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this poll was up last year - i thought it might be interesting
how did you do on step 1?
- Thread starter ktat72
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i would be interesting to see how sdn'ers do. if you guys like, i could post a poll on final qbank percentages and viewers could try to see a correlation - so people will not have to post their scores.
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I've been out of touch for a while for reasons of starting third year rotations two weeks ago. (Surgery)
I just got my scores today. (The NBME emails them to our registrar who posts them to our gradebook so don't run out to the mailbox just yet.)
I passed with a 219 three digit score and an 89 as a two digit score.
Just for reference, my NBME Basic Science Review score was 187, I had somethng like a 65% Qbank cumulative average, and I got around an 80% on all of the "Released Items."
Good luck, you all.
I just got my scores today. (The NBME emails them to our registrar who posts them to our gradebook so don't run out to the mailbox just yet.)
I passed with a 219 three digit score and an 89 as a two digit score.
Just for reference, my NBME Basic Science Review score was 187, I had somethng like a 65% Qbank cumulative average, and I got around an 80% on all of the "Released Items."
Good luck, you all.
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Thanks for sharing, Panda. It might be interesting and helpful to next year's SDNer's for those who have gotten their results to post what they got on the actual exam, QBank, any paper/online NBMEs, their standing in school, and how many weeks they prepared for the exam. What do you guys think?
I've just started my Medicine rotation and just thought I'd share as well.
USMLE 246 (don't know the 2 digit--I just got an e-mail from my school)
Qbank 75%
Released items 80%
Practice NBME items online 3 days before the test: 480 (below their mean of 500, so I would say it's not a very good predictor)
First two years of med school: middle half of the class
Prep time for Step 1: 21 days
Hope that helps.
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Hi- I'll share my scores too. I just got my three digit score from the Dean's office, so I don't have the two digit one. I got a 245. My initial QBank and Clinical Vignette scores were in the 70's, but I did them so many times that I ended up with 90's. I got a 72% on both the full length Kaplan and the half-length USMLE released question tests. I started reviewing an hour a day in January, along with starting to get through QBank organ systems questions along with my course work. The two weeks of Spring break I used to get through QBank biochem, pharm, behavioral sciences, etc. By May, I had pretty well gotten through QBank questions one or two times and pretty much reviewed subject content, so I spent three weeks just doing QBank, Clinical Vignettes, and spot review in my consistently weak areas. I think starting early and doing a little bit every day helped me retain the material better (but maybe that's just the way my memory system works).
Much luck to all of you 1st years on the exam next year. I really believe that the best way to nail a solid score on Step 1 is to learn your subject matter well the first time around!
Much luck to all of you 1st years on the exam next year. I really believe that the best way to nail a solid score on Step 1 is to learn your subject matter well the first time around!
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Just got my hard copy report--my two-digit score was a 99.
Does anybody know the Step 1 score range that the more competitive residency programs look for? I can't find any references to actual numbers, just terms like "high" scores...
Thanks
Does anybody know the Step 1 score range that the more competitive residency programs look for? I can't find any references to actual numbers, just terms like "high" scores...
Thanks
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Soo, your score qualifies as "high" (you can't get a higher 2 digit score). Wouldn't worry about it, now just concentrate on clinicals and good job.
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started Psych rotation on July 1, rec. score today via snail mail. I posted this somewhere else on the USMLE thread but here goes:
Step 1 score: 233/94 (test date 6/9/03)
Q-bank: 66% overall, scored from 68-78% on unused items toward the end.
Released items: 76%
Study methods/resources: posted in other thread, will copy over at request when I have time.
Grades: no class rank for the first 2 years at my school, but generally scored within 5 points of the average for most classes and on the majority of exams. H/P/F grading.
MCAT (for correlation purposes if anyone is interested): 26Q on 1st attempt, 29 Q w/9 VR on 2nd attempt.
-currently attend Tufts
-female, prob. will go into peds, med/peds, or int. medicine.
good luck and enjoy your rotations!
Step 1 score: 233/94 (test date 6/9/03)
Q-bank: 66% overall, scored from 68-78% on unused items toward the end.
Released items: 76%
Study methods/resources: posted in other thread, will copy over at request when I have time.
Grades: no class rank for the first 2 years at my school, but generally scored within 5 points of the average for most classes and on the majority of exams. H/P/F grading.
MCAT (for correlation purposes if anyone is interested): 26Q on 1st attempt, 29 Q w/9 VR on 2nd attempt.
-currently attend Tufts
-female, prob. will go into peds, med/peds, or int. medicine.
good luck and enjoy your rotations!
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Thanks, Jim! Your point is well-taken about focussing on the next tasks ahead...I'm on my first clerkship (surgery) and am already swimming in new challenges. Med school is kind of like boulder-hopping (can anyone out there relate to that?)
Good luck to us all...
Good luck to us all...
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I'm just glad I passed. I didn't really feel officially "third year" until I got my score and believe me it was as if a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders when I saw my score.
FYI, my class rank is very low, that is, I am a "bottom feeder." Something like 94 out of 100. Consequently I "pulled out all stops" studying for Step 1 and pretty happy with my score. I am slightly above the national average and a good bit above, probably, the average at my school.
Don't bust on me for having such a low class rank. I'm not making excuses but I do have three young children, a wife, five dogs, a house, and a lot of "adult" responsibilities.
At my school, if you fail they take you out of your rotation schedule and make you take your second block as vacation to study for your second attempt. If you fail the second time you have to take a year off, enroll in a prep course and come back the next year. Three strikes and you, my friend, are out.
I really didn't study that much during second year. I think my score would have been better if I had studied the material harder WHEN IT WAS PRESENTED and not during my four week work-up to Step 1. I really do not think that First Aid or BRS helped me as much as learning the material the first time would have.
Also, I think that except for behavioral sciences, Qbank is vastly overrated as a study resource. I did all 2000 or so questions but felt the eighty hours I spent doing them could have been used more productively directly concentrating on the difficult subjects like renal physiology at which I suck.
By the way, rotations are going very well. I am doing my surgery block right now. It is very cool, even though I do not intend on going into surgery. The only downside is the horrendous amount of time I spend on the wards. We usually get out by six, but I find I have to get in by 5:00 AM to have enough time to see and write notes on my patients to have ready for rounds at about 6:30.
First and second year seem like a vacation in comparisson. Think about it. Generally speaking you make your own hours in first and second year. Since our mandatory attendence policy was never enforced you could sleep as late as you wanted and amble into class at a civilized hour.
I was really stressed out the first couple of days of rotations until I learned to a) Get to bed by 9:30PM to ensure an adequete amount of sleep. b) Sit down whenever possible to avoid twelve hours of standing. c) Not sweat the criticism of the residents and attendings.
The fact of the matter is that I was a Marine for almost eight years and have been yelled at and criticised by professionals. The caliber of criticism by residents is weak in comparisson. No one has yet said anything bad about my mother so I know I am dealing with amateurs. Besides, there is no amount of casual criticism from anyone at the hospital which will in any way effect my graduation date. People lose sight of this, especially when they are being pimped.
I always have an answer for any question and I don't care whether I am right or wrong because it doesn't matter. Since I don't get flustered I am not pimped with any regularity. The three residents directly over us are good people who treat us with respect and we return the favor by treating them with respect and try to help them out.
I feel sometimes like I have my hands in my pockets and I am just casually ambling through third year, looking about me with great interest as I go. We hardly stay anywhere long enough to learn anything but the basics. I have OB-Gyn next, then Medicine. Around December I will stroll casually into pediatrics and then psychiatry. I believe my first three rotations are the hardest and come January my group will be "living off the fat of the land," so to speak.
Two things have suprised me about the profession of medicine. First, even though I knew there was going to be a lot of paperwork, I was not prepared for the mountains of it produced for every patient. Many of the patients in our hospital have charts in three parts each four or five inches thick. And the redundancy of much of the paperwork is astounding. It seems that our residents spend most of their time wrestling with paperwork.
Second, I was not prepared for the level of arrogance, CYA, back-biting, and finger-pointing I have seen at our hospital. It is like no place else I have ever worked. Some of the attitudes I have seen would earn a quick ass-kicking in any other profession. Here, however, rudeness, verbal abuse, and snobbery are routinely tolerated. I have run into quite a few folks who could use a "prophylactic" ass-kicking or two...or three.
Hey, kids, it's a profession, not a cult. Many, many people work harder then physicians, even then residents, and don't have attitude problems. For example, I know the guy who mows my lawn is working in the hot sun for ten hours a day, six days a week and he is the most level headed, temperate fellow you'll ever meet. No matter how bad it gets, remember to keep reminding yourself that it beats flipping burgers as a lifetime career.
FYI, my class rank is very low, that is, I am a "bottom feeder." Something like 94 out of 100. Consequently I "pulled out all stops" studying for Step 1 and pretty happy with my score. I am slightly above the national average and a good bit above, probably, the average at my school.
Don't bust on me for having such a low class rank. I'm not making excuses but I do have three young children, a wife, five dogs, a house, and a lot of "adult" responsibilities.
At my school, if you fail they take you out of your rotation schedule and make you take your second block as vacation to study for your second attempt. If you fail the second time you have to take a year off, enroll in a prep course and come back the next year. Three strikes and you, my friend, are out.
I really didn't study that much during second year. I think my score would have been better if I had studied the material harder WHEN IT WAS PRESENTED and not during my four week work-up to Step 1. I really do not think that First Aid or BRS helped me as much as learning the material the first time would have.
Also, I think that except for behavioral sciences, Qbank is vastly overrated as a study resource. I did all 2000 or so questions but felt the eighty hours I spent doing them could have been used more productively directly concentrating on the difficult subjects like renal physiology at which I suck.
By the way, rotations are going very well. I am doing my surgery block right now. It is very cool, even though I do not intend on going into surgery. The only downside is the horrendous amount of time I spend on the wards. We usually get out by six, but I find I have to get in by 5:00 AM to have enough time to see and write notes on my patients to have ready for rounds at about 6:30.
First and second year seem like a vacation in comparisson. Think about it. Generally speaking you make your own hours in first and second year. Since our mandatory attendence policy was never enforced you could sleep as late as you wanted and amble into class at a civilized hour.
I was really stressed out the first couple of days of rotations until I learned to a) Get to bed by 9:30PM to ensure an adequete amount of sleep. b) Sit down whenever possible to avoid twelve hours of standing. c) Not sweat the criticism of the residents and attendings.
The fact of the matter is that I was a Marine for almost eight years and have been yelled at and criticised by professionals. The caliber of criticism by residents is weak in comparisson. No one has yet said anything bad about my mother so I know I am dealing with amateurs. Besides, there is no amount of casual criticism from anyone at the hospital which will in any way effect my graduation date. People lose sight of this, especially when they are being pimped.
I always have an answer for any question and I don't care whether I am right or wrong because it doesn't matter. Since I don't get flustered I am not pimped with any regularity. The three residents directly over us are good people who treat us with respect and we return the favor by treating them with respect and try to help them out.
I feel sometimes like I have my hands in my pockets and I am just casually ambling through third year, looking about me with great interest as I go. We hardly stay anywhere long enough to learn anything but the basics. I have OB-Gyn next, then Medicine. Around December I will stroll casually into pediatrics and then psychiatry. I believe my first three rotations are the hardest and come January my group will be "living off the fat of the land," so to speak.
Two things have suprised me about the profession of medicine. First, even though I knew there was going to be a lot of paperwork, I was not prepared for the mountains of it produced for every patient. Many of the patients in our hospital have charts in three parts each four or five inches thick. And the redundancy of much of the paperwork is astounding. It seems that our residents spend most of their time wrestling with paperwork.
Second, I was not prepared for the level of arrogance, CYA, back-biting, and finger-pointing I have seen at our hospital. It is like no place else I have ever worked. Some of the attitudes I have seen would earn a quick ass-kicking in any other profession. Here, however, rudeness, verbal abuse, and snobbery are routinely tolerated. I have run into quite a few folks who could use a "prophylactic" ass-kicking or two...or three.
Hey, kids, it's a profession, not a cult. Many, many people work harder then physicians, even then residents, and don't have attitude problems. For example, I know the guy who mows my lawn is working in the hot sun for ten hours a day, six days a week and he is the most level headed, temperate fellow you'll ever meet. No matter how bad it gets, remember to keep reminding yourself that it beats flipping burgers as a lifetime career.
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Panda Bear--You may have been a bottom feeder in the stream during your first two years, but I'll bet you'll be leaping up the ladder with the salmon for the rest of your career. You've got maturity, humility, perspective, and a great sense of humor, all of which your patients will love you for. The patients of all those arrogant jerks will be flocking to you!
I think you deserve an A in Maintaining Balance 101...
I think you deserve an A in Maintaining Balance 101...
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just wanted to give all of you a link to last year's poll results - looks like our year is pretty comparable to last year so far.
http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/poll.php?s=&action=showresults&pollid=4
http://www.studentdoctor.net/forums/poll.php?s=&action=showresults&pollid=4
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I've heard something similar: 2-2-2.
Two months for Step 1, two weeks for Step 2, two days for Step 3.
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well, I don't really have an explanation for why I did not do better or worse with regard to my score. I don't have kids, not married, neither a slacker nor a gunner, neither a trad nor non-trad, have support from family but also have had some personal problems in school that I'd rather not share. People can interpret my score however they wish, but it's what I think right now that matters. As for my first rotation, I think Psych is a great rotation to start off on b/c it gives you familiarity with writing SOAP notes and getting used to the hospital structure before getting slammed with Surgery. Intellectually, it is not too taxing, and most of the patients are happy to talk to students. On the other hand, students do end up doing a lot more "scut work" on call in Psych, and I'm not talking about ordering or going to get labs for patients. I'm talking about calling 25 hospitals all over the state to see if they have a place for your resident's patient with suicidal ideations and auditory hallucinations on their Psych unit. Some places will take a full history on your patient then call you back 2 seconds later to let you know they have no room or that the acuity of the situation is too great for them. the pt. in question is still in the ER, waiting to see where he will go. Other gems include the only child psych resident on-call last night who decided to stay home b/c she wasn't feeling well and didn't bother to call for a replacement or notify the child psych attending on call.. When a child was brought in last night, no one seemed to know what to do and the "regular" peds resident on call came down and got mad over the fact that we had no forms specifically for kids in the Adult Peds office. She then instructed me that I should not have paged the resident on-call in CP b/c she is pregnant and lives 30 minutes away (having never met the res. in question, not sure how I was supposed to know this). The security guard who had worked at the hospital for years then came in and asked me the procedure for taking kids to the bathroom in the ER, then got irritated with me when I didn't know (it was my first time on 24-hour call, and adult psych doesn't cover kids). So you will run into bad attitudes on every service, even the easier services. just keep your chin up and be yourself, and be nice to your patients is my advice. other than that I don't have any terrific wisdom.
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Info for those seeking the promised land:
248/99, but I had to study for about 4.5 weeks, 10 hours a day, periodic days off
Kaplan Q bank 75% overall (Do them all, but review all answers as well just to make yourself feel good, not because the are just like the exam)
Kaplan Q Bank 82% overall, but I felt this is not a worthwhile statement, because the questions linked necessarily correct answers together because they are vignettes. I think you can save the cash and not get this feature from Kaplan.
Books I used:
1. BRS Path and Physio (THE NUMBER ONE BOOKS TO FOCUS ON)
2. High Yield BS (Many gimme points in this subject, so don't miss it)
3. Lippincott Micro and Pharm (not the best books, but worked for me)
4. Biochem and anatomy from First Aid
Other advice: Form a study group early with people that think differently than you do. Review the subjects early (e.g. one per month for Dec-May) to remove the panic factor at the end.
Year 1/2 grades: Not the brightest guy. but above the class average in all but 2 classes.
I believe that good scores are attainable with no detail memorization (e.g. those damn chromosome numbers). Also, you must control your stress, especially the day of. Believe that you will overcome it and you shall IF you know in your heart that you have prepared for this very large hoop. Sincere good luck to all in the future.
248/99, but I had to study for about 4.5 weeks, 10 hours a day, periodic days off
Kaplan Q bank 75% overall (Do them all, but review all answers as well just to make yourself feel good, not because the are just like the exam)
Kaplan Q Bank 82% overall, but I felt this is not a worthwhile statement, because the questions linked necessarily correct answers together because they are vignettes. I think you can save the cash and not get this feature from Kaplan.
Books I used:
1. BRS Path and Physio (THE NUMBER ONE BOOKS TO FOCUS ON)
2. High Yield BS (Many gimme points in this subject, so don't miss it)
3. Lippincott Micro and Pharm (not the best books, but worked for me)
4. Biochem and anatomy from First Aid
Other advice: Form a study group early with people that think differently than you do. Review the subjects early (e.g. one per month for Dec-May) to remove the panic factor at the end.
Year 1/2 grades: Not the brightest guy. but above the class average in all but 2 classes.
I believe that good scores are attainable with no detail memorization (e.g. those damn chromosome numbers). Also, you must control your stress, especially the day of. Believe that you will overcome it and you shall IF you know in your heart that you have prepared for this very large hoop. Sincere good luck to all in the future.
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I think he is referring to IV Q-bank (integrated vignettes) versus the standard Q-bank.
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yo yo yo!
finally got my score! Wasn't as spectacular as the rest of the SDNers but I passed! Congrats to all that passed and did well.
Got a 211/86 which I'm pretty happy with. If you're interested in how I did on my studying you can read it on my other posts...
Good luck fellas/ladies!
finally got my score! Wasn't as spectacular as the rest of the SDNers but I passed!
Congrats to all that passed and did well. Got a 211/86 which I'm pretty happy with. If you're interested in how I did on my studying you can read it on my other posts...
Good luck fellas/ladies!
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how do you know what date your scores will be released... what web site is it on? thanks.
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Here it is:
https://external1.nbme.org/ciwc/java/candidate_menu
You have to enter your candidate ID number and password, if you don't know it you can get it at the same website.
I took it on the June 19th and my scores have been released. Waiting anxiously.
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thanks kosmo
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I took my exam on the 18th of June. Don't quote me on this but I believe that last wednesday they had scores till the 16th of June and this week probably added on another week so up to the 23rd. Could be later than that...
If you took it on the 18th then you definitely have gotten it released. You just have to either call your school to find out (they find out earlier because they can access this site) or wait for the snail mail. GL!
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anyone think this poll is accurate? According to the poll, 92 people have voted...I didn't know we had that many sdner's who received their scores already..either that or we have too many lurkers
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Chalk up another USMLE Step 1 pass for a DO!
One of these days I'll get COMLEX back......they're a little slow.
FYI: They release the scores for Step 1 on Wednesdays I think...so when the website posts that your scores have been released...start checking the mail...usually Saturday or Monday is when it shows up.
One of these days I'll get COMLEX back......they're a little slow.
FYI: They release the scores for Step 1 on Wednesdays I think...so when the website posts that your scores have been released...start checking the mail...usually Saturday or Monday is when it shows up.
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Ok, I haven't contributed all that much to this thread but I did get my score today and thought I'd share:
235
While not as stellar as some I am satisfied with this score, particularly given how bad I felt after taking the test. I was fully prepared to see 'FAIL' when I tore open the notice, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Some misc info:
Took it on June 19th, studied for 4 wks using Kaplan home study for everything but pharm and micro. Used 1st Aid for pharm and Micro Made Ridiculously Simple for micro. Q-bank overall 66% (but was averaging 70-75% toward the end.)
Currently breathing a sigh of relief.
235
While not as stellar as some I am satisfied with this score, particularly given how bad I felt after taking the test. I was fully prepared to see 'FAIL' when I tore open the notice, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Some misc info:
Took it on June 19th, studied for 4 wks using Kaplan home study for everything but pharm and micro. Used 1st Aid for pharm and Micro Made Ridiculously Simple for micro. Q-bank overall 66% (but was averaging 70-75% toward the end.)
Currently breathing a sigh of relief.
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kosmo....
what was your 2 digit score.....my stats (qbank) and feelings after the test (july 10th) felt exactly like yours......im just curious.....thanks
what was your 2 digit score.....my stats (qbank) and feelings after the test (july 10th) felt exactly like yours......im just curious.....thanks
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Originally posted by LoneSEAL
anyone think this poll is accurate? According to the poll, 92 people have voted...I didn't know we had that many sdner's who received their scores already..either that or we have too many lurkers
nothing wrong with lurkers (although they should contribute their knowledge every once in a while!) I think the more data, the better. the distribution of scores was looking really skewed before.
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thought i'd share to "give back" as well. my goal was to get above a 240 and to my pleasant surprise i got a 256. i remember walking out of the exam thinking i answered anywhere from 60-80% correct. i had taken the 2 nbme practice tests a week before the exam and scored 700s. got around 85% on the released questions. note that my qbank scores were significantly lower at 70%. for another reference, i'm probably somewhere in the top 1/3 of my class (we're not ranked/graded but i'm guessing based on how i do on exams).
so i began studying over spring break 6-8 hrs/day for 1 week. covered microbio and biochem. while studying for the last block of classes i got through physio. once i was done with finals the big hurdle was first aid. i had 6.5 weeks from finals to boards and i studied around 10 hrs/day with 2 full days off. it took me about 3 weeks to cover every single page of FA while simultaneously reading boards & wards and step-up (both of which i used for classes) in a systems-based approach. once the bulk of my review was done, i did lots and lots of questions, probably over 4000 in total. i supplemented with half a dozen high yields as well.
funny thing is, i never felt like i had anything memorized, but i'm good at multiple choice. it's too bad residents and attendings don't pimp this way... :-(
so i began studying over spring break 6-8 hrs/day for 1 week. covered microbio and biochem. while studying for the last block of classes i got through physio. once i was done with finals the big hurdle was first aid. i had 6.5 weeks from finals to boards and i studied around 10 hrs/day with 2 full days off. it took me about 3 weeks to cover every single page of FA while simultaneously reading boards & wards and step-up (both of which i used for classes) in a systems-based approach. once the bulk of my review was done, i did lots and lots of questions, probably over 4000 in total. i supplemented with half a dozen high yields as well.
funny thing is, i never felt like i had anything memorized, but i'm good at multiple choice. it's too bad residents and attendings don't pimp this way... :-(
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Originally posted by Hercules
That is a pretty good score. I am curious. Did your success on the USMLE correlate with your success on the MCAT? Also, what specialty are you considering?
That is a pretty good score. I am curious. Did your success on the USMLE correlate with your success on the MCAT? Also, what specialty are you considering?
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Wow you guys are all gunners... and my score seems to stink unless everybody else of similar caliber is keeping mum too... I got 205 but I didn't do Kaplan or study during school at all... and we only had two weeks between finals and boards... so you get out what you put in I guess... but I don't care because I got what I need for the program I have my beady little eyes on.
What about COMLEX?? When are these scores due back? This is taking forever.
What about COMLEX?? When are these scores due back? This is taking forever.
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OK, so I have been lurking selfishly on here for awhile now, throughout this whole process of studying for Step 1. Now that I finally have my score back, I thought I would share some info.
Took Step 1 June 19. Felt pretty good afterwards--then I started to think of all these questions I screwed up. By the time I got my score I was confident that I passed but not much else.
Received score July 18: 256/99
NBME Released Items: around 82% (don't remember exactly). Definitely do these! I had 3 of them on my exam, word for word!!
Kaplan In Center Exam score: 80%
Took 75% of QBank. Cumulative score 74% (no repeats). My scores were around 65-70% in mid-April and up to the low 80s just before my exam.
Took all of QBook. Averaged about 80%.
I go to the Univ of Rochester & we're all P/F for the first 2 years, so I don't know my exact class standing. On individual exams, I was usually in the top 20% or so.
Study Methods:
Disclaimer: I know this is really long & gives lots of unsolicited advice. But I've seen some other forums w/questions about how to study & memorize effectively, so I just posted all my thoughts on those topics here, once and for all, before I put this test behind me forever!
I formed a study group in February w/3 other students. We met once a week for 2 hours and presented cases from the UCV series. Each person presented a case, we came up w/differential, reviewed the relevant topic, and found related info in First Aid. We tried to just have fun with this, to get our minds thinking about boards stuff w/o stressing out over it.
From April-May I did Immunology & Micro--a few bugs a day.
I started my "real" studying May 19, with 30 days to study. I had two study partners--really great to have for motivation & breaking up the monotony. We quizzed each other all the time on stuff like branchial arches & drug interactions so it was drilled into our heads by the end of the month.
We had to carpool to the library, which made us all accountable to each other so we didn't slack off. We studied 9-6 at the library each day (breaks from 12-1 and 3-3:30, and more frequently if we were bored).
We did Biochem for 2 days, then did an organ systems approach to go over Embryo, Anatomy, Physiology, Path, & Pharm. Spent a day on Behav Sci & a couple on random things that didn't fit anywhere else. We each took a 3-day weekend. Did a 4 day review of everything at the end. All three of us felt confident after taking the exam (relative to others in our class, at least) and did well above our goal scores.
In the evenings, I worked out, watched TV, and tried to do 50 QBank a night. I definitely recommend doing QBank and then making yourself go over EVERY SINGLE answer explanation right afterwards. It takes a long time at first, but I think this is a good way to get around the fact that QBank focuses on certain diseases more than others.
Books I used:
1. Microcards
2. Immunology from Lippincott Micro book (they have a 3 chapter section that's a quick read w/awesome diagrams and stuff).
3. BRS Path (+ Robbins for pics & to clarify confusing topics).
4. BRS Phys
5. High Yield Embryo (+ Langman for diagrams)
6. High Yield Anatomy (+ Netter for pics)
7. High Yield Biochem (+ Lippincott for confusing stuff)
8. USMLE Roadmap--Pharm (new book by Appleton & Lange). Very succinct & thorough. I was feeling terrible about pharm 6 days before my exam--went through this in a day, reviewed in FA & Pharm was one of my best subjects.
9. High Yield Behavioral Science
10. First Aid--went through each topic in here first, then looked in other sources & wrote any important info in FA, then reviewed FA another time. Used FA only for last 4 days--read straight through it.
Other thoughts:
1. I highly recommend doing Micro slowly, either while you're still in school or for an hour a night or something. People I know who tried to do it in a day or two were overwhelmed by trying to cram it in--all those bugs run together. You may want to do the same with Pharm--it was driving me crazy toward the end.
2. For those thinking about doing an organ systems approach, I highly recommend it! It forces you to integrate knowledge as you go, and to be a more active learner (it's harder to just read through the pages passively, b/c most books are done by system).
3. I am the kind of person who needs to understand the basis of things or I can't memorize them. The problem is, it takes a long time to study like that. If you are like me, I highly recommend using the review books (FA, High-Yield Series, BRS) to determine the topics you will learn, but then using texts (Netter, Robbins) to flesh things out. In the end, it took longer for me to study stuff the 1st time than most people, but less time to review b/c I know things well in the first place.
4. A note about First Aid. It really is the best resource in terms of telling you what the most high-yield subjects are. But it's not well-organized, and has lots of these "one-liners" which are deceptively simple. It's easy to glance through it and convince yourself that you know things when you haven't really let them sink in. So I would recommend taking your sweet time as you go through it, making sure you really understand all the background to what they are talking about, and correlating it in your mind to something else you have seen or read. (I found the need to cross-reference a lot in FA to get the big picture straight.)
I know this just sounds like common sense, but it's easy to get in a hurry and miss things. Here's a good example: "I cell disease," is mentioned only briefly in FA, in an obscure place. I missed it on my first time through, and then it showed up on QBank. I went back, learned it better, & had 2 questions on the USMLE about it. Bottom line: EVERY WORD of that disorganized excuse for a book is important.
And on that note, I'm going out to celebrate! As you can probably guess, I'm on elective now and have WAY too much free time.
Took Step 1 June 19. Felt pretty good afterwards--then I started to think of all these questions I screwed up. By the time I got my score I was confident that I passed but not much else.
Received score July 18: 256/99
NBME Released Items: around 82% (don't remember exactly). Definitely do these! I had 3 of them on my exam, word for word!!
Kaplan In Center Exam score: 80%
Took 75% of QBank. Cumulative score 74% (no repeats). My scores were around 65-70% in mid-April and up to the low 80s just before my exam.
Took all of QBook. Averaged about 80%.
I go to the Univ of Rochester & we're all P/F for the first 2 years, so I don't know my exact class standing. On individual exams, I was usually in the top 20% or so.
Study Methods:
Disclaimer: I know this is really long & gives lots of unsolicited advice. But I've seen some other forums w/questions about how to study & memorize effectively, so I just posted all my thoughts on those topics here, once and for all, before I put this test behind me forever!
I formed a study group in February w/3 other students. We met once a week for 2 hours and presented cases from the UCV series. Each person presented a case, we came up w/differential, reviewed the relevant topic, and found related info in First Aid. We tried to just have fun with this, to get our minds thinking about boards stuff w/o stressing out over it.
From April-May I did Immunology & Micro--a few bugs a day.
I started my "real" studying May 19, with 30 days to study. I had two study partners--really great to have for motivation & breaking up the monotony. We quizzed each other all the time on stuff like branchial arches & drug interactions so it was drilled into our heads by the end of the month.
We had to carpool to the library, which made us all accountable to each other so we didn't slack off. We studied 9-6 at the library each day (breaks from 12-1 and 3-3:30, and more frequently if we were bored).
We did Biochem for 2 days, then did an organ systems approach to go over Embryo, Anatomy, Physiology, Path, & Pharm. Spent a day on Behav Sci & a couple on random things that didn't fit anywhere else. We each took a 3-day weekend. Did a 4 day review of everything at the end. All three of us felt confident after taking the exam (relative to others in our class, at least) and did well above our goal scores.
In the evenings, I worked out, watched TV, and tried to do 50 QBank a night. I definitely recommend doing QBank and then making yourself go over EVERY SINGLE answer explanation right afterwards. It takes a long time at first, but I think this is a good way to get around the fact that QBank focuses on certain diseases more than others.
Books I used:
1. Microcards
2. Immunology from Lippincott Micro book (they have a 3 chapter section that's a quick read w/awesome diagrams and stuff).
3. BRS Path (+ Robbins for pics & to clarify confusing topics).
4. BRS Phys
5. High Yield Embryo (+ Langman for diagrams)
6. High Yield Anatomy (+ Netter for pics)
7. High Yield Biochem (+ Lippincott for confusing stuff)
8. USMLE Roadmap--Pharm (new book by Appleton & Lange). Very succinct & thorough. I was feeling terrible about pharm 6 days before my exam--went through this in a day, reviewed in FA & Pharm was one of my best subjects.
9. High Yield Behavioral Science
10. First Aid--went through each topic in here first, then looked in other sources & wrote any important info in FA, then reviewed FA another time. Used FA only for last 4 days--read straight through it.
Other thoughts:
1. I highly recommend doing Micro slowly, either while you're still in school or for an hour a night or something. People I know who tried to do it in a day or two were overwhelmed by trying to cram it in--all those bugs run together. You may want to do the same with Pharm--it was driving me crazy toward the end.
2. For those thinking about doing an organ systems approach, I highly recommend it! It forces you to integrate knowledge as you go, and to be a more active learner (it's harder to just read through the pages passively, b/c most books are done by system).
3. I am the kind of person who needs to understand the basis of things or I can't memorize them. The problem is, it takes a long time to study like that. If you are like me, I highly recommend using the review books (FA, High-Yield Series, BRS) to determine the topics you will learn, but then using texts (Netter, Robbins) to flesh things out. In the end, it took longer for me to study stuff the 1st time than most people, but less time to review b/c I know things well in the first place.
4. A note about First Aid. It really is the best resource in terms of telling you what the most high-yield subjects are. But it's not well-organized, and has lots of these "one-liners" which are deceptively simple. It's easy to glance through it and convince yourself that you know things when you haven't really let them sink in. So I would recommend taking your sweet time as you go through it, making sure you really understand all the background to what they are talking about, and correlating it in your mind to something else you have seen or read. (I found the need to cross-reference a lot in FA to get the big picture straight.)
I know this just sounds like common sense, but it's easy to get in a hurry and miss things. Here's a good example: "I cell disease," is mentioned only briefly in FA, in an obscure place. I missed it on my first time through, and then it showed up on QBank. I went back, learned it better, & had 2 questions on the USMLE about it. Bottom line: EVERY WORD of that disorganized excuse for a book is important.
And on that note, I'm going out to celebrate! As you can probably guess, I'm on elective now and have WAY too much free time.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2003
- Messages
- 18
- Reaction score
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269/99 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still can't believe it, I thought I did well after I took step 1 but I was hoping for a 240 at best!!! I'm shocked.
QBank 85% on 50 item tests on average, some exams dipped down to the 70's. QBank gets you used to computerized exams, a tough shift for me.
NBME Released items 91% (taken at test center to get used to the enviornment, I learned that reading questions on their relatively small monitors was tough, so I had to prepare for that next time I took the real deal).
NBME practice tests (took both) 560 at 1 month before exam, 680 2 weeks before exam.
Study advice:
Path--BRS twice, Robbins Review, Pathophys for the Boards and Wards. Webpath. Tie path in to every other subject.
Physio--BRS, Kaplan for cardiovasc renal and endocrine. 1st Aid just for a superficial review.
Pharm--1st Aid, Kaplan for CNS autonomics and cardiovasc.
Anatomy/Embryo--1st Aid, blew off this subject for the most part.
Neuro--high yield, but it was overkill.
Micro/Immuno---Kaplan, 1st Aid. Know the clinical side.
Molecular/Cell/Biochem--High Yield, 1st Aid, Kaplan. My old notes (I really emphasized these subjects) This stuff was tied in to all other subjects.
You cant really memorize for this test, it relies on problem solving skills with a little recall as well. Not many occult facts are tested, but you have to know everything about the fundamental principles, ie inflammatory mediators, how mediators act on other cells, drug mechanisms and how pharm changes physiology. Understanding of the material is key, I have a bad memory so I had to understand things well before I could move on.
Get your sleep before the exam and relax. I really believe if some random 2nd year med student walked into that exam w/o having studied and memorized all that 1st Aid stuff over the summer months, but was relaxed and confident, they could easily pass. If you did well in med school you will do well on the exam. Many questions could be figured out on the spot based on given information, many were deceptively simple.
I still can't believe it, I thought I did well after I took step 1 but I was hoping for a 240 at best!!! I'm shocked.
QBank 85% on 50 item tests on average, some exams dipped down to the 70's. QBank gets you used to computerized exams, a tough shift for me.
NBME Released items 91% (taken at test center to get used to the enviornment, I learned that reading questions on their relatively small monitors was tough, so I had to prepare for that next time I took the real deal).
NBME practice tests (took both) 560 at 1 month before exam, 680 2 weeks before exam.
Study advice:
Path--BRS twice, Robbins Review, Pathophys for the Boards and Wards. Webpath. Tie path in to every other subject.
Physio--BRS, Kaplan for cardiovasc renal and endocrine. 1st Aid just for a superficial review.
Pharm--1st Aid, Kaplan for CNS autonomics and cardiovasc.
Anatomy/Embryo--1st Aid, blew off this subject for the most part.
Neuro--high yield, but it was overkill.
Micro/Immuno---Kaplan, 1st Aid. Know the clinical side.
Molecular/Cell/Biochem--High Yield, 1st Aid, Kaplan. My old notes (I really emphasized these subjects) This stuff was tied in to all other subjects.
You cant really memorize for this test, it relies on problem solving skills with a little recall as well. Not many occult facts are tested, but you have to know everything about the fundamental principles, ie inflammatory mediators, how mediators act on other cells, drug mechanisms and how pharm changes physiology. Understanding of the material is key, I have a bad memory so I had to understand things well before I could move on.
Get your sleep before the exam and relax. I really believe if some random 2nd year med student walked into that exam w/o having studied and memorized all that 1st Aid stuff over the summer months, but was relaxed and confident, they could easily pass. If you did well in med school you will do well on the exam. Many questions could be figured out on the spot based on given information, many were deceptively simple.
Thanks, chrisaina! Right now I'm leaning towards ob/gyn.
MCAT: 38-40
I guess my Step 1 did correlate because after reading the study plans of people who scored similarly, I didn't put in anywhere near as much time as they did. My 21 day study plan was actually cut down to 18 days, as I had a death in my family during my MS-II finals. I would be happy to post/e-mail my study plan along with amendments I would make in retrospect to anyone who is interested.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2003
- Messages
- 2,962
- Reaction score
- 79
Some one at my school got a 285. I really can't believe this, but his close buddies confirmed it. And other students over heard people in the office of student affairs talking about it.
What is going on with Step 1? Top scores are just getting higher and higher.
Perhaps now that it is being given daily, the questions are being recylced too quickly.
There is network of kids from Southern California at my school who have a collection of 200 really difficult USMLE questions that have been collected by groups of their friends who have taken the test over the last few years. That kind of sucks for those of us who did not have access to such material, but I guess it is bound to happen.
One of my aquaintances who is in that network had a hold of it. He was planning on going into general surgery but after he got his step 1 score back, he claimed Plastics was not his specialty of choice. It turns out he got a 272.
Doesn't this seem like cheating. I wish the NBME would make a better effort to not recycle questions.
Supposedly it is the same way int Step 2 and 3. In step 3 you have to make the diagnosis on patients in a virtual ER by doing a history and physical. A resident of mine who took the exam said that all the cases have been collected and are passed around. So everyone already knows what the diagnosis is and how to treat right away.
Back when they used to give the test a couple of times a year and it was on pen and paper a 249 was in the 99th percentile, a 260 was unheard of. Now people are cracking 280.
I wonder how residency directors will view these numbers. Will a 240 now be considered mediocre if others are getting 280 because a 200 certinaly is mediocre compared to a 240.
What is going on with Step 1? Top scores are just getting higher and higher.
Perhaps now that it is being given daily, the questions are being recylced too quickly.
There is network of kids from Southern California at my school who have a collection of 200 really difficult USMLE questions that have been collected by groups of their friends who have taken the test over the last few years. That kind of sucks for those of us who did not have access to such material, but I guess it is bound to happen.
One of my aquaintances who is in that network had a hold of it. He was planning on going into general surgery but after he got his step 1 score back, he claimed Plastics was not his specialty of choice. It turns out he got a 272.
Doesn't this seem like cheating. I wish the NBME would make a better effort to not recycle questions.
Supposedly it is the same way int Step 2 and 3. In step 3 you have to make the diagnosis on patients in a virtual ER by doing a history and physical. A resident of mine who took the exam said that all the cases have been collected and are passed around. So everyone already knows what the diagnosis is and how to treat right away.
Back when they used to give the test a couple of times a year and it was on pen and paper a 249 was in the 99th percentile, a 260 was unheard of. Now people are cracking 280.
I wonder how residency directors will view these numbers. Will a 240 now be considered mediocre if others are getting 280 because a 200 certinaly is mediocre compared to a 240.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2003
- Messages
- 2,962
- Reaction score
- 79
I meant to say plastics is "NOW" his specialty of choice.
