Anyone not like UWorld?

[gman33]

So it seems like everyone around here says that UWorld is the greatest thing ever, blah, blah,blah.

Anyone not like it and/or not use it.

I find that it's main purpose is to piss me off.
I learn from the explanations, but many of the questions just seem a little crazy to me. Maybe it's just the fact that they don't have many "easy" questions.

I may just be venting. I just did a block and got 45%.
Well below my average and the questions just seemed really stupid.
Whatever. Back to feeling dumb.

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[MilkmanAl]

UWorld takes a lot of getting used to, I find. After awhile, you usually can see where they're leading you in the questions. Sometimes they just ask crazy stuff, but most of the time, the questions are just hard and different than what most people are used to. I've missed tons of questions because I can't pull out the 4th or 5th step they're looking for. Given the symptoms, knowing the disease, the drug to treat it, and the side effect of the drug isn't enough. You need to know why the drug causes the side effect. I suppose that's simultaneously infuriating and incredibly useful. UW really shines in the explanations where it runs through all of that stuff and doesn't usually leave you hanging on why the wrong answers are wrong.

If you can stomach getting slapped around for 2100 questions, you'll learn a ton. Some people have said they've learned more from UWorld than the first 2 years of med school, and I don't think that's much of an exaggeration.

 

[greg1184]

Liking it or not is irrelevant. USMLE World is most representative of how Step 1 questions are. USMLE World is NOT supposed to be used to test your knowledge of the material. It is meant to be hard and ambiguous. It most likely assumes you can answer the easy questions, and as a result test you on the harder, more critical thinking oriented stuff... unlike Kaplan, whos idea of "hard" is introducing obscure terms or minutiae. If you read the Welcome Message of USMLE World, you will see this:

Our strategy is to provide you with challenging questions to push you to your utmost best for the actual exam. We believe that the creation of such difficult questions is beneficial for the improvement of your critical thinking, judgment, and test taking skills. We strongly suggest that you use our Qbank as a learning tool, and not for mere assessment of your knowledge.

I take that to heart as I go through the questions. They have outstanding explanations that makes great study material. This is why I do questions in tutor mode. I feel like I get the most out of my UWorld experience this way.

 

[badasshairday]

I agree with the above. Even if you choose to slam through UWORLD with timed random blocks of 48, if you spend the time to go over all the explanations, you learn so much. 👍

 

[tachyon34]

i find that they actually give away a lot of info from the answer choices though.

usually 2 answer choices will be pretty similar and the rest are not about the same topic and its usually one of those two...

if you think about what "point" they are trying to get across you can usually get to the answer even without knowing the specific drug/pathogen/mechanism

 

[kryptik]

If its your first question bank i can see how it will be frustrating, having done rx and other question books, i find uw less of a shock, keep trucking and learn from the their awesome explanations and diagrams

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I love UWorld. It is honestly my favorite thing.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

By the way, I don't use it as a confidence booster. I could do a 48-question set, and I wouldn't care if I missed every single one as long as I was learning from it. That's all that matters, right?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm not doing that, but I've had some pretty low ones. I think I've had a couple in the high 20% range, but I just laugh it off and learn from my mistakes.

These days, I'm in the 60's and 70's for most, so it seems to be working.

 

[MilkmanAl]

i find that they actually give away a lot of info from the answer choices though.

usually 2 answer choices will be pretty similar and the rest are not about the same topic and its usually one of those two...

That's just strong test taking on your part. In my experience with NBMEs (which are supposed to be comprised of retired Step 1 questions), the answer is usually very obvious. For instance, they'll ask you for an antipsychotic and give you 4 antidepressants and an antipsychotic as a choice. If you know enough about the answer choices, you can often answer the question correclty without having any idea what in the hell they're talking about in the stem.

I wouldn't care if I missed every single one as long as I was learning from it. That's all that matters, right?

I tell myself that every time I take a biochem block. 😛 Seriosuly, though, I was hitting in the upper 50's on pharm on average and rocked the NBME for it. Learning is more important than your percentage.

 

[gman33]

Thanks for the replies.

When I said, "liking it" I didn't mean is it fun.
I was talking about how useful it is for a learning tool.
I guess it's good, but the questions seem different than the NBME's to me.
Maybe they are similar to the hard ones and that's the point.

It's still just weird for me to go through a block of questions when a lot of them are just based on some minor wording change or whatever.

Like I said, I'm learning from the explanations.
I've done a good bit of USMLERx as well, and I've actually learned more from doing that.

Oh well, I've got two more weeks and I'll just keep plugging away.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

To The OP:

I totally agree with your sentiment. I just did a random cardio set (AFTER studying cardio) and landed a whopping 38%. Primarily because of only testing cardio, I was hit with links to micro, immune, and bio-chem (obviously Pompe's).

World is so integrative, forces you to make links. Here's to doing this for a few weeks and making it rain

 

[username456789]

To The OP:

I totally agree with your sentiment. I just did a random cardio set (AFTER studying cardio) and landed a whopping 38%. Primarily because of only testing cardio, I was hit with links to micro, immune, and bio-chem (obviously Pompe's).

World is so integrative, forces you to make links. Here's to doing this for a few weeks and making it rain

You can narrow down the spectrum within Cardio. Use the checked boxes on both sides.

I was going to come to this thread to boast about how well I just did on a biochem block (87% where the overall average was 40%) after studying biochem, but then I did another real short biochem block and got a question that depended on me knowing the 3 pKa's of Histidine. Weak.

 

[astrocreep96]

There are a fair amount of things I've learned in UWorld that were not taught in my classes, and are not to be found in FA/RR. For that, and other reasons, I think it is a great asset.

However, the audio clips piss me off. I just did one of the questions regarding a bicuspid aortic valve - the question stem somewhat gave the answer away, but not quite enough without the audio. I listened to the audio, and I swear it had an S4. The answer said it was a crescendo-decrescendo systolic murmur. Ok...let me listen to that again. For reference, I have a fairly nice pair of studio monitors for my desktop. So, I crank them up and listen for about a minute. Not a damned systolic murmur to be found. Even with the speakers set at a loud setting, the best I could come up with was an S4 heart sound.

I hope the real thing is at least a bit more accurate with the media files.

 

[VoiceofReason]

U world hits you with a very significant number of uncommon presentations or uncommon clues.

I've plateau'd at about 80% on average for like 10 tests now and when i get something wrong its almost always something i have literally never seen anywhere ever.

 

[greg1184]

There are a fair amount of things I've learned in UWorld that were not taught in my classes, and are not to be found in FA/RR. For that, and other reasons, I think it is a great asset.

However, the audio clips piss me off. I just did one of the questions regarding a bicuspid aortic valve - the question stem somewhat gave the answer away, but not quite enough without the audio. I listened to the audio, and I swear it had an S4. The answer said it was a crescendo-decrescendo systolic murmur. Ok...let me listen to that again. For reference, I have a fairly nice pair of studio monitors for my desktop. So, I crank them up and listen for about a minute. Not a damned systolic murmur to be found. Even with the speakers set at a loud setting, the best I could come up with was an S4 heart sound.

I hope the real thing is at least a bit more accurate with the media files.

My favorite question was the one that was supposed to be a clip of a machinery-based murmur for PDA, but it sounded like a normal heart beat. By golly I could not hear a machinery murmur AT ALL.

 

[username456789]

My favorite question was the one that was supposed to be a clip of a machinery-based murmur for PDA, but it sounded like a normal heart beat. By golly I could not hear a machinery murmur AT ALL.

I got one that clearly described a PDA, and the audio was definitely machinery-like. Or, at least, it was a heart beat laid over a track of some other terrible sound, but it definitely confirmed any suspicion someone would've had about whether the stem was talking about a PDA or not, in my opinion.

Might've been different questions though.

 

[MilkmanAl]

When I said, "liking it" I didn't mean is it fun.
I was talking about how useful it is for a learning tool.
I guess it's good, but the questions seem different than the NBME's to me.

They are different, for sure. Look at it as though every UW question is 2-3 NBME questions. That's about the amount of info being covered.

 

[Domenech]

Everyone says this for a good reason. Benefit especially from their explanations, and supplement that knowledge with your primary step1 textbooks and you'd feel the difference.

 

[coldweatherblue]

usmle world is amazing.

read the explanations, then go back to the original question, go through all the incorrect answer choices, force yourself to remember what you just read, and explain to yourself why each answer is incorrect. While you do this imagine the question someone would write where each choice would be the correct answer. If you can do this it helps sooo much ruling out wrong answers and ultimately remembering the explanations.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I'm starting my second pass through UW now, and I feel like am soaking this info up like a sponge.

My first pass through was pretty weak. I was all over the place in terms of how id arrange the question sets, but the main thing was getting through the material. I went through it thoroughly and annotated my FA along the way.

On my second pass through, I'm making sure I understand what's going on. I'm reading each explanation, and if I still don't get it, ill consult other sources and figure it out. Every now and then ill remember a question, and yeah that might get me some points that I might not otherwise have gotten, but honestly, with the context of the question, even that is still pretty helpful. And if its one I remember, I make sure I understand why the answer is what it is nefore I move on.

I feel like this is the best learning resource I have ever had for school at any level. It sure beats class. In class, I could have Tony Robbins and Obama (or whoever... enter the name of someone known for being a great speaker) giving the lecture, with victorias secret models pointing stuff out on the slides as they lecture, and id find a way to space out for at least half of it. With this, its different. It holds my attention.

Once this subscription is uo, I will try another qbank or two and see how much I remember, and reinforce all the subjects. Then ill go back to UW for the stretch run.

 

[njmedstudent87]

You'll realize the genius of UWorld as you keep doing it...in the end you'll realize that they test concepts more than facts...once you understand the basic concepts you'll be ripping it apart scoring above 80% on blocks

It also helps that their format is pixel for pixel the same as the boards

 

[TexasTriathlete]

You'll realize the genius of UWorld as you keep doing it...in the end you'll realize that they test concepts more than facts...once you understand the basic concepts you'll be ripping it apart scoring above 80% on blocks

It also helps that their format is pixel for pixel the same as the boards

This.

The thing UWorld is really doing well for me is reinforcing concepts that I knew, but not well enough.

I mean, there is basic stuff that, if you ask someone if they understand it, they might say "oh yeah, that's easy", but then when there's a challenging question about it, they're like "****, how'd that go again?"

Stuff like hypersensitivity reactions, and how they pertain to different stuff, like poison ivy or granuloma formation or a transplant rejection... in my opinion, you can't get enough of that stuff, because they can always take a simple concept and throw you a curve ball where you have to apply it in a way that maybe you hadn't thought about. And their explanations are great.

 

[mordounhas]

USMLEworld does have a way of making you feel stupid.

"You didn't know the mechanism for the variability of Hepatitis C?"

"Which of the following intracellular processes are responsible for insulin resistance?"

"Which kind of bear is best?"

And there have definitely been blocks where I've vented at my laptop for a while. That being said, if you're learning as you do it, it's probably more worthwhile than anything else you can do with the time. You can pick up a lot from First Aid and other resources, but questions help you connect ideas better (at least in my mind). And from people's descriptions, QBank is considered even more frustrating with some of the random crap they think you should now.

 

[username456789]

"Which kind of bear is best?"

"That's a ridiculous question."


Speaking of which, I love UWorld, but can someone tell me where I went wrong here? In a question asking about human DNA replication, it asked what process occurs in a "3'-5' direction". The "correct" answer was formation Okazaki fragments . . . . which are definitely synthesized in a 5'-3' direction, just not in the same "absolute" direction as the leading strands.

I selected "3'-5' exonuclease" activity, since, you know, that's 3'-5' and used to proofread bases that DNA Pol just laid down, right?

Or am I an idiot and eukaryotes only have 5'-3' exonuclease?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Errr...I think DNA pol 1 is the only eukaryotic enzyme with 5-3 exonuclease activity, but it and all the others have 3-5. My best guess is that they're referring to the formation of the fragments themselves (i.e., treating them as whole entities), not the direction of nucleic acid addition.

 

[turkeyjerky]

"That's a ridiculous question."


Speaking of which, I love UWorld, but can someone tell me where I went wrong here? In a question asking about human DNA replication, it asked what process occurs in a "3'-5' direction". The "correct" answer was formation Okazaki fragments . . . . which are definitely synthesized in a 5'-3' direction, just not in the same "absolute" direction as the leading strands.

I selected "3'-5' exonuclease" activity, since, you know, that's 3'-5' and used to proofread bases that DNA Pol just laid down, right?

Or am I an idiot and eukaryotes only have 5'-3' exonuclease?

so first aid says DNA pol I (and III) are prokaryotic only. I can only assume that the analoguous eukaryotic enzyme has 3'-5' proofreading capability. I could see that "lagging strand synthesis" occurs in the 3'-5' direction, but, as written above, the question seems wrong--okazaki fragments are definitely syntesized 5'-3'.

 

[hartbot]

It also helps that their format is pixel for pixel the same as the boards

I've been doing blocks of 15, and this format looks just like Kaplan's.

Is it a different format if you do the full timed 48?

 

[VoiceofReason]

i also think its interesting to note that people ****ing love the explanations in U world but show utter disdain for textbooks

 

[MilkmanAl]

No textbook I've read compiles as much info on one subject as UWorld does. They also don't have practice questions studding the material as you go.

 

[turkeyjerky]

i also think its interesting to note that people ****ing love the explanations in U world but show utter disdain for textbooks

Yeah, but I think a lot of the disdain for textbooks comes from the fact that most are laden with details that are neither necessary nor sufficient for our purposes. Whereas the explanations in uworld appear to be both.

 

[VoiceofReason]

No textbook I've read compiles as much info on one subject as UWorld does. They also don't have practice questions studding the material as you go.

sorry dogg, half or more of the U world explanations are very nearly the same exact paragraphs you find in a textbook on the subject.

e: Oh it occurs to me i wasn't being clear, I meant disdain for textbooks during classes, not for this test. Sorry if I wasn't clear, you're right U world compiles it all nicely.

 

[MilkmanAl]

We must be looking at different texts because what I see in Robbins about each subject is a good page or two longer than what is in the explanations and is a horrible combo of too detailed and too verbose. Even the CMMRS content is quite a lot longer than the micro question explanations. I don't know where you're getting this from.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Thanks for the replies.

When I said, "liking it" I didn't mean is it fun.
I was talking about how useful it is for a learning tool.
I guess it's good, but the questions seem different than the NBME's to me.
Maybe they are similar to the hard ones and that's the point.

Listen to the many many people who say that they are the MOST representative questions out there. I thought they were a much better representation of what was on my test than the NBME questions (the NBME questions...despite coming straight from the source...had really short question stems and not nearly as many 2nd or 3rd level questions)

It's still just weird for me to go through a block of questions when a lot of them are just based on some minor wording change or whatever.

This is exactly what I liked about world...there is something to learn from every single question...even if the lesson is something as simple as "This test will d*** you over with minor wording changes if you aren't careful"

 

[NJDIF]

I got one that clearly described a PDA, and the audio was definitely machinery-like. Or, at least, it was a heart beat laid over a track of some other terrible sound, but it definitely confirmed any suspicion someone would've had about whether the stem was talking about a PDA or not, in my opinion.

Might've been different questions though.

I know just the one you're talking about. I thought it was just the background noise from my junk headphones, but I guess the static in the background was supposed to be "machinery-like" part.

 

[gman33]

Anyone know how the scoring works on UWSA #1 and 2?

Is it straight % based and is there some type of chart that correlates to 3 digit Step scores?

Not sure if it's the same or different than the various estimates out there for the UW qbank as a whole.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

I'm back to doing UWorld and I fail to see what all the fuss is about. Again, people bash on Kaplan because they say the questions test too much detail. Today alone I got UWorld questions testing the pharmacokinetics of different insulin preparations, What stain is used to stain Auer rods, and What agar is used to grow C. diphtheria (among others -- I got a bunch more detailed questions that I don't remember right now.)

I'm NOT bashing on UWorld overall (board quality questions are board quality questions, regardless of the source,) but come on, there are some ridiculously detailed questions in UWorld (too.)

My % correct is about the same (all categories and subcategories, timed, random) on both (maybe a little higher on UWorld) so it's not sour grapes 🙂