Please do comment and share it
Hey all,
I've never posted here before, but have done lots of lurking and learned a lot from reading all of your experiences. Thought I'd pay it forward by posting my own:
273/99
Test date: June 15
The summer after 1st year, I reviewed the material that had been covered that year in First Aid. Just light reading, nothing at all serious. I didn't touch anything boards related again until winter break of 2nd year, during which I read First Aid in its entirety. When school resumed in January, I started listening to Goljan audio lectures as I walked to and from school. I also subscribed to Kaplan Q Bank and would try to do 2 random timed sections per day. At this point, there was still lots of material that I hadn't covered in school yet (like all of Neuro, Repro, and Heme), but I did random sets anyways. I finished Kaplan Q Bank in early April. As soon as I finished, I did sets made of the questions that I had missed, until I made sure I could answer every question in that Q bank correctly. I also did sets made up of questions that I had gotten right, but wasn't sure about (I had been marking them the whole time). So really, I ended up getting about 1.5x coverage on the Q Bank. Then I moved onto USMLEWorld and did the same thing, again covering it about 1.5x. I did the NBMEs when I felt up to it, and did the USMLEWorld self assessments after I had finished USMLEWorld Q Bank. Then I took the thing, that's about it. Ha.
Here's a summary of my numbers:
Kaplan Q Bank, 78% (This is the first pass, obviously it went up when I started repeating questions.)
USMLEWorld Q Bank, 82% (Same thing as Kaplan Q Bank)
NBME 3 (7 weeks out), 261
NBME 5 (6 weeks out), 268
NBME 6 (5 weeks out). 261
USMLEWorld SA1 (4 weeks out), 265
USMLEWorld SA2 (3 weeks out), 265
NBME 7 (2 weeks out), 268
NBME 11/12 (back to back, 1 week out), 268/268
Really, there's tons of good advice on this website. I think the best piece of it I came across though was do it your own way. You know how you learn, so don't get unnerved because people who are different from you do things different from you. The next best thing I learned here was do TONS of questions. If you want a great score, I think it's vital that you do more than one Q Bank. Finally, as far as books go, the ONLY one I used was First Aid. If you know every word in that book, then you're good to go. Granted, First Aid is not the place to go learn things for the first time, so if you need help understanding concepts then review in other sources that you like. I like Goljan Audio. But once you get it, switch to First Aid and don't look back.
Remember that even though it's a painful phase in life, studying for this exam has real value outside of getting a great score. This is a rare opportunity, to have designated time to consolidate and integrate your medical knowledge. Best of luck to everyone preparing!
I've never posted here before, but have done lots of lurking and learned a lot from reading all of your experiences. Thought I'd pay it forward by posting my own:
273/99
Test date: June 15
The summer after 1st year, I reviewed the material that had been covered that year in First Aid. Just light reading, nothing at all serious. I didn't touch anything boards related again until winter break of 2nd year, during which I read First Aid in its entirety. When school resumed in January, I started listening to Goljan audio lectures as I walked to and from school. I also subscribed to Kaplan Q Bank and would try to do 2 random timed sections per day. At this point, there was still lots of material that I hadn't covered in school yet (like all of Neuro, Repro, and Heme), but I did random sets anyways. I finished Kaplan Q Bank in early April. As soon as I finished, I did sets made of the questions that I had missed, until I made sure I could answer every question in that Q bank correctly. I also did sets made up of questions that I had gotten right, but wasn't sure about (I had been marking them the whole time). So really, I ended up getting about 1.5x coverage on the Q Bank. Then I moved onto USMLEWorld and did the same thing, again covering it about 1.5x. I did the NBMEs when I felt up to it, and did the USMLEWorld self assessments after I had finished USMLEWorld Q Bank. Then I took the thing, that's about it. Ha.
Here's a summary of my numbers:
Kaplan Q Bank, 78% (This is the first pass, obviously it went up when I started repeating questions.)
USMLEWorld Q Bank, 82% (Same thing as Kaplan Q Bank)
NBME 3 (7 weeks out), 261
NBME 5 (6 weeks out), 268
NBME 6 (5 weeks out). 261
USMLEWorld SA1 (4 weeks out), 265
USMLEWorld SA2 (3 weeks out), 265
NBME 7 (2 weeks out), 268
NBME 11/12 (back to back, 1 week out), 268/268
Really, there's tons of good advice on this website. I think the best piece of it I came across though was do it your own way. You know how you learn, so don't get unnerved because people who are different from you do things different from you. The next best thing I learned here was do TONS of questions. If you want a great score, I think it's vital that you do more than one Q Bank. Finally, as far as books go, the ONLY one I used was First Aid. If you know every word in that book, then you're good to go. Granted, First Aid is not the place to go learn things for the first time, so if you need help understanding concepts then review in other sources that you like. I like Goljan Audio. But once you get it, switch to First Aid and don't look back.
Remember that even though it's a painful phase in life, studying for this exam has real value outside of getting a great score. This is a rare opportunity, to have designated time to consolidate and integrate your medical knowledge. Best of luck to everyone preparing!
12)Step 1 Experience 253
I took 6 months to study for step 1. From June to Janurary.
Took the test on Janurary 21th 2013.
The resources I used:
High Yield Neuroanatomy- Which I read 3x. The book is amazing. Has everything First Aid should have.
High Yield Behavioral- Just skimed through the book. Didn't really like it too much
High Yield Molecular biology. Skimmed through the high yield stuff. Helped a bit with some of the lower yield items I kept forgetting. But not essential either.
BRS physiology- I loved this book. Helped build a strong fondation for everything. Read it 4x
Pathoma. Watched the videos 3x. Read the book about 6x. I absolutely loved pathoma. Its a must have.
BRS Pathology. I read it once. Nice book. But loved pathoma more because of how condense pathoma is.
Goljan pathology book. Read through it once. I felt reading it once was enough. Its a great resource even with 1 read. Never used the audio because I had pathoma.
Microcards + BRS Biochem Flashcards + Langes Pharm cards used these everyday in the morning and night. Had them memorized. This was my only sources for these topics and I didn't miss a single question.
Pathology Langes flash cards. I borrowed them from a friend. Used them for about 2 weeks and never touched them again.
Robbins flash cards. I used them quite a bit early in my studies in the first few months but stopped using them.
DIT I went through it twice. Its great and it really focuses on the high yield topics. Its really more of a last minute cram then to learn from.
And FIRST AID. The golden book. With studying this resource alone and having it memorized someone could pass easily with 220. But adding the other resouces from books and qbanks into it....PRICELESS. I read this book 6x.
Here are some of my NBME scores:
NBME 7 330/182
NBME 6 470/214
NBME 5 600/245
NBME 11 540/231
NBME 12 560/235
NBME 13 590/242
UWORLD ASSESSMENT 1 242
UWORLD ASSESSMENT 2 263
Kaplan Assessment test 1 74%
Kaplan Assessment test 2 79%
UWORLD 1st run- 69% 2nd run- 90% (Finished half)
Kaplan- 74%
USMLERX 88% (finished 75% of it)
First Aid Q&A 85%
NMS for step 1 65%
The orders of my qbanks were Uworld first, Kaplan, NMS, First Aid Q&A, Uworld 2nd run with USMLErx switching off every other day.
Everything I got wrong or didn't understand I wrote in a notebook and read every other day. By the end of studying all the qbanks I probably had written 18 notebooks of notes.
Final week
I was doing USMLErx about 3 to 4 blocks a day. Reviewed just my incorrect. I was only trying to build endurance for the test so I wouldn't tire. At this point I finally stopped using my flash cards because 4 blocks a day was getting time consuming.
Day before.
Hung out with my best friend. We had a beer and just went to the park. It was a lot of fun. Totally forgot I was taking the test till I came home to my parents where they stressed me out. I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep so I took a melatonin. It worked perfect. I slept like a rock at midnight and woke up around 8am. My test was at 10am.
Day of.
Just went through a few notes. Talked to my parents. Ate a small breakfast but packed a lot of snacks. Went to star bucks before heading to prometrics and bought a huge coffee. Every break I took I went to it and took the biggest gulps to make sure I was still focused.
As for breaks.
Did 1st and 2nd block back to back. After 2nd block took a 10min break and then 3rd block. Took a 10min break. Then did the 4th block. 20 min break. 5th block. 10 min break. 6 block. 10 min break. Final block. I made sure I took a break even though I didn't think I needed one. I wanted to make sure fatigue was not a factor into me rushing my answers. I would finish most blocks with 15mins left. After reviewing the blocks I usually still had about 7 mins left so I just sat there and waited for my break.
The actual test
Was easier then any nbme I had taken.
The questions weren't very difficult. The ones that I did get stomped on (maybe 2 per block) I would just answer quickly and move on from it.
No specific topic jumps out as being a majority. I thought it was well distributed in most subjects.
What I've learned from the experience
My strongest resource were questions. In the end, I may have done 12,000+ questions. I saw questions ask a certain topic in almost every angle. So if I was to advise you all what I would say is a must. It would be questions, questions, questions. And remember this test isn't impossible. Its just a question which you've practiced over and over. Anyone can score well when they stick there mind to it.
Ask anything guys I'll try to keep answering as long as i can
Comments
Post a Comment