Exam Experience Tips & Tricks

[usmlelover]

Dear friend,

I thought to share you some of contents available in the internet regarding USMLE. I hope this thread will meet the need of most of aspiring candidates from Nepal.

You can also add if you get related contents of link, here we go

Originally Posted by roengen, March 1, 2007

Hi every body,
returned back from prophometric centre.
Tooooo tired!
Want to convey only few important issues:

1.Its an exam of knowledge,concepts,its appliaction,your IQ,Patience and stamina to keep your mind in place after a long and continuous strenous brain drainers.

2.The pattern is changed........now the exam is not like kaplan.The new provided by certain members in recent past is true.

3.DON'T FORGET TO THOROUGHLY GO THROUGH EACH AND EVERY CONCEPT OF USMLEWORLD.Read explaination of every option provided make new concepts and prepare your own notes for the weired concepts and your weak areas.

4.The length of Q is increased and they asked too many weired appearing concepts from UW!(I'M NOT SELLING UW BUT ITS TRUTH.I WAS THE PERSON WHO TOLD EVERY BODY THAT FIRST PREREQUISITE IS KAPLAN Q BANK FOLLOWED BY UW IN MY UW SCORE THREAD BUT AFTER GIVIBG EXAM I CHANGE MY VERSION............UW IS MUST!!!!!)

5.OUT OF 7 FIRST 5 BLOCKS WERE MODERATE AND LAST 2 HARD.

6.They are asking 70% of the routine things but in a different and complex way!

7.had too many MRI,ANGIO,SLIDES but being a radiologist they were too easy for me.

8.Manage your time carefully in hard blocks

9.They covered every thing.....NO SUBJECT IN EXCESS

10.Gebetics was tough but limited Q

11.BIOSTAT & pharma straightforward

12.Asked too many weired receptors and side effects of AIDS drugs.

13.150 Q I feel i knew the answer without reading options. 100 I answered with some reasoning,70 Q with 50-50 chance and 30 highly weired-known nothing about them!

14.regarding my preparation,i will talk after score as it was highly unique and individualized according to my need and working hours(As I told you I'm a working radiologist and prapared part time for 4-5 months only.I worked 8-10 hrs a day,6 days a week and also an old grad passed in 1998....so it is entirely different story and will be dealt later along with the score).

15.And don't forget to practive other Q banks and appear in NBME before 15 days of exam........it allows you to assess yourself and you may postpone it accordingly

GL to every body!

[usmlelover]

By chintoo - 02/27/07 21:56

Hello all,

Im done with exam today. I am so excited. I have used the forum a lot. Mainly to see questions and sometimes for help. I am writing this uninvited review of my exam so that I can be of some help to anyone who needs help during prep. The prep was very hard for me. About my prep, I prepared for 5 months. I am doing my phd so I studied for 2-3 hours on weekdays and 5-6 on weekends. I read Kaplan once and then did Q book and started with UW questions. I revised UW wrong questions once and then gave a quick revision of Kaplan medicine and first Aid.
My exam:
- I ate and slept very well the previous night.
- Went 30 min prior to the center. Started at 7.40 am with the exam.
- Took first break after 2 blocks and then 10 min break. 3rd and 4th block then 10 min break. Fifth block 15 min and then 10 minutes after every block.
- Finished every block at 50-55 minutes (I typically finished UW block in 46-48 minutes) so I could not check every marked question in the exam.
- Exam was 50% medicine and 15% psychiatry and then rest all equally divided.
My advice:
- please study common topics in detail, like tear them apart. Know everything about them from all the qbanks, forums and books.
- Do lot of questions and all the questions in timed mode.
- Prepare yourself for a very lengthy exam, take lot of sugar and a analgesic with you.
My mistakes:
- This is number one. Studied uncommon, rare things, fancy treatments from UW, forum, I think that energy could have been spent on more common things which I missed. AIDS, Diabetes, dementia (about 10 questions), CHF, screening tests, common gynec disorders, immunizations etc.
- Don’t waste time on statistics, total waste, baby questions and 3 in all exam.
- Pratice a lot of questions and Practice with timed mode. I was fatigued by 5-6th block. Sometimes I had to read question again.
- Should have used FA along with my revisions and q banks, I used it in last 7 days. Add things there. I did that in step one but not this time. People said its not helpful; but I think if u have ur notes and FA at the end should be very helpful.
- I spent sometoo much time sometimes on some questions, this is very tempting but try to avoid that. I could not review marked questions becoz of that.
- lastly if you plan to do NBME stay away from forum questions, sometimes people post NBME questions, some unknowingly and some are just plain selfish.

Good luck to everyone. I know everyone is anxious but on that day give your best don’t get tired. Thanks to everyone, especially klebsiella and CD45. I will post my score whatever it is when it comes. Happy Studying (I know its an oxymoron!)

[usmlelover]

By despo_dave - 03/01/07 02:27

Second attempt :-(

UW - 62%
Kaplan QBook - 82%
Did not do NBME
4 1/2 months
Kaplan notes (no video)
6 hrs per day (lesser on weekends).

Time - very accurate (In fact, I missed 4 questions in total cos I am a slow-reader).

Tutorial - fully skipped
First 2 blocks - 5 min break
Next 2 blocks - 5 min break
1 block - 15 min break
1 block - 7 min break
others with 5 min break each

(Remember to count on the time to take for walking in & out, seating urself, praying, etc; I know this sounds crazy because I thought I was not using much time for breaks; but it was exactly accurate)


About the questions:
All of UW length (2 or 3 from UW questions)
2 or 3 questions from USMLE CD.
5 to 6 - Step1 content (Immunology)
50% - Medicine (half of which is Pulmonology)
ECG - 4 or 5
A bit more tougher than UW (...Had to guess)
Remember: All the choices are given that they match with the distracters in the question (So u cant use the elimination techinique)

[usmlelover]

usamle7 - 02/28/07 20:22

Its not letting me reply to my exam experience thread ...so thot id answer u here...

It took me around 6-7 mths to prepare in which one month was lost (wont call it wasted) when the baby was born. I had read and heard the Kaplan lectures once by then (2 mths) but it was after this one month that i really started. Im in a busy lab and am almost on my tip toes throughout the day.

But i used to listen to goljan while working ( and stimes kaplan) which was not very effective yet it did help correlate when i would come home and study. I used to come at 6 ...stimes 7 and spend 30-40 mins with the baby/family and then run to my room and study till 12- 1 in the night...it was getting maddening but the best thing was i was enjoying studying and that also kept me motivated as well as the fact i had enuf waiting to study ( it feels so bad that i wasted these years and i urge u whichever phase of life you are that you start NOW)...i was really understanding stuff by the second reading...things made sense after a while ( first reading made me feel almost with an IQ -1 and made me wonder if i had ever gone to medical school...)....i would get up at 6 am and use even 1 hr before going to work....with the time i put in any freshy would have done 10 times but i am different but i just had to do it now ...i guess my baby was a big motivation....

To advice u who dont have time is.....LOOK at the MINIMUM possible ...which is First aid + Goljan Path + Kaplan others...Everyone says that after their exam but im sure few do it this way....just read ur kaplan once and in that reading take the BIG points and add it to your FA...and thatll be all ull need..OK said enuf ill stop now and add more if needed

[usmlelover]

sirimalle - 02/26/07 12:12


hello, guys n gals

1st of all let me thank you all n those who created this wonderful forum.comin to point

my exam was over on 23rd feb 2 days back. i thought of comin back give feedback but iam totally exhuasted on that day so iam not able to give .

my exam is on friday, it was so marvellous in the morning when went to exam centre by 7.45 am and friend dropped me there n we sat there for some time chit chattin n he went away n myself entered exam centre and aafter completing formalities they asked me to wait at lounge. it was 9am still they didnt called me inside exam room iam waiting anxiously . after 9.20 am one lady came n simply told that systems r not workin asked me to wait some more time n i was so much irritated with situation . finally they called after 9.35 am n my exam stared at 9.45 am. i was so so excited and told my self that you have prepared well n you will do it n god definitely will help you. with that little prayer i started test. first i skipped tutorial so that i can use that time for brake. OVER ALL MY EXAM IS OK.
To be frank , exam was not so much ..... like as our frneds protrayed. it was 99.9% similar to NBME

over all rating block 1,2----- ++++
3-----+++ ok but i didnt even marked 4 qns due to lack of my poor time management
block 4----+++
block 5----++
block 6----+++
block7-----+++

++++---good
+++----ok
++-----satisfied

my overall exam is more of PHARMACOLOGY qns which is my fav subject. i got many qns from pharma but thosr are straight forward if u think jus little bit cautiously

paclitaxel,etanercept,D-R curves,anti hiv, etc exactly iam not able recall but whenever i remember ill post in the forum

ANATOMY;- as all of fearing abt , i got LOADS LOADS OF CTs, MRI, ANGIO(CEREBRAL) but thank god i was able to recognise those bloody pics n qns were straght forward if we knew theory iam sure every one will recognise them but the fact is you should recognise the artery involved

ex; 45 yr old man suddenly developed falling on to rt side all other features are normal wat is the artery involved?

ans; PICA you know it but u should identify the PICA on angio


PHYSIO; over all simple qns one line or two iwas so shocked to most of qns are only few lines for me contrary to experience of previous exam takers. i said thanks to god n those who prayed for me coz getting small qns will save your time for other big qns so that i managed to do qns with cool n calm mind

psych; straight qns avoidant personality,mile stones,simple pt -doctor relation ships

biostat; simple calculations RR, +VE PV,P VALUE etc here KAPLAN is ok

biochem;; most of the qns were average difficulty but i also some horrifying n terrible qns with completely unfamiliar words but i simply picked random ans n moved on coz i thought myself that they will be deleted so dont worry n should carry on same tempo which i was doin

pathology; thank god i got many qns from pathology where i was strong. i got again loads n loads of GROSSPATHOLOGY SPECIMENS, HISTOLOGY PICS n qns were little bit thoughtful i got 6 or 7 qns on CF.

OK FRENDS WITH THIS I WILL STOP MY STORY i think u got bored with my lengthy explanation BUT Y I WROTE ALL these things coz i was very much benefitted from this forum n t hought of contreibuting some thing for this gr8 community

even though i was silent member of this forum iam regular reader. iam appreciating all the frends who actively participating in this forum like JONOVA, CD45, KSHAMALA, SAONEW, DOCTORIA,DANILLE, ONE AND ALL

ITS TOO EARLY TO suggest any thing to any one abt preparation but once my results come ill give you suggestions still if any one having any doubts plz feel free to ask me

over all i suggest plz read FA as mAny timES AS POSSIBLE

Urs
SIRIMALLE

[usmlelover]

laura81 - 02/23/07 15:30

well...i don't know where to start...i don't want to scary anyone..cause i know how i felt when an exam experience was posted...but ..all i can say it was the most difficult exam i have ever taken....
there is a saying,...that what starts bad finishes even worse...well that was true in my case....i got at the prometric site 1 h earier..and the lady there was very suprised to see me...and i was suprised that she looks at me and asks me what i was doing there...she old me that the evening before they got an email from the "chief prometric" telling them that all exams have been canceled for that day...and we would be notified personaly...well..it wasnt the case..anyway..the lady told us to wait for another 30min so she can call the chief prometric center in holland so they can tell us when they will reschedule us...and after 2 hours..surpirse..they didnt want to reschedule..they wanted us to wait there till they will fix te problems..eventually they sent another exam files and we could take exam...
about exam...well i got 2 HOX question that i had no idea about, some embrio questions that again i didnt know what they were asking me, tones and tones of anatomy and neuro (MRI especally)...and it wasnt the usual stuff that u read in the books..and after anato, my second night mare..pharma....again many questions...patho lots of micro pictures..very very very few physio (unfortunateley for me)...imuno not a lot...behavioral...i didnt have many maybe 10 questions ..but i didnt know what to chose..i was stucked with 2 options..and i have the feeling ive chosen he wrong one..
Idont remember much from exam...i either remember some answer but not the questions, either the question but not the answer...
Exam wasnt nothing like NBME, their practice CD, or kaplan...maybe its more like UW
The questions were long...i dont think i got 2-3 line questions..they were all more than 5-6 lines...
Well...i hope it will be fine in the end..im praying that God will help me pass this exam and get into a hospital for residency.....but right now i have no idea if i will pass....im more tempted to say i wount but im hoping it wount be the case....

[usmlelover]

jphic1 - 02/14/07 19:39

done with my exams today.. experience... the first day was smooth, i got 5 blocks on office 1 er and 1 inpatient. it was ok..the questons were similar toUW but not same.. i had lotsof peds in the office blocks, the inpatinet blocks had patients..in 88/86y/o and ethics question. some prenatal q's too but doable.
day 2
questions were ok, 45 mins again 2 office 1 er 1 inpt
ccs cases were TOUGH... i dont know really if there is a right way to prepare for it... the diagnosis was easy but i felt the time was not enough
1.sah
2. spouse abuse
3 meningitis
4 endocarditis
5 dub
7 alzheimers
8depression
9.colon ca

[usmlelover]

homo - 02/13/07 12:57

Ok so here goes.

I took my exam on jan 16th, 17th and received my results last week.

Total time for prep : 2 weeks.

Books Used: NONE. didnt have the time.

Materials used: UW MCQs and UW CCS cases. Couldnt finish all the UW questions, did about 800-900 questions. All timed mode, 48 questions. Average score 58%

Read UW cases once. Tried out the 5 practice cases a zillion times. Learned how to use the software..practised a few UW cases on the Primum software.

NBME - 2 days before the exam - just for the heck of it. Score: 420.

Ok, now the real exam: Day 1-very hectic day...loooooong questions. Lots of geriatrics. Patients had about 6-7 diagnoses and multiple medications. Often such a question would test some ethics issue or drug interaction issue.

Some questions were vague, some were straightforward. On an average, I would be sure of around 60% questions per block, kind of sure of about 10-20% and no idea about the rest.

Lots of skin pictures - some were easy, most were just impossible to tell. The patient history was mostly not helpful in making diagnosis in dermatology questions.

Few xrays. only 1 ekg.

Questions were in UW pattern...cannot really say similar or not.

Day-2 : Fast and snappy. But 1 block of 36 questions was particularly difficult - dunnno if it was because I was hell exhausted or otherwise. Anyway, was having concentration issues in the last block: basically I just wanted to finish the damn thing and walk out!

CCS cases: piece of cake. Most of my cases ended by 8 minutes: in fact one lasted only 4 minutes. Patients got better in all of them. Couldnt figure out the 1st case though; and the patient never got better - lasted for full 20 minutes.

Final Score : 86

Fully satisfied with it.

Some background info: I am not a resident. I do not have a heck lot of clinical experience. I am a recent grad (2005). I took CK in September with a mid 90s score.

Well, thats about it. Any questions, go ahead and ask.

Good luck to all.

[usmlelover]

cidcon4 - 11/01/06 09:59

hi friends
I am done with my exam,it was hectic,but you can do it with proper breaks,I found all subjects were covered,I cannot say how I did,some qus were really hard,they ask concepts in very different way

subjectwise

1Anatomy many cts,lots of diagrams you have to point the structure
2physio grafs,endocrine qus with arrows
3 biochem pathways point deficiecy
4patho many dermatology picturess
5pharmac MOA mainly
6micro straight forward, immuno difficult
7BS biostatistics ,doctor pt relationships

I am very thankful to all my forum friend,this forum is very helpful , I came to know very late about this forum in last two months
Good luck to you all!!!!!!!!

[usmlelover]

examshare - 02/01/07 12:20

Hi All,

I considered myself decently prepared to appear for the test. But unfortunately,couldnt get more than an hour sleep on the night before the exam. This affected me in tackling the thought / application oriented questions. Though I had planned many strategies for the real test, the lack of sleep toppled all those. I was rushing through questions, afraid that I wont be able to stay up till the end of the exam.

There were lots of Gross anatomy in my test in all forms, (CT/ MRI/ Xray/ applied anatomy) and this was my weakest area. Another challenging area was histopathology, I had few slides where I didnt get any clue at all.

I guess, roughly 20 questions in each block was straightforward and I did do a lot of guessing on the rest. I found all the blocks to be of the same difficulty level, except for the 6 th block which was relatively easy.

Pharm mostly focussed on mechanism of actions of drugs. Biochem was relatively easy with questions on key enzymes. Molecular biology, was mostly on experiment oriented questions, like knock out "promoter" what will happen, 1 Question on NFkB.

I have not taken nbme practice tests and so I have no idea where I stand with my performance. hope to pass with a good score. Good luck to all.
Thanks.