Optional NBME shelf exams

[pinkcadillac]

My school offers optional shelf exams in the preclinical subjects like Physiology, Anatomy, Histology, etc. Would it be worthwhile to take the NBME shelf exams anyway, even though they are not required?

Thanks!

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[dr zaius]

You could use them to gauge how well you know the material, I guess. You get a paper back with the breakdown of how well you did by subject. The problem is that you don't know which questions you got wrong. You're probably better off using UWorld unless you just want to get the feel of taking an exam at a computer center.

 

[K31]

There's probably a marginal benefit by exposing you to a similar environment and question format as you'll have for the USMLE. If I had the choice, though, I'd just do more q-bank questions and not stress myself out about another test.

 

[Guillemot]

Id say that taking a shelf if it doesnt count for your grade is a waste of time...better use of time to do a practice test yourself with exlanations to questions or something along those lines if you want.

 

[Dr McSexy]

My school offers optional shelf exams in the preclinical subjects like Physiology, Anatomy, Histology, etc. Would it be worthwhile to take the NBME shelf exams anyway, even though they are not required?

Thanks!

For Free?

I'd probably do it just for the sake of doing it if it was free. It's not like the NBME subject exams take that long unless you are a painfully slow test taker. Although, the NBME's that I've taken have been for grades, I took the opportunity of taking it as a way to gauge what my school focused on versus what was actually tested. I suppose the difference is that since it's optional there's no real incentive to do well or study for it thus it probably won't be of help that much as far simulating the stress factor. Also add in that you don't get explanations to questions.

NBME are retired USMLE Step questions, I think. So, I guess that's a plus.

 

[Sheldor]

For first year I think the physio one is the only one worth taking. It will let you know how much time you need to dedicate to it during step study time!

 

[MilkmanAl]

There's probably a marginal benefit by exposing you to a similar environment and question format as you'll have for the USMLE. If I had the choice, though, I'd just do more q-bank questions and not stress myself out about another test.

For first year I think the physio one is the only one worth taking. It will let you know how much time you need to dedicate to it during step study time!

I agree with both of these. We had the subject shelf/NBME exams as a standard part of our curriculum. I actually thought it was sort of nice to have incentive to refresh myself on everything we'd learned during the course and then get feedback on how I'd performed relative to the rest of the students taking the exam, which I was told was about 1/4 of med students. On the other hand, if it's not part of your curriculum already, you'll get more benefit from just doing practice questions. Board-style questions without explanations don't really do a whole lot for you as far as learning goes.

 

[gravitywave]

it's actually a pretty well established psychological point in education circles these days that "assessment drives achievement" - in other words, merely taking a test on material you're studying and supposed to know helps you learn it, even if you don't study to/for the test. So taking the NBME may well help you.

It surprised me to learn that so few med students take these tests. I think more schools will be integrating them into their curricula as the importance of the Step continues to increase.

 

[Sheldor]

it's actually a pretty well established psychological point in education circles these days that "assessment drives achievement" - in other words, merely taking a test on material you're studying and supposed to know helps you learn it, even if you don't study to/for the test. So taking the NBME may well help you.

It surprised me to learn that so few med students take these tests. I think more schools will be integrating them into their curricula as the importance of the Step continues to increase.

With step changing to pass/fail sometime in the next couple years these may become less important I would think.

 

[gravitywave]

With step changing to pass/fail sometime in the next couple years these may become less important I would think.

a silly rumor with no basis in fact

 

[Sheldor]

a silly rumor with no basis in fact

It's from one of our deans, I doubt he is spreading rumors.

 

[DermViser]

It's from one of our deans, I doubt he is spreading rumors.

Apparently she is spreading rumors: http://www.nbme.org/students/Urban-Legends/index.html

I heard from various sources that next year Step 1 and Step 2 will be pass/fail.

Reality Check: Fiction

Explanation:
A multi-year project to review and revise the USMLE sequence is called the Comprehensive Review of USMLE (CRU). Accurate information regarding CRU can be found here: http://www.usmle.org/cru/

 

[chronicidal]

It's from one of our deans, I doubt he is spreading rumors.

Deans often have just as much information as is available on the internet. Rumors abound.