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Prtysha Step 1 Experience 256

12K views 38 replies 19 participants last post by  mikeusmle 
#1 ·
Background -

US-IMG from India graduated March 2013. Finished Internship in December the year before, but school gives us our degree in March.

Prep time -

Approx. 5 months, took a two week vacation in August.

Material used -

1. Kaplan LN + Videos. I would skip videos if you did basic sciences recently. Since I was out of touch, helped considerably.
2. BRS Physio, good supplement when you don't understand topics but too in depth otherwise.
3. Pathoma, I swear by this. Someone on SDN recommended this way back when I was planning my study schedule. I did not do Kaplan or Golijan for path.
4. UWorld QBank, I did the free questions that Kaplan gives in the beginning of my study but I didn't get a subscription because I read many reviews were people said it tested minutiae and it does.

I started in May with a review of the material, went subject wise watching the videos for all of them. After a month of this I started UWorld.
UWorld Average - 69%, I don't think this means anything because I rarely did random blocks. It was always timed tutor subject wise. Would try to do a block a day on whatever I was studying that day, towards the end it was 3-4 blocks/day.

By July end I had done half the subjects twice, second review was more focused on what appeared to be high yield. You get an idea of this while you annotate FA and see what gets tested on more in UWorld. Then I took a little break, needed it since I was getting burnt out. Reading 8-10 hours a day, being tested in a completely different pattern than what you're used to takes out a lot. Came back from vacation and did what I had leftover for my second review. Took my first NBME end of August.

NBME 12 (4 weeks out) - 228
UWSA 1 (3.5 weeks out) - 236
NBME 13 (3 weeks out) - 242
UWSA 2 (2 weeks out) - 263
NBME 7 (10 days before) - Offline, so I don't know. Think I got 22 wrong.
NBME 15 (5 days before) - 252 + Free 150 - 89%

Last few weeks, I read Pathoma again making sure I knew all the direct recall information. Went through FA a second time with everything I annotated from UWorld and Kaplan. I finished 1st pass of Uworld early Sept, after that only did the marked questions (which included incorrect and things that seemed new/difficult to remember) up until a week before the exam.

Last few days, did the subjects which I thought I needed better short term memory on. Like a day of Biostats and Biochem, day for Pharm, day for Micro.

Last day, looked at Pathoma and FA very passively. Slept for 6 hours. Get enough sleep!!

Exam Day - Sept. 24th

For me the hardest questions were the Behavioral Science ones, two of the answers always seemed right. Also Anatomy I focused a lot on Neuroanat while I was reviewing but that wasn't as heavily tested as the MSK Anatomy. I think the actual approach to the exam is very personal and depends on what works for you. I took very frequent short breaks, while others in my room I barely saw them leaving. Since I did an 8 hour simulated exam before, I kind of had an idea how my body worked in response to stress/fatigue/hunger. So it helped in a way, but at the same time if you need to revise high yields like second messengers, oncogenes, Glycogen storage disorders and all that fun stuff, then do that.
I marked around 10-15 per block and had sufficient time to review them.
Only in the last block, the monitor turned off by itself when I was in the middle of a question and it threw me off big time, so I'm pretty sure most of my incorrect were from that block. Lol.
Don't worry this won't happen to you, probably a freak accident or something. The proctor got it up and running in no time, but still no one expects that especially in the last hour so I'm sure it affected me in some way.

The moment you finish, congratulate yourself, this is a tough exam and just to be able to sit through it is an achievement. Also for a few days after you'll remember the questions you might have answered wrong and have sleepless nights over them but don't. It really doesn't change anything. Just be happy it's over.

I hope this helps. I honestly believe the whole idea of this exam is scarier than it actually is. Hard work always pays off, so don't worry. Good luck :)
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Tl;Dr Version

Before I started I spent a good amount of time reading similar threads like this on forums trying to figure out how and where to start, so here goes some tips I didn't come across as frequently and that helped me.

1. Make a plan that works for you and stick to it. Just because XYZ says a book is good or a method is good don't take it for granted. See if it complements your study style. Golijan didn't for me so I skipped it. It's not what you use, it's how well you understand it. If you don't understand why something happens the way it does (PHYSIO), look it up. Make the internet your best friend.

2. UWSA questions felt harder to me than NBME, but their scoring(curve) is more giving. For ex. 80 percent right in NBME might be 230 range, same in UWSA 250 range.

3. Be as relaxed as you can during the exam. Too much stress is very detrimental.

4. I've been reading a lot about residency requirements. Other things like USCE, Research, Visa Status are almost as important as good scores. So whatever you get don't worry. Work on these other aspects of the application.
 
#3 ·
Congrats ! Awesome score !!

Good achievement ! Congrats:) and my questions are
From which college have u graduated from ? And have u prepared esrlier while u are in colllege ? As 5 months is pretty much little time,good work :happy:
And preparing some part of it while still in college will it help wen i take my exam after internship ?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Good achievement ! Congrats:) and my questions are
From which college have u graduated from ? And have u prepared esrlier while u are in colllege ? As 5 months is pretty much little time,good work :happy:
And preparing some part of it while still in college will it help wen i take my exam after internship ?
No I didn't prepare in college. I tried watching videos in March/April but wasn't consistent and so don't consider that part of my dedicated study time.

I'm not sure if it will help because the way to study for this exam is different from what we do for medical colleges in India. It's the same subject but approach is vastly different. Maybe when you read Robbin's you can do Pathoma side by side, but don't know if that is efficient.
 
#4 ·
Congrats...AMAZING score....
Im waiting on my result next week!!! I wish i would get close to your score:plz::plz::plz::plz::plz:

My NBMES stats are almost the same....

Did you start for CK???(i started this week) If yes share your prep plan please!
 
#12 ·
I got 20 wrong, 13 which were "General Principles of disease and health". If you get the extended feedback version it shows you the breakdown I believe.

I used WebPath Library Utah, I went through all the images (quite a lot), twice in the last week, there are images that aren't tested but it is interesting nevertheless. Thanks for bringing this up, forgot to mention it.

Also know Pathoma and FA images well.

Good Luck!
 
#14 ·
Congratulations!

Awesome SCORE!!!

Congratulations....Thank you for sharing!!!

1. Do you think that high yield facts of biochem, genetics, biostats and behavioral are sufficient in FA?

2.Did you get many Xray, CT scan or MIR images to interpret?

3. For Pharm is Kaplan videos, LN and FA enough?

Thank you and congrats again :)
 
#21 ·
Awesome SCORE!!!

Congratulations....Thank you for sharing!!!

1. Do you think that high yield facts of biochem, genetics, biostats and behavioral are sufficient in FA?

2.Did you get many Xray, CT scan or MIR images to interpret?

3. For Pharm is Kaplan videos, LN and FA enough?

Thank you and congrats again :)
1. Yes the whole Biochem chapter (including molecular bio and genetics) is very HY. Biostats the questions can be a little tricky so I guess practicing with UWorld and NBME questions a few times is the only way. I found them quite difficult on the exam. Behavioral Sci/Ethic questions are kind of unpredictable, very few were direct.

2. Ya like 3-5 X-Rays and CTs, one MRI I think. They were pretty easy, you can answer with the question stem alone.

3. Yup, it's plenty.
 
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#17 ·
congrats good score..
i have some question for you friend.
i go through Kaplan LN, offline qbank and videos and now i hardly remember them, what's your advice regarding this issue??
i read FA 4 times and did NBME 11 and 12 also offline and i have 160 right answers in NBME12 and 163 in NBME 11
i did not do UW till now.
what's your advices regarding my current situation and the NBMEs score??
 
#24 ·
Read Kaplan again if you have time, you can skip videos if you understand the notes. I don't think doing QBanks offline is a good idea.

It's not how many times you read it, it's whether you're understanding what you read. Do FA towards the end when you know the concepts well, it'll reinforce them.

Do UWorld, it's the best resource available.

After reviewing Kaplan notes again take an NBME, do some online if you can.
 
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#26 ·
Congrats

Hi prtysha
Congrats on such a good score

My exam is in 3 weeks, did nbme 15 yesterday scored 219. I am aiming for > 240. Currently doing u world revision half way through....

Scored low in behavioral sciences, biochem, micro immunology, hematopoietic
How to improve on biochem, behavioral sciences??
Any suggestions regarding last 3 weeks preparation
My study materials... Kaplan lectures all subjs expect path, first aid, did 1 reading of goljan rapid review

Thanks!!
 
#27 ·
Hi prtysha
Congrats on such a good score

My exam is in 3 weeks, did nbme 15 yesterday scored 219. I am aiming for > 240. Currently doing u world revision half way through....

Scored low in behavioral sciences, biochem, micro immunology, hematopoietic
How to improve on biochem, behavioral sciences??
Any suggestions regarding last 3 weeks preparation
My study materials... Kaplan lectures all subjs expect path, first aid, did 1 reading of goljan rapid review

Thanks!!
I think Biochem FA is sufficient. I struggled with Behavioral Science too, I would recommend 100 Cases by Conrad Fischer, I have heard it's good for the ethics part, but I didn't get such direct questions on my exam.

I think UWorld incorrect/marked is good to do last month, if you have finished before. Other than that FA is good.
 
#29 ·
hi..great score..im also aiming for 250..plz help me with my study plan


i have been studying with sp & now i m left with half pharma, half patho, micro, beh. sci & biostats..i have been doing FA but dint annotate anything & also did uworld for some sub..
my aim is to sit for exam IA by feb..

plz tell tht shd i start revising ASAP as frankly i hardly rem. the subjects which i did in the beginning or shd i focus on completing my 1st read & dng all ques & then start revising?

plzzz help me with this cz the more i think abt it the more im getting paranoid..

also when shd i start taking NBMES??

God Bless.. thanks a ton..
 
#31 ·
hi..great score..im also aiming for 250..plz help me with my study plan

i have been studying with sp & now i m left with half pharma, half patho, micro, beh. sci & biostats..i have been doing FA but dint annotate anything & also did uworld for some sub..
my aim is to sit for exam IA by feb..

plz tell tht shd i start revising ASAP as frankly i hardly rem. the subjects which i did in the beginning or shd i focus on completing my 1st read & dng all ques & then start revising?

plzzz help me with this cz the more i think abt it the more im getting paranoid..

also when shd i start taking NBMES??

God Bless.. thanks a ton..
Finish the first revision, you have enough time to do a detailed second review afterwards since your exam is only in Feb. Start doing UWorld more often, it'll help consolidate topics.

I would suggest doing an NBME after your first revision.

Good luck!
 
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#34 ·
I did Kaplan and FA only for Pharm, watch the videos they are pretty good.

Make your own set of flashcards it'll help. Keep reviewing them, Pharm is always very direct, one of those subjects that you have to memorize. Go over it often if you tend to forget.
 
#33 ·
Congrats ... :)) on ur great success ..
I need some piece of advice ..
Want to ask i have left with 4 months doing second read done with three books more to goo .. but everytime whn i move on the nxt book i dnt remeber anything ... :(
I dint know how to move in these four months read FA left with some of it ..
Kindly can u recommend me how shd i go in these4 month ..whn to take uworld n whn to tst fore nbme .. ? Bit anxious
 
#35 ·
Finish your second read and take an NBME towards the end, even earlier is fine if you are confident with atleast half the subjects. Do UWorld side by side, it's a very good study tool.

You have plenty of time, so when you are studying make sure you understand the concepts well. Always ask yourself why something is occurring the way it is, particularly physio.
 
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#36 ·
im giving my step1 in jan

hi prtysha,
congrats on ur step1 score.
im giving my step1 in jan.i ve started u world 2weeks back.
im not done wid my anat kaplan series.n half behavrial.
do u think i need to do kaplan anat or shall i go on with uworld n first aid??
n what abt neuro anat...whats the importance of it in step1
 
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