Skip to main content

Step 1: 257

Step 1: 257
NBME 13: 184 (6 months before) without UW
NBME 15 (offline) 236 (1 month before)
UW first and only pass: 72%
USMLE Rx: 68%
BoardVitals qbank: 83%
UWSA1: 251 (3 weeks out)
UWSA2: 241 (10 days out)
Free 120: 81%
Materials:
Kaplan LN 2016, videos 2014
DIT 2015
FA express videos (waste)
Boards and beyond (bought subscription) (best resource I could hear Dr Ryan's voice answering questions)
Qbanks
Kaplan online (got a free subscription due to hurricane Maria): physio; anatomy; behavioral;
UW: one round started subject wise but added every subject as I went through FA and finished random
RX/BoardVitals: subject wise time on to improve stamina; BV very useful for cardio ; ethics and anatomy, RX useful for micro and pharma
Other resources
Anki: found out about this 4 months before but just used last 2 weeks (mistake): lolconatops micro; shelf notes for anatomy and Lightyear (BNB) for everything else,
100 cases Conrad Fisher
GOLJAN audios and book (last two months)
Pathoma (I liked it but I found BnB better)
BRS physio
If you are looking for a post about taking the exam after 6 months and just know FA and UW; please scroll down; my journey started on January 2017; studied up to march 2017 and had to stop due to many health issues; got pregnant and had an horrible pregnancy but somehow I managed to keep doing some questions from pastest qbank; started studying again on October 2017 and studied until delivering my baby on Dec 8th; then I had a pelvic fracture and was bedridden four months; I thought on give up but after considering I can't imagine doing anything else and as I am already living here in US due to marriage I had to take the chance and do this. (yes I am another old graduated; mom and housewife); at that time took NBME 13 after 4 months without studying and failed (184); I felt so sad but a friend of mine old graduated like me matched on IM last year with 213 on step 1; I decided to keep pushing; at that time a friend recommended BNB, and I started quizzing FA with SP; I started UW and didn't take any assessment until I decide I was ready; did some old Nbme but got 65 wrong on Nbme 3 (2 months before) i was crushed; I thought I knew stuff; I was expecting 20 wrong or somebut my advisor told me not to do old nbmes because the questions are weird; I focused on BNB fa UW and other qbanks on test day I took propanolol 20 mg; I was calmed; got out 1.5 hours before time; I was feeling confident; I can say the 2 most important resources were BNB (the questions are good; that was the best invested money), and Anki; I didn't do other Nbme because my advisor told me why are u losing 4 hours taking an assessment if you have to reinforce things; I focused on forgettable list from FA; and watched 3 first chapter of pathoma.
I can say I didn't do anything special; I knew I was able to get 230 by myself but God wanted to give me 257; I praise him and give him all the glory!
And yes: we; the old graduated moms; stay at home or working wives can do it!
Things i would do different: not doing Kaplan; repeating BNB and start Anki from the beginning

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MY Step 2 CK Experience 284 Medhat Farwati

Dear (future) Doctors, I am Medhat Farwati, a Syrian graduate from Aleppo University, Faculty of Medicine. Hereby I share with you my experience with Step 2 CK. 1. Score: 284 2. Self-assessments: UWSA 1: 273 (2 months out) UWSA 2: 276 ( 1 week out) NBME 7: 277 (1 week out) NBME 8: 280 (3 days out) 3. Preparation time: After I was done with Step 1, I moved to the US as a postdoctoral research fellow. As such, I realized it is going to be challenging to navigate my research du ties, US rotations, Step 2 CS exam, and Step 2 CK preparation. Collectively, the actual preparation time for CK was 12 months with an average studying time ranging from 4 hours a day for the first 10 months to 8 hours a day for the last 2 months prior to my exam. 4. Materials used: UW Step 2 CK (x3) UW Step 3 (x2) Kaplan Q bank (x1) Internal Medicine Essentials Q bank De Virgilio (surgery textbook) Up to date and Medscape Google, YouTube, and Siri 😊 UW Step 2: Your baseline. Most people preparing for CK rega

USMLE step 1: 250

Got my score this week : 250 Here is my Step 1 experience, I’ve read so many in the past and they really helped me, so here’s mine, hope it helps you out! Resources: 1. UW qbank x 2 2. FIRST AID x 3 3. Kaplan 2014 live online lectures 4. Kaplan lecture notes 5. Pathoma 6. Goljan Audio lectures 7. Sketchy Micro and Pharmacology 8. B&B videos 9. Rx qbank 7 day free trial 10. Biostats- Randy Neil Videos and UW biostats 11. 100 cases of Ethics by Conrad Fischer and 30 cases of ethics by dirty USMLE 12. Anatomy shelf notes Nbme 16 240 (3 mo. before) Nbme 17 244 (2 mo. before) UWSA 1 252 (1.5 mo. before) UWSA 2 258 (1 mo. before) Nbme 19 238 (3 wks before) Nbme 15 262 (2 wks before Nbme 18 250 (1 wk before) Free 120 83% What I did in the last week 1. Reviewed FA last time focused on weak areas, skimmed though others and made a 1 page list of the stuff I couldn’t remember. 2. Read UW notes that I made. 3. Did nbme 18 4. Reviewed sketchy images 2 Days before: 1. Heart sounds

Guidance of USMLE

Since I was so confused during the process of application for USMLE step 1 exam, I thought I should note down the step by step procedure for IMG graduates : 1. Get ECFMG ID. Log into ECFMG website and create an account with basic info. Then you will be mailed ECFMG /USMLE ID in 3-5 days. 2. Application for ECFMG certification. At this point, you will be asked to pay 125$. You will get the form 186 to download as soon as you make the payment. 3. Get your passport ready. You will be asked to notarise the form 186 via notarycam. The procedures are well mentioned in the website. You need to upload the first page of form 186 and copy of your passport in the notarycam website. You will be asked to get an appointment for notarycam after you upload these documents. 4. Notarycam personnel will fix an appointment as per your convenience. Keep your passport handy. It will last for 3-4 minutes. It is very simple step. The personnel will verify the passport and your basic informati