Step I Highest Yield subjects

[vtucci]

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Can someone tell me what the highest yield subjects are? Is there a breakdown somewhere of how many questions are in each field?

I thought I had heard that path, pharm, micro/immuno and physio are pretty highly tested. What about anatomy (including histo, embryo)? Neuro? Behavioral Science? Biochem (or is this kind of included in physio)?

Thanks

 

[BDylan]

Highest: Path
High: Phys, Pharm, Micro
Medium: Biochem, Behavioral, Cell/molecular bio
Low: Immuno, Embryo, Gross, Neuroanatomy

Note that some subjects (cell/molecular bio, immuno, neuroanatomy) might be medium to low yield depending on your test.

So I've heard/read.

 

[Dunce]

The above breakdown seems to be about what I have heard from everyone, although I have not taken Step 1 yet.

Also remember that the big 3 (Path, Phys, and Pharm) do encompass a wide range of the less high yield subjects. Just think about how much stuff seemed new or confusing in biochem, cell, neuro, etc. Then when you saw it all again in Path, it suddenly came together and made sense. Yet another reason to focus on the 3P's and just hit the low yield subjects superficially.

 

[mikedc813]

Highest: Path
High: Phys, Pharm, Micro
Medium: Biochem, Behavioral, Cell/molecular bio
Low: Immuno, Embryo, Gross, Neuroanatomy

Note that some subjects (cell/molecular bio, immuno, neuroanatomy) might be medium to low yield depending on your test.

So I've heard/read.

I agree that Path and Pathophys are the highest yield. Look at how much qbank there is for each subject. That should be a guide to how much time you should spend on a subject, with the exception of anatomy. There is a small % of pure anatomy questions and I only spent 1/2 a day on it. I would argue that neuro and immuno are definitely NOT low yield. I would put them in the "medium" category for sure, based on what I had on my exam. I have also heard from others that their exams were heavier on neuro/biochem.

 

[mikedc813]

Highest: Path
High: Phys, Pharm, Micro
Medium: Biochem, Behavioral, Cell/molecular bio
Low: Immuno, Embryo, Gross, Neuroanatomy

Note that some subjects (cell/molecular bio, immuno, neuroanatomy) might be medium to low yield depending on your test.

So I've heard/read.

Spend the least amount of time on anatomy, behavioral, and embryo. I studied those 3 for a total of maybe 2-3 days.

 

[mlw03]

Spend the least amount of time on anatomy, behavioral, and embryo. I studied those 3 for a total of maybe 2-3 days.

preach on, brutha mike. pure anatomy is NOT high yield; the questions will either be general enough that you'll remember, or too detailed for you to answer unless you had mini-Moore there with ya. for embryo, the highest yield stuff was "X becomes Y". for behavioral there were a number of "what's the best reponse" questions that i don't think are studyable, and hopefully you've managed to pick that stuff up somewhere in the first two years... just remember, sex with a patient is ALWAYS a no-no (especially if you're a forensic pathologist ), but for some of the ethical stuff i usually could pick out the right answer fairly quickly, or at least narrow it down to 2 and then just make the most educated guess.

 

[surgical06]

Can someone tell me what the highest yield subjects are? Is there a breakdown somewhere of how many questions are in each field?

I thought I had heard that path, pharm, micro/immuno and physio are pretty highly tested. What about anatomy (including histo, embryo)? Neuro? Behavioral Science? Biochem (or is this kind of included in physio)?

Thanks

i think there is a general misconception when it comes to the 3P's, direct pathology would be my 4th P.


1)pathophysiology (mechanism of health, disease and modes of therapy) thats what the USMLE wants to know. they tell you that on your score report.
2) physio
3) pharmacological mechanism of action (not drug names, but mechanisms)
4) "robbins like" pathology (reason being, b/c it easily memorizable)

almost everyone i know who took the board said the path they studied was overkill.
on q bank for example, the highest yeild questions are general priniciples, physio and pathophys questions.

 

[Idiopathic]

Hmm...I think that if you had a very good path course (i.e. pathophysiologic basis of disease) then you felt prepared. I remember remarking to a professor after the exam that I thought 70% of the test could have been answered from his path notes. (incorporating path of anatomy/microbiology/immunology/problems with some drugs, etc.)

The main point is to incorporate pathology into every subject, I think.

 

[DrPharaohX]

I must've had the exam from hell, because I had a sh** ton of histo (relatively) in the first three blocks alone, which bumps it up to a "medium yield" category. I also had a good share of neuro (spinal pathways!) and a little bit less in biochem. All these subjects seemed like medium yield, along with behavioral and biostats (even had a few challenging biostats questions)

Path/pathophys probably comprised most of the questions, but it seemed like every other question was either on of the subjects above, or endocrine path/phys/pharm. I think my exam had a love affair with anything endocrine or histo.

So, bottom line: in general the breakdown is as others posted, but you never know, so study everything. However, for those subjects on which the general consensus is low yield (anatomy, embryo, histo) I'd spend a day max on them.

 

[mikedc813]

I must've had the exam from hell, because I had a sh** ton of histo (relatively) in the first three blocks alone, which bumps it up to a "medium yield" category. I also had a good share of neuro (spinal pathways!) and a little bit less in biochem. All these subjects seemed like medium yield, along with behavioral and biostats (even had a few challenging biostats questions)

Path/pathophys probably comprised most of the questions, but it seemed like every other question was either on of the subjects above, or endocrine path/phys/pharm. I think my exam had a love affair with anything endocrine or histo.

So, bottom line: in general the breakdown is as others posted, but you never know, so study everything. However, for those subjects on which the general consensus is low yield (anatomy, embryo, histo) I'd spend a day max on them.

Well put. I agree completely.