Official 2008 Usmle Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[lion]

Greetings my brothers and sisters ,

I am new member here and will be taking my boards in another few months .
I thought I would start a thread devoted to a compilation of 2008 usmle experiences . I don't have anything to report as yet since my test is in a few month but anyone who has taken the test in 2008 please share with us your experience and feedback so we can keep the SDN tradition alive !

Good Luck

"Never , never , never , never Give up ! "

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[JustBreathe]

you don't need to 8 weeks of studying to do well on the boards. 3 weeks is sufficient.

Amen.

 

[tfom08]

conclusion: you don't need to 8 weeks of studying to do well on the boards. 3 weeks is sufficient.

I don't disagree that it's all you needed, but it largely depends on how well prepared someone is prior to studying for step 1. I was poorly prepared and after 3 weeks of studying I would have scored 230's probably. After 6.5 weeks I scored 260 on the real thing. If I had longer I might have scored higher. For someone who begins with an even weaker starting point, she might need 8 weeks to score a 195. 3 weeks might have been just right for you, but I imagine you knew your stuff at the beginning of your study period and just needed to brush up.

 

[BrisketAttack]

I don't disagree that it's all you needed, but it largely depends on how well prepared someone is prior to studying for step 1. I was poorly prepared and after 3 weeks of studying I would have scored 230's probably. After 6.5 weeks I scored 260 on the real thing. If I had longer I might have scored higher. For someone who begins with an even weaker starting point, she might need 8 weeks to score a 195. 3 weeks might have been just right for you, but I imagine you knew your stuff at the beginning of your study period and just needed to brush up.

In my six weeks of studying, I was strongest at week 3. It was all downhill from there. psyched myself out, lost steam, lost confidence. I'd say perfect study time for step 1 is 3.5 weeks (if you've paid decent attention during years 1 and 2). I would never have believed this if someone told me this prior to my studying, but now I know it to be true (for me, at least).

 

[doooood]

Out of curiosity, what's the highest score you've all heard so far?

 

[2cr8tive]

thats so true, i have 8 more days and im about to kill myself. even though i dont know everything, i cant study anymore. i just waste time.

 

[BrisketAttack]

Out of curiosity, what's the highest score you've all heard so far?

271 was posted twice this year. i heard a 273 in years past. anything over 260 is just ridiculousness. probably missed like 20 questions.

 

[okin]

i have met a 272 (RE above question)

 

[doooood]

yikes!

 

[billybama]

271 was posted twice this year. i heard a 273 in years past. anything over 260 is just ridiculousness. probably missed like 20 questions.

also, there was a 272 last year.

 

[wcec]

RE: study time, i think it really depends for each person. You have the best guess as to how much your body & mind can take. i'm on my 9th week of studying, and i'm still ready and rarin' to go. i decided to take this much time bc it takes me more time to memorize things than it does for most, i really enjoy learning the why's which makes memorizing much easier but takes a lot more time, but most importantly, i know my own stamina. Some of my friends were tired of studying after 3 weeks, but i was still having a pretty good time (i know it sounds kinda nuts -- what's helped is having an awesome study buddy & Goljan's audio--i love his corny jokes!).

i usually don't like FA's quotes at the beginning of each chapter, but there's one i do like: "Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn." -- Albert Einstein. i have some relatives in my home country who would do anything to be in my position, to get to go to school. Instead, they're literally working in rice fields and selling food on sidewalks. So, it puts these long days studying into perspective for me.

Anyway, i'm taking the test in 5 days, we'll see how it turns out and i'll definitely post my experiences. SDN's been such a great place to turn to whenever i needed help. It's good to know that we can reach out to and connect with complete strangers.

 

[AK_MD2BE]

"i have some relatives in my home country who would do anything to be in my position, to get to go to school. Instead, they're literally working in rice fields and selling food on sidewalks. So, it puts these long days studying into perspective for me."

Thanks for the perspective. So many of us frequently get the, "Woe is me" syndrome and forget how truly blessed and fortunate we are to be medical students. I have a similar analogy. Whenever I get tired of studying and begin to feel sorry for myself, I think about the summer I spent working 10-14hours/day for a moving company...it was absolutely awful! A bad day studying beats a good day of hard labor any day of the week.

 

[zalato5]

UditNarayan!! Can you pls check ur PM?

 

[Sparrow7]

Hey everyone, I'm a rising second year. I just want to say that this thread has helped me a lot in terms of preparing for the boards next year. Thank you for sharing your experiences and best of luck to you all.

 

[THE armada]

Hey everyone, I'm a rising second year. I just want to say that this thread has helped me a lot in terms of preparing for the boards next year. Thank you for sharing your experiences and best of luck to you all.

ditto

 

[moinmoin]

NBME #4 (3 weeks out): 204
UW assessment (1 week out): 228
UW cum average (48 random, unused, timed): 59% (80% complete)
Actual score: 241/99

Right off the bat—I am stoked about my score, but here are things I would do differently:

1. Annotate only into FA from UW. I annotated plus had a little notebook to write-up questions to quiz myself on later. Never quizzed myself and wasted time making the stupid thing. If I had more time to study it might have been a good idea but oh well. I only had 4 weeks.

2. I would at least look through HY anatomy and know basic things like coronary circulation inside and out. Knowing artery routes in the arms and legs are good too (things that were not emphasized in my musculo class).

3. Start listening to Goljan much earlier. If I had been listening to it during my bike commute during the year instead of just the past few weeks I would made it through no sweat.

4. Get through UW totally and then spend a few days redoing questions I got wrong. Would have got me a few more points.


How I studied:
My school gave us 5 weeks from the time of our week-long, end of 2nd year capstone course before rotations start. I didn’t study much during the capstone course due to burn out and a week old baby daughter. Awesome planning. Here is what I did:
- I took 4 weeks to study, taking one day a week totally off.
- I studied usually around 10-11 hours per day, but went up to 13-14 during the last crappy week.
- I studied everyday with a partner for a little over half a day and then did questions in the afternoon and evening. I really liked studying with someone else, though we had been studying together all year long and had a good system worked out. He used Kaplan Qbank and I used UW. We would share questions that were tricky or that we thought might be good to know from our respective Qbanks.

My main resources:
- The best thing I did was work hard during 2nd year. This was totally key. An extra week of studying is not going to make up for slacking off during the year (at least for my test).
- FA 2007
- UW (~80% complete)
- RR Path. I like RR Path as a comprehensive resource and wish I had bought earlier than I did (March 2008).

Other resources I consulted included:
- HY neuro (not that super; actually kind of frustrating)
- 1999 HY molecular (not crucial for my test)
- CMMRS (had some good ways to remember drugs)
- BRS physiology
- class notes. Google too. Looks like I should have cracked open then old HY anatomy too but oh well.
- When I biked to school, went for runs, or drove anywhere I’d listen to Goljan. Didn’t get through all of the lectures but the ones I did get through actually scored me some points.

Test breakdown:

Wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be. I would agree with previous posts with regards to percent of easy (50%), not so easy (30% or so), and total guess questions (15% or so for me anyway).

Anatomy: I was really surprised how hard the questions were. I love First Aid and all, but it didn’t prepare me at all for the anatomy questions I had. Several questions about where blood would pool if you lesioned blank or whatever. I had no clue. I needed more than FA and UW…but wouldn’t have known what to study anyway. Tough call as to how much to study.

Embryo: I had 3-4 embryo questions…all with regards to neuro. That sucked.

Biochem: pretty straightforward really. One glycogen storage disease and one lysomomal storage disease, several molecular bio questions that weren’t too hard, glycogenolysis questions, folate, and basic tRNA stuff. No TCA cycle, glycolysis, or fat synthesis stuff. FA and UW were fine for this.

Neuro: Praise the lord this wasn’t too bad. One of my weaker subjects but the test didn’t destroy me at all. A few lesion questions and some terms I wasn’t used to but was able to figure out.

Behavior, biostats, and psych: only a couple of psych questions that were straightforward. Couple of defense mechanisms. Several biostats questions that were all easier than UW. UW and FA had all I needed.

Micro and Immuno: Once again, FA was all you need. Couple of antibiotics, antivirals (my test loved HIV), and antifungals. Bug questions were straightforward for the most part, with one or two from left field. Two parasites, no worms. Immuno wasn’t bad and I had lots of cytokine and cell marker questions, most of which I got right.

Pharm: FA was fine for pharm. This was a strong one for me anyway though. Definitely know the Gi, Gs, and Gq pathways and which drugs/hormones work through which path. Many points to be had by memorizing that page in the FA pharm section. Consequently, I scored best on pharm than any other section.

Physiology: pretty good sampling from all areas really. I can’t remember many specifics and I took the test this morning… oh well. I do remember a bunch of thyroid questions for endo.

Path: I was a little surprised by the amount of repro I had. Conversely, I hardly had any heme and no leukemia or lymphoma questions. And thank goodness again, not much GI! GI is my worst subject. My test looooooved carcinoid syndrome, and luckily I do too. Had an AV cardio question that I couldn’t really answer just from the history. This sucked since the murmur sounded like mush to me. I hardly had any renal path at all it seemed. Maybe I’ve blocked it from my memory or something. Anyway, if you have RR path (or BRS, I’m sure) to go along with FA you should be fine. UW really helped me out here moreso than any other sections.

Other stuff: some crazy quote questions, and some questions about HMO and reimbursement patterns! Pretty easy though.

All in all, I think my test was fair…probably because I was expecting it to be a crap-fest. It didn’t disappoint in many regards this way. But seriously, it is doable.

 

[TUMED2010]

MCAT: 31
NBME form 1: 216 (6 weeks)
NBME form 2: 75% (5 weeks - hand graded)
NBME form 5: 220 (3 weeks)-->this score made me postpone my test 7 more days
USMLE WORLD: cum 62%, finished everything (last 7 test avg. at 65%)
USMLE Assessment: 235 (1 week away)
Step 1: 248/99
Don't give up the last few weeks before the test, study hard!

(This post was originally in response to a student just starting medical school, but I think its helpful for those studying for step1 just as much)

I think its best to get advice straight from the horse's mouth:
http://www.nbme.org/PDF/ItemWriting_...03IWGwhole.pdf

The particularly highyield part is Section II:Writing One-Best-Answer Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences.

It is from 2003, so the out-of-date section for Step 1 is the section III about 'extended matching', which is no longer used on step 1 exams.

In terms of how to use this information, I found it helpful to study by doing practice questions. As well, it wouldn't hurt yourself to write your own questions on material you find difficult. In this way, you would begin to appreciate and understand the test-maker's framework for how they construct questions from the material you are studying. (ie Never memorize an isolated page from First Aid or Robbins pathology). You must be integrating everything you read and annotating the margins of review books with what you read in class (which is what Goljan is famous for with his pathology textbook, Rapid Review of Pathology). The best studiers, and test-takers are able to 'synthesize and apply' if you will (I'm quoting from this NBME manual).

In other study strategies, I found at bootleg version of FirstAid 2007 in PDF format on the web. It was very helpful to use adobe's search feature to look up terms. For example, a search for the term 'edema' appears over 46 times and if you use the advanced search feature, you can scan thru the results to see edema assoc. with Kwashiokor disease and capillary fluid exchange in cardio physiology section. That's what the boards are made of!

*Spoiler* The guide contains actual NBME practice test questions. You know, like the ones you pay $45 for

Ps. I just took Step1 this week and can't seem to get my mind off it, so I thought I'd post some of my thoughts here. I've read through much of SDN, and like others, have been very appreciative of their advice and hints at questions they got on their exams. Step 1 does like to repeat questions, but BE CAREFUL, the questions I had on my exam were the exact same pictures as others, except with a different stem. For example, I heard from others at my school about their heart sound on the exam, but everyone seemed to have a different stem and/or sound. Its just like Goljan says with the insulinoma vs. factious insulin injector story and using protein c to differentiate the two. The NBME testing org. is smart about altering questions by a few key findings each year to prevent students from having the exact same exams, which is probably a good thing. Hope this helps. I'll post my scores here once I get them back in a few weeks.

Examples of types of questions I saw on my exam, but not the real questions:
-Differential between when a disease becomes pathological (Osteogenesis Imperfecta) vs. a behavior science answer (like child abuse)
-Integration of CT/MRI with physiology was a favorite type of synthesis question that I saw (Always study physio and anatomy together). For example, arterial contraction of a blood vessel (physio) due to (drug x) at a certain anatomical location and the associated deficit.
-Drug (x) side effect + path slide + physio response of organ
-For more sample questions, I again refer you to question stems provided for test writers (public document) that can be found in the above manual

Other tips:
-when doing questions from USMLE world, mark in FA the questions that you missed and write out the thought process/association that USMLE world was emphasizing, preferably mark with those neon tabs that stick out of the pages, then review all the tabs you marked the next morning for about 1 hour to emphasize what you missed, so that you have repeated exposure to your weak subjects/items
-workout every morning (listening to goljan), starting about 37 days before my exam, thus 1 lecture a day, helps prevent burnout and anxiety
-used variety of books (FA, Goljan, BRS, Kaplan, World, etc) to get different angles on the same subjects, but still focused on only FA+some Kaplan Videos/Audio the weeks before the exam
-watched kaplan videos at 2x when I only wanted to review the material that I already had a good grasp on
-Kaplan Pharm (with Lionel on video) is like Goljan for pathology, just incredible...tough to find though
-Don't worry about you class grades the second semester of medical school, focus on Board studying atleast 50% of your time (which will have plenty of overlap with classes too)

 

[BillyRubinstein]

Well, I took the down the beast yesterday - I'm prayin' I killed it.....Here's a quick and dirty breakdown of what it was like:

The whole day itself was not as intimidating as many have it out to be...i had a great prometric center, with nice working computers and no distractions, except a dog barking for 5 minutes. I felt as if the exam started off great for me, with the first section being the most straightforward - as the exam moved on, especially once I hit the 5th and 6th sections after lunch, the fatigue factor and focus factor began setting in (plus these were the most difficult sections on the exam) - hence the AMP power drink and 15 min. break before the last block

Anatomy - a fair amt. of questions - a few BP q's, LOTS of neuroanatomy integrated within neuro path, and quite a few x-rays ct scans....the obscurities for me were the neck vasculature q's which required some really good knowledge in stuff like venous drainage from thyroid veins and whatnot - all in all not too bad, could have been a lot worse - majority related to an injury and the associated nerve palsy for the most part

One AV q - heart murmur - pretty straightforward, but you had to hear it - wasn't in the the stem

Behavioral - HUGE part of the exam (~15 q's on quotes alone) - I couldn't get over how many "what would be best response by the physician" q's....some were straight common sense, but some bugged me since they really required a good basic understanding of the some of the laws out there - this is the part of worries me the most because there was really no way to prepare for it - just hoping my judgement was reasonable and within the laws.......biostats wasn't bad - maybe 10 q's altogether - basic understanding of odds ration, "what type of study is this", and C/I is all that was required - had one calculation that wasn't really a calculation since all the answer choices were how you set it up.......psych wasn't too bad either - very straightward "make the diagnosis" q's (maybe 5 altogether)

Biochem - lots of DNA/RNA q's and experiment q's with rats - not too many q's on pathways at all....couple q's on Ashkenazi's and Australian Celtics (?????) - a fair amt. of molecular bio q's - all in all, could have been better, could have been worse - pretty happy with how biochem turned out to be represented

Embryo - ~ 3 or 4 q's - basics which UWorld nailed well (eg. ASD, annular pancreas...)

Histo - an unpleasant surpirse - thankfully not too many q's (maybe ~5 or 6), but these really hung me up as I wasn't well prepared to wip out old histo knowledge from first term almost 2 yrs. ago....happy if i got half of them correct

Immuno - not not too many REAL immuno q's, as in memorizing all the receptors for t-lymphs, b-lymphs, macs......LOTS of iimuno q's integrated into path though, so a good knowledge in which cell types predominate in certain disease (eg. different stages of rejection) is essential

Micro - basic basic basic - FA has it all as previously stated - no wierd agars, no wierd stains - just straight "what is the organism"

Neuro - HUGE - TONS of images - ct's MRI's, x-rays of the scull - ALmost every neuro q had a picture with it, which made it basically all neuroanatomy integrated into neuropath - maybe one neurophysio q dealing w/ fast axanonal transpoirt

Phsyio - hands down - toughest part of the exam - the arrows drive ya crazy....a firm understanding of endocrine physio especially, as these were the ones that caused me to second guess myself repeatedly because the answer choices had up to 8 different sets of different combinations - no matter how well you know endocrine phsyio, these q's qill be no joke.....a few cardiac and respiratory phsyio's not too bad.....GI and nephro phsyio integrated into pharm

Path - happily heavily represented, as expected - Many q's were the classical signs and symptoms, and many required knowledge of the eg. "the second most common blah blah blah", as opposed to just the classical presentation.....lots of microscopic images which were helpful - hematology in this section was by far the most difficult, because like endocrine physio, you're presented with lots of lab values, many of which are irrelevant, but it takes time to siff through it all and weed out the important info and then look up some lab values (one thing I was wish I had done was be a bit more familiar with normal reference ranges because this would have saved time looking them up)

Pharm - Pissed off that there weren't more q's - I felt like there were more behavioral q's - the pharm q's were pretty straightforward, with maybe one obscure drug - a couple q's like "what is drug X"......a few pharmacokinetics q's (eg loading dose) that hung me up - I wasn't too well prepared for these, but thankfully only a few......all in all, pharm was one of the most straightforward sections

I walked out very relieved - it's tough to get a feel for how well you did though - with 350 q's, some are experimental, some are ridiculously difficult and obscure, and some are so straightforward you second guess yourself for an inordinate amt. of time.....I honestly have no idea how I did - I peaked with a 228 on the nbme's, and I'm ecstatic with 230+.....the wait begins - but a nice trip down to Florida and a cruise to the bahamas should kill some the time - Good luck to the rest of you and thanks for all your support - I'll post my score in a few weeks

 

[TUMED2010]

RE: study time, i think it really depends for each person. You have the best guess as to how much your body & mind can take. i'm on my 9th week of studying......

Don't worry about the time you spend studying for step 1. I also think you don't forget what you studied at the beginning, our memories can amaze us. Some questions (like histo) on my step, i remembered, or atleast recognized, from 2 years ago! I also studied nearly 7 wks for my exam and don't regret the length of study time. If you pace yourself and take breaks appropriately each day and week, any length is possible. Just add variety, like audio, to your study routine, thats the best advice i've got for step 1 prep. When starting rotations during third year, try to schedule something less demanding like radiology or family medicine for the start of the year, if you don't take a break during the summer after second year.

 

[Vizsla]

248/99
only took one practice test a wk before the actual exam, nbme #3 = 247

used FA, USMLE world, brs phy, brs path, goljan audio. Good luck to everyone waiting!

 

[jsong812]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you used the Board Simulator Series of questions. I've heard very positive reviews about this series but I just wanted some advice as to the best way to use it. The reason I ask is because it's very lengthy and with other question banks like qbank and UW, I couldn't imagine how someone could finish all of them unless they started very early (as in like dec/jan). And if that is the case, how does one go about and answer questions if they still haven't even learned a lot of the material yet? Thanks in advance!

 

[JeffLebowski]

Step 1: 250's
NBME 1: 240's (2 weeks out)
NBME 4: 230's (4 weeks out)
UW cum.: mid 60's (%)
UW last couple hundred: 70's & 80's (%)

Used
FA 2008
BRS Physio
BRS Path
HY Neuroanatomy
HY Anatomy
HY Biochem
HY Embryo
Goljan audio

*Did not use Goljan RR Path text. Though it is highly recommended on SDN (and I felt insecure not using it), I think FA & BRS path are fine (as in you can do just as well with BRS).
*Some sporadic other sources, but the above books are the ones I used effectively and recommend
*Be organized in your studying. Use checklists, calendars, and monitor your progress.
*Forgive yourself for setbacks and stay sane. You'll have to revise your schedules many times, you'll fall below the mark where you want to be for UW more than you'd like, you'll have occasional freak-outs. Use them as motivation and be thankful that you care enough to take this puppy seriously. It'll serve you well in the end.
*The fact that you're reading this means that you're probably a very motivated and meticulous person. There's a reason the average on SDN is so high, so you're doing well by researching how to do well.
*Be confident. Take NBME's, complete UW, go through the "MUST HAVE" resources many times in many different ways (FA, BRS/RR path, BRS physio). You'll be fine.

It's a hard test. It was harder than I thought it was going to be, actually. We spend so much time and effort trying to be "well-prepared", which for me always meant studying hard enough to be able to estimate & thus expect questions of a certain difficulty level, style, and application of material. Step 1 is a little different, there are a decent amount of questions you feel like you're guessing on. But I've learned since then that this is a pretty common feeling, and my interpretation is that your "guessing" is partly insecurity that you didn't know the answer 100% (but probably got it right with your 75% certainty anyway), partly recall bias (you forget the big bulk of questions you pretty much knew right away) and partly that the NBME occasionally just asks some ******edly hard or confusingly posed question that throws you for a curve. Have faith that your knowledge base puts you at a good chance of figuring it out, your thought process is probably solid, and your instincts are probably better honed than you think. Be strong, study hard, and give it your all. You'll have no regrets if you gave it your best.

 

[peludoguy]

Step 1: 250's

congrats on the great score and thanks for the helpful, nice post

 

[opb]

Hi all,
Now that I have some free time during my surgery rotation, I thought I'd post the resources I used and other tips for those still studying. I guess I should be studying for the surgery shelf, but whatever.

I posted my test experience a while back: http://gasforums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=491845&page=8

Step 1: 252
NBME 4: 250
NBME 3: 245
NBME 6: 256
UWorld: 72% cumulative, 75-80% on my last 400 questions

Resources
- BRS Pathology: I thought it was sufficient. No pictures, unlike Rapid Review, but I saw lots of path pictures throughout our course in second year.
- BRS Physiology: Nice summary of important first year physiology. I think this is what pretty much everyone uses anyways.
- First Aid 2008: Pretty much standard for any Step 1 prep.
- Rapid Review Micro/Immuno: I chose this over MMRS because I prefer an outline form. It also had plenty of tables, and the margin notes were pretty useful for quick review and skimming.
- Rapid Review Biochem: I liked the format of RR Micro so I decided to keep it in the family and picked up RR biochem. I used it basically to give some structure to my biochem review.
- Pharmacology Flashcards (by Brenner): I used these because they were portable and I could pick out classes of drugs that I wanted to work on during the day instead of having to carry around another book.
- USMLE Word: The questions definitely made you do a bit more thinking and less factoid regurgitation. Also, going over the explanations to questions I got wrong was definitely worth the time investment.

Study Approach
I basically used a systems approach, reviewing the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pertinent pharmacology. The only things I studied as independent subjects were behavioral science, embryology, and biochemistry. I pretty much studied for about 4 weeks, 10-12 hours per day. I had a rough study schedule planned out but changed it depending on the progress I was making/not making. I also made sure to do at least 100 questions a day. Oh, and I also drank plenty of coffee.

Tips - just some personal thoughts...
- Try to study consistently. Also make sure you're doing questions on a daily basis (on timed mode and in 48 question blocks).
- Study breaks are important... it's a marathon, not a sprint. If you feel yourself hitting a wall or getting burned out, it's okay to take a little break. About a week and a half out from my test, I felt a little burned out, so I took a day off from studying and it helped me recharge and refocus.
- Set a flexible schedule and some study goals.
- Try to find a study buddy so you can keep yourselves motivated. But make sure it's not someone who stresses you out or is easily stressed/freaked out.
- Work on your test-taking stamina. You can do this by doing the NBME's or however many blocks of questions from your question source. This way you can have an idea of how you want to schedule breaks during the real thing.
- Find resources that are to your liking and fit your study style. Don't use one just because everyone and their mama is using it.

That's all I can think of right now. Congrats to everyone who finished/passed this test. And good luck to those still studying... I hope you'll find something useful from this post.

 

[Dogg1]

Hello, Long time reader but not a regular poster. I found this board really helpful in preparing for step 1 so I thought I would contribute as well.

We Had 28 days maximum without class to study for boards. I took 26 days of dedicated studying time but really started studying back in Jan. by doing questions and started putting the longer hours in around april/may

Started taking NBME's 8 wks out from test date with 4 wks left in school.
NBME 3 --8wks out --245
NBME 2--6 wks out--254
USMLE world test--4 wks out 263
NBME 6-- 2wks out --261
NBME 5--10 days before--259

USMLE world avg: 76% when completely finished. I would say that my scores fluctuated from low 70's to high 80's even at the end. Did not have many scores in the 60's nor in the 90’s

MCAT score: 31
Actual Score: 264/99

Resources Used:
Bought way too many books, way too many books. With only 4 wks to study you just can't read a ton with so little time. I'm only going to put the books that I found most Useful
-Biochem: Kaplan hands down. The book has everything you could need. Even does a good job covering molecular & cellular biology. Watched the DVD’s and found them very helpful as well. I read the book 2 times through, once first year and again before boards and added relevant stuff to first aid. USMLE world was really good for nailing down the biochem minutia
-Behavioral: Had trouble with this section. I think a lot people blow it off but there is a fair amount of easy points to be had with biostats etc. Spent 2 days reading Hi-yield behavioral. Referenced BRS behavioral when I needed more detail. Used Kaplan during school year. It is good and the videos are really really good esp. for biostats.
-Genetics: Kaplan again—all I needed was there. Videos were not so helpful
-Physiology: BRS Phys + Kaplan. I found Kaplan to be the most helpful for boards. The videos were great. Probably went through them twice
-Pathology: I’m a Goljan fan. Listened to the lectures numerous times and read the book consistently throughout 2nd year. Though the book can be difficult to read I think it covers the most info and does a superior job integrating the information. BRS path does not do so much integration
-Pharmacology: Mainly First aid, had every thing I needed to know for boards. Had made flashcards of all drugs in first aid through out 2nd year as we went through each section. Just crammed them to study for boards. Also used lange pharm board review and pharmacology recall. Pharm is a pain in the neck, a lot of details.
-Micro: One of the best sections in first aid, has a lot of hi-yield details. Read MMRS when I needed more detail. Also read some of RR Micro. Did the Microcards by Harpavat (best flashcards for micro). Had done Kaplan during school year(it is good but a lot of detail)
-Immuno: Read kaplan during school year. Only first aid during boards studying
-Anatomy/Embryology: First aid with high yield embryology and USMLE road map gross anatomy. Hard subjects to prepare for because of sheer volume and relatively few questions asked. First aid is enough for embryo—just cram it. Anatomy is hit or miss no real way to cover it all

Question banks: USMLE world hands down
-USMLE world: best bang for the buck and where I probably learned the most info. Started it around may and finished early June. Went through all right and wrong answers. Probably took me almost 2 hours to go through a block of 48 ques. But extremely worth it. Best overall resource besides first aid.

-Elsevier question bank: Ok. It was cheap and I started doing it around Dec/Jan. Good to use during sections in class

-Kaplan Qbook: Good questions and answers

-Robbins review of pathology: Did through out year. Very good.

Bought basically all of the question books Long Dong mentioned in his board prep blurb but did not have time to use them. Got through 1 book of BSS (board simulator series) Found them hard but good.

Tips:
--Best way to do well I believe is to work real hard 1st and mainly 2nd year. I stopped going to class and stopped using class materials, did not listen to lectures most of 2nd year. Used robbins and goljan through out the year. Passed all my classes. Did not do awesome but was generally slight above average. Got to try to learn as much as possible before boards studying begins
--Don’t put off info that is talked about in first aid/Goljan but not in class. Learn it when you are going through the relevant sections. TRY TO AVOID LEARNING TOO MUCH NEW INFORMATION OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF BOARD STUDYING—it doesn’t work to well
--Questions, questions, Questions. Have to test yourself to make sure you really know all that you think you do. I probably did about 7,000 questions and still wish I had done more. I found it really helpful to go through right and wrong answers and to do the questions randomly in blocks of 48.
--Set a goal and work for it. Don’t be intimidated just work hard and steady. If you do a lot of questions/ take a few NBME there are not going to be to many surprises on the real deal. Don’t listen to all the crap about having to read a ton of books, having to know first aid cold, the real deal being so much harder then the practice questions. It is all just a lot of hot air. I didn't feel I knew first aid cold, or any resource cold.
--You don't have to be the best in your class to get a good score. I never got the highest grade in class and my studdy buddy that got a 266 barely passed a couple of tests 1st year and was avg 2nd year. (But the better you do in class probably the better you will do on boards-don't want to lie)

Best Advice: work hard and be consistant. Educate yourself about the usmle. Start prepping early but don’t blow off school because all of 2nd year is high yield. Do a ton of questions and focus on weaknesses as they pop up
Best materials overall: Goljan, USMLE world, First aid.

Hope this is helpful and good luck

 

[4Hisglory]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you used the Board Simulator Series of questions. I've heard very positive reviews about this series but I just wanted some advice as to the best way to use it. The reason I ask is because it's very lengthy and with other question banks like qbank and UW, I couldn't imagine how someone could finish all of them unless they started very early (as in like dec/jan). And if that is the case, how does one go about and answer questions if they still haven't even learned a lot of the material yet? Thanks in advance!

I used BSS, and I am very glad I did. I casually did 10-30 q's per week during Jan/Feb, then in the last month before the exam, I did 180-360 q's per week (1-2 practice tests, 180 q/each). I focused primarily on the body systems review books, and they were great. After doing these questions, all other qbanks seemed easy to me (kaplan qbank, qbook, FA Q&A, etc).

I am very happy with my scores (246/99 usmle and 729/98 comlex), and very happy that I used BSS.

The only issue with BSS is that you might feel beaten down when you start; I got 50% on the very first 10 q's in there and was crushed. But then I soon jumped into 60's, and on the last 770 questions I had 78% average- a great % for the BSS).

Lastly, BSS is not that expensive. I regularly saw books on amazon selling for $2-10 apiece. So not a big risk to buy 1-2 books and try it out. Again I recommend body systems reviews, not the behavioral sci book as it is based on 1990s stats. Hope that helps!

 

[tfom08]

Lastly, BSS is not that expensive. I regularly saw books on amazon selling for $2-10 apiece. So not a big risk to buy 1-2 books and try it out. Again I recommend body systems reviews, not the behavioral sci book as it is based on 1990s stats. Hope that helps!

Just FYI, the series can be downloaded in PDF on the internet as well. I'm not sure if it's legal, but since BSS is out of print as far as I know, it's not like the publisher is losing out on the money.

 

[osli]

USMLE: 250's

I studied for about 3 months. Wouldn't change a thing. Took plenty of time off, took lots of breaks, played golf and watched lots of TV. Might have put in a couple of solid 8 hour days during the whole study period, but most days were more like 4-5 hours. Read lots of books, most "as novels" and not trying to memorize everything. Stayed very relaxed, enjoyed my life through most of the study period, and didn't get very stressed until just a couple of days before. I suppose I could have ate/slept/breathed medicine for three weeks and accomplished the same thing, but what fun is that?

Bottom line - know yourself, know what works for you and what you can tolerate, and study accordingly.

 

[hope12]

Just FYI, the series can be downloaded in PDF on the internet as well. I'm not sure if it's legal, but since BSS is out of print as far as I know, it's not like the publisher is losing out on the money.

Do you know where to find?

 

[tfom08]

Do you know where to find?

I found it a couple of months ago because I was considering using it. I think I found it on another forum linked to a rapidshare site or something similar. The whole set was on there, so if you google it I imagine you would be able to find it. I have since deleted it, but it is indeed available.

 

[oreosandsake]

In my six weeks of studying, I was strongest at week 3. It was all downhill from there. psyched myself out, lost steam, lost confidence. I'd say perfect study time for step 1 is 3.5 weeks (if you've paid decent attention during years 1 and 2). I would never have believed this if someone told me this prior to my studying, but now I know it to be true (for me, at least).

Yup... I do think you can start studying too early.

I got myself 'firing all 8 cylinders' (I'm a V8) way too early in the game and peaked easily 2+ weeks before the exam. I was tempted to move up my test date, but couldn't pull the trigger.

there is no "perfect" study time for everyone, but you should know when is right for you. thus, the beauty in taking nbme exams.

 

[Knicks]

USMLE: 250's

I studied for about 3 months. Wouldn't change a thing. Took plenty of time off, took lots of breaks, played golf and watched lots of TV. Might have put in a couple of solid 8 hour days during the whole study period, but most days were more like 4-5 hours. Read lots of books, most "as novels" and not trying to memorize everything. Stayed very relaxed, enjoyed my life through most of the study period, and didn't get very stressed until just a couple of days before. I suppose I could have ate/slept/breathed medicine for three weeks and accomplished the same thing, but what fun is that?

Bottom line - know yourself, know what works for you and what you can tolerate, and study accordingly.

wow, AND you scored in the 250s? That's really reassuring to know.

This is the type of post you could've made in my thread I made about study hours/day as well


So not only did you not study the ever-so popular "at least 10-12 hours a day", but you ALSO actually lived a "normal" life during your study period.


Just goes to show you that it's not the quantity but rather the quality of the study hours/day.

 

[UnderdogMD]

USMLE: 250's

I studied for about 3 months. Wouldn't change a thing. Took plenty of time off, took lots of breaks, played golf and watched lots of TV. Might have put in a couple of solid 8 hour days during the whole study period, but most days were more like 4-5 hours. Read lots of books, most "as novels" and not trying to memorize everything. Stayed very relaxed, enjoyed my life through most of the study period, and didn't get very stressed until just a couple of days before. I suppose I could have ate/slept/breathed medicine for three weeks and accomplished the same thing, but what fun is that?

Bottom line - know yourself, know what works for you and what you can tolerate, and study accordingly.

Sorry i'm confused. Does your school give you 3 months off to study for step 1? Or did you study 4-5 hours a day in addition to school. The schools I know of only have about 6-7 weeks between M2 year and the beginning of rotations.

 

[tfom08]

wow, AND you scored in the 250s? That's really reassuring to know.

This is the type of post you could've made in my thread I made about study hours/day as well


So not only did you not study the ever-so popular "at least 10-12 hours a day", but you ALSO actually lived a "normal" life during your study period.


Just goes to show you that it's not the quantity but rather the quality of the study hours/day.

3 months is like 13-14 weeks. So if osli studied 4-5 hours a day, that is as many hours as someone who put in 10-12 hours a day for 5-6 weeks. Of course the quality of the hours is important, but only the very well prepared are going to say that 4 hours a day for 5 weeks is the path to a 250+ score.

 

[JeffLebowski]

Sorry i'm confused. Does your school give you 3 months off to study for step 1? Or did you study 4-5 hours a day in addition to school. The schools I know of only have about 6-7 weeks between M2 year and the beginning of rotations.

I want to interject that a few weeks after classes end in which to really buckle down (ideally you will have been already studying and preparing whilst classes were still in session) and then take Step 1 (3-5 weeks) is plenty. In fact, I got to the point where I really wanted to just take it, I felt plateau-ed out and I feel like another few weeks would have been harmful. I used to bemoan how "some schools get like 2 months just to study for boards!" but now realize that a few weeks is plenty.

 

[UditNarayan]

yea, in the beginning i felt like i would need more time to study for the test, but as you can see from my NBME's, i probably could have taken the beast earlier and done fine...by the end, i was very tired of studying and felt that i couldnt shove in any more info (altho thats probably not true). this test is so built up that most ppl who take it seriously initially feel like they will run out of time, but in the end, even if you do run out of time, you feel like you wouldn't want to study any longer (at least this was true for my friends). i took 8 weeks (actually a little bit less) and found that in the last 2.5 weeks, i wasnt as motivated...i bit the bullet in the final week and went all out eventho i was running on fumes but it worked out in the end.

 

[defcon8]

Out of curiosity, what's the highest score you've all heard so far?

saw a 278 on P4U forums and verified it

 

[linuxgrl]

Finally took the test today, after postponing, and postponing and postponing. Initially was supposed to take it June 28 but didn't feel ready, based on my NBME scores. As it turned out, adding another month of studying didn't really improve my practice test scores but I just couldn't put it off any longer.

6/1 - NBME 4 - 184
6/14 - NBME 2 - 186
6/21 - UW Self Assessment - 211
7/11 - Free 150 - 67% (205/209)
7/20 - NBME 5 - 201 (was kind of upset, not concentrating well...)
7/26 - USMLE - ???

I couldn't sleep last night so I ended up with only about 4 hours of sleep, which actually helped me to stay calm. I guess I was just too tired to freak out much. And after the test was over, I walked out feeling surprisingly okay. It went by fast, even though I took the entire time that was available to me.

My prep:
Goljan audio (LOVE LOVE LOVE!) - I listened to a few random snippets on the drive to the testing center and was amazed that some of the material showed up on my test. I can credit him with knowing the answers to a good number of questions today. I'm a very auditory learner so his audio was incredibly helpful. Used RR Path along with it, which is a great companion.

UWorld: Finished about 70% of the questions, got 50% right. Incredibly helpful, if only that it looks exactly like the real deal. When I sat down to the test it felt like I was just sitting down for another practice session. I can't imagine taking Step 1 without it. Best money you'll spend.

Kaplan Videos: I used these for Physiology, Pharm, some Micro/Immuno, Biostats, Biochem... Again, I'm very auditory so I found these to be very helpful. The companion books are good but you definitely need the videos.

MedEssentials: Wish I'd started using this earlier. I think this makes an excellent resource for the last week of studying, though. Great for cramming all those stray bits of information. Love the appendices in the back for last minute review.

FA: Meh.... I used it. Didn't love it. I took lots of notes in it and went over it a few times. But it didn't end up being my main resource as I'd intended.

Test Experience:
I lucked out and had a really good Prometric center. It was quiet, perfect temperature... I took lots of breaks and the day went as smoothly as it could have. No complaints at all. Even the CRT monitors weren't that bad, but I'm used to staring at a computer all day.

Neuro: My absolute worst subject. I cringed every time a neuro question would come up. There were lots of CT's, one brain stem, one spinal cord cross section. The questions didn't seem all bad but I still didn't know 90% of them....

Anatomy: Some were straightforward - I had one easy brachial plexus question. Some I wouldn't have gotten if I'd studied for a year.... There was a hand and foot, a few CT's... Lots of tough questions here.

Behavioral: Probably my best subject. Wish there was more. No calculations for the biostats - you could do them all in your head. No NNT/NNH. Lots of questions about confidence intervals, power, beta error... There was one policy question that really pissed me off, about the organization of a medical practice. Not sure if I got it right.

Pharm: I got one question like the ones described on here - patient is on 5 drugs, which one is likely to cause X side effect. The rest were pretty straightforward.

Path / Physio: Know your Ca++, Vit D, Phosphate, PTH real well... I got about 8 of these. Lots of thyroid too. Couple questions on leukemoid reactions. Pretty straightforward. Fair number of really easy ones. Know your clotting disorders!

Cell: Nothing too crazy. Just a few questions, maybe 5 or so. Easy.

Biochem: A few tricky ones here. Didn't feel real prepared even though I spent a LOT of time on this.
-------

General advice to those who haven't taken it yet - cram as much as you can over the last 5 days or so! It's so important to have everything as fresh as possible for the test. Also, don't get too nervous. It's not nearly as bad as it's made out to be. I wish now that I hadn't postponed my test as long as I did. Bite the bullet and just take it. (I say that now... we'll see when my score comes back, eeek!!!)

 

[jsong812]

I used BSS, and I am very glad I did. I casually did 10-30 q's per week during Jan/Feb, then in the last month before the exam, I did 180-360 q's per week (1-2 practice tests, 180 q/each). I focused primarily on the body systems review books, and they were great. After doing these questions, all other qbanks seemed easy to me (kaplan qbank, qbook, FA Q&A, etc).

I am very happy with my scores (246/99 usmle and 729/98 comlex), and very happy that I used BSS.

The only issue with BSS is that you might feel beaten down when you start; I got 50% on the very first 10 q's in there and was crushed. But then I soon jumped into 60's, and on the last 770 questions I had 78% average- a great % for the BSS).

Lastly, BSS is not that expensive. I regularly saw books on amazon selling for $2-10 apiece. So not a big risk to buy 1-2 books and try it out. Again I recommend body systems reviews, not the behavioral sci book as it is based on 1990s stats. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply! When you were going through the questions, did you just take them as is? Or did you pick and choose which subjects to test yourself on by looking at the subject index? I would imagine by starting them as early as Jan., there would be a lot of material that you still haven't learned yet. THanks

 

[andwhat]

Thanks for the reply! When you were going through the questions, did you just take them as is? Or did you pick and choose which subjects to test yourself on by looking at the subject index? I would imagine by starting them as early as Jan., there would be a lot of material that you still haven't learned yet. THanks

Wow, Kaplan Qbank going out of business soon as well, alot of their Step 3 live lectures are being shut down now, because they do not teach well at all -- and there are much better and more comprehensive materials out there like USMLE World, and Premier Review for USMLE Steps 2 and 3.
Kaplan biting the dust hardcore nowadays.
It has alot to do with one particular teacher who has no business teaching anyways. He somehow trickled down to USMLE Step 1 level after teaching Steps 2 and 3 for a while.
Thank goodness that there is still Goljan that is good for USMLE Steps I and II. The rest is just going to fade out of existence further than it already is.

 

[BusterDO]

Wow, Kaplan Qbank going out of business soon as well, alot of their Step 3 live lectures are being shut down now, because they do not teach well at all -- and there are much better and more comprehensive materials out there like USMLE World, and Premier Review for USMLE Steps 2 and 3.
Kaplan biting the dust hardcore nowadays.
It has alot to do with one particular teacher who has no business teaching anyways. He somehow trickled down to USMLE Step 1 level after teaching Steps 2 and 3 for a while.
Thank goodness that there is still Goljan that is good for USMLE Steps I and II. The rest is just going to fade out of existence further than it already is.

how does this relate to anything in this thread?

 

[Dr M T Head]

how does this relate to anything in this thread?

How does this?

 

[andwhat]

How does this?

my mistake, not too many mentioned using Kaplan Qbank, USMLE World has taken over as the best Qbank for this step. My apologies.

 

[bambi]

I have the Kaplan physiology book, and the lectures, is BRS really any better? If it is I will use it instead but just wondering if it's worth it?

 

[linuxgrl]

I have the Kaplan physiology book, and the lectures, is BRS really any better? If it is I will use it instead but just wondering if it's worth it?

I've got them both and I'd say Kaplan Physiology is better, personally. It all depends on how you learn. I thought Kaplan did a really, really good job of teaching cardiac and endocrine especially. All those endocrine questions with the arrows - never would have understood them without the Kaplan lectures.

 

[DieselD]

RE: study time, i think it really depends for each person. You have the best guess as to how much your body & mind can take. i'm on my 9th week of studying, and i'm still ready and rarin' to go. i decided to take this much time bc it takes me more time to memorize things than it does for most, i really enjoy learning the why's which makes memorizing much easier but takes a lot more time, but most importantly, i know my own stamina. Some of my friends were tired of studying after 3 weeks, but i was still having a pretty good time (i know it sounds kinda nuts -- what's helped is having an awesome study buddy & Goljan's audio--i love his corny jokes!).

i usually don't like FA's quotes at the beginning of each chapter, but there's one i do like: "Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn." -- Albert Einstein. i have some relatives in my home country who would do anything to be in my position, to get to go to school. Instead, they're literally working in rice fields and selling food on sidewalks. So, it puts these long days studying into perspective for me.

Anyway, i'm taking the test in 5 days, we'll see how it turns out and i'll definitely post my experiences. SDN's been such a great place to turn to whenever i needed help. It's good to know that we can reach out to and connect with complete strangers.

I know exactly what you mean. Good luck and I hope everything went well!

 

[UditNarayan]

I've got them both and I'd say Kaplan Physiology is better, personally. It all depends on how you learn. I thought Kaplan did a really, really good job of teaching cardiac and endocrine especially. All those endocrine questions with the arrows - never would have understood them without the Kaplan lectures.

for the sections of physio that i was shaky on, i actually read thru costanzo physio (larger book) to get a better, more thorough explanation, otherwise i just used brs physio...just depends on what you feel comfortable with and once you find that, learn it well.

 

[maji]

Well, I just got done with Step 1! and wow, what a test that was. I felt like my test was very typical as far as subjects, no crazy molec, just how I expected it to be. I had 2 embryo and they were both about the same exact thing. I felt like, I had been doing world so long, I wasnt expecting actual buzzwords, but they were there. I honestly felt like there were a lot of gimme questions, but who knows how the hell I did.

CBSSA - Before Study - 206
NBME 1 - 4 weeks out - 221
NBME 2 - 2.5 weeks out - 236
Uworld Assessment - 1 weeks out - 244
Uworld Final Avg - 64% , 100% completed
UsmleRX final Avg - 70% , 75% completed (close to 3000 questions)

Anatomy - Had brachial plexus, notochord remnant, unhappy triad, not so many. Lots of CTs.

Biochem - they hit me with the cholesterol crap, but other than that, a lysozomal storage disease here, and thats about it.

Physio - lots of arrows, and some strange graphs.

Path - very straight forward, some with accompanying histo slide which was actually fairly straight forward. They really give you most of the classical findings with each thing.

Pharm - had very few, a few of them twice. Lots of ANS on mine, but not a lot of pharm overall.

Micro - decent amount but all were pretty darn straight forward. Only crazy one was about cutaneous larva migrans, i just forgot the bug associated with it.

Neuro - My worst subject. Had some okay ones, 2 spinal slices, 1 circle of willis, a few brain CTs.

Embryo - must have had 3, and 2 were the same question.

Molec - what exactly is molec? I had 1-2 pedigrees, erm, mind is fuzzy.

Biostats - not so many, somewhere around 7-10? World helped me with this, although I tend to get mixed up, and probably did bad.

Behavioral - hardest section for me, hands down, world/rx nothing has helped me with some of these situations that i have never seen on how to deal with. I cant say specifics, but, my classmates also felt the behavioral response questions were rough. The other ones, like personality disorders, defense mechs, easy.

A/V question - well, my headphones didnt work, so I had to stop and switch computers, but I got it right from the stem and used the audio to confirm my thought.

The biggest downside.. was that the test center computer broke, so half the people got to start on time, around 8, and the rest of us waited. I did not get to start the exam until I think around 10:45, so that was annoying. My mind is a blur, whats stopping me from dropping back down to that 206? who knows... who knows..

Good luck to everyone.

 

[rubberducky24]

6 trillion/99

studied 3-3 1/2 minutes per day.

No in all seriousness these SDN scores are crazy. I might get mine this week or next. I have my fingers crossed. If I get my score and its in the 240s, believe me i won't be asking if I'm competitive for (fill in the blank program). Hoping for mid 230s. NBMEs were started around 220s, ended in low 240s.

 

[Loanna]

Hallo everyone!I just did nbme 4 30 min. ago and I got a 580.The problem is that I took a 640 on nbme 3 yesterday and 630 on nbme 2 (7/10).I am sitting the test on Thursday and I just got worried....I felt a bit burned out today (I didn't even finish what I had planned), but still...What's your opinion?

 

[Dogg1]

From what I've seen & read alot of peoples scores tend to go down with NBME 4 (which is why I avoided it). Supposedly a weird test. Just use it to narrow down weaknesses and keep plowing ahead. Nothing else really to do