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This will be the official thread for this year's part 1 prep. Post anything related to the exam. Please look over the previous year's threads about exam prep and materials used. Good luck!
 
Does anyone know how we should be scoring on the NBPME 2005 and 2008 practice exams in order to pass the real exam? I am less than two weeks away from the July 7th test date and scoring 70-75% on these exams.
 
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Fuzzy bear said:
Does anyone know how we should be scoring on the NBPME 2005 and 2008 practice exams in order to pass the real exam? I am less than two weeks away from the July 7th test date and scoring 70-75% on these exams.
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hailey6565 said:
I also would like to know the accuracy of those exams!
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70s-80s is a good sign for both the practice exams and BVs. There are no guarantees but I would focus on just weak areas from here on and review lower anatomy/micro/pharm every day! GL!
 
Almost a week out!
stressed homer simpson GIF
 
FutureToeBro said:
What’s everyone thoughts on their exam this morning?
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Thought the exam was pretty tough tbh. I marked about 50 questions. Lots of specific pathology questions. The lea, micro and pharm questions were fair but everything else was hard. Most people in my class thought it was tough as well. Let’s see what happens and hope we all pass. 🙏🏼🥺
 
Fuzzy bear said:
Thought the exam was pretty tough tbh. I marked about 50 questions. Lots of specific pathology questions. The lea, micro and pharm questions were fair but everything else was hard. Most people in my class thought it was tough as well. Let’s see what happens and hope we all pass. 🙏🏼🥺
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I had the same experience. Felt like my exam had minimal LEA. It was pretty tough tbh. Hoping for the best though. 🙏🏽
 
FutureToeBro said:
I had the same experience. Felt like my exam had minimal LEA. It was pretty tough tbh. Hoping for the best though. 🙏🏽
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I had way less than expected lean questions too. Almost everyone I've talked to has said the same thing
 
how is everyone feeling about scores being released tomorrow? I know most people I've talked to outside of NY found the exam to be really different content-wise from previous years & felt that it was difficult. I'm trying to distract myself tonight to avoid spiraling. Goodluck everyone!!
 
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Passed. Was getting 80-85 on boardvitals. 85+ on prometric. I must have had a hard version of the exam though. I marked 127 questions. I got the most random things.
Prep:Sketchy micro+pharm
LEA Anki deck
100 anatomy concepts
Did not study other sections
Study time: less than a week of 15hr days
 
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Passed. Felt like my exam was brutal. Filled with tons of pathology and low yield concepts.
Was scoring 85+ on board vitals, 85% on both prometric exams. 85+ older prometric exams.

Micro: Sketchy + lol not a cop anki
Pharm: Sketchy + lol not a cop Anki and First Aid
Path: Pathoma and First Aid
Biochem: First Aid
Physiology: First Aid + BRS
LEA: Class notes + Scholl + Anki
Anatomy: 100 Concept slides

Had two weeks of dedicated study time.
 
Passed!
Micro: Sketchy, Sketchy, and Sketchy
Pharm: Do me a favor and if you used sketchy for micro and liked it, give sketchy pharm a try
LEA: Flashcards, classnotes, and any past exams/quizzes i could find
Patho: Back of the USMLE book + detailed notes off BoardVitals
Physio: Read the BRS chapters
GA: 100 concepts+ detailed BV notes
Biochem: Class notes+ BV notes

In the end its a test that looks for Competency and not excellency so cover what is most likely gonna be on the exam and when you get questions out of the blue, assume theyre part of the 50 that will be dropped.

Make sure you ask your classmates for back quizzes/exams for these subjects because they can really help
Keep the Prometric exams for the week before the exam.
Good luck to those who will be taking the re-examination, Reach out to your classmates who can maybe have some tips!
 
FutureToeBro said:
This exam doesn’t define you,
You still have another opportunity. Focus on your weak areas and redeem yourself. You got this!
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I’m not sure this exam actually defines anything. 🙃 Mine was majority out of left field.
 
I passed but it was still a trash process.

Micro: Sketchy and this mico concept book I got from the library which I can't remember the name of.
Pharm: high yield pharm concepts from USMLE, a bit of sketchy, FA
LEA: KSUCPM ohio notes. Nothing else. Went through multiple passes in the month.
Patho: FA, Pathoma.
Physio: BRS!!!!! FA
GA: 100 concepts with FA
Biochem: Just FA

I found FA to be really helpful even tho people said it was overkill. It was a hard test for me and I don't think I could've prepared better.

I used BV for practice. I didn't do the one on NBPME.
 
Passed! For those of you that didn't don't fret! This exam is confusing as hell and you have more shots at it! Here is my study breakdown:
LEA: LEA flashcards (Amazon), Scholl PowerPoint ANKI deck, Supplemented w/ the Hirsch Manual & Youtube Videos. I will stress that I didnt even read the Scholl Powerpoint. Just did the ANKI deck.
Pharm: Sketchy Pharm- did a total of 3 passes on the videos
Micro: Sketchy Micro- did 3 passes
Pathology: Pathoma 2 passes
Immuno & Biochem: Pixorize- 2 passes
Physio: USMLE First Aid and the Express Videos on USMLE-RX
Gen Anatomy: 100 Concepts Anki Deck

For practice Qs, I did the NYCPM practice Q-Bank ANKI Deck, BoardVitals (x2 passes), and when I felt bold, I did Uworld and FirstAid Q-bank for Micro, Pharm, and Gen Anatomy.

Peppered in Practice Qs 4 mos out, dedicated 2mos of study time. At the end I was averaging around 90 on board vitals cause I had the questions memorized and around 75 on Uworld and FA Qbanks. 4 days before the exam, I did the Prometric Practice Exam. If you need any resources, please DM me!
 
PASSED! So glad that the wait is finally over. To those of you who didn't pass, you will pass the next time! Put in the work and see what areas you may have been weak in.

I'll be honest. This was a tough exam and I have no idea how they grade it. I went in feeling pretty confident and left kind of shook. I marked/flagged around 90-95 questions. The actual exam is MUCH different than the practice exams that are available to us. Sure there are a few similarities here and there but overall, it's very different from both the APMLE practice exams and Boards Vitals. Boards Vitals is great in showing you where you are weak content-wise. APMLE practice exams are like the easiest type of questions you may see on the actual exam.

Here is my study breakdown:

LEA: School PPT notes + Temple LEA flashcards from Amazon (These were gold and I had verbatim questions on my actual exam from here). Also used the OHIO book. Know your LEA cold. This is a must.
GA: 100 concepts pdf + Anki Deck as well as Board Vitals.
Micro: Sketchy Micro + Pepper Anki Deck. This is all you need for this section to be honest.
Pharm: Sketchy Pharm + Pepper Anki Deck. I know that pharm is a lot longer than micro but if you can, do all of this. Honestly, I started later than I should have but got through about 80-85% of it and felt very comfortable with my pharm questions on test day. I'd recommend starting this during the Spring semester of your 2nd year with the Pepper Anki Deck. Some may say "that's too early for me" but with Anki, you will remember it all. It will stick! Trust the Anki process.
Immuno: Pixorize
Biochem: Pixorize + FA. My biochem section was actually weird though. Not many rate-limiting step questions or enzyme/vitamin deficiencies as in previous years.
Physio: I used a mix of Physeo + BRS. Physeo is really helpful if you are a visual learner.
Path: Barely studied path so can't give much advice here.

I went through Board Vitals about 2 times (didn't completely finish the 2nd pass) and did the two APMLE practice exams on the Prometric website and did 2 old APMLE practice exams.

I had a little over 2 months of dedicated studying and took breaks when I felt burnt out. There were a few days here and there where I just didn't really study at all because I needed to reset. Listen to your mind and body.

I think my biggest advice to anyone taking this exam is to study in groups. It helps to have someone around even if you're not actually studying a subject together. And if/when you do study together, don't be afraid to ask each other questions out of the blue. I found that this was key towards the end of my studying in a group setting. In the last week, I met up with a couple of classmates and just ran through questions.

For all future test takers, feel free to message me if you need help with anything.
 
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Passed!
Hoping this will help someone.
If you passed that's great, congrats, you deserve a drink right now! but do NOT be that person in your class going around asking others they rarely talk too if they passed too-it's cringe and weird, respect other's privacy. And if you did not pass it is okay, This does not define you. Remember we are in Podiatry and are lucky enough to basically get another chance without severe consequences. Keep on going- you owe it to yourself.

~~Please take whatever I say in this post with a grain of salt, except me saying use sketchy micro... USE IT~~

I started my studying after the first week of March. Started slow with just Micro and LEA and then I picked up properly in May with Pharm and other subjects. I was pressed with time in the end and felt like i was not ready for physio, GA, and specific biochem questions. Start early, be efficient with time, and just get it done. saw someone say on one of the threads "put it in the anki blender" and honestly thats just how it be. On test day be prepared to be thrown off by many questions. Remember not to panic and be confident in the information that you do know, trust that gut! I genuinely walked out of the exam feeling Iike I for sure failed that, having been confident on only 25-30 questions lmao not even kidding. There will be a generous curve So I know i got very lucky, but this extra luck only comes with putting in extra hard work.

LEA: LEA flashcards- I made many many passes on this anki deck of 211 cards. There were a couple minor mistakes in them so just make sure you find them. It took me like a month-ish to get through my first pass. I broke each card down and for each I: took my own notes, referenced my own notes, referenced the Netter book a lot for the images and getting an idea of where the structure was in relation to other stuff and the course of it, referenced the ossification dates outside the ones that were in the deck, and referenced dr. google for when i needed additional information. After that first pass I would try and go through the deck faster and faster until i could go through the whole thing in about 1.5-2hours. 2 weeks before the exam i would go through the deck every other day. If I had more time I wouldve used OHIO LEA notes in addition to the flashcards, heard many people using it and having success with it.
Micro: Sketchy and the Pepper ANKI deck . It is the best resource to use for this and it does a wonderful job of covering everything. Recommend starting this first in your studying journey. It is so easy to start and get through this resource. Watch like 3 videos a day to start and do the anki deck associated with the chapter after, and you will be golden. Once you get the hang of it, increase the video frequency. These two things are sufficient for micro, so get through them, do it well, and you will be fine for the micro section.
Pharm: Sketchy and the Pepper ANKI deck. So I am very salty for using this resource. A couple upperclassmen told me the pros and cons of pharm sketchy but I just went with it because I had such a solid experience with Micro. It was extremely overkill and i did not have too much pharm on my exam. I put in a lot of hours for this and I felt like i could have been hammering in other subjects in the mean time. Another reason I went with this resource is because it covered other subjects in addition to just pharm. I.e. it covered some physio concepts which was great but still I felt salty afterwards. Heard some people used class notes and a former TUSPM graduates powerpoint/class which worked fine for them. But if you do choose to do sketchy pharm you are not wrong, just try to start this early, right after you finish micro- it will take you some time to get through it bc the videos are way longer.
GA: 100 concepts pdf and Dorian ANKI Deck and some Additional Anki. google "100 concepts dorian anki deck" and choose the "Expanded and Tagged Dorian Anatomy Deck". Dorian's deck is great but there were concepts he left out so having more cards to go through helped. This was also easy to go through and i liked these resources.
Physio: Yikes. because my pharm studying took a long time, i slacked in some other subjects like physio. If you have the time I highly recommend BRS. I tried to do this resource but ran out of time so i could not finish it. Was very worried before my exam because I did not prep for this subject completely like I did for the big 3 listed above. But anyone reading this, do BRS and the associated questions and you should feel good. A couple days before the exam i started to just study random high yield stuff, i.e. pressure-volume loop, and it ended up being on my exam lol. Took a huge leap of faith so do this subject diligently to not feel like a panicked idiot like myself.
Path: Rapid Review Anki deck ( I dont know which one i used because I just downloaded it from an upperclassman's file but sure you can search for it on reddit) This also felt like a shot in the dark because you are essentially doing like 500 random ass path cards for random ass diseases. It very much so was a hit or miss. I know some people in the threads did pathoma or whatever and they felt great for this subject but I did not want to go overboard for a subject that wont be tested that heavily. Take with a grain of salt, also was a leap of faith what i did. To be honest I dont remember any path questions on my exam, if there were I did not even realize it was because it was out of my study scope.
Biochem: First Aid Summary. It was like a 60-70 page summary of high yield biochem stuff that is pretty solid. Use this, and definitely do not go overkill. be smart
Boardvitals: great resource to use. I only did 1 pass through it, but its recommended to do at least 2. I averaged like 85 for micro, 83 for pharm, 75 for LEA, and like 60s for the other subjects. If had more time I wouldve done this again until i hit all subjects above 80. There was like 1 repeat word for word question on the actual exam
Prometric Practice Exam: because i was short on time I did not do any. I would recommend doing those 2 exams haha. People in my class said they found like 2 word for word repeats on the actual exam.

After the Exam thoughts:
I felt like everything I studied was not represented on the exam except for those 25-30 gimme questions. I truly think it is a poor exam to be testing a minimal competent student podiatrist. Try not to be discouraged during it, because i definitely panicked when I realized there were not as many gimme questions. I did not know a lot on that exam and I definitely guessed a lot. For the questions that i sorta knew what was going on I think I was able to correctly navigate through the bull**** answer choices, so definitely learn to practice that skill. If anyone out there feels like how i felt after that just try not to panic in that waiting period to hear your results. I followed the formula my upperclassmen layed out for me above. I hit big 3 hard and well, and even so on that exam there was stuff i never even heard of. Study well, be smart with what resources you use, and when you encounter random ass question know that so is everyone else. I also felt my first wave of imposter syndrome after taking that exam and it destroyed my mentality. I stopped exercising in that study period and could feel the stationary life affecting me. Develop a solid routine and take care of your mental and physical body, it is very important. Meet with friends when you are so drained from studying and relax. 3 weeks before get a solid eating routine down as well, so its the same thing every day- those with a sensitive GI will thank me. Well if there is anyone still reading this part of my message haha, you will get through this. just put in the work.

if anyone has any questions feel free to message me.
 
Passed ✅

Study time: 11 weeks - on average 10-11 hrs a day.
What I did for each subject:
Lean: Went crazy on it. Did Ohio Notes twice, went over class notes especially on the foot. Watched videos, drew out structures, used the Temple Flashcards. School Reviews. Anki.
GA: Class notes briefly, 100 Concepts, School Reviews. Anki for 100 concepts.
Physio: BRS, School review.
Micro: Sketchy and Anki.
Immuno: Guide someone in my school had made.
Neuro: School review and first aid
Pharm: Class Notes and Sketchy on Cardio, Cancer, Neuro drugs.
Path: Pathoma only and Osmosis on bone cancers
Biochem: First Aid and Osmosis Notes.

I split my first 6-7 weeks in one week per subject. Started with Micro, then did Lean, GA, Path, Physio, Pharm. By the time I was done with going over the majority of material the first time, I focused on two subjects per week focusing more on Lean, Micro (anki only the second time), GA, and others. I studied Biochem for 3-4 days and left about 2 weeks to do only practice questions which I merged with some quick review on topics i felt weak on. Every week, I would spend my Saturdays and Sundays do Board Vitals or other practice questions I found randomly online on the topic I studied that week.

I went over Board Vitals 2 times scoring 85% on all of the sections. The last weeks I would do random 200 questions on Boards Vitals until I went over all the questions 3 times in total.
 
Passed! ✅

Study Time: Started beginning of June, so basically a month of study time. I know a lot of my classmates started March/April, but I am a crammer and I knew I would burn out if I started that early. I was also still in classes until late May, so I wanted to make sure I still did well in those. I did about 8-12 hours each day. Some days I'd study less, but I knew I'd need some time to relax so I could recharge for the following days. ALSO, Anki did NOT work for me, so if Anki confuses you or you have just never used it before, these tips might be helpful. Stick to 1 or 2 resources for each topic, do not use too many or else you will get too overwhelmed. I personally did not stick to a schedule, had trouble finding out which resources were the best and I think that also delayed my studying a little, originally wanted to start mid-March. But, I think the resources I ended up using was the best approach for me.

Micro: SKETCHY! There is about ~13 hours of sketchy micro and I completed all the videos in two days, there is a pre-made transcript of all the videos, so I took additional notes as I watched. Probably went through 3-4 passes of my notes, had a total of 52 pages of notes. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

Pharm: SKETCHY! There is about` ~27 hours of sketchy pharm and I completed all the videos in four days, there is a pre-made transcript of the the videos for this as well. So like micro, I took additional notes as I watched and went through 2-3 passes of my notes, some sections I focused more than others in my review- like cardio/renal, antimicrobials, and GI/Endocrine, had a total of 130-ish pages. Skipped the antineoplastics section. I love sketchy pharm because it also goes over some important concepts in physiology in the beginning of their videos, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

LEA: I used a comprehensive study guide for the LEA class at my school that a student from years past made. Went through that 2 times as I included additional notes to the TUSPM flashcards. Went through the TUSPM flashcards about 3 times. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

GA: Went through 2 passes of 100 concepts of anatomy. Did not do Boards Vitals for this section.

Pathology: Did not look at this section. Did not do Boards Vitals for this section.

Biochem: 1 pass of First Aid Biochem, I think it was about ~30 pages. Took notes on glycogen storage diseases, vitamins, diseases mentioned, and rate limiting steps of metabolic pathways. Went through Boards Vitals once for this section just so I could get a feel for what is high yield.

Physio: Used sketchy. I felt like I was weak in this section so I watched all the videos for it, took me about 2 days. Then went through renal and cardio in First Aid once. Again, doing sketchy pharm will also really help with your understanding of physiology. Went through Boards Vitals once for this section.

Post-Exam Thoughts: Flagged about ~50 questions. Felt confident leaving the exam that I at least passed. I talked to classmates and that made me second guess myself and how I did, DO NOT DO THIS IT WILL CAUSE UNNECESSARY STRESS. I spent so much time doubting myself because I talked to other people about it after. Also, people study differently, don't let someone tell you your study method isn't effective or not enough time, because we all learn differently. I personally felt like a month was enough for me and it worked, if you need more time, cool, take more time. Lastly, if you do not pass, do not let it define you, change your study habits and learn from others. This exam is not very representative of what we learned, I got some questions with words I had never seen before.
 
Foot_Girl said:
Passed! ✅

Study Time: Started beginning of June, so basically a month of study time. I know a lot of my classmates started March/April, but I am a crammer and I knew I would burn out if I started that early. I was also still in classes until late May, so I wanted to make sure I still did well in those. I did about 8-12 hours each day. Some days I'd study less, but I knew I'd need some time to relax so I could recharge for the following days. ALSO, Anki did NOT work for me, so if Anki confuses you or you have just never used it before, these tips might be helpful. Stick to 1 or 2 resources for each topic, do not use too many or else you will get too overwhelmed. I personally did not stick to a schedule, had trouble finding out which resources were the best and I think that also delayed my studying a little, originally wanted to start mid-March. But, I think the resources I ended up using was the best approach for me.

Micro: SKETCHY! There is about ~13 hours of sketchy micro and I completed all the videos in two days, there is a pre-made transcript of all the videos, so I took additional notes as I watched. Probably went through 3-4 passes of my notes, had a total of 52 pages of notes. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

Pharm: SKETCHY! There is about` ~27 hours of sketchy pharm and I completed all the videos in four days, there is a pre-made transcript of the the videos for this as well. So like micro, I took additional notes as I watched and went through 2-3 passes of my notes, some sections I focused more than others in my review- like cardio/renal, antimicrobials, and GI/Endocrine, had a total of 130-ish pages. Skipped the antineoplastics section. I love sketchy pharm because it also goes over some important concepts in physiology in the beginning of their videos, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

LEA: I used a comprehensive study guide for the LEA class at my school that a student from years past made. Went through that 2 times as I included additional notes to the TUSPM flashcards. Went through the TUSPM flashcards about 3 times. Went through Boards Vitals for this section 2 times.

GA: Went through 2 passes of 100 concepts of anatomy. Did not do Boards Vitals for this section.

Pathology: Did not look at this section. Did not do Boards Vitals for this section.

Biochem: 1 pass of First Aid Biochem, I think it was about ~30 pages. Took notes on glycogen storage diseases, vitamins, diseases mentioned, and rate limiting steps of metabolic pathways. Went through Boards Vitals once for this section just so I could get a feel for what is high yield.

Physio: Used sketchy. I felt like I was weak in this section so I watched all the videos for it, took me about 2 days. Then went through renal and cardio in First Aid once. Again, doing sketchy pharm will also really help with your understanding of physiology. Went through Boards Vitals once for this section.

Post-Exam Thoughts: Flagged about ~50 questions. Felt confident leaving the exam that I at least passed. I talked to classmates and that made me second guess myself and how I did, DO NOT DO THIS IT WILL CAUSE UNNECESSARY STRESS. I spent so much time doubting myself because I talked to other people about it after. Also, people study differently, don't let someone tell you your study method isn't effective or not enough time, because we all learn differently. I personally felt like a month was enough for me and it worked, if you need more time, cool, take more time. Lastly, if you do not pass, do not let it define you, change your study habits and learn from others. This exam is not very representative of what we learned, I got some questions with words I had never seen before.
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Amazing!
 
Passed!

Studied for about 2.5 months with 5 hours a day for the first 1.5 months and probably averaged 7 hours a day for the last month. You know yourself the best and study based on that without focusing on what other people are doing. This is definitely a tough exam because of the broad content you need to know for 205 questions and the uncertainty of passing criteria. I'd recommend knowing the bigger picture of topics before getting down to details. I think it's also important to know when to stop studying something that will be extremely low yield. You'll be working with a limited amount of time and want to make sure you're spending it wisely. That said, here is what I did

Boardvitals: Did most of it during the month before the test and only a single pass of it. Initially wanted to go through it twice but I read every explanation regardless if I got question right or wrong, so I felt like I'd just be trying to recall answers if I went through it again. I was scoring about 65% when I started and averaged 70% when I finished. I only know a couple of people (who are top of the class) who scored above 80 on their first pass so don't be stressed if you're not.

LEAN: Little bit of everything I guess. Resources people use seem to be school-dependent except Ohio notes which I did use as a supplement because I like the pictures. You should ask upperclassmen what they used because all schools seem to have their own resources for LEAN.

Micro: Sketchy and Pepper anki. I'd watch 3-5 videos a day and do the anki cards for them the following day. This took almost 2 months (I didn't watch new videos every day) and by the test day, I had all cards memorized. This was the only subject I studied every single day from day 1 of studying because of the anki aspect.

Pharm: Same as above but I only watched about 3/4 of sketchy. Going into board prep, I was most confident about pharm so I don't think I needed to study it as much as I did.

GA: 100 concepts anki deck I found and that was it

Physio: started with BRS but gave up after 10 pages because I'm more of a visual learner so used physeo videos for this and path

Path: physeo and anki deck of rapid review at the end of FirstAid.

Biochem: Only memorized rate-limiting steps and vitamins

Didn't feel too well after the test as most people do. Barely had any LEAN on the test and most people I talked to have said the same thing. I wish the best to students retesting! Reach out to your classmates for help with anything you might need, we're all here for you.
 
Passed!!

During the exam, I flagged ~75 questions. Most of those questions, I ended up with a 50/50 chance and just guessed. Post the exam, I felt okay...but, then I started talking to others and that made my anxiety worse. So, just breathe.

If you didn't pass..don't fret it. The APMLE is a trash exam and they need to find a better way to test our Podiatry competency. Or, they need to provide us with better resources. There is NO way that the USMLE content relates to the APMLE content. Questions on the APMLE are surface questions...don't put too much attention on the small small detail. Focus on your weak areas for the October retake and do a mild review of what you already know.

Dedicated study time: 7-8 weeks in total. Some days were better than others. I would typically start my study days around 11AM and end around 9PM, with breaks in between. So, in one day I would probably study a total of 7 hours.

GA: I used a packet created by our professor at our school and it was more than enough. I would highly suggest to master the Brachial Plexus (everything) + Muscle Innervations + Brachial Plexus Injuries. Every exam is different, but various students I spoke with said they had variable questions about the plexus. So, that could be easy points. First Aid has a good break down of high yield pathology for GA.

LEA: I used my school notes from 1st year + LEA Flashcards. The LEA flashcards have some mistakes - so, make sure you catch them before committing them to memory! Definitely know your bone shapes, blood flow, innervations. Commit them to memory! There is a document floating around w/ ~400 LEA questions...I found them to be harder than anything on the APMLE boards. My exam had very little LEA...which was frustrating.

Micro: I started with Sketchy...then, went to First Aid. Sketchy is good - def give it a try and do their quizzes. Helps reinforce the content. First Aid had easy mnemonics to use. Felt like Sketchy was a little overkill and First Aid was more than enough.

Immuno: First Aid was enough.

Pathology: Started with Pathoma, but that was overkill. So, I stuck w/ First Aid.

Biochem: Didn't study immensely. Briefly reviewed the first aid section, but honestly forgot it all during the exam.

Physio: Know your kidney and your heart physio! Those are so high yield. I started with BRS...but, felt like it was taking too long. So, I used First Aid and backed it up with youtube videos.

Pharm: First Aid was more than enough.

BoardVitals: Did 3 passes....download the APP and you can do them on the go! Read the explanations. It will help. Some questions were representative of my exam...other questions weren't.

Practice APMLE exams: Did all of the exams found online...I would range between 65%-95% on those exams. These were also a good representation of the APMLE. Although some were incredibly easy, others were hard.

***Personally, First Aid was the preferred resource. It breaks everything down by organ system and makes learning bearable. I'm not an anki person, so I didn't use it. Other students swear by it...so find what works for you! MY BEST ADVISE IS TO STICK TO ONE RESOURCE AND DO NOT JUMP AROUND BETWEEN RESOURCES. Two weeks before the exam I started scrambling between resources due to my anxiety, but if you stick to one it'll make your life easier. First Aid doesn't cover general anatomy the greatest, so I would suggest finding another resource for that subject. Besides that, if you follow first aid - you should be fine! Don't try to master everything.

GOOD LUCK :]
 
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Passed

Started studying around March for about 2-3 hours and then 4-5 hours in April and May. June was practice question season. I did questions over and over again until I had the concepts down. Looking up concepts I got wrong was a better way for me to study them compared to just reading a book. I did all the past APMLE exams from 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011 twice, the Prometric practice exams twice and all the boardvitals questions 3 times (I did all the first pass of my boardvitals in February to get a baseline before I started studying in March).

I flagged about 80 qs on exam day and left feeling okay about it. I tried not to dwell on what I did wrong, not always successful, but actively avoiding thinking about it did help ease some of the tension.

LEA: Class notes and anki decks as well as boardvitals questions. Boardvitals has a "browse" feature which I used to pick out questions based on level of difficulty (easy, moderate, hard). I used this to first focus on all the easy concepts I was weak at, followed by moderate and then hard. The descriptions on boardvitals were good, but I supplemented them with my class notes. First pass I averaged around 70% and then 90s by the time I had gone through it a 3rd time.

Micro: Sketchy was a lifesaver. Also used boardvitals same as above. I averaged 50s on first pass before I did sketchy. Once I did all the sketchy videos twice, I was averaging around mid to high 80s. It takes a bit to get through the videos so I would recommend watching 2-3 videos as early as possible so you at least have some idea of what each video is about. You can then go over the videos a second time and still have plenty of time to review your weaknesses (which is what I ended up doing).

Pharm: Sketchy and boardvitals same as above. I found it very useful for not just pharm, but also physio as the videos are very detailed. The pharm videos are definitely longer and have way more details than the micro videos, but it was totally worth going through each one. Time management is going to be crucial. If you start a month away from the exam, it will basically be impossible to get through all the videos and remember them all. I was averaging around 60 on first pass. Averaged in the low to mid 80s by the end.

GA: 100 concepts ppt and anki deck. Boardvitals same as above. I was only able to get through boardvitals twice since it had around 300 qs and I was not about to do it a 3rd time. First pass averaged 70s and around 80s by the second time.

Physio: Read BRS book and did all the questions on the BRS book. Boardvitals 3x. Averaged 60s first pass. Mid to high 70s by the end of it.

Path: Basically did nothing for it except the 45 questions on boardvitals. I decided to put all my effort into the other subjects and take an L if I have to.

Biochem: Memorized the kreb cycle, glycolysis, urea cycle and anything in that realm in addition to the vitamins. Boardvitals same as the rest.

I was worried that I may be f***** since I was not using FirstAid like everyone else around me, but in the end it all worked out! Having a limited amount of study resource helped me stay focused. My advise would be to start as early as possible, pick your study resources and stick with them. If you need a day off, take it and refresh yourself!!
 
I was going to give advice to test takers but I think almost everything has been covered here. I passed a couple years ago.

I guess I'll give tips to retakers!

1. It's not the end of the world to retake part 1. you have 3+ tries. However, I did have a very close friend fail out after too many failed attempts, so take it seriously.

2. Ask your classmates who passed for resources. You WON'T regret it.

3. The questions in all sections EXCEPT Lower anatomy and biochemistry seem to be repetitive. So remember the types of questions they ask for gross anatomy, pharm, micro, and physio and they are usually redundant as there seems to be less diverse questions on the test. They are predictable.

Lower anatomy will drive you nuts, because the bank of questions they like to ask on that subject is both massive and in depth. You have to remember everything you learned in lower anatomy, and then learn more.

I studied Reuben's notes, and other resources for lower and felt more comfortable on this subject than any other subject. Yet when I took the test, I felt like I was getting 55-65% of these questions right. Perhaps I was wrong, because I did pass after all, but I checked every answer I put, and I really do think it was 55-65%.

I studied lower anatomy the most too.

Biochemistry felt like 33-50% right.

Physiology felt like 33-45% of the questions right.

Path felt like 40-60%.

Lower felt like 55-65% right.

Micro felt like 70-80% right.

Gross anatomy maybe 75% right.

Pharmacology maybe 85-90% right.

I actually memorized roughly 195 out of 205 questions so I could look at the precise percentages I got right and wrong from a couple years ago, but I'd have to find my document with the statistics.
 
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What sections of APMLE Part 1 did you use information presented in your program's curriculum?
 
JonesFx said:
What sections of APMLE Part 1 did you use information presented in your program's curriculum?
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As another user said, you basically have to teach yourself board material. The curriculum doesn't teach much relevant information.
 
Bored Snorlax said:
Did you use the curricular guide?
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LMAOO nah bro.

I posted what I used a couple of posts earlier in the thread.

I believe this year's class the exam will change. To what extent I don't know. It's a trash process. Just play the game and move on.

And for all those reading, for the love of God, learn your lower anatomy, micro and pharm. You're not gonna pass the exam if you didn't score appropriately in those sections. Everyone in my class who failed had a deficit in one of those sections and some had deficit in all. But the trend I'm seeing is that those who failed, failed one of those or all three.

Plus, when you get to third year, you're using most of those three topics anyways so learn it now.
 
PTPuser said:
LMAOO nah bro.

I posted what I used a couple of posts earlier in the thread.

I believe this year's class the exam will change. To what extent I don't know. It's a trash process. Just play the game and move on.

And for all those reading, for the love of God, learn your lower anatomy, micro and pharm. You're not gonna pass the exam if you didn't score appropriately in those sections. Everyone in my class who failed had a deficit in one of those sections and some had deficit in all. But the trend I'm seeing is that those who failed, failed one of those or all three.

Plus, when you get to third year, you're using most of those three topics anyways so learn it now.
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Thanks for the advice. New exam will be interesting. I'm curious if they updated some of the curricular guide objectives, or actually made the stem more integration based like the USMLE. Def gotta know your basic sciences no matter what.
 
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