Footnotes - Fall 2024 - 16

used for my studying. With all the traveling I did over the
summer, it was convenient to use both of their respective
mobile apps when I was on the go. Our class had an
exceptional class vice president who gave us various study
materials that previous students have compiled - ranging
from their personal notes to suggested study tactics, and
resources from other universities to external review videos.
I did peruse through them but did not go in depth. I
personally do not use Anki, but I know other students found
the decks we were provided with useful. 'St. Matthew's
University School of Medicine's 100 most important
General Anatomy Concepts' was also a good document I
used. 2015's 'APMLE: PART 1 Comprehensive Review'
was a good reference source but was not heavily relied upon
since it was and felt dated. " - Alex Ngo, DMU '26
" I used Sketchy for microbiology, BRS for pharmacology,
high yield notes for anatomy, Ninja Nerd for biochemistry,
Picmonic for pathology and LOTS of practice tests " -
Emily Royston, NYCPM '26
" Boardvitals (did each subject ~3 times), Sketchy, BRS, First
Aid USMLE 2024, and the " ... made ridiculously simple
books for different subjects " - Paulina Vazquez, NYCPM '26
" BRS, Sketchy, Boardvitals, and Anatomy Bootcamps
are lifesavers! I would not have passed without those four
resources. " - Sadie Gonzalez, NYCPM '26
Now that it's over, what do you wish you had known
before you started studying for APMLE? If you could
change anything about your preparation, what
would it be?
" I felt very prepared going into boards. I wish I knew about
Pixorize earlier on because they have great Anki cards
for biochemistry, immunology, and pathology. If I could
change anything in my boards prep I would make sure to
incorporate Pixorize. " - Madalyn Werd, Barry '26
16
" I wish I would have been more knowledgeable concerning
the exam breakdown in terms of what subjects are
tested, and to what degree. I went into the exam thinking
that some subjects are more high yield than others, but
the actual test itself made me feel as though the exam
breakdown is much more fluid with questions having intersubject
components and much overlap between subjects
themselves in terms of which questions are considered what
subjects. If I could change anything about my preparation,
it would have been to try and complete more practice
questions and not relying as much on content review as
heavily. I think completing content review for approximately
one-and-a-half months resulted in me becoming exhausted
and simply burnt-out with board-prep, although alternating
between content review, practice questions, and group study
sessions helped significantly! " - Brian Lowry, DMU '26
" The biggest change I would have done was to have actively
started sooner. While I was aware and did the very bare
minimum around early March, I think I would have been
much more confident in selecting my answer choices had
I put in an extra month or two of studying. Another thing
I wished I would have done was read the APMLE bulletin
sooner. It gave me a clearer understanding of what was
on the exam, but also how the exam was graded. I think
if I actually had gone through the bulletin and created a
systematic plan, my studying would have gone smoother. I
do not necessarily regret how I prepared for Part 1 Boards
as I studied how I normally would for any other exam. So
what worked for me may definitely not work for others. " -
Alex Ngo, DMU '26
" Sleep is important. you have no idea what your exam will
ask, so stressing over memorizing that single pathway or
single drug isn't worth losing sleep. Also the hours you study
isn't important, it's how productive you are during those
hours. turn your phone off, do two REALLY good hours
of studying over four hours of mindless watching videos or
FALL 2024
Footnotes - Fall 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Footnotes - Fall 2024
