Cardiology

Some people consider cardiology to be the most challenging course of medical school, but most students also say that it is one of their favorite blocks. The teaching team for cardiology is absolutely incredible. They are all devoted to understanding you learn the content properly, and are willing to work with you to get there. This course will definitely be challenging, but by taking the content day-by-day and working with the faculty, we were all able to succeed and truly enjoy the course. Many students like that this course is focused on conceptual understanding rather than memorization. This class has daily hybrid in-person/Zoom lectures followed by small groups. These small groups are clinically oriented and a great opportunity to review the material. When possible, students recommend attending small group in-person as learning to apply the concepts from lecture is key to performing well on tests in this block. You will also take an ungraded self-assessment after each class and spend the first 15-30 minutes of each day reviewing the previous day’s questions. These self-assessments mirror the question style and content of the midterm and final and are a great study tool.

Some people consider cardiology to be the most challenging course of medical school, but most students also say that it is one of their favorite blocks. The teaching team for cardiology is absolutely incredible. They are all devoted to understanding you learn the content properly and are willing to work with you to get there. This course will definitely be challenging, but by taking the content day-by-day and working with the faculty, we were all able to succeed and truly enjoy the course. Many students like that this course is focused on conceptual understanding rather than memorization. This class has daily hybrid in-person/Zoom lectures followed by small groups. These small groups are clinically oriented and a great opportunity to review the material. When possible, students recommend attending small group in person as learning to apply the concepts from lectures is key to performing well on tests in this block. You will also take an ungraded self-assessment after each class and spend the first 15-30 minutes of each day reviewing the previous day’s questions. These self-assessments mirror the question style and content of the midterm and final and are a great study tool.

Cardiology has a midterm exam at the end of week 3 and a final exam at the end of the course. This course is unique in that both of the graded exams are course-specific blackboard exams. There is an optional NBME final exam after the course-specific final exam, but this is ungraded and allows students to gauge their understanding using board-style questions. Because all of the exam questions for this course are course-specific, it is especially important to pay attention to the concepts emphasized during class and small groups. Students who rely mainly on Boards & Beyond are often surprised by the style of questions emphasized on the assessments. Students can expect questions that ask them to interpret and apply the different types of graphs and figures learned in small groups on both the midterm and final exam. Additionally, there are graded self-assessments each day. These are open-book, open-note, and you have unlimited attempts to retake them. Completing these self-assessments is 10% of your grade and small group participation makes up another 10%.

In 2024, lectures and small groups occurred each afternoon from 1 pm to 5 pm. We began class by reviewing self-assessment (ungraded practice quizzes on Brightspace) questions from the previous day on Turning Point. Then, we had several lectures followed by small groups. Small group attendance was the only aspect that was mandatory, and participation was considered for our final grade. There are virtual and in person options for small group.

• Lecture - a lot of information is presented during lecture so don’t worry if it feels overwhelming or confusing at first. Much of the information in lectures is provided to paint a comprehensive picture of the concepts, and thus includes material that is not particularly relevant to medical student training. Small group will emphasize the most important information. For the lectures on ECGs, be sure to ask which arrhythmias you actually need to be able to recognize, this will not be every arrhythmia presented in lecture.

• Small Groups - small groups prepare you to think like a clinician and you will leave cardiology prepared for rotations. There are many different cases, clinical vignettes, and patient presentations that are gone over in small groups - try to remember the big pictures so that you are able to recognize clinical presentations with associated pathology / treatment! Come prepared by paying attention during lecture and don’t be afraid to ask questions until you understand the material.

• Self Assessments - the daily self-assessments are challenging but a great way to prepare for the exams. While you are allowed to complete these questions with other students, you will get the most out of these questions if you treat them like normal quizzes and use them to gauge your understanding. You can take these an unlimited number of times, and we recommend retaking them right before the midterm and final so they are fresh in your mind.

• Midterm - the midterm was challenging and most of us were surprised by its level of difficulty. As you prepare, focus on conceptual understanding rather than memorization. Purely board-prep will not prepare you for this midterm - be sure to review the self assessments and lecture content. Most importantly, be sure to attend the midterm review. The faculty really emphasize what is needed to know for the midterm during it. Most of the questions are higher-order questions designed to test your knowledge of cardiac physiology. Go back to the cases and daily assessments and push yourself to consider related or higher-order questions. When you are reviewing class material for the midterm, focus on the midterm review PowerPoints as opposed to going back through all of the lecture slides. Ultimately, however, this course is pass-fail and you will pass this midterm if you keep up with the material and attend the midterm review session.

• Final Exams - most students found the final exam to be easier than the midterm exam. The final exam is really a second midterm because it only directly covers material from the last three weeks of the course (although some things do require a good base understanding from the beginning of the course). You can generally prepare for the final using the course slides and material from Boards & Beyond and First Aid.

• Boards & Beyond - watch all the cardiology videos by the end of the block. These are especially helpful for the second half of the course which covers pathological states.

• First Aid & Anki - First Aid has an excellent condensed review of the major topics of this course. Especially as a quick reference for things like high yield rhythms on EKG. It can be helpful to review material throughout the course or to review key concepts for the final exam. Anki cards can be unsuspended based on either the First Aid tags or the Boards & Beyond tags, if you use Boards & Beyond. Use Anki if it works for you, but do not consider it a necessity.

• Sketchy Pharm - a lot of drugs are covered in the cardiology block and most students find sketchy pharm to be a better learning tool than the pharmacology lectures. You will cover diuretics and anti-coagulants in later blocks as well, but it is helpful to get comfortable with these drugs in cardiology because they are so commonly used. Do your sketchy pharm now if you can and the future blocks will be easier for you. You may also find that watching the videos for autonomic drugs helps you to remember the function of the different alpha and beta receptors which are highly tested.

• YouTube Channels - If you are a visual learner then these are the two best places for supplementing cardiology content, especially for physiology and pharmacology mechanism of action. Lectures aren't always the best place to understand physiology and pharmacology, and Boards & Beyond for this block can feel difficult to follow.

  • Ninja Nerd - Ninja Nerd has a lot of videos for cardio but if you take the time now to watch them and understand the physiology properly, then this block and the rest of your preclinical courses will be much easier. ECGs can be hard to understand in class, but Ninja Nerd does a great breakdown!

  • Armando Hasudungan

• Student Made Resources - There are multiple study guides made by previous students. Holly’s guide for cardiology is especially helpful - good idea to review her guide a few days before the midterm and a few days before the final exam.

  • MCASOM Student Made Study Guides

  • Joocer's 3rd Party Schedule

• Pathoma - you can watch the relevant cardiology pathology videos. This will be helpful for STEP 1 but is not necessary to pass the course.

• Amboss & USMLE Rx - if you have a question bank you can do 10-20 questions per day as practice. This is good practice for STEP 1 but not necessary to pass the course.

• Teaching Assistants - this course usually has 1 or more TAs who host office hours or meet with students 1 on 1 to review material. Do not be afraid to utilize the TAs especially in the first 3 weeks. The first half of the course is very conceptual and some of the physiology concepts can be hard for students to grasp. If you are feeling overwhelmed in small groups or lecture, meeting with a TA sooner rather than later can be very helpful to ensure you are prepared for the midterm.