly.

@mohammadsk2974 3 жыл бұрын

My efficiency went up 3X when I switched to exam mode.. it’s much faster to digest Qs that you have chewed before

@mashadshaikh 2 жыл бұрын

Wym don't do tutor mode

@anglaismedical5573 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

@merf 3 жыл бұрын

Please list the Anki decks you used

@shanzaypirzada7330 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Santiago! I had a question for solving and reviewing uworld. Im in my dedicated and doing first pass, how important is it to know the information in the incorrect options?

@selvaprabhu987 7 ай бұрын

How to find research positions can you make a video on it bro😊

@Rockk-on3tt 9 ай бұрын

💯

@manuelramos975 2 жыл бұрын

Santiago Debo de leer todas las explicaciones la segunda ronda de uworld?

@raghavagrawal7380 2 жыл бұрын

Hii Santiago. Hey how can I divide these questions according to hard or middle ground in the qbank so that I can review them at a later stage. I mean should I write the question id or should I mark the question off? What do you think will work in uw qbank

@SimranAgain 3 жыл бұрын

This is precisely what I have been struggling with! I knew taking notes was wasting a lot of time, and I often lost the momentum while taking notes. But many, MANY people have told me that taking notes turns out to be helpful. I have 1 question, what will I be missing on if I stop taking notes?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

To be honest, the backup. That’s what you’re sacrificing. Though again, that backup ends up being a bit useless all things considered

@SimranAgain 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ Yea it seems so. I'm going to try your technique and see how it works out for me. Amazing videos man. I've already watched this video twice in 14hrs!

@medreigns1696 Жыл бұрын

My friend for which residency are you planing to apply ?

@AhmedAshraf-kk3he 3 жыл бұрын

thank you so much, your videos are really helpful. one question plis. did u do the qbanks randomly, subject or system wise?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Ahmed, randomly

@AhmedAshraf-kk3he 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ thank you

@tuhachusi 2 жыл бұрын

Do you guys recommend the Kaplan lecture as a valuable resource for preparation for Step 1?

@pumpkinheadjrb 3 жыл бұрын

I’d be lucky to answer them in an hour.

@Hellastorytella Жыл бұрын

I really feel there is no value in reviewing or even skimming through other choices (besides the correct answer). If you answer right (without guessing), I would review the EO and look at the BOLD words. If I get it wrong, I would review the EO as well as the explanation for the answer I incorrectly chose. That is about it. This will help you do more questions and become familiar with presentations. My two bits. All the best!!

@sabrinsawaid5259 3 жыл бұрын

Santiago... I was thinking about starting doing the questions system wise as i go along my preparation... Instead of doing it at the end. Do u think its a good strategy to apply?

@jayspark1091 3 жыл бұрын

great tips! I'm starting to do practice questions now and definitely appreciate using tutor mode. What sources do you use for practice questions?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

For the USMLE? Mostly UW and AMBOSS

@inthemix94321 2 жыл бұрын

What if I’m making flash cards from the Uworld notes , I mean just copy paste , it really helped me , but I got worried when u mentioned the thing about taking notes !!

@christinesalib9106 3 жыл бұрын

When you do your first pass, do you think it's better to focus on one topic at a time or do it at random? What do you think helps with retention of information when doing q's? Also for the hard q category you mentioned, when you say read more about the topic, can you elaborate more on that? I feel like I would end up referring to various texts till I get a more comfortable with the topic but I'm not sure if that's efficient

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

With retention? Definitely random. It IS the way to have a spaced repetition algorithm running on all the topics. If you can run a couple of qbanks on random at the same time even better. Knowing when to read further vs stay with what's given is really a developed skill. At first, I tended to review a lot more than I needed, with time you fine tune a "sense" of "this is what I should know"... However, as a quick pointer I'd suggest thinking ¿If this question were to pop up again next week but with a few changes would I answer it correctly? instead of ¿Do I understand the topic? because well, the topics are infinite. So taking a learning objective at a time can go a long way when learning how to fine tune that sense I was referring to. Also, sticking to learning resources that have already limited the amount of information provided (Like the AMBOSS library) can greatly help

@wiliam4294 Жыл бұрын

What is the alternative for notes/anki, are you saying do a whole qbank without revise anything 🤔?

@whaled-buffalo9640 2 жыл бұрын

So if not taking notes, what do we do with the information? Put it into FA and revisit? Anki it? Expand on this pls.

@zewillies Жыл бұрын

what if i want to do it earlier than i had intended? e.g. my Eligibility period is oct - december, but i waana do it in the Eligibility period mar - may. how do i do this?

@sushanthramasahayam5720 3 жыл бұрын

Do we need to divide questions in to Category 1&2&3 for every block??.I mean do we need to note the ID numbers for review

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

I don’t think that’s necessary. When reviewing the questions I could recall without a problem which ones were tough, and which ones were a piece of cake. Everything in between is category 2. So yeah I wouldn’t go as far as to write down the IDs, after all the whole point of the system is efficiency, the extra step kinda defeats the purpose

@De-Zay 3 жыл бұрын

The USMLE test is really frustrating, I can't believe I failed again after studying so much🥺🥺😓😭😭

@johnsongilbert6799 3 жыл бұрын

Well I've taken the step 1 exams for the second time now and still didn't succeed, i wonder how those who succeeded did it

@mohammedamad386 3 жыл бұрын

It's my first time I'm scared, I don't wanna fail

@meryemben3424 2 жыл бұрын

Did you take step 2 !.

@Be1smaht 2 жыл бұрын

The follow up video " 270 " why you must take notes lol. Everyone is different. Know yourself guys. THESE GUYS KNOW THEMSELVES. They know the test. That's it

@tahiafaruk128 Жыл бұрын

He said no notes while doing uw specifically

@ayubmohammad9468 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you @Santiago AQ for the video. But dont you think if I did UWORLD twice, the second round wouldn't be fair as I got familarity with the question??

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Yes. That’s why I recommend just doing a second pass of the marked questions (the hardest ones) and pushing that second pass as far as you can from the first one (that’s for example why I prefer running 2 banks at the same time, thus prolonging each one of em)... so by the time I’m in my second pass the questions feel almost as new ones.

@dianadiaz9744 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ But do you recommend to do the "first pass" on Tutor or timed Mode?

@dianadiaz9744 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!! So useful as always!!

@Habalabaloooo 2 жыл бұрын

The visual says what tutor mode improves/neglects but you are verbally describing exam mode. Maybe an error?

@oladayoabimbola8696 4 ай бұрын

System or random wise

@amnakhan6625 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Santiago! I've adapted your strategy recently and I've seen improvement in my scores as well. I am getting high 70s to 80s in blocks but my problem still remains that I take too long to get through one block. I cant get down from 10 mins per q which leads to 8 hours. Some qs are repeats yes, but some are tougher so they end up averaging at the same 8 hours. At this point a second pass seems unlikely let alone a second q bank. Can you please tell me how you get through a block in 4 hours? I've doing uworld for 3 months now so its not about giving it time anymore. Especially since I'm not even taking any notes. My basic question is: do you memorise the qs as you go too or just read them, understand the concept and move on? Because I do repeat back the info to myself and memorise in that sense before jumping to the next q. REALLY HOPING FOR YOUR RESPONSE SOON

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Amna, first of all congrats on your progress. Now, regarding your question: I actively try to NOT memorize the questions and focus instead on understanding the concepts. My reasoning behind this is that I want to be able to answer as much spinoffs of each question as I can. And spinoffs in the real deal tend not to be a repetition of the same question but "unique questions" of the same topics. I quite literally avoid memorizing questions and in fact arrange my schedule so that in my second pass most questions feel as "new" as they can be. In other words I try to beat the system by learning how to adapt to new challenges, not by dominating the same challenge over and over again if that makes sense

@amnakhan6625 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ it does, thank you! I think you misunderstood me, what I meant was do you memorise the concepts given in the answer or just understand them and move on. I get annoyed at myself if there's a a question I missed because I couldn't recall a particular detail from a prev. q. But I think I get your strategy, understand the concept, move on. Keep on doing qs to make your the concept has been nailed home, rather than 'rote learning' every concept from the answers.

@chris_0209 2 жыл бұрын

Hey I know it's been a long time but I'm having the same problem of taking too long in tough questions how do you managed to perform in the end? your experience would really help me 🙏🏼

@kanmedlife2494 3 жыл бұрын

Santiago you messed up Exam mode to Tutor mode on the screen print in the first part

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Damn 😅

@shefalipati8485 3 жыл бұрын

Hi, a lot of people recommend doing Uworld twice. Would you rather us do this or would you rather us do different Question Banks instead?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

I'd suggest doing a second pass but just of the marked questions. Not of everything

@dr.k.3425 3 жыл бұрын

How many questions did you do daily in your preparation for step 1 and was it mixed questions or system based learning? Thank you. Love your channel

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

It varied, i started with about 120-200 daily questions but I burned out rapidly (Wouldn't recommend that lol). My sweet spot ended up being around 80-120 daily questions.

@iabezhanidze4592 3 жыл бұрын

Hello . Thank you such a great tips, I found them very useful. I would like to ask about boards and beyond question bank. What do you think , is it worth to invest time for test preparation?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Haven't tried it! Some friends told me it felt like Rx. If it is, it could be useful for getting a broad overview of everything before hitting the main qbanks. If you're short of time I'd just stick with UW + AMBOSS.

@iabezhanidze4592 3 жыл бұрын

Thank You!

@deathkissgoodbye 3 жыл бұрын

@@iabezhanidze4592 i have done 1500 q of bnb qbank. Its not essential at all. its useful if you watch the bnb videos and does quiz questions after that to check comprehension and there were some questions i saw in the qbank that i saw on the nbmes testing the same concept. Overall, the qbank is decent for its purpose but def do uworld that is a must.

@iabezhanidze4592 3 жыл бұрын

@@deathkissgoodbye Thank You for information. I did uworld first and wanted to take different bank to approach material from different angles. I saw that it goes along with first aid and has more low yield material tested . Agreed that uworld is the best source.

@almostyourdoc4329 3 жыл бұрын

2:40 😂

@MDPowerhouse 3 жыл бұрын

Lol!!

@iabezhanidze4592 3 жыл бұрын

One more question about step 1 exam. What it the color of exam frame? UWORLD is blue color. Thanks ahead.😊

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Haha yes it’s blue! Almost exactly the same as UW tbh

@iabezhanidze4592 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ awesome, thank You!😀

@yaramuallem5260 2 жыл бұрын

I usually take 1 or 2 lines of notes on my FA book , just the missing info

@yaramuallem5260 2 жыл бұрын

Per question *

@anjali2530 2 жыл бұрын

Sir may I know how can I contact you 😭😭😭 because I just got admitted in med school and wanna crack USMLE .....so hope to seek help from you sir ....hope you understand 😭😭

@howardyu4507 3 жыл бұрын

how do you remember explanations for 4000 qs

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

You don’t. The aim is not to memorize the explanations. The aim is to understand them. The innate spaced repetition built into the qbanks will make sure you retain the facts, but the important thing is to understand

@bliglesias 3 жыл бұрын

A question related to the way you review the material during tutor mode. Do you consider better for type I questions to review the whole content for that just after completing the question and reported as wrong answer or wait to the end of the block and deeply review the videos or the books or whatever material you selected? always thankful for your awesome videos...

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

I usually waited at the end of the block. It helped me keep momentum with the other questions

@ayshazulfiqar2708 3 жыл бұрын

Santiago you didn't take notes, then how did you remember all the dense information presented in questions in the long run

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Mostly a matter of understanding the principles (To deduce rather than memorize) plus the spaced repetition that qbanks (and a few anki cards) gave me. Will do an in depth video on that topic soon!

@ayshazulfiqar2708 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ looking forward to that video...it will be so beneficial if you do a video on annotating first aid

@niharmadhavaram2084 3 жыл бұрын

You suggest doing UWORLD on tutor mode and go to exam directly without doing second time ??

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

I suggest a second pass of Marked questions in exam mode

@niharmadhavaram2084 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ okay and is uworld enough or amboss Is required?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

I don’t think required is the right way to look at it. Because required for what? To pass? With that goal not even UW is required one could make the case. I think it helps. I think that if used properly it can help to achieve a good score with less friction. How much does it help? Hard to say exactly, id just say that for me it meant gaining efficiency and surpassing that 260 barrier

@niharmadhavaram2084 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ so u mean uworld is sufficient for step 1

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

For most people to just pass? Yes

@AhmedAshraf-kk3he 3 жыл бұрын

was it timed on tutor mode

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

The advice is to do them in tutor mode first pass and exam mode second pass of marked ones.

@JB-cn1if 3 жыл бұрын

What did you do instead of taking notes? Need help plsssss

@KinzaHussain 3 жыл бұрын

I am wondering the same thing. I would love an alternative strategy. Do you just read the descriptions and move on? Especially for first pass?

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Hey sorry, just now I see your comment. Instead of taking notes I focused on understanding the information... Once understood I just trusted in the innate spaced repetition built into the question banks to help me memorize the content. If I felt that some topics were specially hard to remember (or I tended to forget easily) I just recurred to doing flashcards. When you understand that notes aren’t meant to help you memorize, and that you can review the content much more frequently with qbanks (vs rereading) you understand that your only job is to comprehend the information in front of you. The qBanks will do the rest

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

And I usually just read and move on. The important question is asking yourself: If this question pops up next week with a few twitches, am I sure I’d get it right? Did I really understood what was going on? Or am I just memorizing the answer of THIS specific case? If I’m positive that I understood, I move on to the next one

@KinzaHussain 3 жыл бұрын

@@SantiagoAQ Thank you so much- I subscribed! You offer so much great quality content. My last question is did you use the UWORLD anki deck or anking? I currently do only anking

@obchannel9181 3 жыл бұрын

how did you label the questions in the 3 categories? Did you take note of the identification number of the question? Thanks

@SantiagoAQ 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Feredica I don’t understand what you mean by label. But what I did was just apply X review strategy based off how I felt answering the question

@mariapaulaavilagarcia796 3 жыл бұрын

I don't know if this works but maybe you can label in red the ones you have wrong, in yellow the good ones you have marked with the Flag and in green the ones you had no doubt about and got them allright. Take into account to skim the good ones and check that you chose a right answer for the correct reasons and not just because you were guessing or you had a wrong way of thinking according to the qbank explanation. I think this way helps to remember how you felt while you were answering the questions.