Ex USMLE I Candidates...

[SYD]

Can any of you suggest to me if in Physiology, Pregnancy a high yield area.

I would have though it was, but in FA it is not mentioned at all.

For us in med school we had nearly 4/5 lectures on Pregnacy physiology, but I was thinking if this would be examined in step II instead ??

By the way, I was doing Q bank Physio this evening and was quite dissapointed with my score.

I find Physio questions being a bit more tricky and twisted compared to Path..

Anybody felt the same ??

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[sanfilippo]

physio, especially cardiovascular and respiratory, remains my achilles' heel for step one. however, i felt a lot more prepared for the physio q's on the real deal after having taken many questions (qbank, pretest).

hang in there, syd.
-s.

 

[mcwmark]

I had a couple questions on phys-pregnancy. One was a basic hormone level question. The other was a what would you see in a tubal pregnancy, or hyadatidiform mole (I couldn't tell from the vignette which one it was, oops

 

[SYD]

Sanfillipo

With Achillies heel did you walk with good balance ??

Mark
I guess I could live with 2/3 pregnancy questions unanswered...

I just finished my CVS physio revision, covering the main areas, but guess what they are testing on Pul wedge pressure (and LA pressurre gradiant) to diagnose MS. Do you think this is fair ??

I guess there is no point winging

 

[rajal]

hey SYD,
i was doing RS and guess i could see only numbers up and down, my head was about to go off, so just closed the book.
how are you doing with 5.5 weeks left?

how is BSS?to people done with exams.is it worth doing along with q bank.

 

[Ludy]

I loved BSS, but it's a major time committment. I did all 5 books from Jan.-May (one test a weekend). The explanations are really long -- much longer than on QBank, so it takes a while to get through just one exam (if you read all the answers, which is really the only point in doing the series). It's also MUCH more difficult than QBank, so if you're getting discouraged by your QBank scores, BSS will be that much worse. If you decide to do it, just realize that 60% correct is doing pretty well and try to learn from the ones you get wrong more than focus on your scores. I definitely wouldn't recommend it if you only have a couple of weeks left, but if you have the time, I found it worthwhile.

 

[mcwmark]

SYD-

Studying that Pulm Wedge Pressure / LA pressure, Mitral stenosis is high yield! At least it was for me (hint, hint...)

BSS is excellent, but I only got through one book...just ran out of time. I'd say their "arrow" questions are quite representative of what you'd see on the USMLE.

 

[sanfilippo]

yes, syd, be prepared for q's that show you a murmur and then different pressures recorded for the 4 chambers of the heart (yes, pwcp = lap). it may be a valvular defect in question or an asd/vsd/pda. again, review these in UCV.
-s.

 

[SYD]

Rajal

What do you mean by BSS ??

You don't mean Behav science, Do you ?

 

[Ludy]

BSS is the Board Simulator Series, published by Lippincott W&W. There are five books with 4 tests in each (180 questions per test). Two books are general principles, including behav sci, biochem and anatomy (and a lot of other stuff), and the last three are by organ system. The questions are known to be much harder than the real thing, but they're a good way to study when you just can't look at review books anymore because the explanations are so detailed that they take the place of books.

 

[SYD]

Thanks Ludy

I think I will give BSS a miss.The main bookstore in sydney takes about 2/3 wks to get the books that they don't have in store.

By the time they get it and deliver to me , I will be done with step I & put my feet up & watch a few newly released movies..

 

[rajal]

thanks Ludy.
SYD, the books are really big,to go through 50 questions i took whole one day, its really big,so giving second thought whether to go through it or not.
what book are you refering for molecular biology and immunology.

 

[SYD]

Rajal

Genetics - BRS Pathology, genetics chapter, biochem notes from med school/ high yield Biochem (I got it only last week , haven't used it yet)

Immunology - Notes from med school lectures

How about you ?

When are you writing step I ?

I am trying hard to finish Phsio & Path revision now.