[priya1]

I am doing so so so bad in physiology and biostatics to the extent that in physio I score even 5 percent!

I don't know what's going on. I am good in other subjects but physio graph calculations etc just going above my head.

I have a plan to give my step 1 in June. Right now I am doing Kaplan Qbank then I'll do USMLE World.
I am feeling if I delay my exam I would forget everything till that time!

Sometimes I feel I know everything and sometimes I feel I am not even prepared at all

One of my seniors told me if u gonna do q bank now for 3 or 4 months then give ur exam in June everything will skip from ur mind is this true as when I sit to study his remark keep coming in my mind

Right now I am so depressed and frustrated like dropping the idea of USMLE altogether :toosad:

 

[khanar]

Don't worry

Kaplan Qbank physiology questions are very very difficult and they do not represent what you will see in the real exam. Do not worry about it, you will see that you are much better when you do UW.

Do not listen to what your seniors told you, you will remember everything, you will be reviewing all what you are reading in the last weeks of your prep.

 

[JJtheMD]

Dpnt ever lose Hope

I wouldn't say that about the physio questions in the USMLE exam... On my exam, i had very similar questions to what i saw in the Kaplan... Infact i thought the kaplan qbank was the most representive of the actual usmle... USMLE world was no where close 2 what the usmle was actually like, but usmle world is excellent to learn from though.

When it comes 2 physio, I thought that looking at the 'big picture' of things helped the most. If you have time, draw out the graphs you see in the kaplan medical books and post em on your wall or dry board you may have. I felt that talking out loud to your self or a fellow medical student really helped me process the type of thinking physio requires of a student.

Doing questions is also very important, it doesn't matter that your doing bad now, but as long as your are learning from your mistakes.. Then that is what is most important, you still have 5-6 months till your examination, sooo make all your mistakes now and not make them on the USMLE.

Just a suggestion though, but the most high yield physio topic is endocrine... specially since the USMLE loves splitting physio questions with pathology or pharmacology... Next highest yield would be cardio/renal and respiratory... then all else would also be important but not as important as those 4 main systems.

Keep pushing, your going to make it to the promised land of USMLE step 1 Alumni

 

[Haisook]

Pathophysiology is a high-yield subject

First, about forgetting, well, you won't. Don't worry about that. The human mind can keep things in memory for a long time, especially when you know the stuff is important.

As to the physiology questions, note that there are pure physiology questions (which are few) and pathophysiology ones which are very high-yield as not many can get them right. They need a deep understanding of the concepts in addition to good reasoning. A higher IQ will help you get those questions right. Go back to Kaplan lecture notes or any other physiology book and try to understand the concepts.

Biostatistics will always feel tough for us IMGs but by the time you end your prep you'll be much better at it. It doesn't constitute a large part of the questions anyway.

 

[priya1]

Thank u very much for ur help i mean it

First, about forgetting, well, you won't. Don't worry about that. The human mind can keep things in memory for a long time, especially when you know the stuff is important.

As to the physiology questions, note that there are pure physiology questions (which are few) and pathophysiology ones which are very high-yield as not many can get them right. They need a deep understanding of the concepts in addition to good reasoning. A higher IQ will help you get those questions right. Go back to Kaplan lecture notes or any other physiology book and try to understand the concepts.

Biostatistics will always feel tough for us IMGs but by the time you end your prep you'll be much better at it. It doesn't constitute a large part of the questions anyway.

 

[priya1]

Thanks a lot for ur help really help me to ease out my tension

I wouldn't say that about the physio questions in the USMLE exam... On my exam, i had very similar questions to what i saw in the Kaplan... Infact i thought the kaplan qbank was the most representive of the actual usmle... USMLE world was no where close 2 what the usmle was actually like, but usmle world is excellent to learn from though.

When it comes 2 physio, I thought that looking at the 'big picture' of things helped the most. If you have time, draw out the graphs you see in the kaplan medical books and post em on your wall or dry board you may have. I felt that talking out loud to your self or a fellow medical student really helped me process the type of thinking physio requires of a student.

Doing questions is also very important, it doesn't matter that your doing bad now, but as long as your are learning from your mistakes.. Then that is what is most important, you still have 5-6 months till your examination, sooo make all your mistakes now and not make them on the USMLE.

Just a suggestion though, but the most high yield physio topic is endocrine... specially since the USMLE loves splitting physio questions with pathology or pharmacology... Next highest yield would be cardio/renal and respiratory... then all else would also be important but not as important as those 4 main systems.

Keep pushing, your going to make it to the promised land of USMLE step 1 Alumni

 

[Mondoshawan]

Don't get discouraged! It will be really hard to learn if you feel defeated going in - confidence, joy, and good humor are as important in learning as time spent. Kalpana, JJ, and Haisook are your seniors too; listen to their encouragement!

So where are you falling down in the Physio questions? Is it the material in the questions, or the concepts, or the length or wording of the questions? When you read the answer, do you think, "Oh, I knew that. Is that what they were asking for?" or "What? I've never even heard of that hormone!" or "Just missed it! I knew the condition they were asking about and drug to treat it, just not how that disease affects the kidneys..."

If it's the material, then you need to look it up again every time - maybe work your way through just physio questions, one system at a time, with your favorite textbook next to you for looking up anything in the explanation that you don't get.

If it's the larger concepts and you don't feel like your book ties them together, you could use a concept pad - large sheets of paper (I use huge ones, 24"x36", and my wife laughs at me every time she sees me drawing on the big pad) on which, every time you have a disease state or drug or whatever you don't fully have a grasp of, you make a map of its effects on every system of the body on a single page. This helps me anyway, since I am visual and like to see everything on one page, and I can more easily see the similarity between drugs or diseases ("Oh, this causes an acidosis? Let's look at my acidosis map and see what happens in every system.." or "hmmm, why didn't I get that question about the patient with a history of SLE who developed CAD? Oh, I see, I need to add my 'long-term use' notes from the 'Corticosteroid' map to the 'Lupus' map.."). This takes time, but after a while you start to have the maps in your head...

For concepts, you could also post here. We all have trouble with concepts and we could all use the reinforcement that comes when we discuss questions on the forum. If you are embarrassed to overload the forum with ten posts a day, feel free to PM me and I'll give you my e-mail. I don't mind walking through concepts and questions over and over - "Docendo discitur", as Seneca said. I meet with few other students for USMLE study several times a week, and in teaching each other we really cement concepts. Maybe you can find a few people to study with?

If it's the length and wording of the stems that's the trouble, then doing more questions is surely the best way to get better at them. Practice, practice...

In any case, don't give up!