I used UWorld to study for my shelf exams, and, at first, I thought of the question bank (QBank) as just another study tool that would help me ace my exams, not seeing much of a role for UWorld outside of exam prep. It is the physician’s job to apply their knowledge in a multidimensional way, consider all possibilities, and pivot as new data comes forward to figure out what’s going on and how to help. Some patients present in uncommon ways some almost fit a classic story with just a single detail that doesn’t quite fit and some surprise you in multiple ways. There are classic presentations, of course, but there are countless more presentations with complexities that don’t adhere to a textbook. However, as I’ve progressed through my third year and now begin to transition to my fourth and final year of medical school, I am beginning to understand what they meant. Throughout school, my mentors and teachers often spoke about the “art of medicine.” Before my clinical rotations, that phrase was nothing more to me than a lofty idea that sounded nice. There was always some piece of the puzzle I hadn’t considered, some detail that didn’t quite fit the classic story that would send more experienced and astute physicians down an entirely different thought process. I found myself trying to force a complicated patient presentation into a textbook answer, and more often than not, I was wrong. It was textbook knowledge, and there wasn’t yet any flexibility or finesseto my clinical reasoning.ĭuring my M3 year, I was asked to apply this foundational knowledge to the real world, and it wasn’t easy. I built a strong foundation, but I could tell my knowledge at the time was very one-dimensional. As an M1 and M2, you’re expected to learn a lot, and you’re expected to learn it fast! During those first two years, I spent countless hours memorizing patterns of presenting symptoms, triads, pentads, statistics, trends, and “if-x-then-y” scenarios.

Uworld usmle practice test