Did anybody take the STEP 1 on/after 15th MAY?

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jimmyboi

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I have not seen a single post about the new step 1 experience...hasn't anybody taken it yet? The changed were to be made from the 15th of May. Its well a week over that.

just wondering. let me know please
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I am going over first aid over again and hope that its good enough for the new step...I made my notes from usmle world in my first aid, so I guess that would/should put me in a good state.
 
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badasshairday said:
Do you guys ever answer questions just after reading the last line? Seems like they sometimes will ask, "what is the mech of action of this drug?" Then just skim and see the word vincristine and select the answer with "microtubles" in it. They spend a crap ton time explaining some situition that you reall do not need to even read. Or the last line will say "what is the effect if intravenous bolus of saline" and you see all the answer choices are in the Cardiac output/end diastolic curve graph form. There is no point in reading about the dramatic scenario about the paitent with hemmorhage.

I find myself doing this more and more on uworld and finishing with way more time. I did this on several questions on the new free 150 and the school administered nbme cbse. Sometimes I would get scared that I might have missed some extra info that would change the answer so I skim it after answering. 95% of the time it adds nothing.
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i did this 2nd time through UWorld. I was finishing 48Q blocks in about 30minutes. i am not the smartest kid - i avged 61% 1st pass UWorld, 80% 2nd pass (finished 2nd pass in 7 days). i was surprised when i went through NBME 7 how easy the questions are when you just read the last sentence first.

on the real thing, i worked at slightly slower pace - i finished with 10 mins to spare for each block. my exam started at 12:30, i was out by 7:10 (including the short breaks). i knew i had a crazy pace, because what you don't know is what you don't know, and what you know is usually (although not always) the first gut response.

i really think step 1 tests the MASTERY of the material more than just regurgitated facts. when you MASTER the material, you just know what to expect - u won't need buzzwords "cherry red macula" but will picture in your head a red fundoscopic image. two years of med school made us machines are processing information. just taking a glimpse at the answer choices, whether knowingly or unconsciously via your peripheral vision, you should know what to expect as you read the question stem.

i won't know how i did on the real thing but im hoping for 240+
 
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i really am getting an a bad feeling in my stomach and feel like i may have really really messed up. my nbme 7 score was a 236 and free 150 a week later was 247.
i have 6 weeks of feeling like this. i think i may have score under a 215!!!
idk what i am going to do, there were so many i felt like i had to guess on, it was not like any of the nbme's at all. i took the test this week.
 
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2 questions on the new format

I just finished the new version of the free 150 and it seemed like there were less than 10 long questions(more than 7 lines) per block of 46 and a bunch of 4ish line ones. Would those that have taken the real deal say thats how it was?

Also, is the medfriends score calculator now jacked since it was based on the old free 150?
 
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Perrotfish said:
Just finished it, and got the 46 question exam so I will be waiting 2 months for my score. I can't say I felt good about it, I really just felt like I was doing 7 UWorld blocks in a row. The changes really weren't that dramatic, and if anything I thought the slightly longer blocks helped since there were more questions where they would give you multiple symptoms to help you figure out the disease, rather than just one. To go against what the guy above said, I actually got a big chunk of biochem, including 4 questions from that page on lysosomal storage diseases alone. Also, I got asked to identify the hippocampus on an MRI not once but twice, which considering I had no idea where the hippocampus is seemed pretty unfair.

All in all getting the new USMLE felt lot like getting a new cellmate. It might have looked a little different, but at the end of the day it's still going to make you its b*tch. Now good luck to everyone and I'm going to go spend two months trying not to think that I failed.
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hey man im a little confused here, you said that the longer questions were actually easier but that overall it still through you for a loop and you don't think you did that well?

im just trying to clarify because i also don't feel good about it but i would say its actually because the longer questions often did little to help me get a strong diagnosis. Not all of them of course, but on a significant number i would finish reading and have only a gut instinct rather than one of those moments where everything clicks and you're like 'boom, nailed it'.
 
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VoiceofReason said:
hey man im a little confused here, you said that the longer questions were actually easier but that overall it still through you for a loop and you don't think you did that well?

im just trying to clarify because i also don't feel good about it but i would say its actually because the longer questions often did little to help me get a strong diagnosis. Not all of them of course, but on a significant number i would finish reading and have only a gut instinct rather than one of those moments where everything clicks and you're like 'boom, nailed it'.
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I felt like the test was very hard, the questions were annoyingly random and nit-picky, and I was often struggling for time. I think that there is a slim chance that I will be taking this twice and a good chance that my score is not going to break 200. However I didn't feel like the length of the questions was the problem. They weren't too hard to skim, weren't overload with lab values, and actually my worst questions were generally the one liners.
 
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Perrotfish said:
I felt like the test was very hard, the questions were annoyingly random and nit-picky, and I was often struggling for time. I think that there is a slim chance that I will be taking this twice and a good chance that my score is not going to break 200. However I didn't feel like the length of the questions was the problem. They weren't too hard to skim, weren't overload with lab values, and actually my worst questions were generally the one liners.
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You think knowing FA well might have helped with the questions, esp the nit pick detail asking ones?
 
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Look, you ppl gotta stop worrying about 2 less questions on the exam. Its not going to be that much worse, nor will it affect your grade... Also, there is a reason everyone has to wait till July 12th for their grade report! B/c if you feel like **** about it, chances are 99% of the other ppl felt like ****! The exam is weighted and heavily curved.

I am taking the step for a 2nd time... Yes, I feel like ****!! But its just something I gotta do, and I am not going to let it stop me. There is not one question you, or your Harvard professor can think of, that can stump me! I really knew my **** in and out. And my biggest mistake..... I took the test as if it was a marrathon!! DO NOT take this test and have your goal set to finish the exam and get it over with. Look, that wasnt my goal either, but when test day came, those long horrible hours will only work against you and trick you to just rush through it and finish. And since its timed, you will think your doing the right thing!

The bottom line. When taking this exam, weather its 48 or 46 ?s, it doesnt matter. Sit there and read each question and each answer choice, and take you time and think about it!! Its in your head, I know it was all in my head!! I just rush and didnt give myself the time to think! The only questions I remember getting right were the 12 per block I marked and I went back to and took a ton of time on! Looking back, I would have rather took my sweet ass time on 40 and answered the last 8 all B, rather than rushed through the whole thing just trying to complete it!

Good luck future docs!
 
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I think... most people felt like crap after their test... and the version may have nothing to do with it.

I was a big reader of the "official" 2009 Step 1 reporting score... probably went through all 20-something pages at some point reading people's advice and it seemed like 90% of the people who ended up scoring superbly felt pretty bad about it after the test. As in, every other post there seemed to be someone who said he felt he had totally bombed it but comes back 3 weeks later with a 255. :oops: It's just the way it is, I think. I'm sure you all did well! :thumbup:
 
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jmcappleby said:
I think... most people felt like crap after their test... and the version may have nothing to do with it.

I was a big reader of the "official" 2009 Step 1 reporting score... probably went through all 20-something pages at some point reading people's advice and it seemed like 90% of the people who ended up scoring superbly felt pretty bad about it after the test. As in, every other post there seemed to be someone who said he felt he had totally bombed it but comes back 3 weeks later with a 255. :oops: It's just the way it is, I think. I'm sure you all did well! :thumbup:
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I've heard that too and that's really the only thing allowing me to stay calm about the whole situation.

I am taking the step for a 2nd time... Yes, I feel like ****!! But its just something I gotta do, and I am not going to let it stop me. There is not one question you, or your Harvard professor can think of, that can stump me! I really knew my **** in and out. And my biggest mistake..... I took the test as if it was a marrathon!! DO NOT take this test and have your goal set to finish the exam and get it over with. Look, that wasnt my goal either, but when test day came, those long horrible hours will only work against you and trick you to just rush through it and finish. And since its timed, you will think your doing the right thing!
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Good advice. Take every minute of your break time, take at least 5 minutes after every single block, and take a lunch.
 
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What I wanna know from someone who just took the new step is how good are the goljan audios/transcripts?
 
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thanks a lot to everyone posting experiences with the new format. :thumbup:

we took our final exam of MS2 today (mandatory CBSE) and I'm taking tomorrow off so that leaves twelve days for one more pass through all of RR, FA, and UWorld before the real deal. ugh.
 
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coldweatherblue said:
thanks a lot to everyone posting experiences with the new format. :thumbup:

we took our final exam of MS2 today (mandatory CBSE) and I'm taking tomorrow off so that leaves twelve days for one more pass through all of RR, FA, and UWorld before the real deal. ugh.
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What school give you just two weeks to prep?
 
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I has a lot of surgical anatomy questions...it was weird I felt as if almost 10-15% of my exam was anatomy which sucks because I was not prepared for that. Physio was also tough because again the questions they asked always dealed with nitpicky details. Then there's those ******ed out of left field genetics questions where you have to know what obscure gene causes a disease.

Time really wasn't an issue here, more that the questions that were hard were REALLY hard...I hope the new curve makes up for this because it seems like a lot of people are bummed out about the new format.
 
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njmedstudent87 said:
I has a lot of surgical anatomy questions...it was weird I felt as if almost 10-15% of my exam was anatomy which sucks because I was not prepared for that. Physio was also tough because again the questions they asked always dealed with nitpicky details. Then there's those ******ed out of left field genetics questions where you have to know what obscure gene causes a disease.

Time really wasn't an issue here, more that the questions that were hard were REALLY hard...I hope the new curve makes up for this because it seems like a lot of people are bummed out about the new format.
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ugh, anatomy rears its ugly head again.:mad:

Would doing BRS summaries or HY anat suffice? or what do you recommend?
 
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pedzplz said:
Look, you ppl gotta stop worrying about 2 less questions on the exam. Its not going to be that much worse, nor will it affect your grade... Also, there is a reason everyone has to wait till July 12th for their grade report! B/c if you feel like **** about it, chances are 99% of the other ppl felt like ****! The exam is weighted and heavily curved.
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Is that true? I didn't think they curved step 1. Anyone else have info about this?
 
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Just took the new format today. As far as the vignettes go, I didn't think they were that much longer than the longest Uworld questions. There were also a pretty good amount of short questions. I was suprised at how little biochemistry and pharmacology was on the test. What was on the test was simple and very high yield. I had virtually no calculations on the exam (only biostats) and there were a lot of biostats/ethics questions (2-5 per block), a lot of molecular biology questions, and a decent amount of physiology.

All and all I thought the exam was fair. The first few blocks were a breeze. I didn't mark more than 10 questions in these two. The middle blocks were more difficult. The last two blocks were a bitch (I marked more than 10 questions per block). I didn't think it was that horrible at the end though, because I answered all the questions I could definitively answer and then spent the remaining time going over the blocked ones with some good results (I compuslively looked up a lot of the things I was questioning when I got home). All and all I really don't know how to feel. I just hope all my hard work payed off.
 
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njmedstudent87 said:
I has a lot of surgical anatomy questions...it was weird I felt as if almost 10-15% of my exam was anatomy which sucks because I was not prepared for that. Physio was also tough because again the questions they asked always dealed with nitpicky details. Then there's those ******ed out of left field genetics questions where you have to know what obscure gene causes a disease.

Time really wasn't an issue here, more that the questions that were hard were REALLY hard...I hope the new curve makes up for this because it seems like a lot of people are bummed out about the new format.
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Every darn step1 exam is so different it only creates uncertainties :mad: Makes you wonder you gotta be prepared for everything, even the lowest of the lowest yield stuff.

Damn makes me even more freaking motivated to get done with this crap once and for all.
 
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metalmd06 said:
Just took the new format today. As far as the vignettes go, I didn't think they were that much longer than the longest Uworld questions. There were also a pretty good amount of short questions. I was suprised at how little biochemistry and pharmacology was on the test. What was on the test was simple and very high yield. I had virtually no calculations on the exam (only biostats) and there were a lot of biostats/ethics questions (2-5 per block), a lot of molecular biology questions, and a decent amount of physiology.

All and all I thought the exam was fair. The first few blocks were a breeze. I didn't mark more than 10 questions in these two. The middle blocks were more difficult. The last two blocks were a bitch (I marked more than 10 questions per block). I didn't think it was that horrible at the end though, because I answered all the questions I could definitively answer and then spent the remaining time going over the blocked ones with some good results (I compuslively looked up a lot of the things I was questioning when I got home). All and all I really don't know how to feel. I just hope all my hard work payed off.
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I wonder if this is where the seemingly large variation in test experience comes from. Yeah, I had 10 or so on every block i would have loved to look at longer, but i guess that feels more catastrophic to me than it does to others -- considering i marked half of that or less on u world.
 
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metalrex said:
and it doesn't feel any better to be just 2 weeks away from the beast:scared:
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Jeepers I'm less than 2 weeks :(:(:( All the more nervous now. I just can't handle revising these days because everything I touch, it seems like I've forgotten it.
 
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Can somebody clarify this for me? I can't seem to find it. How much time did you get for each block on the previous step 1 (48 questions per block)? How much time do we have now for the new step 1 (46 questions per block)?
I am currently at 62% on Uworld 35% completed, timed (although that doesn't really matter as i finish with like 10 minutes left on each block) with exactly 4 wks before the test date. Is a 62% pretty decent at this point in time?
 
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VoiceofReason said:
I wonder if this is where the seemingly large variation in test experience comes from. Yeah, I had 10 or so on every block i would have loved to look at longer, but i guess that feels more catastrophic to me than it does to others -- considering i marked half of that or less on u world.
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I guess it really depends what you end up marking questions for. For me, I marked any question I literally didn't know the answer to right away. Or, if I read the vignette and was in any way confused or didn't completely understand what they were asking for, I marked it instead of dwelling on it. I guess all the practice on how to approach the question blocks has something to do with my strategy (I did 5,000 questions). It always seems like I have so much time when I'm nearly done with a block. Why not save that for the questions you're not sure of?
 
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I'm curious about the media questions. It seems that most media questions involve heart sounds. Is there anything else they use media questions for?
 
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Can any of yall, who have taken the exam, tell me how good were the goljan transcripts exactly for the new version. I am wondering if I should continue doing it (if its helpful) or just completely focus on my first aid?
 
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meerak said:
Can any of yall, who have taken the exam, tell me how good were the goljan transcripts exactly for the new version. I am wondering if I should continue doing it (if its helpful) or just completely focus on my first aid?
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I can tell you that I took the advice of one of the previous posters and read the goljan margin notes the day before the test and it was money. It really helped to refresh for recall on test day. If you have the RR book I'd recommend reading those.
 
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Hi.. I am new to this forum, but I am so glad I found you guys here discussing this issue. I am so freakin' out about the change. Anyone that has taken the test..please suggest ..what is the ideal method of preparing for this monster. I have 2 months till my test date.. I feel so lost.
I have 28% UW left, did 2 readings kaplan lonnnng ago along with a reading of Goljan. Can barely remember all the crap I read. Now I am going through first aid and I feel like this will be all I have time for along with UW, second round. Please somebody tell me where I stand...my UW cumulative is 67% so far..I started off subject wise timed, but switched over to random timed.
Also ..advise me on Behav. Sc..will kaplan and FA be enough?
Sorry for all my questions. Thx.
 
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meerak said:
What did yall do for the pics?

Is FA good enough for it?
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Taus plan has some good links for neuro images and stuff - check it out. Images are best learned when you look at em often- the more often you see it- gives a better recall , so I would wanna do those links in there.
 
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Well friends, my studying has ended! This time tomorrow I will be done with the test. I start at 9:00 tomorrow morning. I can't wait!
 
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Good luck to you man and do come back and write back telling us how it went and your experience
 
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Did you guys (who have taken the new format) do physio from first aid as well? What did you guys think about first aid PHYSIO and BIOSTATS
 
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jimmyboi said:
Did you guys (who have taken the new format) do physio from first aid as well? What did you guys think about first aid PHYSIO and BIOSTATS
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First Aid physio is OK (BRS phys is better and well worth it). It is good to review physio after using another source. I think the behavioral science section in first aid is good enough for the test. I bought BRS Behavioral and it was a waste of money (too long, not high yield enough). I had a lot of biostats questions, most of them were very simple (calculations, study design, etc.). The trickiest questions were the ethics questions. There's really no way to prepare for those. I mean, you can read and memorize the guidelines in first aid, but in the end always choose to ask an open ended question, always advocate for you patient and use common sense.
 
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Hi. I am new to SDN. I just took the Step 1 on 5/19 and I was wondering if anybody knew when I might expect my score and how I will get it? Even though I took it after 5/15, I had the old format (48 qs/block). Any information would be helpful. Im sick of the anticipation!
 
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JonNJMS2012 said:
Hi. I am new to SDN. I just took the Step 1 on 5/19 and I was wondering if anybody knew when I might expect my score and how I will get it? Even though I took it after 5/15, I had the old format (48 qs/block). Any information would be helpful. Im sick of the anticipation!
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If you had the old format, then I think the consensus is that you'll only have to wait the normal ~3 weeks. As to how... email notification? Or just keep checking the NBME wesite (https://apps.nbme.org/ciw2/prod/jsp/login.jsp) IDK
 
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I had the new version of the test today, although it didn't seem any different from NBME 7. I had plenty of non-clinical vignette stems, and a lot of them were 2-3 lines. I finished with 6-7 minutes left in each block. This test is doable, guys!
 
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metalmd06 said:
First Aid physio is OK (BRS phys is better and well worth it). It is good to review physio after using another source. I think the behavioral science section in first aid is good enough for the test. I bought BRS Behavioral and it was a waste of money (too long, not high yield enough). I had a lot of biostats questions, most of them were very simple (calculations, study design, etc.). The trickiest questions were the ethics questions. There's really no way to prepare for those. I mean, you can read and memorize the guidelines in first aid, but in the end always choose to ask an open ended question, always advocate for you patient and use common sense.
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For the ethics questions, I felt Kaplan's USMLE Medical Ethics was a great book.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1419553143...iveASIN=1419553143&adid=1XGQQS51BRAYDF64P5WK&
 
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