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gobigorgohome22

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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W19 said:
In trouble...

NBME13.... 188

I have about 7 weeks left to increase that score to 225+... I am not even sure if that is even realistic.... I am basically fvcked right now!


I have not touched Uworld so far and I am 75% done with Rx... Averaging ~64%!

This is after doing 10 days of dedicated time (10hrs/day)! I am going to have to do 14+ hours/day if I'm gonna to pass that beast...let alone get a 225+
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Taking NBME 14 in 2 weeks and aiming for 210+...
 
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Entadus said:
Those scores are incredible!!! (Raw %) I wouldn't count on the new UWSA scale to be accurate.... you said it yourself, nobody knows yet what the correlation will be between UWSA and the real step. I'd treat it purely as a learning tool!

I tell you what, if you keep up hope for 260, I will too! 😉:happy:😛

As for me, today's result for NBME 15 (my first) was 251. My weak point was behavioral. I'm not going to lie; I would like to be higher on the real deal.... I still have 2 weeks to study! I hope I can bring it up !!! :hungry::xf::luck:
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Are you aiming for 260+? How many questions you missed on 15?
 
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dorster said:
Thank you! I'm hoping I can at least stay where I am and that 17 wasn't just a fluke. I really will be happy with anything over 230 since starting out definitely didn't think I would get that.
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What have you done to see such improvement? I started also very low (188 on NBME13) and I would be happy to see an improvement like yours in 6 weeks...
 
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TheShaker said:
Has anyone gotten that question about C. dif and contact precautions (sterile vs. non-sterile gloves)? That was the epitome of nit picky.
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Yup, thought that was more of a step 2 question, not sure how we are expected to know that at this point before rotations. Although I've been reading that the real thing has been integrating more and more step 2 content into the questions so :vomit:
 
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TheShaker said:
Has anyone gotten that question about C. dif and contact precautions (sterile vs. non-sterile gloves)? That was the epitome of nit picky.
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Sterile gloves are only important for the OR/procedures. I mean think about it, the idea of Sterile precautions is to not introduce new organisms to your patient. If your patient ALREADY HAS C. diff, what would be the point of using sterile gloves? It seems tricky at first but it's common sense!
 
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TheShaker said:
Has anyone gotten that question about C. dif and contact precautions (sterile vs. non-sterile gloves)? That was the epitome of nit picky.
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An incredibly stupid measure of someone's doctor readiness. Some behavioral and ethics questions piss me off to no end also.
 
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Entadus said:
Sterile gloves are only important for the OR/procedures. I mean think about it, the idea of Sterile precautions is to not introduce new organisms to your patient. If your patient ALREADY HAS C. diff, what would be the point of using sterile gloves? It seems tricky at first but it's common sense!
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Yep, this. Precautions for C diff are about protecting yourself from the patient, not the patient from you!
 
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Thanks for this thread everyone. It's keeping me motivated!
My test is in 22 days 😱 and this is my plan for the upcoming time

Finished Uworld - 60%/60th Percentile
Took NBME 16 - 222
Reading through every word of FA (currently doing)
UWSA1 - TBD
NBME 17 - TBD
UWSA2 - TBD
NBME 18 - TBD

I'm also re-doing Uworld questions along with Kaplan questions in between to keep my brain sharp.

Goal is anything above 220! :nailbiting:
 
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AsadaBurrito said:
Thanks for this thread everyone. It's keeping me motivated!
My test is in 22 days 😱 and this is my plan for the upcoming time

Finished Uworld - 60%/60th Percentile
Took NBME 16 - 222
Reading through every word of FA (currently doing)
UWSA1 - TBD
NBME 17 - TBD
UWSA2 - TBD
NBME 18 - TBD

I'm also re-doing Uworld questions along with Kaplan questions in between to keep my brain sharp.

Goal is anything above 220! :nailbiting:
Click to expand...

You've already exceeded your goal score 3 weeks out. You can easily improve by 10+ points with the time left.
 
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On NBME 12 today, I missed a question completely because of UWorld. I knew the right answer, but decided to go with the distractor option, thanks to UW.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
Done with NBME 12. Got 243. 10 points up from NBME 16 which I took on Saturday. Perhaps because it an easier test but the curve is a little harsher; I only missed 22qs.

Gonna relax today and study my @ss off the next two days. I'm taking NBME 18 (aka the destroyer) on Monday.
Click to expand...

when is your exam? Greats score regardless.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile
 
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AsadaBurrito said:
Thanks for this thread everyone. It's keeping me motivated!
My test is in 22 days 😱 and this is my plan for the upcoming time

Finished Uworld - 60%/60th Percentile
Took NBME 16 - 222
Reading through every word of FA (currently doing)
UWSA1 - TBD
NBME 17 - TBD
UWSA2 - TBD
NBME 18 - TBD

I'm also re-doing Uworld questions along with Kaplan questions in between to keep my brain sharp.

Goal is anything above 220! :nailbiting:
Click to expand...

Hitting your goal this far out, especially on one of the "harder" NBME's, is awesome! You've got a nice amount of time left to redo uworld.

A few suggestions:
- Based on what you've got schdule so far, its going to come out to NBME every 5 days (assuming you dont take a test in the last two days). That's not a lot of time in between each test. It might be better to take one of the UWA's out which would put you at a test every ~7 days. That seems like a better use of your time and give you more time to improve in between each test to me. Another idea might be to do 2 blocks a day of one of the UWA's and just use it as 4 more blocks of uworld. That would let you do both. It just wouldn't be as predictive as doing them in a single sitting.
 
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Just took NBME 18 today and went down a bit from my previous test. From what I've read though, this isn't exactly uncommon which is why I chose to take 18 before 17. Although when you think about it, wouldn't a harder test be reflected in the scale? I wonder if I just psyched myself out because of the things I've heard about 18; feel like 1/2 the questions I missed, I should have gotten.
 
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I'll join the party for step, i just finished my first pass of FA with Flash Facts to grind some of into my brain. Only done 20% of UW so I need to get crackin:

last week of March (baseline, still in school)
NBME 12 - 185 (70%: ouch, had a couple systems left in class)

1st week of May (school requirement, just finished class, no dedicated study yet)
NBME 16 - 207 (73.5%: at least I'm passing, but far from my goal, a lot tougher exam than 12)

5/26 (1 pass FA, 20% UW complete)
NBME 15 - 232 (84.5%: good start, but still a lot of work to do, similar to 16/harder than 12)

STEP - late June

I'll be hammering 2-2.5 blocks per day for the next couple weeks ramping up to 3-3.5 blocks, doing another pass of FA (w/o flash facts), one pass Pathoma reading and hoping for a little luck.

During the year I did sketchy, one quick pass of pathoma with class, kept up with pharm, and did about 50% of RX here and there to get used to board Qs. But my school's curriculum is kinda notorious for not being congruent with the boards so I feel like a lot of the year was wasted memorizing random stuff for their ridiculous exams. Hopefully the rest of UW can really integrate things and get me where I need to be. Feel like I really need to get going to hit that 250.

Good luck to everyone this step season, we can do this! 🙂:luck:
 
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TwinsFan said:
I'll join the party for step, i just finished my first pass of FA with Flash Facts to grind some of into my brain. Only done 20% of UW so I need to get crackin:

last week of March (baseline, still in school)
NBME 12 - 185 (70%: ouch, had a couple systems left in class)

1st week of May (school requirement, just finished class, no dedicated study yet)
NBME 16 - 207 (73.5%: at least I'm passing, but far from my goal, a lot tougher exam than 12)

5/26 (1 pass FA, 20% UW complete)
NBME 15 - 232 (84.5%: good start, but still a lot of work to do, similar to 16/harder than 12)

STEP - late June

I'll be hammering 2-2.5 blocks per day for the next couple weeks ramping up to 3-3.5 blocks, doing another pass of FA (w/o flash facts), one pass Pathoma reading and hoping for a little luck.

During the year I did sketchy, one quick pass of pathoma with class, kept up with pharm, and did about 50% of RX here and there to get used to board Qs. But my school's curriculum is kinda notorious for not being congruent with the boards so I feel like a lot of the year was wasted memorizing random stuff for their ridiculous exams. Hopefully the rest of UW can really integrate things and get me where I need to be. Feel like I really need to get going to hit that 250.

Good luck to everyone this step season, we can do this! 🙂:luck:
Click to expand...

Nice to see you here! Geez, if you switch out pathoma for goljan, we are basically the same person. My goal is also to get in to the 250's and I'm taking it in mid-late June. Good luck ramping up UW, I'm working on that too.
 
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Uwsa1: 210 march 12
Nbme 12: 224
Nbme13:234
Nbme16:232
Nbme17:230.
Thought I would be improving but I guess not. I felt 17 was much harder than 16.
Gonna take uwsa2 ina few days. And nbme 18 next week. My school basically just got though completely and I have a little less than 3 weeks of hardcore study so hopefully I could pull it up to at least 230 on real deal ( assuming it's a little harder than nbme). Good luck to everybody.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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NuttyEngDude said:
Hello all and good luck! 🙂
Click to expand...
How's it going NED?!

Today my plan is more UWorld (surprise surprise...) I have completed around 55% so far .... not sure I'll be able to completely finish before test day but I am going to do as much as I can!
 
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gobigorgohome22 said:
My thoughts on the exams:
- NBME 18: Yes, it is as hard as people make it out to be. I'd say I only felt confident on 1/5th of the questions. Another 2/5 were reasoned out guesses + 1/5 where the material seemed familiar but grasping at straws + 1/5 where I was questioning if I ever even started medical school. Again, timing was a problem! There were 5 questions each block were I was picking ans without reading the questions because <1min left. Didnt get to review any marked questions! I think I could have done a few points better if this wasn't a problem. I took 5min breaks between each sections. And 20min at the end of this test for lunch before sitting down for the 2nd half. I made myself not look at the results after this test ended. That was hard lol.
- UWA 2: I thought it was on par with other nbmes (closest to 16 id say). Nice mix of easy and hard questions. The main problem here was exhaustion. It was SOOOOO hard to make myself sit down for the last 3 blocks. I expected to be tired but not this tired. This worries me for the real thing. Timing was not as big of an issue due to 40q/60min set up but it was still a problem in the sense that I didnt get to review any of my marked on last 3 blocks. I was just in a mental fog during last 3 blocks and just wanted it to end! Took 10min breaks between each block.
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Was the timing issue unique to NBME 18, or did you always have a problem finishing on time? I'm asking because I keep hearing from my friends, who usually finish with 10-15 mins to spare, that on NBME they had only like a minute left when they finished the blocks.
 
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NBME 15 on May 9 - 232 (3 weeks out)
NBME 17 today - 232 (5 days out)

Feels bad because I'm sure that I know more than I did 2.5 weeks ago but it isn't being reflected in my score. Looking at my incorrects, basically every question that I was 50/50 on I missed. I got especially killed on behavioral. The "what do you say next" questions are tough to prepare for and rely on good gut instinct which I apparently do not have. Scale was tougher too on this NBME, I missed less questions but still scored the same. Test is in 5 days and I was hoping for 240+ but now I'm worried that I won't even be above 220. Guess it gives me some motivation to squeeze out a few more points in these next few days. Good luck everyone, this process is hell and I'm just happy to be finished in a week.
 
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Derivations said:
NBME 15 on May 9 - 232 (3 weeks out)
NBME 17 today - 232 (5 days out)

Feels bad because I'm sure that I know more than I did 2.5 weeks ago but it isn't being reflected in my score. Looking at my incorrects, basically every question that I was 50/50 on I missed. I got especially killed on behavioral. The "what do you say next" questions are tough to prepare for and rely on good gut instinct which I apparently do not have. Scale was tougher too on this NBME, I missed less questions but still scored the same. Test is in 5 days and I was hoping for 240+ but now I'm worried that I won't even be above 220. Guess it gives me some motivation to squeeze out a few more points in these next few days. Good luck everyone, this process is hell and I'm just happy to be finished in a week.
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There's no reason to think that you won't score above 230, much less 220. You still have 5 days for fine tuning and bolt tightening. Although it may seem that you didn't improve over the past 18 days by looking at your NBME scores, remember that NBME 17 is tougher than 15, so you did improve.

If you don't mind sharing, how many questions did you miss on 17?
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
There's no reason to think that you won't score above 230, much less 220. You still have 5 days for fine tuning and bolt tightening. Although it may seem that you didn't improve over the past 18 days by looking at your NBME scores, remember that NBME 17 is tougher than 15, so you did improve.

If you don't mind sharing, how many questions did you miss on 17?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement.

On NBME 17 I missed 28, which comes out 172/200 = 86%. On NBME 15 I missed 31, giving me 169/200 = 84.5%.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
Damn, that's a harsh scale.
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Agreed.

I thought Step would be ~90% = 250, 85% = 240, 80% = 230 with passing around 65% but those scales make me a little unsure.
Anybody have some data points for NBME 18 (since it should be most similar to the current forms)?
 
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How important do you think it is to completely finish Uworld? I have 30% left, not sure if I should focus on finishing or just reviewing FA at this point. 2 weeks left!!
 
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dorster said:
How important do you think it is to completely finish Uworld? I have 30% left, not sure if I should focus on finishing or just reviewing FA at this point. 2 weeks left!!
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Why not both? You could do the 700 Qs in about a week at 3 blocks a day, take a day off then review what you are weak in for the last week or so. Don't forget to take a practice NBME or two if you haven't done one recently.
 
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TwinsFan said:
Why not both? You could do the 700 Qs in about a week at 3 blocks a day, take a day off then review what you are weak in for the last week or so. Don't forget to take a practice NBME or two if you haven't done one recently.
Click to expand...

Thanks! that sounds like a good plan. yeah I'm taking the practice test on site and NBME 18 next week I think
 
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TwinsFan said:
Agreed.

I thought Step would be ~90% = 250, 85% = 240, 80% = 230 with passing around 65% but those scales make me a little unsure.
Anybody have some data points for NBME 18 (since it should be most similar to the current forms)?
Click to expand...

gobigorgohome said that he got 232 on NBME 18 and his number incorrect was 38, so 81% on 18 gets you 232, while 86% on 17 gets you the same score.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
Was the timing issue unique to NBME 18, or did you always have a problem finishing on time? I'm asking because I keep hearing from my friends, who usually finish with 10-15 mins to spare, that on NBME they had only like a minute left when they finished the blocks.
Click to expand...

Its not uncommon for me to have problem finishing (lolz at my dirty mind).

NBME 18 was just a really "work your way to the ans" kinda test which made it more time consuming.

W19 said:
Uworld is soul crushing🙁
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Keep at it! Its hard but a great learning tool!

Derivations said:
Thanks for the encouragement.

On NBME 17 I missed 28, which comes out 172/200 = 86%. On NBME 15 I missed 31, giving me 169/200 = 84.5%.
Click to expand...

Wow that's a really harsh scale! Good job with the above average score!
 
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TwinsFan said:
Agreed.

I thought Step would be ~90% = 250, 85% = 240, 80% = 230 with passing around 65% but those scales make me a little unsure.
Anybody have some data points for NBME 18 (since it should be most similar to the current forms)?
Click to expand...

Ibn Alnafis MD said:
gobigorgohome said that he got 232 on NBME 18 and his number incorrect was 38, so 81% on 18 gets you 232, while 86% on 17 gets you the same score.
Click to expand...

I think the scaling is much more lenient on the real exam. Granted, that might be due to harder exam than the practice exams though.
 
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gobigorgohome22 said:
I think the scaling is much more lenient on the real exam. Granted, that might be due to harder exam than the practice exams though.
Click to expand...

Just took it today, and I thought the real deal was about similar to NBME 18 and the average UWorld block in difficulty. I do hope the scoring is more lenient though....the 8 hour test taking process definitely costs you a few questions due to sheer fatigue and scrambled brains.
 
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GVSULakers9456 said:
Just took it today, and I thought the real deal was about similar to NBME 18 and the average UWorld block in difficulty. I do hope the scoring is more lenient though....the 8 hour test taking process definitely costs you a few questions due to sheer fatigue and scrambled brains.
Click to expand...

CONGRATS on being done!!!

We would love to hear about the test day experience and thoughts on the exam after you've recovered!
 
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