NBME based exams M1

[redsox93]

Hey guys I just started classes and all of our exams will be NBME based. I plan on attending lecture and doing the readings, but does anyone recommend anything beyond this to prepare for this style of exams?

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[xClashx]

Dont attend lecture, dont bother doing any readings.

Just do First Aid, Pathoma, Uworld, Sketchy Micro, and BRS physiology (constanzo). U will do well on ur nbmes and step 1.

 

[redsox93]

Dont attend lecture, dont bother doing any readings.

Just do First Aid, Pathoma, Uworld, Sketchy Micro, and BRS physiology (constanzo). U will do well on ur nbmes and step 1.

Would you recommend buying two year subscriptions? Will I need all of these resources first year or are some of them only relevant second year?

 

[xClashx]

Depends how ur school semester is. We had first sem of first year as basic sciences (FA had a decent amount in it). Then second sem we started organ system and I did need all those resources. BRS physio will help if you have a basic science block\

Do not buy FA until after jan, thats when a new version of FA comes out. If u can get one through ur library, use it. I recommend starting sketchy micro as early as possible, go through it, make really good notes.

Uworld is hard to say. Some ppl only buy it during isp, others buy it 2nd year, some buy it 1st year. I bought it 2nd year, i used UsmleRx in first year since it was cheaper. If I had to redo it, id pay the extra $$ for uworld. It truly is an amazing learning tool. So much info in it.

It all depends on how much $ you are willing to invest in your learning.

 

[redsox93]

Depends how ur school semester is. We had first sem of first year as basic sciences (FA had a decent amount in it). Then second sem we started organ system and I did need all those resources. BRS physio will help if you have a basic science block\

Do not buy FA until after jan, thats when a new version of FA comes out. If u can get one through ur library, use it. I recommend starting sketchy micro as early as possible, go through it, make really good notes.

Uworld is hard to say. Some ppl only buy it during isp, others buy it 2nd year, some buy it 1st year. I bought it 2nd year, i used UsmleRx in first year since it was cheaper. If I had to redo it, id pay the extra $$ for uworld. It truly is an amazing learning tool. So much info in it.

It all depends on how much $ you are willing to invest in your learning.

Awesome thank you! USMLERx is practice questions correct? Sorry, my schools new and we don't have any upper classmen so I feel kinda unprepared going into everything

 

[xClashx]

yes

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

Dont attend lecture, dont bother doing any readings.

Just do First Aid, Pathoma, Uworld, Sketchy Micro, and BRS physiology (constanzo). U will do well on ur nbmes and step 1.

I personally think this is a bad idea. BRS physio is a short-hand view of what you actually learn in Med School at least at my school, and First Aid/Pathoma are more review tools. Also, as M1, you will not be uneeding Uworld, Sketchy (unless you start hardcore micro early) or Pathology.

In our neuro block, we had 2 normal lecture exams followed by the NBME neuroscience exam and by studying lecture stuff, the NBME ended up being a joke. Study lectures and actually learn the material rather than using review sources and a short-handed physio/biochem review series.

 

[theonlytycrane]

Has anyone used Kaplan qbank? If so, was it helpful for class nbme exams?


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[xClashx]

I personally think this is a bad idea. BRS physio is a short-hand view of what you actually learn in Med School at least at my school, and First Aid/Pathoma are more review tools. Also, as M1, you will not be uneeding Uworld, Sketchy (unless you start hardcore micro early) or Pathology.

In our neuro block, we had 2 normal lecture exams followed by the NBME neuroscience exam and by studying lecture stuff, the NBME ended up being a joke. Study lectures and actually learn the material rather than using review sources and a short-handed physio/biochem review series.

Everyone will have their own strategy for learning. I didnt just memorize first aid, i understood the concepts from explanations that came from Q banks. If there was something I did not understand, I looked it up. From what I recall from my NBMEs was that 80% of the answers were in FA/pathoma/sketchy. Reason why I suggested Sketchy was because from my experience of NBMEs and Step 1, most of basic science is useless after the block itself. We had microbio within our basic science block and that was the only useful thing that was useful long term. Sketchy medical takes time (at least for me).

At the end OP will figure out what works for you. Don't get bogged down by a schools curriculum especially since it is a new school and they are still probably trying to figure things out. Be proactive in your learning. I was able to get 90%+ on all my NBMEs (except like 1) with just those resources, so it is possible, but it may not work for you.

 

[PugsAndHugs]

MS2 here with NBME exams. At first I did not understand how people disregarded lectures, to me it seemed so wrong. But once I started to realize how much extra (and sometimes useless) stuff they add on, I slowly transitioned to board-oriented material and saw my grades shoot up. Now, I don't completely disregard lectures, but what I do is flip through the slides to see what topics they are teaching, make note of them, and learn it in one of the board-oriented resources.

Also, when you learn something for the first time, learn it the right way. Take the extra time and read big Costanzo (which isn't even really THAT big) the first time around. BRS physio is definitely more of a review and not a great primary learning source. However, I do think Pathoma (the videos) is great for first pass of pathology. Use Qbanks to fill in the knowledge gaps. I used USMLE-Rx and thought it was VERY similar to the school NBME exams (a few even were the same questions!). A lot of my classmates use Kaplan Qbank and like it as well.

Resources I use are:
Physiology - Big Costanzo
Pathology - Pathoma (videos)
Pharm - Kaplan 2010 pharm videos with Dr. Raymon to get an initial understanding, then do SketchyPharm to reinforce and memorize it.
Micro - SketchyMicro
Qbanks - USMLERx (use UWorld when you are closer to Step 1)
Everything else - Boards and Beyond

Use First Aid as your outline to figure out what's important and to annotate extra notes on it.