Ego Killer

[realruby2000]

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I just got raped by Q bank. 50%. on a 50Q exam 🙁 man oh man do I feel like crap. I got a bunch of phsyio questions wrong and I just studied phsyio!! man this sucks

 

[DrSmiles]

Yeah I can totally relate! I just did my first 50 block set (all disciplines) and I only got 54%. Still early in the game though, don't let it beat you!

 

[musicman1991]

Are you serious, there are going to be tons of blocks like that. Qbank is a learning tool. It's not good for your ego but get over it.

 

[MedicinePowder]

K-Y jelly right before taking a 50-set, random block helps.

 

[southerndoc]

I hate those 50% ones. I think I actually scored a 40% on one set of questions. Did fine on Step I though.

 

[Halaljello]

Are you serious, there are going to be tons of blocks like that. Qbank is a learning tool. It's not good for your ego but get over it.

from what i understand, many people say its a good measure of how you'll do on boards.

 

[Yosh]

Well...if nothing else....it did light that fire that motivated me to study like the world was ending...

In the end...I made it through Qbank...and the real thing...

 

[DRealDrZ]

It's been a solid day with the Q Bank. I got a 48% and 54% on two tests!!! Hey, look at me...I'm scoring in the 99th percentile come June!!! 👍
Pretty depressing day...........

 

[optiplex]

well...at least you guys are getting cracking on q-bank...I haven't even started... 🙁

 

[MediCane2006]

Wow....I was feeling pretty good about my Q-banking skills - I was getting mid-60's on randomized 50-question blocks. Now I just did one, didn't think it was that bad, and got a 48!! NOOOO!!!

Maybe I'll try the KY jelly next time...

Actually I'm going to do another set right now. I won't be able to sleep tonight otherwise

 

[DrQuinn]

Fear not young paduwans! I scored 40-60% the first time I was taking the practice USMLE tests... and ended up scoring 93%ile. "They" say that if you are scoring 50%, you should pass the boards.

Q, DO

 

[DrSmiles]

Well this makes me feel a lot better. Yesterday I thought that either I was A) a total idiot who can't remember a damn thing to save my life, B) I didn't learn squat my last two years, or C) maybe I just need some more practice.
I am hoping the answer is C. 😕

 

[jmattwilson]

"I hate those 50% ones. I think I actually scored a 40% on one set of questions. Did fine on Step I though"

Same here, I had a hard time getting going with Q-Bank. In the end I turned out doing pretty well on the real thing.

 

[DRealDrZ]

Just got a 44%. That's 3 at 50 or below...the sad part is that my "high" score is 68% so far. At least I still have a month or so. 😡

 

[MediCane2006]

Well....I followed up that 48 with a 74 tonight, so I feel slightly better. There weren't many pharm questions on this block, though, so that may have skewed the results..... 🙄

 

[DRealDrZ]

Now that I think about it...my lower scores DID have quite a bit of Pharm on it....

 

[Legion560]

Thats the problem with random questions. Although they force you to switch thinking modes, you get hammered on the stuff you dont know. I just took my third block of 50 random questions and got spanked. 54% I realize that getting boned on q-bank early in the game isnt anything to get feaked out about...but it doesnt help instill very much confidence.

Legion.

 

[BrooklynDO]

So get this.... Ive been doin the qbank since a bit before i started to study...
started with 50's now mostly mid 70's... and ive been mixing it up the whole time, meaning i dont just do questions from things I studied... I do "all of the above" so... today: I decided to do one test with only things I "knew" or already read... I got a whopping 42!!!!
great... much cursing... went to watch some tv, decided to come back and give it another shot... sat down and did a 50 Q everything mix... got an 80 and missed a few Q because i missread them... so go figure.... just goes to show you , you never know...

 

[GiJoe]

I have about a month to take step 1 and I seem to be stuck inthe 60's when taking random blocks of 50%. It's really pissing me off...especially when like 15% of my block is anatomy/biostats ( 2 subjects I really hate).

I just hope the distribution of anatomy/biostats/embryo is a lot lower on the real thing.... anyone know if it is?

 

[annushka]

see, qbank is really frustrating because i think it has a very odd way of putting questions into categories. i KNOW for a fact that pharm is my weakest point, yet keep getting surprisingly good scores on pharm (as of now, it's around 80%). on the other hand, the subjects i'm studying right now i'm getting a 50% in. how to explain this--i have no idea.

frankly, i'm a little worried about such discrepancies. i think the best thing is what other people mentioned--just use it as a study tool, go over questions you missed...

oh, and today i got a 26% on my qbank--because i got a phone call in the middle of it and forgot to stop the timer and my time ran out!!!
so as you can imagine my overall average was kinda lowered by this.

 

[DRealDrZ]

I did the same thing earlier, but my call was just as I started...so got 0 correct. It made me below 50 percent for a few blocks...finally I'm at like 56 percent overall with that 0 and a couple in the 40's. Hurts a little...

 

[BrooklynDO]

So, im encountering this lil problem...maybe someone with a brain (unlike yours truly) can help me with this....
I seem to know all the pathology when i read it in kaplan and first aid...or most of it anyway.... but when I see a question in qbank I just dont seem to realize which pathology they are talking about.... a simple example would be them describing reiters and just not seeing it, thinking its oh I dunno a really bad case of gonnorhea .... can anyone give advice on how to "see" what they are asking you about?
😕

 

[TysonCook]

If I have 2 Dz's that are almost always presented the same, I grab my notebook and write down a quick sentence w/the key presentation that both share in common, but then right below it I write 1 or 2 things that will help diff. btw. the two. After a while I have 20+ pages to review on my review days.
This would be a longer example from my pages but you get the drift....
ex.
"nosebleed, menorrhagia, petechia, hemorrhage, (female)"
Platlet count down=Thrombocytopenic Dz.
Platelty count Norm=Functional platelet Dz. (VWD etc)
1)if SLE= Increased ANA
2)if Rx in System= Drug induced Thrombocytopenia
3)If not 1)or2)= Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (autoimmune, GP IIB/IIIA, splenic destruction, anisocytosis).

Helps me keep all the random shi$ that presents similar somewhat different.

 

[Solace]

So, im encountering this lil problem...maybe someone with a brain (unlike yours truly) can help me with this....
I seem to know all the pathology when i read it in kaplan and first aid...or most of it anyway.... but when I see a question in qbank I just dont seem to realize which pathology they are talking about.... a simple example would be them describing reiters and just not seeing it, thinking its oh I dunno a really bad case of .... can anyone give advice on how to "see" what they are asking you about?
😕

I had this problem initially in Qbank also. Keep in mind the mneumonics from FA, like can't pee, see, or climb a tree. So when I see something like like conjunctivities, I immediately juggle the most common differential diagnosis and try to concentrate on the age and gender first. So, when I see a young man with arthritis, I check in the stem to see if he "can't pee."

Here is what helped me:

1) First, I realized that many times when they mention the age, gender, or race of a patient, it has something to do with the differential. They can always say "a patient comes in with blah blah blah." For instance, the 70 year old man with abdominal pain and bleeding from the rectum is diverticulitis in my mind until proven otherwise. On the other hand, "a patient" that presents with abdominal pain and bleeding from the rectum makes me hold back on the diverticulitis diagnosis and think of other things that would make a patient bleed from the rectum.

2) Don't get caught up in over analyzing lab values. Let the symptoms guide you and use the lab values to confirm your suspicion.


3) Pay a lot of attention to the last couple of sentences in the case. Many times, it contains the most helpful info for answering the question. They could lead you on to one thing for most of the vignette and take a turn in the what they want you to answer.

4). When it asks you what is "most likely," they are telling you that it could very well be either of two answers in the answer choices so it is time to consider statistics when trying to get to the answer. So the young woman with the lump in her breast statistically will most likely have a fibroadenoma even though her great aunt had a mastectomy a few years ago.

So using your example above, the young man comes in with joint pain...
If the vignette doesn't mention his sexual activity or his girlfriend, I don't jump for the gonnorhea and would start seeing if he can't pee.

Like wise, with the alcoholic that comes up blood. If he wasn't found on the street, in a homless shelter and they don't mention his lungs, I stay away from the pneumonias. Try to stay away from answers that sound like a specific disease but not enough info in the stem was provided for you to jump to that answer.

Another example is the woman sitting in the hospital who has a sudden onset of chest pain could be due to a pulmonary embolism, but if I have no clue about her length of stay in the hospital, I wouldn't jump to PE without carefully considering the other clues. The clues or lack thereof in the vignette must point you to your answer. If they want you to pick preeclampsia in the pregnant woman, they will most likely you know exactly when her Boold preesure began to rise.

Hope this helps...

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

from what i understand, many people say its a good measure of how you'll do on boards.

Yeah, at the end of your study sessions, but not at the beginning.

I started studying on monday and it's saturday now. I'm averaging 40-60 on the stupid thing. I've been doing smaller sections of just the subjects I've studied to re-inforce it, such as doing 20 or 25 questions after a day of studying biochem, and I'm doing well on those. But then I'm also doing the random tests and I can definitely see a difference in the subjects I've studied and those I haven't. Hopefully by the end I'll be doing much better, but for now it's a way to learn the material.

 

[annushka]

So, im encountering this lil problem...maybe someone with a brain (unlike yours truly) can help me with this....
I seem to know all the pathology when i read it in kaplan and first aid...or most of it anyway.... but when I see a question in qbank I just dont seem to realize which pathology they are talking about.... a simple example would be them describing reiters and just not seeing it, thinking its oh I dunno a really bad case of gonnorhea .... can anyone give advice on how to "see" what they are asking you about?
😕

This is a method that I use, and it sounds totally crazy but somehow it works.
Read the question. As you're reading the presentation, something will jump into your mind...let me give you an example (from an actual q)
CASE: child with fatty stools malabsorption diarrhea
now, at this point, i'm thinking: celiac disease--glutein sensitivity.
I look down, find that in the answer choices and (mentally) cross it off. Because almost always, the answer is NOT the first thing that jumps in your head from some mnemonic or "buzzword" that you read.
So look more carefully...there is always some little "something" that your eye is just dying to glance over but is actually key information in the question.

in this particular one, it was the fact that the symptoms developed before the kid started eating food, and that she was 2. early childhood, fatty stools...the answer was cystic fibrosis.

OK, I just noticed that they really don't like to include "classical triads" all that much--it's always one symptom of the 3 + a lab test or symptom and some genetic/age/sex info. So try to go on that.

But whatever you do, read the question before the case scenario--you don't want to spend an hour trying to figure out what the hell it is if the question is asking you about which viscerosomatic reflex they have!!!

 

[BrooklynDO]

guess what yours truly put for that one

 

[marchiafava]

What if CF is what I thought of first? Should I have crossed it off? Your technique is flawed. Here's some advice to you: The correlation of how you are doing now on your QBank ?'s is not related to how u will do on the exam. Study the concept and theories of "random" and then you will understand. And for those that will quote statistics on correlation between QBank and the real test, roll your eyes and ignore them. Peace out.

 

[DRealDrZ]

I know I shouldn't worry about my percentage...but it's like 59%. That sucks. It is slightly improving, but anytime you see a percentage like that regardless of whether or not it correlates with anything, it hurts. I just want it all to end... 😱

 

[annushka]

i don't know...maybe my technique is flawed, but that seems to be the only way i get correct answers. i do agree with you that test-taking is an individual kinda thing; what works for one person may not work for others.

i just happened to notice that on any question, invariably, my "first hunch" is always wrong. and it works for me to go with something other than my first hunch--that's all.

another weird thing was that i got an 80% on it before i started studying anything!!! and the percentage has been steadily declining ever since 🙂

 

[BrooklynDO]

yea I had one of those... I happened to get 50 questions I knew, all together...they may have been the only 50 q i knew out the the thousand there, but hey, my "average" is up because of it