Fine on class exams, but getting slaughtered by NBME

[heyheyhey12345]

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Complicated story, but I could use some advice, please.

I'm an M2 and just finished my third semester of school. I passed all of my classes in M1 (not with flying colors, but still well enough to pass), but this year has been kind of weird: I've done significantly better in most of our blocks this year (one standard deviation better that how I did last year) but have also failed two exams. The two exams I failed were NBME only exams, whereas the other ones were a mix of in-house only and in-house and NBME questions.

I have a hunch that this may be a matter of poor test taking skills/anxiety as I did fine on the in-house exams, but this is all very concerning because Step 1 is coming. I don't think it's about lack of understanding the material but rather deciphering what is even being asked, but I have to wonder, too, if maybe this is just my intellectual limit. Can I learn how to break down and kill NBME questions in 6 months? Or perhaps I'm just not intellectually capable or strong enough for all of this?

I need to talk to my Deans to figure out what my options are, and I know they are going to recommend that I repeat M2. Obviously that is not ideal, but I also had to take a leave of absence after about two months of M1 and restart the year last year, so that would mean it would take four years for me to complete two years of medical school. Not good. I am looking to go into some not as competitive residencies (right now thinking peds), but would it even be possible for me to get into any residency program with that kind of transcript?

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

[FIREitUP]

Can I suggest using board prep materials to help you get our mind thinking in a board oriented fashion? In addition, I would use uworld for step 1 (despite what others say about "saving it" for dedicated step 1). Last, I would try to practice good test taking strategies such as reading the answers first and the last sentence of the vignette prior to reading the entire vignette and also eliminating answer choices right off the bat.

 

[allojay]

Hi there bud, but I find it extremely odd that you're not doing so well on NBME only exams. From my experience, they tend to be 'better' questions than the in house questions. My suggestion would be to supplement FA with the section you're learning in lecture. So if you're learning cardio for your block, read the cardio section on FA as well, as you read for lectures too. This has worked well for me, as my school has a combo of in house and NBME questions as well.

 

[Amygdarya]

In my (admittedly limited) experience, the best way to prepare for a test is to do a lot of questions written in the style of the test. Aside from online USMLE qbanks, try BRS books, both for review and for questions (their questions are very similar to NBME), as well as the Pretest book series.

 

[operaman]

Hard to say without knowing you. In general, I would suspect that you only have a cursory understanding of the material - good enough for direct recall class exams but not for nbme style questions. the nbme has published extensively on how they craft questions to test your understanding beyond rote memory.

Best thing to do is incorporate a lot of nbme style questions into your study. World is the best and I would start with them. Make sure to do all the questions for whatever subject area your school exam covers. For m2, I would also incorporate things like pathoma to help you with conceptual understanding. But questions need to be a mainstay until you learn how to do them. Everyone has to learn, even the really good test takers.

 

[rodmichael82]

Can I suggest using board prep materials to help you get our mind thinking in a board oriented fashion? In addition, I would use uworld for step 1 (despite what others say about "saving it" for dedicated step 1). Last, I would try to practice good test taking strategies such as reading the answers first and the last sentence of the vignette prior to reading the entire vignette and also eliminating answer choices right off the bat.

I agree. Start using board material such as Pathoma, FA and Uworld. Don't save the Uworld questions but start using them.

 

[tima]

Kaplan videos if you are weak in certain subjects.

 

[usf2013]

I have the same issue here but, I am a MS1. I have been able to pass all my classes so far and have scored above averaged on class exams but, I am bombing NMBEs. What should I do?

 

[wonderdog]

I have the same issue here but, I am a MS1. I have been able to pass all my classes so far and have scored above averaged on class exams but, I am bombing NMBEs. What should I do?

I think the same advice applies for you as for OP:

You may not have a conceptual understanding of the material, but a more cursory understanding instead.

Get in the habit of doing NBME style questions, such as UWorld, and even some practice questions in review books.