June 2009: USMLE Step 1 Support Thread

Your USMLE Scores Increased, Guaranteed!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Deferoxamine

Deferoxamine

Non-smoking
10+ Year Member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
934
Reaction score
51
When are you taking the USMLE Step 1?

For me, I'll be taking it on a Father's Day hangover, June 22. Thank God I won't be busy on Father's Day, seeing that I don't have any children, at least none that I know of.

Figured we'd stir up a support thread, see when everyone's taking their exam, and offer up some good luck for all those taking Step 1 in the month ahead.
Members don't see this ad.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Ihateverbal said:
omg i second that =)
but i feel like i don't know anything and feel really guilty...
i totally zoned off today and was VERY UNRPODUCTIVE.
Click to expand...

same here! i slacked off both last night and all day today. last night i wasted several hours watching the Tony Awards (yay for billy elliott btw!), and today i was just reading random news articles/daydreaming and before i know it, it's already 9 pm... ughh. I'm just gonna ignore the rest of today (I'm just not in a studying mood right now - it would be pointless to stare at a book/do Q's if nothing's going in). I'll start studying bright and early tomorrow morning I guess.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RisingSun said:
I am trying to make my weaknesses my strengths - but damn, I hate reading micro over and over and over and over ... I have never felt like my memory is that bad but for some reason I am having a hell of a time remembering this stuff (actually I think that it is starting to come together, finally).

We should choose a time to simultaneously crack open a beer and call it a day. Anyone drink Hefe-Weizen?
Click to expand...

I bought myself 4 six packs of microbrews before I started studying and have had a Victory Beer™ (or Defeat Beer™ some days...) at the end of each day.

Can't drink american hefeweizen anymore after going to Germany. Yeah, they really do make it that much better there. But I'm lucky to go to school in the northwest which is kind of the mecca of american microbrews and there's a ton of great beers around here.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
ZagDoc said:
I bought myself 4 six packs of microbrews before I started studying and have had a Victory Beer™ (or Defeat Beer™ some days...) at the end of each day.

Can't drink american hefeweizen anymore after going to Germany. Yeah, they really do make it that much better there. But I'm lucky to go to school in the northwest which is kind of the mecca of american microbrews and there's a ton of great beers around here.
Click to expand...

I worked at a brewery/restaurant in college (Lenny's in Bloomington, IN) that made this awesome chocolate stout. Damn it was good.

Where in the NW do you go to school? We have some fantastic breweries here in Seattle.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Deferoxamine said:
June 3: tdd340, hateroftheyear
June 5: morriske, skitskat3025
June 8: jsong812
June 9: arroser
June 10: tomorrowgirl99
June 11: Severus, leahmaria, jwax
June 12: Disinence, LadyKae
June 13: ZagDoc, flyingdutchman
June 15: AggieSarah2007
June 17: NCF145, Re3iRtH
June 19: SeminoleFan3
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, Ihateverbal
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Good luck, aroser! Hope test day went well, jsong!
Click to expand...

Wasn't bad at all! you guys will do great! finish strong, you're almost there.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RisingSun said:
I worked at a brewery/restaurant in college (Lenny's in Bloomington, IN) that made this awesome chocolate stout. Damn it was good.

Where in the NW do you go to school? We have some fantastic breweries here in Seattle.
Click to expand...

Oregon Health & Gleevac University here.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
pseudoknot said:
85th percentile in biostats
30th percentile in embryo (haven't reviewed it, didn't learn it in the first place)

I think I was at the 20th %ile in micro before I reviewed it but now it's up around the mean. Yay.

I don't know if I can do another 18 days of this. I don't even care anymore.
Click to expand...
28th percentile in both embryo and head and neck (tied for crappy!!)
78th percentile in immunology (i assure you, that one is a shocker).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
rahulb said:
adding myself to the list bc i'm on the 23rd


June 3: tdd340, hateroftheyear
June 5: morriske
June 8: jsong812
June 10: tomorrowgirl99
June 11: Severus, leahmaria
June 12: Disinence, LadyKae
June 13: ZagDoc, flyingdutchman
June 17: NCF145
June 19: SeminoleFan3, Ihateverbal
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio
June 25: confuse
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ
Click to expand...

Go KICK SOME ASS! Good luck!:luck:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
For those of you worried about hitting a UWorld plateau, hang in there. Today I hit a nice breakthrough on both question sets (random, timed)after a seemingly endless crappy-ass plateau, and hopefully I can keep it up. For those of you overdue for a breakaway, your day is coming!

Oh, and I've also managed to improve Hepatobiliary to 33rd percentile. :laugh:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Deferoxamine said:
For those of you worried about hitting a UWorld plateau, hang in there. Today I hit a nice breakthrough on both question sets (random, timed)after a seemingly endless crappy-ass plateau, and hopefully I can keep it up. For those of you overdue for a breakaway, your day is coming!

Oh, and I've also managed to improve Hepatobiliary to 33rd percentile. :laugh:
Click to expand...

:thumbup: That's awesome. I'm looking forward to that day! Do you think it was just doing enough questions?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sprinkibrio said:
:thumbup: That's awesome. I'm looking forward to that day! Do you think it was just doing enough questions?
Click to expand...

Could be. I think it was also a confidence issue. I'm trying to work on speed. Usually, on my timed unused sets of 48 I would mark anywhere from 15-20 of them that I just didn't feel like doing at that moment, then it'd be a huge time crunch at the end. Now I'm forcing myself to mark no more than 5, answer the others right on the spot and actually think through them rather than just shuffling them to the side, and finish the whole thing 5 minutes early.

This worked great last night after a few days, but today I slowed down again, marked more (~12), and dropped right back down to 70%. :laugh: Oh well, I guess there's always tomorrow.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
Deferoxamine said:
Could be. I think it was also a confidence issue. I'm trying to work on speed. Usually, on my timed unused sets of 48 I would mark anywhere from 15-20 of them that I just didn't feel like doing at that moment, then it'd be a huge time crunch at the end. Now I'm forcing myself to mark no more than 5, answer the others right on the spot and actually think through them rather than just shuffling them to the side, and finish the whole thing 5 minutes early.

This worked great last night after a few days, but today I slowed down again, marked more (~12), and dropped right back down to 70%. :laugh: Oh well, I guess there's always tomorrow.
Click to expand...

i mark between 15-20 per block. i normally blaze through the entire block in 30 minutes and answer everything i can, marking the ones i have a shred of hesitation about. the only ones left unmarked are the ones i absolutely know are correct.

by the time i get to #48 i have 30 minutes for the remaining 15-20 marked questions, so i re-read vignettes to make sure i didn't miss any important info, start eliminating answers, and make educated guesses.

when i review the block the majority of my errors (>90%) are from the marked questions. i also have a ridiculous ratio of incorrect->correct to correct->incorrect changes. this approach gives me time to let marked questions ferment in my brain while i complete the rest of the block. a lot of times during the second pass through something clicks and i'm able to figure it out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
:xf:I am tomorrow too...there is so much I wanted to review...but I am burnt. I really hope my practice test scores hold up to the real thing.

I am excited to get this over with! But so nervous I could vomit.

Good luck to those going tomorrow as well.....:luck: Although, they say luck is the counterpoint of preparation and timing.....so...hopefully we have all created good luck by all of our hard work!

Take care!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
June 3: tdd340, hateroftheyear
June 5: morriske, skitskat3025
June 8: jsong812
June 9: arroser
June 10: tomorrowgirl99
June 11: Severus, leahmaria, jwax
June 12: Disinence, LadyKae
June 13: ZagDoc, flyingdutchman
June 15: AggieSarah2007
June 17: NCF145, Re3iRtH
June 19: SeminoleFan3
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, Ihateverbal
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Good luck, June 12th people!

In other news, where did this week go?? :confused: I can't believe how fast time is flying right now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Deferoxamine said:
June 3: tdd340, hateroftheyear
June 5: morriske, skitskat3025
June 8: jsong812
June 9: arroser
June 10: tomorrowgirl99
June 11: Severus, leahmaria, jwax
June 12: Disinence, LadyKae
June 13: ZagDoc, flyingdutchman
June 15: AggieSarah2007
June 17: NCF145, Re3iRtH
June 19: SeminoleFan3
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, Ihateverbal
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio, silas2642June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Good luck, June 12th people!

In other news, where did this week go?? :confused: I can't believe how fast time is flying right now.
Click to expand...

In Brookline Mass, baby. Anyone want to grab a drink to forget their woes?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well I developed a nasty head cold yesterday, and it hasn't gone away despite my best efforts.

So it looks like I'm taking the damn test sick tomorrow. Bummer.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ZagDoc said:
Well I developed a nasty head cold yesterday, and it hasn't gone away despite my best efforts.

So it looks like I'm taking the damn test sick tomorrow. Bummer.
Click to expand...
Good luck anyways.

I know of a kid who always "got sick" before a test so in case he did badly he could always say "it's because I was sick".:thumbup:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ZagDoc said:
Well I developed a nasty head cold yesterday, and it hasn't gone away despite my best efforts.

So it looks like I'm taking the damn test sick tomorrow. Bummer.
Click to expand...

Zag,

Some of my greatest athletic successes came when I was sick with a bad cold or even the flu. My point here is that you are probably a lot stronger than you think you are. You've been working hard, just dig deep. You can do it.

Good luck.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Cliff Huxtable said:
What's good to bring for lunch and how do you plan on using your break times?
Click to expand...

I'm going with cold pizza and lots of caffeine. Don't ask why, but I've figured out it works well.



As for break time, I'm going to give myself a lot of short breaks, I'm not planning on taking any more time at lunch than it takes to eat my food and drink a soda/energy drink.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If we finish a block early, does that time get added to our break? I'm trying to store up some time so I can take a decent (10 minutes or so) break before blocks 6 & 7. I took an NBME & UWSA yesterday to see what that many blocks was like, and I was exhausted. I think by taking the break before the last two, maybe stamina won't be a problem. However, that hinges on being able to add time to the break.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ZagDoc said:
Yup.
Click to expand...

If there are any Comlex takers reading this, be aware that our test is a little strange.

No matter how fast you finish, you are only allowed to take a break after blocks 2, 4 (lunch), and six.

I got into trouble with the administrators for trying to get up and take a break after the first one, nobody was happy, and I would not recommend it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Cliff Huxtable said:
What's good to bring for lunch and how do you plan on using your break times?
Click to expand...
i'm planning on taking short breaks and snacking as needed. i'm not sure if i'm going to eat a formal lunch because my test is at 12:30. what an awkward time.

for snacks, i'm thinking some good high energy snacks like trail mix with dried fruit and nuts, granola bars, and gatorade.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
My supply for the test today: banana, granola bar, sandwich, 2 starbucks double shots. Got me through the day just fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
June 3: tdd340, hateroftheyear
June 5: morriske, skitskat3025
June 8: jsong812
June 9: arroser
June 10: tomorrowgirl99
June 11: Severus, leahmaria, jwax
June 12: Disinence, LadyKae
June 13: ZagDoc, flyingdutchman
June 15: AggieSarah2007
June 17: NCF145, Re3iRtH
June 19: SeminoleFan3
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, Ihateverbal
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Good luck, AggieSarah!



I'm due to take a one more practice exam (probably NBME 6) probably on Tuesday. My chances are slim-to-none of getting through more than 75% of the UWorld questions before next Monday, mainly because it is taking me SO DAMN LONG to get through the answer explanations. I think one big decision I need to make before the 22nd is regarding changing answers during the test.

With 50% of UWorld now done,

Correct to Incorrect: 19
Incorrect to Correct: 35
Incorrect to Incorrect: 13

Hmmm.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Deferoxamine said:
I think one big decision I need to make before the 22nd is regarding changing answers during the test.

With 50% of UWorld now done,

Correct to Incorrect: 19
Incorrect to Correct: 35
Incorrect to Incorrect: 13

Hmmm.
Click to expand...

I'd stick with what you've been doing. You're changing your answer to the correct one more times than not, so it looks like you're doing it b/c you're figuring it out.

Don't let that stat trick you into doing something stupid like not trusting your first answers though. If you believed it was right the first time, don't doubt it. If you think of a reasonable explanation to change it, then do so.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
RisingSun said:
Just had my worst UWorld block ever. :(
Click to expand...

Don't worry. This simply means you're probably due for a REALLY good day either the next day or the day after.

And when you do hit a nice boost in your scores, don't read too much into it either. I hit mid 80's % on both blocks a few days ago, and saw this as the start of my "upward climb" and got a little too excited. Turned out to be a premature ejaculation.

Just keep working hard and the results will eventually show it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for the support guys.

It is really frustrating getting scores that are as low as when I started, but I guess I'd rather find out now where my weaknesses are rather than during the real thing. I saw a nice improvement in my NBME score a few days ago so I must be doing something right, I guess.

Okay, back to the books.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey guys,
If you have one day to review: would you rather read over the Goljan audio notes or FA Cases? What would be more high yield for exam?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
confuse said:
Hey guys,
If you have one day to review: would you rather read over the Goljan audio notes or FA Cases? What would be more high yield for exam?
Click to expand...

Goljan notes, since the FA Cases are too broad and I think they're better to use at the beginning when you're still trying to just understand things. But the day before, trust me, winding down and resting your brain at least in the evening will be more useful than forcing yourself to skim over a bunch of stuff again. You'll need the brainpower to go all 8 hours on test day.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just finished studying. Dancing with the devil tomorrow, sure hope it goes well. :xf:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
future_dr_house said:
:luck: What was on your last minute review list?
Click to expand...

I didn't really have one...I spent this morning finishing up pharm. But after that I spent about 2 hours skimming cardio, psych, behavioral, UE & LE anatomy. Pretty much all I did was find the mnemonics in FA and review those to make sure I had them down solid.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks flyingdutchman. I'm taking the practice 150 questions on the 20th so I'm planning to do a one-day review for it. For the actual test, I think I will just look at pictures on the last day.

Good luck NCF. :thumbup:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm so ready to be done...Ugh. 1.5 more days of studying. It looks like I might finish up all my "schedule material" by noon tomorrow. I've set aside from stuff to look at on Thursday morning before I call it complete at noon. I'm trying to decide what to do for those extra hours tomorrow:

-Listen to Goljan audio on cell injury/inflammation (about 3 hours, sped up)...haven't listened to this section
-Do more UQ questions (have about 150 or so that I haven't done)
-Look through the stuff I set aside for Thursday (and just do it twice)
-Other

Suggestions anyone?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

Asilbek
USMLE Usmle step 1
Replies
0
Views
669
Asilbek
Asilbek
J
USMLE Studying for USMLE Step 1
Replies
7
Views
3K
MedBoardTutors
MedBoardTutors
L
  • Question
USMLE Step1 Course prep
Replies
1
Views
1K
MedBoardTutors
MedBoardTutors
R
EAGLE USMLE STEP 1 REVIEW COURSE
Replies
2
Views
1K
gyngyn
gyngyn
F
How would you redo your prep for COMLEX Level 1/USMLE Step 1
Replies
16
Views
6K
IssaDr
IssaDr
Top