Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[FMD212]

Good luck all. I have my exam end of March and hope to be the 1st one to post here for 2010.

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[BlackAces]

Thnx!

 

[USMLE01]

Thnx! Almost every block had 10 - 15 Qs "in an experiment....." or "researcher does this...." with results interpretations, many graphs etc. Those questions had everything from CellBio, Biochem, Physio, Pharm..... Really, an unusual number of those Qs.

awesome score. congratulations.

how did you structure your day + what did you review in the last 1 month/last 6 weeks?

also, if you were to set a max of 1 review books per subject and a max of 2-3 q banks, what would you recommend and do you think you would have scored the 270 if you had only used them?

 

[emly1212]

Congratulations for such an impressive score...

 

[BlackAces]

FA is a high yield book, just has many mistakes. Go to DIT page and correct all mistakes (did find some extra errors). I watched DIT presentation video and have to agree with that dude; if you need to clarify anything, going back to a book you used during MS1, 2 is better than switching to any review book, since #1 you are familiar with it and #2 has many info.
In my opinion, grab FA and start annotationg into it right away, with the exception of PATH, use GOLJAN for that (with Robbins notes if you have time)
Micro: I would grab Levinson and put all extra info into FA ('cause you need to read what e.g. yellow fever looks like, clinical presentation, the info in FA and Kaplan is very vague)


Pharm: many pharm graphs, charts in FA are directly copied from Katzungs, in my opinion, annotating from Katzungs into FA would probably make you answer 99% of the Pharm Qs.

Physiology: BRS is great, stick to it

BS: BRS plus FA will give you a solid knowledge
Ethics: Kaplan Ethics is excellent, get a .pdf or something

Neuro: would do UsmleRoadMap Neuro only

Anatomy: can't say what to do if you are not motivated to study it, just read FA and do UW Qs (depends on the Qs you get, can be easy or tough)

Biochem, CellBio, Genetics: similar to anatomy, topics that contain huge amounts of info but can be low yield, on my exam, however, this topics were VERY HIGH YIELD.

Embryo: FA should be enough (Kaplan is ok, more info)

Qbanks: would do UW 1s pass than switch to another. It's important that you keep solving new and new Qs (I would probably choose Kaplan over Uconsult).Then go for a 2nd UW pass

Last 2 weeks: keep doing UW and going through FA with annotations as many times as possible.

My plan was: first 3 months - reading various textbooks etc and getting info, last 3 months - putting info into right place. I was solving Qs throughout the whole 6 month period. Last 3 weeks, reviewing Goljan, FA and some Kaplan, doing 2-3 UW blocks per day and 1 - 2 blocks of UConsult Qs (those were new Qs, so my brain would not become too automatic)

 

[SB100]

I've seen some mixed comments here on anatomy (whether FA was enough or if you supplemented it), and since anatomy was a struggle for me I decided I'm going to use an additional reference. For those of you who used HY Anatomy, do you recommend it/find it sufficient enough?

When I took anatomy last year I paraphrased Moores' blue boxes as much as I could, and was wondering if this would be just as efficient.

 

[BlackAces]

I had a look at HY Anatomy and that book is poor. The only positive side of it are some XRays, CTs in it but you can get all of that in some other source. UsmleRoadMap Anatomy is way way better with many clinical correlations, the only problem is that lacks pictures, so get an atlas or you can also use Moore's Anatomy for pictures plus read the blue pages in it (it also has CTs at the end of every chapter).

 

[BlackAces]

No, I did not do DIT (only saw the presentation video, commercial)
Forgot to say: Did Kaplan videos - Biochem (nothing special), Physiology (ok), Pharm (excellent (prof. Raymon is the next Goljan)), some immuno/micro (stopped, prof. was mostly reading notes, no point in watching), BS. If you do any video, Pharm is the only I strongly recommend.
My typical day: started going through notes for about 1 h in the morning to get my brain started, switched to Qbanks (2 - 4 blocks per day), then continued with notes, did another block in the evening
first 3 months I was going through subjects, e.g. week 1: Biochem, week 2: Path etc., then switched to system, organ based studying (Cardio, Resp....). As noted, kept doing Qs all the time. As my test was approaching, I did every Friday a NBME (also took my exam on Friday).

 

[JPanda]

No, I did not do DIT (only saw the presentation video, commercial)
Forgot to say: Did Kaplan videos - Biochem (nothing special), Physiology (ok), Pharm (excellent (prof. Raymon is the next Goljan)), some immuno/micro (stopped, prof. was mostly reading notes, no point in watching), BS. If you do any video, Pharm is the only I strongly recommend.
My typical day: started going through notes for about 1 h in the morning to get my brain started, switched to Qbanks (2 - 4 blocks per day), then continued with notes, did another block in the evening
first 3 months I was going through subjects, e.g. week 1: Biochem, week 2: Path etc., then switched to system, organ based studying (Cardio, Resp....). As noted, kept doing Qs all the time. As my test was approaching, I did every Friday a NBME (also took my exam on Friday).

Wat is your opinion on the kaplan pathology videos?

 

[BlackAces]

Watched only for about a couple of hours, stopped, mostly reading notes, only plus of those is that prof. shows some slides, but overall, very secondary to Goljan. GO WITH GOLJAN FOR PATH.

 

[SBK]

Just had a quick question some of you post Step-1 people could ask. Im several months out in my M2 year and my plan starting Christmas break was to learn Rapid Review Pathology (and the associated questions via USMLEWorld/Kaplan/Robbins) until I have it down cold, and then run through First Aid with DIT.

Would you guys suggest mixing up topics? Or is this a decent way to approach the test?

 

[C5toC9]

i wish there was an annotated FA version...

 

[clgtwenty]

gr8

Sorry it's taken forever to post this. Brain has taken a leave of absence since the exam. Took it on Jan 15th....here're some thoughts.

First off, I want to emphasize that it's a doable test - I'll go as far as to say it was easier than some of our shelf exams. Coming out of the exam, you will feel like your innocence has been stripped from you - but looking back, UWorld was wayyy harder than 60% of the questions on the real thing. You will get LOTS of gimmie questions - first order, easy questions that make you look around and want to ask, I did sign in for Step 1 right??
It's a friggin marathon though, and I think that's what makes the difference. My brain wanted to shut down after 5 blocks. I can't stress enough to do 3 blocks of q's day timed in random mode of 48 q's to really get used to answering q's and build stamina. Stimulate a full length exam (2 NBMEs back to back) about 2-3 weeks before the exam (don't do it too close to the date bc it really wears you out). Also, the more questions you do, the better you get at answering them. I did just over 5000 questions (UW, some of Kaplan Qbank, NBMEs, WebPath, some UConsult). In retrospect - I would've kept it to UW, NBME and WebPath. Any extra time you have to do questions, spend it doing UW over and over instead of looking for other Qbanks.
I effed up big time with timing breaks...I had only 54 mins for my last block, but thankfully was one of the easier blocks. I would recommend setting a timer on your phone and having it ready to go once you're at your locker. Also, the dude signing me in and out was often not at his desk or signing in other people and took far more time than necessary...all of which factors into break time. Don't wear pants with too many pockets, you have to turn out every pocket when you sign back in from breaks. Even more importantly, never get behind the guy with 18 pocket cargo pants when signing back in.

As for study tips -one big mistake on my part was not keeping it to the high yield stuff - def go into details about the high yield stuff (this is what will get you 230+), but leave out details on low yield stuff. Doing UW can sometimes be a crutch that way - you'll see an obscene amount of detail on low yield stuff - skip it. ALWAYS keep the big picture in mind - the majority of the test was big picture, not details. Also, I wish I was more organized with the studying - in retrospect, I would've done it exactly the way it's laid out in FA (with simple embryo added to to the beginning of each system).
Narrowing down to 3 sources - FA, UW and RR. 75% was straight out of FA one way or another - use it as an outline and annotate the ish out of it. During the last week or so, just do FA, questions and various High Yield notes. floating around. Keep it simple during the last week.

So, bearing in mind the test varies for everyone, my test was very heavy on renal, genetics, acid/base, immuno pharm (especially monoclonal Ab), freaking anatomy and for the love of Goljan - embryo!!
Do not neglect basic anatomy - I don't mean read the 5000pg textbook on anatomy, but a good high yield review book is...wait for it....High Yield Anatomy. It's really short and would be easy to flip through. FA wasn't enough, imo. Also, I don't learn very well from facts just listed - I need some kind of explanation. This probably why Anatomy is my weakest subject.
Regarding embryo - everything was in FA - having said that - I don't think I could have just memorized everything; I wish I had taken every embryo section that was given in FA and learned it well using an outside source.
I had some tough biostats questions - Kaplan Vids are enough (High Yield Biostats is a great alternative). Understand the basic principles. I wish I had made more time for it bc those were really easy points if you knew what it was asking. On the other hand, had a lot of easy Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV.
Behavioral - easy stuff - FA is enough. Know the pharm really well.
Biochem - pretty basic questions that tested on principles and not so much pathways. Know insulin/glucagon inside out, fasting/fed, know which processes occur in cytosol, mitochondria, etc. Rapid Review Biochem is worth double its weight in gold.
Genetics - I got quite a bit of "thinking" questions like Disease X with this certain pattern on pedigree and why the grandparent didn't have the disease - I think the Kaplan vids are enough, with FA. LOTS of questions on DNA and DNA/RNA enzymes. Not terribly difficult questions if you understand the processes. Memorizing stuff will get you no where with genetics.
Micro - know you toxins!! TONS of questions on HIV...know this sucker inside out - what diseases you get at what CD count, Tx (and adverse effects), down to it's genome. Everything on HIV is high yield. FA is actually pretty decent on micro. KNOW the TORCHES infx. - CMV, Rubella and Toxo have similar presentations - know what sets each apart
Immuno - know your cytokines, ILs....can't say enought about the immuno section in Lange's Micro and Immuno. Also, know your monoclonal Ab+...ugh, I die a little each time I think about how easy those questions were if I'd only memorized them.
Pharm - I didn't get many graphs, but the one that sticks out is the competitive/noncompetitive inhibitor graphs. Basic stuff in FA is enough for the kinetics part. As for the rest of pharm - immuno pharm was super high yield, followed by micro, cardio, ANS ANS ANS.....mostly adverse effects. Pharm was pretty straighforward. No where as crazy detailed as UW.
Path - about 70% of the test. I don't really have much to say except know G'man's audios and RR inside out. The 3rd ed is much more comprehensive and worth buying.
Neuro - I know everyone's been saying they got a lot of neuro, but I didn't get much on my exam - really easy stuff.....know your lesions in spinal cord and brainstem. KNOW your pics - angiograms were toughest.
Know the menstrual cycle through and through - what hormone comes up when. Also, Turners, Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, 5-alpha reductase def, Kleinfelters, Testicular Feminization (Androgen insensitivity syndrome) - know the differences among each of them - all the Sx and causes of ambiguous genitalia all sound similar, know what differentiates each of them. I had a good amount of questions on this and all of the aforementioned Dz were listed as ans choices.
I had a fair amount of endocrine - FA is pretty good, but I def recommend kaplan phys vids
Renal - you name it, I had it. One thing that would've really helped would be to understand FeNA and BUN:Cr - when it's normal, when it's prerenal and when it's renal. Know the pictures of renal path....I honestly had just about everything.
I had neoplasia up the waazu -- know that chapter inside out from RR
I had one identical question from the NBME - I spent roughly 300 bucks for all the ones I did and spent/wasted hours looking up answers - was it worth it for one question? meh..I'll let you know after I get my score. I thought my exam was most like NBME 6 and 7 for path and general stuff and NBME 3 and 4 for the molecular genetics/biochem stuff.

Things I wish I had done differently:
- kept to an organized schedule
- spent more time annotating from UW into FA and RR
- more time actually using FA
- skipped the crazy details
- looked at more path pictures - RR was not enough - I had a lot of pictures of tumors (not cellular pics but gross tumor pics)
- Webpath questions - these suckers are great! Not really in terms of what the test was like, but in testing knowledge
- Robbins Review of Path Q's - also great in testing knowledge and forces you to look at pictures
- Write out all the charts/tables in RR - these were key, esp for cancers from every section and the micro tables

What I actually did:
- watched kaplan videos for physio (Dr. Kudrath) and annotate into BRS/FA -- this is probably one of the most helpful things I've done and if you have time, do it twice. BRS is solid, FA is not enough for physio, not even close.
- kaplan pharm videos - ANS section is torture, but a must. I had countless ANS questions (luckily not many graphs).
- Lange review of Micro and Immuno and annotated micro into FA (wish I'd annotated immuno as well) - great book, can't say enough about it, but FA is okay for micro, not enough for immuno. It's hard to read this book 6 weeks before the exam; I'd used it during my micro class. Micro is ludicrously high yield - use whatever book you are comfortable with and understand it. Don't just memorize micro - I got a lot of questions that gave made up toxins and diseases and asked which process was most similar in the bug that is most like the one given (...sorry I know that was a horrible explanation)
- Goljan audios and annotated into RR (100%)
- HY Neuro (60%)
- RR Biochem (100%)
- Kaplan vids for biostats and defense mechanisms
- Annotate UW into FA and RR - I annotated about half of UW....I wish I'd done all of it. If I could pick ONE thing to do and nothing else - this would be it. Do UW q's at least twice. I did about 1.5x, wish I'd had time to do it 3x

My Stats:
NBME Shelf via School - 230
NBME 1 - 234 // Nov 24 - 1 week before starting review
NBME 3 - 240 // Dec 11
NBME 4 - 244 // Dec 26
Free 150 - 86% // Dec 30
NBME 6 - 238 // Jan 10
UWSA 2 - 254 // Jan 10
NBME 5 - 236 // Jan 11
NBME 7 - 247 // Jan 12
UW = 73% all blocks of 48, random, 100% completed

Hope to get my score this week and have never been more nervous in my life. Fingers crossed and stomach firmly knotted.

I feel like I'm making an acceptance speech at some cheesy awards show, but here goes anyway. Thank you for all those continually posting and giving advice. SDN got me through some dark, frustrating times and not to mention was always a more productive source of procrastination =)

Good luck to you all!!

 

[elelith]

Just got my score back, here's my experience:


Overall did more than 11.000 questions

BlackAces,

Congratulations on your great score!

Are the 11,000 questions all first pass (i.e. unused) questions? Or does that number (11,000) include first as well as second or repeated passes?

Thanks.

 

[BlackAces]

Unused, 1st pass:
UW: 2000
Kaplan: 2500
UConsult: did about 2400
Robbins Rev of PAth: 1100
Pretest: 6x500 = 3000

already more than 11.000

plus NBMEs (7x200), UWSAs, Qs in BRS and Kaplan books I did not even count....

 

[clgtwenty]

Just got my score back, here's my experience:

Did NBMEs, UWSAs in following order:

NBME 1: 260 (3 months out)
NBME 3: 258 (2 months out)
NBME 4: 266 (1.5 months out)
NBME 5: 266 (1 month out)
NBME 7: 269 (3 weeks out) plus free 150 on the same day to simulate the exam (got 5 wrong) (suggest doing that)
UWSA 1: 265/800 (2 weeks out)
NBME 6: 266 (1 week out) plus UWSA 2 (265/800) on the same day

REAL DEAL: 270/99

Overall did more than 11.000 questions

Did Qbanks in the following order:

Did all PretestSeries books
UW: 85% (random, timed....)
Kaplan: 85 % (their scorellator predicted 267)
USMLEConsult: did only about 80% of it
UW again (almost all correct, knew most of the questions by heart)


International student from EU, currently in 6th year, took my exam end of November, Germany. Studied 6 months extensively. Used a bunch of books:

Anatomy: some kaplan, UsmleRoadMap Gross Anatomy (very good, but lacks pictures) and Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy (used for my class exam and during MS1 & 2, so was familiar with it)

Embryology: BRS Embryology (stay away from this book, can't recommend it), kaplan, FA

Pathology: Goljan plus Robbins, Robbins Review of Path (Qbook)

Patho- and Physiology: BRS Physiology, BRS Cases (this book is golden!), Kaplan, some Lange series

Biochem & Cell Biology: Kaplan, Devlin Biochemistry (used it during MS1, 2), Meissenberg Biochem, BRS Histology and Cell Biology

BS: Kaplan, BRS, Kaplan Ethics (strongly recommend this book to US students also, probably the only BS book I enjoyed reading)

Neuro: BRS Neuro, USMLEROADMAP Neuro (this book is overlooked, but very very good), Kaplan

Micro, Immuno: Kaplan, FA, Levinson (wish I used this book for my class exam)

Pharm: Kaplan, FA and Katzungs (by far the best Pharm book I've ever come across)

NO REVIEW BOOK WILL EVER TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW! That's why I was referring back to so many books. Having read so many books and done so many questions, here's my suggestion for

Path: GOLJAN IS KING, book's format's s****, if you really wanna, do what i did, read Robbins and annotate into Goljan

Physiology: BRS Physiology is good, you may also do Cases (plus note: do BRS Physiology AND Cases but not Cases only since Cases book lacks some topics). I recommend Kaplan to those who have been out of MedSchool for a long time, but note that KAPLAN'S PHYSIOLOGY DOES NOT HAVE MORE INFO THAN BRS. Some topics are better covered in BRS, some in Kaplan, that simple.

Anatomy: most of the students do FA, if you did FA only, had poor Anatomy knowledge, you would get about 40 % of the Anatomy Qs on my exam. It's up to you what you do. Moore's clinical vignettes (blue pages) are worth reading, UsmleROadMap is ok

Biochem, Cell Biology: FA was definitely not enough for my exam. Kaplan's Biochem is ok, probably #1 book in the series

Neuro: had to do it again, UsmleRoadMap Neuro would be my choice

BS: BRS is better than Kaplan in my opinion. As already said, Kaplan's ethics book is excellent, very well written, need only about 6 hours to read and solve all of the 100 cases, recommend it to US students also

Pharm: FA should be enough if you really don't wanna study more....... If you have time, suggest Katzung

Micro/Immuno: FA's sufficient

About Qbanks:
UW IS THE BEST, NO QUESTION. If you plan to study up to 3 months, do UW only. If you plan to spend more time, I suggest doing another Qbank. HAVING DONE SO MANY Qs was one of the keys.

Kaplan vs UConsult: can't really say that Kaplan is much better than UConsult. Overall, Kaplan has good Physiology, Ethics & Anatomy Qs, Uconsult has "what the hell Qs".

Pretest series: overall ok, nothing special to say about them, their Micro book is weird, don't recommend it, Pathology - Robbins Review of Pathology is better that Pretest Path. Do this books only if you have lots of time.

Test: definitely harder than NBME 6/7, would say 40% very easy, basic Qs, 30% medium, 30% "what the hell", Qs never seen in any Q bank.

Hope will help, if you have any Q, feel free to ask.

Good Luck to everyone

that is pretty cool man!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[clgtwenty]

Just got my score back, here's my experience:

Did NBMEs, UWSAs in following order:

NBME 1: 260 (3 months out)
NBME 3: 258 (2 months out)
NBME 4: 266 (1.5 months out)
NBME 5: 266 (1 month out)
NBME 7: 269 (3 weeks out) plus free 150 on the same day to simulate the exam (got 5 wrong) (suggest doing that)
UWSA 1: 265/800 (2 weeks out)
NBME 6: 266 (1 week out) plus UWSA 2 (265/800) on the same day

REAL DEAL: 270/99

Overall did more than 11.000 questions

Did Qbanks in the following order:

Did all PretestSeries books
UW: 85% (random, timed....)
Kaplan: 85 % (their scorellator predicted 267)
USMLEConsult: did only about 80% of it
UW again (almost all correct, knew most of the questions by heart)


International student from EU, currently in 6th year, took my exam end of November, Germany. Studied 6 months extensively. Used a bunch of books:

Anatomy: some kaplan, UsmleRoadMap Gross Anatomy (very good, but lacks pictures) and Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy (used for my class exam and during MS1 & 2, so was familiar with it)

Embryology: BRS Embryology (stay away from this book, can't recommend it), kaplan, FA

Pathology: Goljan plus Robbins, Robbins Review of Path (Qbook)

Patho- and Physiology: BRS Physiology, BRS Cases (this book is golden!), Kaplan, some Lange series

Biochem & Cell Biology: Kaplan, Devlin Biochemistry (used it during MS1, 2), Meissenberg Biochem, BRS Histology and Cell Biology

BS: Kaplan, BRS, Kaplan Ethics (strongly recommend this book to US students also, probably the only BS book I enjoyed reading)

Neuro: BRS Neuro, USMLEROADMAP Neuro (this book is overlooked, but very very good), Kaplan

Micro, Immuno: Kaplan, FA, Levinson (wish I used this book for my class exam)

Pharm: Kaplan, FA and Katzungs (by far the best Pharm book I've ever come across)

NO REVIEW BOOK WILL EVER TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW! That's why I was referring back to so many books. Having read so many books and done so many questions, here's my suggestion for

Path: GOLJAN IS KING, book's format's s****, if you really wanna, do what i did, read Robbins and annotate into Goljan

Physiology: BRS Physiology is good, you may also do Cases (plus note: do BRS Physiology AND Cases but not Cases only since Cases book lacks some topics). I recommend Kaplan to those who have been out of MedSchool for a long time, but note that KAPLAN'S PHYSIOLOGY DOES NOT HAVE MORE INFO THAN BRS. Some topics are better covered in BRS, some in Kaplan, that simple.

Anatomy: most of the students do FA, if you did FA only, had poor Anatomy knowledge, you would get about 40 % of the Anatomy Qs on my exam. It's up to you what you do. Moore's clinical vignettes (blue pages) are worth reading, UsmleROadMap is ok

Biochem, Cell Biology: FA was definitely not enough for my exam. Kaplan's Biochem is ok, probably #1 book in the series

Neuro: had to do it again, UsmleRoadMap Neuro would be my choice

BS: BRS is better than Kaplan in my opinion. As already said, Kaplan's ethics book is excellent, very well written, need only about 6 hours to read and solve all of the 100 cases, recommend it to US students also

Pharm: FA should be enough if you really don't wanna study more....... If you have time, suggest Katzung

Micro/Immuno: FA's sufficient

About Qbanks:
UW IS THE BEST, NO QUESTION. If you plan to study up to 3 months, do UW only. If you plan to spend more time, I suggest doing another Qbank. HAVING DONE SO MANY Qs was one of the keys.

Kaplan vs UConsult: can't really say that Kaplan is much better than UConsult. Overall, Kaplan has good Physiology, Ethics & Anatomy Qs, Uconsult has "what the hell Qs".

Pretest series: overall ok, nothing special to say about them, their Micro book is weird, don't recommend it, Pathology - Robbins Review of Pathology is better that Pretest Path. Do this books only if you have lots of time.

Test: definitely harder than NBME 6/7, would say 40% very easy, basic Qs, 30% medium, 30% "what the hell", Qs never seen in any Q bank.

Hope will help, if you have any Q, feel free to ask.

Good Luck to everyone

how long did all this take u?

 

[tavankitsingh]

hey guys,i gave my step 1 exam on 22nd december....as everyone says i guess i should be expecting my result somewhere around 13th jan...i just wanted to know,do they declare the results during the first 2 weeks of january??

 

[elelith]

Just got my score back, here's my experience:

Did NBMEs, UWSAs in following order:

NBME 1: 260 (3 months out)
NBME 3: 258 (2 months out)
NBME 4: 266 (1.5 months out)
NBME 5: 266 (1 month out)
NBME 7: 269 (3 weeks out) plus free 150 on the same day to simulate the exam (got 5 wrong) (suggest doing that)
UWSA 1: 265/800 (2 weeks out)
NBME 6: 266 (1 week out) plus UWSA 2 (265/800) on the same day

REAL DEAL: 270/99

Overall did more than 11.000 questions

BlackAces,

Your practice scores improved only 6 points in the last 3 months: from 260 on NMBE to 266 on NBME 6 -- though you must have done 5000+ Qs in that period.

From what I've read on this Forum, this scenario happened to many people, and made us feel discouraged.

Since you did well already in the early stage of your preparation, I guess this phenomenon didn't bother you much.

But still, can you offer your thoughts and advice on this?

Thanks.

 

[thomasy]

Hi everyone!

I'm a 3rd year medical student from Malaysia and I would like to post my Step 1 experience!

I started accumulating my resources for step 1 in june/july 2010 and I started getting serious in the last 3-4 months prior to my exam.

Books I used extensively:
1. FA 2009 (Decided not to get the 2010 and just annotate the additional information from 2010)
2. RR 2nd Ed (Already got this a while ago before 3rd Ed came out)
3. BRS Physiology by Costanzo 4th Ed

Additional Reference and question books:
1. HY Behavioral Science
2. HY Neuroanatomy
3. HY Embryo
4. HY Gross Anatomy
5. CMMRS Edition 2
5. Kaplan Q book (2008)
6. HY Cell and Molecular 1999 edition
7. Kaplan Pharm (Video + Notes)
8. Lippincott Pharm and Biochem (Only for reference)

Online resources used:
1. USMLE Rx - 2 months - overall 75%
2. UW - 1 month - overall 80%

I did NBMES and UWSA's in this order:
NBME 4 (7 weeks before) - 249
UWSA 2 (4 weeks before) - 261
NBME 7 (10 days before) - 258
UWSA 1 (6 days before) - 261
NBME 6 ( 2 days before) - 260

I started out by reading the basic sciences not covered sufficiently in my medical school, and I spent a total of 1.5 to 2 months just completing my first round of HY Beh Sci and Kaplan Pharm. Prior to this I had already finished 1 round of HY Neuroanatomy whilst studying for my School exams.

I started USMLE Rx Qbank 3-4 months before my exam for 2 months, and studied concurrently. I used it as a tool to consolidate my information from what I've read in First Aid, and did it system by system for 1 or 2 blocks per system and left about a few hundred questions to do in random blocks and simulations. In my opinion, Rx is a good tool as it is closely tied to FA however there are some repeated questions and some mistakes just be on the lookout for those. I Spent around a few days on each basic science and system: Reading through First Aid and Doing Rx blocks whilst annotating Rx into FA.

Towards the ending of Rx, I did NBME 4 to gauge my standing. Also, I tried to read through at least once relevant parts which I felt were not sufficient from FA (HY Embryo and CMMRS and keep flipping around some reference books when I was unsure) I tried to finish my First run through of FA and BRS Phys just when my Rx subscription ended.

I took a week and a half break to tighten some loose ends by reading a bit of RR Path and Listening to Goljan Audio. I also tried to do Kaplan Qbook and maybe finished half of the book (IMO, quite alot of minutiae tested but it provides extra info for annotation)

I started UW after that for 1 month and its an excellent Qbank with challenging questions and well explained questions for Cell and Mole Bio. I annotated this rigorously and found that I had trouble cramming in extra study time as doing 2 blocks and reviewing daily is quite consuming.

After finishing UW, I had around 2 weeks of spare time and I spent this in a revised tau's method by going through FA once through first and then RR after that... I barely made it through and skipped through pages where I felt I was confident of. I spent these days doing nbme7, uwsa1, nbme 6 and a couple of offline nbmes. I also hurriedly tried to finish the questions on Webpath and listen to some heart murmurs on http://www.dundee.ac.uk/medther/Cardiology/hsmur.html and http://www.cardiologysite.com/auscultation/html/split_s1.html. I also spent a day looking at HY Gross Anat (Only the X-rays and CT-scans) and 1 day trying to cram pharm (micro-drugs + cancer-drugs)

The Exam Day - 2/12/2010
I got to the test centre early and got pretty anxious, but decided to calm myself down by sitting down and closing my eyes to rest and relax a while (haha biofeedback)

I did the 7 blocks in this order:
Block 1
Block 2
Break - 15min
Block 3
Break - 5 min
Block 4
Break - 30 min
Block 5
Break - 5 min
Block 6
Break - 5 min
Block 7

I took plenty of breaks in between to hydrate myself and snack on some stuff as well as to check my answers! In case I got a repeated question, but I didnt have the luck for this to happen to me. I don't actually recommend this because I got a bit frustrated when I discovered a few careless mistakes but I had to move on anyhow. When I finished my last block I was happy that finally I have finished my Step 1!!!

I feel that in terms of difficulty, its somewhat between nbme and uw questions. The format is exactly like uw and most of the questions are given in vignettes. There are about 30-40% of questions that are alright, another 30% similar to most UW questions (hard and avg) and another 30% of questions that are kind of unseen before in any qbank! Examples are: I got a question Testing Hox,SHH for embryo, another question with half the list of Cancer drugs not seen before in FA or Kaplan pharm, and some questions with weird graphs (pharm and endo) also not seen before. I have trouble remembering the rest of the difficult questions now. There were also around 2-3 CT scans/radiographs in each block for me (some of them can be quite hard) One word of advice: Try not to change your answer unless you are absolutely sure your second guess is definitely correct as I lost quite a few questions by second guessing.

I got my results exactly 3 weeks after sitting for my exam: 258/99 and I'm happy with my score as its with the confidence interval of my nbmes Want to thank the people who posted their experiences as it was quite informative and enjoyable to read about your experiences!

 

[Domingo7]

Hey guys,

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this, but I was scheduled to take Step1 at 1pm today. (Dec 27th)

I woke up feeling really sick and called the center about rescheduling the exam. They said that you have to call the central office to reschedule an exam on the "day of," but that the office isn't open until tomorrow..

My question is... if I don't show up today and wait until tomorrow to reschedule, will there be a "no show" on my transcript?

Thanks so much for your help...

 

[elelith]

Hi everyone!

...............

After finishing UW, I had around 2 weeks of spare time and I spent this in a revised tau's method by going through FA once through first and then RR after that... I barely made it through and skipped through pages where I felt I was confident of. I spent these days doing nbme7, uwsa1, nbme 6 and a couple of offline nbmes. I also hurriedly tried to finish the questions on Webpath and listen to some heart murmurs on http://www.dundee.ac.uk/medther/Cardiology/hsmur.html and http://www.cardiologysite.com/auscultation/html/split_s1.html. I also spent a day looking at HY Gross Anat (Only the X-rays and CT-scans) and 1 day trying to cram pharm (micro-drugs + cancer-drugs)
.......

I feel that in terms of difficulty, its somewhat between nbme and uw questions. The format is exactly like uw and most of the questions are given in vignettes.

Thomasy,

Great score! Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have some questions:

1) What would you have done differently for the last two weeks (before the test)? e.g. would you re-do as much UW questions as possible? or would you rather do as much NBME as possible?

2) You opined that actual test's difficulty level was between NBME and UW. So, which would you say is more difficult - NBME or UW?

Thanks.

 

[coxsackie]

Hey guys! I took my test on dec 7th, should i be expecting my score today(28th) or tomorrow (29th)??

 

[TofuNoodle]

Scores are always released on Wednesday about 9am Eastern time.
Good Luck!

 

[thomasy]

Hi,

1. For the last 2 weeks I would have gone through the flagged UW questions I had and possibly did another NBME, but my timeline was pretty tight alr as i had to re-read FA and RR

2. NBME has a greater proportion of easier questions, and the real test is harder as it has less "easy level" questions but more challenging questions similar to UW. Although NBME still has it's fair share of weird questions and CT scans. I would say that UW is harder, however NBME has a strict marking scheme, I should say 30 mistakes out of 200 put you around 235abouts.. UWSA is more lenient in this aspect and hence it tends to overestimate, imo

Thomasy,

Great score! Thanks for sharing your experience.

I have some questions:

1) What would you have done differently for the last two weeks (before the test)? e.g. would you re-do as much UW questions as possible? or would you rather do as much NBME as possible?

2) You opined that actual test's difficulty level was between NBME and UW. So, which would you say is more difficult - NBME or UW?

Thanks.

 

[JelloBrain]

Hey guys,

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this, but I was scheduled to take Step1 at 1pm today. (Dec 27th)

I woke up feeling really sick and called the center about rescheduling the exam. They said that you have to call the central office to reschedule an exam on the "day of," but that the office isn't open until tomorrow..

My question is... if I don't show up today and wait until tomorrow to reschedule, will there be a "no show" on my transcript?

Thanks so much for your help...

This was not the correct thread to post. However, from what I know from the Prometric team, if there is a "no show" on the day of exam, you have to then call them and get a reference number. 48 hours after your (missed) exam date (on 29th Dec., 2010 in your case), you will be able to reschedule another date/venue as by then they will reset your confirmation number. This only applies if you are within your 3-month eligibility period. If, however, you are outside of your exam eligibility period, then it will just lapse, and you won't be able to reschedule. If, despite resetting your confirmation number, you had no dates available to take the test before your eligibility expires, say on 31st Dec., 2010, then it lapses anyway. Either way, "no-show" is not on transcript-at least that's what I was told.

However, I am an IMG, and ECFMG is my exam manager whereas NBME is the main administrator for AMGs AFAIK, so things might be different.

 

[akajackbauer]

Im going to do a modified Taus method: starting Jan to my test date on June 18th.

Resources: FA 2010, RR path, BRS Physio, Goljan audio, FA questions, HY Neuro, definitely going to do UWorld for 3 months (April to June).

questions:
Do I really need HY Cell Bio and Molec?
Do I really need Microbio made Ridiculously Easy?
Do I really need RR Biochem or Kaplan Biochem?
Do I really need High Yield Behavioral Sciences?
I'm leaning towards USMLERx because my experience with Kaplan for MCAT wasnt that good.
Should I buy the Robbins path questions and Kaplan Qbook or is UWorld 2 pass good enough?

My weaknesses are Immuno and Anatomy, should I buy books for them?

Sorry for all these questions because I'm really broke and I need to get the most BANG FOR MY BUCK. thanks.

 

[Bowser Koopa]

Im going to do a modified Taus method: starting Jan to my test date on June 18th.

Resources: FA 2010, RR path, BRS Physio, Goljan audio, FA questions, HY Neuro, definitely going to do UWorld for 3 months (April to June).

questions:
Do I really need HY Cell Bio and Molec?
Do I really need Microbio made Ridiculously Easy?
Do I really need RR Biochem or Kaplan Biochem?
Do I really need High Yield Behavioral Sciences?
I'm leaning towards USMLERx because my experience with Kaplan for MCAT wasnt that good.
Should I buy the Robbins path questions and Kaplan Qbook or is UWorld 2 pass good enough?

My weaknesses are Immuno and Anatomy, should I buy books for them?

Sorry for all these questions because I'm really broke and I need to get the most BANG FOR MY BUCK. thanks.

1) I flipped through HY cell bio and mol during my preparation. Did not get anything out of it that helped me answer any of the questions on my test. Moreover, I felt USMLEworld was loaded with molecular questions which hit on the big points: knowing the different signal transduction pathways, understanding PCR, reading gels, understanding immunoflourescent assays. These big points showed up on my test.

2) This question depends on how well you learned the material. Have you read it once already during your micro course? The micro course at my school was absolute garbage. I read the book during my course, and again about 6 months before I took the exam. I felt it helped out a lot, because I never learned micro well during the course (was occupied with playing the game of doing well on tests written by pHDs versus learning practical information). What also helped me decide to read the book a second time was a practice NBME exam my school administered a few months after our micro course. My micro score was just average, which pissed me off. So if you feel like micro is weak for you, this book definitely helps with making micro a strong point. I had at least 4 questions requiring info not contained in FA, and this book helped fill in that gap.

3) I read RR biochem about 4 months from the exam. I decided to read the book, because it had been close to 2 years since I had any exposure to biochem. I dont think this book is necessary since USMLEworld has plenty of questions that cover most of what FA has in the biochem chapter. What makes this book great is that it's written by Goljan, so there is a lot of integration. But again, it's not necessary as long as you understand everything in FA and usmleworld.

4) HY Behavioral sciences was a nice quick read. I know I had at least once question that I was able to answer correctly because I read this book. The FA behavioral stuff is OK, but I felt this book helped out a lot. Behavioral sciences were also one of my weak points.

5) Most of the anatomy you will need is found in FA and usmle world. However, for some reason more anatomy showed up on the test this past summer. Most of those questions tested your understanding of the arterial system. Might be worth looking at a couple of netter pages. Neuroanatomy is high-yield. FA covers most, but looking over HY helps with all the CTs, MRIs, etc.

6) Immunology was one of my weak points also. So, I read the immunology chapters of Levinson's Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. I did this about 2-3 months from my exam. It's a fairly short read, and you might be able to access electronically through your school's library.

7) Robbins questions = great resource. I thought USMLEworld lacked a sufficient amount of questions dealing with the reproductive system, so I used this book to fill in the gap. I did this book throughout my first 2 years, and it helped a lot to reinforce basic pathology. USMLEworld should be your primary source of questions. If time permits or if there is some area or system of pathology that you are struggling with, this book is good.


In conclusion, none of the books you questioned are needed. But they are great sources to target any weaknesses. Be honest with yourself and you will do well. You should check and see if your library has any of these resources. This is what I did, and it helps cut the expenses. Hope this helps.

 

[akajackbauer]

^^^thanks a lot. SDN is a great place to get information.


I will definitely donate to SDN and wikipedia once I make it.

 

[emly1212]

I did nbme1 on 1st jan and scored 220 and nbme2 online after 15 days study ( but revised only bichem, genetics, cell bio and nutrition portion)and scored 229 ... my next online nbme is after a week, will be doing micro, immuno, beh science and biostat during this time.
I m not satisfied with my nbme scores but im going to work hard to score better next time. Any suggestions regarding prep????
Really need to get motivated.... Im going too slow in revision

GOODLUCK !

 

[512TA]

I did nbme1 on 1st jan and scored 220 and nbme2 online after 15 days study ( but revised only bichem, genetics, cell bio and nutrition portion)and scored 229 ... my next online nbme is after a week, will be doing micro, immuno, beh science and biostat during this time.
I m not satisfied with my nbme scores but im going to work hard to score better next time. Any suggestions regarding prep????
Really need to get motivated.... Im going too slow in revision

GOODLUCK !

2011 thread please!!

 

[kmed0]

Hi all!

I am a U.S. student studying in Oz, and I just received the score from my Step 1 on 28 Dec 2010!

How I studied:
- read First Aid and added appropriate notes throughout year 2 coursework
- used FA Q & A plus Kaplan qbank along with coursework
- got extra help in Micro from Lange Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
- used Lange Clinical Neuroanatomy for neuroanat
- I did not use Goljan's book for pathology because my course is quite path-heavy and I needed Robbins .. There was just simply no time for both
- I had 6 weeks to review during my summer holidays, which I spent listening to Goljan audio (BEST decision ever!!!), working through my remaining Kaplan questions plus UWorld and annotating
- the last two weeks were spent re-reading FA, doing the Kaplan practice exam, & the UWorld self assessment exams
- did the free practice 150 questions two nights before
- did some reading but no practice questions the day before

70% seemed to be my magic number, as that was my cumulative average for Kaplan, UWorld (unused & random), and my practice exam. I did a bit better on the UWorld self assessments (76% & 77%).

On exam day, I had way shorter vignettes than I was expecting. Most questions were very straightforward and the focus was quite clinical. I had a lot of diagnosis and pharm questions.

I was not prepared for the amount of MSK anatomy on the exam. I had one block with at least ten questions about the brachial plexus and compartments of the leg.

I got 239/99!

My goal was 240, but I will not quarrel with the universe over one point with a score like this. I'm actually thrilled!

In hindsight, Kaplan was kinda meh and I should have done UWorld twice instead. But Kaplan was free from my school and it was really helpful alongside coursework.

Anyway, it's over now and I'm free until step 2!!

Good luck to all and thank you to all who post on this forum!

 

[NoWayOut]

awesome score. Did you do any NBMEs?
and what were your 3 digit scores on the UWSAs?
Good Luck on step 2.

Hi all!

I am a U.S. student studying in Oz, and I just received the score from my Step 1 on 28 Dec 2010!

How I studied:
- read First Aid and added appropriate notes throughout year 2 coursework
- used FA Q & A plus Kaplan qbank along with coursework
- got extra help in Micro from Lange Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
- used Lange Clinical Neuroanatomy for neuroanat
- I did not use Goljan's book for pathology because my course is quite path-heavy and I needed Robbins .. There was just simply no time for both
- I had 6 weeks to review during my summer holidays, which I spent listening to Goljan audio (BEST decision ever!!!), working through my remaining Kaplan questions plus UWorld and annotating
- the last two weeks were spent re-reading FA, doing the Kaplan practice exam, & the UWorld self assessment exams
- did the free practice 150 questions two nights before
- did some reading but no practice questions the day before

70% seemed to be my magic number, as that was my cumulative average for Kaplan, UWorld (unused & random), and my practice exam. I did a bit better on the UWorld self assessments (76% & 77%).

On exam day, I had way shorter vignettes than I was expecting. Most questions were very straightforward and the focus was quite clinical. I had a lot of diagnosis and pharm questions.

I was not prepared for the amount of MSK anatomy on the exam. I had one block with at least ten questions about the brachial plexus and compartments of the leg.

I got 239/99!

My goal was 240, but I will not quarrel with the universe over one point with a score like this. I'm actually thrilled!

In hindsight, Kaplan was kinda meh and I should have done UWorld twice instead. But Kaplan was free from my school and it was really helpful alongside coursework.

Anyway, it's over now and I'm free until step 2!!

Good luck to all and thank you to all who post on this forum!

 

[americanpie]

I got the Kaplan COMLEX DDx Exam with a score of mid-40%. I am really disappointed about it. Is there anyone out there got low DDx score and ended up doing well on the real one?

Thanks

 

[kmed0]

No, I did not do any NBMEs. (I ran out of time and money.)

My subscription has expired to the UWSAs so I couldn't check, but I am pretty sure they were in the 340s. Sorry I can't be more precise!

awesome score. Did you do any NBMEs?
and what were your 3 digit scores on the UWSAs?
Good Luck on step 2.

 

[wyme84]

I am taking it in two days.....

I've been averaging around 70% on UWorld (blocks of 46, timed, random)...but as I review each quiz I feel like there is sooo much I don't know, and I just keep getting lucky.
Any thoughts?

 

[ar2388]

I am taking it in two days.....

I've been averaging around 70% on UWorld (blocks of 46, timed, random)...but as I review each quiz I feel like there is sooo much I don't know, and I just keep getting lucky.
Any thoughts?

good luck! i know the feeling. 70% is good tho!

 

[wyme84]

Thanks....its good to know I'm not alone.
I feel like my brain is springing leaks....

 

[RySerr21]

I am taking it in two days.....

I've been averaging around 70% on UWorld (blocks of 46, timed, random)...but as I review each quiz I feel like there is sooo much I don't know, and I just keep getting lucky.
Any thoughts?

Its because there IS so much that you dont know. Just accept that that is a fact of life. That doesn't take anything away from how much YOU DO know. You dont average 70% on Uworld blocks by dumb luck. You oviously know your ****. Be humbled by how much more you can learn, but be proud that you have learned an incredible amount of information already. Turn that into confidence and you will continue to do well. Don't 2nd guess yourself - half of this is seriously just a mind game. Everyone studies their ass off, but the difference come game time I think are those that are able to keep it all in persepctive and remain confident.

 

[Ovariantesticle]

Hey nerdbombers, haven't used this site much in the past prior to board prep, but it was helpful in figuring out what resources to use. My goal going into this was a 230.

I had no coherent study plan, I pretty much just studied whatever I felt like I didn't know very well each day. One thing I did do was alot of questions. I studied 2 months and did at least 50 questions a day for the first month from kaplan, and then the last month I did 100-200 from usmlerx and world.

Kaplan questions - started at 50% ended around 65%
World started at - 48% ended around 58%, the last 300 or so I was getting around 70-75% correct on new timed random blocks.
UsmleRx- did these a week before the test because i had run out of questions. The scorrelator predicted something absurd like a 268 on their 200 question practice test thingy.


CBSE after a month of studying equated to 215
UWSA-2 taken about 3 weeks before 238
NBME 11- 228 3 weeks before
NBME 12 - 214 2 weeks before
Free 150 - 87% correct 2 days before

I used questions as mentioned above. I thought the kaplan raymond guy was helpful. I did the Uworld statistics tutorial which I thought was helpful. First Aid was helpful of course, probably read through 3/4 of this. Anatomy - didnt really make it through this subject, it seemed futile. Gouljan - managed to listen to most of the lectures, and read maybe half the book.


The exam: Big surprise to me was the amount of statistics..I probably had 20 stats questions, which was awesome, because I had studied stats the night before. I think I only had <5 anatomy questions (and they were really easy), 1 or 2 embryology, maybe 10-15 neuro questions which i didnt study very much but i think i made pretty educated guesses ( only 1 or 2 images), my friend said he had a ton of weird worms and parasites and stuff like that, but I only had one question on helminths and it was a super easy one. There was def. alot of immunology which is one of my strengths, but I think first AID would be sufficient. Pathology - gouljan is good, but I think I probably could have saved alot of time and just focused on memorizing first AID and done equally as well or better. The most helpful thing I did on the day before was read Robbins (yes, the actual big fatty book) chapters 1 to4 or 5, and the lung and heart chapter. It took about 7 hours, but I think was well worth it as it helped me answer some of those WTF questions that arent mentioned in first aid, gouljan, or world.

The exam seemed easier than uworld by farrrrrrrrr, and also easier than NBME 11 or 12. Im sure the curve will be just as harsh though, so I don't imagine my score will be higher than 220-230, and would be shocked if it was below 210.

I felt like I knew the correct answer on 80%, and the other 20% narrowed down to 2, and felt like I made pretty good guesses. There were no questions where I was like WTF, ive never heard of this, with the exception of one immuno drug.

 

[ArcGurren]

...

 

[Rollo]

To the ovariantesticle who read Big Robbins the night before exam, I have one thing to say to you:

EDIT: I just realized I posted in 2010 thread...and so did you guys about your exam experience!

 

[winkleweizen]

WOOT!!! grats.

Im curious to what all these Pelvis anatomy questions are about?

 

[Ovariantesticle]

woops, ill repost it in 2011, and i didnt read the whole thing, just a few chapters, but that video made me laugh