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Step 1 255: I did it and u too can

8K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  theimgway 
#1 ·
This one is for all the moms who r preparing for step 1. Studying with a kid is not an easy task. I am an IMG and I started preparing for step 1 when my daughter was just 8 months old. As both my parents and inlaws are working I couldn't get much help. So enrolled my kid in a playschool for 5 hours and studied during that time and whenever she sleeps. My husband was also preparing with me but he worked from 8 to 4 and could hardly study after that. Then he took leave for last two months (feb and mar) and both of us gave exam on march 31st. Received our scores two days back.

Me 255 and he 254. Needless to say we r excited...

Materials used:
Myself- Kaplan notes for biochemistry, micro, immuno, pharm, behavioural sciences, physiology
Pathoma lectures twice and text once
First aid- thrice
Uworld- first pass 77% ,
Second pass could do only 60% of the questions and overall 89%.
I also went through FA and Kaplan qbanks fast just to practice questions. Didn't read explanations.

Himself: just FA twice, uworld once, and pathoma just lectures once. (He did not get time to read text and other stuffs like I did).

Nbme 13(8 weeks out)- 245
Uwsa 1 (4 weeks out)- 247
Nbme 15 (3 weeks out)- 249
(Couldn't do more nbme due to more leave from my daughter's school in the last weeks.)

All self paced as I never got 4.5 hrs at a stretch coz of my kid. ( I felt real exam very tough coz of inadequate practice) I strongly encourage you to practice well as the exam is very long and tiring as u know.

Himself:
Uwsa 2 (4 weeks out)- 256
Nbme 16 (2 weeks out)- 243
He was freaking out (as both us aimed for a 250+) and went through pathoma lectures for the first time and FA second time only after that.

Exam day:
I hardly slept the night before. I had just 3 hours of sleep. Surprisingly I didn't feel tired the next day. I was tensed during first two blocks and didn't manage time well. Then i was so completely into the exam.
The exam was way tougher than I expected. If I think I knew everything about cystic fibrosis, I am wrong! They r asking weird things and other stuffs which is not in FA or uworld. I got many trickier questions. Just made a good guess and moved on.
I felt very bad coming out of the exam hall feeling I didn't do well. My husband was the one who assured me that however tough the exam is we will get the scores we deserve. And it happened.
All the best to u all and especially to all the moms out there.
 
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#3 ·
This one is for all the moms who r preparing for step 1. Studying with a kid is not an easy task. I am an IMG and I started preparing for step 1 when my daughter was just 8 months old. As both my parents and inlaws are working I couldn't get much help. So enrolled my kid in a playschool for 5 hours and studied during that time and whenever she sleeps. My husband was also preparing with me but he worked from 8 to 4 and could hardly study after that. Then he took leave for last two months (feb and mar) and both of us gave exam on march 31st. Received our scores two days back.

Me 255 and he 254. Needless to say we r excited...

Materials used:
Myself- Kaplan notes for biochemistry, micro, immuno, pharm, behavioural sciences, physiology
Pathoma lectures twice and text once
First aid- thrice
Uworld- first pass 77% ,
Second pass could do only 60% of the questions and overall 89%.
I also went through FA and Kaplan qbanks fast just to practice questions. Didn't read explanations.

Himself: just FA twice, uworld once, and pathoma just lectures once. (He did not get time to read text and other stuffs like I did).

Nbme 13(8 weeks out)- 245
Uwsa 1 (4 weeks out)- 247
Nbme 15 (3 weeks out)- 249
(Couldn't do more nbme due to more leave from my daughter's school in the last weeks.)

All self paced as I never got 4.5 hrs at a stretch coz of my kid. ( I felt real exam very tough coz of inadequate practice) I strongly encourage you to practice well as the exam is very long and tiring as u know.

Himself:
Uwsa 2 (4 weeks out)- 256
Nbme 16 (2 weeks out)- 243
He was freaking out (as both us aimed for a 250+) and went through pathoma lectures for the first time and FA second time only after that.

Exam day:
I hardly slept the night before. I had just 3 hours of sleep. Surprisingly I didn't feel tired the next day. I was tensed during first two blocks and didn't manage time well. Then i was so completely into the exam.
The exam was way tougher than I expected. If I think I knew everything about cystic fibrosis, I am wrong! They r asking weird things and other stuffs which is not in FA or uworld. I got many trickier questions. Just made a good guess and moved on.
I felt very bad coming out of the exam hall feeling I didn't do well. My husband was the one who assured me that however tough the exam is we will get the scores we deserve. And it happened.
All the best to u all and especially to all the moms out there.
Congrats on the gr8 score both of u!Srly it's a big achievement seeing that u've got a kid to take care of!(I mean all I've to take care of is myself & yet I can't manage my time:p:rolleyes:).All the best to both of u for the next steps:) Any tips regarding the exam?I mean if u cld go back & make changes in ur prep is thr smth u wld do?
 
#7 ·
Hi, thank u. As i said already i didnt practice enough for the exam. Definitely i wanted to do more NBMEs but unfortunately couldnt. Couldnt manage time well in exam coz i always did my nbmes in self paced mode. I was actually figuring out how to manage time and deal with the toughness and intricate details of the exam in the first two blocks. Took a break after two blocks and composed myself and went back again. I would definitely work more on it for CK as i dont want to be like this.
 
#4 ·
This one is for all the moms who r preparing for step 1. Studying with a kid is not an easy task. I am an IMG and I started preparing for step 1 when my daughter was just 8 months old. As both my parents and inlaws are working I couldn't get much help. So enrolled my kid in a playschool for 5 hours and studied during that time and whenever she sleeps. My husband was also preparing with me but he worked from 8 to 4 and could hardly study after that. Then he took leave for last two months (feb and mar) and both of us gave exam on march 31st. Received our scores two days back.

Me 255 and he 254. Needless to say we r excited...

Materials used:
Myself- Kaplan notes for biochemistry, micro, immuno, pharm, behavioural sciences, physiology
Pathoma lectures twice and text once
First aid- thrice
Uworld- first pass 77% ,
Second pass could do only 60% of the questions and overall 89%.
I also went through FA and Kaplan qbanks fast just to practice questions. Didn't read explanations.

Himself: just FA twice, uworld once, and pathoma just lectures once. (He did not get time to read text and other stuffs like I did).

Nbme 13(8 weeks out)- 245
Uwsa 1 (4 weeks out)- 247
Nbme 15 (3 weeks out)- 249
(Couldn't do more nbme due to more leave from my daughter's school in the last weeks.)

All self paced as I never got 4.5 hrs at a stretch coz of my kid. ( I felt real exam very tough coz of inadequate practice) I strongly encourage you to practice well as the exam is very long and tiring as u know.

Himself:
Uwsa 2 (4 weeks out)- 256
Nbme 16 (2 weeks out)- 243
He was freaking out (as both us aimed for a 250+) and went through pathoma lectures for the first time and FA second time only after that.

Exam day:
I hardly slept the night before. I had just 3 hours of sleep. Surprisingly I didn't feel tired the next day. I was tensed during first two blocks and didn't manage time well. Then i was so completely into the exam.
The exam was way tougher than I expected. If I think I knew everything about cystic fibrosis, I am wrong! They r asking weird things and other stuffs which is not in FA or uworld. I got many trickier questions. Just made a good guess and moved on.
I felt very bad coming out of the exam hall feeling I didn't do well. My husband was the one who assured me that however tough the exam is we will get the scores we deserve. And it happened.
All the best to u all and especially to all the moms out there.
Congrats. Can you tell us when did you graduate?
 
#9 ·
congratulations on your great score
so is Firstaid (4 times) and uw (2 times) enough for step 1?
cause i really dont have alot of time left.
thank you :)
It has to be enough coz many have scored 250+ with FA and uworld alone. My husband did only FA(twice) and Uworld(once) plus pathoma lectures. He has got 254. Dont worry about questions which r not in FA or uworld. i have missed so many questions which is actually in FA. Just couldnt remember or was given in brackets/labels in FA or couldnt apply the concept. If u have read 4 times, u should be able to do it. All the best
 
#17 ·
this is such an inspiring story. I took step 1 a bit earlier than you guys and I'm grateful that my score was also in the 250's. Congrats and kudos for being a mom and killing step 1 and kudos for your supportive husband
 
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#18 ·
This one is for all the moms who r preparing for step 1. Studying with a kid is not an easy task. I am an IMG and I started preparing for step 1 when my daughter was just 8 months old. As both my parents and inlaws are working I couldn't get much help. So enrolled my kid in a playschool for 5 hours and studied during that time and whenever she sleeps. My husband was also preparing with me but he worked from 8 to 4 and could hardly study after that. Then he took leave for last two months (feb and mar) and both of us gave exam on march 31st. Received our scores two days back.

Me 255 and he 254. Needless to say we r excited...

Materials used:
Myself- Kaplan notes for biochemistry, micro, immuno, pharm, behavioural sciences, physiology
Pathoma lectures twice and text once
First aid- thrice
Uworld- first pass 77% ,
Second pass could do only 60% of the questions and overall 89%.
I also went through FA and Kaplan qbanks fast just to practice questions. Didn't read explanations.

Himself: just FA twice, uworld once, and pathoma just lectures once. (He did not get time to read text and other stuffs like I did).

Nbme 13(8 weeks out)- 245
Uwsa 1 (4 weeks out)- 247
Nbme 15 (3 weeks out)- 249
(Couldn't do more nbme due to more leave from my daughter's school in the last weeks.)

All self paced as I never got 4.5 hrs at a stretch coz of my kid. ( I felt real exam very tough coz of inadequate practice) I strongly encourage you to practice well as the exam is very long and tiring as u know.

Himself:
Uwsa 2 (4 weeks out)- 256
Nbme 16 (2 weeks out)- 243
He was freaking out (as both us aimed for a 250+) and went through pathoma lectures for the first time and FA second time only after that.

Exam day:
I hardly slept the night before. I had just 3 hours of sleep. Surprisingly I didn't feel tired the next day. I was tensed during first two blocks and didn't manage time well. Then i was so completely into the exam.
The exam was way tougher than I expected. If I think I knew everything about cystic fibrosis, I am wrong! They r asking weird things and other stuffs which is not in FA or uworld. I got many trickier questions. Just made a good guess and moved on.
I felt very bad coming out of the exam hall feeling I didn't do well. My husband was the one who assured me that however tough the exam is we will get the scores we deserve. And it happened.
All the best to u all and especially to all the moms out there.
Congrats to both of you. approximately how many months did you study altogether??
 
#21 ·
Hi, It is diffcult to answer this one. As i am an old img and done with my anesthesia residency, i have forgotten basic sciences. So i Started with kaplan materials in march 2015. I was a new mom and working too, so found it extremely difficult to manage work, baby and studies all three at once. So I quit my job and postponed my exams and started studying sincerely since november. Till then i managed to finish one pass of kaplan notes for physio, biochem, pharm, behavioural sciences and micro.

Last 5 months of preparation: FA, Pathoma, Uworld and q banks (kaplan and FA).
 
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