Hello. I am an immigrant from India. I took my exam on 7th October and got the result on 30th October. All praise to the almighty, my parents, friends and my seniors.
This group has helped me immensely and so I want to give back by sharing my experience and specially the mistakes I did.
Resources used-
1- kaplan videos for all except pathology, anatomy( gross plus neuro)
2- kaplan books only for Biochemistry ( must read), immunology ( liked it) ,physiology( good for those with poor basics)
3- Dr Najeeb videos for neuroanatomy. ( by basic level for neuro was 0, so had to understand from the start). It did take me alot of time but I absolutely love the way he makes everything so easy.
4- brs Physiology- 1 time just to understand physiology a little more than what kaplan had taught.
5- shelf notes for anatomy Plus Indian PG notes (DAMS notes)
6- Biostats- uworld review plus starting 2-3 chapters from High yield biostats.
7- pathology- pathoma ( absolutely love the way he teaches)
I am more of a audio- visual learner so used to watch alot of YouTube videos of dirtyusmle, osmosis, physeo etc to learn any topic mentioned in FA which I didn’t understand.
They key to ace this exam I feel is UFAP. So technically FA gives you a fact and uworld teaches you the logical explanation behind it. UW is absolutely worth every penny they take for the subscription.
If you see something mentioned in FA understand that it was asked to someone and hence is mentioned. So understand it well.
Timeline- started studying during my internship year which was hectic. Internship ended on 2nd april. After that I began my serious study period and took the exam on 7th October.
Assessments-
Offline
Nbme13- 47 mistakes before my dedicated period.
Nbme15- around 32 mistakes
Nbme 17- 20 mistakes
Online
1july- nbme 22- 240
28th july- nbme 21- 244
24th August- nbme23 -242
1st sept uwsa1- 261
10th sept nbme 18- 248
20th sept uwsa-2 251 with free 120- 83%
This group has helped me immensely and so I want to give back by sharing my experience and specially the mistakes I did.
Resources used-
1- kaplan videos for all except pathology, anatomy( gross plus neuro)
2- kaplan books only for Biochemistry ( must read), immunology ( liked it) ,physiology( good for those with poor basics)
3- Dr Najeeb videos for neuroanatomy. ( by basic level for neuro was 0, so had to understand from the start). It did take me alot of time but I absolutely love the way he makes everything so easy.
4- brs Physiology- 1 time just to understand physiology a little more than what kaplan had taught.
5- shelf notes for anatomy Plus Indian PG notes (DAMS notes)
6- Biostats- uworld review plus starting 2-3 chapters from High yield biostats.
7- pathology- pathoma ( absolutely love the way he teaches)
I am more of a audio- visual learner so used to watch alot of YouTube videos of dirtyusmle, osmosis, physeo etc to learn any topic mentioned in FA which I didn’t understand.
They key to ace this exam I feel is UFAP. So technically FA gives you a fact and uworld teaches you the logical explanation behind it. UW is absolutely worth every penny they take for the subscription.
If you see something mentioned in FA understand that it was asked to someone and hence is mentioned. So understand it well.
Timeline- started studying during my internship year which was hectic. Internship ended on 2nd april. After that I began my serious study period and took the exam on 7th October.
Assessments-
Offline
Nbme13- 47 mistakes before my dedicated period.
Nbme15- around 32 mistakes
Nbme 17- 20 mistakes
Online
1july- nbme 22- 240
28th july- nbme 21- 244
24th August- nbme23 -242
1st sept uwsa1- 261
10th sept nbme 18- 248
20th sept uwsa-2 251 with free 120- 83%
Mistakes I did-
1- went for elective in between my studies in Feb so lost almost 2 months for 1 month of elective.
( if you still decide to go there during your study period make sure you take your step2cs and then come back.)
2- had this severe FOMO ( fear of missing out) as I was skipping out BnB so tried to do that but found it way too monotonous so after multiple failed attempts I stopped.
( stick to whatever resource you like but stop using multiple resources- in the end its repetition of the same stuff which will help you quickly answer the questions)
3- When I started uworld I would do the questions during my duty in the hospital and so Sometimes i would read the explanation and sometimes i would skip. So when i was done with 30-40% I realised that I was clueless about how much i Had actually covered. So I had to open all the created tests and read everything again. ( DONT DO WHAT I DID). Uworld is gold i repeat. Use it very wisely.
4- Didn’t take timely breaks, ended up in the vicious cycle of not being able to study- regretting/ remorse/ guilt- making it more difficult to study. ( so take breaks, enjoy with family and close friends and also learn to forgive yourself)
Thing I did right-
1- cut off from all the toxic people, people who were not studying for the same as me or those who were residents already and be in touch only with sincere usmle aspirants and close friends who uplifted me.
2- took nbme as if they were real exams. Would sleep at 10pm on the day prior to the nbme and wake up at 7, start the exam at 8. I did this for all my nbmes.
3- took nbme online.
4- simulated the real 7hour+45min environment by clubbing assessments.
5- took the date 35 days in advance. When we have date in our hands our mind becomes all the more serious.
1- went for elective in between my studies in Feb so lost almost 2 months for 1 month of elective.
( if you still decide to go there during your study period make sure you take your step2cs and then come back.)
2- had this severe FOMO ( fear of missing out) as I was skipping out BnB so tried to do that but found it way too monotonous so after multiple failed attempts I stopped.
( stick to whatever resource you like but stop using multiple resources- in the end its repetition of the same stuff which will help you quickly answer the questions)
3- When I started uworld I would do the questions during my duty in the hospital and so Sometimes i would read the explanation and sometimes i would skip. So when i was done with 30-40% I realised that I was clueless about how much i Had actually covered. So I had to open all the created tests and read everything again. ( DONT DO WHAT I DID). Uworld is gold i repeat. Use it very wisely.
4- Didn’t take timely breaks, ended up in the vicious cycle of not being able to study- regretting/ remorse/ guilt- making it more difficult to study. ( so take breaks, enjoy with family and close friends and also learn to forgive yourself)
Thing I did right-
1- cut off from all the toxic people, people who were not studying for the same as me or those who were residents already and be in touch only with sincere usmle aspirants and close friends who uplifted me.
2- took nbme as if they were real exams. Would sleep at 10pm on the day prior to the nbme and wake up at 7, start the exam at 8. I did this for all my nbmes.
3- took nbme online.
4- simulated the real 7hour+45min environment by clubbing assessments.
5- took the date 35 days in advance. When we have date in our hands our mind becomes all the more serious.
This was my experience. I would say this exam is DOABLE. Have faith in your abilities. God has put this dream within you and he will help you and he will help you achieve it.
Ps- if anymore questions please post it here, do not PM.
Thanks and good luck to all.
Ps- if anymore questions please post it here, do not PM.
Thanks and good luck to all.
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