I saw that there was a similar thread for 2011 that had plenty of useful info so I figured its best to start one for 2012. 👍
Official 2012 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread
- Thread starter amavir281
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2012
- Messages
- 176
- Reaction score
- 75
Great scores guys. So both of you seemed to score well above your NBME average. Can you comment on how comparable the real deal was to the NBMEs you took? Do you think the real exam was a little bit easier, or do you think you were just more focused and "in the zone" on test day? Or was God just really, really, really nice to you that day? lol
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
I was wondering myself if I were to start wearing a yarmulke if that would add one or two points (yes, I'm Jewish).
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 0
nbmes are NOTHING like the real exam. what a f*cking rip off that whole thing is. UWORLD is almost exactly like the test. except the test will feel harder. doesn't matter though because your score is based on how everyone else does on those same questions. So if the avg is 40% correct, and you get 45% correct, you did great (those are not realistic percentages....just an example).
Uworld even LOOKS more like the real test than NBME. I don't understand that crap. Oh well. nbme 13 probably the most similar though, but still not as similar to the real thing as Uworld.
Test will feel harder than any bank you've ever done though. I didn't feel like i had any easy blocks. and I was marking like 50% of the questions.
Oh yeah one last thing.....the heart sound questions have a fxn that allow you to listen to ALL FOUR SPOTS on the chest. that freaked me out because no practice question i have encountered has had that. The function lets you click the Aortic, Pulm, Tricus, or Mitral spot on a cartoon chest and hear the sounds. DON"T WASTE TOO MUCH Fing TIME ON THIS. I almost shot myself in the foot because i was sitting their trying to listen to each spot 2 or 3 times. quickly solve these if you can using the clinical vignette. otherwise, make ur best guess from what you remember from first aid and MOVE ON.
Uworld even LOOKS more like the real test than NBME. I don't understand that crap. Oh well. nbme 13 probably the most similar though, but still not as similar to the real thing as Uworld.
Test will feel harder than any bank you've ever done though. I didn't feel like i had any easy blocks. and I was marking like 50% of the questions.
Oh yeah one last thing.....the heart sound questions have a fxn that allow you to listen to ALL FOUR SPOTS on the chest. that freaked me out because no practice question i have encountered has had that. The function lets you click the Aortic, Pulm, Tricus, or Mitral spot on a cartoon chest and hear the sounds. DON"T WASTE TOO MUCH Fing TIME ON THIS. I almost shot myself in the foot because i was sitting their trying to listen to each spot 2 or 3 times. quickly solve these if you can using the clinical vignette. otherwise, make ur best guess from what you remember from first aid and MOVE ON.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 0
I'm saying that you have to know as much as you can about each disease and all that stuff is in first aid. The practice questions, in my point of view, are a TOOL to help you LEARN first aid. The practice questions help you to recognize what kinds of things are important. But memorizing the answers to all the questions won't necessarily get you a good score. It might, but they keep finding new ways to ask about old diseases. The only way to do well is to really focus on first aid, taking notes and checking to make sure you've memorized stuff to a reasonable degree.
In short, if the choice is between doing Uworld a 2nd time or reading first aid for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th time, I would always chose reading first aid.
let me qualify this by saying that I always used to spruce up my FA reading experience by throwing in 5-10 Uworld questions ON THE SUBJECT THAT I WAS CURRENTLY READING IN FIRST AID that I had gotten wrong or hadn't done yet after reading every 4 or so pages of first aid. This helped me to figure out if I was really memorizing and learning the important stuff or just going through it in a brain dead fashion. kept me on my toes
Well I just got my result. And I'm sad. After scoring over 250 in NBME 11 and 9, and 260 in the USMLEworld simulated test, finish UW qbank with 84% and Kaplan with 77% I got 236 in my exam. Way lower than every test I took.
While taking the exam I had tons of anatomy and histology images, also path. I was freaking out, because I ignore studying images during my prep. Also tons of endocrinology, I did great in it seems like according to the performance. My advice: Images, images, images
While taking the exam I had tons of anatomy and histology images, also path. I was freaking out, because I ignore studying images during my prep. Also tons of endocrinology, I did great in it seems like according to the performance. My advice: Images, images, images
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2007
- Messages
- 715
- Reaction score
- 2
Where would you recommend to study images off from? Webpath?
I think the real deal was different than the NBMEs and the UWSAs. IMO NBMEs had many Q's that were not covered in FA. UWSA Q's were more consistent with FA but required too much deep thinking.
My real deal was more like 90% of Q's totally answerable by FA, and most Q's required just 1 step thinking, unlike Uworld or UWSA. Also I feel like the majority of Q's contained buzzwords.
Having said that, I do admit that I still felt like I failed the test when I walked out from the testing center because I knew I missed many simple questions. Also I was definitely not in a good condition on test day. In fact I had hard time listening to the murmurs over my 180 bpm pounding heart sound.
Been reading some strategies that people have been using, and I have to say, some of you have some incredible discipline and will power. I couldn't keep up studying any more than 5-6 hrs a day for 3 weeks. Maybe 8hr day once in a while, but some people on this thread just amaze me.
For most people, though, I'm not sure how helpful those strategies are. I think you just have to find what works for you, and the first 2 years in med school should be enough to figure that out. I didn't read anything on SDN while studying, disregarded about 95% of the advices that other people gave me on how to study for step 1, and went with what worked for me. Some of the things people are suggesting on this thread were just downright insane and undoable for most people, I think. People who can go that hard at it, you do deserve scores well into 260s and 270s.
My strategy was just working hard for classes, and doing qbanks. I read explanations to every questions that I did. I only read embryo section once out of FA, and didn't really read any other section. No BRS, gave up on doing DIT, read pathoma for my pathology final at school, but never really listened to the lectures online. Never listened to Goljian or read RR. Simply too many resources out there, and I realized early I couldn't cover 20% of them. Stuff like listening to lectures/studying while running/biking/lifting weights was not something I was willing to do. I needed those times for complete relaxation and taking my mind off of school work. Spent a lot of time with family, enjoyed home-cooked meals everyday, no studying on Sundays, and limited studying to 5-6hrs/day. Never tried a full-length practice exam because I didn't really see any benefit in it. If you've taken NBME exams before, you already are familiar with the test format.
I personally think if you can keep your stress level to minimum, you become that much more efficient when you study. For most people, I think you can handle only so much stress, and beyond that, it becomes counterproductive.
For most people, though, I'm not sure how helpful those strategies are. I think you just have to find what works for you, and the first 2 years in med school should be enough to figure that out. I didn't read anything on SDN while studying, disregarded about 95% of the advices that other people gave me on how to study for step 1, and went with what worked for me. Some of the things people are suggesting on this thread were just downright insane and undoable for most people, I think. People who can go that hard at it, you do deserve scores well into 260s and 270s.
My strategy was just working hard for classes, and doing qbanks. I read explanations to every questions that I did. I only read embryo section once out of FA, and didn't really read any other section. No BRS, gave up on doing DIT, read pathoma for my pathology final at school, but never really listened to the lectures online. Never listened to Goljian or read RR. Simply too many resources out there, and I realized early I couldn't cover 20% of them. Stuff like listening to lectures/studying while running/biking/lifting weights was not something I was willing to do. I needed those times for complete relaxation and taking my mind off of school work. Spent a lot of time with family, enjoyed home-cooked meals everyday, no studying on Sundays, and limited studying to 5-6hrs/day. Never tried a full-length practice exam because I didn't really see any benefit in it. If you've taken NBME exams before, you already are familiar with the test format.
I personally think if you can keep your stress level to minimum, you become that much more efficient when you study. For most people, I think you can handle only so much stress, and beyond that, it becomes counterproductive.
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2012
- Messages
- 176
- Reaction score
- 75
I know its not what you wanted but it's still a solid score. With good grades in clinicals and a strong step 2 score theres no reason why you can't get the residency you want. Good luck and congrats on officially being done with Step 1!!
Writing this as a thank you for all the advice I have received from SDN over the past year preparing for step 1. My results came in on Wednesday and I got a 244. I am very happy with that score and while not quite at the SDN average I thought I would share how I prepared/wish I had prepared for Step 1.
I am a very average medical student. We take tests every 2-3 weeks at my med school. I typically took the first week off, and studied like hell the second week and made A's and B's my first 2 years. I say all of this to as a preface to my study schedule because I think a 244 outkicked my coverage so to say. So here are my resources, thoughts, and general outline - I took my test June 25th.
1. First aid - read before each module of material in 2nd year. Lightly annotated the book and corrected the errors (20 pgs worth in FA 2012). In late February-May I would try to read 20 pages every 2-3 days. Starting from the beginning. Focusing on areas I was weak in such as biochem and micro. Focused on the big ideas and general areas I was uncomfortable with.
2. February - Bought Kaplan Q bank. Started doing questions as a way to prepare for my tests as well as review older material. Did ~50 ?s a week during school and 1200 before my dedicated study period. A lot of the questions are nit picky and small detail oriented - Dont let this intimidate you. Some of the questions are very helpful but some come off as absurd. It was a good way for me to start thinking about NBME and it motivated me to start studying.
3. May - We have 9 weeks b/t end of class and Step 1. I looked on SDN and planned a schedule for 7 weeks of dedicated study. The first week after the end of the semester our school does some review lectures and an end of the year test so I didnt count that as dedicated studying time.
Dedicated studying
4. Doctors in training
- I didn't listen to SDN freaked out and purchased DIT. Its a solid learning tool but by no means is it a great resource. I am not an organized person so it did organize my first pass and first 4 weeks. I finished DIT in ~18 days taking the weekends to review material and do questions to stay on track to finish UWORLD 2x. I would listen to the lectures, somewhat answer the pre/post test questions and move on. There are ~25 really good lectures that were very helpful, some of the others are pretty low yield and taxing. Things like PSYCH I would listen to at 1.5 speed. I would read the FA material for each lecture before I listened to and after I listened to the lecture. This did help pound FA into my head.
5. Pathoma - Wish I had purchased pathoma during the school year. Listened to pathoma after my DIT lectures for appropriate topics. Finished Pathoma in ~3 weeks. Really helped me with Heme which was a terrible subject for me. Also the histo slides and Dr. Sattar in general were great helps to me. Strongly recommend this resource more as a supplement to studying. Listened to Pathoma a 2nd time through before my test.
6. UWORLD - Started out doing 20-30?s a day during my DIT lectures. I am not a slow test taker so I was never concerned with time on Step 1. Answering on tutor mode allowed me to figure out the answer and remember why my thought process was correct/incorrect at the time. Obviously this is a must have resource and I went through it twice before Step 1. I would occasionally review marked and missed questions on the weekends and look for trends in the subject material I was struggling with as a way to focus my reviews.
7. Finished DIT/Pathoma with 4 weeks before Step 1.
Had a written daily schedule for what I wanted to go though. Did a section/day of first aid. 2 days for Biochem and Micro. Upped my UWORLD questions to 75-100?s/day. I am also a learner that must write things out to learn. I would damn near copy all the high yield graphs and diagrams and outlined the rest of the FA section for the day. Just my style of learning. Finished this pass of FA and Pathoma with ~1.5 weeks left
8. NBMEs
NBME 7 - 1 month prior to step 1 - 221
NBME 11 - 1.5 weeks prior - 242
NBME 13 - 1 week prior. I didnt intend to take this test but at 5pm one day I had a Step 1 freakout and decided to take it before I went to bed 240 (just needed reassurance). Yes it was a very dumb way to take an NBME.
Saw several repeat questions from NBME practice tests on Step 1- a Visceral leshmanisis question I would have never got right unless I saw it on an NBME.
9. Week before the test - Reading troublesome first aid passages, and hitting high yield topics like Micro, clotting cascades, and any troublesome area. Focus on Pathology and Pharm. Few days before the test I did the immuno markers, intracellular signaling pathways, and pathology section - tons of rapid memorization that comes in handy on the test.
10. I listened to Gouljon in my car and used Rapid Review Gouljon for pictures as well as clarification. There is a lot of detail in the book but using it for troublesome sections is very helpful. Nephritic/Nephrotic syndromes and pictures. very good nutrition section, vitamins etc.
11. Lippencott pharm cards - reviewed the major areas of pharm on step 1 - Autonomics, Cardio, Neuro, Psych, Renal. Really wish I would have went over them more. I am not the best at pharm and hate studying it. Did ok on Step 1 but it was still one of my lowest disciplines.
What I wish I would have done more/less of:
1. Wish I would have been more disciplined or organized and not have to purchase DIT as a scheduling crutch/motivating tool
2. Finished Kaplan Q bank before UWORLD and dedicated studying.
3. More pharm cards
4. Dont listen to people once I had my schedule made up. Everyone is doing something different and if you change your mind mid course or let what others are doing make you panic it will. I certainly had some anxiety when I would listen to others.
5. Highly recommend UWORLD, FA, NBME, and Pathoma for primary study and then Gouljon for clarification and reinforcing weak areas.
My hours were 830-9 am - 11 pm. Generally Listened to audio in the mornings early afternoon. Read and did questions in the evening. Studied at my house, plenty of short breaks, 40 min lunch, and 1 hr dinner breaks. Always watched the 4th quarter of the NBA finals - remember you need some fun in your life. Exercises is impt etc. My roommate is a damn near genius and extremely disciplined (266) - bouncing questions off of him and trying to study at his rate was very helpful.
General Opinion on Step 1 - This test and preparation isnt fun. Just the truth. To me It was stressful and humbling. Plan to sacrifice 4-7 weeks and just embrace the process of grinding this out. Have a very small group of people you study around to pace yourself and have breaks. I took 2 full days off where I didnt do a single thing. Took these after NBMEs as a reward for the work I had done and recharge.
Post Test - Walked out feeling ok with the test. In the next 4 weeks my score progressively went down in my head. You only remember the ones you got wrong (put ezetimibe resorption in the large intestine not the small intestine - stuck with me for 4 weeks.) and very few of the ones you got right.
Hope this maybe helps 1 or 2 people out there. Its a stressful time and I feel that I did much better than my natural ability on the test. Like I said I am a very average student. Best of luck to everyone with step 1.
I am a very average medical student. We take tests every 2-3 weeks at my med school. I typically took the first week off, and studied like hell the second week and made A's and B's my first 2 years. I say all of this to as a preface to my study schedule because I think a 244 outkicked my coverage so to say. So here are my resources, thoughts, and general outline - I took my test June 25th.
1. First aid - read before each module of material in 2nd year. Lightly annotated the book and corrected the errors (20 pgs worth in FA 2012). In late February-May I would try to read 20 pages every 2-3 days. Starting from the beginning. Focusing on areas I was weak in such as biochem and micro. Focused on the big ideas and general areas I was uncomfortable with.
2. February - Bought Kaplan Q bank. Started doing questions as a way to prepare for my tests as well as review older material. Did ~50 ?s a week during school and 1200 before my dedicated study period. A lot of the questions are nit picky and small detail oriented - Dont let this intimidate you. Some of the questions are very helpful but some come off as absurd. It was a good way for me to start thinking about NBME and it motivated me to start studying.
3. May - We have 9 weeks b/t end of class and Step 1. I looked on SDN and planned a schedule for 7 weeks of dedicated study. The first week after the end of the semester our school does some review lectures and an end of the year test so I didnt count that as dedicated studying time.
Dedicated studying
4. Doctors in training
- I didn't listen to SDN freaked out and purchased DIT. Its a solid learning tool but by no means is it a great resource. I am not an organized person so it did organize my first pass and first 4 weeks. I finished DIT in ~18 days taking the weekends to review material and do questions to stay on track to finish UWORLD 2x. I would listen to the lectures, somewhat answer the pre/post test questions and move on. There are ~25 really good lectures that were very helpful, some of the others are pretty low yield and taxing. Things like PSYCH I would listen to at 1.5 speed. I would read the FA material for each lecture before I listened to and after I listened to the lecture. This did help pound FA into my head.
5. Pathoma - Wish I had purchased pathoma during the school year. Listened to pathoma after my DIT lectures for appropriate topics. Finished Pathoma in ~3 weeks. Really helped me with Heme which was a terrible subject for me. Also the histo slides and Dr. Sattar in general were great helps to me. Strongly recommend this resource more as a supplement to studying. Listened to Pathoma a 2nd time through before my test.
6. UWORLD - Started out doing 20-30?s a day during my DIT lectures. I am not a slow test taker so I was never concerned with time on Step 1. Answering on tutor mode allowed me to figure out the answer and remember why my thought process was correct/incorrect at the time. Obviously this is a must have resource and I went through it twice before Step 1. I would occasionally review marked and missed questions on the weekends and look for trends in the subject material I was struggling with as a way to focus my reviews.
7. Finished DIT/Pathoma with 4 weeks before Step 1.
Had a written daily schedule for what I wanted to go though. Did a section/day of first aid. 2 days for Biochem and Micro. Upped my UWORLD questions to 75-100?s/day. I am also a learner that must write things out to learn. I would damn near copy all the high yield graphs and diagrams and outlined the rest of the FA section for the day. Just my style of learning. Finished this pass of FA and Pathoma with ~1.5 weeks left
8. NBMEs
NBME 7 - 1 month prior to step 1 - 221
NBME 11 - 1.5 weeks prior - 242
NBME 13 - 1 week prior. I didnt intend to take this test but at 5pm one day I had a Step 1 freakout and decided to take it before I went to bed 240 (just needed reassurance). Yes it was a very dumb way to take an NBME.
Saw several repeat questions from NBME practice tests on Step 1- a Visceral leshmanisis question I would have never got right unless I saw it on an NBME.
9. Week before the test - Reading troublesome first aid passages, and hitting high yield topics like Micro, clotting cascades, and any troublesome area. Focus on Pathology and Pharm. Few days before the test I did the immuno markers, intracellular signaling pathways, and pathology section - tons of rapid memorization that comes in handy on the test.
10. I listened to Gouljon in my car and used Rapid Review Gouljon for pictures as well as clarification. There is a lot of detail in the book but using it for troublesome sections is very helpful. Nephritic/Nephrotic syndromes and pictures. very good nutrition section, vitamins etc.
11. Lippencott pharm cards - reviewed the major areas of pharm on step 1 - Autonomics, Cardio, Neuro, Psych, Renal. Really wish I would have went over them more. I am not the best at pharm and hate studying it. Did ok on Step 1 but it was still one of my lowest disciplines.
What I wish I would have done more/less of:
1. Wish I would have been more disciplined or organized and not have to purchase DIT as a scheduling crutch/motivating tool
2. Finished Kaplan Q bank before UWORLD and dedicated studying.
3. More pharm cards
4. Dont listen to people once I had my schedule made up. Everyone is doing something different and if you change your mind mid course or let what others are doing make you panic it will. I certainly had some anxiety when I would listen to others.
5. Highly recommend UWORLD, FA, NBME, and Pathoma for primary study and then Gouljon for clarification and reinforcing weak areas.
My hours were 830-9 am - 11 pm. Generally Listened to audio in the mornings early afternoon. Read and did questions in the evening. Studied at my house, plenty of short breaks, 40 min lunch, and 1 hr dinner breaks. Always watched the 4th quarter of the NBA finals - remember you need some fun in your life. Exercises is impt etc. My roommate is a damn near genius and extremely disciplined (266) - bouncing questions off of him and trying to study at his rate was very helpful.
General Opinion on Step 1 - This test and preparation isnt fun. Just the truth. To me It was stressful and humbling. Plan to sacrifice 4-7 weeks and just embrace the process of grinding this out. Have a very small group of people you study around to pace yourself and have breaks. I took 2 full days off where I didnt do a single thing. Took these after NBMEs as a reward for the work I had done and recharge.
Post Test - Walked out feeling ok with the test. In the next 4 weeks my score progressively went down in my head. You only remember the ones you got wrong (put ezetimibe resorption in the large intestine not the small intestine - stuck with me for 4 weeks.) and very few of the ones you got right.
Hope this maybe helps 1 or 2 people out there. Its a stressful time and I feel that I did much better than my natural ability on the test. Like I said I am a very average student. Best of luck to everyone with step 1.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
That's helps a lot. Thanks. I'll be sure to memorize (and understand) FA the best that I can.
What kind of anatomy?
And were the histology images not supported by clue-giving vignettes?
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,333
- Reaction score
- 24
When people say anatomy it can mean a lot of things. For me the highest yield anatomy areas (in descending order of importance)
1. Motor and sensor deficits when major nerve X is damaged at Y location. Including the vertebral levels that supply each nerve (yeah, they do get THAT nit picky).
2. Normal reflexes - achilles, patellar, biceps, etc. including vertebral levels that the reflex tests
3. Blood vessels - yeah, even the ******edly small branches, but only IF they supply an organ. the circumflex iliac artery ain't gonna be on the exam. superior adrenal just might, though.
4. Interpretation of simple chest and abdominal CTs - be able to identify a pancreas, duodenum vs jejunum, obstructed ureter, bicorunate uterus, steeple sign, thumb sign, Zencker's, double bubble, ileus, dextrocardia, osteosarcoma, avascular necrosis, etc.
Neuroanatomy is always extremely high yield, but I'd toss that in a separate category.
1. Motor and sensor deficits when major nerve X is damaged at Y location. Including the vertebral levels that supply each nerve (yeah, they do get THAT nit picky).
2. Normal reflexes - achilles, patellar, biceps, etc. including vertebral levels that the reflex tests
3. Blood vessels - yeah, even the ******edly small branches, but only IF they supply an organ. the circumflex iliac artery ain't gonna be on the exam. superior adrenal just might, though.
4. Interpretation of simple chest and abdominal CTs - be able to identify a pancreas, duodenum vs jejunum, obstructed ureter, bicorunate uterus, steeple sign, thumb sign, Zencker's, double bubble, ileus, dextrocardia, osteosarcoma, avascular necrosis, etc.
Neuroanatomy is always extremely high yield, but I'd toss that in a separate category.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,061
- Reaction score
- 238
thx GTP. I have no doubt you will do great on this test. Phloston is just ...... crazy. If I had another month I would have probably slacked off at the end and watch a lot of movies.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2007
- Messages
- 1,625
- Reaction score
- 21
I know this is addressed to Ijn, but the 2 questions I mentioned were not from Peds. So since it can be anything from 2CK content, not worth it to spend time to study IMHO.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
When I said images I meant CT scans, I had a neck arteriography that killed me. Also review basic histology. I had a question that asked what is the function of this organ, and I was supposed to identified it with the image and to the day I have no idea what it was.
Other than that, the exam was pretty similar to UW qbank, no need to panic!
Good luck everyonel!
Other than that, the exam was pretty similar to UW qbank, no need to panic!
Good luck everyonel!
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
I'm curious as to your histo now. If they don't give you any vignette it could be a mind-blower to try and play a guessing game.
If they zoom out a little so you can see some framework of the organ it can be a bit easier, but if they are zoomed up close then it could be difficult to tell what you're looking at. Ironically, I've found the best way to learn images is to know their descriptions verbally rather than trying to remember what they look like. For instance, I couldn't tell you what an ependymoma looks like as readily as I could tell you "pseudorosettes with rod-shaped, peri-nuclear, eosinophilic blepharoplasts (bacillary bodies)," so if I were to see an image, I would work off of my memory of descriptions first. This is one of the only things I really credit Big Robbin's with, because I know most of the book I've long forgotten, but some of the image descriptions have stayed. You would think "photographic" memory aspects would be > verbal ones, so it's a bit odd, I know.
The same applies for micro. When asked for whether a virus is icosahedral, enveloped, etc., the classification for the organism itself might not be as readily preconscious as the tree diagram from the Microcards may be. So then you work from the latter.
I'm also curious as to how the neck arteriography may have been tackled. FA and QBanks tend to focus a lot on carotid sheath relations and bifurcation points. I guess that trick would be to know the relations and then guess based on the image.
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2010
- Messages
- 700
- Reaction score
- 59
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll pm you my score a year from now lol
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2008
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 0
Anyone know of a good resource to learn the most important topics for neuroanatomy quickly (like in 1 day). It was taught horribly at my school, I did Kaplan and pathoma neuro (and obviously first aid) but kaplan seemed way too over-detailed. How are you guys approaching it? Thanks
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
I went through HY Neuroanatomy SECOND edition, which is actually a lot more concise (and better) in my opinion, versus the 5th edition, but the first chapter or so had great to-the-point cross-sections. I plan on going through these within the month of my exam.
Someone had actually posted this link a while ago: http://isc.temple.edu/neuroanatomy/lab/atlas/C1/
Maybe you'll also find that helpful.
And I actually haven't used Webpath for neuro, but I think that resource is good for gross cross-sections, if you feel you want a boost in that.
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2008
- Messages
- 2,326
- Reaction score
- 10
I can relate. I had a somewhat similar experience last week getting a score well below where all my practice exams had consistently been. Try not to let it stress you out. I know, I know, easier said than done, especially the first couple days, but it gets easier. You'll realize that this score does not define you and that it is still a good score. Importantly, your score will not get your application thrown in the trash for even most of the most competitive residencies...heck, even the most competitive specialties only have an average step 1 score slightly above your score meaning that craploads of people with scores lower than yours get into those fields. Just give yourself week or so and I'm sure you'll be feeling better.
Thanks Irkhoele! I've been thinking about that. I'm a IMG, and I was hoping to have a great score to have a greater chance to get into the programs I want. I want to to IM in an academic program, in a urban setting, so I'm kind of in the middle of the competitive spectrum. I still have ton of stuff to do and little time to feel sorry for my self!
Just got my score- thought I'd share bc I gained alot from other SDN users
Form 7 (March 9) = 228
Form 11 (April 28) = 235
Form 6 (May 13) = 235
Form 12 (June 3) = 247
Form 13 (June 12)= 257
Step 1 (June 16) = 260/89
What worked for me was doing lots of questions. I did all of Kaplan first, the UWorld - then redid my wrong in World and re-did about the other 60% of all of my correct questions in World. Then I started doing USMLERX - bc I wanted more questions. As you can see above, my 235 was stable for awhile. I was in the middle of doing DIT and basically I have come to the conclusion that DIT is to bring people up to passing or in the 220s. For me, DIT moved to slow on easy topics and sped through difficult topics. If you are towards the top of your class and often make Honors than High Pass you do not need DIT. In fact, I quit DIT half way through and then started doing self-study and more questions. I think this is why I started to move above 235. The key is studying and knowing your classes well for the first 2 years, then doing as many questions as you can get your hands on. I would start with USMLERX first around December/January, then Kaplan then World. USMLERX teaches you FirstAID. Oh, and I did about 7passes through First Aid over 5 months, but its hard to count, look at first aid as much as you can, basically almost memorize it. You have to re-do your wrong questions in world at the minimum. When I took Step1, it was as if I had seen the questions before or some derivative of them and it actually felt easier than an NBME. Try to do as many questions as possible, that way nothing surprises you. Oh, and pray alot and take time off along the way. Its a marathon, an endurance test. You need family and support and fun too or you will burn out. Don't be too hard on yourself in the beginning. I remember pulling 45% on several Kaplan subject tests like Micro. Just keep pushing just keep plugging away, and dont schedule your test too early. Give yourself time- this is the most important test of your career. I also listened to Goljan throughout 2nd year. Thats about it. PM me if you have any questions.
Form 7 (March 9) = 228
Form 11 (April 28) = 235
Form 6 (May 13) = 235
Form 12 (June 3) = 247
Form 13 (June 12)= 257
Step 1 (June 16) = 260/89
What worked for me was doing lots of questions. I did all of Kaplan first, the UWorld - then redid my wrong in World and re-did about the other 60% of all of my correct questions in World. Then I started doing USMLERX - bc I wanted more questions. As you can see above, my 235 was stable for awhile. I was in the middle of doing DIT and basically I have come to the conclusion that DIT is to bring people up to passing or in the 220s. For me, DIT moved to slow on easy topics and sped through difficult topics. If you are towards the top of your class and often make Honors than High Pass you do not need DIT. In fact, I quit DIT half way through and then started doing self-study and more questions. I think this is why I started to move above 235. The key is studying and knowing your classes well for the first 2 years, then doing as many questions as you can get your hands on. I would start with USMLERX first around December/January, then Kaplan then World. USMLERX teaches you FirstAID. Oh, and I did about 7passes through First Aid over 5 months, but its hard to count, look at first aid as much as you can, basically almost memorize it. You have to re-do your wrong questions in world at the minimum. When I took Step1, it was as if I had seen the questions before or some derivative of them and it actually felt easier than an NBME. Try to do as many questions as possible, that way nothing surprises you. Oh, and pray alot and take time off along the way. Its a marathon, an endurance test. You need family and support and fun too or you will burn out. Don't be too hard on yourself in the beginning. I remember pulling 45% on several Kaplan subject tests like Micro. Just keep pushing just keep plugging away, and dont schedule your test too early. Give yourself time- this is the most important test of your career. I also listened to Goljan throughout 2nd year. Thats about it. PM me if you have any questions.
Hey everyone just wanted to give hope to those who recently took their exam!!Took mine 6/28 and got my score back 7/18. Just wanted to say I felt that I did TERRIBLE on the exam adn that it was more difficult than the NBMEs but I ended up with a 251/87 which im very pleased with!on the practice nbmes i always scored in the low 240s or high 230s so if you took it recently and felt you did really bad its OK!! b/c thats how i felt and ended up doing much better than i thought!! 🙂
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2012
- Messages
- 176
- Reaction score
- 75
Well just took Step 1. It was hard...I was expecting more straightforward questions. I don't really know what else to say about it, lol. There were definitely a handful of super easy questions, a handful of WTF questions and the majority was just kinda hard. I also I had a decent amount of images, no video clips, and 2 heart sounds. In every section, I had about 10-15 marked questions..and I probably straight up guessed on 2-3 questions each section. So yeah I thought it was pretty difficult.
I'll post my practice tests scores before I forget about them.
NBME at end of MS2 (late April) - 189
NBME 6 at 4 weeks out - 221
Practice test at Prometrics 2.5 weeks out - 247 according to medfriends
NBME 11 at 2 weeks out - 238
NBME 12 at 1 week out - 226
USWA 3 days out - 238
Uworld average - 70%
As for how I studied - I took a live prep Kaplan course that was offered on my school campus. It was SUPER comprehensive and thorough, almost to the point where i felt like they were essentially reteaching MS1 and MS2. The books are so dense and heavy - halfway through the course I stopped using them and brought FA to lecture instead and annotated it with anything important they said. The professors were WONDERFUL with the exception of the biochem prof. We had White for anatomy, Daugherty for behavioral sciences, Reubush for Micro/Immuno, Raymon for Pharm, Kudrath for Physio, Barone for path, Hansen for micro, and then Raymon again for review cases. The only thing that was weird was that you had to adjust to each professor's teaching style. Some professors ONLY talked about HY stuff, and some literally retaught the whole course from beginning to end. Dr. John Barone for Pathology was very entertaining and had lots of great mnemonics. He seriously made lecture fun. His EKG dance and "Pathology of the stars" - absolutely brilliant. But if you are easily offended by sex jokes and the like, then Barone's class not for you, LOL!
The course itself was super tiring though. It was from 8-5 and I was usually so burnt out in the afternoon that I really couldn't start studying/doing questions until later in the evening. The reason I took a live prep course was because I'm a Caribbean student and I was unsure about whether our basic sciences classes adequately taught us the material for Step 1. Actually it turns our education WAS adequate. There was nothing in Kaplan (with the exception of a few random factoids here and there) that hadn't been taught to us. I liked the live course because it forced me to stay on track with the material. There's a lot more I could say about the live prep course but I'm too lazy to type more so please PM me or reply here if you want to know something specific about it. I'll make sure to update you guys after I get my score back.
We'll see how I do. Hopefully I did okay and this insane Kaplan course paid off......super nervous but I'm gonna try and forget about all this for now and enjoy my weekend.
good luck to future test takers.
I'll post my practice tests scores before I forget about them.
NBME at end of MS2 (late April) - 189
NBME 6 at 4 weeks out - 221
Practice test at Prometrics 2.5 weeks out - 247 according to medfriends
NBME 11 at 2 weeks out - 238
NBME 12 at 1 week out - 226
USWA 3 days out - 238
Uworld average - 70%
As for how I studied - I took a live prep Kaplan course that was offered on my school campus. It was SUPER comprehensive and thorough, almost to the point where i felt like they were essentially reteaching MS1 and MS2. The books are so dense and heavy - halfway through the course I stopped using them and brought FA to lecture instead and annotated it with anything important they said. The professors were WONDERFUL with the exception of the biochem prof. We had White for anatomy, Daugherty for behavioral sciences, Reubush for Micro/Immuno, Raymon for Pharm, Kudrath for Physio, Barone for path, Hansen for micro, and then Raymon again for review cases. The only thing that was weird was that you had to adjust to each professor's teaching style. Some professors ONLY talked about HY stuff, and some literally retaught the whole course from beginning to end. Dr. John Barone for Pathology was very entertaining and had lots of great mnemonics. He seriously made lecture fun. His EKG dance and "Pathology of the stars" - absolutely brilliant. But if you are easily offended by sex jokes and the like, then Barone's class not for you, LOL!
The course itself was super tiring though. It was from 8-5 and I was usually so burnt out in the afternoon that I really couldn't start studying/doing questions until later in the evening. The reason I took a live prep course was because I'm a Caribbean student and I was unsure about whether our basic sciences classes adequately taught us the material for Step 1. Actually it turns our education WAS adequate. There was nothing in Kaplan (with the exception of a few random factoids here and there) that hadn't been taught to us. I liked the live course because it forced me to stay on track with the material. There's a lot more I could say about the live prep course but I'm too lazy to type more so please PM me or reply here if you want to know something specific about it. I'll make sure to update you guys after I get my score back.
We'll see how I do. Hopefully I did okay and this insane Kaplan course paid off......super nervous but I'm gonna try and forget about all this for now and enjoy my weekend.
good luck to future test takers.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1,315
- Reaction score
- 427
Got my score on Wed and haven't been able to find the time to post: 247
Can't complain. I was hoping to break through 250, but after the exam I found myself praying for >230. The amount of weight lifted off my shoulders when I opened up that pdf was intense. Looking at the 2011 charting outcomes data, the field is wide open and I could even go for plastics if I wanted. I've been really looking into ortho and ent, so this should be plenty fine. Long day of golf and drinking ahead of me today to celebrate 😀
Looking back, I hit a wall early on as I started my 4 wks of dedicated studying. My UW avg was 80% and didn't change the whole time going through the qbank. My NBME's didn't steadily climb. The only thing I wish I had done was to do another q bank during the year with my classes or even did UW earlier and repeat it during step study time and I think that may have pushed some additional info into my head during the year. Just never seemed to find the time.
My favorite resource was gunner training. I have problems absorbing material and need it repeated again and again for it to stick. When I didn't remember something, this program grabbed me by the collar and bit**-slapped the step material into my head. I've actually continued using it into MS3 and it's actually saved me on some pimp questions, especially on drugs. If I could only pick 2 more resources, UW and Pathoma would take those slots. I got 1 yr with Pathoma for $69 and it's something you can watch with your classes and within a few days during board studying. Go through it at least once.
Not much else to say, but thanks to one of my biggest resources, SDN. The people on these boards are amazing and I really hope I wind up working with some of these posters one day. I've benefited tremendously from this thread, so I'll try to check back as I move forward and offer advice. To anyone reading, please feel free to PM me with any questions.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2012
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 1
Great job, old sport.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 0
is it just me or is everyone getting 240+?
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 367
- Reaction score
- 3
Been busy with my first rotation, but have been meaning to post since I received my real score over a week ago. Ended up with a 264, so right on with NBME 11 and 13. Was hoping to crack 270, but I'm pretty relieved that I lived up to my practice scores considering I took the real deal on about 3 hours of sleep. Good luck to everyone in the future!
If it makes you feel better, I got a 214. I'm not necessarily happy about it (my second UWSA was in the 230s), but it could have been a lot worse. Since I'm looking at EM, it's a "doesn't help, doesn't hurt" score.
- Joined
- May 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1,315
- Reaction score
- 427
On SDN, yes. You're considered lazy if you're below 260. Try to remember that the national avg is down in the 220's or so. Even at that level, you're still good for a multitude of specialties. 2011 data below:
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
Thanks for the post. Good job on the exam.
On SDN, yes. You're considered lazy if you're below 260 on these boards. Try to remember that the national avg is down in the 220's or so. Even at that level, you're still good for a multitude of specialties. 2011 data below:
I hadn't realized that 1/4 of AMGs in plastic surgery scored above 259. That just reinforces the fact that PDs at big name schools care a lot about 260+.
I'm looking to do gen surg. I'm a bit surprised that only 1/4 of AMGs in this category scored 240+. I would think the competition would be stronger than that (or perhaps the programs are just much more numerous). I guess this demonstrates that higher scores for PS are more about getting into that specialty, period, whereas higher ones for GS are likely to be much more predictive of residency location.
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,333
- Reaction score
- 24
Plastic surgery is just ******ed in general. With a 260+ you still have a 30-40% chance of not matching into a single program. Thankfully I don't have my heart set on that specialty, but I can imagine how many bullets those guys sweat 4th year.
Ah, Plastics. The one where for independent students a lower USMLE score is "better."
http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2011.pdf
There was a total of 25 people who applied and reported a USMLE score. The "best" chance was the 201-210 bracket where 2 of the 4 who applied matched. In contrast, 2/8 matched in the 231-241 bracket and 1/5 in the 241-261 group.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
The data is likely multi-confounded and doesn't mean much. People who score really high won't settle for a location they're not happy with, and would likely just apply to a few big-name PS programs, with top GS or other competitive specialties ranked higher than less-renowned PS programs. That would explain why some of the lower USMLE scorers were able to land PS. Location is very important when your score is strong. Ijn, with his 269, will now have to rely on strong research (yes, and obviously recs, etc.) to get him high onto the rank-list of a top PS program. Yet again, that score alone would likely get him onto the rank-list at a big-name school anyway.
...or it could be simply because there's a small number of spots and an even smaller number of independent applicants, which normally leads to screwy things with statistics (law of small numbers/hasty generalization fallacy). It's kinda of like saying that going from 1 to 2 is a larger change than from 10 to 12 because one is a 100% increase and the other is a 20% increase.
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2009
- Messages
- 353
- Reaction score
- 1
wrong thread
Last edited:
For those who have used Pathoma, do you think it's necessary to go through the book along with the videos?
Thinking of just watching the videos in between studying and adding any necessary info to FA to minimize the total number of resources I'm using...
Thinking of just watching the videos in between studying and adding any necessary info to FA to minimize the total number of resources I'm using...
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2011
- Messages
- 365
- Reaction score
- 20
There's a thread named "Pathoma", you should read it. This is way off-topic here,
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 3,880
- Reaction score
- 1,676
Reading a previous thread, stats isn't Phloston's strong spot
You're right. When I had finished USMLE Rx back in April, psychiatry, behavioral science and biostats were my worst three categories.
Fortunately, BRS Behavioral Science and HY Biostats have helped improve those areas. My review of BRS Behavioral (if you care and/or already haven't seen): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=920502
Good luck with your prep,
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2011
- Messages
- 365
- Reaction score
- 20
I think the real message we all should get from predictive exams (NBMEs and UWSA) is this: do NOT trust the UWSA as they - in a majority of cases - will overpredict; for NBME's, if you take one the week before your exam, you're most likely to improve your score a little, or at least score the same - again, in a majority of cases, as there are plenty of exceptions. But IMO these are good rules-of-thumb.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,061
- Reaction score
- 238
I doubt a 230 will kill you for optho. You just gotta make do with what you have. Do well 3rd yr. take step 2 earlier and do well. etc. I dont know how people fit in research 3rd year though. i come home exhausted every day... after a 12+ hr marathon
