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[AZ12345]

What score do we not have to worry about retaking? Seems everyone has a different opinion

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[agent2362]

62

pathoma 1x
First Aid - maybe 40-50%
Qbank - USMLERx - 500 questions (65% on easy/med questions). This q-bank is much cheaper and refers you back to FA pages for answers (and it was written by the authors of first aid). Its like getting pimped on FA, which is fairly useful for learning the most important book for this test.
Practice NBMEs - none.
Goljan audio - about 1/3.

I'm two years out of school and 4 years away from taking basic science (very med weak school...aka UoP) and work full time in the military as a dentist. Ya'll use UWorld (expensive) which is fairly difficult without the proper background. Its better in my opinion to build up gradually or else you don't even have the ability to tie information as well together. Use UWorld if you realistically think that you can get a 75+, otherwise its convenient to use a Q-bank that refers you to the exact page where you are missing facts in FA and is literally half the price of UWorld. I plan on exhausting USMLERx and then using UWorld after I have a solid grasp on FA, before the next test. I obviously just need to get through all the information before the next test.

Best of luck next round everybody

 

[drainingfistula]

From the AAOMS mean of 56.3, range of 29 to 99, and a standard deviation of 12.4.

 

[CalBearr]

that's the largest high score and standard deviation since the infamous May 2013 exam...maybe this one was marginally easier? or maybe OMFS applicants have finally figured this thing out and that average will start to rise like people used to think in the first couple administrations?

 

[drainingfistula]

I think the average will surely rise. It is no secret how to do well on this exam. We just aren't set up for it; dental students don't get 2 month breaks devoted to this exam like medical students (albeit its the full USMLE). In addition, our basic science classes at most school, according to this exam, are much weaker than our med counterparts, as it should be since we are focused on other things, you know, like learning how to wax up occlusion rims, cast gold crowns, dental materials science and all that crap.

 

[milktoaster]

NBME score Aug 2014-- 69
First Aid-- went thru it 2 times for this last exam
Uworld-- 1.5x thru, 51% average overall, averaging around 60% towards the end of first pass (once i started the second pass, my average bumped up to about 70-80% just because of my memory of previous questions)
Pathoma-- 1.5x thru, listened to all lectures and took notes
Goljian text-- rarely used
NBME practice test-- took one 2 month before test date, got equivalent of 58 (thought my time was better spent studying than taking these exams since they are difficult to study from, but they are necessary to gain familiarity with question types and test format)

I know this post is a lot late, but i've been meaning to post this for a long time. so many posters have helped me out along the way that i really want to give back by posting my experience and hoping it might help someone else out in the future. Full disclosure, i've taken this exam twice before (Sept 2013, Feb 2014). i can honestly say i had no idea what i was getting myself into for the sept exam (got a 49, ugh). i got a better handle on it for feb 2014 (56) but had some health problems that inhibited my effective studying. for August 2014 i put in a good 5 months of studying. Starting with first aid, then pathoma, then first aid again and lots of Uworld (tried to take 46Qs every day, random, untimed, timing was not a major concern for me). Finished with a 2 week crash course thru First Aid (and some pathoma and Uworld). I had no idea how i would score. thought i could get anywhere from 58-70. I am pleased in many ways with my score (i passed!). but all you student doctor geniuses posting crazy high scores puts a damper on it. oh well.

it should also be noted that i graduated in 2009 from dental school. i did a one year OMFS internship after school (didn't match) and then decided to work as a general dentist for family reasons. we've decided that its time to get back in the ring and try for OMFS again. i was middle of the road class rank and gpa-wise. my NBDE scores were less than stellar. being so far out of school and the basic sciences made this test even more difficult. my hope is that by getting a good score on this exam (i do think 69 is pretty good, maybe not outstanding) that programs would look past my history and see that i applied myself for this exam.