Reddit reviews medEssentials for the USMLE Step 1 (USMLE Prep)

That looks like the Kaplan review book. Its basically FA but by Kaplan
https://www.amazon.com/medEssentials-USMLE-Step-Prep/dp/1609780264

All of this is just my opinion:


As of now, working in private practice or a group practice tends to be the best way to get a good interaction with the patient, good pay, and good life balance. I think if you want to go into family practice or obgyn, consider being a nurse practitioner. However since you're almost done with undergrad, perhaps that wouldn't make sense for you. Hospitalists tend to do well financially and have good hours (7 days on, 7 days off, 12 hour days, shift work). Personally, I'm going into psychiatry private practice in an area of the country where there's a lot of demand and patients with insurance. I think psychiatry is the hidden gem that many people are missing but if you look at the numbers, it is a very good option, particularly if you know how to run a business. Many clinics don't accept medicare/medicaid patients since the clinics can barely make money off of them. Actually a lot of hospitals lose money on medicaid medicare patients and try to compensate through their surgery department or something.


I think if you're a girl or a guy makes a big difference too. guys can date in their 30s more easily than girls can date in their 30s.


I think if you go into med school or residency with a spouse or someone you can talk to, it's much better, so you're not celibate which was hard for me haha.


As for the hours, I would suggest looking at some medical texts and seeing if you can imagine yourself spending 12 hours a day studying this stuff. 1st year of school you'll be learning basic sciences. try to find a pdf of First Aid http://medicalbooksfree.com/first-aid-for-the-usmle-step-1-2012-first-aid-usmle and medessentials http://www.amazon.com/medEssentials-USMLE-Step-Prep/dp/1609780264. These are basically the two books you are expected to memorize in your first two years. You could try on amazon rapid review pathology, or BRS Master the boards step 2. Actually, almost all the main materials I needed to get through school can be procured for free online somewhere.


Since I wanted good life balance from the start, I chose a path that facilitated that. first year med school was circa 100 hour weeks but some people were smart and could get by with maybe only 80 hours. I don't think many people studied less than that. At our school, mostly everyone, even the smart ones, were always studying. 2nd year is the same, 80-100 hours, but there is less stress in second year than first year. 3rd year for me was 60-80 hours mostly because you have about 40-50 hours in the hospital, and in the evenings you have readings and exams that you need to pass. 4th year was a breeze but you are flying around for interviews which is very expensive.


All residencies tend to be 60 hours first year when you are in the hospital getting a little exposure to everything. After that, the residencies diverge. family medicine is 3 years total and years 2 and 3 are like 50-60 hours I think. surgery is 70-80 from most people I hear. pediatrics is like, 50. the hard ones are definitely surgery, obgyn, pathology, radiology. The easier ones are family medicine, pediatrics. then you got psychiatry which at my program is 35-40 hours a week, which was a key factor for me choosing to be here haha.


So if you make smart decisions, there is a wide range of experiences that you can have through medical education. Then after you finish residency, there is so much variation in how you can practice too. in hospitals suck, and I would never want to work there. Private practice or group practice with other physicians in your specialty is the best I think. Hopefully obamacare doesn't do away with the possibility of doing that.

If you're really smart, you could get into radiology or derm which I think have posh residencies too and you definitely benefit off the back end, and in derm, you get to hang out with the patients more and enjoy your work. I'm just rambling now because I drank too much soda and can't sleep.

oh ya, and try www.studentdoctor.net and reddit has some med student subs like /r/medicalschool I think? I forgot the name.