My first assessment exam

[thinker]

I just did UWSA #2 as my first assessment exam and I got 214.

Is this fine for a first test if you haven't done all of FA yet?

I studied from FA for 5 weeks but only covered systems (except GI, Neuro, Psych, Musculoskeletal) and only recently did I go over Biochem quickly. No Micro or other. I have been doing some Rx (finish Rx questions on the systems I did like Cardio, renal etc) and very few World questions as well.

I still got more than a couple of months until my exam date (with some easy rotations) but I'm wondering how did you guys do on your first assessment?

I consider myself not ready since I didnt get to review all the material.

I noticed this exam was heavy on Anatomy and I did horrible with those questions. And very little "buzz words" .. it was pretty clinical.


any input is highly appreciated!

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[frankyazz]

I just did UWSA #2 as my first assessment exam and I got 214.

Is this fine for a first test if you haven't done all of FA yet?

I studied from FA for 5 weeks but only covered systems (except GI, Neuro, Psych, Musculoskeletal) and only recently did I go over Biochem quickly. No Micro or other. I have been doing some Rx (finish Rx questions on the systems I did like Cardio, renal etc) and very few World questions as well.

I still got more than a couple of months until my exam date (with some easy rotations) but I'm wondering how did you guys do on your first assessment?

I consider myself not ready since I didnt get to review all the material.

I noticed this exam was heavy on Anatomy and I did horrible with those questions. And very little "buzz words" .. it was pretty clinical.


any input is highly appreciated!

In general, if you are shooting for a stellar score, first aid will not be enough, so I would hope that you would be using other review books. If you were only to use first aid, I would have a feeling your score won't improve that much because your limited to so much information. But this varies from person to person depending on your background knowledge. Make sure you finish Uwolrds as it is a very good learning tool. I basically read almost every book recommended in the "Taus Method."

First assessment ( wasn't completely through everything either):
NBME:220 (Don't know which NBME because it was given to us by the school)
UWolrd Sim #1: 236

Last assessment I took:
NBME 13: 247
Uworld Sim #2: 261

Keep in mind, and I am pretty sure this is a "known" fact, the Uwolrd Sim exams, in general, overshoot.
Good Luck!

 

[thinker]

Thanks!

In all humility but I'm shooting for a high score (I need 250+). I got until early November to write with one month of full vacation still ahead.

I have read Microbiology made ridiculously simple, and much of BRS pathology. I will definitely finish UWorld questions which i'm finding are adding to my FA notes much more than Rx even though they seem easier (or easier to understand to say at least. I found Rx needlessly obscure sometimes but this is just my limited experience with UWorld thus far)..
I have also BRS physiology (was it BRS? the blue book? I think so).. and generally I'm very comfortable with the physiology even though I felt I didn't do well this time..

Do you think a serious rerun over BRS pathology will be helpful? I did it over Med2 which was last year.

For Pharm I have Katzung but it seems FA is enough.. not sure..

 

[frankyazz]

Never used Rx, so I have no input on that... I went through Uworlds a little over 1.5 times, and did Kaplan, and some of USMLE Weapon. Maybe you need to review your phys if you scored poorly? It might be one of those things were you are like "Ya, I know this," but then when a question appears, its like "Oh I really don't know this 😛"

As far as path... I used pathoma and Goljan RR. Pathoma was awesome for "babying" you through the basic path concepts and really hitting home to understanding things. I listened to the audios once, took vigorous notes, then reread needed sections. Then I used Goljan RR.. it was my "main" path book. It hit all the tidbits here and there that was not in pathoma... it adds in the nitty gritty and incorporates some high yield concepts from other disciplines that are really important. I read through that about 2.5 times. My path performance on my NBME was a thin line at the high end of the chart 🙂. I never read BRS path, but I feel like my method worked out very well for me!

 

[thinker]

Okay I see. I think I will stick with BRS Pathology since I already used it a lot. Thanks for your advice. Are you writing the real thing soon? Good luck!