Exam Experience Tips & Tricks

[usmlelover]

eu_phoria - 01/31/07 21:51

hi guys,
took exam today. reached centre at 7.00am and started 7.30 am ... i would say i was tested mixed on all the subjects.. in different blocks... first block was a disaster all filled with weird questions.. some even i never heard . mol. bio and stuff but just kept on going.. 2nd was better more of anatomy. third till last were mixed ok. to be very true i feel like crap as exam was not that easy if not difficult .. and i dont know if i will pass .. but study all the concepts in and out . there is no time to think and also thoroghly. you wont know as they can ask different things in separate ways ..

some of the question i remember

mechanism of cancer by HPV..
HOX genes express themselves by what effect..
cycle rider into acident leading to SIADH
graph with 0-50 days progestrone level and after 15 days attain plateau. i marked conception
picture of spinal cord.. asking in question stem abt fasc gracilis . had to mark that

tumor suppresor involved in HPV
lateral column of spinal cord consists of which ganglion
many doc patient relation
many biostatistis. specificity, mean mode,
question on central tendency
dna gyrase will do what
median nerve lesion
infraspinatus and teres minor function
plantar surface muscles
schiatica coause and signs
picture to find lateral rectus palsy. asked the nerve
picture of face showing ring worm .. asked what medication.. antifungal cream
myasthenia gravis wo identify in picture antibodies against what

botulism
tetanus antitoxin function
mechanism of tetanus
pertusis mechanism
erection drug mechanism
NSAID C/I in gout
mechanism of aspirin
drug with ADP blockage MOA- ticlopidine
Infliximab- tnf alpha binding
drug for weight loss which stimulates neurotransmitter release
vit K deficieny
folic acid step in homocysteinuiria
triacyglycerol formed form glycolysis step
chemical structure of reverse transcriptase inhibitor
mutation in rRNA formation.. whats effected RNAI plymerase
pictur showing medial lesion. Ant. cerebral artery
dorsal colums lesion
legionella .. culture and clinical picture
lung abscess - staph aureus
immunology - mainly TH1, TH2. INF gamma and so on .
what structures to save in GE junction during surgery
hernia below inguinal ligament and so on - femoral
brachial plexus injury
anorexia nervosa -- which bone defect- osteoporosis
bulimia nervosa
and many more..
i remember these many for now.. i think i screwed many question s and feel scared.. prepare well and GL

[usmlelover]

ajeth - 01/29/07 23:54

time is the most important factor,exam was like a long race.the questions were easy,but the answers some times tend to confuse you between 2 options.exam covered all types of topics,but basics were also tested.highly complicated topics were not much tested.questions based on problems were easy,dont panic on seeing them.
pharmacology
MAO of acyclovir-inhibits dna replication
MAO of antibiotics
S.E of isotretinoic acid in men
alpha,M-receptor acting drugs
arachidonic acid pathway
co-operative enzyme kinetics graph
phenytoin S.E(cvs)
for effectiveness amphotericin B is given with flucytosine or (
fluconozole for cryptococcus)
treatment of carcinoid syndrome
drugs acting on H1 and H2 receptors
mao of coumarins
treatment of anaphylactic reaction to drug
sch-related q
conjugation reactions

pathology
many gross pics
ulcerative colitis
microscopy of intestine of malabsorbtion syndromes
blood smears of anemia
granular kidney in hypertension
cause of muscle atrophy in RA
others
Hb sythesis cycle
x-rays,MRI,
in anat
many cytokines
doctor-patient relationship q's
fracture|dislocation of humerus/hip jt
q's on levels of pth,pthrp,vit d,fsh,lh,estrogen in various cases
MEN syndromes
anticipation,heterozygote advantage
identify muscle used in getting up from sitting position in CT-g.maximus
light reflex pathway
deafness involving congenital syndromes
FAS,downs synd,turners synd-no barr body
oppositional defiant disorder, hypervitaminosis A
identify facial nerve in brain specimen
identify brain tumor or infarct or trauma in a given brain autopsy specimen
muscle causing abduction of arm below 20 degrees,which initiates abduction

[usmlelover]

devilz_own81 - 01/26/07 16:36

i posted this in reply to my msg " step 1 score" but fer some reason it wasnt being sent to the forum ...so im posting it as a new thread !!


( btw all the things im writing down below ... i did the same routine wen i did the kaplan CD ..e.g the sleeping pill and all ....so make sure u dont do any new thing on exam day .....u shudve tried out everything at least once before !! )

i took a dormicum tablet the nite before the exam to calm me down and help me sleep....i had needed only ONE tablet wen i did the CD .....but on exam nite i was too anxious so after 2 hrs of not being able to sleep i took a 2nd one too !!
in the morning i had my usual breakfast ...and wit it i took 2 PANADOL EXTRA tablets ....prophylactically to prevent a headache and also fer the caffeine in it ....

i did the 1st 2 blocks together .....then took a 10 minute break after every block .....after the 4th block however i took a 20 min break fer lunch and prayer s ......

in the 1st break i had half a bar of chocolate , in the next break i had an orange juice .....
fer lunch id taken along 2 boiled eggs ....plus some water .....i took another PANADOL EXTRA tablet wit lunch .....
in the next break i finished the bar of chocolate :P
and in the last break i drank a can on RED BULL ......
the exam itself went pretty fast ....but u gotta save time on the one -liners so tht u can spend it on the other long -stem questions !!
and make sure ur comfortable wit PNADOL EXTRA or RED BULL or other stuff like tht wich u take to exam centre cuz u dont wanna experiment on exam day !!
best of luck to u all !!

[usmlelover]

rmansour - 01/24/07 00:31

Just took the exam today, and believe me YOU HAVE TO DO USMLEWORLD QUESTIONS!!! The format of the Step 1 questions really resemble USMLEWORLD questions. The background is even like it to!

As for the exam, make sure you go over PATIENT/DOCTOR RELATIONSHIPS!! I had like 5 questions in each block. That is the most heavily stressed topic on the exam in terms of behavioral science. Also MAKE SURE HOW TO READ CT SCANS AND MRI'S. THE ANATOMY QUESTIONS HAD ALOT OF CT SCANS SHOWING VARIOUS MUSCLES. Like for example, some person had a superior gluteal nerve lesion, and it had a CT scan of the pelvis, and you had to identify the MUSCLE. Also, KNOW ENDOCRINE PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOPHYSIOLOGY REALLY WELL!!

OVERALL, MY EXAM HAD ALOT OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE QUESTIONS ON PATIENT/DOCTOR, ENDOCRINE, AND CT SCANS AND MRI'S OF THE BRAIN.

Here's a list of some questions/topics I had:

2 QUESTIONS ON EPIDURAL HEMATOMA: ASKED WHICH ARTERY IS DAMAGED

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME: KNOW THE SIGNS!! (DON'T GET CONFUSED WITH DOWNS SYNDROME)

QUESTIONS ON HYPER/HYPO THYROIDISM

CONN'S SYNDROME

MICRO: KNOW STAPH, STREP, ACTINOMYCES (HAD A PICTURE OF YELLOW GRANULES)

NEWBORN HAS 1 UMBILICAL ARTERY: WHICH URINARY ABNORMALITY IS MOST LIKELY: I PUT UNILATERAL RENAL AGENSIS (NOT SURE IF RIGHT)

FEMORAL NECK FRACTURE X-RAY: ASKED WHICH ARTERY IS DAMAGED: MEDIAL CIRCUMFLEX FEMORAL ARTERY

KNOW EYE LESIONS (LIKE OPTIC NERVE, RADIATIONS, LIKE 5 QUESTIONS ON THAT!!!

PATIENT HAD A MURAL THROMBUS IN THE LEFT ATRIUM, THEN DEVELOPED ABDOMINAL PAIN: WHY? I PUT EMBOLIZATION.

KNOW ROLES OF PTH, CALCITONIN, VITAMIN D: PRIMARY DISORDERS, SECONDARY DISORDERS

SQUAMOUS CELL CARCIMOMA OF THE LUNG AND INCREASED PTH-LIKE PEPTIDE

KNOW CNS DRUGS REAL WELL AND ANTIBIOTICS!!!!

HEME SYNTHESIS PATHWAY, ASKED WHERE FERROCHELATASE ACTS

MEN SYNDROMES!!

2 PICTURES ON HYPERSEGMENTED NEUTROPHILS. 1 ON B12, THE OTHER ABOUT FOLATE

CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM

ALOT OF QUESTIONS LIKE A 15 YEAR OLD CHILD SMOKES, WHICH IS THE BIGGEST FACTOR WHY??

BOXER GOT PUNCHED IN THE JAW, FOOD LEAKS OUT: ASKED WHICH MUSCLE IS DAMAGED, BUCCINATOR MUSCLE

LEFT RECURRENT LARYNGEAL NERVE LESION: CANNOT ABDUCT THE VOCAL CORD!!

CONDUCT DISORDER VS OPPOSITONAL DEFIANT DISRODER

REM SLEEP CHARACTERESTICS

DIFFERENTIATE NORMAL AGING/ ALZHIEMERS, VERSUS PICK'S DISEASE

HUNINGTONS DISEASE AND ANTICIPATION

BRAIN MRI'S!! KNOW HOW TO READ VARIOUS STRUCTURES.

HOPE THIS HELPS, I think I did ok.

[usmlelover]

kinnu - 01/24/07 16:13

first of all thanks to everyone of you esp the organisers of this forum who r really doing a great job for all of us,
i have been a reader of this forum right when i started preparing for step 2, and has been addicted to it through out that phase, wrote my exam on 19 dec, got 85 210 and Alhumdullillah very happy.
now something about how i prepared i have a small kid about to b 2, so i did my slow first reading of kaplan notes in about 4 months, did nbme 1 got 430, then i decided to do a good second read luckily i got a nany for my son who took care of him from 9 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon, i hired her for 6 wks and during this time i did my second kaplan read usmle world throughly did nbme 2 got 480 and said to myself that i m ready and did it
exam was ok all the things were pretty balanced, there were few concepts they r asking again and again, usmle world is the key, internal med was good two ekg very simple one, gynae was a bit easy or i like that, physiactry and surgery doable, i dont know why i was having difficulty in peads actually there were some wierd immunology from step 1. anyways time management is abit difficult for me there was always one min left in the end and i have to do two or three qs,there were two qs i was not able to open but i thanked god that i did the remaining on.
altough i m not a 99er, yet i ll say one thing that one should be clear in the concepts they ask u in and out of the topic but its doable if u r focussed

[usmlelover]

hasan82 - 01/24/07 16:42


I just wrote my Step 1 yesterday. I found it very challenging. I am a PGY-4 resident in psychiatry in Canada and have already passed our licensing exams several years ago. I studied using 1st Aid and Appleton & Lange Outline Review for 3 months (though not intensely).

The exam really is geared at basic sciences (which are at this stage of my training not at all relevant). There were about 4 or 5 questions on primary amenorrhea/cong adrenal hyperplasia/etc - wish I had studied that pathway a bit more.

As well, there seemed to be a lot of cell biology and molecular genetics. There were the standard pharmacology diagrams (bar graphs about heart rate and giving a blocking med then a beta-blocker and asking what the drug was).

It was a very frustrating exam, as they would often ask questions which would lead you to a rare genetic or metabolic illness, but then ask some very basic science question which really has little to do with the illness. The micro questions were occassionally like this (ex Lyme disease history given - what's the cell responsible for the polyarthopathy).

I got all the psych questions (there were probably 20 or so), but some weren't easy - ex they described a history of bulemia or eating d/o NOS and then wanted to know what other disorder the patient might have (ie you have to first recognize the eating d/o then know the most common psychiatric comorbidity). There were some fairly straight forward personality d/o's also.

There were a number of questions about rheumatology - SLE and the diagnostic test results one sees (topoisomerase, ANA, etc). I'm glad I reviewed this area.

There were a few questions on hyperlipidemia and the mechanism of action of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.

Some calculations also - Odds Ration, Harvey-Weinberg genetics formula, sensitivity.

Overall, I think I passed, but wouldn't be surprised if this were not the case. Particularly for someone who hasn't taken the basic sciences for 6 years, it's difficult. It's also frustrating knowing that very little of the what is tested has much clinical relevance.
I wish everyone goodluck with their studies!

[usmlelover]

johngalt - 01/23/07 16:44

hi friends, SORRY BY MISTAKE I POSTED A SIMILAR MESSAGE AS A REPLY TO ONE OF THE MESSAGES,NOW I POSTED IT AGAIN HERE.
I just got back from the exam.I cant say how happy I am that it is done with.the feeling is amazing.I wish yu all good luck with your prep and the exam.

My exam started at 8.the first 4 blocks were not so tough,but the 5th one was disappointing.i think i did better in the last 2 ones.the exam tested all the subjects.lots and lots of path.pharmac and micro were very straight.most of the micro were identifying the organism,a few from mycology,few from bacteria,drugs were a lot.know all the m.o.a and the resistance mechanisms.
pharmac were also easy,pretty much straight forward.not much trouble.
Immuno-know all the cytokines left and right,there were a lot of questions about them.
Anatomy some were very easy,a few were tough.
neuro was all straight.know the cerebral cortex very well,all the areas-brocas,wernickes etc
many questions on spinal cord segments.most of the neuro questions were based on images.
biochem -a good no.but all were straight forward.
physio was alsonot sotough.lots of graphs.
2ND MESSENGERS VERY VERY IMPORTANT
many medical ethics questions.i found them to be tough because I thought some of them had 2-3 correct options(because i wasnt sure which was the right one).the behavioural science was easy.
FRIENDS MY SINCERE ADVICE IS LEARN YOUR STATISTICS VERY WELL,BECAUSE IT IS A VERY EASY SCORING TOPIC.I HAD ATLEAST 7 OR 8 OF THEM
thank god, i didnt get a LOT OF GENETICS.I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT HOX,PAX.THAT WS PRETTY MUCH GENETICS
the rest of the questions were path.
my preparation ws vry disorganised ,so i am sorry i cant give you advice about that.I studied nothing but kaplan.I did not touch path from kaplan.GOLJAN IS THE BEST.I FEEL THAT IT IS A MUST TO GET A GOOD SCORE.
THE QUESTIONS I DID UW,KAPLAN Q BANK.MY SCORE IN THE UW WAS 63 %.BUT I DID IT SUBJECT WISE,SO I DONT THINK IT WILL BE A GOOD INDICATOR OF MY PERFORMANCE.KAPLAN Q BANK I WAS GETTING AN AVERAGE OF 70% AT THE END,SOME TIMES MORE. I TOOK THE NBME ONLINNE 4 DAYS BEFORE THE EXAM AND GOT 228(540).
THE REAL EXAM WAS NOT AS TOUGH AS UW,I COULD SAY THAT IT WAS A LITTLE TOUGHER THAN KAPLAN,NOT A LOT TOUGHER JUST A LITTLE.

I TOOK A BREAK AFTER EVRY BLOCK (I HAD TO REPLENISH MY NICOTINE LEVELS).THERE WAS ENOUGH TIME IN EVRY BLOCK,IN SOME BLOCKS I HAD MORE THAN 15 MIN,SO I USED IT TO GO THROUGH THE MARKED QUESTIONS.
IN SUMMARY-THIS IS NOT AN IMPOSSIBLE EXAM.WE CAN DEFINITELY BEAT IT.GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU.IN CASE YOU NEED ANY MORE HELP OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS , I WILL ALWAYS BE HERE.GOOD LUCK FRIENDS

[usmlelover]

maniaken - 01/19/07 13:26

I would like to post some things about my exam experience that others may find useful.
I remember almost every question but I know it is forbidden to post any of them.So I will confine to some general remarks.
1.The test contains many questions that are high yield and already known.I would say a 60% of questions in each block are easy for somebody who has studied the topics.
2.Every area of weakness is revealed,so it is a big misstake not to study something high yield at all because you do not like it.Exams will show this in any case.
3.As a result somebody should pay attention to high yields only and revise these on the last days before the exam.The last week is extremely important because memory has to be instant,there is no time to think and thinking will drive you to the wrong choices.
4.Some of the hard questions are contained in UW.I do not understand why they let them appear since they are already in UW,anyway I suppose they do this in order to reward the student who has done UW or any other stuff.In fact I lost 5 questions only because I did not revise 600 questions of UW the day before the exam.I revised only 1200 of them.
5.I lost 2 questions that I should answer if I remembered exactly Kaplan notes.I would say Kaplan notes in cardiology and gastroenterology are a must.The others are not good at all,worth only a brief reading.
6.I lost one question that was in MedRevu.However I should have revised 500 Medrevu questions the days before and this was not so rewarding.
7.I lost 2 easy psych questions only because I changed the answer the last minute from right to wrong.In this regard Kaplan is right,never change any answer unless a sudden inspiration appears or you come to a apiece of information you had skipped hurrying before.
8.Now about the form of questions.They are in general not long and not very thorough.I would say not so much thought like qs in UW or even Kaplan.Some contain distractors,some are longer withought reason and some are a matter of thinking at the moment let us say judgement questions,not many maybe 4-5 but they exist.
From my point of view I am sure not every q has the same value.I belive if somebody loses the easy qs he will definitely get a low grade even if he hits the tough ones.I do not know their system of grading exactly but it seems to me they have devided qs in grades of value depending on their easiness,high yield character,or the judgement character or their complication degree.I will try to pinpoint their system but it is difficult with such a small sample of qs.
People who get the good grades are the ones who do not miss a single easy q and not the ones who find the unexpected answers.I wish I knew that before.
Anyway let us move to the sources,what qs are about.
In general Kaplan concepts are all high yield.Blueprints very helpful.i lost one q that was in blueprints pediatrics.
Blueprints neurology very important.If somebody had studied tis,he could answer extremely difficult qs from neurology.In general the most difficult qs were from neuro and psych.I lost 2 neuro qs where i knew the answer but I was moving without analysing just remembering.
I will not reveal what neuro qs are about.In general pay attention to stroke syndromes and bone marrow syndromes and more to the exotic ones.

Hematology easy but maybe it seemed to me easy because I had done MKAP before.Lot of hemolysis.
Gastroenterology more strange,not pure gastro but syndromes more general.
Hepatology easy some qs with distractors.
ID very easy.I expected it much tougher.The usual stuff about HIV,PCP,Lyme etc not something special,only one demanding q.
Cardio also easy,not something difficult to DD.
Respiratory more weird with some covering with other specialities,again not pure resp.
Endocrino fairly easy if you knew what is about even though some confusion in the way of expressing the qs.
Statistics extremely easy,child like.
Ethics reasonable staff except a q about abortion.We are taught abortions are not in the test because every state has a different legislation but they ignored Kaplan claims.
Surgery trauma of course the usual thoracic ,ARDS mainly the classic DD cases but some XRays on these made things a little more complicated.I lost a q which was in UW.
much post OP fever,I do not like that thing because it is very see and judge,no other help from lab.One q from plastic surgery,I could not believe my eyes.
Lots about vaccines indications etc.
2 MRIs in neuro,one in pulmo.
Gynecology pelvic pain,I lost classic q I want to hit myself,adnexal masses,bleeding,breast disease,infections of vulva,conraception,CA of cervix in situ,what to do next etc.
Obsterics too much postpartum,fetal demise,preeclampsia.I do not like OBGYN and there is no good book on the market,every obstetrician has another theory.
Psych some straightforward,some confusing with many distractors,difficult to understand the big picture.
Much dementia,delirium,drugs and anxiety disorders.Emphasis on therapeutics.

I would say the main problem is IM qs ask for mechanisms in a percent about 25% and this makes things difficult as you may know the disease but you cannot remember the mechanism.
On the other hand on psych they ask therapeutics,so you may have pinpointed the disease but you cannot remember the exact right therapeutic drug.I think one should focus on mechanisms on IM and therapy on psych,espesially drug therapy.
Pediatrics also easy apart from a few mechanisms.The classic stuff mainly neonatology.No development qs,I was happy to meet that.

In general my experience is,this exam has a lot to do about focus,high yield and being able to review a lot of material in the last days.No time to think,no judgement,not many labs,not very sofisticated things.Just pick the answer and go by.I finished each block about 10 minutes before normal time and I regret I went through answers again and changed some right ones.I wish I had no time to do that.
I understand now somehow american exam system.The main thing is honesty and concentrating to the basics.

[usmlelover]

adrenaline2176 - 12/29/06 20:05

It is finally over.....I just gave my exam and I can finally get this big bad monkey off my back. Before i continue, I would like to thank the almight GOD for his blessings. And y'all for making ths forum a wonderfull place to prepare for this test. My special thanxs to the X-mem(bers)- Cd, Sharky (I got it right didnt I?), Pashna, Marie, Sao, usmlestep1prep, kashmala, iced, shawn and my man...Indi (my wingman in times of trouble).

Now about my exam...well, it was a bag of mixed feelings. The first two blocks were very hectic...u r so pumped up and u keep answering q's based on immediate short-term memory..so basically I could recollect the concepts well. One thing to note was the Q's were long (5-6 avg). Block 3 went well, block 4 was again hectic. Block 5,6 was Ok and block 7 was good...maybe the thought of finishing the test made it look so.

Now some pointers:

Most (70-80%) of the q were case presentations (history,physical, findings). So know the lab values for the common things (the usmle cd has blood lab values...know the one marked by * coz these r the commmon chem-12 values)

I practiced reading the last line of the q first and then go ahead with the q. It helped me with time management. Still I could barely complete each block within the stipulated time.

Almost all subjects were tested...more of path, micro and pharma. 10% of q's were 2-3 liners esp micro, rest were long. I was worried about genetics...but by Gods grace I didnt get many.

Heavily tested topics:

Ca, K, PTH - know the values and learn the concepts (Kaplan physio is gr8)

Hormones and their effect especially on Na/K+ values - aldosterone, cortisol.

Cell components and their functions (golgi, mitochondria)

Bacteriology - Nisseria, std, meningitis, rikettsia, staph.
strep

Hiv was a favorite topic - cytokines/ capsid proteins/ treatment/ drug SE. Opportunistic infections (got a lot of them)

Anat- nerve injuries, muscle actions, I got two same q asking the embryological process involved involved in hypospadias (urogenital folds)

Biochem - Lysosomal storage disease (I cell disease)/ glycogen storage disorders. Know the of cytokines very well (IL 1,2, etc), immunodeficiency diseases

Pharma - side effects, CNS & BP drugs, invitro infusions of adrenergic/ cholinergics drugs and see the effect on BP and HR. Most of the q were like this pt is taking this drug and another drug X is given...what is the MOA/ what is drug X/ or side effects of X Know CVS and CNS well.

Strangely there were 2-3 stats q' too...this is where i wasted most of the time coz I have OCD and wanna get my calculation right...dont do this mistake...do u calculation and click next. If u cant figure it out...mark something and leave.

I cant remember anything else..but will post it once remember something. Pl. remember...there will always be some q which u have no idea of...I wasted my time to figure it out coz I was trying to figure out the "concepts'...but these r the most time consuming q. And once u lag behind in time, u wont have time to rethink ur ans for the remaining q's...u just read the q, click and move on. Try to avoid this.

Also, READ ALL THE CHOICES. There r some tricky q's which have 2 right choices. U shud choose the most selective one. One q was about disruption in circadian rythmn..the choices had hypothalamas (B)..but if u read further there is suprachiasmatic nucleus (E). So be careful as to clicking fast and moving on to next.

Thats all the tips I could think of. My advice...TIME MANAGEMENT !!!! If u have enogh time...u will feel moe confident answering the q's.

As for the preparation - it was very haphazard. The only book I read thouroughly was First Aid. Almost 95% is covered by it. Rest, I did q's from UW (the q is similar to the actual exam with all the history etc. It also has the same difficulty level of some of the tough q's in the exam (5-10 out of 50). So if u practice 50 tough q's...u will be in a good shape to cope with the difficulty level in the exam (though u may not answer t correctly...lol)

I read Kap biochem, Pharma and Physio. I did just FA and some isolated readings from other texts for micro and path. A lot of concepts came from readin UW and Kaplan.

Thats all folks....now I'll try to sleep....and yes if someone want to try Red bull during the test....I dint find it useful..I started getting tremors (with just half a bottle)...but rehydrate urself plentiful. I brough gatorade (a drink like electral) and bottled water and made sure I drank plenty after each break....Yes..it also made me visit the loo after every block...but I waas fresh and didnt feel tired.

Good luck to all those appearing in the coming months.

[usmlelover]

mav007 - 01/04/07 10:54


Sorry for the delay in writing this- I had my exam on the 20th of December- had a lot of things going on, as we were moving to Geogia on the 23rd.

The exam was long-after 4 hours, I was ready to quit. Do practice sitting for 8 hours with breaks, doing sample questions. I went through the Tutorial for 1-2 minutes, but had enough time to do the questions, and take break-with an extra 10 minutes left to my break. The last block was a bit time pressing.

I was very surprised to se the questions being so basic- I felt 80% of my exam was based on Microbiology- sample questions- were what steps would you take for this Gram negative, lactose fermenter, Bacitracin postive, Catalase negative,etc. Do study that page that has the chart on Bacteria in the First Aid in the Microbiology section. While searching the forum sites, I was scared by the complexity of some of the questions they discussed, but didn't get anything close to as complex on the real exam. Only two questions were asked on Hox genes. The forum discussed alot on this, so on the day of the exam I looked it up on Wikipedia, and the questions were- the first asked what genes are analyzed using Drosophila fly. The second was, if there is a mutation on limbs,etc what gene would you look at (Homeobox genes..).

The Behavioral science questins were pretty basic- asking "what would you call a situation where..." about Repression, Narcissm, who would have the right in a case where husband is in coma and someone has to choose treatment modality,etc...No questions to be scared of.

They also asked two questions about the method of gene transfer in chaperoning- it was there in the Kaplan book. I also got a few questions from Physiology based on nerve conductin and myelination, fast fibers- how many ATP in Anaerobic respiration..

Pathology- had a few pictures-some of them were not very clear and looked alot alike. They asked about Megacolon, Intususseption, Diverticula (which of the pictures is this,etc). Ionization of ions in acidic and basic solution with ph were also asked.Sural nerve and muscle in the leg were also asked.

By the time I started the exam and through I was pretty much a blank with what I had read in the morning- try to do revision till the day befpre- and just stay calm for the actual exam. Take some food and drinks for the exam breaks. I slept for 10 minutes during one of the breaks. They didn't let me take a calculator or even a normal watch in. You have to sign out and in for each break, and they give you a key for the bathroom if you give them your passport/ID. Two of the breaks, I just sat at the computer terminal and took a few deep breaths and just relaxed.

Good luck with your exam,s and let me know if you have any questions.