USMLE I need advise anyone? Is it Possible or impossible to do?

[jacobus1919]

Good day everyone.

I am new here.. So, I am posting to ask some help.

Currently preparing for Step 1. And I need some advise if this is possible. My goal is around 230+ score for Step1. My goal exam date is suppose to March 2, postponing it to March 8. and My eligibility will like really end by March 31, 2017. Already did the extension of eligibility

Currently, I am doing FA again. Today took my UWSA2.

October 2016 - NBME12 -120 (before I got into serious prep at this point)
December 2016 - NBME 15 - 150
Middle of January 2017 - NBME 16 -155
First Week of February 2017 -NBME 17 - 230/171.
February 11th - UWSA1 - 181
Ferbuary 24th - UWSA2 - 200

planning On doing NBME 18 this weekend, or early next week. My plan for the last few days is to read FA and Do some rereading on uworld questions. And prolly scan pathoma. Any advise on this?

any advise? A case I do take the NBME 18 earlier, should I take another NBME few days prior?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Surgeria]

Are you an img or amg? ... what seems curious is the difference between nbme 16 (155) and 3 weeks later you got 230. 75 score change in 3 weeks seems biased don't you think so? I hope I am wrong but ... Look at the uwsa after nbme 17, uwsa 200 is like 180+- in nbme because it overpredicts (you literally get same questions from the bank, so how it can correlate? Sounds silly). If you are in IMG postpone till you will get 235 + on 2-3 nbme's, it can take 1 month, 2 month, 5 month who knows? Anyway don't rush.

 

[TheOther]

It was a mistake to take all those practice exams so far from your test date.
Where are you in terms of UWorld and Pathoma?

 

[OlgaW007]

On your place, I would not rush to take NBME. You have just NBME18 left and a long way to go. If you will take NBME soon and UWSA2 now you will be left with nothing to assess yourself. What is your UWORLD %? How far did you come in uworld? Just FA is not enough if you miss concept. Do you make notes while doing uworld? Flashcards anki?

 

[Joanna1987]

Do not do any NBMEs as of now.
I have used all my NBMES + UWSA and now I have no NBMEs to assess myself. I did have 225-235 scores but it is still not ebough.

Definitely, wait until you're done with FA and PATHOMA.

PATHOMA, a few times ideally, is a must. FA once you covered the base.

I think you miss concepts and a fundamental knowledge... I started from 160 (!!) and only after Kaplan (before UWSA) I got 196 on my NBME.

It will not go up until you understand important concepts. FA will do nothing at this point

 

[jacobus1919]

Thank you for the replies. I have done 2 reads of pathoma, I did DIT once, already did also kaplan anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, behavioral once and did BRS once. As of now true i have 1 nbme left. I have until March 31 to take it. Since I do not have the luxury of repaying 1000+ usd again.

And I am done with first pass of Uworld with a 50% average.

And for that NbME 17 its 171 not 230.

Honestly I do not have the luxury of time as well. I started prep Around July last year.

 

[TheOther]

Thank you for the replies. I have done 2 reads of pathoma, I did DIT once, already did also kaplan anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, behavioral once and did BRS once. As of now true i have 1 nbme left. I have until March 31 to take it. Since I do not have the luxury of repaying 1000+ usd again.

And I am done with first pass of Uworld with a 50% average.

And for that NbME 17 its 171 not 230.

Honestly I do not have the luxury of time as well. I started prep Around July last year.

It looks like you have NBME 13, 14, and 18 left, no?

Have you not done much UWorld yet?!?! If you haven't, that should be your primary goal in the next 4 weeks. UWorld, UWorld, UWorld. Do as many blocks as you need to a day to finish all of it. As you review the questions and explanations, use First Aid and Pathoma alongside it.

 

[Beezlebub]

At least the trend is going the right way. I'd work on the weaknesses bc that's where the gold is to boost your overall scores significantly. 3 mos is a long time, but remember it's the quality > quantity. I assume you have the willpower to dig deep and make it happen. All the best.

 

[Joanna1987]

You have 2 months left, correct?

What I would do (I'm actually doing it now. I have only 3 weeks left though) is to read 1 chapter PATHOMA/day, some microbiology/day + 1 topic per1/2/3 days (it depends how well you know it).

Plus Uworld 40 questions/day WITH EXPLANATIONS - make notes using the "note" option and then review it every Sunday.

Once you feel comfortable with Uworld do 80-120 questions...

I'm not a pro, obviously. I just know it works, especially it works to get to 230... and the more you do, the higher you get.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Beezlebub]

You have 2 months left, correct?

What I would do (I'm actually doing it now. I have only 3 weeks left though) is to read 1 chapter PATHOMA/day, some microbiology/day + 1 topic per1/2/3 days (it depends how well you know it).

Plus Uworld 40 questions/day WITH EXPLANATIONS - make notes using the "note" option and then review it every Sunday.

Once you feel comfortable with Uworld do 80-120 questions...

I'm not a pro, obviously. I just know it works, especially it works to get to 230... and the more you do, the higher you get.

Fingers crossed!

You don't know what his weaknesses/strengths are. It would be a waste of time to work on concepts he already solidified. Save it for areas that need improvement. And yes, I agree with you that he should do a lot of questions and review them thoroughly.

 

[chromuffin]

Seems like you're not focusing on major concepts. When you read first aid, think about what you just read. So in cardio, if it talks about transposition of great vessels and then tetralogy of fallot, quiz yourself on transposition of great vessels after you study tetralogy of fallot. This gives you some spaced repetition. If you don't get it. Study it over and then quiz on tetralogy of fallot. Keep repeating until you can move on. Doing this alone has really helped me with biochem. But biochem is a separate beast.

 

[Reperfused]

I doubt OP has 2/3 months left.
I feel like he/she wrote "May" by mistake in the first post.
He probably meant to write "March", because in the subsequent post he makes it clear that his eligibility period is until March 31. And after that he will have to pay the whole examination fee again!

 

[jacobus1919]

I doubt OP has 2/3 months left.
I feel like he/she wrote "May" by mistake in the first post.
He probably meant to write "March", because in the subsequent post he makes it clear that his eligibility period is until March 31. And after that he will have to pay the whole examination fee again!

Actually my eligibility end march 31. And I have done all the questions in Uworld t 50% average. I think I am weak in Biochem, so I might reread biochem FA Or Kaplan? But surely i will be doing some Pathoma again. And yes i have done the videos of pathoma

Please keep the advise going I am worried as hell

 

[Joanna1987]

You don't know what his weaknesses/strengths are. It would be a waste of time to work on concepts he already solidified. Save it for areas that need improvement. And yes, I agree with you that he should do a lot of questions and review them thoroughly.

I still think he should go through everything and spend more time on stuff he doesn't feel too comfortable with.

 

[Joanna1987]

Actually my eligibility end march 31. And I have done all the questions in Uworld t 50% average. I think I am weak in Biochem, so I might reread biochem FA Or Kaplan? But surely i will be doing some Pathoma again. And yes i have done the videos of pathoma

Please keep the advise going I am worried as hell

If you are not sure what your weaknesses are, just go through everything.
I felt the same way. I knew a few things that I needed to go through a few times but there is lots of stuff you forget since it's such extensive material.
Have you tried making notes while doing Uworld? I know that before I decided to do so, I went through Uworld 1.5 and did not get anything out of it. I can see that I was wasting time. I would answer and move on. Creating notes made me remember and actually understand concepts.

What about your NBMEs? Can you identify the topics you didn't perform well?

 

[jacobus1919]

If you are not sure what your weaknesses are, just go through everything.
I felt the same way. I knew a few things that I needed to go through a few times but there is lots of stuff you forget since it's such extensive material.
Have you tried making notes while doing Uworld? I know that before I decided to do so, I went through Uworld 1.5 and did not get anything out of it. I can see that I was wasting time. I would answer and move on. Creating notes made me remember and actually understand concepts.

What about your NBMEs? Can you identify the topics you didn't perform well?

Mostly I tanked on question pertaining to neuro, genetics, immunology/micro, and endocrine. That was on NBME 17. Does UWSA 1/2 matter?

I do read Uworld questions/explanations and I have used uworld to understand more too.

I thank you for your replies. And advises. I think I should have posted in this forum a long time ago, compared to the one I have been posting in

 

[jacobus1919]

On a side note, re-read every question of Uworld Qbank and review it thorough and redo ALL incorrect answers a good idea at this point of time??

 

[Surgeria]

On a side note, re-read every question of Uworld Qbank and review it thorough and redo ALL incorrect answers a good idea at this point of time??

I think it is a good idea to stick with uworld + first aid + pathoma book and videos (nothings special, classical resources that everyone uses). If you score + - 200 on nbme i think that background will be enough to go up with ufap. let's say if a person scores 100 on nbme this will definitely mean that he/she needs to go first through review books and then stick to ufap or do it parallel. I think you must stick like a crazy to ufap (uworld,pathoma,first aid) And I suggest to use brosecenphalon or anki deck for pharmacology (From my experience). You can find cool anki deck Usmle Rx 2016 anki deck, search it on web or on facebook in a group called (usmle preparation group). I got this deck (2016 rx) and extracted all the pharm questions and put it into another deck, so now i have all the cards from pharmacology from first aid and it's superb!

 

[jacobus1919]

Thanks. I am sticking with Pathoma+FA+Uworld. Answering incorrect answers and reading again questions,

 

[Joanna1987]

I recently spoke with a girl who went from 211 on NBME 18 to 269 (!!) on NBME 17. No joke. FA + Uworld. In 3 weeks.

I know it's kind of a miracle but it only shows that you can do it. We all can.

 

[Transposony]

Thank you for the replies. I have done 2 reads of pathoma, I did DIT once, already did also kaplan anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, behavioral once and did BRS once. As of now true i have 1 nbme left. I have until March 31 to take it. Since I do not have the luxury of repaying 1000+ usd again.
And I am done with first pass of Uworld with a 50% average.
And for that NbME 17 its 171 not 230.
Honestly I do not have the luxury of time as well. I started prep Around July last year.

I apologize in advance if I sound mean but I have to be brutally honest to prevent you from committing harakiri.
I am amazed that you are even considering taking this test with the best score of 171 on NbME 17
You have very little chance of passing this test let alone getting 230.

You have been preparing since July last year and seriously preparing since October and have not made enough progress.
You may not have the luxury of money or time but you have to decide if you want to end your medical career in US before it even started?
Not only you need to cancel your test but have to solve the bigger problem before reapplying as why your score has not improved ?
And no amount of advice from random people on the internet (including me) who don't know you is going to solve that for you.
You need to figure out what is wrong before trying to fix it......and there is something seriously wrong here and band-aids aren't gonna fix them.
You need to sit down with someone who really knows you (like a mentor or a senior) and figure out the root cause of your weaknesses.

Remember, real test is a different beast altogether which requires a thorough understanding of the topics.

 

[jacobus1919]

Thank you for all the comments, suggestions and advises.

 

[jacobus1919]

So, been doing some Uworld and all the stuff..

Failed to include that, I am currently a resident in training. While preparing is harder with hospital responsibilities, i know I can do this.
Last year was a bad year for me, Around August I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism, had an endocrinologist treat me, with meds, been maintaining these drugs for sometime, problems with memory and concentration began 1-2 months after meds,test showed I had became hypothyroid and noticed my brain was slower , up to date meds are being tapered off. hence, a not good increase in scores and such.

 

[Major procrastinator]

big news!!! NBME 19 just came out. so i would take nbme 18 in 2 weeks and then 19 a week later!!! work on weak areas!!!



i took step 1 a week ago and i am just an average student

you have 4 weeks, reschedule to latest date you can find. 230 seems a little bit too high but i believe a 215-225 is in your grasp for sure.

do NOT waste nbme 18
do pathoma in 6 days
do sketchy micro in 2 days
get through FA 2017 twice in next month. 2 weeks and 2 weeks. very doable

get through uworld, even if that means just practicing timing and knowing ONLY the main concept-this will save a lot of time. people say you must review every answer, sure if you want the highest possible score and arent on a time limit but if your like me it takes up a lot of time and makes you feel like you could be doing something like pathoma instead. i think its better to atleast finish the whole bank even if you cant review it all. i only did 70% of it.

take nbme 18 1 week before and work on weakest areas with FA and uworld (do weak areas and spend more time on explanations now) because thats where you have the most points to gain. dont go into step 1 without atleast a 210 on nbme 18 if you want to be sure of passing. if your score has not improved then you need to cancel your exam and get some help figuring out why this is. Either your studying wrong, not understanding questions or need a complete rehaul of your basic foundation in which i would advise all of kaplan videos.

do the free 120 on usmle website to be comfortable with software. make sure you do the tutorial properly. free 120 was 80% same in terms of difficulty as my exam last week.

you have plenty of time if you make a schedule from now til test day and focus hard. nothing about prepping for this exam is easy and there are no shortcuts. hard work=results. last month i didnt even see my bed.

i wish you the best of luck, you can do it

p.s this is exactly how i improved 20 points from nbme 17 to nbme 18. and nbme 18 is way harder than 17

 

[Major procrastinator]

I recently spoke with a girl who went from 211 on NBME 18 to 269 (!!) on NBME 17. No joke. FA + Uworld. In 3 weeks.

I know it's kind of a miracle but it only shows that you can do it. We all can.

thats crazy

 

[Major procrastinator]

On a side note, re-read every question of Uworld Qbank and review it thorough and redo ALL incorrect answers a good idea at this point of time??

i think doing pathoma thoroughly as a primary will give you the best chance of helping your knowledge base

 

[jacobus1919]

Again, I only have until March 31 for an exam.. That is my last very last date since, I already had an extension already.

I know now what is the problem, AND it is my hypothyroid state. I have been hypothyroid for 6 months, due to the fact I was hyperthyroid Diagnosed last July/August 2016. Took my meds as ordered, after 2months My thyroid hormones DIPPED so bad I become hypothyroid, at the moment I am tapered to lowest possible dose of Methimazole. So, any ideas on how to fix this brain fog???

i think doing pathoma thoroughly as a primary will give you the best chance of helping your knowledge base

Sir, got a link for the USMLE sample questions?? please.. And a sketchy micro link would be nice..

 

[jacobus1919]

@Major procrastinator Is it fine to do Sketchy Pharma and just read te flashcards and infosheet of sketchy micro???

 

[Major procrastinator]

Again, I only have until March 31 for an exam.. That is my last very last date since, I already had an extension already.

I know now what is the problem, AND it is my hypothyroid state. I have been hypothyroid for 6 months, due to the fact I was hyperthyroid Diagnosed last July/August 2016. Took my meds as ordered, after 2months My thyroid hormones DIPPED so bad I become hypothyroid, at the moment I am tapered to lowest possible dose of Methimazole. So, any ideas on how to fix this brain fog???



Sir, got a link for the USMLE sample questions?? please.. And a sketchy micro link would be nice..

http://www.usmle.org/practice-materials/index.html

 

[Major procrastinator]

i didnt like sketchy pharm, i thought it sucked.
is your pharm weak? do you need help on a particular area? if you have a good understanding first aid is enough for pharm but if you need a course you cant beat kaplan pharm with raymond. i bought sketchy micro, you can search for it in google.

 

[jacobus1919]

Honestly, during my local boards, hence I am an IMG, I aced my pharma section, and now I am wondering what is happening, yet I now realise it has been my hypothyroid that keeps on making my brain down and sucky. hahahahha

Actually, I can not open the USMLE samples. I am using OSX.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Honestly, during my local boards, hence I am an IMG, I aced my pharma section, and now I am wondering what is happening, yet I now realise it has been my hypothyroid that keeps on making my brain down and sucky. hahahahha

Actually, I can not open the USMLE samples. I am using OSX.

i have a mac and never had a problem.

and im going to be blunt, not trying to be an ass. i want to help you. no program director is going to care if you have hypothyroid, you lost a leg, your parents died, you had a panic attack during the test. everyone has some sort of personal problem and step 1 shows who can rise above it all and perform under hard circumstances, after all thats the life of a doctor.
posting about the thyroid issue isnt going to help your score when asking us for help, go get it sorted out with your doctor asap and get to work.

 

[Major procrastinator]

http://freemedtube.com/

sketchy micro and everything else!

 

[jacobus1919]

So, Good day to all... I will be taking my 2nd to the last NBME today.. I will update this post once I am done taking it.. hope all goes well

 

[jacobus1919]

So, I have been prepping like a mad man now. As advised I plan on taking step 1 on Marcgh 30 the last day of my eligibility.

So, been doing uworld now with a score range of 57-80%.

Just took NBME 18 few hours ago. I was nervous and anxious in this exam. So to my surprise i scored a 585/245.

So just continue Uworld and rereading my weak subject?

Any place I could possibly read and post for help for the questions I got incorrect in this recent NbMe??

This weekend ill be taking 19.

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

So, I have been prepping like a mad man now. As advised I plan on taking step 1 on Marcgh 30 the last day of my eligibility.

So, been doing uworld now with a score range of 57-80%.

Just took NBME 18 few hours ago. I was nervous and anxious in this exam. So to my surprise i scored a 245.

So just continue Uworld and rereading my weak subject?

Any place I could possibly read and post for help for the questions I got incorrect in this recent NbMe??

This weekend ill be taking 19.

Woooahhh. That's a lot of improvement. What did you do to get such a good score. Please help. Also if you could tell the number of incorrects on NBME 18. Thanks.

 

[jacobus1919]

I did alot of uworld and made notes using the notes app, and also did FA again. But concentrating on my weak points like Endo, Immuno/Micro, made a list of priority subject I NeEDED to improve on.. I mostly talk to my self now. And I think I had more patience when doing a question and not rushing to answer questions.

 

[Major procrastinator]

I did alot of uworld and made notes using the notes app, and also did FA again. But concentrating on my weak points like Endo, Immuno/Micro, made a list of priority subject I NeEDED to improve on.. I mostly talk to my self now. And I think I had more patience when doing a question and not rushing to answer questions.

wow! that is an insane improvement in such a short amount of time. keep up that great work man, obviously something clicked for you. I'm happy for you. Told you it was possible

 

[jacobus1919]

wow! that is an insane improvement in such a short amount of time. keep up that great work man, obviously something clicked for you. I'm happy for you. Told you it was possible

Thank you, and I thank you for the advise. I did what you told me doing pathoma again and did a round of sketchy micro (notes) well included pharma in the mix as well which helped. Most importantly I think i got the hang of the question style, and one thing that I am sure of is i took my time, and never rushed and tried to remember and understand the question and think hard and talk to my self repetitively

Again 1 NbMe left. Im gona strengthen weak points more and more

 

[jacobus1919]

So, I am taking the exam This March 30th.. This will be the last day of my eligibility whether I like it or not..

anwyays,, I took my last NMBE today.. And I think it is good enough . :

 

[Joanna1987]

So, I am taking the exam This March 30th.. This will be the last day of my eligibility whether I like it or not..

anwyays,, I took my last NMBE today.. And I think it is good enough . :

What was your score on the last NBME?

 

[jacobus1919]

NBME 19 took 2 days ago 600/248

then took a boat load of Uworld blocks scored ranging from 60-80%.. mostly

 

[Joanna1987]

NBME 19 took 2 days ago 600/248

then took a boat load of Uworld blocks scored ranging from 60-80%.. mostly

Perfect score! Congrats
When is your exam? You're ready anyway so yeah


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[jacobus1919]

Last day of my eligibility is March 31 the only available slot is March 30. So quickly booked that. Lol i hope allwill go well. Thank you guys for your advises and help.

Really much appreciated.

 

[jacobus1919]

DONE!!!!!

 

[blueforest]

DONE!!!!!

How did it go? I took mine on Monday and although I didn't feel terrible coming out of the exam I later started realizing all the dumb mistakes I made and now i'm seriously praying I don't fail. Most of the easy recall questions I chose the wrong answer because I got too excited/too confident... way to go me.

Hoping you had a better test day. The questions seemed pretty straightforward right?

 

[Griseofulvin93]

DONE!!!!!

Just read your story and was astonished by it. Your last NBME results were really amazing when compared with the poor results you reported at the beginning of the thread. I really wish you the best and I hope that you'd at least score as your last NBME, if not higher.

 

[blueforest]

Just read your story and was astonished by it. Your last NBME results were really amazing when compared with the poor results you reported at the beginning of the thread. I really wish you the best and I hope that you'd at least score as your last NBME, if not higher.

Thanks so much for your kind words, wishing you success as well! Looking at your last NBME score I hope you break 250! Tremendous progress!

 

[jacobus1919]

Just read your story and was astonished by it. Your last NBME results were really amazing when compared with the poor results you reported at the beginning of the thread. I really wish you the best and I hope that you'd at least score as your last NBME, if not higher.

Thank you for the kind words. I hope so too..

How did it go? I took mine on Monday and although I didn't feel terrible coming out of the exam I later started realizing all the dumb mistakes I made and now i'm seriously praying I don't fail. Most of the easy recall questions I chose the wrong aknswer because I got too excited/too confident... way to go me.

Hoping you had a better test day. The questions seemed pretty straightforward right?

I took mine a day ago. It was totally mixed
bunch straightforward some long and wtf questions.
Well, time was the enemy for me felt like 1 hour was not enough. I had stupid mistakes and got some hard questions. As most feel, I feel depressed, anxious and scared. But told myself it is out of my hands. What ever happens happens and continue the journey.

Oddly, aircondition at the testing center was really cold, and felt urinary urgency on most blocks.

Hope all goes well to you Goodluck as well and Godspeed. Hope we all do well

 

[slowlybutshelly]

This is the first I have heard of UWSA overpredicting. I am studying for Step1, hoping to take it within the next 6 months. May I ask politely where to get all the NBME"S? Are they online and we have to pay for them? IF so, may I ask where the link is? Are any of them on old disks (I Have some from 2000-2005).