- Joined
- Jun 7, 2013
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 343
Got an 81 on my second attempt. Pretty stoked!
February CBSE
- Thread starter Bereno
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2014
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
any one know a foreign trained dentist got accepted in a 6 year program ?
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
- Messages
- 361
- Reaction score
- 274
CBSE Score: >70
Preparation time: Approximately 14 weeks.
Resources used: Pathoma 2x, FA 1x (high yield topics 2x), UWorld ~90% completed.
UWorld scores: Ended up with about 65% cumulative score, always used in random and timed/timed tutor. Was scoring in the 70s in the weeks before the exam with a few jumps up to 80s and a few down to 60s.
I feel like I under performed on this exam compared to how comfortable I felt with the material and UWorld. Looking back now, I would have spent more time reviewing things I thought I knew since those are the topics I neglected towards the end of my studied when in fact I should I have brushed up on them. As far the resources go, I really liked Pathoma; he gives a great framework for many topics covered on the exam and basically everything he says that's high yield is going to be on UWorld and some will show up on the actual CBSE. The CBSE is much easier than UWorld, many questions are the type where you either know it or you don't. I didn't find many questions where you had to sit down and reason your way through it. This is especially true of the micro covered on the CBSE. Definitely need to know the overdose reversal agents and classic associations for pharmacology. The biochem on the exam is few and far between with possibly 2-4 questions asking specific enzyme/product deficiencies and more emphasis on transcription, translation and DNA/Protein synthesis. For anatomy, definitely need to know brachial plexus, upper limb and lower limb anatomy. There are frequently questions on reproductive anatomy, too.
I think these exams will continue to have the same average and standard deviation as we've seen in the past exams but, like most people have said, there has to be a bimodal distribution with a large number of students scoring in the 70s and few in the 80s with even less in the 90s.
Best recommendation to any students looking to do well on the exam (and better than me, hopefully) is to put the time in. This exam requires a HUGE time commitment if you want to score well. Don't be discouraged by UWorld and use it as the learning resource it's meant to be. I would also not recommend doing a section in FA, then associated questions in UWorld. It's going to wrongfully inflate your percentages and you will forget all that you covered in that section in a few weeks. Go through Pathoma and FA section by section start to finish, then begin UWorld. If you get topics you don't feel comfortable with, don't hesitate to spend the time to master that subject.
Preparation time: Approximately 14 weeks.
Resources used: Pathoma 2x, FA 1x (high yield topics 2x), UWorld ~90% completed.
UWorld scores: Ended up with about 65% cumulative score, always used in random and timed/timed tutor. Was scoring in the 70s in the weeks before the exam with a few jumps up to 80s and a few down to 60s.
I feel like I under performed on this exam compared to how comfortable I felt with the material and UWorld. Looking back now, I would have spent more time reviewing things I thought I knew since those are the topics I neglected towards the end of my studied when in fact I should I have brushed up on them. As far the resources go, I really liked Pathoma; he gives a great framework for many topics covered on the exam and basically everything he says that's high yield is going to be on UWorld and some will show up on the actual CBSE. The CBSE is much easier than UWorld, many questions are the type where you either know it or you don't. I didn't find many questions where you had to sit down and reason your way through it. This is especially true of the micro covered on the CBSE. Definitely need to know the overdose reversal agents and classic associations for pharmacology. The biochem on the exam is few and far between with possibly 2-4 questions asking specific enzyme/product deficiencies and more emphasis on transcription, translation and DNA/Protein synthesis. For anatomy, definitely need to know brachial plexus, upper limb and lower limb anatomy. There are frequently questions on reproductive anatomy, too.
I think these exams will continue to have the same average and standard deviation as we've seen in the past exams but, like most people have said, there has to be a bimodal distribution with a large number of students scoring in the 70s and few in the 80s with even less in the 90s.
Best recommendation to any students looking to do well on the exam (and better than me, hopefully) is to put the time in. This exam requires a HUGE time commitment if you want to score well. Don't be discouraged by UWorld and use it as the learning resource it's meant to be. I would also not recommend doing a section in FA, then associated questions in UWorld. It's going to wrongfully inflate your percentages and you will forget all that you covered in that section in a few weeks. Go through Pathoma and FA section by section start to finish, then begin UWorld. If you get topics you don't feel comfortable with, don't hesitate to spend the time to master that subject.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2011
- Messages
- 2,031
- Reaction score
- 631
@avangusva - Nailed it.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2011
- Messages
- 1,618
- Reaction score
- 351
Congrats on the jump in scores avangusva.
When some underclassmen asked me about what is high yield, I'd tell them everything in Pathoma and FA is high yield.
Pathoma is only 200 pages, so it's a quick read, and you should know this book cold.
I've seen people try to reproduce entire pages of FA by memory. That's how high yield it is. It's made for you to memorize, not to really understand (especially those musculoskeletal and neurology sections).
Again, you can break this test if you put enough time and effort into it. There's really no secret to doing well.
Don't use tons of material and spread yourself thin. Find few good study materials (UFAP), and stick to it.
I have a friend in med school that got a 236 (84) from doing just uworld twice, without touching any other study material.
We don't have to score a 90 (usmle equiv of 250) like the med students who want to get to a competitive surgical subspecialty like ENT, ortho, neurosurg, plastics etc. We just need to do well enough, and any score 70+ (umsle 200), would make you extremely competitive for any OMFS residency. Remember, our training is not meant to do well on the usmle, but to develop the hand skills required to be a good surgeon. The 6-year programs don't care if you score a 260 or 195, as long as you pass, but if you don't, that's lights out for you.
When some underclassmen asked me about what is high yield, I'd tell them everything in Pathoma and FA is high yield.
Pathoma is only 200 pages, so it's a quick read, and you should know this book cold.
I've seen people try to reproduce entire pages of FA by memory. That's how high yield it is. It's made for you to memorize, not to really understand (especially those musculoskeletal and neurology sections).
Again, you can break this test if you put enough time and effort into it. There's really no secret to doing well.
Don't use tons of material and spread yourself thin. Find few good study materials (UFAP), and stick to it.
I have a friend in med school that got a 236 (84) from doing just uworld twice, without touching any other study material.
We don't have to score a 90 (usmle equiv of 250) like the med students who want to get to a competitive surgical subspecialty like ENT, ortho, neurosurg, plastics etc. We just need to do well enough, and any score 70+ (umsle 200), would make you extremely competitive for any OMFS residency. Remember, our training is not meant to do well on the usmle, but to develop the hand skills required to be a good surgeon. The 6-year programs don't care if you score a 260 or 195, as long as you pass, but if you don't, that's lights out for you.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2011
- Messages
- 1,618
- Reaction score
- 351
Just got the email from AAOMS.
Mean = 53.6
Std dev = 11
Range 1-91
Wonder who got the 1.
Mean = 53.6
Std dev = 11
Range 1-91
Wonder who got the 1.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2009
- Messages
- 244
- Reaction score
- 72
I had a feeling the averages would be a couple points lower than last exam. I think it would be a challenge to get a 1. Is that the equivalent of picking the LEAST likely answer for each question? Or somebody on the east coast (morning exam) is boosting a west coast (afternoon exam). That actually was a problem a while ago for USMLE Step 1.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2011
- Messages
- 1,618
- Reaction score
- 351
Yeah, I don't like how they have the same exam in the morning and afternoon. People are going to be creative because of how important this exam is. The only thing AAOMS can do is to make it hard for people to cheat, and close the loopholes that people might exploit.
More likely for the 1 score, is that someone came in with minimal studying, and realize after the first few questions that it's not gonna happen. Probably thought they had one more shot in August, so they just skipped the exam without answering many questions.
