I liked the way Dr. Francis taught us on how to understand medicine rather than memory medicine as other review courses. The experience was nice (at least the online experience that I had). Although, I have to say that I did not enjoyed as much the classes that the other doctors taught (I think there're 3 classes) because the way they are used to teach is going through the slides instead of looking at how to understand those slides. Not that I did not learn but was a different way to approach the material.
Francis is excellent and his experience has motivated me to be a better medical student. About the online part, I will suggest for the program to give more attention to the online questions because sometimes there were questions that were not answered during lecture or by Dr. But my experience overall was really really good!
Thank you Dr Francis for giving me such an EMPOWERMENT. Pass Program POSITIVELY shifted my medical school career. I went to the program after failing Step 1 and did not know what to expect. I found medical school challenging and thought that there was something wrong with me. The first day of class I realized that there was nothing wrong with me but everything wrong with how I organized information. Francis taught me how to appropriately digest all the knowledge that we are expected to learn in medical school.
The days are long and you will want to sleep in and not go to morning questions and leave early BUT DO NOT DO THIS. If you stick with the program.follow his advice success will come. If you have a deadline that you want to meet, be upfront with your tutors. It WILL involve you staying up later and waking up earlier but let them know this in advance so everyone is on the same page. It is not a magical formula. Being at the Pass Program still involves A LOT of hard work and dedication and you will find distractions BUT you have to stay committed, focused, and diligent in your studies. PASS program made me fall in love with medicine all over again!
When I arrived to PASS program last year for STEP 1, I had multiple attempts and worried that I would not succeed in my next one again. I went in with the idea of 'I just need to pass this test,' which was true.BUT I also learned that I had serious knowledge gaps and lack of basic understanding. Many students bash the program saying how lousy it is.I'm gonna tell you all: this is all what you put in! I you're lazy and expect to be spoon-fed and rely on memory to JUST PASS, pass program is not for you. If you know you need help and need to understand the material then PASS program IS for you.
Allow me to clarify again: PASS program is what you put into it! Lectures are good, you make the connections, the course material is one of the simplest and most basic books I've ever read.
YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR HANDS ON SOMETHING ELSE THAT EXPLAINS THINGS THE WAY PASS PROGRAM DOES. I've heard of students going to the program expecting to take an exam right after the course and they come in with a sub par NBME score. It does not work that way, Dr. Francis is amazing at what he does, but he's not a magician that will magically conjure a PASS just because you came here.For me PASS provided a safety system, learning strategies, questions strategies, positive environment and a place for me to focus.
I was taught to think for myself and to let the pt (or in our case the questions stems) tell us what they wanted. I had a rigorous schedule attending morning questions, lecture, drills and self study. I can say it was a boot camp, but I can attest to the fact that this program works if you follow the advice of Dr. F and the tutors.tutors: all amazing people with different personalities.
No student gets assigned a tutor if the tutor has not passed the exam that student is taking. Tutors are knowledgeable and each one has their strengths. It's unfair for students to demand a tutor that's perfect. No one is.I came back for step 2 and accomplished my goal once again.now I am prepping for Step 3 and PASS is my safe place.
Urbana Champaign Transfer
I am so grateful that I was pointed in the right direction and heard about the Pass Program. The content of the course is very thorough. Dr Francis explains the basic and clinical sciences in a way you can understand and integrate. This is a lifesaver if you are not a recent medical graduate. I now feel very confident that I will do well on Step 1 because this course has provided me the necessary tools. The successful track record of PASS Program is no surprise to anyone who has taken this course and done the work. I am truly empowered, and I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about the USMLE exams.
I signed up for the Live Online course for Step 2 CK. I ended up not using this program for my studies and hired a personal tutor with Med School Tutors.When I first signed up for the course, I did not get a clear welcome email or call. I had to call the company and ask clarifying questions on how to use it.
I then found out that we are expected to watch ALL step 1 lectures in addition to all step 2 lectures. It added up to over 8 hours of lecture per day.
When is one supposed to study? After 8 hours of lecture?
Usmle Pass Program Urbana Champaign Dr Francis Indiana
That was unrealistic for me. Additionally, the lecturers ranged from great to boring. I feel that they were teaching for learning as opposed to aiming to have students pass the test.I would not recommend the Live Online course. I have been afraid of standardized exams for as long as I can remember, and I tried everything before coming to the PASS Program: kaplan, boards & beyond, statmed, comquest, combank, u-world, you name it I tried it.
My medical school sent me to PASS program after I failed my first board exam, and I had serious test-taking anxiety and confidence issues, knowing this could be my last chance. I signed up for the 8 week pass guarantee program and stayed 1 more month to work on my test taking. I highly recommend attending every morning question session, tutoring 2x a week, as well as drilling with a partner daily. If you put in the work here, you will definitely get the results! I plan to return for a refresher before my next round of board exams, and I will apply the physiology patterns and test taking tips he taught in class for all future exams.
Francis truly changed my life, the way I view standardized exams, and the way I will practice and approach medicine! I will be forever grateful to him and his staff, and I aim to pay forward all I learned to those around me that are struggling. My only regret is that I did not come sooner. I've always struggled with test-taking and was uncertain how to prepare for the USMLE Step 1 exam after a previous attempt. I researched countless programs, and I somehow found Pass program which saved my medical career. I still remember Dr Francis calling me on the phone and urging me to not give up on my dream to become a doctor.
I can't thank him enough for pushing me to not only pass my exams but score high! I successfully passed my USMLE Step 1 & 2 CK/CS exams and recently passed Usmle Step 3 exam!!!!This program is unique in so many ways. Dr Francis will learn everyone's name and call on you in class constantly.I don't think you can find this personal attention at any other commercial board review course. I always enjoyed attending his 'morning question' sessions and daily class lectures.
The one-on-one tutor sessions are also beneficial after class to reinforce concepts and test taking strategies.Dr Francis has a love and passion for medicine which will remind you why chose it as a career path. His wealth of knowledge from practicing as a physician and teaching in the classroom is exactly what every medical student needs! I highly recommend this program for USMLE study preparation and beyond!Update 10/3/19: Passed USMLE Step 3 exam!!!
Thank you Dr Francis for helping me complete the journey! I was an online on-demand student and I would not have recommended this to my friends. Dr Francis put together concept very well, and helped to tie many topics together. However, this was not enough to do well on STEP 1. There were not sufficient details and many big topics missing.
I also realized the classes are the same for Step 2 (except they are given some extra lectures). The workbook they send you has many errors and it looks like it was never proofread or formatted. I paid an extra $100/hr for private tutoring which was not worth the price- although it is tutor dependent. I also paid $50 for an “NBME consultation”. I still don’t know what that was for, I was given a sample schedule that was from another student who had weeks more time than I had, and the consultant just repeated to me the subjects I needed to work on (I sent her my score report with the subjects and the bar graph). I never heard from the program again.It was helpful to tie big concepts together and I did feel that I learned new ways to think through problems, but it was not worth the money. I wish I had chosen another prep program.