NBDE Part I Advice

[Occlusionist]

I'm taking Part I in less than a week. I'm doing some of the ASDA practice exams like the 2004-2008 ones and I'm getting in the mid 60s. I'm kinda worried because some of the questions are hard like ones asking about presynaptic/postsynaptic, peganglionic/postganglionic, specific cytokines, types of bacteria etc. If anybody has taken the test could you please tell me how was yours in comparison to the ASDA previous exams or decks etc?

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[ButlerCard]

Do decks one time and you'll be good to go

 

[Occlusionist]

Do decks one time and you'll be good to go

Thanks ButlerCard

 

[aschimsc7]

Just took mine on Wednesday. If you can kill dental anatomy and anatomical sciences, you can pretty much get a 55% on the 2 other sections.

 

[Occlusionist]

Just took mine on Wednesday. If you can kill dental anatomy and anatomical sciences, you can pretty much get a 55% on the 2 other sections.

Ok thanks Aschimsc7, I will give extra attention to those sections. By anatomical sciences do you mean just head and neck stuff or did they ask you a lot about the rest of the body. I feel like theres a lot of focus on the GI anatomy and a ton of stuff on arteries, nerves in the triangle of the neck and thorax in my resources, but I don't know if I should spend too much time studying those since I only have a few days to learn.

 

[Frychicken]

Just took mine recently. The anatomical sciences covered mostly head and neck, but I also had a few random questions on the supinator muscles and the leg.

Basically, just don't miss too many easy questions on the things that you should know (facial vs. trigeminal nerve, dental anatomy, occlusion, etc.). After that, pray that the patho Gods have mercy on your soul. Good luck!

 

[Occlusionist]

Just took mine recently. The anatomical sciences covered mostly head and neck, but I also had a few random questions on the supinator muscles and the leg.

Basically, just don't miss too many easy questions on the things that you should know (facial vs. trigeminal nerve, dental anatomy, occlusion, etc.). After that, pray that the patho Gods have mercy on your soul. Good luck!

Great advice, thanks Frychiken.

 

[Seahawk]

I don't even know why I wasted so much time on biochem/micro...I don't think it helped me much at all. Hurt more than anything by putting time between my test and my dental anatomy studying which I did first... so I forgot some stuff by test day. If I had to do it again I would study gross related to dentistry for a 2-3 days (muscles of mastication, salivary glands, innervation, blood supply, etc..), dental anatomy for 3-4 days and then go take it. I think that once you start studying stuff that isn't directly related to dentistry you are reaching diminishing returns with the chances of that topic being on there...and even if it is, the chances of you knowing it good enough from your studying to get it right are low as well.

 

[Occlusionist]

I don't even know why I wasted so much time on biochem/micro...I don't think it helped me much at all. Hurt more than anything by putting time between my test and my dental anatomy studying which I did first... so I forgot some stuff by test day. If I had to do it again I would study gross related to dentistry for a 2-3 days (muscles of mastication, salivary glands, innervation, blood supply, etc..), dental anatomy for 3-4 days and then go take it. I think that once you start studying stuff that isn't directly related to dentistry you are reaching diminishing returns with the chances of that topic being on there...and even if it is, the chances of you knowing it good enough from your studying to get it right are low as well.

Seahawk, Thanks for your input. I glanced at micro but like you said I'm putting a lot more time in H&N Anatomy and Dental Anatomy.

 

[Bifenthrin]

Just took mine on Wednesday. If you can kill dental anatomy and anatomical sciences, you can pretty much get a 55% on the 2 other sections.

What about if you could kill dental anatomy and micro/path? Could you screw up anatomical sciences in that case?

I ask cause micro and path happened to be my highest dental school grades hahaha. And I love both topics and feel like I know them a lot more in depth than anatomy or biochem...

 

[aschimsc7]

What about if you could kill dental anatomy and micro/path? Could you screw up anatomical sciences in that case?

I ask cause micro and path happened to be my highest dental school grades hahaha. And I love both topics and feel like I know them a lot more in depth than anatomy or biochem...

We were told by deans you need about a ~58% to pass. So fuddle the numbers around to see what you can make on certain sections.

 

[aschimsc7]

Ok thanks Aschimsc7, I will give extra attention to those sections. By anatomical sciences do you mean just head and neck stuff or did they ask you a lot about the rest of the body. I feel like theres a lot of focus on the GI anatomy and a ton of stuff on arteries, nerves in the triangle of the neck and thorax in my resources, but I don't know if I should spend too much time studying those since I only have a few days to learn.

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been on my computer and I'm sure you've already take it by now but for anyone else interested.
For anatomical science below the neck, know the basics of them arm: musculocuntaneous inn. anterior arm, ulnar inn. medial forearm, median inn. lateral forearm, radial: posterior arm. I never saw any question, practice or real thing, too detailed about the rest of the body. Just know the basics. Head and neck: we just finished 4 weeks on head and neck prior to taking part 1 so I did not study much on that because it was very fresh.
I spent 2 weeks doing every single dental anatomy question from old exams and all DA dental deck cards. I looked up mnemonics for DNA and RNA viruses and memorized a great deal and only had 2 questions regarding them..bummer!
Path: find key words and associate them with each other "punched out bone lesions"(multiple myeloma), "copper accumulation"(wilson's), Addison's vs Cushing's etc. If you go over past exams you will find trends on concepts they like to test on. If something is completely different or does not follow a normal pattern... that is easy to test on! ex: Max1PM lol but also in other areas of study.

 

[asne0407]

So I just took my exam on July 6th and I can say it was def tougher than any of the old tests I have taken. I felt like I didn't have much dental anatomy on their at all. The dental was much different than the old tests. I did every released board exam they have (A-->N, some even twice) and I probably only had 10-12 repeats. Time was not an issue so I was able to go through the test twice. I decided to mark each question I knew for sure was right just to see if I felt confident that I passed and I can say that I only knew 190-200 were right and that for sure freaked me out. Hopefully the odds will be with me for the other 200.

I felt pretty good after the first section but the second section kicked my butt! I will post when I get my results. Hoping for the best but felt like I failed after leaving the testing center...

For advice I would def do something more than just decks for occlusion.

 

[Bifenthrin]

^ A lot of people I know who have taken it say they walk out feeling like they failed, but then wind up getting that letter that says Pass. So hopefully you'll be fine.

I'm just not freaked out because NYU has like a 99% pass rate and I'm definitely not at the bottom 1% of my class. 😉

 

[asne0407]

Ya I hear that too. My school also has a super high pass rate I think last year it was 98%. Still doesn't make the nightmares of failing go away! Haha.

Hoping for the best!

 

[ChuckDAT]

I take mine on August 4th. About to finish Decks for the first time (with quick notes on legal pads). Im going through F.A. now and taking practice exams. Ill probably go through the decks one more time quickly. Thanks to the above posters who have taken the exam! One question to those who have taken the exam. Did you use/draw anything (like a schematic diagram) out on your scratch paper that made occlusion questions easier/faster to get through?

 

[aschimsc7]

I attached my sheet I wrote down for the exam. Old exams use "Max 1st molar" "mandibular 2nd molar" but the newer exams use the universal numbering system.

 

[BANGO]

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[Faux]

There are some students that say you should glance at first aid while studying during D1 and D2 years. How did you guys handle the boards?

 

[arlmay]

Took boards earlier this summer at the end of D1. I studied about a week just going through decks once, and passed fine. If you're a good student that has done well in DS it really isn't that much of a hurdle. You can miss quite a few questions and still pass.

 

[ChuckDAT]

I attached my sheet I wrote down for the exam. Old exams use "Max 1st molar" "mandibular 2nd molar" but the newer exams use the universal numbering system.

I cannot find that picket fence diagram. Do you have a link describing that specific diagram

 

[THS]

I can't find the source again, but a classmate shared with me that nationally, between 2009-2012, there was a 94-96% pass rate for first timers. In case that calms anyone's nerves. 👍

 

[aschimsc7]

I cannot find that picket fence diagram. Do you have a link describing that specific diagram

I wrote my "cheat sheet" down once every day for 3 weeks. I also had on the back, which is not shown, all the DNA and RNA viruses. If you do this everyday you will not even need to write this all down the day of the exam because you will already know it.

~ picket fence:

~ help w/working/non-working movements:

~ and also the "300 dental anatomy facts" posted by 'NBDE Mnemonics':

 

[aschimsc7]

update: got my scores back today and passed! My total study time spanned 3 weeks. Averaged out, I only studied about 6 hours a day. Some days I didn't study at all and others I studied more. All in all, I think 2-3 weeks is a good amount of time to get you prepared but this is all depending on your study habits and also how well you think you did during the school year.