Battling Mental Fatigue during exam

[dangit]

I've taken 2 NMBE now and I've noticed that I get tired between blocks. In the morning, I'll have a decent breakfast and I'll be good for the first 2 blocks. Then I get tired the 3rd block and my performance drops.

So my questions are:

1. How many breaks are we allowed during the whole day?

2. Do you recommend any food to eat between blocks? I definitely perform better if I munch on a cookie or chocolate before I start each block, but I don't think we're allowed to bring food into the testing room.

Thanks!

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[imdboo]

It's something you should experiment with, but i found that doing lots of practice questions helped me build endurance. I did about 4 blocks of 46 questions everyday. Before you do an nbme, do three uworld blocks.

Also, I noticed I was always mentally sluggish after lunch, so I took power bars and chocolate covered coffee beans to snack on during breaks on test day. Avoiding a big meal really helped prevent food coma. I felt just as fresh in the end as I did at the beginning. Besides that, I suggest getting at least six to eight hours of sleep the night before.

 

[dangit]

are we allowed 50 minutes of break time for the whole day?

i found this link for anybody interested:
http://blogs.askdoc-usmle.com/what-to-do-on-the-day-of-the-usmle-exam/

he talks about how to allocate break time and what to eat.
.

thanks for your response

 

[DrYoda]

I
1. How many breaks are we allowed during the whole day?

You can take one after every block, if you want.

2. Do you recommend any food to eat between blocks? I definitely perform better if I munch on a cookie or chocolate before I start each block, but I don't think we're allowed to bring food into the testing room.

It's a long day, bring food for sure. Caffeine too, if you normally have caffeine during the day.

You can't bring food/drink into the test room, but you can eat it during your breaks.

are we allowed 50 minutes of break time for the whole day?

You start off with 45 minutes, any extra time you have at the end of each block gets added to your break time. The 15min tutorial also counts as a block so you should get at least 10 extra minutes from finishing that early.

 

[Gresh]

So if I say, finish a section "early", I can just hit the submit button and that time gets added to my total "time"?

 

[coralis]

So if I say, finish a section "early", I can just hit the submit button and that time gets added to my total "time"?

yes

 

[ArcGurren]

are we allowed 50 minutes of break time for the whole day?

i found this link for anybody interested:
http://blogs.askdoc-usmle.com/what-to-do-on-the-day-of-the-usmle-exam/

he talks about how to allocate break time and what to eat.
.

thanks for your response

I suggest doing what works best for you and not listening to what shmucks on the internet say. I've heard advice that varies hugely from person to person.

The adrenaline boost during the exam kept me going for the most part. I didn't have any burnout issues by the end. Also caffeinated drinks like Diet Coke helped me immensely as well between sections.

 

[bruinhd]

there is no mental fatigue on test day. only adrenaline. ADRENNNAAAALINE!!!!

 

[qmcat]

I'm also trying to figure out how to use my break time on test day. If checking in/out takes 2 minutes each way, do most of you guys take your break at your computer terminal, like just sit there and close your eyes for a minute or so?

I originally wanted to take a break after every block and walk around for a few minutes, but if it really takes that long to check in/out, that'll really cut down my time. Any suggestions?

 

[MrBigLips]

there is no mental fatigue on test day. only adrenaline. ADRENNNAAAALINE!!!!

Haha, I just took my test two days ago and I gotta admit, adrenaline took me the distance.

I'm also trying to figure out how to use my break time on test day. If checking in/out takes 2 minutes each way, do most of you guys take your break at your computer terminal, like just sit there and close your eyes for a minute or so?

I originally wanted to take a break after every block and walk around for a few minutes, but if it really takes that long to check in/out, that'll really cut down my time. Any suggestions?

It does take about a minute or two to check in and check out. What I did was take a 5 minute breather at the desk with my eyes closed. Stood up and stretched around a bit and then started again. The only actual breaks I took were for the bathroom and lunch. I asked the guys working there if I could study during my breaks and he said yea, no prob (but only for the ones where I checked out of course).

 

[Bleurberry]

It's something you should experiment with, but i found that doing lots of practice questions helped me build endurance. I did about 4 blocks of 46 questions everyday. Before you do an nbme, do three uworld blocks.

Also, I noticed I was always mentally sluggish after lunch, so I took power bars and chocolate covered coffee beans to snack on during breaks on test day. Avoiding a big meal really helped prevent food coma. I felt just as fresh in the end as I did at the beginning. Besides that, I suggest getting at least six to eight hours of sleep the night before.

Haha! I did the same thing with the chocolate covered coffee beans.
Very nice. Just had a bag before I logged on in fact. Better than coffee.

 

[SirGecko]

I'm also trying to figure out how to use my break time on test day. If checking in/out takes 2 minutes each way, do most of you guys take your break at your computer terminal, like just sit there and close your eyes for a minute or so?

I originally wanted to take a break after every block and walk around for a few minutes, but if it really takes that long to check in/out, that'll really cut down my time. Any suggestions?

I took a break after every block and walked around. It really didn't take more than a minute to check out and in. I still had like 18 minutes left when I got to my last break. I didn't take a long lunch break though, just snacks in between sections.

 

[dangit]

Haha! I did the same thing with the chocolate covered coffee beans.
Very nice. Just had a bag before I logged on in fact. Better than coffee.

haha gonna try this

 

[speedyk]

Getting solid sleep for the 2 nights before is key. Also don't forget to take your allergy meds if you are going to walk a bit from parking to get there. 🙄

 

[dozitgetchahi]

1. Chew gum - it helps more than you'd think.

2. I took short breaks every block to stay crisp.

3. Food/caffeine.

 

[step1saga]

1. Chew gum - it helps more than you'd think.

2. I took short breaks every block to stay crisp.

3. Food/caffeine.

Are we allowed to have gum in our mouth during the test? For some reason I thought we weren't.
Me + sugar / chocolate = not best friends so I can't. Do the bean thing. I think it's gonna be protein bar + 5 hour energy for me

I'm also planning on closing my eyes and meditating it makes me a new girl.
Maybe do some burpees pushups in the hallway at the expense of the offices contemplating a psychiatric emergency

 

[JPanda]

After every block, i took 5 minutes or so meditate. I just concentrate on my breathing and staring at the screen and waited for 5 minutes to past. This really helped with the mental fatigue as it was building over the course of the exam.

 

[icaruswalks]

Bring a pack of gum. Best thing I ever did. I took out my energies by chomping on my gum and getting a bit of minty freshness after every block. By the end of my exam, my breath was so fresh, it's like one of those old school York peppermint patty commercials. 😀

Definitely helped though...

 

[dangit]

Bring a pack of gum. Best thing I ever did. I took out my energies by chomping on my gum and getting a bit of minty freshness after every block. By the end of my exam, my breath was so fresh, it's like one of those old school York peppermint patty commercials. 😀

Definitely helped though...

different strokes for different folks

 

[icaruswalks]

different strokes for different folks

Sure. Just offering what worked for me. YMMV

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Are we allowed to have gum in our mouth during the test? For some reason I thought we weren't.
Me + sugar / chocolate = not best friends so I can't. Do the bean thing. I think it's gonna be protein bar + 5 hour energy for me

I'm also planning on closing my eyes and meditating it makes me a new girl.
Maybe do some burpees pushups in the hallway at the expense of the offices contemplating a psychiatric emergency

I was chewing gum throughout the entire exam and nobody ever said anything.

 

[okdocrx]

this exam terrifies me.

I've never had to endure for such a long test. Even the MCAT was shortened.

Not to mention I needed a couple tries for the MCAT which is not recommended for step 1.

 

[ArcGurren]

this exam terrifies me.

I've never had to endure for such a long test. Even the MCAT was shortened.

Not to mention I needed a couple tries for the MCAT which is not recommended for step 1.

Eh, I think it went by fast initially but only really dragged when I was in sections 5, 6, and 7.