M1 at a school that uses NBME exams. How should I prepare?

[Sasaki878]

My school uses NBME exams right from the get-go and the first semester is a foundations course where we learn the basics (?) about the sciences and content we'll go into more detail in after this semester.

I had my first exam today and felt absolutely wrecked by it.

I used BnB, Anki, Osmosis, First Aid, and occasionally the BRS books yet still felt like a lot of the content was more in depth or out of scope than these resources covered.

Any tips or study methods that worked for you in early M1 year and moving forward?

Thanks

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[siliso]

Pre Test books, get them from your school library and do all 500 qs. There are only so many things to ask about in so many different ways and being familiar with a lot of them is a big help. A lot of it is not so much the depth of material as figuring out how the material is going to be tested.

You can also use study methods that play to your own learning style and the particular content. Concept mapping, visualization, whatever it may be. Flash cards and reading over factoids don’t work for everyone on every topic. Like for anatomy and biochem I found a lot of drawing things out helpful. For histo and path, watching videos about slides that pointed out key features. For brute force fact memorization like micro and immuno, flashcards. Reading book length contextless lists of factoids a la first aid - I could never do it, and did great anyway, you don’t have to. Rereading anything without actively engaging with it somehow is a low yield use of time.

 

[Sasaki878]

Pre Test books, get them from your school library and do all 500 qs. There are only so many things to ask about in so many different ways and being familiar with a lot of them is a big help. A lot of it is not so much the depth of material as figuring out how the material is going to be tested.

You can also use study methods that play to your own learning style and the particular content. Concept mapping, visualization, whatever it may be. Flash cards and reading over factoids don’t work for everyone on every topic. Like for anatomy and biochem I found a lot of drawing things out helpful. For histo and path, watching videos about slides that pointed out key features. For brute force fact memorization like micro and immuno, flashcards. Reading book length contextless lists of factoids a la first aid - I could never do it, and did great anyway, you don’t have to. Rereading anything without actively engaging with it somehow is a low yield use of time.

You’re definitely right. At least going off of how I felt after this exam and the discrepancy between content tested and content I covered with those resources I need to re-evaluate my study habits and how I’m approaching things.

The pre-test books you mentioned, are there any specific I should be looking at? I’m not 100% sure if the books that come to mind are the ones you’re referencing.

But you’re also right about that point, I definitely have to actively practice the material and not just repeat a flashcard/video combo.

Thank you!

 

[siliso]

They are available for most subjects the NBME has an exam for, preclinical and rotations/shelf. I used them more for shelf exams but there are books for micro, physio, path, neuroscience, etc etc. PreTest Self Assessment and Review Series - McGraw Hill Publishing. They are more in depth for particular courses and the question formats you’re likely to see in school/shelf exams than resources that are specifically “high yield for the boards” in my experience.

 

[crunchywhit]

Which NBME did you take? If you can tell me which one is coming up next I can tailor my response to that one specifically - especially for the preclinical exam I used different preparation strategies depending on the course.

 

[Sasaki878]

They are available for most subjects the NBME has an exam for, preclinical and rotations/shelf. I used them more for shelf exams but there are books for micro, physio, path, neuroscience, etc etc. PreTest Self Assessment and Review Series - McGraw Hill Publishing. They are more in depth for particular courses and the question formats you’re likely to see in school/shelf exams than resources that are specifically “high yield for the boards” in my experience.

Looked into these books and they seem really helpful with good question exposure. Thanks a lot

 

[Sasaki878]

Which NBME did you take? If you can tell me which one is coming up next I can tailor my response to that one specifically - especially for the preclinical exam I used different preparation strategies depending on the course.

It’s not a specific NBME (I assume you’re referring to the numbered ones M2’s use like NBME 18, 20, etc.). Our school makes custom exams from the NBME question pool and my trouble is just with the fact that a lot of the high yield resources didn’t seem to touch on topics in a detailed way that the questions I saw on my exam did

 

[crunchywhit]

Gotcha, I thought maybe it was the “anatomy” or “phys” or “histo and cell bio” or one of those.

 

[PugsAndHugs]

If you have NBME exams, reduce the amount of “books” you use and increase Qbank questions. I just did USMLE-Rx and got >90 on most of my NBMEs. Use Kaplan if you finish Rx before the exam. I would start with BnB, Anki, FA (and Osmosis if you like it), then go through the questions from the QBANKS (not review books).

 

[Sasaki878]

If you have NBME exams, reduce the amount of “books” you use and increase Qbank questions. I just did USMLE-Rx and got >90 on most of my NBMEs. Use Kaplan if you finish Rx before the exam. I would start with BnB, Anki, FA (and Osmosis if you like it), then go through the questions from the QBANKS (not review books).

That sounds like a solid approach and process that works with my learning style. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[Goro]

My school uses NBME exams right from the get-go and the first semester is a foundations course where we learn the basics (?) about the sciences and content we'll go into more detail in after this semester.

I had my first exam today and felt absolutely wrecked by it.

I used BnB, Anki, Osmosis, First Aid, and occasionally the BRS books yet still felt like a lot of the content was more in depth or out of scope than these resources covered.

Any tips or study methods that worked for you in early M1 year and moving forward?

Thanks

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Success in Medical School (2018 edition)