June 2009: USMLE Step 1 Support Thread

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Deferoxamine

Deferoxamine

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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.
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I was supposed to be tomorrow, but I found an opening test spot right down the street from my house which was a Tuesday spot

I don't have to drive 15 miles in morning traffic, whew
 
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As for anything fun:

I have to look for a new apartment since I'm transferring med schools to NYC.
That'll be fun.
 
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Hey June 09 kids,

Just got home from the exam. It wasn't bad. Will post about it soon in "Step 1 Experiences" thread.

For those of you taking it in the next week, keep chugging along, it will be worth it!

Looking for a beer...
 
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

I'm finally italicized! :D

Good luck, June 23's!
 
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Deferoxamine said:
Hey June 09 kids,

Just got home from the exam. It wasn't bad. Will post about it soon in "Step 1 Experiences" thread.

For those of you taking it in the next week, keep chugging along, it will be worth it!

Looking for a beer...
Click to expand...
haha, and you have fun doing some chugging of your own tonight! :)
sooo jealous. i can't wait to get this over with.
 
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My Pathology Timeline (true story):

Past 2 years: Dysthymic disorder
Last month: Obsessive compulsive disorder
Two weeks ago: Hypnapompic hallucinations
Last week: Osmotic diarrhea
4 days ago: Barrett's esophagus
2 days ago: Cluster headache
Yesterday: Anorexia nervosa
6 hours ago: Manic episode
Tomorrow: Fatty liver

Back home, away from school with no one around. Me, beer, and downloading TV show episodes I have missed this past month. :cool:
 
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What do guys write on your dry erase board that they give you during the test? I was thinking of jotting down some quick formulas and common drugs while going through the tutorial at the beginning. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not? Thanks.
 
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confuse said:
What do guys write on your dry erase board that they give you during the test? I was thinking of jotting down some quick formulas and common drugs while going through the tutorial at the beginning. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine why not. They give you the dry erase board/marker and eraser and don't expect you to erase it between breaks (or ever unless you need more space).

However, I can't see how that would even be helpful. There is a TON of pharm/formulas that you know/think will be tested that won't be. Of course each has their own method of dealing with the stress that is STEP 1, as for me, I had to prevent myself from trying to recall any facts between 4 p.m. Sunday and the first question on the test Monday. It would be too nerve recking to realize how much you don't know, and like I said, chances are it won't matter anyways!

:luck: to all those who have yet to take it!!
 
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Deferoxamine said:
My Pathology Timeline (true story):

Past 2 years: Dysthymic disorder
Last month: Obsessive compulsive disorder
Two weeks ago: Hypnapompic hallucinations
Last week: Osmotic diarrhea
4 days ago: Barrett's esophagus
2 days ago: Cluster headache
Yesterday: Anorexia nervosa
6 hours ago: Manic episode
Tomorrow: Fatty liver

Back home, away from school with no one around. Me, beer, and downloading TV show episodes I have missed this past month. :cool:
Click to expand...

Hahaha!
 
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confuse said:
What do guys write on your dry erase board that they give you during the test? I was thinking of jotting down some quick formulas and common drugs while going through the tutorial at the beginning. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think actually used mine once, and it was to help myself chart one of those X vs. Y relationships to figure out the answer to a question... for the actual math stuff, I used the calculator and/or my brain.
 
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just got home

lots of silly Qs, a ton of easy stuff, and only 1 i've never seen before.
TONS of pregnancy Qs, cardiac physio, and upper limb anatomy. i probably had 50-70 cardio Qs in total.

i'll type out my experience later in the near future but right now i need to get some mind-altering substances in me
 
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rahulb said:
just got home

lots of silly Qs, a ton of easy stuff, and only 1 i've never seen before.
TONS of pregnancy Qs, cardiac physio, and upper limb anatomy. i probably had 50-70 cardio Qs in total.

i'll type out my experience later in the near future but right now i need to get some mind-altering substances in me
Click to expand...

Congrats, rahul. Waking up the morning after your exam is going to feel amazing, trust me.

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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ



Holy June 24's, Batman. Best of luck!
 
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WOW IT FEELS SO GOOD TO HAVE MY FREEDOM BACK!

=)

I hated the dry erase board markers cuz i always left them uncapped (and forgot to cap them) and they would dry out and i had to ask the proctors like 2 times for more.
 
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when you take the section it will say

Section 5 (which would be like block 4 since tutorial is Section 1)
 
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Deferoxamine said:
Congrats, rahul. Waking up the morning after your exam is going to feel amazing, trust me.

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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, sprinkibrio, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ



Holy June 24's, Batman. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

thanks!! i've officially stopped studying as of this moment. Currently I'm packing my book bag for the exam (plenty of granola bars, hard candy, various meds in case of headache/sinus/etc emergencies - overkill i know but it's always good to be prepared haha). Anyway there's a lot of us taking the exam tomorrow, so good luck everyone!!
 
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Another question:

If you wear a long-sleeved shirt in case it's cold, can you roll up your sleeves during the test if it gets hot? I know you can't take it off.
 
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Cliff Huxtable said:
Another question:

If you wear a long-sleeved shirt in case it's cold, can you roll up your sleeves during the test if it gets hot? I know you can't take it off.
Click to expand...

The protocol might vary from site to site. My Prometric site was very small and the proctors told me if I wanted to take off my hooded sweatshirt just to signal to them and they'd take it from me, that I couldn't just leave it hanging on the back of my chair.

I can't imagine rolling up sleeves or pant legs is too much of a problem.

Be aware, though, the one thing you can't touch during your exam are pants pockets.
 
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Deferoxamine said:
The protocol might vary from site to site. My Prometric site was very small and the proctors told me if I wanted to take off my hooded sweatshirt just to signal to them and they'd take it from me, that I couldn't just leave it hanging on the back of my chair.

I can't imagine rolling up sleeves or pant legs is too much of a problem.

Be aware, though, the one thing you can't touch during your exam are pants pockets.
Click to expand...

I must have had a less strict proctor because my hand slipped into my pants pocket a couple times. (not in that way you perverts)

I'm free!!!!
 
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Well, one more day of studying, and I'm still totally unmotivated. I've done almost nothing since Saturday, and I doubt I'll get even halfway through FA before the test. I guess I feel OK about this, since I hate FA and have done well on NBMEs. Still, it would have been nice to have a better final effort.
 
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pseudoknot said:
Well, one more day of studying, and I'm still totally unmotivated. I've done almost nothing since Saturday, and I doubt I'll get even halfway through FA before the test. I guess I feel OK about this, since I hate FA and have done well on NBMEs. Still, it would have been nice to have a better final effort.
Click to expand...

You're not alone! Just think of the overall effort you put in. I realized towards the end I may not have been putting in the 10-12 hr days like in the beginning, but fewer hours are still nothing to laugh at. :luck:

For some reason the post says I took the test today... nope tomorrow!
 
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I just took a block of UW questions that I got wrong the first time and got 66%. I guess that's better than the 0% I got the first time around but still...

OK, I'm going to snap out of this. I got 253 on NBME 3 on Saturday. I've been studying for five weeks. It doesn't even matter what I do this week. F*** it.

Good luck tomorrow sprinkibrio. I'm sure you'll do fine. It's all about the sustained effort...this is stuff we've been studying for two years, it's not going away in a week.
 
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Finito! Thanks everybody for all your posts and experiences. I walked in with a very good idea of what to expect. That's not saying I didn't guess on half of the questions, but nothing too crazy. I'm glad I went through micro and pharm again these last few days. Those were straight recall out of FA. Path and phys on the otherhand I could have studied another month and not get any more right..
 
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

The June 25 train is leaving. Good luck!




I seriously need to get the hell off of the internet and SDN as well. I am already due to report back to school on Monday, and here I am with rare actual days off spending 4+ hours of my day eating 10 lbs. of candy / chinese food / ice cream / beer while on the internet. Stupid Step 1 withdrawal symptoms. It's like recovering from a bad breakup or something.
 
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

The June 25 train is leaving. Good luck!




I seriously need to get the hell off of the internet and SDN as well. I am already due to report back to school on Monday, and here I am with rare actual days off spending 4+ hours of my day eating 10 lbs. of candy / chinese food / ice cream / beer while on the internet. Stupid Step 1 withdrawal symptoms. It's like recovering from a bad breakup or something.
Click to expand...

Everytime I see a thread there is Deferoxamine with another comment. Shouldn't you be on vacations on an caribbean island or maybe in europe or some other place having a beer? :cool:
 
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:luck: and :thumbup: to everyone taking the test tomorrow.

And Def, at least stick around till I take the test on Monday, okay?
 
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

The June 25 train is leaving. Good luck!




I seriously need to get the hell off of the internet and SDN as well. I am already due to report back to school on Monday, and here I am with rare actual days off spending 4+ hours of my day eating 10 lbs. of candy / chinese food / ice cream / beer while on the internet. Stupid Step 1 withdrawal symptoms. It's like recovering from a bad breakup or something.
Click to expand...

I had an iron poisoning question on my exam and I thought of your avatar haha.
 
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Whats_up_doc said:
Everytime I see a thread there is Deferoxamine with another comment. Shouldn't you be on vacations on an caribbean island or maybe in europe or some other place having a beer? :cool:
Click to expand...

My time between Step 1 and rotations just wasn't long enough. Plus, I'm poor, I have no interest in visiting most of Europe, and yes to beer but I have developed the alcohol tolerance of a 2 year-old since med school began.

This week was the 3 F's: friends, family, food. I know there are other F's I could have chosen from, but come on, cut me some slack.
 
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Still got 300 q in UWorld, just not enough time to finish them before the test Monday. Think I'll do one more block then just spend my time reviewing. Any last minute suggestions?

Can't believe this is all coming to an end in two days, and that 4 wks studying is already over. I thought that I would know so much more at this time than I do.:eek:
 
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RisingSun said:
Still got 300 q in UWorld, just not enough time to finish them before the test Monday. Think I'll do one more block then just spend my time reviewing. Any last minute suggestions?

Can't believe this is all coming to an end in two days, and that 4 wks studying is already over. I thought that I would know so much more at this time than I do.:eek:
Click to expand...

Why don't you only do some questions from the sections you feel least confident with? That's my plan if I run out of time! :)
 
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RisingSun said:
Any last minute suggestions?
Click to expand...

You are planning on stopping sometime tomorrow afternoon, if not sooner, right?

Spend the evening before the exam doing something utterly mindless. I sat in front of the TV with my family, and we all laughed at the stupidity of cable TV shows.

It made the night before the exam pretty mellow, which worked out well for me, because I am not mellow.
 
Last edited:
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Good luck!

And the entire month of June is almost over.
 
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So I've stopped studying, and I'm gonna relax with the Sounders game and a nice dinner.

The US almost beating Brazil today gave me hope for tomorrow.
 
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Just got back from the test. All in all wasn't too bad. Some of the qs were like WTF? but for the most part they were very straightforward. Much easier than UWorld, I thought.

And Def, you were on my test! Thought of you when I clicked the answer.

Good luck tomorrow PBandJ. I'm sure you'll do fine.:thumbup:
 
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RisingSun said:
And Def, you were on my test! Thought of you when I clicked the answer.
Click to expand...

LOL. Seems like everyone is getting me on their exam except for me. What a shame. That woulda been such a nice freebie.

Just spent some time peeking in the Clinical Rotations forum for some book advice. Ouch. And I definitely don't have the moxie to be posting in there yet.



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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

One more to go. Represent, PB&J, and help us finish strong!
 
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yay, thanks guys! i am happy to be finishing out this thread tomorrow. :) good luck to all of those still waiting for scores!!
 
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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, bola
June 22: Deferoxamine, Depakote, soonereng, lazymed
June 23: ACE Stimulator, rahulb, Ihateverbal
June 24: frangeo, sendwich, chaostheory, Vonsmack, Redrox, CptCrunch
June 25: confuse, BONENIBBLER, kdburton, sprinkibrio
June 26: pseudoknot, bretticus, mahdego
June 29: RisingSun
June 30: PBandJ

Woah. That was quick. :laugh:

Congrats everyone, and good luck with the waiting... :confused:
 
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