Reproductive and Genitourinary Health

Reproductive and Genitourinary Health (RGH) was a new combined course in 2022, and it was taught alongside Endocrinology (but only the first two weeks). Endocrinology definitely was the heavier course, so it was difficult to keep up with RGH, but if you space out your reviewing, you can do it! The teaching team for RGH is split in two - gynecology (Dr. Butler) and urology (Dr. Wolter). Lectures were mostly recorded by a variety of specialists. The classes are hybrid in-person, recorded, and Zoom lectures followed by small groups on some days. The small groups are required and review clinical cases that cover topics from the day before. There was an in-person and virtual option for small groups. There are also 2 quizzes for gyn and 2 quizzes for uro. The first gyn and uro quiz is Week 1 and the rest of the quizzes are Week 2. The quizzes are worth 30% in total, participation is 30%, and the final is 40%.

RGH has a final exam the Monday of Week 3, and 4 quizzes throughout the course. The Reproductive Health quizzes are pretty representative of the material taught in lectures. The Urology quizzes were much harder and detailed oriented. The final exam is 40% of your grade (also very representative). Because the final exam is an NBME exam, it is especially important to review content from Boards & Beyond, Pathoma, Sketchy, and First Aid along with the main topics from class lectures and small groups. The style of questions on the final exam are similar to UWorld and clinical case style of questioning, so review how different diseases would present, what would happen if a certain part of the hormone pathway was knocked out, the indication for different drugs and treatments, and how to diagnose and screen for different pathologies with labs/physical exam/imaging.

The 4 quizzes are written by the professors and include a mix of clinical cases and first order questions to check your understanding of different pathways and diseases. The first Urology quiz is matching and is imperative that you understand the treatments, risk factors, and pathology. A helpful tip for the urology quizzes is to review the final review PowerPoint, particularly the highlighted sections. You can also study for the quizzes by reviewing the Boards & Beyond videos, lecture material (supplemented by anki, First Aid, and B&B), Sketchy Pharm, and Pathoma.

• Lecture - a lot of information is presented in lectures, but since the final exam is NBME, attending lectures/watching the recordings is not necessary to learn the material. A lot of lecture material does correlate with the Boards & Beyond and Pathoma material, so it is personal preference for attending lectures.

  • Dr. Butler offers "Deep Dive" sessions a few times during which she goes over the most salient points from the recorded lectures. These sessions are great and attendance is highly recommended (especially before quizzes).

• Small Groups - small groups are mandatory attendance and they cover clinical cases that test your understanding of the RGH material. Some small groups are better than others depending on your group leader for the day.

• Quizzes - the 4 quizzes are pretty straightforward and a great way to review before the final. You’re given 30 minutes for each quiz, and the quizzes are around 10 questions each. To study for the quizzes, you can review lecture material (final review PowerPoint is very high yield for urology), Boards & Beyond (very recommended), Sketchy (recommended for the drugs only), and/or Pathoma (optional). The quizzes are worth 30% in total so this is not a huge chunk of your grade (i.e. don't worry if you miss a few questions), but they're still important nonetheless. Dr. Butler and Dr. Wolter will review the quizzes later during the final exam reviews.

• Final Exams - most students found the final exam to be fair. Definitely attend the Urology final exam review. It is VERY comprehensive and goes over the high yield points. The Gyn final exam review was less helpful, but you should still attend to review the quiz. You can generally prepare for the rest of the final using Boards & Beyond material, Uworld/Amboss questions, First Aid, Pathoma, Sketchy, and the student study guides

• Boards & Beyond - watch all the reproductive health, gynecology, and urology videos by the end of the block. These videos are extremely important to understand all the material so try to watch the videos at a reasonable pace and do anki/flashcards/review questions for these topics.

  • ***Embryology is lower-yield, so don't stress too much over that content.

• 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 pathways and different diseases. 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, understanding the pathways is the most important for this course.

• Sketchy Pharm - a handful of drugs are covered in this block and most students find Sketchy Pharm to be a better learning tool than the lectures. Do your Sketchy Pharm now if you can and the future blocks will be easier for you.

• Student Made Resources - the student-made study guides are good tool to review material, especially when pinpointing topics to study for the final exam.

  • MCASOM Student Made Study Guides

  • Jay's video guides: urology and gynecology

• Pathoma - you can watch the relevant RGH 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.

• Osmosis- is another great video resource to understanding material.