[arunjose]

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......

 

[arunjose]

Any questions.. pls ask me....I've nothing to do than wait for my results

 

[kamal2003p]

congratz...im sure u will get a high score
how long did u take for studying and also did u go over all the 7 kaplan books?

 

[Rawalian]

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

 

[noone_123i]

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)!

 

[dazzles]

Thanks for your post. Did you take the UWSA's or just NBME 7? I was thinking or doing a UWSA next week. I wanted to know if/how helpful they are to do.

 

[usmleguy]

congrats..

congrats arunjose for completing the exam..

can you please say how difficult was the real exam compared to NBME 7??

i hope its not as difficult as NBME 7...

 

[TAAOM]

hey first of all congratulations on completion of the first milestone .....i am sure u will get good score.....

how many months did u study for ???

 

[TAAOM]

n yeah since i have only 3 months for the exam i am just planing on doing USMLE WORLD only will that be fine ??? or do i have to do kaplan qbank also ???

 

[arunjose]

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.....

 

[arunjose]

@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>

 

[TAAOM]

thx for ur reply .....n its not stupid to take suggestions from u cuz u have seen how the step1 exam is like .....

 

[appu]

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

 

[geof1]

congrats man
i want to ask u about Anatomy.....is it enough to read it from First Aid + USMLE World
or should I add something else
and also for embryology and histology.. is FA enough
last thing about Behavior Science ..what can u advice me about it

thanx again an good luck

 

[arunjose]

@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....

 

[arunjose]

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....

 

[futureresident]

thanx

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....

thanx for d advise about d neuroanat...i have mugged up d chapters but i think i will re read dem....just to be super sure of things coz i do get mixed up wid these things....thanx a tonne

 

[Seetal]

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..

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

 

[learnconcepts]

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:

 

[arunjose]

@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....