NBPME part I: Best review materials and strategies?

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Feli

Feli

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I'm sure this has been done to death in the past, but I searched and actually didn't find a whole lot. I know it's a Lot of questions, but maybe this could be a boards suggestion and Q&A thread that could help a lot of 2nd year students on this forum. If anyone who has passed part I recently wants to take a couple mins to share what helped them, it would be appreciated...

So far, I have the following books which I think I'll be using for boards:
-First Aid for the USMLE (2005 since it is by subject and I heard it is better to navigate)
-BRS series (Physio, Path, Pharm, BioCh, Histo, Neuro, Gross Anat)
-Crashing the Boards
-Pocket Podiatrics (Watkins)
-Netter atlas and McMinn Foot and Ankle atlas
-class notes

The breakdown for 2007's exam is stated by the NBPME as:
10% Gross/Histo/Neuro/20% LEA/10% BioCh/15% Physio/15% Micro/15% Path/15% Pharm

I've made good marks so far (esp anat and physio), and the sample board exam questions were not terribly difficult for me (are they representative or not?). However, I've heard that some of the pathologies and medications which you may run into on the boards might be unfamiliar and you need to compensate by missing very few anat questions.

Also, how did you feel about the time limits during the exam? I'm generally a pretty fast test taker, but a few people have told me that they felt a bit crunched for time.
 
Feli said:
I'm sure this has been done to death in the past, but I searched and actually didn't find a whole lot. I know it's a Lot of questions, but maybe this could be a boards suggestion and Q&A thread that could help a lot of 2nd year students on this forum. If anyone who has passed part I recently wants to take a couple mins to share what helped them, it would be appreciated...

So far, I have the following books which I think I'll be using for boards:
-First Aid for the USMLE (2005 since it is by subject and I heard it is better to navigate)
-BRS series (Physio, Path, Pharm, BioCh, Histo, Neuro, Gross Anat)
-Pocket Podiatrics (Watkins)
-Netter atlas and McMinn Foot and Ankle atlas
-class notes

The breakdown for 2007's exam is stated by the NBPME as:
10% Gross/Histo/Neuro/20% LEA/10% BioCh/15% Physio/15% Micro/15% Path/15% Pharm

At Barry, we have classes Tue/Th all the way May-July, but we get to choose June, July, or August off from M/W/F clinics. I chose June so that I'll have plenty of time to study before the boards and my clinics. I've made good marks so far (esp anat and physio), and the sample board exam questions were not terribly difficult for me (are they representative or not?). However, I've heard that some of the pathologies and medications which you may run into on the boards might be unfamiliar and you need to compensate by missing very few anat questions.

Still, I'm not particularly worried about passing the boards, and I want to mainly study in June so that I know a lot when I enter the clinincs in July (anat, path, and pharm of course, but what else?). Neuro is probably what I feel to be my weakest area (my only C), but thankfully it's very low yield...

What other books did you guys find helpful and which do you think were the highest yield for both the exam and when you started rotations? The highest recommendations I've heard so far were for the First Aid, Pocket Podiatrics, and our LEA notes.

Also, how did you feel about the time limits during the exam? I'm generally a pretty fast test taker, but a few people have told me that they felt a bit crunched for time.
Click to expand...

I didn't have an issue with the time limit. I think that you have covered all of the main study material. I used First Aid and Kaplan study guides.
 
My buddy said he just got the USMLE book and combined it with his lower extremity notes and he passed no problem.
 
Thanks for the good replies, guys.

bdaddyjolley said:
My buddy said he just got the USMLE book and combined it with his lower extremity notes and he passed no problem.
Click to expand...
^I have actually heard the exact same thing from a few good upper class students. They have told me that if you worked hard and got a good GPA in the first two years of pod school, you will really have little trouble on the exam. They stated that it is fairly hard, but most decent students pass.

I guess I just wanted to cover all the bases and do as well as I can on the exam.

Out of curiousity, has anyoe who passed ever requested their scores afterward? The NBPME bulletin ( http://www.nbpme.org/PDFs/Bulletin2007final.pdf - page 8) states that you can get your numerical score and category breakdown for $35 after the test. They also state that the test is meant only to determine pass/fail of competency standards and that the result should not be used for job, extern, residency, etc placements. Still, it sounds like some training programs do bend the rules a bit during externships or interviews by asking students how they will rank the program, offering them the residency if they accept on-the-spot, etc... do any residencies or externships ever want to know your actual score?

I guess I'm just looking to make the most of my time in my June month off since I'll only have class two days per week. That is a time when I can really get a ton of studying done. I think I could certainly pass the NBPME part I if I brush up on basic sciences a bit, but is there any point to really crushing the exam and scoring high? Would most of that June time possibly be better spent reading McGlamary, Principles of Practice of Pod Med, Pocket Podiatrics, and my Bates Physical Exam and DeGowin Diagnostic Exam books which may not help a ton for boards but would ensure that I really look like an all-star in clinic when I start? I'm beginning to think that emphasizing the clinical stuff might actually go further and possibly increase my chances of landing one of the half dozen clinical scholarships given out annually to top 3rd year clinical students at my school...
 
Dr_Feelgood said:
I didn't have an issue with the time limit. I think that you have covered all of the main study material. I used First Aid and Kaplan study guides.
Click to expand...


How do you get the Kaplan study guides?
 
Right place, right time. They've been given to Dr_Nick in your class. If you are not sure who that is ask Kyle. Maybe your class can sure them.
 
You guys are just talking about Kaplan study guides for the USMLE, right?

Kaplan doesn't make a study guide specifically for the NBPME exams, do they?
 
Yes we are talking about the Kaplan stuff for the USMLE.
 
The Kaplan guides were for the COMLEX but I'm sure biochem is biochem. I had all of the books except OMM.
 
Dr_Feelgood said:
The Kaplan guides were for the COMLEX but I'm sure biochem is biochem. I had all of the books except OMM.
Click to expand...

Do you guys at DMU-CPMS learn any OMM? I heard a rumor that you get to encounter a few alternative Podiatric treatments. However, I thought that you had your own Podiatric Medicine classes when the DO students have their OMM.
 
doclm said:
Do you guys at DMU-CPMS learn any OMM? I heard a rumor that you get to encounter a few alternative Podiatric treatments. However, I thought that you had your own Podiatric Medicine classes when the DO students have their OMM.
Click to expand...

We do learn OMM for the lower extremity. It is with our clinics of podiatric medicine class. It is short but we actually are certified and can perform OMM on our patients. It is crazy to me, but I'm thinking I'll leave my healing hands out of the OMM arena.
 
Dr_Feelgood said:
We do learn OMM for the lower extremity. It is with our clinics of podiatric medicine class. It is short but we actually are certified and can perform OMM on our patients. It is crazy to me, but I'm thinking I'll leave my healing hands out of the OMM arena.
Click to expand...

Well, thats cool. I'm sure that the OMM of the LE helped you learn the dynamics of the musculoskeletal biomechanics. I have heard of a DPM around Chicago who will use some alternative methods in clinic.
 
Dr_Feelgood said:
Right place, right time. They've been given to Dr_Nick in your class. If you are not sure who that is ask Kyle. Maybe your class can sure them.
Click to expand...

Hyle Kaffner has them. No not really. Nelson has them. I am sure I can scrounge up some from 3rd year DOs. I will ask around. I actually have a guy in mind. He will probably only charge me a kidney for it. But, the ability to pass the boards is worth it
 
I found another pretty good review book: Crashing the Boards by Ben Yeh, and am gonna edit my orig post to add it in. The book is 6-10yrs old depending on which edition you get, but the info hasn't really changes all that much and its age means you can find used copies for only $5-15 on amazon or half. I'm working tonight, so I've been paging through it and am pretty impressed at how good it is. I learn well from reproducible diagrams and flow charts, and it has many of them.

It's very slim and a good book to stuff in your bookbag or car to read anywhere you have 15min to spare. I can't imagine the detail level is totally sufficient for most areas, but it focuses on the highest yield topics and buzzwords. I like to read it in combo with First Aid, Clin Micro Made Simple, BRS series, etc so I can dig deeper if it doesn't cover enough. Still, I think it's definetly worth the low price.

krabmas said:
don't forget buzz words.
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I've heard the USMLE is making a strong move away from buzz words (ie: they'd maybe now it says "hairy moles present at birth" instead of "cafe au-lait spots" like they did in past years).

Does the NBPME still seem to use many buzz words, though? Which subjects mainly?
 
used usmle for micro/infec dis./ class notes for pharm (antibiotics), lean and physio and that was it studied about 3 weeks and passed without any problems. good luck, i am sure you will do fine.
 
I'm bumping this thread for all of the class of 2011 people out there. Any real changes in 2 years. Are First Aid and Lower notes really sufficient?

Also - how many hours a day do people study?
 
I took the practice test and I was surprised that they had some embryology questions thrown in (i.e. timing of limb bud formation, primitive lumbosacral plexus etc). The class before me warned me about this but I thought they were referring to ossification timing of the foot bones... guess i was wrong.

No you're not alone my friend. We are cramming outside of our clinical time here in california! And we have clinics everyday!! But I do enjoy the comraderie.
 
Thank goodness. It feels better to know other people on SDN are going through the same. That sounds kinda rough, clinics plus board preparation, yikes! When did you guys start daily clinicals?

I'm mainly using BRS books and my lower notes with a little First Aid, plus BRS flashcards. Hmmm, I may have to go over embryology soon.
 
PodunkUDPM said:
Thank goodness. It feels better to know other people on SDN are going through the same. That sounds kinda rough, clinics plus board preparation, yikes! When did you guys start daily clinicals?

I'm mainly using BRS books and my lower notes with a little First Aid, plus BRS flashcards. Hmmm, I may have to go over embryology soon.
Click to expand...

Let's see, after our last final of 2nd year....we started daily clinics the next business day, lol. It's kinda rough for the guys in surgery or internal medicine since they have on-call schedules. But there are lots of down time where we can do some serious reading (such as now).

I'm using my class notes for anatomy, LEA, and pharm. USMLE for everything else. Works well for me. Alright, cram time. Good luck with you and everybody else out there in our situation.
 
streetsweeper said:
Let's see, after our last final of 2nd year....we started daily clinics the next business day, lol. It's kinda rough for the guys in surgery or internal medicine since they have on-call schedules. But there are lots of down time where we can do some serious reading (such as now).

I'm using my class notes for anatomy, LEA, and pharm. USMLE for everything else. Works well for me. Alright, cram time. Good luck with you and everybody else out there in our situation.
Click to expand...

😕 On Call for students who just finished 2nd year. wow thats interesting. what school do you attend?
 
cool_vkb said:
so wat do you guys do interms of patient care when you are "on call".
Click to expand...

refer to PM for details. But for surgery, you're on call mainly to assist (first assist). For internal medicine, you'd do everything you'd normally do for the rotation even when on call. follow patients from admittance until discharge.
 
Can any body tell me how hard is the real test (NBPME 1) compared to the free practice material on the NBPME web site (same meterial sent with the exam permit). Thank You
 
PharoPod said:
Can any body tell me how hard is the real test (NBPME 1) compared to the free practice material on the NBPME web site (same meterial sent with the exam permit). Thank You
Click to expand...
The sample questions are usually retired questions that were used 5-10+ years ago. The exam has undergone some major reforms since then, but they give you a general idea of question format/setup and what to expect.

I thought the real exam's Qs were harder than the practice ones when I took pt1 in 2007, but I haven't seen this year's practice set. Like any standardized exam that covers a broad range of topics, there will be some cupcake questions, a lot of fair yet challenging ones, and a few that are very tough and you will have to make an educated guess.

My main advice for pt1 is to just know your anatomy... esp LEA, but also major nerve trunks, coronary pump/circulation. The anatomy questions were straightforward and not too hard if you did well in the courses and reviewed before the boards. Crushing anatomy helps since it's the most heavily represented, and that will make up for missing some of the more obscure questions in pharm or micro.
 
Feli said:
The sample questions are usually retired questions that were used 5-10+ years ago. The exam has undergone some major reforms since then, but they give you a general idea of question format/setup and what to expect.

I thought the real exam's Qs were harder than the practice ones when I took pt1 in 2007, but I haven't seen this year's practice set. Like any standardized exam that covers a broad range of topics, there will be some cupcake questions, a lot of fair yet challenging ones, and a few that are very tough and you will have to make an educated guess.

My main advice for pt1 is to just know your anatomy... esp LEA, but also major nerve trunks, coronary pump/circulation. The anatomy questions were straightforward and not too hard if you did well in the courses and reviewed before the boards. Crushing anatomy helps since it's the most heavily represented, and that will make up for missing some of the more obscure questions in pharm or micro.
Click to expand...


Great Help. Thanks 🙂
 
So we've had a week off so far to study for part 1. Rather than what I've done for the past 2 years, which is try to figure out which minute details from the class notes are going to be tested so I can make a better grade, now my focus is on integrating the basic information and actually taking the time to put it all together and think about it at my own pace. I think I've learned more in the past week than I have in any several week period of cramming the minutia for tests. I know I learned a lot in the first two years and it just seems to be this way, and that there's a long way to go. But it feels like it's not until the rat race of classes are over that you can really assimilate all the information and make sense of it. Does anyone else feel the same?
 
Good luck to all those taking Part I tomorrow! I am sure we will all do just fine...though it is pretty nerve racking :scared:
 
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