Urgent advice needed, please be kind...

[sebastopublican]

Hi all,

I have so many conflicting sources of advice, I thought I would turn to group wisdom.

I am scheduled to take Step 1 in three days. Our school (UCSF) only gives us four weeks off to study and our curriculum does not prepare us well for Step 1 so naturally we are all stressed out. However, I have mild/moderate anxiety at baseline and suffered a breakdown about two weeks ago (body shakes, not sleeping, lost 6 pounds). I was able to get some sedative/hypnotics from our school psychiatrist, but I'm still not getting great sleep and I feel foggy during the day. I felt so productive two weeks ago, then this had to happen.

I'm aiming for above a 230 at this point (projected score was 245-250, but forget that **** now). Want to go into neuro and strong in research, so hopefully that will be good enough.

Most recent self-assessments have been the UWSA's in the past 5 days (scored 236 on both but felt like I was guessing on everything). My NBME's were 215 (6 weeks ago), 230 (3 weeks ago).

All of that biochem and immuno I memorized a month ago is gone. A lot of the material feels very distant. There is a safety valve option given that I have a mental health issue, but it would put me through all of this again and would mess with my third year schedule in a big way.

Is this too big of a risk to take? I so desperately want this experience to be over, but I also don't want to blow my career.

Any thoughts or words of support would be welcome. Thanks.

sebastopublican

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[tvelocity514]

Honestly it's causing you more stress than is good for you. You made a 230 3 wks ago. Just try and do the best you can to really give it all you've got for 2 days and then take the test and get it over with. I know it will suck for these two days but it will be worth it when you have it behind you and life is good again. I would also spend 30 min- an hour working out each day from here on out (eg running around the block, taking a hike, etc). Do this especially if you feel like you might be on the verge of breaking down midway through. You can do it. The information is in your brain even if you think it isn't. Good luck!


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[TBV]

You're set man focus on the high yield stuff until the test and take the damn thing.

 

[sebastopublican]

Thanks to you both. I'm going to give it my best...I wish I could take another NBME to see how things stand, but it seems like a huge waste of time right now.

 

[Blue Flame]

I would actually recommend taking one final NBME (preferably 17 or 18 if you haven't done them already) to see where you stand going into the exam. They are the absolute best predictors of how you are going to do on the real deal and the last one you took was 3 weeks ago, which was before your acute stress episode. While the UWSAs are undoubtedly good practice tests and also have explanations, they do not compare with the NBMEs in terms of score prediction. It does sound like continuing to study for this exam is causing you more stress than it might be worth based on your goals, but if it were me in your shoes, I would still want some insurance that I'm around my goal score before going into the exam. Also, if you are on the fence for your goal score, I would spend a little time (maybe an hour or so) browsing through the "Free 150" (not actually 150 questions now) practice test on the NBME website and making sure you are familiar with the questions and answers. Whenever people mention that they had repeat questions (or repeat stems with different questions) on the real deal, this practice test seems to be cited more often than any other one and it just might net you a few questions on the real deal. Just my two cents. Best of luck with the exam!

 

[Bobcat18]

You'll be fine, OP! At this point the best thing to do is keep your confidence up and relax- you'll do great! Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[Kazaki]

You're gonna do fine just chill!

 

[MudPhud20XX]

you will be fine man. just make sure you review "rapid review" in the back of First Aid before you take the exam. I find this very helpful. good luck!

 

[mymembernames]

Maybe take another NBME and if you're not happy then ask your school if you can push it back?

 

[breadlover72]

Honestly, just take it and do the best you can. I postponed 3 times because of my anxiety. Probably hurt me more than helped me. Just get it over with, you'll be fine!

 

[sebastopublican]

Hey guys...just took the free 138 practice questions (untimed because I'm tired!) and got 86%. Feel so tired, but I feel like there is so much to review...better to rest or have a shot at reviewing weak areas?