BOTH Class of 2018 Board Study Group

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gobigorgohome22

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Hey fellow Class of 2018ers!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last free summer of your lives!

As the start of 2nd yr gets closer, I have started thinking a little about the infamous STEP 1 exams for USMLE and COMLEX (I'm an Osteopathic student). I thought it might be a good idea to have kind of a study group here to help keep me in check and keep each other in check as studying starts and decided to create this.

I would like to open this up to both USMLE and COMLEX discussion.

So, how's everyone spending their summer? Started thinking any about the hell that is going to be coming up over the next year?

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I would like to score 220+ on the real thing and I don't see how is this possible with that 190 after completing half of Uworld... This is going to be a rough 4 weeks!
I was scoring in a similar range as you are for a really long time...what helped me make the jump to the 220 range was studying the things I hated. I found that I really enjoyed studying things I was good at, while skipping the sections I kept missing questions on. I started by hitting biochem really hard and then pharm. Is there a certain area that you miss most the questions on consistently?
 
What do you guys think about practice COMSAEs? I'm taking the comlex early July and I'm regretting not taking a baseline test when I started dedicated. Our school had us do a practice Kaplan full length at the beginning of dedicated. Not sure if they're a good use of time.
 
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I was scoring in a similar range as you are for a really long time...what helped me make the jump to the 220 range was studying the things I hated. I found that I really enjoyed studying things I was good at, while skipping the sections I kept missing questions on. I started by hitting biochem really hard and then pharm. Is there a certain area that you miss most the questions on consistently?
You pretty much describe what I have done so far... Thanks for that advice! I am going to start spending more time in Anatomy/embryo and cardio-pulmonary physio/path... I have spent too much time in pharm/micro/immuno even if I am consistently scoring above average in these subjects
 
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You pretty much describe what I have done so far... Thanks for that advice! I am going to start spending more time in Anatomy/embryo and cardio-pulmonary physio/path... I have spent too much time in pharm/micro/immuno even if I am consistently scoring above average in these subjects
Cardio-Pulmonary physiology and path are definitely high yield. If you nail those down, you'll be able to make some big gains fast. Another thing that took me a while to realize was how important those first couple of sections before the systems chapters in FA are. If you know the basic pathology principles (and immunology) you'll be able to work through a lot of questions. A lot of times it seems that they expect you to know the name of a disease, but the question takes it to another level and asks about the pathology behind the condition. Also, I don't have my score back yet, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. haha...it just seems like we are/were in similar situations.
 
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Cardio-Pulmonary physiology and path are definitely high yield. If you nail those down, you'll be able to make some big gains fast. Another thing that took me a while to realize was how important those first couple of sections before the systems chapters in FA are. If you know the basic pathology principles (and immunology) you'll be able to work through a lot of questions. A lot of times it seems that they expect you to know the name of a disease, but the question takes it to another level and asks about the pathology behind the condition. Also, I don't have my score back yet, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. haha...it just seems like we are/were in similar situations.
People usually score within +/- 10 from their last practice exam, so you should be ok... You and others here actually gave me good advice... I am just going to hammer down cardio-pulmo, Anatomy/Embryo and general principles in the next 15 day and see if that will not yield me a 20+ increase in my practice test. My score profile was weird... I was above average on some stuff and way below average in Anatomy/embryo, Cardio, respi, and repro...
 
Took the beast today. What a ****ing **** show!!

Was hoping for a 230+ but dont think that's gonna happen now.....

- Overall had 6 blocks of 40 and 1 block of 28 (last block)
- Timing was an issue. I almost always had problems with practice exams too. I generally finished all the blocks but rushed last 5 q and never had time to review marked. I marked around 10-15q per block and that's after refraining myself.
- It was generally WAYYYYYYY harder than the practice exams! LOT of experiment based questions that are super convoluted. A good number of questions where I read the questions and knew what the ans would be, then look down at the ans choices and wonder if those ans even go with the question!! There were very few questions that were as straightforward as NBME.
- Breaks are enough but you have to manage them properly. I was in a big building so just checking out, running to bathroom, checking back in took >5mins. Took some clif bars and a small fruit smoothie with me for lunch. Took lunch break after 4th section for 15mins. I took a caffeine pill in the morning. I was planning on taking another during lunch but didnt need it.

Dont think it went as well as I would have liked. The thing is though, I dont think more studying would have helped. Gave it my best shot so now the wait begins.

COMLEX in a week.

Let me know if you have questions, I'll do my best to ans them.
 
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Took the beast today. What a ****ing **** show!!

Was hoping for a 230+ but dont think that's gonna happen now.....

- Overall had 6 blocks of 40 and 1 block of 28 (last block)
- Timing was an issue. I almost always had problems with practice exams too. I generally finished all the blocks but rushed last 5 q and never had time to review marked. I marked around 10-15q per block and that's after refraining myself.
- It was generally WAYYYYYYY harder than the practice exams! LOT of experiment based questions that are super convoluted. A good number of questions where I read the questions and knew what the ans would be, then look down at the ans choices and wonder if those ans even go with the question!! There were very few questions that were as straightforward as NBME.
- Breaks are enough but you have to manage them properly. I was in a big building so just checking out, running to bathroom, checking back in took >5mins. Took some clif bars and a small fruit smoothie with me for lunch. Took lunch break after 4th section for 15mins. I took a caffeine pill in the morning. I was planning on taking another during lunch but didnt need it.

Dont think it went as well as I would have liked. The thing is though, I dont think more studying would have helped. Gave it my best shot so now the wait begins.

COMLEX in a week.

Let me know if you have questions, I'll do my best to ans them.
Congrats on finishing! What was Anatomy like? It's one of my weaker subjects and I'm trying to figure out how much time I should devote purely toward it.
 
Hey @gobigorgohome22 @Milotic @KP2AZ I just wanted to say thank you for your replies/encouragement/advice--it actually helped a ton. Even though it's stuff that's common sense, it just really helps to hear it when you're super down, so thank you. Especially about not comparing myself to others and not getting mad at myself for taking breaks to do dumb stuff like watch tv and thinking of it as giving my mind a rest. I also started exercising again, which has been so key. I've been way more focused these past few days, less stressed, and way less depressed, so thanks for taking the time! I'm so much more confident about doing ok on the real thing next week. Good luck everyone.

Hey buddy,

I can completely understand what you're going though. I have never been the type of person that stresses about grades/tests but this test changes you. I was doing ok in terms of keeping anxiety low and keeping going but when I got to last week before the test (this week) its been bad. I've been watching shows on my comp instead of studying... Like WTF is wrong with me!!! 1 week before a huge test and im over here watching tv lol... But honestly that time that im not thinking about studying has helped me stay sane.

At the end of the day, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll pass. I would bet money on it! Most people score around their NBME's no matter how bad they think the test went so I'm sure you'll be fine.

While SDN has it's downsides for us normal folks that aren't scoring 245+, It's been really helpful avenue to vent. As @KP2AZ noted, there are lots of people in the same boat who are not posting. I think it's always nice for them to see/read other people's experiences who are also in similar scoring ranges.

Good luck with the last few days!!! Just make a schdule and try to stick to it. Dont worry about how others are doing. Focus on your weaknesses!

You got this!! We're all rooting for you!!!

The bolded is literally everyone. I feel you. What helps is just forgetting that everyone else in your class exists except for yourself. No matter what you're going to do the best YOU can do. Not your classmates. We can imagine all day the "what ifs" but there's no where else to go but forward. Think of it this way, the worst is to go through life imagining "what if I ____?" so by trying your hardest, in theory you will have no regrets. It's better to live with a 210 trying your hardest than someone who half-a**'s everything in life, gets a 240, is 60 years old and looks back wondering what more they could've done if they actually tried their hardest.

A lot of people are in your boat, they are just worried/not posting it on SDN. I'm roughly in the same boat, and feel the same way. Just remember that people usually post success stories, not the daily grind/struggle. 18 cut a bunch of people down that I've talked to. You will do fine. You will pass. You will be a doctor, and you will have the life you want to have (granted it doesn't involve anything too crazy, like winning the lottery or finding buried treasure).


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Dont think it went as well as I would have liked. The thing is though, I dont think more studying would have helped. Gave it my best shot so now the wait begins.

COMLEX in a week..

That's how I felt, too. I went in hoping for a good score and now I'm hoping I passed-- and I'm not sure what I could have done differently.

COMLEX in three days for me... studying Savarase & Combank is both easier and more annoying.
 
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Congrats on finishing! What was Anatomy like? It's one of my weaker subjects and I'm trying to figure out how much time I should devote purely toward it.

Thank you! Anatomy is a weak area for me as well. I had a hard time on the test on that section. A lot of the anatomy wasn't in uworld or in FA. A good number of anatomy questions were a combination of anatomy and radiology or anatomy and embryology which made them that much harder. I'm not sure what more I would have done now having seen the questions. If you have time time maybe BRS anatomy? Its probably overkill though. You'll never know 100% of everything that's going to be on the test.
 
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Took the beast today. What a ****ing **** show!!

Was hoping for a 230+ but dont think that's gonna happen now.....

- Overall had 6 blocks of 40 and 1 block of 28 (last block)
- Timing was an issue. I almost always had problems with practice exams too. I generally finished all the blocks but rushed last 5 q and never had time to review marked. I marked around 10-15q per block and that's after refraining myself.
- It was generally WAYYYYYYY harder than the practice exams! LOT of experiment based questions that are super convoluted. A good number of questions where I read the questions and knew what the ans would be, then look down at the ans choices and wonder if those ans even go with the question!! There were very few questions that were as straightforward as NBME.
- Breaks are enough but you have to manage them properly. I was in a big building so just checking out, running to bathroom, checking back in took >5mins. Took some clif bars and a small fruit smoothie with me for lunch. Took lunch break after 4th section for 15mins. I took a caffeine pill in the morning. I was planning on taking another during lunch but didnt need it.

Dont think it went as well as I would have liked. The thing is though, I dont think more studying would have helped. Gave it my best shot so now the wait begins.

COMLEX in a week.

Let me know if you have questions, I'll do my best to ans them.

Yeah, the exam was much harder than anything we encountered on NBMEs. People don't realize this until they take it. Let's hope that, somehow, we end up with scores similar to our NBME performances.
 
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Took COMLEX today. Boy, that was a marathon. I was dead by the end. Timing was a huge issue. doing 50 questions, half of them are super lengthy, in an hour is a killer. Also those OMM question eat up time like crazy. I was finishing each block with like 5 minutes to spare, and I was going really fast. On step1 last week, I was finishing each block with close to 20 mins extra time. Here, I was barely able to go through a couple of my marked questions.

Respecting our MD colleagues, I will refrain from going into more in-depth write up and save that for the COMLEX thread.
 
Congrats on finishing! What was Anatomy like? It's one of my weaker subjects and I'm trying to figure out how much time I should devote purely toward it.

If I were to take the time to do a dedicated review of anatomy outside of the usual resources, I would prioritize MSK, neuroanatomy, pelvic/perineal anatomy, and neck stuff, focusing on neurovascular stuff for the latter 2. I notice that those are, by far, the most heavily tested on NBME, UW, and the real thing. Whether I would invest the time in it is another thing.
 
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I'm so glad that now I can relax knowing I don't need to keep memorizing the layers of spermatic cord, the different types of sensory receptors (Pacinian corpuscle) or the cortico-striatal-thalamo pathway :barf:
 
If I were to take the time to do a dedicated review of anatomy outside of the usual resources, I would prioritize MSK, neuroanatomy, pelvic/perineal anatomy, and neck stuff, focusing on neurovascular stuff for the latter 2. I notice that those are, by far, the most heavily tested on NBME, UW, and the real thing. Whether I would invest the time in it is another thing.

We must have had the same block or two. I totally ate **** on like 3 of those sacral plexus ones/supply ones. I didn't learn that stuff that well since it was only really mentioned in Uworld.

My opinion of Step 1 (just took it), they honestly are TRYING to trick us with avoiding buzzwords and throwing in so many red herrings into answer selections that made me double check.

I also noticed personally for mine that they would take the right answer and reword it into a description or way I've never seen the symptom described before but would have to go with it due to POE.

Did anyone else see a bunch of conditions on their exam that were NEVER mentioned in UFAP?
 
BTW, total props to the DO guys here. I honestly can't imagine getting geared up for anything after taking Step 1.
 
We must have had the same block or two. I totally ate **** on like 3 of those sacral plexus ones/supply ones. I didn't learn that stuff that well since it was only really mentioned in Uworld.

My opinion of Step 1 (just took it), they honestly are TRYING to trick us with avoiding buzzwords and throwing in so many red herrings into answer selections that made me double check.

I also noticed personally for mine that they would take the right answer and reword it into a description or way I've never seen the symptom described before but would have to go with it due to POE.

Did anyone else see a bunch of conditions on their exam that were NEVER mentioned in UFAP?

Congrats on being done!!! I felt the same about describing answer in a way I'd never expect and not having as many hints as uworld. I didnt necessary have conditions that were never mentioned but I had a lot of questions that were expriment based with charts/graphs where you really had to understand the disease to be able to answer the question.

BTW, total props to the DO guys here. I honestly can't imagine getting geared up for anything after taking Step 1.

I have no motivation right now to study OMM for COMLEX. I just want to sleep all day!
 
I keep remembering questions from USMLE and looking them up only to find that I picked the wrong answer! I need my brain to stop remembering questions!!!!
 
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We must have had the same block or two. I totally ate **** on like 3 of those sacral plexus ones/supply ones. I didn't learn that stuff that well since it was only really mentioned in Uworld.

My opinion of Step 1 (just took it), they honestly are TRYING to trick us with avoiding buzzwords and throwing in so many red herrings into answer selections that made me double check.

I also noticed personally for mine that they would take the right answer and reword it into a description or way I've never seen the symptom described before but would have to go with it due to POE.

Did anyone else see a bunch of conditions on their exam that were NEVER mentioned in UFAP?

I had a couple drugs and diseases in the answer choices that I've never heard of but they were (hopefully) wrong. I had 2 that had drugs/toxins that I literally never heard of and it was a straight up guess.
 
I keep remembering questions from USMLE and looking them up only to find that I picked the wrong answer! I need my brain to stop remembering questions!!!!

I did that on Friday night and a good chunk of Saturday and it's just not healthy. Gotta stick with the mature ego defense of suppression. Or, post-COMLEX, the less mature ego defense of tequila.
 
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I think I guessed on too many to remember specific questions to look up later.

That's repression for you.
 
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Question for those of you that took the test.
Does your NBME page show any indication of having taken the test? Im not seeing anything that says "test completed" or anything along those lines. The only thing I see is "score report is not available" block. It's making me anxious because prometric never gave me a test completed print out either. Did any of you get that?
 
Question for those of you that took the test.
Does your NBME page show any indication of having taken the test? Im not seeing anything that says "test completed" or anything along those lines. The only thing I see is "score report is not available" block. It's making me anxious because prometric never gave me a test completed print out either. Did any of you get that?

I'm getting the same message on the website. I did, however, get a print out when I left the testing center after I completed my test. I'm sure it makes no difference.
 
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I'm getting the same message on the website. I did, however get a print out when I left the testing center after I completed my test. I'm sure it makes no difference.

Thanks for the reply! I guess I'll have to call NBME tomorrow to make sure they know I took the test lol.
 
Down to my last 2.5 days and wanted to get some input from those who have taken it this year. I am finishing UW quickly (high 60s cumulative) and may try to read a little more FA on weaker areas but usually I don't get a lot out of it. My NBMEs have been holding steady (<85%) for the last few weeks even though I know a ton more and my speed and UW scoring is improving. It's like I always pick the wrong one between two answers or way overthink something on the NBMEs (plus they are fact regurgitation relative to more thinking with UW). Pretty discouraged as it seems like I should be doing better...

Should I...
1-take the free 120
2-take UWSA1 (already paid for it when I bought UW but not taken it, thinking a 10+ pt jump may be good for morale going into the test)
3-take both but I will only have time for minimal review of either (1-2 hr each)
4-something else?

the more replies/thoughts the better!
 
Down to my last 2.5 days and wanted to get some input from those who have taken it this year. I am finishing UW quickly (high 60s cumulative) and may try to read a little more FA on weaker areas but usually I don't get a lot out of it. My NBMEs have been holding steady (<85%) for the last few weeks even though I know a ton more and my speed and UW scoring is improving. It's like I always pick the wrong one between two answers or way overthink something on the NBMEs (plus they are fact regurgitation relative to more thinking with UW). Pretty discouraged as it seems like I should be doing better...

Should I...
1-take the free 120
2-take UWSA1 (already paid for it when I bought UW but not taken it, thinking a 10+ pt jump may be good for morale going into the test)
3-take both but I will only have time for minimal review of either (1-2 hr each)
4-something else?

the more replies/thoughts the better!

Take both. You don't need to review the free 120. At this point, it's more about honing your test taking and critical thinking skills than learning new information.
 
What should I do for MSK anatomy? I am missing every single question on it and I have read that section on FA twice..
I'd start by focusing on areas that are tested often and how to distinguish between them. For example, radial, ulnar, and median nerves are huge. Common peroneal, superficial and deep fibular nerves are also highly tested. There's a reason why those are covered in FA and that should be a really good start. Learn the dermatomes and the action that is lost when these nerves are damaged. :)
 
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What should I do for MSK anatomy? I am missing every single question on it and I have read that section on FA twice..

Know the anatomy in FA so well that you can regurgitate it. That's first and foremost. After that, learn as much of the anatomy that had "honorable mentions" in Uworld.
 
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What should I do for MSK anatomy? I am missing every single question on it and I have read that section on FA twice..

I think this is one of those times where it's good to drift outside of FA. Open up an anatomy book and at least get a general layout of where structures are. Most importantly, know what they do and common injury points and the physical exam findings for each injury.
 
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For those of you who have taken it, I was wondering which you felt would be most beneficial in my remaining 2 days?

- Reviewing stuff in First Aid/online that I'm especially weak in (neuro/anatomy/neuroanatomy; also want to review biochem and pharm prinicples)
- Doing UWSA 1/2
- Doing UW questions (did 1 pass throughout the year, have done about 50% in the last couple of weeks)
- Focusing on FA Rapid Review
- Finishing Sketchy micro & antibiotics (I've gone through all of sketchy micro/pharm except for antibiotics, but micro was in the beginning of the school year so I'm hazy on it, would also really like to review all of Sketchy but doubt I'll have time)
- Review of Pathoma
- Review my practice NBMEs (15, 16, 17, 18)

Obviously to my great disappointment I can't do all of these...I have other obligations tonight so I only have Saturday and Sunday. I would really appreciate any opinions!
 
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For those of you who have taken it, I was wondering which you felt would be most beneficial in my remaining 2 days?

- Reviewing stuff in First Aid/online that I'm especially weak in (neuro/anatomy/neuroanatomy; also want to review biochem and pharm prinicples)
- Doing UWSA 1/2
- Doing UW questions (did 1 pass throughout the year, have done about 50% in the last couple of weeks)
- Focusing on FA Rapid Review
- Finishing Sketchy micro & antibiotics (I've gone through all of sketchy micro/pharm except for antibiotics, but micro was in the beginning of the school year so I'm hazy on it, would also really like to review all of Sketchy but doubt I'll have time)
- Review of Pathoma
- Review my practice NBMEs (15, 16, 17, 18)

Obviously to my great disappointment I can't do all of these...I have other obligations tonight so I only have Saturday and Sunday. I would really appreciate any opinions!

I didn't take any practice exams my last week. I also didn't do any questions either. During last two day, you just focus on things that are last min/quick memory things. I took a full day to read all of the FA pharm sections and I thought worked out well for me. I had a lot of random drugs on my test that I got right because of that last review. Hint hint Autonomics and that whole general pharm section is SUPER high yield! Some other sections worth looking at are the Behavioral science and FA Rapid review.

That's probably enough to cover 1.5 days. You want at least 1/2 of the last day to relax if not the whole day. Do something that doesn't involve looking at a TV/Computer screen or a book during your relaxation time to give your eyes some rest.
 
For those of you who have taken it, I was wondering which you felt would be most beneficial in my remaining 2 days?

- Reviewing stuff in First Aid/online that I'm especially weak in (neuro/anatomy/neuroanatomy; also want to review biochem and pharm prinicples)
- Doing UWSA 1/2
- Doing UW questions (did 1 pass throughout the year, have done about 50% in the last couple of weeks)
- Focusing on FA Rapid Review
- Finishing Sketchy micro & antibiotics (I've gone through all of sketchy micro/pharm except for antibiotics, but micro was in the beginning of the school year so I'm hazy on it, would also really like to review all of Sketchy but doubt I'll have time)
- Review of Pathoma
- Review my practice NBMEs (15, 16, 17, 18)

Obviously to my great disappointment I can't do all of these...I have other obligations tonight so I only have Saturday and Sunday. I would really appreciate any opinions!

I wouldn't take a practice test. It depends on what you feel you need. I would go over memorization heavy stuff and weaknesses.
 
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So, exam is on Friday.

20% of UW left (2nd pass). Should I finish it? I have an anki deck 500 cards or so of questions I kept getting wrong on UW that I would like to go over. I have a few sections left to cover Repro, MSK, Psych, and path. Tasks like biostats, pharm, micro, biochem, and anki review aren't built into my schedule, but there some items that I want to hit more seriously. What do you think?

Edit. My last NBME was 1.5 weeks ago (224 on 18) I've been thinking content>more exams at this point. Is that fair?
 
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Is doing High Yield Anatomy sections for Pelvis, UL and LL worth it if you are in the beginning of dedicated?
I had never done anatomy well during the school curriculum and I'm afraid its gonna come to haunt me on test day.
@Entadus @Ibn Alnafis MD @gobigorgohome22 @TheShaker

If you're at the beginning of your dedicated, sure take the time to focus on your weak areas. I think spending a day or two just on those sections you mentioned is probably a good idea. In general, uworld does a good job of going over anatomy!

Good Luck!!!!
 
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