answers to test day questions I couldnt find online

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doublejump

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Sorry if these are clearly somewhere on the internet but I tried my best find them without luck. Anyway my test day is tomorrow and here are my questions:


1) Are eye droplets allowed to be brought with you during the exam? My contacts dry out spotnaneously and I'd hate for that to happen mid block.

2) Is there anywhere besides First Aid that breaks down the format on the exam? I could only find subject-based information on the usmle website.

3) is the format very similar to the program exe they have on the usmle site?

4) not sure if this is a popular question to ask but during your breaks are you allowed to smoke outside?

5) is it true you can add more break time by ending early? is there a maximum break time?

6) are you allowed to look at FA/resources during a break if it occurs to you that you forgot a detail and want to look it up?

6) lastly, are you allowed to write on your whiteboard during your breaktime (including the tutorial time) provided you're still in the testing room? or is breaktime only to spent outside. I'm not sure when would be the most appropriate time to vomit out formulas to have in front of me before the following block.

Thanks guys. Just trying to blow off some stress so I can relax before my exam.
 
1. My test center had one-time-use eye droplets at the security desk. You could also bring your own to keep in your locker. As far as I know, you can't take them with you to your desk.

2. I don't really know what you mean by format. There's a 15 minute tutorial that you can skip, then 7 blocks of 46 questions each, and then a survey. You get 1 hour per block, and 45 minutes of break time to allocate between blocks however you want. The survey at the end is untimed. After each block, you can choose whether you want to move to the next block or take a break.

3. The format is the same as the FredV2 "free 150" you can download.

4. You should call your particular prometric center about what you can do on breaks. I was able to walk around/outside and do whatever I wanted, including check my phone and/or read FA. But you should call your particular center.

5. Any time you end a block early, that time is added to your total break time. You can leave as soon as you finish the survey, so you don't have to be there all 8 hours.

6. See 4.

7. They told me not to write on my sheets during the tutorial. Other than that, you can write on them whenever you're in the room as far as I know. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think I was told that I could only write during a block and not during a break. You don't have to leave the room while on a break; I took "breaks" where I just sat there for a minute relaxing.
 
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