July 12th NDBE I Study Plans

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Col Sanders

Col Sanders

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I was wondering what everyones plans are for this years boards? I want to make sure I am not leaving out something important.

I plan on hitting the Decks 2 times during the next two months and then the week before the exam again a third time for a quick review. I also plan on studying heavily our schools boards stuff(the stuff they put together during our 6 week boards course) I also plan on reviewing all of the released exams between now and July 12th.
 
My plan might be a bit ambitious because we have school this summer, pretty much 8-5 Mon thru Fri. I wish we were given board prep but we aren't.

I'm planning on breaking it down by week and section. week 1, mon-fri get through the cards for a certain section, then on sat/sun of that week try to read that section in the kaplan book. If time allows, review some older test questions pertaining to that section on the weekend.

That will take 4 weeks, will put me 1x thru the decks and thru the kaplan book. I will then try to get thru the cards again and take all old exams.

Might be tough w/ school in session 😕
 
I'm taking one of the subjects and studying the Decks on that subject 4-5 times during a one week period (basically going through the ENTIRE subject once each day). Then I'm moving on to the next subject and doing the same with it. The only subject I haven't reviewed in the Decks is Dental Anatomy, and I'll be doing that next week.

I'm also going to take all the old exams, although I'm saving those until I'm a bit closer to the test date.

I'm using the Kaplan book as a reference, mostly for the mnemonics that are contained in the margins.

Our school is also doing a Kaplan course, so I have all of their lecture materials, review notes, videos, and Q-Bank questions at my disposal. Q-Bank is about as worthless as they come (it is quite easy to see that they are USMLE questions that have been rebadged as "NBDE" questions), but the Kaplan videos have had a few interesting ideas to help my studies.

My goal is to have gone through the Decks 7-8 times total, and taken and studied the old exams prior to July 12. I'm well on track to do that.
 
HI guys

your plans sound good....have taken the boards once(july 2003-score 84).....am taking it again to up my score.....I am an international dentist hoping to get into an advanced standing program.

All you guys need t do is DECKS and ASDA reprints.Thats all......the dekcs cover the entire stuff.....make sure u have them memorised.Also keep on doing the papers.....u will have them by heart too pretty soon.

Gavin you might want to see my tutorial on DAO.Go to the International Dental forum and see the tutorial sticky.

Its a good one.Any one of you located anywhere in NY/Philly?Am coming for my CBT in July.Actually will be taking it on 13/14 itself.Would like to meet some of you just for a chat.

All the best

gpg
 
1 1/2 weeks per section. I will finish biochem/physiology on saturday. somewhere around 3 hours a day during the week and around 5 on the weekends. I will have 2 weeks before to do my final review. I bagged the kaplan book because it has too much detail. I just use it as a reference. Mostly decks and tests with some review on subjects I'm unsure about.
Gavin, I don't know how you can go through all the decks for one section in a day, it takes me like 6 hours at least to get through one section. How many hours a day are you putting in?
 
UNLV OMS WANABE said:
Gavin, I don't know how you can go through all the decks for one section in a day, it takes me like 6 hours at least to get through one section. How many hours a day are you putting in?
Click to expand...

I'm putting in about 6-7 hours a day. But remember, after you roll through them 2-3 times, it only takes ~3 hours to go through the entire section.

I went through all of the Anatomy today, and also reviewed 3 anatomy sections from the Kaplan book (which is pretty much a waste of time for me, I've decided).
 
hi i am new here and i have been going through the kaplan books like crazy, you really think its not woth it, would really appreciate some good advise.
 
I don't think it was worth it for me, so I've pretty much ditched the book except for as a reference guide. I know that lots of people have done very well using only the Decks and released exams, so that's the focus of my study.

My opinion is that there is simply too much in the Kaplan book. If you memorized that thing you would probably be promised a 99 or 100, but I think you can skip a lot of it and still get a 90-95.

For me it's an issue of time.
 
hi guys,

i was just wondering if anyone knows whether or not the computerized version will have the "timing glitch" worked out by july? i have registered to take it on the computer and am wondering if i should wait and see if they'll fix the timing for it or should i just take it anyway on july 12th?? i checked the ada website, and it seems like they've been just pushing off the target fix date later and later... 👎 is all this waiting futile??? 😕

for those who have already taken the NBDE I, how important was it to be able to go back to previous sections during the exam??

the stress is starting to build 😱 ...i've got 3 weeks to study (planning on taking it on 7/12, computerized). my plan is to finish going over the decks 1x by next saturday (i'm almost done with micro/path at this point), do an old exam, go over the decks a second time using references this time, and then do an old exam each day for the last week leading up to the exam.

happy studying for everyone who's taking the exam in july! 😛

-wasabi
 
Pardon my ignorance but what "timing glitch" are you talking about?The letter I received from the ADA states that I have 2 sessions of 3 1/2 hours each with the option of taking a break for 1 hour in between.And treasure mentioned about the CD in which they showhow u can go can back to the unattempted questions or the ones marked not sure.

It is quite important to be able to go back and forth wthin one section and between 2 sections.Where u taking the exam?

Please enlighten me about the timing glitch u r talking about.

gpg
 
when the computerized exam was originally formatted (and still true up to this day from what i believe), the automatic timing element did not allow the test taker to go back to questions between 2 sections (ie. micro/path & anatomical sciences during the morning OR biochem/physio & dental anatomy during the afternoon) even if you have extra time left. you must take the 4 sections in the order they are presented.

this is a concern because with the paper version one has the freedom to move between 2 sections within the morning session or the 2 sections within the afternoon session. this could be beneficial in 2 ways (that i can think of):

1) if you're slow in micro/path, yet fast in anatomy...then with the extra time you have left in anatomy, you'd be able to go back to the micro/path section to recheck your answers or finish the section if you were taking the exam on paper.

2) i've heard from some ppl that dental anatomy can be quite challenging as the last section of the day, so to be able to have the option of taking the dental anatomy section first and then going back to take the biochem/physio section last could be helpful. (this is only what i've heard)

according to the ada website, the timing for the computerized NBDE I is expected be fixed to match that of the paper version by May 2004 (this deadline had been pushed back a couple of times already). i have not seen updates either confirming or negating the fix. that's why i'm worried/concerned that it has yet to be fixed even through july (when i plan on taking the exam on the computer).

hope this clarifies things! and if anyone knows more about the issue, please share your insight~ 😀 or if you can tell me something just to alleviate my stress that'd be great too~ 🙄

-wasabi 😛
 
wasabi, I believe that problem has been taken care of, although you could always call the ADA testing services and ask them directly.

As far as my studies go, I'm hitting up the Q-Bank pretty hard today, especially on dental anatomy. The other Q-Bank questions don't seem as pertinent.

What's everybody else up to with 3 weeks left?
 
i'm gonna review the pilot exam, go over q-bank questions and then study the first aid for the USMLE exam..(and catch the cubs-a's game in between...hehehee)
 
Hi Guys

sorry I forgot to post here....had called up the ADA...the format is just the same as it is for the written to be held on 12th July......nothing changes save the fact that u are taking it on the comp....thats all....so no timing probs and nothing else......just go for it.....wish everyone all the best!
 
Well, after my DA troubles last week, I devoted the entire week to studying DA, and I think I can tell a difference. I took another released exam blind and only missed 9 out of 99 questions.

I also took the 98 Micro/Path exam blind and pulled an 89, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. Micro/Path is the subject I'm currently hitting hard.

What's everybody else up to?
 
is 1998 still the latest past exam available?
 
I'm still on schedule, finishing up my last section tomorrow (DAO). I'm then going to do three days on each section for the second time through and decide what to cram for the last couple days.
 
UNLV OMS WANABE said:
I'm still on schedule, finishing up my last section tomorrow (DAO). I'm then going to do three days on each section for the second time through and decide what to cram for the last couple days.
Click to expand...

Nice. I think you UNLV guys will do really well on the exam.
 
What is the official name (and/or ISBN#) of the NBDE I dental decks and where can you order them? Good luck to all of you on your boards. Obviously you are putting in the time and effort. Your scores will be through the roof!!
 
Col Sanders said:
You can only order them from the company or used from someone else, I believe the site is www.deckscorp.com or www.dentaldecks.com if you want to order them new.
Click to expand...

Thank you Col Sanders. I am going to try to test out of Physiology. Do you think that the physio section in the dental decks will be a good supplement to the text book for the class to help me pass the "test out" exam?
 
swiminh2o said:
Thank you Col Sanders. I am going to try to test out of Physiology. Do you think that the physio section in the dental decks will be a good supplement to the text book for the class to help me pass the "test out" exam?
Click to expand...

Decks physiology is pretty easy (the physiology on Part I, or at least the released exams, is pretty easy).

The decks will be a good review of the basics (which is what Part I tests on) and may help refresh your memory, but I wouldn't use them as a sole study aid for testing out of the course.

Speaking from my personal experience, our physio exams were much more detailed and difficult than anything I've seen so far on Part I materials.
 
Thanks Gavin. I will hold off on the dental decks then. For future thought, did you guys buy your study materials used or new?
 
You guys seriously studied that much for the boards? Ouch, I'm sorry...

Anyone that puts in over 40 hours of studying should easily be able to score in the 90's if they've paid the least amount of attention in class.
 
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