Step I Freaking out

[Tastebuds]

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I just took the NMBE 1 and didnt do well at all (330)
I dont know how to keep my motivation level up with this score. I thought I would at least pass the test considering its the easiest one out of all 4 NMBEs. I guess I need some words of encourgement or some advice on what to do. Needless to say, I am freaking out.

 

[jfotos]

how much more time do you have to study? I failed my first NBME exam too and after studying it turned out ok

 

[Taus]

if your test is like this week....then it could be time to freak out/reschedule/etc....but if not....at least your starting point is near passing

 

[anesthesiarocks]

I just took the NMBE 1 and didnt do well at all (330)
I dont know how to keep my motivation level up with this score. I thought I would at least pass the test considering its the easiest one out of all 4 NMBEs. I guess I need some words of encourgement or some advice on what to do. Needless to say, I am freaking out.

what is a 330? Is that passing? I don't know since I didn't take any NMBE's.....

If it's failing or is close to failing and you're test date is within a week, reschedule. Don't go out and fail step1 because it was important that you had 3 months for vacation 4th year instead of 2.

 

[Taus]

what is a 330? Is that passing? I don't know since I didn't take any NMBE's.....

If it's failing or is close to failing and you're test date is within a week, reschedule. Don't go out and fail step1 because it was important that you had 3 months for vacation 4th year instead of 2.

330=172

 

[lfesiam]

how much time do you have left??

 

[anesthesiarocks]

330=172

sheeesh, that's like bottom2% of testtakers. Wow. Definetely the OP needs to reschedule and actually learn the basics.

If I was at a 170ish level, I wouldnt be wasting time with practice questions or anything. I would just start learning very high yield stuff, because at such a low score the OP doesn't have a grasp on large chunks of high yield material....so he needs to just put qbank away, put usmleworld away, etc and open up his FA and learn some hard core basics....

 

[Law2Doc]

sheeesh, that's like bottom2% of testtakers. Wow. Definetely the OP needs to reschedule and actually learn the basics.

If I was at a 170ish level, I wouldnt be wasting time with practice questions or anything. I would just start learning very high yield stuff, because at such a low score the OP doesn't have a grasp on large chunks of high yield material....so he needs to just put qbank away, put usmleworld away, etc and open up his FA and learn some hard core basics....

Well, if you actually are reading the explanations, the qbank/world stuff is equally high yield. There is huge correlation between the stuff emphasized in FA and on qbank. So I kind of disagree. Also when you factor in the large error/uncertainty in the conversion of NBME scores the OP is potentially scoring closer to passing. But I do agree that the OP needs to make the most of whatever time is left.

 

[anesthesiarocks]

Well, if you actually are reading the explanations, the qbank/world stuff is equally high yield. There is huge correlation between the stuff emphasized in FA and on qbank. So I kind of disagree. .

Yes, but does the OP(since his fund of knowledge is so poor) actually have the foundation to really get all he can from the explanations in qbank? That would be what I'm concerned about if I was scoring 172 on an nbme and doing lots of qbank. The thing is that if you're reading and studying all the explanations you're getting some explanations that just aren't going to be relevant to the OP at all. Whereas if he just uses his time on sources like First aid, he can at least say "ok, I'm going to spend some time now figuring out what the heck is going on with this freakin nephron" and he won't waste any time.

Because obviously at 172, he's missing lots of gimme questions......where does Furosemide act on on the nephron type of questions......

 

[lord_jeebus]

Yes, but does the OP(since his fund of knowledge is so poor) actually have the foundation to really get all he can from the explanations in qbank? That would be what I'm concerned about if I was scoring 172 on an nbme and doing lots of qbank. The thing is that if you're reading and studying all the explanations you're getting some explanations that just aren't going to be relevant to the OP at all. Whereas if he just uses his time on sources like First aid, he can at least say "ok, I'm going to spend some time now figuring out what the heck is going on with this freakin nephron" and he won't waste any time.

Because obviously at 172, he's missing lots of gimme questions......where does Furosemide act on on the nephron type of questions......

I agree, at this level the OP just needs to sit down with a book and do some learning. Many more facts can be covered per hour this way.

 

[Law2Doc]

Yes, but does the OP(since his fund of knowledge is so poor) actually have the foundation to really get all he can from the explanations in qbank? That would be what I'm concerned about if I was scoring 172 on an nbme and doing lots of qbank. The thing is that if you're reading and studying all the explanations you're getting some explanations that just aren't going to be relevant to the OP at all. Whereas if he just uses his time on sources like First aid, he can at least say "ok, I'm going to spend some time now figuring out what the heck is going on with this freakin nephron" and he won't waste any time.

Because obviously at 172, he's missing lots of gimme questions......where does Furosemide act on on the nephron type of questions......

Fair enough. I think either approach would help. Probably should shake it up a bit and do something other than he is currently doing in the remaining time, as it isn't getting it done.

 

[Tastebuds]

Well, i have 5 weeks before the exam.......and I have been doing questions in Qbank, USMLE world (I have done 60% of the questions on both), and Qbook.....all around 60-70% average (except for physio...which is on the low end..and the dreaded topic for me). I havent studied pharm or path at all as of yet....so im hoping that fund of knowledge will help. But i felt like the NMBE 1 had questions....of whether you knew it or not....so for path and pharm....I didnt know alot since i havent studied it yet.

I am supposed to start studying pharm tomorrow and then start pathology in about 4-5 days after that. Do you guys think I should do pharm half day and then review other material? The problem with me is that in order to be able to retain material....I need repetition. I did biochemistry a week ago...and have forgotten alot of the stuff already....so I need to hit it again. I am having a difficult time juggling everything in one day....hitting new material, old material and questions!

Any advice???? 🙁

 

[SoCuteMD]

Well, i have 5 weeks before the exam.......and I have been doing questions in Qbank, USMLE world (I have done 60% of the questions on both), and Qbook.....all around 60-70% average (except for physio...which is on the low end..and the dreaded topic for me). I havent studied pharm or path at all as of yet....so im hoping that fund of knowledge will help. But i felt like the NMBE 1 had questions....of whether you knew it or not....so for path and pharm....I didnt know alot since i havent studied it yet.

I am supposed to start studying pharm tomorrow and then start pathology in about 4-5 days after that. Do you guys think I should do pharm half day and then review other material? The problem with me is that in order to be able to retain material....I need repetition. I did biochemistry a week ago...and have forgotten alot of the stuff already....so I need to hit it again. I am having a difficult time juggling everything in one day....hitting new material, old material and questions!

Any advice???? 🙁

I think you really need to master physio before you move on to pharm (physio-dependent) and path (also physio-dependent).

 

[Tastebuds]

I feel like I have enough knowledge in physio to understand path and pharmacology. Its when I get too detailed into physio---I lose alot of the basic concept stuff.

 

[Law2Doc]

Well, i have 5 weeks before the exam......

With 5 weeks to go a "freaking out" post is really premature...

 

[anesthesiarocks]

Well, i have 5 weeks before the exam.......and I have been doing questions in Qbank, USMLE world (I have done 60% of the questions on both), and Qbook.....all around 60-70% average (except for physio...which is on the low end..and the dreaded topic for me). I havent studied pharm or path at all as of yet....so im hoping that fund of knowledge will help. But i felt like the NMBE 1 had questions....of whether you knew it or not....so for path and pharm....I didnt know alot since i havent studied it yet.

I am supposed to start studying pharm tomorrow and then start pathology in about 4-5 days after that. Do you guys think I should do pharm half day and then review other material? The problem with me is that in order to be able to retain material....I need repetition. I did biochemistry a week ago...and have forgotten alot of the stuff already....so I need to hit it again. I am having a difficult time juggling everything in one day....hitting new material, old material and questions!

Any advice???? 🙁

1) you're fine. 5 weeks, no matter how low your score, is way too much time to be freaking out. Will you score 245? Highly unlikely, but if you work reasonably the next five weeks you'll almost certainly pass without sweating it.

2) Why not just do some path and some pharm and some pathophys each day? I never understood the "for these 3 days Im doing only pharm" or whatever type strategies. Part of the reason you forget all the biochemistry is because it's most efficient to do 2 hrs of topic A for 10 straight days than do 20 hrs over 2 or 3 days.

3) Just relax and study the pharm and path you haven't studied. Just spend a few weeks going over the pharm and path in FA, and supplement the path with another source.

4) I wouldn't blow off physio completely....I might blow off stuff like GI physio or whatever, but renal, cards, and pulm physio is pretty high yield stuff.

 

[Tastebuds]

Do you guys recommend using First Aid primarily at this point with supplementation with other notes that I have made? Some people say that FA is not enough to study...but others say its a very good tool to use with supplementation with other stuff. Also, so you recommend doing a little in 2-3 topics a day so I can keep it fresh in my brain?
I want to use my time efficiently and apparantly right now I am not.

Thanks you guys for your advice.

 

[Miami_med]

Do you guys recommend using First Aid primarily at this point with supplementation with other notes that I have made? Some people say that FA is not enough to study...but others say its a very good tool to use with supplementation with other stuff. Also, so you recommend doing a little in 2-3 topics a day so I can keep it fresh in my brain?
I want to use my time efficiently and apparantly right now I am not.

Thanks you guys for your advice.

First Aid is good if you understand the basics already. I'd use it as a starting point, but if you're truly missing basic concepts, I'd have some backup material for when FA makes no sense. In other words, if you read FA and don't get it, approach the topic with another source. The physio/pathophys can be like 40%+ of the test, so you CANNOT blow this off.