Neuroscience NBME Preclinical

[DoctorLacrosse]

Hey everyone, I am continuing my trend here of asking for advice on how to study for each NBME, so I can then come back later and update how it went to hopefully help people with some more up to date, detailed advice. Everyone wins lol

So as the title says, I will be taking the Neuroscience pre-clinical NBME in 5 weeks, so I want to begin preparing for it early. What are the best resources to prepare for it? What has everyone's experience been? I hear it's a tough test.

I have High Yield neuroanatomy which I hear is good, as well as clinical neuro made ridiculously simply. Has anyone used these before? What worked for you and what didn't? As usual, all advice is welcome. Thanks!

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[DoctorLacrosse]

does anyone that's taken this test recently have any input...

 

[marstonne]

does anyone that's taken this test recently have any input...

Took it last spring but I found High Yield to be very relevant. We used Lippincott's QA Nuero in my course and I redid some of my weak sections in it as well. Thought the shelf was one of the easier ones compared to phys, biochem, and micro.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Took it last spring but I found High Yield to be very relevant. We used Lippincott's QA Nuero in my course and I redid some of my weak sections in it as well. Thought the shelf was one of the easier ones compared to phys, biochem, and micro.

really? that's good to hear, I've heard it was tough. would you recommend High Yield and lippincott QA as being sufficient? thanks for the insight!

 

[marstonne]

really? that's good to hear, I've heard it was tough. would you recommend High Yield and lippincott QA as being sufficient? thanks for the insight!

For me it was. Caveat to this is I had a dedicated neuroscience class that lasted all semester long, so I felt pretty good going into it (our class was very clinically oriented). If you have paid attention in neuro and feel pretty good about your knowledge base I would say those 2 would do you well. From what I remember the shelf is quite clinical but there is some basic science minutiae as well. Definitely be comfortable with CT/MRI of neuroanatomy (High Yield is great for this) and I think I remember some gross brainstem/brain pictures as well. We took the phys, biochem, and neuro shelfs in one week MWF, and I thought neuro was the most straightforward.

 

[ski89]

Hey everyone, I am continuing my trend here of asking for advice on how to study for each NBME, so I can then come back later and update how it went to hopefully help people with some more up to date, detailed advice. Everyone wins lol

So as the title says, I will be taking the Neuroscience pre-clinical NBME in 5 weeks, so I want to begin preparing for it early. What are the best resources to prepare for it? What has everyone's experience been? I hear it's a tough test.

I have High Yield neuroanatomy which I hear is good, as well as clinical neuro made ridiculously simply. Has anyone used these before? What worked for you and what didn't? As usual, all advice is welcome. Thanks!

Took it a few months back. Scored mid 90s. It's literally all First Aid Neurology (non-path obviously). I didnt even study anything else. I found it to be one of the easier NBMEs personally.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

For me it was. Caveat to this is I had a dedicated neuroscience class that lasted all semester long, so I felt pretty good going into it (our class was very clinically oriented). If you have paid attention in neuro and feel pretty good about your knowledge base I would say those 2 would do you well. From what I remember the shelf is quite clinical but there is some basic science minutiae as well. Definitely be comfortable with CT/MRI of neuroanatomy (High Yield is great for this) and I think I remember some gross brainstem/brain pictures as well. We took the phys, biochem, and neuro shelfs in one week MWF, and I thought neuro was the most straightforward.

Took it a few months back. Scored mid 90s. It's literally all First Aid Neurology (non-path obviously). I didnt even study anything else. I found it to be one of the easier NBMEs personally.

awesome tips so far, thanks to both of you. I also have a semester long neuro course currently so I may go with a pass of High Yield for a couple weeks, then do the First Aid section the couple days before. I appreciate the help!

 

[Jabbed]

If you have the time, Najeeb + Blumenfeld are great for the neuroanatomy foundation, which was the overwhelming focus on my test.

FA + HY Neuro are all that you need to master. CNs and brainstem are the highest of yield.

99th percentile

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

If you have the time, Najeeb + Blumenfeld are great for the neuroanatomy foundation, which was the overwhelming focus on my test.

FA + HY Neuro are all that you need to master. CNs and brainstem are the highest of yield.

99th percentile

just finished those topics so I feel pretty confident about them. you do have to love having so many high achievers on here chiming in, it definitely helps coming up with a plan. thank you!

 

[Entadus]

Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple
First Aid

98th percentile

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple
First Aid

98th percentile

lol I knew someone must have used that book! I guess I'm suffering from resource overload now. did you find CNMRS a waste, or was it very helpful overall? would first aid alone have sufficed?

 

[CherryRedDracul]

FA + High Yield Neuro. Don't remember what percentile because I took it 3 years ago, but I did well.

 

[Entadus]

lol I knew someone must have used that book! I guess I'm suffering from resource overload now. did you find CNMRS a waste, or was it very helpful overall? would first aid alone have sufficed?

CNMRS was my bible but I used it throughout the course, not simply to cram. For last minute memorization, FA should be your #1.
If you do have the time, CNMRS is pure gold. It is VERY short, too.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Update: I took this exam and ended up doing pretty well. In my opinion this exam was the one that MOST closely stuck to what was covered in the First Aid neurology section, but you will get a bunch of random things that aren't in there as well. If you feel you remember a lot from your neuro course, then I think First Aid is enough for you to do decently enough. if you want something more comprehensive, then spend some time with High Yield Neuro first, then know the First Aid neuro section cold afterwards (this is what I did).

Result: 91st Percentile

 

[ERDOC555]

Thanks for posting these! It's way early for me, but I'll make a note to look up your NBME threads when it comes time for my exams!

 

[P0ke]

Update: I took this exam and ended up doing pretty well. In my opinion this exam was the one that MOST closely stuck to what was covered in the First Aid neurology section, but you will get a bunch of random things that aren't in there as well. If you feel you remember a lot from your neuro course, then I think First Aid is enough for you to do decently enough. if you want something more comprehensive, then spend some time with High Yield Neuro first, then know the First Aid neuro section cold afterwards (this is what I did).

Result: 91st Percentile

How do you know your percentile?

 

[ERDOC555]

Bump this to the top! Just started Neuro a few weeks ago and wanted to get more opinions before our upcoming exam.

It seems like the running consensus is either FA + HYNeuro or FA+ CNMRS? Thoughts?

 

[slopes23]

When ya'll say use FA, do you mean FA for Step 1 or for Step 2 CK? I am on my neuro clerkship now and am trying to figure out what I need to do to prep for the shelf.

Also which is the consensus HY Neuro or CNMRS?

 

[Peach Newport]

Wait, can someone tell me what this "NBME neuroscience preclinical" thing is?

We took a neuroscience course first year... we didn't have any NBME (though I guess I'm a DO). Do MDs take NBME exams in their 1st/2nd preclinical years?

At first I thought you were talking about shelf exams, but you said "neuroscience" and "preclinical" so idk...

 

[slopes23]

When I read this thread I interpreted it as the clerkship NBME and that the OP is just preclinical at this time and wants to come back later so that he can figure out the resources. To my knowledge there is no such thing as an actual preclinical NBME

 

[Peach Newport]

When I read this thread I interpreted it as the clerkship NBME and that the OP is just preclinical at this time and wants to come back later so that he can figure out the resources. To my knowledge there is no such thing as an actual preclinical NBME

Research has shown me that there are actual preclinical NBME shelf exams for pretty much all the preclinical subjects, but they're only used by some MD programs.

 

[Domek]

Took it a few months back. Scored mid 90s. It's literally all First Aid Neurology (non-path obviously). I didnt even study anything else. I found it to be one of the easier NBMEs personally.

I'm taking this exam in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to clarify: does the preclinical neuroscience NBME omit neuro-pathology/pharmacology? Cause that's a vast majority of the FA section...

Also, I'm using the BB videos and FA to study, with almost no background whatsoever. I'll post my results for future reference.

 

[ski89]

I'm taking this exam in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to clarify: does the preclinical neuroscience NBME omit neuro-pathology/pharmacology? Cause that's a vast majority of the FA section...

Also, I'm using the BB videos and FA to study, with almost no background whatsoever. I'll post my results to for future reference.

If I remember correctly the nonpath section of FA for neuro is pretty extensive. It includes for example stroke lesion territories that one would think is more on the path side. But to answer your question, yes it omits the path/pharm sections (tumors, dementias, etc.).

 

[Domek]

So I ended up ditching Boards and Beyond, I felt that First Aid was pretty self-explanatory for Neuroscience, and that the subject in general is very memorization-heavy. I did use some of the Physeo videos. They were pretty short and easy to get through, although I'm not sure if they made much of an impact on my final score.

Overall, I felt pretty unsure about this one. I knew the FA section inside out, but there was a lot of stuff that I've never seen before or haven't seen in a long time. We had like ten detailed questions about action potentials with charts and tables that I thought were pretty tricky. And there were quite a few questions from gross anatomy involving the upper and lower limb. Virtually no pathology, a tiny bit of pharmacology, one biochemistry question about OTC deficiency.

Like I said, our school didn't even provide us with a neuro course, and I'm an IMG so all I do is self-study. Still...

Result: 90th percentile.

All you need for this is FA. Anything else is probably (as Husain Sattar might say) "low yield". Wouldn't touch it with a stick.