Skip to main content

Step 1: 250


Alhamdulillah!!
Got my result today 😊
I wasn’t very active in groups but I would always read everyone’s experiences as they motivated me and pushed me further. I hope my experience helps someone too. I would also go through the questions posted by the wonderful people in this group to clear concepts. I didn’t give myself any score target, I wanted to give my best in the preparation and just give the exam in the month I had planned
When I started my preparation, my concepts of the basic science subjects were very weak and Step 1 felt like an insurmountable, daunting task! But let me assure you that it’s doable. There are thousands of people who do it every year, you can do it too!
Preparation:
Total duration 9 months
Dedicated period 4 months
Study sources: UFAP (It’s GOLD!)
Started with Pathoma videos and book.
Watched Kaplan videos for Biochemistry, Immunology, Neuroanatomy.
While going through these sources I would read the corresponding parts from FA to familiarize myself with the book early on.
If I wouldn’t understand a concept, I would watch YouTube videos for it.
UWORLD:
1st Pass: Started subject wise. I made notes on FA side by side. I would read a chap thoroughly and then would do its questions in the next few days.
I did about 2/3 of my uworld’s first pass subject wise and then switched to timed- random. During this time I was able to do 1 block a day. I would read FA half of the day and then in the evening would do a block with explanations.
Scored about 78% in first pass. (Did it in maybe 4.5 months)
After the 1st pass, I read FA with all the UW explanations in 2 weeks and gave NBME 15 offline.
2nd pass: Incorrect/Marked questions in random timed mode. Some days I would do 1 and some days 2 blocks. I felt that I learnt better if I read FA everyday.
(Spent maybe 1-1.5 month on 2nd pass)
NBME 15: Dec 15th. 25 mistakes (offline)
UWSA 1: Jan 10th. 257 (29 mistakes)
UWSA 2: Jan 23rd. 243 (38 mistakes)
NBME 18: Jan 31st. 235
NBME 21: Feb 4rth. 238
In last month I did Ethic notes by Conrad. I tried to cram Anatomy shelf notes as much as possible.
In the last 10 days I went through all the units, concentrating more on my weaker areas. 5 days before exam I went through the videos of first 3 chaps of Pathoma.
4 days before I listened to Randy Neil’s biostat videos on YouTube again.
Exam day:
I slept for 6 hrs before the exam day. Had a light breakfast with tea. Took A LOT of snacks and coffee.
(Snacks: sandwiches, bananas, protein bars)
The Exam is certainly doable, when I came out of the prometric I was feeling satisfied- like you do when you attempt a tricky block on UW that you think you did good on. I was able to finish each block in 40-45 mins. And then would quickly review the marked questions. It was more UW oriented, some would dig deeper into your concepts and some questions were very straightforward.
From early on try to increase your reading and question attempting skills. Even if you’re doing the UW first time, try not to spend more than 1.5 min on one question. Mark it and move forward.
Wear loose layers so that you’re comfortable throughout. I wore extra pair of socks as well because my feet get uncomfortably cold. I took breaks after every block, would quickly use the restroom and have some snacks.
Definitely Keep some pain killers with you!! I took maybe 3 or 4 that day.
Best of luck to all of you! You can do it!

Comments

  1. Omg I'm so happy to share this!!! I've been thinking I've lost my mind and it was some mental case. I myself had my tubes tied after my 3rd child. I have a condition that makes having babies so hard on my body. About 6 months ago I too would feel something like "kicks" of course I thought I was out right crazy. I never spoke to anyone about what was going through. How could I? They'd think I was nuts!!! Well my periods have been getting so bad that I reached out to my best friend who also had the operation to see if she had experienced any symptoms with her periods since! Of course we were in the same boat. I broke down and told her I almost felt at times I was pregnant I felt so crazy just typing this out to her. I was beyond nervous she would think it was a nut case. To my surprise she also had similar symptoms. We both are researching what this could be. That's when I came across this website on Google of dr Itua Herbal Center. While scrolling through these comments I stumbled upon how he treated HIV/HHerpes also helped a woman to get pregnant with his herbal medicines. When I read what he had been going through I just broke down and cried for the longest time. Finally I got a help that I ever wanted I and my friend purchase Dr Itua herbal medicines and we both used it which was really effective it cure my cramp issues so I will recommend anyone going through some health issue to contact Dr Itua Herbal Center on E-Mail : drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com Or Whats-App +2348149277967 He cure HIV/Aids, Herpes, Cancers, And other stubborn disease make sure someone here talk to someone about this who is going through the same thing as us. Ty for sharing. I now know we're not alone!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Omnia Mohamed Saeed--- Match 2019

Congratulations to everyone who matched  :) ) and those who didn't hopefully you'll match next cycle! I matched in Internal Medicine, my #1 choice  :) ) First match cycle.. To all the old grads out there, it's never too late  😀 YOG 2010 (2009 without internship) I took the steps throughout many years cuz I was working and travelling a lot..wasnt ready yet to apply for the match till now. Step 2 CK: 260 done in 2011 Step 1: 245 done in 2013 Step 2 CS: Pass in 2014 Step 3: 259 done in 2018 No USCE No research No US-LORs No contacts Non US-IMG, need a visa Continuously practicing medicine since graduation, did 2 years residency in home country n quit (internal med) then started and finished another residency abroad (family med) 4 LORs from non-US doctors - one waived (3 were from FM doctors and one IM doctor!) Applied to only around 90 programs IM (biggest mistake, it was my first match cycle and I did not research well, I only looked through FREIDA which was mis...

- Step1 Experience ----267

Hello, My name is Saif Sharayah, I am from Jordan and I graduated from Hashemite University in May 2018. Test date: 22nd of April, 2019 Preparation time: 8-9 months Step1 Score: 267 First of all, you should bear in mind that everybody is different and has a certain goal. With that being said, I am hoping that what I am going to say would benefit as much people as possible. I would like to start by saying that the exam is certainly doable, so let’s get that out of the way. Resources that were worth doing (In addition to firstaid, pathoma and Uworld) based on “MY” experience: -Dr. Turcos Kaplan videos (Biochemistry) -Sketchy Micro (Aids recall, not essential though) -Bnb biostats’ videos followed by Uworld subject review (Can’t recommend this method enough, its golden for biostat) -100 Cases by Conrad Fischer (Ethics) -Anatomy shelf notes + Kaplan Neuroanatomy videos by Dr. White (Anatomy) -BRS physiology (Not essential if you are comfortable with the subject) The above cover...

United States Clinical Experience (USCE)

This is really important part of steps journey. I will try my best to explain it in the simplest way. Those days are over when people with triple 99 only used to get residencies .USA hospitals now require some clinical experience inside USA before you apply. Students work under supervision in hospitals and get L.o.Rs. There are 3 forms of USCE ( research is not part of USCE -a big misconception): 1. Electives 2. Externship 3. Clinical Observer Status (Observer-ship) 1 Elective: Doing clinical work in USA while you are not graduating is called elective. Most people do it in 4th yr / final yr vacation or immediately after final year. Each elective comprises of 4 week rotation in which you get one L.o.R. It is the best form of USCE. Some universities offer it free while others have some fees. People who have done step 1 are very likely to get electives for free in good universities. Elective also solves the visa problem as you get a 5 yr visa on basis of electives which helps you later...