NBME Path Exam

[madadivad]

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I'm going to be taking the NBME Path Shelf here in a couple of days, and I decided to look at the practice questions they have on their website. To me, they seemed to be really easy.

How do these questions compare to the actual shelf exam? Are they that straight forward?

 

[madadivad]

How does the actual shelf compare the practice questions they have on their website? If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can find the practice questions here -->http://www.nbme.org/PDF/NBME2010SubjExamsPaperAndWeb.pdf

Thanks!
Adam

 

[swimmer27]

I just took my Path Shelf today. I found the 20 questions provided as practice to be a lot easier. Went through them fast and got 20/20. The shelf was a lot more detailed and covered not so common conditions. I think the practice q's seem easier since they are the typical "you know you will get tested on these things." Also the images were rather tough. USMLE World shows a picture and gives clues that can help you get the question correct without looking a the image. The shelf was more like "a man came in. here is his picture. what is the diagnosis?"

 

[MilkmanAl]

The practice questions on the NBME site are super easy. I'd say the path NBME was probably the second hardest I've taken, after micro. The questions are harder than those in BRS but closer to those than the USMLEWorld questions in difficulty, if that helps at all.

 

[Inuranic]

I took the Micro shelf, and, as far as I remember, the practice questions were representative of the general format of questions but there was a wide range of difficulty (obviously).

So, yes, some questions on the shelf will feel really easy. Others might make you question if you ever took the course to begin with.

 

[justdoit31]

Haven't done the path one yet (MSI) but I can tell you that the cell bio and physiology ones were easier on the website than the real test. (usually got 90% or more on the ones online (ie missed 1-2) and then was in the upper 70's for the percentage conversion (done by my school with average around 83 or so for the class) of the actual shelf.

 

[madadivad]

For those who used USMLE World for studying for their Path shelf, how did your percentage correct compare to your shelf score?

 

[njbmd]

See this thread that was recently started on this subject too. NBME Path Exam