USMLE step1 while at UCalgary?

[bearpuppy]

I was wondering whether anyone knows if students at ucalgary med often do the USMLE STEP 1 exam or at least whether you think it's doable given that the program is so condensed with few breaks.

[thebouque]

I don't attend UCalgary but it's def doable. If people can do it while in residency, you can certainly do it in preclerkship even in a 3 years program.

[leviathan]

You'd probably not do very well unless you had time to study all the stuff that isn't covered in Calgary's program. But you should still at least pass.

[ACHQ]

You'd probably not do very well unless you had time to study all the stuff that isn't covered in Calgary's program. But you should still at least pass.

 

Quick question, lets say that's all I wanted to do (just pass) how hard would I have to study? (# of weeks, hours per day etc...)

 

The reason I ask is because I have heard if you do residency in Canada, all you need to do is pass all the USMLE steps (correct me if I am wrong), if you want to practice in the US (just to keep options open here).

[frozenarbitor]

Calgary teaches fair a bit of basic science too. I don't know how much studying is needed to pass the USMLE. But I'm guessing that if you work hard with the UofC curriculum, passing the step 1 should be doable without much additional effort.

[gloriaBilly]

Everything needs a special effort to get maximum results, so just follow this theory not only for this matter hard word requires succeed. Once you manage to come across the difficult part the rest will be a piece of cake.

[bearpuppy]

Thanks all for your feedback.. I appreciate all the information.. Just to say, my reason for asking is that US seniors generally take 4-8weeks off to study for the USMLE step 1, and I had the impression that Calgary's focus on patient encounters may have resulted in less focus on basic sci, which is essentially most of step 1.

[leviathan]

Thanks all for your feedback.. I appreciate all the information.. Just to say, my reason for asking is that US seniors generally take 4-8weeks off to study for the USMLE step 1, and I had the impression that Calgary's focus on patient encounters may have resulted in less focus on basic sci, which is essentially most of step 1.

Not sure what Calgary teaches, but the basic sciences will be approached from clinically relevant stuff. E.g. they may ask you a question to explain the frank starling curve and how it changes in heart failure, and what causes developing pulmonary edema. The less clinically relevant stuff which I think is still heavily tested would be thinkgs like what messenging system is activated by epinephrine (via alpha or beta receptors e.g. adenylate cyclase, Gs Gq receptors etc). They may ask you pharm questions on the drug of choice for various diseases, or second-order questions on what the mechanism of action is. If you know that stuff then you'll at least pass. If you want a high score then you have to know all the basic science stuff in biochemistry like metabolic diseases and which enzymes are involved, genetic diseases and gene regulation , stuff on cell cycle regulation and how p53 mutations lead to cancer, embryology, etc.

 

The best advice is to probably take an assessment exam and see where your strengths/weaknesses are and what your predicted score would be. Those predictors are fairly accurate, so as long as you're about 20 points above the minimum pass, you can be confident that you'll pass the real thing.

[thebouque]

How does p53 mutation "leads to cancer"?

[in2bat0r]

You can get mutations in p53 in the mdm2 binding region, which prevents it's degradation by mdm2. Often similar mutations also poison p53 function, whereby one poisoned p53 monomer can essentially knock out the functional tetramer; this is significant as "one hit" is dominant. There are multiple ways of mutating the p53 pathway, but once you've removed the guardian of the genome, all hell can break loose.

[leviathan]

It's been awhile since I've studied that stuff but my understanding is that the majority of tumors end up getting p53 mutations at some point down the line. Primary mutations in p53 are the cause of Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

[bearpuppy]

I'd like to bump this thread.. I'm currently accepted at a US school, and have an upcoming interview at UCalgary. I'd be very interested if anyone else could comment on their experience of advice of taking the USMLE while at UCalgary. I am still considering longer-term going to the US, but may do med school and/or residency in Canada first (if I get in). 

 

Thanks!

[amichel]

I'd like to bump this thread.. I'm currently accepted at a US school, and have an upcoming interview at UCalgary. I'd be very interested if anyone else could comment on their experience of advice of taking the USMLE while at UCalgary. I am still considering longer-term going to the US, but may do med school and/or residency in Canada first (if I get in).

 

Thanks!

There are a few second years writing it next week before we head to clerkship. I believe they just want to pass though and will be doing residency in Canada. I'd say you'd definitely have to learn some basic science on your own. It's doable, but I doubt it's fun.

[bearpuppy]

There are a few second years writing it next week before we head to clerkship. I believe they just want to pass though and will be doing residency in Canada. I'd say you'd definitely have to learn some basic science on your own. It's doable, but I doubt it's fun.

 

 

Thanks @amichel. What aspects of basic sciences do you think is missing from UC curriculum?

[JohnGrisham]

Thanks @amichel. What aspects of basic sciences do you think is missing from UC curriculum?

Check out the american forums(SDN) for study strategies and ways to approach. Even at UBC, which is school that has been historically big on basic sciences etc you still need to fill in a lot of gaps from what upper years have told me (think lots of random minutae, microbiology, biochem etc etc). 

 

At a 3 year program, i can only imagine theres even less minutae basic science covered.

[amichel]

Thanks @amichel. What aspects of basic sciences do you think is missing from UC curriculum?

Yah, what commons said. If you're asking because you're worried about the curriculum, absolutely nothing. Canada is a few steps ahead of the US (IMO) at not teaching minutiae that is not clinically relevant. We get basic science that is necessary to understand medicine (someone mentioned frank-starling curves above) but we don't memorize the Krebs cycle, or the gene names for obscure metabolic disorders.

 

If you're asking because you're worried about USMLE content, then biochem, micro (don't ask me which bugs are catalase positive for example, no idea), some genetics probably.

 

I don't know, I haven't written the exam.

[Edict]

USMLE content is really deep to be honest. Its doable, it'll just require a lot of self study and motivation like others have said.

 

What is less doable is aiming for a US residency after doing just 3 years (the only way is if you are able to just fundamentally learn faster than others and also know what you want to pursue within 6 months of entering medical school). Not sure about Calgary but Mac allows you to take an extension year where you can do research and up to 40% of time doing electives which is ideal for those considering the US. This is something you should look into if you want to do US residency although you did say you are happy with Canadian residency. With that said, very few Canadians do US residency because of the fact that applying to the US essentially excludes you from Canadian residencies. You can only chose one not both (unless you value every single Canadian choice over every single American one). This is because if you match in Canada and Canada matches earlier than the US every year you are automatically withdrawn from the US match. 

[frozenarbitor]

Calgary grad here. I wrote both step 1 and 2 CK around the time of LMCC. Did well (scored around ~250 on both) with not a ton of prep time (<4wks) while also prepping for LMCC. USMLE is very commercialized with tons of excellent prep material. You can easily learn most of the basic science through these yourself. UofC curriculum is excellent for clinic teaching which will be what you need to be a good doctor. I had to study most of the microbio/biochem on my own for USMLE but these are things that need to be relearnt anyway if you learnt them earlier on in med school. 

[lost__in__space]

Great score frozenarbitor!!!!