A little confused?

[justkeepliving]

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So i am a first year who just finished his first semester.

I have a couple questions regarding my future studying/plans

1. What can I do during winter break to have a head start with my Step 1 studying?
   
   
2. Does every school take the NBME? If so - when do these exams take place? And what exactly are they?
   
   
3. My school does A/B/C/F grading - how do schools view our grades? As in 88 = B, so do they see the B or the 88? (I know grades matter very little in residency selection etc.)
   
   
4. I saw that for radiology and certain specialities, you need research/publications? Which specialty require this and is it necessary?\
   
   
5. Does anyone know of a Step 1 Study materials thread (on SDN or anywhere) for materials + schedule?
   

Thank you!

 

[bajastapler]

1) Don't. Why? you haven't learned enough to make it worthwhile. If you're absolutely set on doing it, then i would reocmmend possibly looking into biostats, but other than that don't. seriously. it's a poor use of your time. Very low yield. Poor cost/benefit.

2) -

3) boards > 3rd/4th year grades > LoR > Extra curriculars > > > 1st 2nd yr grades.

4) If you don't know wot u want. do research. TBH, most deadlines will have already passed or fast approaching. You better get on that now.

5) IMO board studying is school/curriculum dependent. Not everyone finishes at the same time. But generally speaking it's UFAP. Uworld. FA. Pathoma.

All these answers + moar can be found through the search function.

 

[hallowmann]

So i am a first year who just finished his first semester.

I have a couple questions regarding my future studying/plans

1. What can I do during winter break to have a head start with my Step 1 studying?
   
   
2. Does every school take the NBME? If so - when do these exams take place? And what exactly are they?
   
   
3. My school does A/B/C/F grading - how do schools view our grades? As in 88 = B, so do they see the B or the 88? (I know grades matter very little in residency selection etc.)
   
   
4. I saw that for radiology and certain specialities, you need research/publications? Which specialty require this and is it necessary?\
   
   
5. Does anyone know of a Step 1 Study materials thread (on SDN or anywhere) for materials + schedule?

Thank you!

Bajastapler already gave you some solid answers, but:

1) You really shouldn't be doing anything. The best thing you can do, if you want, is to review the material you've already covered. It'll be the base for what you learn next semester, and that'll be the base for 2nd year and board prep. Whatever phys, biochem, etc. you've covered, focus on having that stuff down. If you really want, you could probably ask second years what the schedule is like in 2nd semester of MS1 and skim some of that material, but I wouldn't go further than that.

2) Which NBME? There are lots of them. They are subject tests that are by the same people who make the USMLE (the NBME). They are standardized tests that focus on specific topics. We took one for anatomy in the fall of 1st year, we also recently took the NBOME shelf for OPP, and we will be taking like 5 more next semester about a month before boards that are on each of the major basic sciences subjects (pharm, path, phys, etc.). There are also NBMEs that are practice tests for the USMLE Step 1. They use old step 1 questions. I don't know if we have to take one, but I'm planning to before I take the step. There are also the clinical shelf exams that we take after core rotations in 3rd year.

As far as grading goes, I believe they are averaged on a score around 500, but you'll have to look at the specific exam and percentiles to know what that really means.

3) This is school specific, so you need to figure out what your school does. In my school, I think they see the letter grade for each course on our transcripts (along with a GPA). They also calculate a cumulative raw percent score, which they use for class ranking, and that I believe is mentioned in the dean's letter. Pre-clinical grades are pretty low on the list though of things PDs look for.

4) Research helps in almost every field, but is required by some programs or fields. You need to see what you're interested in for that. Try to get as much experience as you can, but keep in mind that you should really be interested in it, and your first priority right now is doing well in med school.

5) There is a Step 1 forum on SDN. Honestly, you can Google some methods for studying Step 1, like the Taus method or the modified Taus. That said what bajastapler said is right and most people use Uworld, first aid, and pathoma. Some people might also get a course like DIT or Kaplan. That all said, I wouldn't even consider looking at those until summer break.

 

[Instatewaiter]

So i am a first year who just finished his first semester.

I have a couple questions regarding my future studying/plans

1. What can I do during winter break to have a head start with my Step 1 studying?
   
   
2. Does every school take the NBME? If so - when do these exams take place? And what exactly are they?
   
   
3. My school does A/B/C/F grading - how do schools view our grades? As in 88 = B, so do they see the B or the 88? (I know grades matter very little in residency selection etc.)
   
   
4. I saw that for radiology and certain specialities, you need research/publications? Which specialty require this and is it necessary?\
   
   
5. Does anyone know of a Step 1 Study materials thread (on SDN or anywhere) for materials + schedule?

Thank you!

1) Research into what books are useful for step 1. Plan on getting them eventually. If you are really motivated perhaps peruse them just to figure out how they are organized (not to study). This will help to help you know what will be improtant to remember when you get to in during your courses.

2) No. If your school does, you will take them at the end of a class or rotation.

3) Schools will view your grades with regard to your class rank. There won't be a GPA scale because quite frankly it doesn't matter except where you stand within your class

4) Research is important for any residency at an academic institution and for any specialty that is competitive (even non-academic programs). For instance, ortho, ENT, plastics etc all like to see that you are adding to the science of the field.

5) Go to the step 1 section and search. There are a handful of ideas groups have. Look through them, peruse the different books at a bookstore and decide what you like.

 

[razor]

1. My school does A/B/C/F grading - how do schools view our grades? As in 88 = B, so do they see the B or the 88? (I know grades matter very little in residency selection etc.)

Call the registrar office and ask them. Or if you want to see it for yourself, order a transcript and have it sent to yourself.

My school ONLY shows each letter grade. A separate sheet has overall class rank and overall GPA.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

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