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- Mar 20, 2004
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Well, for better or worse, I?m done studying for Step 1! I take the bad-boy tomorrow, but I already feel better than yesterday when a wave of test anxiety was kicking my butt, and I felt like poop. My feet hurt, my elbows hurt (too much leaning on the table you know), my brain hurt (Its not used to this kind of strenuous exercise), and I was emotionally worn-out (I must spend as much time worrying about the exam everyday as I do studying for it?no kidding). This test anxiety thing is a new bird for me too. I was involved in operations during Gulf War I, and that experience has usually allowed me to put things like exams in perspective. The last few days have proven to me that the Step 1 is an entirely different animal.
This is how I prepared:
BRS Path once ( started it about 1 month before school let out)
BRS Phys once, over the course of five days (about a month ago)
CMMRS, for Viruses and Anti-microbial drugs
Step Up, used for charts/tables (usually while utilizing another primary source)
FA for everything else
These are the Question Sources:
QBank: 65% cumulative score; Random blocks; 1 block of 50 from previously missed items; 65% completed. My scores didn?t really move up or down all that much, but I felt like I was having to ?guess? less often to get the correct answer.
Rapid Review Pharm: Excellent tutorial mode?really helped me to pound ANS drugs into my pharm-impaired brain (it?s soooo much like an alphabet soup?)
Rapid Review USMLE Step 1: A really good source of MCQs, but I only got to ~ 150 of them.
Robbins Review: Another GREAT source but again, I didn?t get to all of it.
NBME comprehensive basic science exam: 70/200 in March, but that number certainly overestimated my preparedness at that point (I did a lot of educated guessing).
I studied for about 4-6 hours a day, about 4-5 days a week (After 6 hours I quickly hit the point of diminishing returns, and even start becoming counterproductive), for about 4.5 weeks. At this point, I feel like I?ve ?earned? about a 215-220, but I?m sure that the number could go up-or-down 10-15 points depending on test day performance. That being said, I certainly have not "mastered" everything in FA, but I feel like I will at least recognize it if it shows up on the test and hopefully that'll be enough.
Best of LUCK everyone! I?ll post here again tomorrow evening or maybe Friday to let you all know how it went. Wish me luck!
Willamette
This is how I prepared:
BRS Path once ( started it about 1 month before school let out)
BRS Phys once, over the course of five days (about a month ago)
CMMRS, for Viruses and Anti-microbial drugs
Step Up, used for charts/tables (usually while utilizing another primary source)
FA for everything else
These are the Question Sources:
QBank: 65% cumulative score; Random blocks; 1 block of 50 from previously missed items; 65% completed. My scores didn?t really move up or down all that much, but I felt like I was having to ?guess? less often to get the correct answer.
Rapid Review Pharm: Excellent tutorial mode?really helped me to pound ANS drugs into my pharm-impaired brain (it?s soooo much like an alphabet soup?)
Rapid Review USMLE Step 1: A really good source of MCQs, but I only got to ~ 150 of them.
Robbins Review: Another GREAT source but again, I didn?t get to all of it.
NBME comprehensive basic science exam: 70/200 in March, but that number certainly overestimated my preparedness at that point (I did a lot of educated guessing).
I studied for about 4-6 hours a day, about 4-5 days a week (After 6 hours I quickly hit the point of diminishing returns, and even start becoming counterproductive), for about 4.5 weeks. At this point, I feel like I?ve ?earned? about a 215-220, but I?m sure that the number could go up-or-down 10-15 points depending on test day performance. That being said, I certainly have not "mastered" everything in FA, but I feel like I will at least recognize it if it shows up on the test and hopefully that'll be enough.
Best of LUCK everyone! I?ll post here again tomorrow evening or maybe Friday to let you all know how it went. Wish me luck!
Willamette
