SO- Here is my evaluation of Step 1 after taking the test toady…
Just to clarify my prep, I took the Kaplan course given at UMHS and just did Uworld and First aid once I got home.
I completed the Kaplan Q bank once.
I completed the Uworld Q bank twice.
Read sections of FA multiple times with my Uworld notes written in.
I took NBME 11,12,13,16 (score range 180-246)
I took both Uwold Assessments (250 average).
NOW: For the test itself…
The first thing I noticed was that there were absolutely NO one liners. Sometimes in Uworld you’ll get a straightforward one liner question… these do not exist on the test.
Secondly, there were very few, if any, questions asking you to make a diagnosis. A lot of the path questions asked you to make a diagnosis, then explain what else you would find associated with the disorder.
Be prepared to explain the diagnosis in terms of pathology, as well as other ways of saying the diagnosis name. For example, some guy smoked and had transitional cell carcinoma. This was not an option, it was called urotheilal cell carcinoma. A lady had phecormocytoma, but this was not an option. The answer was neural crest derivates acted upon by preganglionic sympathetic fibers with Ach.
I found that the test asked questions in the same exact manor as Uworld. It was like taking another Uworld assessment and I always knew the answer. The challenge and the complete make or break was in the answers.
There was also a massive amount of anatomy on the test. Tons of CT scans (these were not hard), and TONS of vessel and nerve stuff (a patient has a congested renal vein. The vein is trapped posteriorly to what artery? => SMA).
Biostats was a breeze. a few sensitivity problems and one NNT.
There were no Pharm equations and I found that the pharm was either straight forward, or stuff i’ve never seen. There was no in-between. either you read 6 pharm text books or you know as much as the next guy.
Micro was really straight forward. There was one easy virus question, typical bacteria questions, no worm questions… a lot of toxin mechanisms, a lot of culture stuff
biochem was decent with the enzymes and stuff. There was a **** TON OF QUESTIONS ON NEOPLASM AND HOW THEY AFFECT CELL CYCLE ETC. like a LOT. I was not so happy about that ha.
Physio was physio. Tons of arrows and graphs etc. These were not hard.
Like I said before, if you do Uworld and can get good scores, you’re in good shape. If I could go back and study again, I would Do Uworld yet ANOTHER time, but when I chose the answer, I’d describe it’s path, associated symptoms, how it looked, and other names for the condition, because that is ALL the answers were. Nothing straightforward.
