Can I pass NBDE part 1 without studying anatomy or development ?

[hunterx2]

So I just bought First Aid (I will be using this as my sole study source). I was pretty disheartened by the fact that it is over 700 pages, with 150+ pages of gross anatomy. Since 1) this exam is pass/fail 2) I don't want to study a single second more than necessary and 3)I hate gross anatomy and development with a passion, I am wondering if its possible to pass without studying these subjects at all ? I plan on just going through first aid once (maybe twice max), skip those 2 sections, and try my luck.

BTW if it matters I did extremely well on the DAT and SAT so I know my way around standardized exams. I also have a good class rank.

Thanks !

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[jmh018]

No. You can decrease the studying by focusing on dental related anatomy and development but I would not skip those sections.

 

[KillaCam]

You can certainly pass without reading anything for those but make sure you read up for the other tested subjects to compensate a bit. I mean, it supposedly only takes 240-250/400 to pass so it's definitely possible to achieve that even if you missed all questions from those sections. If you look at the NBDE part 1 guide on the ADA website, I think they have a breakdown of how many questions are given per section and you can figure out based off that how well you need to do in the other sections to achieve a pass. Without even studying those sections , you will still pick up some points from those sections primarily from the basic questions covering basic info that you likely havent forgot, like "what supplies sensation to the lower lip?" You will get plenty of those types on the exam within both anatomy and development.

So yes I think it's possible and not crazy.

 

[sgv]

Gross anatomy makes up a big chunk of your exam. So don't skip it. Developmental biology and biochem are low yield. If you had to skip over anything, it should be these two. . However, I thought I had more developmental and biochem questions than I had expected on my exam. You need have your dental anatomy down because it's high yield and easy to learn, meaning a high score in dental anatomy can make up for poor scores on other sections. I've read you only need about ~55% questions correctly answered. I think two weeks studying all day and going over the decks twice is good enough to pass.

 

[yuggernaut030]

I skipped biochem and microbiology, but compensated by learning tooth anatomy like the back of my hand.

 

[Pari stl]

Ohhhhhhh........ Way no
You need to know anatomy in and out... Period.
Still if u can't because of any reason then make sure u do 230 decks of anatomy at least.

 

[dentzee]

Considering that you are a good test taker (you aced your DAT's and SAT's) and that you have been doing great at D-school. You may be able to skip developmental anatomy and part of gross anatomy (you will need to cover the high yielding anatomy sections though). How did you do in your anatomy course? How strong is your biochem/micropath/DA? If you cant tolerate anatomy in mosby's, you can look up each section of anatomy on youtube and wiki it. mnemonics.com is very helpful as well

 

[thetoothfairy1806]

So I just bought First Aid (I will be using this as my sole study source). I was pretty disheartened by the fact that it is over 700 pages, with 150+ pages of gross anatomy. Since 1) this exam is pass/fail 2) I don't want to study a single second more than necessary and 3)I hate gross anatomy and development with a passion, I am wondering if its possible to pass without studying these subjects at all ? I plan on just going through first aid once (maybe twice max), skip those 2 sections, and try my luck.

BTW if it matters I did extremely well on the DAT and SAT so I know my way around standardized exams. I also have a good class rank.

Thanks !

Holy molar, you better study anatomy! Why would you want to pay so much to take this stupid standardized exam, and risk not passing because you didn't feel like studying for a subject? Man up, put the effort in, and get it over with. You got this! I wasn't much of a fan of anatomy myself, and found First Aid for the NBDE I to be very helpful.