NBME Anatomy

[chitown82]

Hey,

I was just wondering how to prepare for the NBME Anatomy exam. Any of you M1s that have taken it recently please let us know how you prepared and if you don't mind, the score you got. I was thinking BRS, but it's long and I won't have more than a day or so to prepare for it during exam week. Also, do you receive a percentile for your particular score or is it like the USMLE and you don't receive a percentile.

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[boilerbeast]

I took it friday, and studied really hard for it with BRS..and it didn't help. It was wicked hard and most of my classmates agreed.

That being said...I would learn everything you possibly can about hysterectomies and then know excruciating detail on any and all ligaments that attach to a female reproductive organ. There was very little on the head&neck and a ton on the abdomen.

Lol, they say you can tell a lot about who writes the tests by the type of questions. My biochem was ALL about Viagra (probably middle aged men...) and this one all about hysterectomies. Hmmm. ramdom procrastinatory thought. G'luck.

 

[chitown82]

I took it friday, and studied really hard for it with BRS..and it didn't help. It was wicked hard and most of my classmates agreed.

That being said...I would learn everything you possibly can about hysterectomies and then know excruciating detail on any and all ligaments that attach to a female reproductive organ. There was very little on the head&neck and a ton on the abdomen.

Lol, they say you can tell a lot about who writes the tests by the type of questions. My biochem was ALL about Viagra (probably middle aged men...) and this one all about hysterectomies. Hmmm. ramdom procrastinatory thought. G'luck.

great. i hate the pelvis/perineum area...

 

[thackl]

Yours may not be the same. BRS for anatomy (skip the stuff you just learned) and High Yield for the embro protion if your having it.

 

[chitown82]

anyone know if its possible to get NBME sample questions/released questions/rememberd questions frome some place....

thanks!

 

[ms1finally]

This sounds REALLY specific, but it was probably about 10 questions on the test - collateral circulation (and circulation in general) in the abdomen/pelvis/perineum. Know it cold.

 

[manta]

anyone know if its possible to get NBME sample questions/released questions/rememberd questions frome some place....

thanks!

yes! you can get sample questions, plus the specific breakdown of questions on each shelf exam here - http://www.nbme.org/programs/subjexams.asp

or, you can directly download the list at http://www.nbme.org/PDF/NBME2003SubjExams.pdf.

hint - there's about 5 sample questions. more often than not, they end up on the exam!!

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

i remember this test. it was a biotch! i hardly knew anything. then again, i didn't have much time to study for it either. thankfully it isn't high yield on step 1..... and, i don't plan to go into surgery

 

[velo]

are there any other post-M1s here thinking, "what the hell is NBME anatomy?"

 

[drguy22]

are there any other post-M1s here thinking, "what the hell is NBME anatomy?"

man..i took tat **** today....it was hard

 

[velo]

No, seriously, what is it? We don't take any national exams before step 1 here, is that what it is?

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

No, seriously, what is it? We don't take any national exams before step 1 here, is that what it is?

Lucky you! This is also colloquially referred to as the anatomy "shelf" exam. How do you get by with NOT taking it? I thought it was required for all the courses where a shelf exam is available?

 

[velo]

Lucky you! This is also colloquially referred to as the anatomy "shelf" exam. How do you get by with NOT taking it? I thought it was required for all the courses where a shelf exam is available?

No, we take some "shelf" exams during clincal rotations but I didn't even know that had them for pre-clinical courses...we just take the exams the coursemasters write...

 

[DrYo12]

No, we take some "shelf" exams during clincal rotations but I didn't even know that had them for pre-clinical courses...we just take the exams the coursemasters write...

I just took the shelf for Biochem. Had nothing to do with anything we were tested on in lectures.

 

[velo]

I just took the shelf for Biochem. Had nothing to do with anything we were tested on in lectures.

ah that sucks, why do you have to take them in the first place?

 

[DrYo12]

ah that sucks, why do you have to take them in the first place?

we have to take it as the final for the class. In our case, it works out well because the tests are so randomly constructed as to test things that they didn't even put any attention into, that the shelf exam ends up testing what we were supposed to learn.

 

[twintiger32]

i remember this last year, did pretty well on it.

i studied notes and brs throughout the year (for the class) as well as Moore's book...then when time came for the shelf exam, studied hi yield anatomy and brs for the head/neck section. (hi yield head/neck sucks)

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

No, we take some "shelf" exams during clincal rotations but I didn't even know that had them for pre-clinical courses...we just take the exams the coursemasters write...

At my school, the anatomy shelf was 20% of our anatomy grade! So, I won't know until Jan what my grade is!

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

i remember this last year, did pretty well on it.

i studied notes and brs throughout the year (for the class) as well as Moore's book...then when time came for the shelf exam, studied hi yield anatomy and brs for the head/neck section. (hi yield head/neck sucks)

FWIW, I thought the anatomy grid book was an excellent prep for the shelf. If you have time, the "blue boxes" in Moore/Dailey are priceless.

And, don't bother studying Head and Neck or Back. There were about zero questions on the back and maybe 5 Head and Neck that weren't related to cranial nerves (mostly V then a couple each on III/IV/VI, VII, IX, XI). For anyone who hasn't taken it, focus on extremities, abdomen, and pelvis/perineum. Just my two cents. Good luck and merry Christmas!

 

[thackl]

I just took the shelf for Biochem. Had nothing to do with anything we were tested on in lectures.

Biochem shelf is a bitch! Your grade will probably be better than you expect.

 

[DrYo12]

Biochem shelf is a bitch! Your grade will probably be better than you expect.

the biochem shelf was like something out of a prono but with no lube. *shudder*

 

[EvoDevo]

the biochem shelf was like something out of a prono but with no lube. *shudder*

We take all of those in the spring.

 

[DrYo12]

We take all of those in the spring.

pick lippencotts or BRS and go with it. Lippencotts has more figures and integrative pictures, but BRS has more practice questions like the ones you'll see. I liked reading Lippencotts and I liked the explanations, but the BRS was quality for the questions.

 

[OrnotMajestic]

It was all extremities and abdomen/pelvis/perineum. Focus on nerves of extremities and collateral circulation of the abdomen. Other than that, I can't really say. I prepared for it by sleeping in, drinking beer, and half-assed reading the BRS. Seriously, studying hard for it WON'T work. The questions themselves test your ability to take a test, not the material. Look for key-words like "clinical" and "anatomical". I finished mine in a little over an hour. If I didn't know it, I guessed. Good luck.

 

[manta]

heh. hope you beat my single digit percentile score. i think kwas et al prepared most of my classmates well for it...but anatomy and i just didn't get along. imho, brs is too detailed for the time allotted for shelf studying. but you're right about looking out for "clinical" - you know that winged scapula is going to be on the exam somewhere. it sounds like it went much better for you - congrats for being done with your first semester!!

It was all extremities and abdomen/pelvis/perineum. Focus on nerves of extremities and collateral circulation of the abdomen. Other than that, I can't really say. I prepared for it by sleeping in, drinking beer, and half-assed reading the BRS. Seriously, studying hard for it WON'T work. The questions themselves test your ability to take a test, not the material. Look for key-words like "clinical" and "anatomical". I finished mine in a little over an hour. If I didn't know it, I guessed. Good luck.

 

[drguy22]

how hard is da biochem shelf...i have it on tuesday!!!.....BUT tommorow..i have my unit 3 biochem exam!!!! how freakin ridiculous is tat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!