HELP: how to study for NBME exams

[deleted647155]

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Hi guys, I'm really struggling with NBME-style/UWorld/Step style questions. I passed and did average on Step 1 and am doing average to mediocre on shelf exams. I study quite diligently, do all the UWorld questions, and do practice NBMEs but there is just something about NBME exams that is not compatible with my brain and the way that I think. Maybe it's because I'm ADD and I latch onto everything in the question stem and it confuses me.

It's so frustrating because my performance on clerkships is great but my exam score is low which brings my whole grade down.

The issue is that when I look at an NBME question, I'm RARELY ever confident in my answer. I'm so unsure all the time...Anyone have any useful tips/strategies on building confidence and building knowledge? How do you study? I've used Anki cards before which have helped but they take forever to make. Thank you!

 

[Broponinelevation]

for studying i also used onlinemeded, which has free videos that give you a rough framework for how to think about various topics. Also just studied uworld a lot of course, that's your key resource. Otherwise its usually shelf specific the things that are helpful. Anki cards might not be the most helpful. i think it would be tough to come up with that many cards and these questions are a lot more case based scenarios, "next steps" etc.
that being said- I found that both the shelf material and step 2 to be a large amount of "gut feeling" - meaning going with the answer that feels confident, that you would pick on the wards not necessarily what you memorized on an anki card. So i think you already know your problem, which is that you are second guessing your answer and that you know the material. For that- maybe try to take a practice NBME shelf online? they cost 20$ so not super pricey and are fairly close to the real thing! Wish i could give more helpful advice, good luck!