It's finally over (Step I)...

[Arukas]

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... if I passed.

Anyway, just want to share with the people who still have to take this beast.

I took mine yesterday, arrived at the center at 7:45, started at around 8:05, left the place at around 3:30. Contrary to what other people said, the question stems on my test were shorter than the ones on qBank. But I ended up spending more time to think about each question because they were not as straight forward as qBank. I usually finished a qBank 50 q block with 10-12 minutes to spare, but for the real thing, i had around 5 minutes left in each block after going through the questions. The questions were not as hard as qBank, since it's not as detail oriented. But there were still instance when I was required to recall details. For instance, i got a question asking me what organ structure would be missing if a scientist deleted certain gene. Oh, a lot of scientist research type questions. And I thought I was finally free from the torture from those Ph.D.'s 😛

Overall, I felt like my studying was adequate. Know First Aid, everything that is printed on it is fair game. Qbank helped too. I finished all 2000 questions (or is it 2100?) on the Qbank, and i got questions that required me to know concepts covered in Qbank. I wouldn't be able to answer those questions if I didn't go through Qbank. But I think the best way to study for it is to study hard during for first two years. Kinda late for that now... 🙄

I spent 3.5 weeks studying, but in reality, I only spent 3 weeks, since for the last three days, my mind just stopped functioning. The book/resource I used were:

First Aid - primary resource, with notes from Qbank written on it.
Qbank and Released 150 q's.
BRS Physiology - read that once, make notes on First Aid
BRS Pathology (a must!) - read that twice. quick read.
High Yield Behavioral Science - read that once, I didn't find it that much better than First Aid.
High Yield Neuroanatomy - I just looked at the pictures.
High Yield Anatomy - skipped the first three chapters because it's too dense.

Oh, I was told I didn't need to know the HLA stuff, but I got a question on it. 😱 I got around 15 anatomy questions, but they were not as hard as Qbank. Around 15 Behavioral Science/Biostat question. the Biostat ones were easy calculation, but the Behavioral ones were those What will you say to the patient if this and that. Pharmacology were straight forward, either you know it or don't. Physiology and Pathology were BIG on mine. There were more Neuro than I wanted to see. Micro were straight forward too, Just need to know what's on First Aid.

I am sorry this post got a bit long and disorganized. It's exactly my mental status right now. Even after once good night sleep, I still can't function properly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I supposed... 😀

Please feel free to ask me any question. I will try my best to help.

 

[Jaded Soul]

Originally posted by Arukas
I am sorry this post got a bit long and disorganized. It's exactly my mental status right now. Even after once good night sleep, I still can't function properly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I supposed... 😀

I think you mean Acute Stress Disorder. (Sorry, couldn't resist...I apologize. 😎 )

Thanks for the recap. Regarding how long it took to take the test, how did you approach the blocks in Qbank and the real thing? Did you mark questions and come back to them later, or did you do a one-pass through without reviewing them? I haven't been worried about time at all, but almost a 10 minute difference between a Qbank block and the actual exam blocks seems significant.

 

[Arukas]

Originally posted by Jaded Soul
I think you mean Acute Stress Disorder. (Sorry, couldn't resist...I apologize. 😎)

Thanks for the recap. Regarding how long it took to take the test, how did you approach the blocks in Qbank and the real thing? Did you mark questions and come back to them later, or did you do a one-pass through without reviewing them? I haven't been worried about time at all, but almost a 10 minute difference between a Qbank block and the actual exam blocks seems significant.

hehe, ya, you got me on that. 😛

Anyway, like I said before, the real questions required me to spend more time thinking. Unlike Qbank, it has more emphasis on applying knowledge/concept. I am pretty sure it's also because I became more careful when approaching the real test.

However, my roommate took his on Tuesday and his experience were completely different. He got a lot of questions with question stems so long he actually needed to scroll down to finish reading it. 😱 And he also got some weird question like a woman wanted to try a drug which is currently on phase 1 trial, what form should be filed. Now that's just ******ed. It may be one of the experimental questions, but even it is, I doubt it will ever be used as an actual question. Well, maybe some medical school do cover material like that. 🙄

Anyway, hang in there. It will the fastest 8 (or 7 if you skip breaks) hours of your life. And you will be so glad it's over.😎 😀

 

[Jaded Soul]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to knock the thing out in about 4-5 hours like the simulated exam I took last week, but I guess I have to prepare myself for the possibility that it will probably take longer. Good to know.

 

[scootad.]

Wooo hooo! Just took that beast today!

My exam was ok, i thought qbank was overall a good prep but i did notice a slight difference. there were a few ques on the real thing that were material i never would have thought to study e.g random genetics, cell bio thats not in First Aid but i remember having covered at some point in 1st year of med school. i thought qbank didnt have any of those types of random questions and was slightly more straightforward than the real thing.

 

[kcrd]

arukas, a few people have posted that their tests either had a body system focus or a disproportionate amount of a certain subject. did you find that to be the case at all for your exam, or do you think all systems and subjects were well balanced?

 

[scootad.]

some final thoughts.

i think you just gotta do your best and hope for the best. there is no way to be 100% prepared for this thing. first aid is a solid base from which to study but is useless if used alone IMO. from what ive been hearing every exam has a different focus. mine was genetics & physio. its a little upsetting to have memorized every freaking word in the red path book and not having been able to show anything for it. but thats the way it goes i guess.

study your hardest cover as many topics as you can and hope for the best.

 

[gwyn779]

Ok, I took it Wed., here's my experience:

First, I walked out of there by 1 pm, taking 20 min. breaks after every 2 blocks. Second, most of it is a big blur. I didn't really have any renal phys questions. I also only had 1 cancer chemotherapy ques (someone else said they had a bunch). I had a lot of what antibiotic would you use for this disease, but that was hardly a surprise. Umm.... I had several questions about which nerve innervated which muscle. I also had 2 or 3 TB questions in a row, very odd. The questions were definitely "ok, here's some info, go about 2 steps farther with it," which is exactly what I expected. I though First Aid really was good, especially if you go through and put in more detailed notes on areas you feel you're weak in. I had nothing that I hadn't at least heard of. Hmm, hope this helps someone.