Need advice: how to get high NBDE part I score w/ 5 weeks to study

[SFO]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have about 5 weeks to study, full-time. I am a current student btw 2nd & 3rd year of dental school. I am going through the 2009-2010 decks now, but it is slow going. I'm not sure I will be able to get through them more than once or twice bc I am looking up everything I don't have down. I have the NBDE & USMLE First Aid books & the Kaplan lecture stuff, but it just seems like there's not enough time to go through everything, so I'm hoping for some advice on a game plan/what to focus on. I know everyone has a different idea as to what's best. I just wish there was one source you could count on, as in, if you have X down solid from front to back, you will prob get a 90+. Thoughts on what that source might be?

Thanks for any more advice that you can think of....esp for micro & biochem. Micro just seems like you have to memorize 6 zillion factoids about each bug; is there any method for the madness?
Biochem the same...should I focus on metabolism cycles/paths w/ enzymes?

Thanks everyone in advance...mostly I just need some help on where to focus bc I have way too much material to get though in 5 weeks.

 

[Voltron2010]

I have about 5 weeks to study, full-time. I am a current student btw 2nd & 3rd year of dental school. I am going through the 2009-2010 decks now, but it is slow going. I'm not sure I will be able to get through them more than once or twice bc I am looking up everything I don't have down. I have the NBDE & USMLE First Aid books & the Kaplan lecture stuff, but it just seems like there's not enough time to go through everything, so I'm hoping for some advice on a game plan/what to focus on. I know everyone has a different idea as to what's best. I just wish there was one source you could count on, as in, if you have X down solid from front to back, you will prob get a 90+. Thoughts on what that source might be?

Thanks for any more advice that you can think of....esp for micro & biochem. Micro just seems like you have to memorize 6 zillion factoids about each bug; is there any method for the madness?
Biochem the same...should I focus on metabolism cycles/paths w/ enzymes?

Thanks everyone in advance...mostly I just need some help on where to focus bc I have way too much material to get though in 5 weeks.

five weeks is not a lot of time left. Your best bet is to pick one of your study aids and just do that. With five weeks left I would drop the USMLE first aid book, too much info too little time. I would probably just concentrate on the NDBE firstaid book and learn it in and out. One thing that might work is micro path section in your firstaid book for ndbe memorize the tables, that will help a lot in that section. the book is about 600 pages and has pict so you should be able to read 100 pages per day which means you can cover the book five times. At this stage in the game you dont have enough time to review every review book, just pick one and stick to it. My suggestion would be the first aid for NDBE. The others would have been okay if you had more time.

 

[SFO]

five weeks is not a lot of time left. Your best bet is to pick one of your study aids and just do that. With five weeks left I would drop the USMLE first aid book, too much info too little time. I would probably just concentrate on the NDBE firstaid book and learn it in and out. One thing that might work is micro path section in your firstaid book for ndbe memorize the tables, that will help a lot in that section. the book is about 600 pages and has pict so you should be able to read 100 pages per day which means you can cover the book five times. At this stage in the game you dont have enough time to review every review book, just pick one and stick to it. My suggestion would be the first aid for NDBE. The others would have been okay if you had more time.

Thanks so much for the advice! I really appreciate the input!

 

[DrEagleMike]

Well actually I think 5 weeks is plenty!!! Don't freak out. You should for sure focus on what you struggle with. I think going through the Decks is good for building a solid foundation of knowledge. I really don't think you should worry too much about all the bugs, but for sure the important ones...otherwise you'll be wasting a lot of time trying to find that one question that will show up on the test. I think the best thing you can do with your time is go over the old released exams. Don't waste your time taking a timed test cause that's pointless. Go question by question seeing if you know it or not. Look at the wrong answers and know why they are wrong. Wikipedia will become your best friend. Seriously, the old exams are money. You wont find too many word for word repeats (maybe 15 or 20) but you'll get a feel for what they ask and what will be asked on your test will be similar. To give you hope, I only had two weeks to study and I scored over a 90 and i'm not one of the freak of nature smart guys. I read through all the Decks once then went through the old exams, then ready half of the micro/path section (because I was struggling with that the most). I dunno if that helps you too much but let me know if you have a question. I'd like to help if I can. good luck!

 

[SFO]

Well actually I think 5 weeks is plenty!!! Don't freak out. You should for sure focus on what you struggle with. I think going through the Decks is good for building a solid foundation of knowledge. I really don't think you should worry too much about all the bugs, but for sure the important ones...otherwise you'll be wasting a lot of time trying to find that one question that will show up on the test. I think the best thing you can do with your time is go over the old released exams. Don't waste your time taking a timed test cause that's pointless. Go question by question seeing if you know it or not. Look at the wrong answers and know why they are wrong. Wikipedia will become your best friend. Seriously, the old exams are money. You wont find too many word for word repeats (maybe 15 or 20) but you'll get a feel for what they ask and what will be asked on your test will be similar. To give you hope, I only had two weeks to study and I scored over a 90 and i'm not one of the freak of nature smart guys. I read through all the Decks once then went through the old exams, then ready half of the micro/path section (because I was struggling with that the most). I dunno if that helps you too much but let me know if you have a question. I'd like to help if I can. good luck!

Wow, thanks for the awesome pep talk! I think I have the bact down, viruses, not so much, but I'm moving on. I looked at the old tests & they really aren't that bad in micro for the most part. How far back did you go w/ the ASDA released exams? I have K, L, M & N...I think that gets me back to about 1998. I think what you said about the wrong answers is a great idea bc they are placed w/ each question for a reason bc they are a good distractor. As far as the antibiotics, we haven't taken any pharm so I'm debating whether to worry too much about it. The stuff in the old tests wasn't too bad & I could spend a lot of time memorizing words with little meaning.

I think I'll tackle path next, since it is grouped w/ micro, so any advice is appreciated. I like path a lot better. Actually, I think anything is better than micro! Too many details w/o much context...I'm sure it starts to make sense if you start treating these things...

Thanks Again & congrats on your score!! 😀