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for those taking the test in the next few days

7K views 42 replies 17 participants last post by  doctor=hardwork 
#1 ·
I've just completed the exam today....am an IMF who constantly read this forum n extracted every bit of info available from here.......

I'll tell u my experience of the test......

to start off-it is easier than uworld n kaplan qbank <i did both n completed uworld with aggregate 67% and qbank with 68%n I did uworld after qbank>
for those who havent done qbank, its not even a pblm...it was useful to me as a review tool, nothing more...so dont fret abt it.....uworld gives u enough info to handle......

there were lotta qns from immuno-all the cd4,8,monocyte, macrophage crap....like more than 20 qns....there were at least facsimile qns from nbme 7...i took only that form n had a score of 490 equivalent to 220 ....it was 3 weeks before my exam......so DO NBME 7 definitely...i had done most of the rest offline...saw no similar qns....

review just first aid n physio concepts from kaplan text in the last week plus ur notes.....n time urself while doing qns in uworld...i always did at least 2 blocks back to back whenever i could......

n be cool....chill ....it is not that tough...i ve no clue abt my scores <wont be surprised if its anywhere between 80-99...hehe...but the lesson i learnt was its about composure.....dont worry....n do well....ll let u know my score when it comes.....n pray for me......
 
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#4 ·
hey gud thing ur done with the exam.. congrats.. nd hope u get a great score...
im plannning to take my exam in jan... sooo nd m doing my 2nd extensive read rite now.. m adding kaplan notes to FA.. as a lot of people on forums advised.. but its taking A LOT OF TIME.. shud i continue doing it or just stick to kaplan in the end..
2nd thing .. in case of pharma since its a volatile subj i wud only do it from 1 place.. have read kap pharm before but for full and final wht shud i use FA pharm or KAplan pharm????
thanx a lot nd gud luck :)
 
#5 ·
Congrats!

Hey, first of all congrats on finishing the exam. I was just wondering if you can please provide some info on what material did you use to prepare for the exam and also for how long did you study? Also, you mentioned that you did all of NBME forms (mostly offline) and #7 online...but you only saw repeated questions from form 7? Thanks for your help...and good luck with the waiting time (I know that is probably the hardest time)!
 
#10 ·
replies

@kamal- i took 6 months to prepare.....wasnt working or anything in the meantime...but i took a month of in between coz it was getting too intense....meanin total 5 months...

@rawalian- if the exam is in jan, i strongly encourage you to reread kaplan-esp pharmac.....take first aid only at the last moment...coz i dont think u can study with it....like when u do uworld n all...just get ur first aid out n read that topic.....dont rely on first aid.....kaplan pharmac is an amazing book.....

@noone 1231
yah i did only nbme 7 online...n i explained my work pattern,....i honestly cant recall a single qn from any other nbme forum....maybe its coz of the fact that i dedicated one day to the review of nbme 7 n completed it....

@dazzles

no uwsa for me...i was supposed to take the exam on oct 8th but i freaked out aft the nbme score...n moved it 5 days<dont know y>...so decided to take no more nbmes/uwsa

@usmleguy

it is definitely easier/or very similar to nbme 7.....nbme 7 isnt that tight.....
 
#11 ·
@taaom

i studied for 6 months....started by beginning of march...took a month off in between coz i wasnt workin efficiently....i think uworld alone is gud enough...i did qbank coz i wanted the comfort of qns to finish my final revision...just make sure u do uworld random untimed n start only aft a full revision of all subjects......<it makes me feel stupid advising u without my scores out, but just wanted to try n help>
 
#13 ·
help

hi arun jose,
firstly, congratulations on crossing a big milestone in ur jpurney toward residency.
i am an img in my fourth year of m.b.b.s. ill be done with my exams by jan2011. do u think its possible to study during my fifth year [internship, in india] and give my step1, say sometime in september 2011? or am i being unrealistic? i am just an avg student, so am totally confused. kindly help. best of luck for ur scores :)
 
#15 ·
@appu....

it depends on what kind of work is expected from u when u do ur house surgeoncy....my hs was tight to study...so i took 6 months aft that to prepare for step one....it is a gud idea if u can take step 1 with ur internship...coz u can save one full year.....if u r studyin in the northern states, some of the colleges give u time off to study n everythin....n that helps....

@geof1

i strongly advice u to read kaplans text book on anat...coz i think u need it....neuroanat n all the last few chapters with direct indirect basal ganglia u can read thru coz it s impossible to master....
b.science....i suggest u read kaplan text, the ethics 100 cases text..n i also read b.r.s which is a pretty ok text...but im not really sure u need that much information....
 
#16 ·
just wanted to clarify....neuroanat is high yield...so many chapters in kaplan text u ve to know inside out....it is just the basal ganglia chapter, the cerebellum n i dont remember the rest that r too detailed...the rest u ve to mug up hard...i think i had 2 medulla cross sections n 3 spinal cord cross sections n with medial medullary syndrome n all....
 
#18 ·
hi i know there are no quick fixes but some advice would be great.

my exam's on monday (25th) n im currently on 60% UW n 62% kaplan qbank. i just took the NBME form 7 n had a 420/205.. :eek:

i have a few days left n ive read FA twice since last month, done goljan audio + path secret. what else, what else???
 
#19 ·
Hi

NBME-5 reflecting 205 means you are around 30 points less to 235(99)...If you really want to improve score to 230-240 then please go ahead and postpone your exam for 2-3 weeks which will fetch you 230-240. In this 2-3 weeks you can revise your weak areas and patho physio once again...Finally you can go to exam with high confidence. If there is no way for postponing your exam then concentrate more on pathology weak areas by reading Goljan(only weak topics) or FA total.

I hope this may help you. I wish you all the best.
Finally NBME 205 means you can even score 230-240 in real exam on 25th itself just by giving exam your level best. I mean here Level best=Relaxed and kool avoiding silly mistakes( all will do silly errors but you reduce them) and manage Time and dont spend tomuch time over tough or very lenghty qs where you are not getting answer(then give best educated guess) and move on.

All the best. USMLE is very good and balanced exam. You can do it!!! GL:):happy:
 
#20 ·
@seetal

i am saying this thinking there s no option to change your exam.....

i ll just try n point out what is high yield n needs to be done on the last week of the preparation...

1.molecular biology-coz its highly volatile...just read thru replication,transcription n translation n the enzymes
2.biochem-the vitamins chapter
3.genetics-the first chapter
4.anatomy-neuroanat...spinal cord chapter, brainstem chapter, cerebrum chapter,upper limb, lower limb(me and my friend both had common peroneal foot drop on our exam)
5.path-general path with neoplasia, histo changes in cardiac muscle following infarction, etc
6.physio-it wud be highly advisable to read thru the whole text<rather, browse through it>
7.pharmc-general pharmac,immunopharmac,enzymes<with comp, noncomp,lineweaver burke plot etc>
8.micro-bacteroiology...esp staph,strep...believe me even at the end..those two end up gettin confused
9.first aid immuno.....high yield....
10.first aid photographs....n the formulas given at the back....

hope this helps...2 more weeks for my score....
 
#22 ·
thx

ill definitely read up on all of those. ive got 5 days. 3 should be enough. then just hope for the best.

my main concern is to get good enough marks to get me in for a residency position. which is y i was aiming for a high 99. how i got here, i have no idea.... sigh...
 
#23 ·
hey

I read on this forum that 60 on UW corresponds to 90 on the exam. How many questions of UWorld have you done?

ill definitely read up on all of those. ive got 5 days. 3 should be enough. then just hope for the best.

my main concern is to get good enough marks to get me in for a residency position. which is y i was aiming for a high 99. how i got here, i have no idea.... sigh...
 
#24 ·
Did your NBME have any particular subject that was weak? You could spend a few hours on that. Some subjects are easy to improve with just a little effort. No one really feels ready before the exam. You just have to be confident in your abilities to think clearly during the exam and reason your way to the correct answer. Good luck! :)
 
#28 ·
arun.. how u felt the exam was easier than nbme 7 i have no idea. i cant even remember how it was overall. it came n went so quick i didnt even have time to evaluate myself. i know i will pass at the very least but what will my score be i have NO IDEA.

the first block damn hard. the second got easier. then the 3rd was KILLER. then the 4th was ok again. the 5th n 6th were ok but it had so many patho-physio questions which got me spending more time on it n so i didnt have time to look at questions i marked. the 7th was pretty easy (i had 9 mins extra), im guessing they leave the easiest to the last so that when students are getting tired, they can still go through the questions fine. then as i was reading through one of the marked questions it just ended!! my time was up. i sat there looking at the screen n thought, perhaps i should've just ended this exam at the begining. at least i wont have to wait for the score now.

i cant explain this feeling im having now. sometimes even if im damn sure i passed, i feel like, what if i dont??:eek: im so negative... but i really cant remember it being so damn easy!! there were a few guesses i took that were correct (i checked later on) but there was one question which was correct but i changed it later n now its wrong!!!!! its so frustrating. why did i change it!!!! but i changed a few others to which im pretty sure were the right answers.

some questions will have me reading a while then i look at the options to reason my answer, then after thinking for a while, AHA!!! those make me feel good, like i cracked the code. some were the ones u just didnt have to think cos uve done them so much (like genetics n biochem). but i had a lot of patho-physio which really got to me since thats where im weak at. this goes up, that comes down, hormones here n there.... sigh...:confused:

i had only 2 leukemia questions n i got them right but i hoped there would be more of those. some questions are still fresh in my head with the options even, but i try not to think of it cos even when i look in the books im not sure if i understand it right n picked the right answer.... going out with a friend today to relax (a beer or 2 to get the load off)...

im really thankful to this forum n all of its members. ive learnt a lot from u guys. n i cant express how much i appreciate the wishes. ive never had so many wishes ever! ppl calling n texting n emailing, everyone praying for me. :).. u kept me calm throughout the whole thing. i wasn't nervous after the first 5 questions. then i tot, im here, im gonna finish it n go back. i have a score of 83 in my hands (from nbme 7) n i just hope this is easier plus with 3 more blocks, the chances of a better score is there. so dont worry... all is well (literally tapping my heart with my hand in the midst of the exam):rolleyes:

i have this (some may say bad) habit of writing down how many questions i know for sure i got right after each exam. n usually my prediction is spot on or less (never more) because the ones i 'think' im right i leave out as if i dont know. so from what i noted, between 53% n 54% should be ok. just hoping i made right picks for the others. n if they take away one block (which was toughest for me), then 1-2% higher. yeah it sound totally crazy. but when i marked that i can definitely answer 24 to 27 questions in a block, it makes me feel damn good for the next block. somehow i wasnt tired (not too much) n i always couldnt wait to attempt the next block.

now speaking of the breaks... i used up all mine (balance only 45 secs)

after the first block i HAD to break (too much coffee), then second block too. then after the 3rd block i continued on the 4th then had lunch for 20 mins. then 6 mins after 5th block, n 7 mins after 6th block. it takes time to punch urself back into the room n then type in ur CIN. plus the restroom was quite a voyage from the testing room it took me exactly 5 mins to go n get back then extra 1 - 2 mins by the time i start the next block. didnt even finish my lunch. so forget about lunch. just take something light n that wont take up much chewing time, just enough for energy to get u through.

overall how would i rate this experience? u tell me:
- cried the night before the exam (was **** scared)
- was so overwhelmed when i reached was almost in tears again (i hate being a girl)
- when i finished ALL the blocks, my hand was still shaking n i felt like, err... (hard to explain)
 
#32 ·
congratulations on taking it!

congrats on taking the step! I just was wondering, did you find it easier than U World and Kaplan Qbank? thanks!

arun.. how u felt the exam was easier than nbme 7 i have no idea. i cant even remember how it was overall. it came n went so quick i didnt even have time to evaluate myself. i know i will pass at the very least but what will my score be i have NO IDEA.

the first block damn hard. the second got easier. then the 3rd was KILLER. then the 4th was ok again. the 5th n 6th were ok but it had so many patho-physio questions which got me spending more time on it n so i didnt have time to look at questions i marked. the 7th was pretty easy (i had 9 mins extra), im guessing they leave the easiest to the last so that when students are getting tired, they can still go through the questions fine. then as i was reading through one of the marked questions it just ended!! my time was up. i sat there looking at the screen n thought, perhaps i should've just ended this exam at the begining. at least i wont have to wait for the score now.

i cant explain this feeling im having now. sometimes even if im damn sure i passed, i feel like, what if i dont??:eek: im so negative... but i really cant remember it being so damn easy!! there were a few guesses i took that were correct (i checked later on) but there was one question which was correct but i changed it later n now its wrong!!!!! its so frustrating. why did i change it!!!! but i changed a few others to which im pretty sure were the right answers.

some questions will have me reading a while then i look at the options to reason my answer, then after thinking for a while, AHA!!! those make me feel good, like i cracked the code. some were the ones u just didnt have to think cos uve done them so much (like genetics n biochem). but i had a lot of patho-physio which really got to me since thats where im weak at. this goes up, that comes down, hormones here n there.... sigh...:confused:

i had only 2 leukemia questions n i got them right but i hoped there would be more of those. some questions are still fresh in my head with the options even, but i try not to think of it cos even when i look in the books im not sure if i understand it right n picked the right answer.... going out with a friend today to relax (a beer or 2 to get the load off)...

im really thankful to this forum n all of its members. ive learnt a lot from u guys. n i cant express how much i appreciate the wishes. ive never had so many wishes ever! ppl calling n texting n emailing, everyone praying for me. :).. u kept me calm throughout the whole thing. i wasn't nervous after the first 5 questions. then i tot, im here, im gonna finish it n go back. i have a score of 83 in my hands (from nbme 7) n i just hope this is easier plus with 3 more blocks, the chances of a better score is there. so dont worry... all is well (literally tapping my heart with my hand in the midst of the exam):rolleyes:

i have this (some may say bad) habit of writing down how many questions i know for sure i got right after each exam. n usually my prediction is spot on or less (never more) because the ones i 'think' im right i leave out as if i dont know. so from what i noted, between 53% n 54% should be ok. just hoping i made right picks for the others. n if they take away one block (which was toughest for me), then 1-2% higher. yeah it sound totally crazy. but when i marked that i can definitely answer 24 to 27 questions in a block, it makes me feel damn good for the next block. somehow i wasnt tired (not too much) n i always couldnt wait to attempt the next block.

now speaking of the breaks... i used up all mine (balance only 45 secs)

after the first block i HAD to break (too much coffee), then second block too. then after the 3rd block i continued on the 4th then had lunch for 20 mins. then 6 mins after 5th block, n 7 mins after 6th block. it takes time to punch urself back into the room n then type in ur CIN. plus the restroom was quite a voyage from the testing room it took me exactly 5 mins to go n get back then extra 1 - 2 mins by the time i start the next block. didnt even finish my lunch. so forget about lunch. just take something light n that wont take up much chewing time, just enough for energy to get u through.

overall how would i rate this experience? u tell me:
- cried the night before the exam (was **** scared)
- was so overwhelmed when i reached was almost in tears again (i hate being a girl)
- when i finished ALL the blocks, my hand was still shaking n i felt like, err... (hard to explain)
 
#29 ·
Seetal,

Congratulations on taking the exam! That's an achievement in itself! Remember that nobody really comes out of the exam thinking they aced it. In fact, 99ers come out thinking they failed. So, I'm sure you'll do better than you expected. Now just relax those couple of weeks! :)
 
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