NBDE I is Over!

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gryffindor

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Anyone else take the NBDE I today? What did you guys think? It was exhausting. There were two three and one half hours sessions to do 200 questions in each session. We had a half hour lunch break in between.

Each section had 100 multiple choice questions. The instructions indicated that upto 15% of the questions could be experimental, meaning that it doesn't matter if you get them right or not. But they don't indicate which 15% is experimental, so you have to attempt them all. The exam began with Anatomical Sciences which wasn't too bad. I recognized a bunch of stuff from the released exams or the decks. Most of my classmates and I found it manageable. However, the next section was Biochem-Physio which was unanimously HARD! No idea where the questions were from.

After lunch was Micro-Path. I didn't think this was as bad as Biochem-Physio, but many of my classmates said it was difficult. I can see why, a number of the items they tested weren't really covered on the Dental Decks or old exams. Maybe those will be experimental. I had read the Micro & Path sections in First Aid for the USMLE (the book med students swear by for their boards) and found it to be helpful. There were at least 6 or 7 questions I knew from reading First Aid and not from the decks or old exams. However, I'll know for sure when scores come. The last section was Dental Anatomy. This section was not as difficult, just very tiring. There was a lot of thinking involved in this section and all I wanted to do was finish. At times I felt like I was taking the PAT - the part where you have to rotate the objects to fit them into the holes. Questions with tooth drawings require some mental rotation like the PAT.

Now summer can finally start! All four and a half weeks of it! Scores will be mailed in 6 to 8 weeks, by then school will have started again...

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Thanks for posting...now you can finally relax! Now that you've finally finished NBDE Part I, what is your opinion on the dental decks for prepping you for this exam?

I have a set of the dental decks and have been reading them off and on. I would love to hear your opinion on these flash cards! I find them well sorted and easy to read, but are they effective?

:cool:
 
riffin04,
Are the anatomical sciences made up of just gross anatomy or is histology included? Does anyone take it in December of their 2nd year?
 
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Originally posted by nug
riffin04,
Are the anatomical sciences made up of just gross anatomy or is histology included? Does anyone take it in December of their 2nd year?

Ah...Son of a B&$%# I meant to write griffin04
 
nug - Anatomical sciences includes Gross Anatomy, Histology, Oral Histology, and Embryology. 50 questions on Gross, 23 for Histo, 16 on Oral Histo, and 11 on Developmental Biology. (Those #s are from the candidate guide every student is given when they sign up.) You could take the Boards in December of second year, depends on your school. At Buffalo, we had completed all the required courses by December, but that would have been absolute hell to take the boards and deal with regular finals at the same time. July was definitely a smarter time to take them. You do have to take all four sections at once as a first-time examinee. I mean, you can't take the Biochem-Physio at one administration, and then take Micro-Path at another time.

Yah-E - the Decks are definitely worth doing since they are the only comprehensive review material out there for NBDE (short of paying $500 for Kaplan which I didn't have the time to do). If nothing else, they help you memorize the old exam questions. There were times during the test when I thought "Hey, that was on a card." Other times I was like "Shoot, this answer is from attending that lecture in Micro back in October and I haven't seen or thought about this concept since then." In my opinion, Dental Anatomy was the section where the cards were probably most beneficial. They really helped me get the primary dentition down since I haven't taken Pedo yet. It also made me aware of the little anomalies on teeth you might not notice otherwise. If you do the cards all along right after you finish the courses, maybe that will help you memorize the info better. When I sat down to review for Gross, I couldn't believe I had taken the course and even passed with a B. I had no recollection of memorizing all that stuff, although it was a bit easier to re-memorize the second time around. Physio was worse - I read the cards and thought - "Darn, I got an A in this class? That means nothing now since I don't remember anything about the heart or kidney."

When we get our scores, I'll post again about what my friends and I found helpful for studying depending on where we wanted to score. I can't really gage that yet until we get the results.
 
You probably all did fine. I too thought the decks were helpful for dental anatomy the most. As far as biochem physiol - I thought that section was easy because my major was physiology in undergrad; however, It was not my highest score. My highest score was in micro/path which I really thought I failed and anatomical sciences was my worst. Anyone who failed a section in my class failed the anatomical sciences section and same with the previous class, so marquette must not have a strong anatomy program.

I would not waste money on kaplan, only people in my class that failed the test more than once took kaplan and then finally passed.

As far as taking the test in multiple seatings, I think that is ridiculous - chances are you will pass the first time. I think you need to pass at least 2 sections before you can take seperate sections again - if you fail 3 sections then you have to take the whole test over again.

Most people who failed sections in my class for part 1 passed part 2 easily on the first try. We only had 1 suprise failure for part 2 who ended up passing the second time.

You will probably get your results the last week in August, then it will be time to party.
 
Originally posted by griffin04
Anatomical sciences includes Gross Anatomy, Histology, Oral Histology, and Embryology. 50 questions on Gross, 23 for Histo, 16 on Oral Histo, and 11 on Developmental Biology. (Those #s are from the candidate guide every student is given when they sign up.)

griffin04 or someone else,
if it's not too much trouble, could you give a breakdown of the questions in each section (i.e. biochem-phys, micro-path, dental anatomy & occlusion) like above?
Thanks
 
Anatomic Sciences (100)

Gross Anatomy (50, with 32 on Head & Neck alone)
Histology (23)
Oral Histology (23)
Developmental Biology (11)

Biochemistry-Physiology (100)
Physical-Chemical Principles (3)
Biological Compounds (9)
Metabolism (13)
Molecular Biology (8)
Connective Tissues (8)
Membranes (4)
Nervous System (9)
Muscle (6)
Circulation (9)
Respiration (6)
Renal (6)
Acid-Base Balance (1)
Digetsion (5)
Nutrition (5)
Endocrines (8)

Microbiology-Pathology (100)
General Micro (21)
Reactions of Tissue to Injury (10)
Immunology and Immunopath (13, with at least 3 on oral immuno)
Microbio, Immuno, and Path of Specific Infection Diseases (22, with at least 8 on oral diseases)
Systemic Path (22)
Growth Disturbances (12)

Dental Anatomy and Occlusion (100)
Tooth Morphology (44)
Pulp Cavity Morphology (5)
Calcification and Eruption (6)
Principles of Occlusion and Function (37)
Clinical Considerations - Tooth Morphology and Anomalies (8)

And actually, each of these headings is further subdivided for example,
Tooth Morphology (44) - Primary (8), Permanent (36) [Incisors (7), Canines (7), Premolars (9), Molars (13)]
But that is just way too much to type.
 
hi
can somebody help me how to start for preparation for NBDE part 1.
besides dental decks,old papers and kaplan notes any thing else i mean any other book recommended.
like our text books and how long preparation will end like how many months it requires
thanks and waiting for any body help
 
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