Block 8 is only 5 total weeks (with spring break after 2 weeks), and is mostly about microbiology with dermatology, MSK, GU, and neuro sprinkled in. The lectures are really important for PBL and IPC content this block, so while it’s not necessary to attend all of the lectures, definitely make sure you know them! Our KBE felt like a lot of “whether you know it or not” questions and was very clinical as opposed to basic sciences.
Resources
For PBL:
- Basic Knowledge
- Pathoma: Use this as a supplement to path labs, but be sure to follow what Dr. Frazier says as some information in Pathoma is outdated. Dr. Frazier does a great job of addressing these points.
- Sketchy Pharm: Be sure to know antibiotics and immunosuppressants! Be especially sure to pay attention to HIV drugs.
- Sketchy Micro: very important for this block, as even the lectures don’t cover all of the bugs needed for the KBE! Be sure to start this early. Viruses outside of HIV aren’t as important this block, but bacteria and fungi are extremely high yield. Parasites are lower-yield but still important for this block and STEP. Be sure to know HIV very well.
- Boards and Beyond and First Aid – you’re already probably using these as STEP prep, but KBE wise, these resources are not as helpful as lectures and Pathoma.
- Lectures:
- The dermatology and HIV lectures are incredibly important this block – pay extra attention to these.
- The fungi lectures and micro path lab will prepare you well for that content.
- The breast pathology lectures are not as helpful as the breast pathology lab and pathoma, so prioritize these.
- The CNS pathology lectures were also not as emphasized as the CNS-related material in Pathoma.
- The GU lectures tended to go too in-depth for the exam. If you are prepared for STEP GU content (First Aid and Pathoma), you will be ready for the KBE.
- Practice Questions
- You will likely be doing these pretty heavily during this block, but the KBE is more clinical and has less room for reasoning than what you might be used to with UWorld, AMBOSS, etc. Make sure you’re actively reviewing your incorrect questions using flashcards, notes, or anything else that you find helpful.
For IPC:
- Lectures – be sure to know the details that the lecturers emphasize; it definitely helps to watch these lectures and listen for inflection. For the lectures over presenting patients and clinical notes, know the general outline for a patient presentation and clinical note but don’t study the lectures too in-depth.
- We made a slide deck super over all of the lectures that really saved me
- Our exam did not make us regurgitate procedure details so don’t spend a lot of time memorizing these. Just know the key points of each procedure.
General Advice
- Make sure to study lectures more than you generally would this block! A lot of questions tested us over key lecture details (especially HIV!)
- Even though there is a lot of derm on the exam, ours did not have many pictures accompanying the questions. Be ready to interpret derm findings based on verbal descriptions.
- Study harder than you think you need to for this exam. Historically it has been one of the easier ones, but ours was challenging.
- This can be an extremely challenging time. You’ll probably be deep in STEP prep and completing your M3 orientation assignments while juggling regular block material. Make sure you’re making as much time for yourself as you can, and taking days off!