Changes in Step 1 and UWorld

[ScarletRMD]

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An upperclassmen friend of mine told me that after May 15 of last year, changes were made in the Step 1 question bank so the questions reflect some of the most commonly used resources less, especially UWorld, because the questions were too similar.

He took the exam after May 15 and did well (>250), but he said it the change affected everyone equally and the curve probably reflected this so I shouldn't worry. He added though that I shouldn't rely on UWorld as heavily as some of the people who took the exam the past 2-3 years would probably recommend.

Another upperclassmen who did just as well, but took the exam early May last year, said he hadn't heard of any such change in the questions. He emphasized UWorld, saying that if I was to just repeatedly do those questions and not even open FA, I'll get a 220.

Has anyone else heard this about this "change" in the exam?

They also said the exam-makers wanna stay away from the buzz words many of the common review sources use and rather describe the buzz word in the questions stem than actually use the word itself.

I'm taking the exam in May and plan on doing UWorld x3...

 

[ScarletRMD]

Bump - no one else hear anything like this?

 

[withrye]

Rumors about the exam abound, but few are true and fewer change the fundamentals of how to study and take a standardized exam.

 

[JoshSt]

This very well may be true, but ask and share where your friend heard this. People exaggerate/lie on the internet, including SDN, and most of what we know about the official stuff of USMLE Step 1 is speculation.

This is interesting but if it is true, there's nothing we can do about it except prepare harder.

 

[CDI]

Maybe years ago they had shorter stems, and it really was just memorize FA (without understanding) and then pick the associated buzzword.

Now its pretty much all concepts/multi-level questions and longer stems, and the occasional buzzword/pick the right answer - which seem to be on the way out.

Ultimately if they're not testing on the concepts which FA/UW hit on, what else could they even test on to still keep it relevant and actually worth our time to study?

 

[JoshSt]

Ultimately if they're not testing on the concepts which FA/UW hit on, what else could they even test on to still keep it relevant and actually worth our time to study?

I guess they could throw in some "what is the next step" Step 2-like questions but I doubt it.; that would be Step 1.5. I know some students have said on this forum that they've had fair numbers of those on some particular tests but I doubt it would ever be a focus.

 

[CDI]

Right. I don't see that happening. They would never combine the 2 exams completely. It's less money in their pocket after all. Worst they'll do is just keep jacking up the minimum passing score so more are forced to re-take it, but hide the monetary aspect by making it seem more legitimate...kind of like CS.

Personally, I see it as dumb on their part that they don't allow people to re-take the exam if they get a low score. After all, they get more money (which is all they care about), and the student benefits by being able to only strengthen their foundation (if they choose to do so) which only helps everyone.