Advice for step 1 please!

[Lola Thomas]

So my school is trying this new thing where they are providing 4 separate NBME exams based on Pharm, Physio, Biochem, and Pathology. These are probably the same exams most med schools take after their block exams but for some reason our school does not. They are providing these 4 exams free of cost which is nice but each subject is spread out during our 6-week period of dedicating studying. One is like 2 weeks before my exam date. My question is: Will these be even helpful? We barely get any feedback, it would be more just for practice in doing questions. For the students who have taken these exams in these med school courses do you think the questions in these NBMEs are representative of Step 1-like questions? I don't know if I should waste my time doing these when I would rather take the full NBME exams, right?

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[ERDOC555]

So my school is trying this new thing where they are providing 4 separate NBME exams based on Pharm, Physio, Biochem, and Pathology. These are probably the same exams most med schools take after their block exams but for some reason our school does not. They are providing these 4 exams free of cost which is nice but each subject is spread out during our 6-week period of dedicating studying. One is like 2 weeks before my exam date. My question is: Will these be even helpful? We barely get any feedback, it would be more just for practice in doing questions. For the students who have taken these exams in these med school courses do you think the questions in these NBMEs are representative of Step 1-like questions? I don't know if I should waste my time doing these when I would rather take the full NBME exams, right?

Absolutely not, don't waste your time! The NBME questions for exams are straightforward, easy, single order and not anywhere near the complexity or length of step questions or even Q-banks for that matter. Also, you never get to see which ones you got right or wrong or review the answer choices. Completely useless from my experience. If anything, use the NBME Full length practice Step 1 exams.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

If anything, use the NBME Full length practice Step 1 exams.

I always found this fascinating. Even though the questions within the NBME exams are nothing compared to the complexity seen in UWORLD/Step 1 questions, the scores from your full length NBME's are a fantastic trend of your potential Step 1 score.

Keep this in mind OP