Took this several months ago, but I just recently made an account.
Raw: 96 (>99%tile)
Resources Used in order of importance:
MKSAP: No way around this one, these questions are the gold standard for the medicine shelf. If you do nothing else, this should be it. Its great for learning what they consider to be the correct guidelines and treatment algorithms. Its great for "what do you do next" type questions. Questions where you come up with a diagnosis are usually VERY easy, but its a good confidence booster. Looks like a lot of people on the thread don't like this very much, but I felt that it was helpful.
Step-Up - Great book, very comprehensive but long. Read it as you go through and highlight things you want to look over the days before the exam.
Case Files - Im not usually a fan of case files, however if you SKIM it they are great. Focus on the questions and the clinical pearls, any tables, and anything in bold. Don't read the whole thing, it gets really repetitive and usually a waste of time. It reiterates a lot of things that you should already know by now. The vignettes are super easy if you have been paying attention at all and are a waste of time to read unless you have trouble at diagnosing. Use MKSAP for "next step" in management because they won't always agree.
Pretest - Some questions are way too hard or test on minutia that will not be on the shelf. However, I did have a couple questions that were exactly out of pretest and got a couple questions right from things I learned in pretest and no where else.
Just like any shelf, pacing is key. Do the last 10 or so questions first because they usually go a-k which means if you run out of time you have a lower chance of guessing correctly. Those questions are usually very easy too, don't miss on on these free points.
Im sure UWorld is great, but I am saving it for step 2 so I haven't used it for any of my shelves.
Raw: 96 (>99%tile)
Resources Used in order of importance:
MKSAP: No way around this one, these questions are the gold standard for the medicine shelf. If you do nothing else, this should be it. Its great for learning what they consider to be the correct guidelines and treatment algorithms. Its great for "what do you do next" type questions. Questions where you come up with a diagnosis are usually VERY easy, but its a good confidence booster. Looks like a lot of people on the thread don't like this very much, but I felt that it was helpful.
Step-Up - Great book, very comprehensive but long. Read it as you go through and highlight things you want to look over the days before the exam.
Case Files - Im not usually a fan of case files, however if you SKIM it they are great. Focus on the questions and the clinical pearls, any tables, and anything in bold. Don't read the whole thing, it gets really repetitive and usually a waste of time. It reiterates a lot of things that you should already know by now. The vignettes are super easy if you have been paying attention at all and are a waste of time to read unless you have trouble at diagnosing. Use MKSAP for "next step" in management because they won't always agree.
Pretest - Some questions are way too hard or test on minutia that will not be on the shelf. However, I did have a couple questions that were exactly out of pretest and got a couple questions right from things I learned in pretest and no where else.
Just like any shelf, pacing is key. Do the last 10 or so questions first because they usually go a-k which means if you run out of time you have a lower chance of guessing correctly. Those questions are usually very easy too, don't miss on on these free points.
Im sure UWorld is great, but I am saving it for step 2 so I haven't used it for any of my shelves.