DIP Episode 378 - 20 Common Dedicated Period Pitfalls

Okay, welcome. This is episode 378 of the Divine Intervention Podcast. And into this podcast I'm going to be talking about 20 common pitfalls that medical students make during your dedicated periods. So I guess maybe to shorten that, I am going to call this 20 common dedicated period pitfalls. And this applies to step one, step two, CK step three, right? But I'll say probably more so for step one and step two, CK. But you can definitely learn a lot if you're taking step three from those podcasts. So if you're taking your USMLE step two, CK step three, a complex level tour, three exams, any time within the next four weeks, I would encourage you to take my NBME test taking strategy scores. That's going to be on the 21st of this month from 2 to 4 30 PM Pacific Standard Time. That's 5 to 7 30 PM Eastern Standard Time. And then I have a 24 hour review course that's going to be taking place from the 22nd to the 25th of March from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. That's going to be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Again, I've had many people take these courses and they've done extremely well on the exams. And then if you're taking your step two CK exam in the summer, I have a 75 hour school that's going to be taking place from me second to me 13th. If 75 hours, I made a specific podcast on that. I'll encourage you to look for it. Just do a search for disk, DISK, in the search box on the website. You'll get more details on that.

Well, that school is a very high level, super comprehensive school and prep for step two, step three, complex two, complex three. As we know, step two CK scores will now be one of the major determinants of a person's chances with interviews and the match. Right? So now that step one is pass fail. I'm going to comment on that later in today's podcast. So that school is a 75 hour school, there's a 40 person cup on it. So just shoot me an email because I want to make sure I really invest and attend to the needs of everyone, attend them to school. So shoot me an email through the website. There's still some spots left. Once I have 40 people, then I'll close that till I can hold another one. Based on my schedule availability, because again, my schedule is quite variable. But let's jump right into what we're discussing today. So 20 common dedicated period bitfolds. So I'll talk about 20 things. First one, having too many commitments during your dedicated period. Again, I have two to thousands of people in my life, right? And I've seen this story play out so many times. So many times. Again, there are some unfortunate situations where some people just by the very nature of the way their lives are structured. They can't take off a classic dedicated period. They have to be on a rotation or whatever. But to be honest with you, especially if you're the kind of person that has been performing poorly on like shelf exams or practice exams, you're barely passing anything.

Not having a classic dedicated period is pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. You need a dedicated period in I'll see for most people to dwell on this exam, right? You see some people saying like, wow, I can't take off this time. I can't take this time off. Okay. And then God forbid they take the exams and then they fill the exams. And then after they fill the exams, they then really do need to take time off to study for it again, right? Why not take that time off in the first case, really deploy your time, study hard, crush the exam and give yourself good chances in the future. The thing is, again, is filling a USML exam irredutable. No, it's not. I've worked with many people that are residents right now that filled USML exams the first time. They're just certain ways you play your cards then. But the thing is you just have a much harder journey ahead of you compared to a person that's not filled a USML exam, right? So this is something that's pretty common these days amongst medical students. You see people, they're starting first step two and they don't like crazy rotations and then they magically expect that by putting in two, three hours a day, they're going to crush the exams. That's not the way things go, right? If for example you've been killing killing your shelf exams, crushing them and you're like, you know what? I'm going to be on this one month rotation and putting like five, six hours most days, then fine, right?

But the thing is, you need time, you need time. You can't, most times in your day, you get a period you want to be clean and clear of every kind of responsibility. Now the second common pitfall is what I call resource switch up, resource switch up. Again, I'm sure you're listening to this podcast. Many of you people to pick one or two things that you're like, man, I've wasted a lot of my time by doing this thing, right? Resource switch up. You see people, week one, they tried this book and this audio resource and then they don't follow through by week two, they hear from their friends that there's this Anki Decai found that is killer, that is clutch or they see something on Reddit or an SDN. Well, there's this Anki Decai found that is killer, that's clutch. And then they start doing that. They abandon what they started, they start doing that. And then week three, oh, there's this new video resource that came out. This person is so clutch. No, right? The thing is, when you make a commitment, you need to stick to it. The only thing is before you make a commitment in the first place, make sure it's the right kind of commitment. Make sure you're using the right kind of resource. I've made many podcasts on good resources for these exams, right? But don't keep switching up resources, find one thing and stick to it. Think of it as a marriage where divorce is not an option, right? Find a good resource and many of the good resources, people know what those good resources are, right?

Find the good resources and use them, right? And stick to them. Even if it doesn't feel like it's working, keep using it. Many times, again, I've seen this, I'm not talking from a person that has no experience in this area. I was a medical student at some point. I took step one, I took step to CK. I took the now defunct step to CS exam. I took step three as well, right? Very early after I finished from med school, right? And again, I've treated many people like pretty much almost every day, I work with a person or two that has been in this or multiple people that has been in this exact same situation. I know what I'm talking about, right? Don't keep switching up resources. If you pick good resources at the beginning, stick with them to the end, right? Stick with them to the end. There is this thing with humanity now, especially in this age of many distractions, many things vie for attention where people like to jump from one commitment to the other. They don't want to stick to one commitment, right? Stick to that marriage. Stick to that one commitment you've made, right? Stick to that one commitment. The thing is the fact that something is not working out now, and does not mean it's not going to work out forever, right? You need to stick to that commitment. There are many times I've had a resource that I'm using and I'm like, man, this thing is really tough to use, right? But I stuck it through and I was like, wow, I did actually learn a lot from this thing, right?

So stop resource switchups. Now, pitfall number three is not doing adequate practice. You see some people, they spend all their time doing content review. They don't spend a lack of any time doing any Q bank. I've literally seen people like this, no Q bank, no nothing. And then one-gen wide, they failed the exams or they are one-gen wide, they are not passing their practice tests. Well, that's what happened, right? You need to do adequate practice, at least at the bare minimum for a USML exam, you should be doing the euro practice questions. You should be doing the NV Me practice questions that are available. Now pitfall number four is what I call resource overload, right? Resource overload. This is something that is very unfortunate with many people falling to this error for both step one and step two. Again, I've made podcasts specifically on these different exams and what makes sense to use and what does not make sense to use, right? The thing is, for step one, all you need is a Q bank like you world, right? And then you need like one or two review resources to be honest with you, one review resource, right? And then you need the NV Me practice exams, that's it, that's literally it, that's literally it. We see some people they're using your world, they're using another Q bank, they're using first aid, they're using this other review resource, this video resource, this audio resource, this anchor resource, this, this, this, that.

And then they wonder why they feel overwhelmed at the end of the day, right? The thing is for these exams, you want to stick to the rule of threes, NV Me is you world and one review resource, one, right? A reasonable review resource, that's just the truth, right? Same thing for step two, all you need is your world, right? A few practice exams and one review resource, right? When you see people, they just overload themselves, they have these 10 things and then they wonder how they'll fit all those things in their days, right? That makes for an overwhelming day for you, that's just the truth. Now, pit four number five is using poor quality resources, right? Poor quality resources, poor poor quality resources, right? The thing is, many of us know what the good resources are, right? And the thing is unfortunately, some medical students are extremely lazy, right? Again, these are people that want to be physicians, but they want to leasy the way to it, right? Just do some research online, right? Like if you go on my website, I clearly have podcasts that talk about, okay, wait for an hour, I have articles, I clearly talk about, okay, this is what you're supposed to do for this exam, this is what you're supposed to do for that exam, right? But people just want everything for sped to them, want everything handed down to them, right? Do your research, find what works for you, right? Do you spot quality resources, right?

Like you see it like some resource that is riddled with grammatical errors. If a person is not willing to take the things to make their material not have grammatical errors, don't get me wrong, I make grammatical errors, right? But I promise you I make very pain-staking efforts to not have grammatical errors, right? Again, I make mistakes, I'm not presenting myself as an imperfect person, no, I am not perfect at all, right? I do make mistakes, but you'll see some resources, these things, like you read a page and you see like 20 grammatical errors, you look at their website, you see all these grammatical errors, right? If a person, or an individual is making resources and they know we need to go through the pains of not having these grammatical errors, guess what? Chances are you're about to get gamed, right? So I encourage you, use good quality resources, you are out is a good quality resource, first thing is a good quality resource, I will argue not just on the strength of what I'm making, but on the strength of the results I've gotten from people, my podcasts, my shelf review videos are a good quality resource, right? Game-Demeay Practice Exams, Game-Demeay Practice shelf exams are a good quality resource, use these resources, they can really help you succeed on your exams. Now, pitfall number six is for people that have poor foundations or people that are low scores on practice exams using cue banks in random mode, right?

This is like a classic preaching that is out there, you must do your cue banks in random timed mode, all the time. To be honest with you, there are some people for whom that applies. Most times these are people that have very solid foundations, these are people where, oh, they took their first practice exam, they got a 240 or something like that. Then this kind of advice makes a lot of sense for them, but for many people, for people that are scoring low, for people that have like really poor foundations, they don't really understand much of anything. Doing cue banks in random mode, one, you're shooting yourself in the foot, you're killing yourself mentally, right? And you're wasting a lot of time. The thing is, when you have a poor foundation, you need time to build that foundation. So, psychologically, you want to end every single study day with the conviction that you know what, this one subject, I have learned it and learned it well. Like, each day should have a focus, right? Each day should have a focus, right? It's almost like when you do questions in random mode, it's almost like you're trying to renovate a house, like patch things up somewhere, right? When the foundation itself has been messed up, right? The foundation is not good. So, I'm encouraging you, if you're a low-scorer or you have a poor foundation, to be honest with you, for most people, even high-scores, having each study day have a focus is more prudent than just doing things randomly.

The thing is, the practice exams, the euro-self assessments, and everything. Provide all you need, right? They provide all you need for you to not have to for you to not have to worry about like, wow, I'm not seeing a random set of questions. No, right? So, using Cubans in random mode, because let's say at the end of the day, oh, you've seen some cardio questions, some reno questions, from endocrine questions, some MSK questions, guess what? You've not really truly learned to one subject that day. But if one day is like your cardiology day, in the morning, you've seen cardiology from your review resource. In the afternoon, you've done cardiology questions from a Cubans. In the evening, you're seeing more cardiology from a review resource. Guess what? By the end of that day, you feel more solid about cardiology, right? And the thing is, you'll be able to answer cardiology questions comfortably. Those memories are more permanent in your mind, right? Now, pitfall number seven is being a Cubank transcriber, right? The thing is, many medical students, they say, ooh, I'm making my notes from your world and making my notes from this. No, you know what those people are doing? They're transcribing those Cubans, right? They're transcribing those Cubans. They finish their dedicated period. They have the 600-page document that they're never able to go back to. Again, I have a podcast on how to review your world questions and NV Me questions efficiently, right?

Your world questions, NV Me questions efficiently, your world questions, NV Me questions efficiently. The thing is, it's better to have a 30-50-page document that you can review multiple times of your weaknesses than have a 600-page document that includes your weaknesses, but also includes a big smattering of all your strengths, right? So the thing is, you're literally waiting through your strengths just to find your weaknesses in those documents. Those things make absolutely no sense for most people, right? For most people. So again, I will encourage you, don't transcribe your world, right? The thing is, when you are transcribing your world, you are not developing critical thinking skills, right? The thing you're supposed to do is you're supposed to read an answer explanation and then put like a two to three sentence notes for a question that you truly got wrong because you did not know, right? But you see people direct notes on every single question, they're like a one-page note, like one full-page type-top notes on every single question and then they're never able to go through those things. Again, that is not prudent or smart. Now, what is the if-bit fall? The if-bit fall is starting a big on-key deck during your dedicated period. I see this happens so many times. You see people, they're like, okay, my dedicated period is five weeks. I'm going to burn through this 10,000 card on key deck. And then they wonder why they don't have time to do other things, right?

The thing is again, you need to be smart. You can be starting like, if you wanted to do a big on-key deck, you should have started it months ago, years ago, not during a few weeks of a dedicated period. You're not really taking the best advantage of those on-key decks in those circumstances. Now, pitfall number nine is starting something you've never done during dedicated because others are doing it, right? You see some people, they've never used on-key at all in their lives. And then they're like, hmm, I see everybody using on-key as succeeding. You know what? Let me go ahead and use jumping to using on-key. Let me tell you this. I know a lot of people that have used on-key and I feel the exams. Again, I'm a cheater. I know I knew these things. I also know a lot of people that have used on-key and crushed the exams, right? The thing is, if something has no work for you before, if something has never, if you've never done something before, you need to think twice. I'm not saying you should never start new things, but you need to think twice before starting that new thing during the limited time-friend you have for your dedicated period. You see people that their dedicated period is four weeks, and then by week three, they are panicking because they started this new thing and the scores are not budget, right? Again, before you, the thing is, your dedicated period, before you started, your dedicated period, you should have a plan.

This is one thing I do with many students that I work with. Before you started your dedicated periods, we make a plan of, okay, this is what you're supposed to do during your entire dedicated period, right? We make a day-by-day plan, okay, day one, this is what you do in the morning, in the afternoon, the evening. Day two, this is what you do, right? And again, the thing that works for you may not necessarily work for another person. That's the thing. Don't make your dedicated period plans based on some persons ready post, on some persons SDN post, right? Because again, what work for them may not work for you, right? Like for example, back in the day, when I was studying for step one, I barely, I think I may be read like one or two chapters marks of first aid. Because for me, this is not me saying for a state is bad. No, first aid is one of the best books ever written in humanity, right? But it was not something that specifically worked in my own situation, right? So again, don't start something you've never done before. A study method that and the common pit for here is with Anki. You see some people would they've tried Anki before, it hasn't worked for them, or they've never used Anki before, and then they're starting to just during the day period. That is not smart. Now what is pit for number 10? Pit for number 10 is not reviewing thoroughly. You see some people, they're doing Q banks and they are barely spending time reading the explanations, right?

Again, you're just wasting your time, right? You're just wasting your time, you're just wasting your time, you're just wasting your time, right? You paid money for that Q bank. That that that's one thing that boggles my mind sometimes. You see my students, they complain about how money is limited and then they paid good money for something and they don't take advantage of that thing, right? They just sometimes some people believe that throw money at something or the fact that you paid for something guarantees your success. No, the fact that you paid for something does not guarantee your success. No, the thing is you, you, the person studying for the exam, is the one that guarantees your own success. That's why to be honest with you, this practice of like, oh offering like a score guarantee or something, I don't do that, right? Because when you're like, okay, I offered this score guarantee, you're not helping that person to be responsibility. You need to learn to take responsibility for your life. Many people they believe that some other person should be the one to take responsibility for their failures. Failing, again, there are people that, you know, they have life circumstances that are raised and make them fail. But many people, again, and I'm not saying this based on, I've never seen this before. No, I literally work with, I've worked with thousands of students, regularly, right? You see people, right?

They always want to blame their school, they want to blame their school administration. They want to blame this thing happening in the world. They want to blame this. They want to blame that, right? The thing is at some point, you need to stop because if you, if you, if you're looking for excuses, you're going to find them. That's just the truth. If you're looking for excuses, you're going to find them. You need to get off your boat, stop throwing a pity party and get on your boat and study, right? Putting the work, right? Take responsibility for your life. The fact that you spend 500 dollars on something or a thousand dollars on something. Does not mean that, wow, okay, this thing is going to make you pass. No, you need to put in the effort. You need to put in the effort. You need to put in the effort. That's the thing. You see some people, they spend tens of thousands of dollars on studying for the USML Es, but they don't get anything from it, right? I think they think that, wow, those resources are terrible. No, right? You need to also put in effort. The fact that you paid the fact that money changed hands, doesn't mean you're going to succeed, right? You need to be responsible for your own success. That is the truth, right? You need to be responsible for your own success, right? So don't spend all this money buying a cue bank and then you are barely reviewing the answer explanations. Then what's the point? What's the point of buying that cue bank?

See if you're money and don't waste that money, right? So I'm encouraging you when you have materials, review them thoroughly, milk that material for what it's worth. And then pitfall number 11 is avoiding practice tests. You see some people, they're like, I'm afraid of these practice tests. I don't want to mess up my psyche, you know, I want to be in a mentally strong place on my exam day. Okay, well, I wish you all the best. Well, let me explain why that's a terrible idea, right? The thing is, those fears that you have, you think that they'll magically disappear an exam day. They're not going to disappear because the day is exam day. No, it's better to face your fears now than to be facing it for the first time on an exam day, right? You see some people, they are taking a USMLA exam and they've literally not taking a single NV Me practice test. And then they get there on test day and then they are shaking to their foundations and then they fill the exam and then they wonder what happened. Well, what happened is that you did not know how to take those tests. Again, I'm encouraging you don't avoid practice tests. In general, all the practice material that exists for an exam, you want to make sure that you utilize those materials. Now, what is pitfall number 12? Pitfall number 12 is taking the test on the strength of one recent big scorjum.

You see people, they're studying for step two, NV Me 9, they got like 180, NV Me 10, 185, NV Me 11, 196, uh, your health assessment is one, 205, your health assessment is two, two 15, boom, okay, I'm going to one take my exam. Oh, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. Oh, oh, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. I'm going to take their tests. No, that is not smart. That is not smart. Even the Bible says that faith without works is dead, being alone, right? You should not take your exam on the strength of one practice exam you took, that boom, you had this big scorers. Again, I've seen the story play out so many times, right? Again, I'm very private about my one-on-one work with people, but I'm telling you, I can make a probably like multi-day podcast on examples of mistakes that people have made in studying for the exams, right? The thing is, you need to have two to three practice tests where you squint the range you want before you go ahead and take your exam. You see some people they are hoping for two 40s, but their last practice test was a two 10. No, no, again, this thing is not magic. You need to be realistic with yourself, right? Now, what is the 13th pitfall? The 13th pitfall is taking the test due to pressure or some personal deadline when you're doing poorly on practice tests. You see sometimes medical schools are like, you know what? You must take this exam now or take a year off or something. To be honest with you, if you're feeling practice exams, take that year off.

If you run out of options, take that year off. I mean, obviously, if your school says they're going to kick you out and that's the end of your career, then you need to find a way around it, right? So, again, this is not a generalization, right? Well, you see some people they are like, I must take this exam before the end of March. Come on, I can't take it anymore. I can't take it anymore. I must take this exam by the end of March, but they are feeling their practice tests, but they are hoping for some great miracle to happen on Thursday. Again, again, do shoot yourself in the food. I'm telling you this, it's better to take all the time you need and pass this exam and move on with your life. Then, to take this exam because of pressure, fail it, right? And then have to retake it, and then have to start doing all these things to make your application better in the future, right? You're just designing a hard road for yourself down the line when you fail the exams. Again, don't get me wrong. Again, I'm telling you this, I've seen many people, like this is not I've heard, not enough seen, I've literally worked with people that failed you as many exams and now they are residents, but it's a hard road and it's an expensive road. So you can avoid that hard road, that expensive road ahead of time by taking the exam when you're ready for it. Because again, these exams, the players significantly can't really know what your future is going to look like as a medical student, right?

So again, I'll encourage you, don't take these exams because of some school pressure or some self-imposed pressure. Now, pitfall number 14 is reviewing the same question bank multiple times. I've done you all five times, right? And then, they're wondering, my scores are not going up or whatever. Many times, those people, each of those five times, right? Did they review your world thoroughly? Did they review it well? The thing is, if you do your world and your view thoroughly the first time, why don't you go to new practice material? Why don't you go to like an Amboz Cubac or a Kaplan Cubac, right? Or the NV Me practice of exams or something like that, right? The more unique questions you see, the more experience you build up. You don't, yes, you can build up experience from doing the same thing 10 times. What your experience is more nuanced because it's not the same of that, it's not that same question, you're going to see all through you exam. Now, you're going to see questions that vary on your exam, right? So, if you want to be ready, it's better to do many unique questions. It's almost like your beauty, many unique experiences. That'll prepare you better for your exam. If you notice these pitfalls, I'm not just giving you pitfalls, I'm explaining where, why many of them don't make sense for people to engage in, right? So, you don't keep making the same mistake. Now, pitfall number 15 is not doing question analysis to see why your test-taking process is flawed.

The thing is, many people, when you're doing questions, they think that, they think that, oh, you know, all I'm doing with questions is to learn content. No, you should also be learning process. The thing is, you can learn so much about just mental errors you make in reading questions, in processing questions, in picking out answers, in picking answers from 50-50 scenarios, right? If you just did question analysis, right? What I do by one or one to learn with students, this is one area that I focus on. I like, okay, for your specific, because the thing is, people have many different kinds of test-taking problems, right? For your specific situation, why are you getting these questions wrong, right? You know the material, you've seen this material, you know the classic presentation, but somehow you find a way to fall for the trap and get the question wrong, right? In fact, this is one of the reasons why my MDME test-taking strategy scores is super popular, right? Because people, they don't spend time on analyzing their test-taking process, right? So, when you're going through questions, especially MDME questions, don't just look at why you got the question wrong, ask yourself, okay, besides the content, is there, was there just a mental error? Was I the kind of person that just, I keep changing answers from right to wrong? Or I keep picking answers based on certain things I just fall for in questions?

The thing is, when you analyze those things, you notice on people, that's all they need to start doing well on practice tests and to do well on their real exam. Now, pitfall number 16 is no repetition. Many people believe that, ooh, they just look at the material once and boom, it's going to stick in their minds. Folks, brethren, that is not the way things work, right? Even divine, again, I know many people listen to this podcast like, wow, this guy must be really smart. Let me tell you this, the fact that the president is smart does not mean that they are going to be successful. But many times, if you're diligent and you are diligent and hardworking in doing the right thing, you'll be successful, right? The thing is, before I took step one, my core content I probably reviewed it more than 10 times before I took the test. Over years, over like a two-year period, when I was going through my preclinical subjects, right? So, when you see me like, I'm able to just calm sit down and just give a lecture on anemia from memory. Well, guess what? I did not learn anemia once. I learned it well the first time and then I kept repeating that material over and over and over again, right? You see people in their plans for their dedicated periods, they just have like one pass through something. No, right?

In fact, many times when I work with students one on one, I will make certain plans, I try to make them go through key pieces of information for five, six times, bring that they get it pierced because those are things that you want to have on your fingertips on testing, right? So, you need to repeat, even let me tell you this, even divine, divine repeats his material so that he can learn it and learn it well. Again, it's very hard for you to just learn something. Well, if you have a photographic memory, fine, right? But for me, I don't really believe in photographic memories. I believe more in a person working hard as the key to their success. Again, there are many other keys to a person being successful, but that's not the point of today's podcast. Now, pitfall number 17 is having no pathophysiological understanding, right? This is a thing that is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in this on key generation we have. On key is amazing, but your first contact with material should not be from an on key deck. The thing is step one is pass fail. Step two, the end game is these days. What they're doing is they realize that you know what? Many people use these on key decks. Many people allow, you know, let me just do the minimum I can pass step one, I'll make it up on step two. The end game is these many of the answers are what I call derivative answers, right? Where it's a disease process you know, but the disease process is not an answer.

It's an explanation or a pathophysiology behind the disease process that will help you get to the right answer, right? So I'm encouraging you, you need to have pathophysiological understanding, right? You need to, I know that there's a Buddha say understand, don't memorize. No, that's not a good statement for the USML exams. You need to understand first and then you memorize. You need both, right? You can just understand everything and not remember anything and expect to do it on your exams. No, you need to understand first, to be honest with you the way I study, I study and understand something deeply. I'm a very deep learner. I try to learn things from every possible angle. But after that, I didn't start making repetitions in a convenient way, spaced out over time and in that material sticks in my mind, right? So again, make sure you have pathophysiological understanding, even for step two, even for step three. You see people, they can whip, they can whip out all the bio statistics formulas and then you give them 10 bio statistics questions and you only get one right and then they wonder what happened. Again, it's the lack of understanding, it's the lack of understanding. Okay, now pitfall number 18, I'm going to wrap up its 20 things and we're done. Pitfall number 18, on realistic plans with too many moving parts. You see some people, they have these plans and in one day you're doing like 10 different things and then they wonder why they are not succeeding.

They wonder why they have mental breakdowns at the end of the day, right? Again, your plans should have like two or three parts and that's it. Do not have plans with too many moving parts. Do not have plans with too many moving parts, right? And then pitfall number 19 is the step one pathophysiological. Right? You see some people, I see these posts online all the time. You see these people, they're like, you know what? Oh, I failed all my practice exams but I passed that one. I failed this. Oh, I got a 199 on you were self-assessment this and I passed that one. Right? They feel good, they feel great. The thing that this step one pathophysiological has done is that for people with poor foundations is just postponing the deal of reckoning. It's just postponing the evil deed. Right? The thing is, when you're studying for step one, you still want to put in the effort. Right? To finish with you, one good watermark I give people is that if you're taking practice exams, NVME practice exams, know you work NVME practice exams and you're getting 80% or higher on those practice exams. Chances are you've taken away the core bits of knowledge that you need to transfer to your 30-year of medical school and to step two CK. Right? The thing is, you see these people, the barely, you know, because step one is pass fail, they buy the skin of their teeth, pass the exam. And then you get to step two, that is a scored exam and then they wonder why they are failing practice exams.

That pass fail heated the poor foundations. I mean, encouraging you study hard for step one, the best, the most important predictor of how well you do on step two is how well you did on step one. Right? So even if step one is pass fail, have a high pass. Be the kind of pressing that well. You studied so hard that you had a 240 or 250 level of knowledge. Even if you end up passing, yes, no one will see your score, but I'm telling you that heating work, right? That heating work, when fire comes, when the fire of step two comes, your heating work will hold up. Right? Well, those people that did minimal work just to pass step one, when fire comes, when the fire of step two, when the fire of step three comes, those people will completely crumble. So I'm encouraging you, don't use the fact that step one is pass fail to minimize the amount of studying that you do. And then the 20th pitfall on my final pitfall is this pitfall of people saying that NV Me materials are trash. NV Me materials are not trash, right? Again, sometimes some of the materials may not be representative of the exam, but you highlight many similar concepts as you see on your exam, right? You need to do those NV Me practice materials. You cannot keep shining away from them and expect to be successful. So I'm going to go ahead and pause here. As I do at the end of every podcast, I'd offer one on one theory for all the USMD exams. Step one, step two, CK, step three, preclinical medical exams, 30-ish-elf exams.

If you're a medicine resident, I'd offer one on one theory for the medicine training exam and the medicine board exams. And then I have these review courses, again, a 24-hour step two, CK step three, complex level two, three course. And then an NV Me testing and strategy course, very popular tons of people have taken these courses. And then I also have a school, a step two, CK step three school. It's going to be taking place in the summer in May. There's a 40% cap on it. I don't have unlimited attendants because, again, I want to invest in everybody that is attended. And then I have these podcasts on the major podcast apps, on Apple podcasts, on Google podcasts, on Spotify, at least the most recent 150. If you want everything from episode one, episode three, 78, make sure you go on the website, Dividing Tro Vension Podcast.com. If you actually subscribe to the website with your Word Press account, you get an email notification whenever I make a new podcast. And then I have a You Tube channel, Dividing Tro Vension, USML ePodcasts and videos. That's where I post the videos that I make. And then finally, I also help with applications, with ERAS applications, with residency applications, personal statements, recommendation letters, mock interviews. I do all those things with people. I do all those things with people. So if you're interested in those things, feel free to reach out to me. Just shoot me an email through the website for any of these opportunities I offer.

And then finally, I have a new website called Dividing Tro Vension Life Lessence.com. Dividing Tro Vension Life Lessence.com. If you go on that website, actually, I have, it's like a series of podcasts that I make every week. I make about two to three every week, most times two. Where I post a podcast on Bible-based teaching on a common problem that people face. And again, many people have found out podcasts to be helpful. I actually have the podcast on Apple Podcasts as well. It's called the Dividing Tro Vension Life Lessence Podcast. So thank you for listening to me today. I encourage you, take responsibility, follow this advice I'm giving you, and you'll become very successful on your exams. Till next time, have a wonderful day. God bless you. Thank you.

Resource switch up—constantly abandoning one resource (book/audio/Anki) to jump to a new "killer" resource found online.

Stick to a limited set of high-quality, reputable resources and commit to them like a marriage; do not switch up.

Focus each day on one specific physiological system (e.g., Cardiology Day) rather than mixing random subjects.

Transcribing creates massive, unmanageable documents that include strengths and weaknesses alike; focus instead on concise notes for truly incorrect/unknown material.

Thorough review of answer explanations (milking the material) to ensure deep understanding, not just passing through the content.

Only when they are genuinely ready and have achieved consistent scores across multiple practice tests, avoiding testing due to external pressure or deadlines.

U World (or equivalent Q-bank), NVME practice exams, and one reasonable review resource.

Dedicate the entire day to mastering one single physiological system or subject area.

Understanding (pathophysiology) must come first; then, repetition and spaced review are used to solidify memory.

Write 2-3 sentence notes only on the specific concepts or mechanisms they genuinely did not know, avoiding transcribing the entire question/explanation.

Repetition (reviewing material multiple times over a period of time) and spaced repetition.

U World (or equivalent Q-bank), NVME practice exams, and one reasonable review resource.

Dedicate the entire day to mastering one single physiological system or subject area.

Understanding (pathophysiology) must come first; then, repetition and spaced review are used to solidify memory.

Write 2-3 sentence notes only on the specific concepts or mechanisms they genuinely did not know, avoiding transcribing the entire question/explanation.

Repetition (reviewing material multiple times over a period of time) and spaced repetition.