Anatomy/Embryology on Step 1

[The Pill Counter]

I'm a few days out from the big day, and have found my anatomy and embryology to be one of my weaker areas (also cell bio, genetics). Can anyone give me an idea what percentage of the exam questions are on these topics on average?

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[TulaneKid24]

There are very few anatomy and embryo questions on Step 1. I remember about 10 or so questions regarding anatomy and embryo combined. If you make sure you know all the Anatomy and embryo in First Aid, you should be able to answer most questions.

Good Luck!

 

[neilc]

i don't recall more than 5-7 anatomy/embryo questions, and the anatomy was simple stuff. it was actually mostly neuro, so that is what i would focus on.

what surprised me was biochem. i actually don't recall much of that either, but it really dragged my score down

best of luck! remeber, don't fear the test, but respect it. you will crush that sucka!

 

[The Pill Counter]

Thank for the tips. I've got to admit, the nerves are acting up, but hey, I put in my 30 days of pain, I've got 25 questions to go on QBank, and I'm going to spend the next two days doing rapid review stuff from First Aid and my notes.
I didn't do the USMLE CD questions, is there any compelling reason I should make sure to do these on top of the ~2500 QBank/Qbook questions I've already done?

Man, I can't wait to leave the Northeast and get back to beautiful summer in Australia!

 

[neilc]

Originally posted by The Pill Counter

I didn't do the USMLE CD questions, is there any compelling reason I should make sure to do these on top of the ~2500 QBank/Qbook questions I've already done?

Man, I can't wait to leave the Northeast and get back to beautiful summer in Australia!

the only reason i can think of is a confidence booster. the released items are pretty easy, so it may help you feel good going into the test

another thing i did 3 days out was to do the NBME assessment test. i did pretty good, and it made me fairly sure that i would pass.

but, the nerves will be there no matter what. soon you will crush that sucker and be in sunny oz! good luck

 

[The Pill Counter]

Thanks neil, twenty hours to go! Did you feel you didn't do as well as you wanted cause your exam was over-weighted in biochem? Is it normal for a certain second tier subject (ie immuno, biochem, micro) to be heavily weighted along with the 3P's? My biggest worry is I'll get 50 random cell bio questions.

I ended up doing the USMLE CD, and, yes, they're easy questions- good confidence boost.

 

[neilc]

well, i really feel that i did worse than expected because i prepared a bit poorly. i didn't do enough questions, and i didn't pay enouugh attention when i did them. i used them more as a gauge than a study prep. so, what happened was that i was not as familiar with the wording, why some of the distractors were right or wrong, etc...so, just based on knowledge i was able to answer many, but also get a lot down to the best two possible. now, eliminating that last distractor is the value of the practice questions, IMHO. so, i think i had a lot of 50/50 shots that simply didn't go my way.

as far as the small subjects are concerned...a missed point is a missed point. so, any weakness you have can bite you in the butt. had i simply scored at the borderline performance in biochem, i think i could count on another5-10 points...that would have put me at or over 200, which would have made me much happier.

so, the small subjects likely will not overwhelm you. but, you want to be able to answer most of them right...if you get 30 biochem questions, getting 10 right instead of 20 can make a significant difference.

anyhow, you are prob on your way to the test center now! crush it, and try not to think about it after. just relax, and enjoy not having to study for that beast anymore!

 

[The Pill Counter]

Man, it feels to good have that monkey off my back. On the great Kaplan QBank debate, it was tougher than the real thing, and I definitely think it was worth every cent. I used Kaplan Homestudy, First Aid and QBank, and studied for five weeks, six days out of seven each week and felt well-prepared.
Of course, I could be completely talking out of my a**, so I won't know if it was a winning formula for another six weeks.