Exam Experience Tips & Tricks

[usmlelover]

usmlestep1prep - 12/27/06 11:02

Hey guys it s over …. First of all I wannna thank god and my family and friends for being with me all through . and helped me to prepare ..

My tsunami came at 8 43 am on 26 th December and it lasted till 4 43 pm

I took break after each block had 2 red bulls and 1 bottle of coffee
Ate a piece of cake or c hocolate after each block
And slept 4 7 hours a day before ( that was the best part- coz I have never been able to sleep a day before the exam.. but this time my meditation and yoga helped a lot)

I was cool relaxed and took it easy ..
I knew there would be some easy qs and some difficult qs some long some short…

So the exams was as I had read and heard about from the forum and my friends..

Guys its DOABLE… its just a game of nerves
Just keep your cool and it will go by

You wont even realize wen will it start and then after the last block u w ill feel like a free bird

My exam

I had a lot of qs ..

Patho- dr goljan had covered up everything
Some qs were like he said in the lecture ..

Physio- Kaplan is too good there were some patho physio curves and some other qs about which I m not so sure

Pharmac was cool know the drugs from first aid and Kaplan
They asked about the top ten

Anatomy – I had problem with the neuro anat qs the rest wre quiet manageable

Micro- first aid is just too good
Except for some experimental qs which made no sense to me I hope they are research based qs… I marked and moved ahead

Immuno – no idea I studied levinson .. that really cleared my concepts .

Behave science—uff there wre a bsurd qs I just hope what I ticked make some sense I found 2 qs st from the world

Bio stats --- man there wre some simple calculation based but about some no idea…. My 1st block had 5 bio stats ….god help me I guessed and moved ahead they were evn difficult the n the usmle world


Biochem- some qs frome nbme some from the world. Its mangeable

Molecular bio--- NO IDEA

GOD BLESS ME
OOOPPS THERE WRE HOX AND PAX AND WHAT NOT.. IT WAS A TORTURE
But then I was [preapared to face such qs so I guessed and moved a head


So the exam had a loots of qs

I even got an insurance q

• it was on a lady who joined as secretary and she had 3 kids so what medical insurance policy shud she go for – I thought and then picked up something that will save her taxes..
• tehn tehn was some vitamin b12 def
• on hox it was what it regulates I picked up the binding to promoter
• tehn neuro lots of ct scans
• some immunosation qs
• lots of anti biotics as its is in usmle world
• some schistocyes wre shown
• there was sickle cell anaemia
guys exams I s about high yield stuff
you know the hy u get it…

get the big picture as dr.goljan says

• there was pic ture of T cell receptor with 4 binding domain s and they asked that a germline mutation will affect which 1- I picked up 1 3 my lucky no. itw as absurd I mean I cnat know that
• in anat there wre common peroneal nerve injury
• brachial plexus-
• thn ther was a calculation of gfr which was from kapln it was the same q with same values and I remembered the ans- 75 hehe--- funny guys but it happens
• there wer 2 arterograms I m scared I got them wrong..



so it basically covers everything …

MY PREPARATION

i m a fresh graduate and was preparing for my plab 1 exam till march .. till I met my best frind who inspired me to go for usmle
and then I started in april and gathere the rhythm by may

MATERIALS I USED


Kaplan dvds and notes
Kaplan q review I did nt do the iv qbank

High yield neuro anat and mol bio

Immuno levinson
Dr goljan and his q bank the mosby software
Dr goljan high yield notes

Biochem I made my charts that really helped me a lottttttttt

Usmle world my life saver


GUYS I DON’T HAVE WORDS AS TO HOW THE FORUM AND THE MEMBERS OVER HERE HALPED ME
I made some very good friends like commissar , hello hieand dr sharif here and there are many more every1 who contributes to the forum … the exam experience the qs thenbme qs the material it all helped me a lott


I actually got exposed to my usmle because of this forum

So thanx to each and every 1 and all the best to all the exam takers

I f I can be of any help to u plz be free to ask me anything

[usmlelover]

usmlear - 12/23/06 20:47

hi guys, i took my exam yesterday.. Let me tell u... it was tiring.....
First of all i wanna thank everybody here in the forum, to help me with every question and posting great questions....
Well here is my experience............
I could not sleep for 2 nights b4 the exam.. so the night b4 i was really worried that how um gonna get good night sleep. So i studied till 3 pm.. Then relaxed. Watched a movie had dinner at 6pm and took Nyquil to sleep at 8.30pm went to sleep at 9 pm and didnt know where i was till 5 Am.... well test was at 8.30 am..

I did first 2 block..took break...2 more block.. then break...2 more block....then break....1 block then break...and then Final BLOCk. then Home...
Well.. guys....DO UW QUES ( know it inside out) and NBME
---my test was............40% IM, 30 % Ob/GYN, 20 % surgery I had 4 biostat questions.

Ques stems were not long, it was like UW ques..
My first 4 blocks went well, By 5th i was getting tired.....
But 7th was the hardest.. my head was hurting..i found myself reading ques. twice.... then i took break and finished the last block..


-- GUYS. have good night rest b4 test.. its tiring..... and make sure u take break b4 last blocks. believe me u need it.....
Well , worried till i get my results. .....
good luck everybody...

[usmlelover]

diamapache - 12/24/06 13:10

Hi guys: Finally its over!! I'm done with steps! I did my exam 4 days ago. Thank you Dear Lord Jesus for this achevement and to thiw wonderful forum!
I studied from Kaplan, FA, some Goljan and whole UW.
My exam: as usual, 60% patho and physiopato, pharma (specially ANS with arrows and graphics of "which is drug B after adding Epi or NE). Physio just very few graphs, few cardio and no graphs of it at all (that was weird). What was very weird is I got 10 Q of BS and md-pte relation in every block!! Can u believe it, 10 q and I'm not joking!!. Just 3 q of stadistics, the remaining were md-pte R. I didn't got any upper plexus q, just 1 of lower limbs. Neuroana was fair, tested with CT and MRI but not bad. Some xR, CT, RM and V/Q scan. Time was not a problem. 1st block was easy and I had 19 min from it for breaks! 2-3rd block were very hard, 4-5 and 6 were also hard and 7 was awful (maybe also coz I was tired). The exam is tricky, some difficult q that i didnt know what they/re asking for, also some very easy q (step 2 CK studied helped me also). its mixed! I was surprise coz I saw 6 q EXACTLY as the USMLE CD, so u MUST do the CD. I did it the night before the exam so I was lucky coz the answers were on my mind! UW is difficult, I think a little bit more than the exam.
I studied from Kaplan 2-3 times almost a year ago, and I did the exam but got 73%. Then I decided to continue with CK and did CK and CS and 3 months ago went back to Step 1, so in this time just did neuro, some physio, some anat, and biochem from kaplan (just 1 time coz no time), some Goljian, all UW + 200 wrong q (1st time my overall was 57% but after revision some blocks were 65-80%) and some NBME blocks (didnt buy it, no more $...). U MUST do FA! Guys u can study whole FA in 1 week, I coulnd't believe that until I tried my self. I just asked for Lord Jesus streght and I did it (I missed just BS), so u ALL can do it!!
Just have faith on Jesus, believe in ur self, do NOT panic and study hard!
Now, I;m waiting for my certificate!! Finally, after being working sooo hard for it.
Guys I wish u the best to all of u!! It's hard to be studying all the time and not been able to spend time with family or friend or enjoying Christmas but it's also fun to learn so many things and being bless by having the opportunity to study Medicine. Remember U ALL CAN DO IT!
Thanks guys for all!
GL

[usmlelover]

dr_80 - 12/20/06 21:46


All praise to ALLAH who is most beneficent and merciful.

I had been a regular although not active member of this forum since I started my preparation 7 months ago. Today was the day for which I'd waited most. So here I am with my exam experience.

Material used: Mainly Kaplan except for pathology for which I used Goljan and HY for anatomy. I did UW (loved it so much that I wasn’t really able to do Kaplan Q bank (done 30 % hardly) and Q book (done 50%) afterwards.

The EXAM:

This is an exam of not only how much you know and can recall but more of how good your nerves are. If you control your anxiety level then you can kill this exam otherwise this exam and your anxiety will kill you. So choice is yours. It was a fair exam with mixture of qs from each and every subject and difficulty level varying from simple two liner staright forward qs to 8-9 liner hard and weird qs. Majority of qs had 5-6 lab values in it so good time management is really important in this exam. Most difficult part of my exam was genetics, biochemistry and anatomy.

At this stage its really hard to say how I did on the exam. I just came back home after the exam and am writing all this specially for those who have their exam in next few days ... just relax and give it your best shot .

I will post qs latter as I am tired now and having sort of brain block.


I am really grateful to one of my college senior (hope u r reading this ) who has been a constant source of support for me .

Thank you all and wish me luck for my result.

[usmlelover]

exotic - 12/21/06 04:18

hello dear forum ,i finally done with exam
first of all i want to thank all forum members for there support, i will not be able to do it without your support.

guys only important thing is, to calm yourself during those killing 8hrs n plzz guys made habbit of fast reading coz now days ques grew longer n longer,u didnt have time to look back on u r marked ones, n even it is difficult to read compeletly the episode long ques .u juz have to pick imp
finders fm stem /labs then pick ans n then move on.u hav no time to second thougt . soo plzz guys pick some good ques do them in time mode it is very imp.

now about my exam...
it is mixture of doable n tough qs,my very first block is tough or may be it appear to me, coz it took time for me to adjust for blinking screen,first few ques r hard to understand but as time progress it gave me hold on ques.
there r alot of genetics ,biochem,physio n lots of graphs,diagrams,histo,slides,plzz guys read n understand them ,do lots of graphs,even they ask simple concepts in graphical form. learn to analysis on what you read.it is test of ur basic knowledge...so guys what u read ,read that it will on ur nerves.
wel i m not even confident bout my exam,now come to know o lot silly mistakes,n undoable ques.well i dont know my result but type here coz juz want to help those who directly n indirectly help me in my days.
im sorry for mistakes
hoping for the best ,good luck n study hard.

**

[usmlelover]

behcet - 03/06/07 13:09

Finally it is over. I have been active on this forum for last 3 months. I would like to thank you guys for sharing ideas, questions, feelings that help me out developing my strategies on the path of getting my license back.
Since I graduated from my med school in ’91 I have been thinking this exam would be hard for me. It took time to regain my studying skills.
Obstacles:
Old grad, Father of two, wonderful wife , Full time job as an RN.
Some facts about my preparation:
It should be individualized. I was strong on Anatomy and some organ systems cause I am a General Surgeon, like “Roentgen” was strong on CT/MRIs . But I was worried about genetics, biostatistics and molecular biology. Neuroanatomy is always important on exam I read NMS neuroanatomy (hard copy, read twice) I went through Kaplan molecular biology, Pharmacology and Biochemistry notes(All digital pdf format), read once , start doing questions. But I felt like still not getting concepts. Last month, I went through atlas of pathophysiology. People posted a link for this. I found it very useful. Also please check this site: Max Animations there are very useful animations on this site I developed concepts easily with this animations.
I did Q book, Kaplan simulated, Goljan rapid review and read all the explanations, took notes.Last month subscribed UW and completed in timed, unused mode. Started from 40% and last couple of days scored 56-60%s which are safe scores on UW according to earlier postings on this forum. But my cumulative was 52%. I decided not to postpone since my aim is getting just passing score.
i felt i couldnt read anymore, like im about to puke from all the reading (Like pinaymd said !) went online, read posting , exam experiences, download some stuff and calm myself down. Thank you all members of this great forum!!! May ALLAH bless you all.

That was the summary of how I prepared for Step 1 as an old grad.
Do not talk about FA and Goljan yet! Here we go: That is the main frame of Step 1 preparation. Two keys, biggies for this exam (Alwaysss):
1- FA (Learn concepts not just memorization) I made arrows, took notes, highlighted on almost every page of FA book
2- Listen to Goljan and go through notes and memorize all bold things which you will see them on your exam, I bet

Exam Day:
Showed up @07:30 and signed up and got started first block ran out of my time on question 45 . I could not even look at last 5 questions. I was so upset about myself. Open up next block did, ran out my time again, open up third without getting any break and caught finally.
Time management is very important guys, believe me. There is not much time, please OSSIFY your concepts. At the end of third block, I started to think this exam not that hard , they supposed to test main , classical concepts before test you on some weird things right?
In order to ossify your concepts you guys need to do more and more questions, I believe
For some reason I decided to follow some tricks those posted here earlier. I had a wonderful breakfast, took Naproxen sodium 440 mg. Brought energy drink to exam center and drunk between blocks. It worked actually. Had no headache throughout the exam. You wont believe this at the end of the day I felt like I can do 3 more blocks!
I took a break after block 4 for 20 min. another 20 right before last block and I was done.

Exam facts:
---- Harder than NBME equal to UW
---- many one liners (either too easy or too hard) for example:
What vitamin you should take if you are on Isoniasid? answer: B6
Which Ca Channel Blocks by Nifedipine? Answer: Type L I missed this unfortunately
That is it ) believe me pretty straightforward aint it?
---- Many 12-15 liner specially Behavioral questions you can’t answer unless you go thru the Q stem
---- every subject equally tested but I feel like Neuroanatomy, TBC, Hydrocephalus, Intersexuality, AIDS, Vitamins, Alcoholism, Diabetes, MI ,Hyperlipidemia tested in every block with different questions.
--- CT scan and MRIs 3-5 in each block with terrible picture quality
--- gross patho/ histo slides ~5 in each block with fair/ good quality
--- two simple brain angio throughout the exam
--- No HOX,PAX, SRY, Bone morphogenetic proteins, Sonic hedgehogs, syndactyly/polydactyly .I prepared well for those dudes.
--- many question with vignette format without any diagram, picture they are simply 5-10 liners (concept questions)


That’s is all for now you guys. I pray to ALLAH for just passing score thanks to all of you for your support and prayings.

[usmlelover]

Ok folks, i've been long overdue, but I did not get free after the exam. I'm in a tough graduate course, and work in research. I had two exams right after my step1, and one more to go at the end of this week. But, I owe this to this forum. Thanks a lot, guys. Loved reading the exam experiences. Didn't read any questions on this forum, though.

I'm a 2005 grad, and came to the U.S. last August on F1 visa. I got a scholarship, so I have to work in a lab., and maintain my grades in grad. school. That way, i could pay for my steps and send some money home once in a while. I started studying for Step1 in October and gave it 7months. On an average, I ended up studying 3hrs. or so in a day, but my speed is good (plus thanks to God, some courses here helped me in genetics, and molecular biology).

This is what all i studied twice:
1. Patho.- BRS, listened to Goljan's audio(he's the best), Pathophysiology for Boards & wards(once)
2. Physio.- BRS, but went thru the graphs in Kaplan(i realised late that this is a much better book).
3. Biochem.- Kaplan (very good)
4. Pharm.- Kaplan, very good in First Aid.
5. Anatomy- High yields for Gross, Embryo, Neuro, Histo(couldn't complete this).
6. Behavioral Science- BRS (too good)
7. Micro & Immuno- Javitz (very good for immuno)
8. First Aid- made me cry, but did it twice. I liked its Pharm, though.
9. USMLEWORLD- did 1600 of them, and made notes from the explanation. Excellent. Scored 65% cumulative, (during the last 30days, it was 70-80%)
10. Did all the NBME's: scored 211(470)on I on 12thFEb., 224(520)on II on March13th, 228(560)on III on April14th, 236(580)on IV on April23rd.

- The last week, I just went over my notes (2notebooks)4times, and First Aid once. Kept on listening to Goljan till the end.

The exam was easy, only 2or3 CT scans (did netanatomy for those). A lot of molecular biology, but I had it covered well. The questions were pretty straightforward, except for dermatology(which was my weakpoint) and I finished each block with 10min. to spare; but my center had a pwer failure due to thunderstorm that day for 30min. But, i did not lose any time, it was started at right where I left it.

I'd love to answer any questions (Thank God. it's over, but I'll be taking my C.S. in June, and CK in August; so, I'll never get time to relax). Wish me luck.

[usmlelover]

Exam on April 25th

I cannot believe it I am done with the test now. So much work so much stress in the last four months. It is like a big gorilla, no, an entire zoo on your back during the preparation. When I left the test center I felt I have left the entire mountain behind me. It was like an ordeal. I have to deal with a stressful full time job, a pair of newborn twin babies (they will be one year old in couple days), and the test at the same time I felt I am totally drained…. Last night I could not sleep at all, just feel tired. Anyway, tomorrow when I wake up it will be a new day and a new challenge will be waiting for me. So I have to keep it going…

Now back to the exam

Some facts, mixed difficulties. Roughly one third of easy, straightforward qs, which are often in one or two lines; another one third of intermediate, which I think if you read the books, do the practice test, can be answered with some thinking and reasoning. The last one third, are really tough. Some of which are tough not because they are hard or you’ve never heard of it, it is just the way they present the q, yes, you know the word, twisted. VERY TWISTED. UW is helpful in that sense.

The real test, in my case, is a lot harder than SimuCD (which I got 47, 46, 47, with each block finished 15-20 minutes ahead), and harder than NBME. But to say it is UW level, not true. For UW, almost every q is twisted, for real exam you probably see one out of every three qs.

I did not have even one NBME q repeated on my exam. I was very disappointed because I spent loads of time on it. Sheena I remember said she saw about 50 repeated NBME q on her exam so I do not know, maybe it is just that I was unlucky. Still you should work on the NBME test. I got one repeated q from the simu CD, which is not hard anyway.


You have to calm down going to the exam. I MEAN IT!!!! Please listen to it. I did not and could not do it and I think it has screwed up my performance very badly. My heart was pounding when I opened up the first block. For the first five q, I could not even read the q stem clearly. Plus my first block is the second hardest one it really made me down. They asked some parasite qs with a picture or two of oval or larva there and I have no idea what they are talking about…..

1st block I marked 15q. time was not enough I only have like 5 min left and when I rushed back to the marked qs, I changed two answers from correct to wrong.. ahhhh

2, 3, 4, were ok and I gradually calmed down. I marked about 10 qs down in each block I finished within 45-50 mins so I have time to come back and look at them again.

I then took the break, ate something, went to outside, had deep breath and told myself I should be OK.


Then it comes the block5, which is the hardest block I have ever done. I mean literally every q was twisted and I have to guess the answer. I could narrow down to two options and from there I could not decide no more… it is just like all of those hard qs coming together in one block, a full screen q followed by another full screen q and no stop. I think my performance in this block will decide my score to be above or below 90. I did lots of qs just by instinct, pure subconsciousness reflex.


Block 6 is slightly harder than block 2, 3, 4. But I think I did fine. After that I thought maybe I will pass the exam.

Block 7 is ok. I marked down about 8 qs and finished early.

After that it is all finished and I could not believe it that I am done with it.


I do not dare to post any real exam qs due to the recent incidents on the forum. And you know why. I saw very few repeated qs on the real exam anyway so I think the best is still to focus on the test materials.

My feeling for this exam is that if you prepare well (Kaplan books+qbanks+UW+First Aid+goljan for pathology) and keep your cool, you will do very well, 99 is reachable; if you do preparation well but lost your cool, it may significiantly impede your performance. I felt like I went through the blocks in rush, always in rush and I could not think too much about the traps or tricks in the questions…. Time is a issue.

Anyway I wish you guys score well!!!! Oh, one last suggestion, do not spend time on extreme details I did not recall even one q asking small details.


Cheers

[usmlelover]

Exam date: April 17th 2007

Exam started at 7:48 am (supposed to be at 8:00, but I reached the center earlier)
Exam Ended at 3:50 pm



The exam center is so great, and I liked it very much. I really did like the proctors, they are helpful and friendly.



Preparation: 8 months duration, with on and offs. It was serious from January.

All subjects were from Kaplan notes, which are so great, except the Pathology, for which I used BRS, which is awesome.

I did parts of Kaplan Qbook, Qbank, and Usmle World Qbank (all were as learning tool).



I did NBME form 4, 1 month before exam, and got 390 ( I was really so stressed and postponed my exam for a month); form 1, 5 days before exam and got 480 (was bit relieved)

Did the USMLE CD, 2 days before exam, and got 34, 35, 46, in the 3 blocks.



One thing to say about the preparation; it is unique to every individual and fist his/her own time frame, expectations, and surrounding circumstances. So don’t rely on my preparation or other’s, and do your own style. I do agree that you will benefit from other’s experiences, but keep your style and individualize your own preprations, and try not to replicate other’s, because you will end up with too many replicas, none of which are identical.



I faced a serious problem, which I thought that will be just for the first, or even will be up to the second block, and thereafter everything will be fine. This did not happen, and this problem, persisted with me up to the last block, and I really don’t know why?. It was TIME. I was short of time in all blocks, though that I used to end every block of questions during my prep with at least 3 minutes to spare, and sometimes I had up to 15 minutes. In the exam this did not happen. I am afraid that this would affect my overall performance. I am afraid to death.



Overall, the exam is DOABLE. I am currently having a RETROGRADE AMNESIA, and cant remember that much. All what I can recall is that there are one question exactly from the USMLE CD (exact replica!!), and another concept from the CD (they had the question in a reverse manner, or kind of that). Many questions about Drugs, and their Mechanism of Action (MOA); some weird questions in molecular and genetics, that I had no clue about and I had to guess; & many pictures, illustrations, CTs, MRIs, & X-rays which you can figure from the question stem, and some times you cant.



The strange thing is that I had a nervous start, but as the day progresses, I became calmer albeit the “Time Pressure”. I think it has something to do with the fact that you are about to finish.


I had managed for my breaks the day before the exam. I had just one emergency break, for which I had no plan. With my nervousness, I had to visit the Restroom many times. Before the exam I went, and after the first block (which came out of the blue!!!). I had a break after my 3rd block to eat, and drink some coffee; after the 5th block to eat some chocolate; and between the 6th and 7th blocks, I took a break in my chair just to rest my mind a bit, and actually that was so great.

At the end of the day you will feel like there is a huge load had been put away from your shoulders, and that the whole world is yours .



I hope that I will not need to read once again for this Step, and it will be part of my memories, no more.



Finally, one of the most strongest reasons that I was able to take the exam is SUPPORT. I had many phone calls from my friends from my school, telling me that I am able to ace this test, and I will do great. They did mentioned the most accurate fact to me, which was kept concealed in my subconscious level for a long time “You will not know every thing”. I agree with them, or otherwise, no need for the different specialties, and we should start practicing since the day we graduated without further training !!



That’s regarding my STEP 1 exam, which I should leave behind my back and try to look forward, for the future.



Take care and good luck to all of you who will be taking this exam.

Information

P.S: i am having a problem with my connection, so be patient with my delayed replies

[laxmiagrawal]

Hi everyone. thanks for all your experiences you shared here.I am a medical graduate from India in the year 94.
I have done not much other than few housejobs and working in hospital as a clinical assistant.So I feel very new to my own subjects. Though i am good at diagnosis and am interested to continue further with usmle and residency here in USA if you all can write me how I should start and what books I should refer first, I would appreciate very much Thanks in advance.