Skip to main content

Step 1--- 261



I just got my exam result today that is 261. My exam date was 26th September and here is my experience:
First of all, it’s long and though way that requires patience, ambition, hardwork and self-confident. You must study well and more important: YOU MUST BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO IT. Aim the top, work hard, get result and be happy. But you must also know that it’s not everything. Even if you failed the exam, you should know there are something else different than it and there are other ways. Briefly, keep living in each way.
I saw preparation time and periods in other experiences. Well, mine is a little bit confusing. I decided to take USMLE Step 1 on September 2015. I did my plans and planned to take it on July 2016. But things didn’t go as I want, so I postponed my plans to next year. Again, becuase of things that I don’t know even now, didn’t study well in fall 2016. I started my real devoted study period probably in end of May. (The date I chose my eligibilty period and did my reservation for exam.) You can see my hardcore preparation time is only 3.5 months. But before that, in past 2 years, I studied and promote my knowledge in basic science step by step. Things that learned in medical school also give you a lot of advantage.
What are the essential resources? (according to me of course) I think these are UWorld QBank, FA, Costanzo physiology, Goljan RRP.
Done all NBME’s and UWSA’s online and my scores were;
NBME 13: 215 (June 21)
NBME 15: 238 (Sep 15)
NBME 16: 255 (Sep 16)
NBME 17: 250 (Sep 17)
NBME 18: 255 (Sep 18)
NBME 19: 246 (Sep 19)
UWSA 1: 260 (Sep 13)
UWSA 2: 262 (Sep 14)
What about the exam? It’s the hardest exam that I take ever. It’s not because of questions, it’s about the length of the exam. Really tough and tiring. But questions; not so hard. While the time passing, you adapt the exam and focus. It’s DOABLE, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FEAR THE EXAM IF YOU STUDY ENOUGH. Believe yourself and your study and try to stay calm.
The interface of the software and question format is EXACTLY THE SAME AS UWORLD. So maybe the most important source for exam is UWORLD QBANK. Do not underestimate its power. Do it and do rightly. Read all explanations carefully and adapt yourself the format. That’s the most useful tip for the real exam I think.
Good luck in advance.
PS: Thank you for your best regards and wishes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Step 1--- 243

Hello everyone,  I gave my step 1 exam on Oct 24th, and just got my score - 243  :)   I wanted to write this experience to all those out there who are struggling with the exam, hopefully it will motivate and give proper guidance which I lacked. My exam prep duration -  15 months (July 2016 to Oct 2017) I took a break of 2 months in between and again a break of 4 months later on for my rotations.  Total prep time being 9 months (last 2 months dedicated period with 8-10 hours of study; other months I studied for 6-8hrs a day.)  ----------------------- Resources used -  FA and UW; added selected kaplan videos (for biochem, immunology); Dr. Steven lectures for Behav; Pathoma videos; Kaplan behav book; Shelf notes for anatomy ------------------------ Preparation:  I took a baseline Nbme 12 at the very beginning - got 130 (June ending 2016)  I was doing my internship at that time - juggled between step 1 prep and the duties. Later I took off f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Series of confusing topics for usmle candidate's

I have already declared in my experience part that I will discuss about "100 confusing topics". This is the First one for you- Surely you may get 4/5 marks more from this topics in the real test because it is very very high yield topics. Topic 1: Fatty acid catabolism 1. Hypoketotic hypoglycemia with intracellular fatty acyl carnitines on muscle biopsy- it may be LCAD or MCAD deficiency. If question says carnitine is present, that means carnitine can't be deficient, because if it were, then you would only get fatty acyl-CoA derivatives but not anything carnitines related. Therefore, the answer here would be MCAD or LCAD deficiency. 2. Intestinal FA that are 12 or more carbons in length are absorbed in lymph and bypass liver. 12+ carbon FA are termed long chain. So, if the question stem mentions the classic hypoketotic hypoglycemia and then tells you the build up of 16C FA like palmitic acid, than the answer is LCAD deficiency, not MCAD deficiency. 3. Acetyl...
Post a Comment
Read more

RESIDENCY INTERVIEW EVALUATION FORM

I have attached a sample evaluation form that is used to evaluate applicants during an interview. You can score a theoretical maximum of 120 points. Let’s discuss it in detail: 1) USMLE Scores (2 to 10 points): After you get the interview, your scores do matter but not to the same extent as interview skills! You can score 10 points provided you have great scores which correspond to >=245 on step 1 and >=253 on CK. Step 3 is not mentioned on the form and its importance varies depending on the specialty that you are applying and the program. For e.g. Psychiatry places a great weightage on step 3 while IM is not that rigid about step 3. 2) Medical Knowledge (other than USMLE scores) (0 to 10 points): When you are asked any clinical question, this is where your clinical experience will help you. A person who has strong clinical experience will nail this section vs. a person who does not have clinical experience will not be able to create an impression in this section. 3) Me...
Post a Comment
Read more