How I moved from getting 230s on my NBMEs to scoring 250+ on the real deal in 1.5 month
LONG POST
I have read a lot of experiences during my preparation of this exam, it’s only fair to give back to the people going through this grueling journey, take whatever helps you and leave the rest, remember everyone is different and what might worked for me may not work for you
I will talk pre-dedication period briefly and just mention the resources I used and and assessments, I will mainly focus on my mistakes and what I did to change my results during the dedication period
I will talk pre-dedication period briefly and just mention the resources I used and and assessments, I will mainly focus on my mistakes and what I did to change my results during the dedication period
>Pre-dedication period study material (March - August with alot of on/off periods)
-Sketchy Micro x1
-BnB x1 (highly recommend it —> Dr Jason Ryan hands down is one of the best)
-FA x2 (first time with BnB and Pathoma videos, second read with first round of UW)
-UW x2 (first round - Offline, second round - Online)
-Pathoma x1
-Sketchy Pharm - some videos not all
-Other resources: Kaplan videos (Neuroanatomy- Dr white & Biochem- Dr Turco)
-Sketchy Micro x1
-BnB x1 (highly recommend it —> Dr Jason Ryan hands down is one of the best)
-FA x2 (first time with BnB and Pathoma videos, second read with first round of UW)
-UW x2 (first round - Offline, second round - Online)
-Pathoma x1
-Sketchy Pharm - some videos not all
-Other resources: Kaplan videos (Neuroanatomy- Dr white & Biochem- Dr Turco)
>Dedication period study material (November - exam day)
-FA x3 (BIG MISTAKE, more of this later)
-UW - marked and wrong questions from my second round
-100 cases book x1
-Anatomy shelf notes x1
-ANKI - one of the best if you use it smartly, more of it later
-Goljan audio lectures - mainly listened during gym workouts (not that high-yield but he’s a funny teacher)
-Other resources - Qbanks ( Amboss, Kaplan & Rx —> only on my weak areas and adding 3-4 blocks after each assessment)
-FA x3 (BIG MISTAKE, more of this later)
-UW - marked and wrong questions from my second round
-100 cases book x1
-Anatomy shelf notes x1
-ANKI - one of the best if you use it smartly, more of it later
-Goljan audio lectures - mainly listened during gym workouts (not that high-yield but he’s a funny teacher)
-Other resources - Qbanks ( Amboss, Kaplan & Rx —> only on my weak areas and adding 3-4 blocks after each assessment)
Prededication assessments - all OFFLINE
->NBME 15 (19/08/2019): 45 mistakes
->NBME 16 (22/08/2019): 44 mistakes
->NBME 17 (29/08/2019): 53 mistakes
During this time I took some time off for personal reasons which took around 2 months September and October, during this time I didn’t study and I only did 19
->NBME 19 (28/09/2019): 43 mistakes
->NBME 15 (19/08/2019): 45 mistakes
->NBME 16 (22/08/2019): 44 mistakes
->NBME 17 (29/08/2019): 53 mistakes
During this time I took some time off for personal reasons which took around 2 months September and October, during this time I didn’t study and I only did 19
->NBME 19 (28/09/2019): 43 mistakes
The two months break I took affected my studies and retention so at the start of my dedication on November, I finished FA in 2 weeks then did {NBME 21} then I did around 200 questions of my UW mistakes daily for a week, after which I took {NBME 24} at this point I was analyzing my mistakes on each NBME and my test taking strategies. I was doing it whenever I finish the NBME, I was writing the reason for each mistake and put it on columns of whether it was new concept or something I knew but forgot or whether it was silly mistakes of trick question. Most of my mistakes were concepts I forgot which I needed to revise so I did another round of FA in a week then did {NBME 23}. Then before my next assessment which was in a week, I focused on my weak areas by doing specific UW sections and other Qbanks, I also did 100 cases ethics then I did my next assessment {UWSA 1}.
->NBME 21 (18/11/2019): 228 (ONLINE) 50 mistakes
->NBME 24 (25/11/2019): 221 (ONLINE) 54 mistakes <<during the test went back & changed 7 questions from correct to incorrect —> BIG LESSON >>
->NBME 23 (02/12/2019): 230 (ONLINE) 47 mistakes
->UWSA 1 (09/12/2019): 256 (ONLINE) 32 mistakes
->NBME 24 (25/11/2019): 221 (ONLINE) 54 mistakes <<during the test went back & changed 7 questions from correct to incorrect —> BIG LESSON >>
->NBME 23 (02/12/2019): 230 (ONLINE) 47 mistakes
->UWSA 1 (09/12/2019): 256 (ONLINE) 32 mistakes
At this point I decided I had to change my approach if I wanted to increase my score. So from this point onwards I incoorporated ANKI into my studies, this is one of the best decisions I made, but since I didn’t have much time I had to use it smartly so heres how I used Anki
I decided to use only 4 decks, SELF MADE DECK and 3 other decks from my weak areas: Micro deck (Sketchy micro deck created by Nicolet.life <the best deck for Micro>), Pharm deck (Aervien Deck - the best for pharm) and anatomy 100 concepts deck (only 2-3 days is enough for this deck).
My main improvement came from the SELF MADE DECK which I started making after UWSA 1, I started with UWSA 1 mistakes and cocepts I needed to remember or to understand, concepts and important details from UW incorrects & marked questions and some concepts from previous mistakes of my assessments, even if I needed to clear some concepts, I was searching it through my UW and puting it on the deck so basically whatever I see and thought is important to remember I was making a card for it and put it on this deck. As I was adding cards, I also kept doing Anki daily 70-100 new cards of each deck and the review cards as well, till the last night before my exam (which I only did Self made deck). During this time I also focused on 2 other things, My test taking strategy and my weak areas.
The following links might help you to correct your Test taking strategy
https://www.yousmle.com/question-interpretation/
https://www.benwhite.com/m…/how-i-read-nbme-usmle-questions/
I decided to use only 4 decks, SELF MADE DECK and 3 other decks from my weak areas: Micro deck (Sketchy micro deck created by Nicolet.life <the best deck for Micro>), Pharm deck (Aervien Deck - the best for pharm) and anatomy 100 concepts deck (only 2-3 days is enough for this deck).
My main improvement came from the SELF MADE DECK which I started making after UWSA 1, I started with UWSA 1 mistakes and cocepts I needed to remember or to understand, concepts and important details from UW incorrects & marked questions and some concepts from previous mistakes of my assessments, even if I needed to clear some concepts, I was searching it through my UW and puting it on the deck so basically whatever I see and thought is important to remember I was making a card for it and put it on this deck. As I was adding cards, I also kept doing Anki daily 70-100 new cards of each deck and the review cards as well, till the last night before my exam (which I only did Self made deck). During this time I also focused on 2 other things, My test taking strategy and my weak areas.
The following links might help you to correct your Test taking strategy
https://www.yousmle.com/question-interpretation/
https://www.benwhite.com/m…/how-i-read-nbme-usmle-questions/
So overall this 1.5 month, I did last read of FA mainly focusing through my weak sections and skimming through the rest, Daily average 400-500 Anki, UW tables and the rest of the assessments
->NBME 22 (07/01/2020): 28 mistakes (OFFLINE) + 2 blocks of NBME 20 <<this was a big motivation that I was on the right track because I decreased the number of my mistakes almost half from my last NBME assessment less than a month ago>>
->NBME 18 (12/01/2020): 240 (ONLINE) 27 mistakes <<during the test went back and changed 4 questions from correct to incorrect again —> seems like I didn’t learn my lesson yet>> + other two blocks of NBME 20 <<this is when I decided even if you don’t comeback for my marked questions during the real exam, I won’t be as anxious since my first instinct of most of my 50/50 questions was proofing to be right anyways
->UWSA 2 (15/01/2020) 251 <<closest to my real score>>
->NBME 18 (12/01/2020): 240 (ONLINE) 27 mistakes <<during the test went back and changed 4 questions from correct to incorrect again —> seems like I didn’t learn my lesson yet>> + other two blocks of NBME 20 <<this is when I decided even if you don’t comeback for my marked questions during the real exam, I won’t be as anxious since my first instinct of most of my 50/50 questions was proofing to be right anyways
->UWSA 2 (15/01/2020) 251 <<closest to my real score>>
Things I did right
During dedicated period after each assessment I was also doing 3-4 blocks of any Qbank to imitate the real exam time. Thus during the exam day, I was fresh throught the exam and didn’t feel tired in the last blocks which helped me to perform well
Doing only first 3 chapters of pathoma on last day and taking a break even though I needed to study more
Getting a good sleep the night before the exam
During dedicated period after each assessment I was also doing 3-4 blocks of any Qbank to imitate the real exam time. Thus during the exam day, I was fresh throught the exam and didn’t feel tired in the last blocks which helped me to perform well
Doing only first 3 chapters of pathoma on last day and taking a break even though I needed to study more
Getting a good sleep the night before the exam
Things I would have changed
Incoorporating my own anki deck earlier in my studies
Reading FA again and again is not productive as doing ANKI and Qbanks thus if you read two time its enough, you can review one last time before 2 weeks before the test but focus mainly on spaced repitition and active recall methods
Taking a long break will halt your improvement and you will forget all the volatile concepts
Allowing NBME scores to affect me, even NBME 18 under-predicted me by more than 10 points
Incoorporating my own anki deck earlier in my studies
Reading FA again and again is not productive as doing ANKI and Qbanks thus if you read two time its enough, you can review one last time before 2 weeks before the test but focus mainly on spaced repitition and active recall methods
Taking a long break will halt your improvement and you will forget all the volatile concepts
Allowing NBME scores to affect me, even NBME 18 under-predicted me by more than 10 points
General tips
This exam will be one of the hardest things you will do in your life, it will drain you mentally and physically, it will make you doubt alot about your self but know that it’s a challenge you need to go through in order to come out on the other side as a better doctor, if medicine wasn’t a challenge, we wouldn’t love it this much. there will be alot of downs, whenever you have one of those moments which you will most probably have, pick yourself up and try again. Don’t stress much on the assessment scores. Be willing to change your approach and study method whenever your method is not working, theres no perfect method to get a good score
This exam will be one of the hardest things you will do in your life, it will drain you mentally and physically, it will make you doubt alot about your self but know that it’s a challenge you need to go through in order to come out on the other side as a better doctor, if medicine wasn’t a challenge, we wouldn’t love it this much. there will be alot of downs, whenever you have one of those moments which you will most probably have, pick yourself up and try again. Don’t stress much on the assessment scores. Be willing to change your approach and study method whenever your method is not working, theres no perfect method to get a good score
All the best.
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