Official 2009 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[VFib911]

Two days premature, but I thought I would get it started anyway as I just took the exam this morning!!!!!

Overall impressions:
- Path, path, path - been said before and I'll say it again "know it Goljan style"
- Don't forget the biostats. I prob had 10-13 questions here.
- UW is gold... both for content and material presentation. Get comfortable with the interface and it will help you test day as it is very similar.
- FA was very helpful, but I used it for review rather than primary study source.

Today:
- In at 8:30, out at 2:30.Finished each block with 10-15 minutes left.
- Three breaks, one quick trip to the BR, one 10 minute Red bull/ powerbar refresher, and one 20 minute monster/ MetRx "lunch" and walk.
- I didn't find a large difference in content difficulty between the different module. The second-to-last was my most difficult and I was have ing a little difficulty concentrating, but I think my brain was pre-toast.

I'm feeling pretty relieved at the moment as it was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. In NO WAY was it easy, but certainly doable. I had planned on taking this in July after the COMLEX, but I convinced myself I was not ready for it. Retrospectively, I feel I still would have done well after my COMLEX prep, but the last 6 months has filled in a lot of gaps.

Pre-COMLEX:
- Goljan mp3's 1st and 2nd years commuting to-from school. I did a ton of commuting. Highly valuable.
- Kaplan Biochem DVD(felt it was my weakest) and Micro DVD(lots of content).
- MedEssentials and FA for system-based content review. Big Robbins for reference only.
- CMMRS, know the virus charts, staph and strep algorithms, systemic mycoses, immunocompromised opportunistics.
- Costanza text for physio. Tried to review BRS physio (also Costanza), but I am strong in physio and I felt I was wasting my time.
- Lippincott pharm. Cover-to-cover, but overkill. Easy read though if you know your pharm.
- Kaplan and FA for biostats.
- Flash cards from eBay, both electronic and paper. Great way to review - at least for me - but be aware there are occasional errors. Prob went through 5-7000, really.
- BRS flash cards - Micro, Pharm, Biochem.
- (Savarese for any DO's - know the green book and you are golden.)

COMLEX - 06/08.

Post- COMLEX

UWorld - Thank god I did this. Wish I had done this before the COMLEX. Did tutor mode, took notes, looked each unknown up. I ended up with about 40 pages of topics with key notes written next to each topic. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
HY Histo, Cell Bio, Immuno. By this time it was mostly review, but they all helped tie things together and are quick reads.

One week before test:

Goljan cover-to-cover. Goes quick when it is review.
HY Neuroanat - overkill for my exam. Still good topics if you have the time.
FA cover-to-cover.
Reviewed UW notes/ answers.

UW - 100% completed, overall 68%. Last 450 questions mid 70's. Tutor, random, unused.


That's it. I have been meaning to post this for a while after my COMLEX grade posting, but never got around to doing it... been too damn busy reading. I'll update when result is in.

BTW - anyone know if it takes longer to receive your grade this time of year since fewer people are taking the exam?

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[Pinkertinkle]

First! Good luck this year everyone.

 

[Severus]

Dude, I cannot wait to post in this thread after I have taken the beast and hopefully ( ) *never* have to take it again.

Good luck VFib911!

 

[Diegokikn]

What's UW?

I plan to take Step 1 on 2009 and I'm about to start my study process, I'm looking for the books I should get...

 

[VFib911]

USMLE World... on-line question bank. From my perspective, significantly better than Kaplan.

 

[hj0517]

Dang! I was hoping to be first for 2009 but it was always going to be a long shot...taking mine on the 16th

 

[VFib911]

No new scores from anyone??? I must have been the only person who took the exam in Dec... lol

Anyone??... Beuller??...

 

[g6pddfishnc]

.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Goodluck as well to all you folks taking the boards this year, everything you have planned and thought about now slowly starts to become a reality. I have to admit i am not as nervous about the exams as i was when i started med school..stay loose everyone!

 

[rachmoninov3]

just getting nervous here...the "beast" is one month away. So far, I've been through FA once, am doing UWorld religiously, micro flash cards not so religously, and going through FA again.
UWorld #1: 192
Uworld #2: 190 (started out great then got careless)
NBME #1: 206

SDN special ed

For those who came before me, since the UWorld and NBME exams are only 4 sections, what is it like on test day to take the extra three? Did you practice taking the extra three sections?

 

[shabu2]

Same boat. Although I haven't done any practice exams. FA, RR path, Golijian audio, and UW. Test in 15 days.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

hehe i am solid 6 months away from going head on with the beast,so i have plenty of time left for the butterflies to kick in...

 

[VFib911]

For those who came before me, since the UWorld and NBME exams are only 4 sections, what is it like on test day to take the extra three? Did you practice taking the extra three sections?

Well, I just recently took the USMLE and I did not do any practice exams. I know this is quite different from most people on the forum, but retrospectively I feel the hours of time spent doing UW on tutor mode was enough to build up my stamina so-to-speak for test day. Taking the COMLEX prior to the USMLE was also a good warm-up. The UW interface was so similar to the actual USMLE that I was very comfortable taking the test. I don't know if the format will be the same later in the year, but I really think if you are comfortable with UW, you will not have a difficult time.

Now don't get me wrong, it is a long test. I actually was unable to remember what block I was on at one point in the test (after block 5). The way I found out was at my next break as I just looked at my total test time and figured it out. I just did not think sitting for the practice tests would do me much good, so I just spent that time studying. Also, I did not want to be disappointed or overconfident based on the results of that score.

With all that said, the first four blocks were the easiest as I felt the most mentally sharp. Maybe I should have eaten more/less for lunch, but block 7, and especially 6, were the most challenging as my brain was a little fatigued. Doing a 7-block practice exam may benefit you, but the hours on end I spent focusing on UW is what made the difference for me.

Good luck!

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Well, I just recently took the USMLE and I did not do any practice exams. I know this is quite different from most people on the forum, but retrospectively I feel the hours of time spent doing UW on tutor mode was enough to build up my stamina so-to-speak for test day. Taking the COMLEX prior to the USMLE was also a good warm-up. The UW interface was so similar to the actual USMLE that I was very comfortable taking the test. I don't know if the format will be the same later in the year, but I really think if you are comfortable with UW, you will not have a difficult time.

Now don't get me wrong, it is a long test. I actually was unable to remember what block I was on at one point in the test (after block 5). The way I found out was at my next break as I just looked at my total test time and figured it out. I just did not think sitting for the practice tests would do me much good, so I just spent that time studying. Also, I did not want to be disappointed or overconfident based on the results of that score.

With all that said, the first four blocks were the easiest as I felt the most mentally sharp. Maybe I should have eaten more/less for lunch, but block 7, and especially 6, were the most challenging as my brain was a little fatigued. Doing a 7-block practice exam may benefit you, but the hours on end I spent focusing on UW is what made the difference for me.

Good luck!

It must be a huge relief now that you are done, when you get a chance can you post like the breakdown of your exam? Thanxx

 

[VFib911]

Hey Lambo,

I don't know how much more I can remember at this point as I am about 2.5 weeks out. I was the OP in this thread and there is some more info there, but I recall the test was pretty straightforward. I believe there was only a couple of questions where I really had to think in more than 2 steps to come to an answer. Lots of quick 3-5 liners for recall items. However, there was also a good share of questions that you had to scroll through to get all of the information as they were more than one page. They seemed to get to the point pretty early on in those questions, but it still seemed like a lot of reading. Even so, I usually finished with at least 10 minutes to spare per block, so it is doable.

Most of the lab values presented were straightforward as well. Most of the time you had 4-6 different labs, a couple of times as much as 8 or 9, but it was pretty easy to pick out the smoking gun, so to speak. After my prolonged study schedule, there was only 1-2 questions that were completely out of left field, but I don't recall the specifics.

Huge relief?? You bet... I have been stressing over that test for the last year-and-a-half. I really wanted to crush Step I, but the funny thing is I may end up going to an Osteopathic residency anyway... We'll see when the score comes back.

Bottom-line... It's a long test and you have to keep your brain on, but if you didn't screw around 1st and 2nd years AND you have a planned study schedule you can follow through on, you really should be in good shape. Six months is a long time, but it certainly is not too early to get a plan together as to when and how you will be preparing for "the beast".

Good luck!!

Is the turnaround time for grades about three weeks this time of year, or does it take longer since fewer people are taking the exam? Anyone know?

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Hey Lambo,

I don't know how much more I can remember at this point as I am about 2.5 weeks out. I was the OP in this thread and there is some more info there, but I recall the test was pretty straightforward. I believe there was only a couple of questions where I really had to think in more than 2 steps to come to an answer. Lots of quick 3-5 liners for recall items. However, there was also a good share of questions that you had to scroll through to get all of the information as they were more than one page. They seemed to get to the point pretty early on in those questions, but it still seemed like a lot of reading. Even so, I usually finished with at least 10 minutes to spare per block, so it is doable.

Most of the lab values presented were straightforward as well. Most of the time you had 4-6 different labs, a couple of times as much as 8 or 9, but it was pretty easy to pick out the smoking gun, so to speak. After my prolonged study schedule, there was only 1-2 questions that were completely out of left field, but I don't recall the specifics.

Huge relief?? You bet... I have been stressing over that test for the last year-and-a-half. I really wanted to crush Step I, but the funny thing is I may end up going to an Osteopathic residency anyway... We'll see when the score comes back.

Bottom-line... It's a long test and you have to keep your brain on, but if you didn't screw around 1st and 2nd years AND you have a planned study schedule you can follow through on, you really should be in good shape. Six months is a long time, but it certainly is not too early to get a plan together as to when and how you will be preparing for "the beast".

Good luck!!

Is the turnaround time for grades about three weeks this time of year, or does it take longer since fewer people are taking the exam? Anyone know?

Sounds good, well i sort of have a plan for now and for boards down the road. I am trying to maintain a healthy pace to reach my goals before i start hardcore prep. Anyways, i am not sure when you get your scores back around this time of the year but i would assume they have to be a bit slower since not that many folks take it. I am sure you did fine...i appreciate your feedback!

 

[hj0517]

Got my score on the 11th Feb: 245/99 ***ecstatic***

Other scores:
NBME 6 (prior to studying) - 194
UWSA 1 - 210
NBME 3 (2 weeks prior) - 226
UW SA 2 (5 days prior) - 249

 

[78222]

Dude, I cannot wait to post in this thread after I have taken the beast and hopefully ( ) *never* have to take it again.

Good luck VFib911!

You'll be fine. You slayed the MCAT if I remember correctly.

 

[laxman310]

.

 

[rachmoninov3]

Question about UWorld: the 2008 Official Experiences Thread said that if you're getting 60s and 70s on Uworld towards your test date that you should be good.

Does that take into account how many times you've done a specific question? Is this only for people who wait until the end to use Uworld and all the questions are new?

I'm worried my scores may be inflated by the fact that I've seen the questions before.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

.

 

[laxman310]

Question about UWorld: the 2008 Official Experiences Thread said that if you're getting 60s and 70s on Uworld towards your test date that you should be good.

Does that take into account how many times you've done a specific question? Is this only for people who wait until the end to use Uworld and all the questions are new?

I'm worried my scores may be inflated by the fact that I've seen the questions before.

The thought is the percentage for random timed corresponds to your score. That does not take into account how many times you've done a specific question. I wouldn't worry about it, because after having gone through the question bank once, your percentage is basically fixed. I.e. once you've done 2000 questions, a test of 48 only makes up about 2.5% of your grade. Obviously if you get a perfect score on a test, or do really poorly on a test, it will effect your overall percentage, but not by more than a percentage point at a time.

Say your average is 70%--> thats 1400/2000. If you get a perfect test --->1450/2050 = 70.7% . If you get a zero on a test --> 68.3% .

 

[Severus]

You'll be fine. You slayed the MCAT if I remember correctly.

Bah! I was S-M-R-T then!

I just want to steal your Step 1 score.

 

[VFib911]

Bah! I was S-M-R-T then!

I can appreciate your position... As I was studying for the boards, every time I opened a book or, even worse, did a UW question, I was reminded of how much I didn't know. As the big day grew closer and closer, I felt like I knew less and less... It sounds like you are taking the test seriously, so I bet you will knock it out of the park...

Study hard and Good luck!

I hope tomorrow is the big day for the release of my score - it's been held hostage since the 30th and hopefully will be paroled tomorrow!! If this is my last post you will know it was not the number I was looking for...

 

[VFib911]

You will get it this Wednesday.

Thanks for the insight Zona - I know lax and myself are both hoping you are correct with your prediction. The wait is killing me as well...

Good luck Lax!

 

[jt713]

Hey V-fib did you write anything on the erasable sheets they gave you or would it just be a waste of time?

 

[VFib911]

Hey V-fib did you write anything on the erasable sheets they gave you or would it just be a waste of time?

I think I had 3-4 questions where I scribbled a bit, but nothing one side of one page could not easily handle. I don't remember the questions, but I do remember not spending too much time on any of them. Maybe I got lucky?

 

[rachmoninov3]

hey V-fib:

How many questions resembled Kaplan or Uworld? Or was it mainly pathology adnausium?

best of luck tomorrow, we are all pulling for you!

 

[laxman310]

Have you gotten your score yet V-Fib? It lets me request score documents to be sent to me, but I cant see any link to print the report.

 

[VFib911]

Still nothing as of this am. I am assuming there will be a link to the score report on the "check exam status" page. That field is still blank on my page, but hoping it will be filled today...

Waiting... waiting...

 

[VFib911]

First score of '09!!!!

MCAT - 29
UW final - 68%, 100% complete, random, unused, tutor.

COMLEX (06/08) - 717/97
USMLE (12/08) - 251/99

Thanks to all SDN'ers, past and present, who have helped me with my studying over the last year. I really wanted to break 250 and mission accomplished!

For my prep, please see the first post in this thread. Good luck to all!!

Good luck lax - since you took yours on 12/29, your grade sould be available as well.

surebreC - your UW formula from last year gave me an estimated 247, quite accurate I must say.

 

[shivasHeroLike]

vfib, congrats buddy excellent score you deserve it. go celebrate!

 

[Severus]

CONGRATS VFib!!!! way to destroy it!

 

[78222]

Bah! I was S-M-R-T then!

I just want to steal your Step 1 score.

Well, the great thing about STEP I is that if you study hard and use your time intelligently, you will do well on it. I thought conceptually the MCATs were significantly harder. So don't worry, Your brain + Hard Work = SDN Score

 

[VFib911]

hey V-fib:

How many questions resembled Kaplan or Uworld? Or was it mainly pathology adnausium?

best of luck tomorrow, we are all pulling for you!

Thanks for the support rachmoninov!! This forum is an amazing resource and is a large part of why I was able to prepare as well as I did.

I would say the actual test was harder than Kaplan, but easier than UW. If I had to do it all over again, I would certainly use UW but I would reserve Kaplan for the end if I was looking for more questions. Guess it all depends on how you learn best.

Good luck!

Again, thanks to all for the support. I hope everyone else is as pleasantly surprised with their score as I was with mine. Many many thanks to SDN!!!

 

[Pollux]

Step 1 score: 276/99

Initial goal: 250+
Total prep time: 1000 hours.

IMG at an Australian medical school (UQ); MCAT=38
NBME 1: 258 (9 months out)
NBME 2: 261 (2 months out)
NBME 6: 262 (25 days out)
UW 1: 265+ (15 days out)
NBME 3: 265+ (8 days out)
NBME 4: 265+ (6 days out)
UW 2: 265+ (4 days out)
NBME 5: 265+ (2 days out)
USMLE CD: 96% (1 day out)

I did over 10000 USMLE-style practice exam questions in the following order:
USMLERx: 94%
Kaplan Qbank: 91%
First Aid Q&A step 1: 93%
UW: 88% (Random, unused, first time through)
Plus NBME + UW exams + USMLE CD + RR Goljan...

Prep material:
FA of course!! I read it cover-to-cover 3 times. However, I tend to cross-reference it when I read other books and I frequently consulted it during second year during PBL. I also annotated notes in FA when I did UW, so I was very familar with the content of this book. For every diagram/table/metabolic pathway in FA, I made sure that they were familiar to the point that I was able to to reproduce them from memory.
Anatomy: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, USMLE Road Map Anatomy, HY Neuroanatomy.
Behavioural science: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Biochemistry: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Cell biology: HY Cell and molecular biology.
Microbiology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, MicroCards.
Immunology: Kaplan notes & FA.
Pharmacology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, HY Pharm, Pharmacology Flash Cards (Brenner).
Physiology: Kaplan notes, BRS Physiology.
Pathology: BRS Pathology, Goljan audio, Goljan notes.

Preparation timeline:
Probably quite atypical compared to most US medical students. I initially intended to sit the exam at the beginning of third year, so I spent a month studying after second year was over. At the end of the month, I didn't feel quite ready and decided to postpone my exam till the end of third year, thinking that I would have plenty of time to study during the clinical rotations. Wrong. I only had some time during my rural rotation and psychiatry rotation to study for USMLE, but could only manage to do 1-2hr/day on weekdays and up to 8hr/day on weekends. At the end of third year, I spent a month studying hardcore again, and finally took the exam on the 26th of December. The Australian school year runs from January to November, by the way.

During second year - Read BRS Pathology and pretty much memorized the book. I love pathology so it wasn't really a daunting task for me. I also started listening to Goljan audios in first year and I was really glad that I started early. I finished Goljan audios at least three times, but I always felt that I learned something new each time.

December 2007 - Finished reading Kaplan notes (all subjects except Path) and Goljan notes for Path. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Jan - Nov 2008 - On and off. I did NBME1 in March and got 258(720) and was pretty happy that reading Kaplan notes paid off. However, I had only about 4 months during this time (rural and psych) where I could fit USMLE studying into my schedule, but could only manage to study about 25 hours a week. During this time, I read the supplementary material (HY, Road Map, flash cards), listened to Kaplan webprep while commuting, and did the majority of the practice questions. (400hr)

December 2008 - Did most of the NBMEs and UW assessment exams in this month. Completed UW question bank for the second time. Spent the last week just memorizing FA and doing practice questions. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Exam on 2008/12/26:

I started the exam at 8:30 and finished at 4:00 with 20 minutes of break time to spare. On average, I spent 45 minutes in each block and took a 20-minute break after each block (except the first block). During each break, I would drink 300mL of oolong tea or green tea to keep me awake, eat half a sandwich, go to the washroom, and wash my face so I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next block. I thought the strategy worked quite well for me.

I thought the exam was quite a bit harder than NBME but easier than UW. It was probably comparable to UW self-assessment exams in terms of difficulty. I marked 6-7 questions each block. I thought 85% of the questions was straight-forward, 10% was tricky, and 5% was difficult.

Pathology: Not surprisingly the bulk of the exam. Around 70% of the questions were patholgy questions or required pathology integration. I thought UW covered these sorts of questions really well, so there weren't really any surprises for me. I only had around 5 questions that came with pictures of gross pathology specimens.

Anatomy/neuroanatomy: 15 questions. Most of them involved intepretation of X-rays/CT/MRIs, nothing too obscure. I even had brain CT and angiograms for structure identification. Make sure you know the brain stem and cranial nerves well.

Behavioral science: 20 questions. Half were biostatistics, and the other half were the typical "what would be the best action/response in this scenario" type of questions. I thought just reading FA or Kaplan notes was not really sufficient to answer these sorts of questions. I had almost no questions that came out of the psychiatry section in FA, except a few psychotropic medications and a question on defense mechanisms.

Biochemistry/Cell bio/Molecular bio: Geez, I noticed the trend of increasing proportions of cell biology questions in the NBME, but I never expected this many on my exam. I probably had 50 questions that fell into this category (Biochem/Cell bio). I was glad that I flipped through HY Cell and Molecular biology just a few days before the exam, because it probably helped me answer 5 questions correctly. The different kinds of receptors and intracellular signalling pathways are extremely high-yield. For metabolism, know the key regulatory enzymes and global control of metabolic processes (i.e. insulin vs glucagon's effects).

Pharmacology: Around 25 questions. Piece of cake compared to UW. I thought FA covers pharmacology in sufficient details. As usual, emphasis was placed on autonomic pharmacology and cardiovascular medications. I had quite a few questions on pharmacodynamics too.

Microbiology: 30 questions. Make sure you know the various bacterial exotoxins and their mechanisms of action. Quite a few questions involved TB and HIV. Even West Nile virus appeared on my exam.

Physiology: 30 questions. Most involved the up/down arrows and graph interpretation. Endocrine questions are high-yield too.

I walked out of the testing centre feeling quite confident I did pretty well. I was certain I broke 260, but wasn't too sure if I was able to get 270+. Got the score today, 276/99! I didn't even know it was possible! Needless to say, I was ecstatic!!

Finally, Thanks to everyone on SDN! I didn't have a clue how to prepare for this exam just 2 years ago, and this is the place that helped me start rolling. Please feel free to PM me with any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Link to my Q&A: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=7652543&postcount=66

If you wish to contact me, the best method is to PM me or leave your questions in the following link. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=597742
Thank you.

 

[Redrox]

Dude. Um. . . wow.
That is the highest I've ever seen.
Wish I had been born Australian.

 

[laxman310]

.

 

[VFib911]

Dude. Um. . . wow.

Yup, pretty much sums up my response as well...

Great job Lax, congrats!

 

[rachmoninov3]

Wow, congrats all around! You guys are certainly setting the bar high!

Any advice for the last three weeks of studying?

 

[Pollux]

Dude. Um. . . wow.
That is the highest I've ever seen.
Wish I had been born Australian.

Actually, I'm Taiwanese.
I'm studying in Australia as an international student.

But thanks guys!
Congrats to you all too!

 

[defcon8]

Actually, I'm Taiwanese.
I'm studying in Australia as an international student.

But thanks guys!
Congrats to you all too!

Hats off to you man.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Step 1 score: 276/99

Initial goal: 250+
Total prep time: 1000 hours.

IMG at an Australian medical school (UQ); MCAT=38
NBME 1: 258 (9 months out)
NBME 2: 261 (2 months out)
NBME 6: 262 (25 days out)
UW 1: 265+ (15 days out)
NBME 3: 265+ (8 days out)
NBME 4: 265+ (6 days out)
UW 2: 265+ (4 days out)
NBME 5: 265+ (2 days out)
USMLE CD: 96% (1 day out)

I did over 10000 USMLE-style practice exam questions in the following order:
USMLERx: 94%
Kaplan Qbank: 91%
First Aid Q&A step 1: 93%
UW: 88% (Random, unused, first time through)
Plus NBME + UW exams + USMLE CD + RR Goljan...

Prep material:
FA of course!! I read it cover-to-cover 3 times. However, I tend to cross-reference it when I read other books and I frequently consulted it during second year during PBL. I also annotated notes in FA when I did UW, so I was very familar with the content of this book. For every diagram/table/metabolic pathway in FA, I made sure that they were familiar to the point that I was able to to reproduce them from memory.
Anatomy: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, USMLE Road Map Anatomy, HY Neuroanatomy.
Behavioural science: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Biochemistry: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Cell biology: HY Cell and molecular biology.
Microbiology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, MicroCards.
Immunology: Kaplan notes & FA.
Pharmacology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, HY Pharm, Pharmacology Flash Cards (Brenner).
Physiology: Kaplan notes, BRS Physiology.
Pathology: BRS Pathology, Goljan audio, Goljan notes.

Preparation timeline:
Probably quite atypical compared to most US medical students. I initially intended to sit the exam at the beginning of third year, so I spent a month studying after second year was over. At the end of the month, I didn't feel quite ready and decided to postpone my exam till the end of third year, thinking that I would have plenty of time to study during the clinical rotations. Wrong. I only had some time during my rural rotation and psychiatry rotation to study for USMLE, but could only manage to do 1-2hr/day on weekdays and up to 8hr/day on weekends. At the end of third year, I spent a month studying hardcore again, and finally took the exam on the 26th of December. The Australian school year runs from January to November, by the way.

During second year - Read BRS Pathology and pretty much memorized the book. I love pathology so it wasn't really a daunting task for me. I also started listening to Goljan audios in first year and I was really glad that I started early. I finished Goljan audios at least three times, but I always felt that I learned something new each time.

December 2007 - Finished reading Kaplan notes (all subjects except Path) and Goljan notes for Path. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Jan - Nov 2008 - On and off. I did NBME1 in March and got 258(720) and was pretty happy that reading Kaplan notes paid off. However, I had only about 4 months during this time (rural and psych) where I could fit USMLE studying into my schedule, but could only manage to study about 25 hours a week. During this time, I read the supplementary material (HY, Road Map, flash cards), listened to Kaplan webprep while commuting, and did the majority of the practice questions. (400hr)

December 2008 - Did most of the NBMEs and UW assessment exams in this month. Completed UW question bank for the second time. Spent the last week just memorizing FA and doing practice questions. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Exam on 2008/12/26:

I started the exam at 8:30 and finished at 4:00 with 20 minutes of break time to spare. On average, I spent 45 minutes in each block and took a 20-minute break after each block (except the first block). During each break, I would drink 300mL of oolong tea or green tea to keep me awake, eat half a sandwich, go to the washroom, and wash my face so I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next block. I thought the strategy worked quite well for me.

I thought the exam was quite a bit harder than NBME but easier than UW. It was probably comparable to UW self-assessment exams in terms of difficulty. I marked 6-7 questions each block. I thought 85% of the questions was straight-forward, 10% was tricky, and 5% was difficult.

Pathology: Not surprisingly the bulk of the exam. Around 70% of the questions were patholgy questions or required pathology integration. I thought UW covered these sorts of questions really well, so there weren't really any surprises for me. I only had around 5 questions that came with pictures of gross pathology specimens.

Anatomy/neuroanatomy: 15 questions. Most of them involved intepretation of X-rays/CT/MRIs, nothing too obscure. I even had brain CT and angiograms for structure identification. Make sure you know the brain stem and cranial nerves well.

Behavioral science: 20 questions. Half were biostatistics, and the other half were the typical "what would be the best action/response in this scenario" type of questions. I thought just reading FA or Kaplan notes was not really sufficient to answer these sorts of questions. I had almost no questions that came out of the psychiatry section in FA, except a few psychotropic medications and a question on defense mechanisms.

Biochemistry/Cell bio/Molecular bio: Geez, I noticed the trend of increasing proportions of cell biology questions in the NBME, but I never expected this many on my exam. I probably had 50 questions that fell into this category (Biochem/Cell bio). I was glad that I flipped through HY Cell and Molecular biology just a few days before the exam, because it probably helped me answer 5 questions correctly. The different kinds of receptors and intracellular signalling pathways are extremely high-yield. For metabolism, know the key regulatory enzymes and global control of metabolic processes (i.e. insulin vs glucagon's effects).

Pharmacology: Around 25 questions. Piece of cake compared to UW. I thought FA covers pharmacology in sufficient details. As usual, emphasis was placed on autonomic pharmacology and cardiovascular medications. I had quite a few questions on pharmacodynamics too.

Microbiology: 30 questions. Make sure you know the various bacterial exotoxins and their mechanisms of action. Quite a few questions involved TB and HIV. Even West Nile virus appeared on my exam.

Physiology: 30 questions. Most involved the up/down arrows and graph interpretation. Endocrine questions are high-yield too.

I walked out of the testing centre feeling quite confident I did pretty well. I was certain I broke 260, but wasn't too sure if I was able to get 270+. Got the score today, 276/99! I didn't even know it was possible! Needless to say, I was ecstatic!!

Finally, Thanks to everyone on SDN! I didn't have a clue how to prepare for this exam just 2 years ago, and this is the place that helped me start rolling. Please feel free to PM me with any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Now that is a job well done my friend, you sound like you wanted that score pretty bad..enjoy your success!

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Got my score. 243. Check out the post experience in the 2008 thread. Congrats on the 276 above. Very impressive.

Great score laxman!

 

[glsknl]

Step 1 score: 276/99

Initial goal: 250+
Total prep time: 1000 hours.

IMG at an Australian medical school (UQ); MCAT=38
NBME 1: 258 (9 months out)
NBME 2: 261 (2 months out)
NBME 6: 262 (25 days out)
UW 1: 265+ (15 days out)
NBME 3: 265+ (8 days out)
NBME 4: 265+ (6 days out)
UW 2: 265+ (4 days out)
NBME 5: 265+ (2 days out)
USMLE CD: 96% (1 day out)

I did over 10000 USMLE-style practice exam questions in the following order:
USMLERx: 94%
Kaplan Qbank: 91%
First Aid Q&A step 1: 93%
UW: 88% (Random, unused, first time through)
Plus NBME + UW exams + USMLE CD + RR Goljan...

Prep material:
FA of course!! I read it cover-to-cover 3 times. However, I tend to cross-reference it when I read other books and I frequently consulted it during second year during PBL. I also annotated notes in FA when I did UW, so I was very familar with the content of this book. For every diagram/table/metabolic pathway in FA, I made sure that they were familiar to the point that I was able to to reproduce them from memory.
Anatomy: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, USMLE Road Map Anatomy, HY Neuroanatomy.
Behavioural science: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Biochemistry: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep.
Cell biology: HY Cell and molecular biology.
Microbiology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, MicroCards.
Immunology: Kaplan notes & FA.
Pharmacology: Kaplan notes & Kaplan webprep, HY Pharm, Pharmacology Flash Cards (Brenner).
Physiology: Kaplan notes, BRS Physiology.
Pathology: BRS Pathology, Goljan audio, Goljan notes.

Preparation timeline:
Probably quite atypical compared to most US medical students. I initially intended to sit the exam at the beginning of third year, so I spent a month studying after second year was over. At the end of the month, I didn't feel quite ready and decided to postpone my exam till the end of third year, thinking that I would have plenty of time to study during the clinical rotations. Wrong. I only had some time during my rural rotation and psychiatry rotation to study for USMLE, but could only manage to do 1-2hr/day on weekdays and up to 8hr/day on weekends. At the end of third year, I spent a month studying hardcore again, and finally took the exam on the 26th of December. The Australian school year runs from January to November, by the way.

During second year - Read BRS Pathology and pretty much memorized the book. I love pathology so it wasn't really a daunting task for me. I also started listening to Goljan audios in first year and I was really glad that I started early. I finished Goljan audios at least three times, but I always felt that I learned something new each time.

December 2007 - Finished reading Kaplan notes (all subjects except Path) and Goljan notes for Path. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Jan - Nov 2008 - On and off. I did NBME1 in March and got 258(720) and was pretty happy that reading Kaplan notes paid off. However, I had only about 4 months during this time (rural and psych) where I could fit USMLE studying into my schedule, but could only manage to study about 25 hours a week. During this time, I read the supplementary material (HY, Road Map, flash cards), listened to Kaplan webprep while commuting, and did the majority of the practice questions. (400hr)

December 2008 - Did most of the NBMEs and UW assessment exams in this month. Completed UW question bank for the second time. Spent the last week just memorizing FA and doing practice questions. 8-10hr/day. (300hr)

Exam on 2008/12/26:

I started the exam at 8:30 and finished at 4:00 with 20 minutes of break time to spare. On average, I spent 45 minutes in each block and took a 20-minute break after each block (except the first block). During each break, I would drink 300mL of oolong tea or green tea to keep me awake, eat half a sandwich, go to the washroom, and wash my face so I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next block. I thought the strategy worked quite well for me.

I thought the exam was quite a bit harder than NBME but easier than UW. It was probably comparable to UW self-assessment exams in terms of difficulty. I marked 6-7 questions each block. I thought 85% of the questions was straight-forward, 10% was tricky, and 5% was difficult.

Pathology: Not surprisingly the bulk of the exam. Around 70% of the questions were patholgy questions or required pathology integration. I thought UW covered these sorts of questions really well, so there weren't really any surprises for me. I only had around 5 questions that came with pictures of gross pathology specimens.

Anatomy/neuroanatomy: 15 questions. Most of them involved intepretation of X-rays/CT/MRIs, nothing too obscure. I even had brain CT and angiograms for structure identification. Make sure you know the brain stem and cranial nerves well.

Behavioral science: 20 questions. Half were biostatistics, and the other half were the typical "what would be the best action/response in this scenario" type of questions. I thought just reading FA or Kaplan notes was not really sufficient to answer these sorts of questions. I had almost no questions that came out of the psychiatry section in FA, except a few psychotropic medications and a question on defense mechanisms.

Biochemistry/Cell bio/Molecular bio: Geez, I noticed the trend of increasing proportions of cell biology questions in the NBME, but I never expected this many on my exam. I probably had 50 questions that fell into this category (Biochem/Cell bio). I was glad that I flipped through HY Cell and Molecular biology just a few days before the exam, because it probably helped me answer 5 questions correctly. The different kinds of receptors and intracellular signalling pathways are extremely high-yield. For metabolism, know the key regulatory enzymes and global control of metabolic processes (i.e. insulin vs glucagon's effects).

Pharmacology: Around 25 questions. Piece of cake compared to UW. I thought FA covers pharmacology in sufficient details. As usual, emphasis was placed on autonomic pharmacology and cardiovascular medications. I had quite a few questions on pharmacodynamics too.

Microbiology: 30 questions. Make sure you know the various bacterial exotoxins and their mechanisms of action. Quite a few questions involved TB and HIV. Even West Nile virus appeared on my exam.

Physiology: 30 questions. Most involved the up/down arrows and graph interpretation. Endocrine questions are high-yield too.

I walked out of the testing centre feeling quite confident I did pretty well. I was certain I broke 260, but wasn't too sure if I was able to get 270+. Got the score today, 276/99! I didn't even know it was possible! Needless to say, I was ecstatic!!

Finally, Thanks to everyone on SDN! I didn't have a clue how to prepare for this exam just 2 years ago, and this is the place that helped me start rolling. Please feel free to PM me with any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

congratulations!

 

[Pollux]

Wow, congrats all around! You guys are certainly setting the bar high!

Any advice for the last three weeks of studying?

I would recommend knowing FA back-to-front in the last 3 weeks. But remember, comprehension is more important than rote memorization (although the latter is definitely required for certain subjects). Do at least 200 questions a day to build up your stamina; you'll need it for the real exam. Go over NBME questions that you got wrong the day before your exam; I had quite a few of them that popped up on my exam.

Good luck in 3 weeks.

And thanks defcon8, Lamborghini1315, and glsknl! Best of luck in your future endeavors.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

.

 

[Knicks]

First! Good luck this year everyone.

I just vomited a little..

 

[NJMD]

Hey Vfib,

Congratulations on a great score.

Can you share your scoring trends with UWORLD? i.e, What percentage did you start at and what was your average closer to the end? How many times did you do UW?

Thanks,

 

[shivasHeroLike]

i took step1 today so i caution with ppl tryin' to replicate or use my thoughts as a guide. a guide is useless without a score. i'm posting now because a lot of info is fresh on my mind and i know i will forget a lot in 3+ weeks.

i benefited a lot from using SDN since i started med school. so thank u.


first, i walked out of test today not knowing how i did. this sort of makes me nervous because atleast after NBMEs or Uworld tests i sort of have an idea of my comfort level and can guage my score somewhat. here, i have no idea how it went. I felt the first block was doable then the exam just kept gettin' harder and harder as the day went along.

i felt my exam over emphasized anatomy and repro/pregnancy path. of course pathophys is the bulk of this exam but within that discipline repro/pregnancy pathogenesis beat out other systems. 2nd would be resp as that incorporated a crapload of pneumonia infections that were typical, atypical, nosocomial, and immunocompromised. i had about 5-6 questions with different scenarios.
cardio was mostly cardiophys which wasn't too bad. think the easiest question was a one-liner askin why coronary artery fills in diastole. lol rest wasn't too bad, especially the a/v component which basically described pericarditis so audio was just comfirmation of muffled heart sounds. i honestly feel goljan + uworld covers pathophys of every system. i mean there were wayyy too many questions on the exam that i felt uworld tested in someway or another. goljan just helps you think logically because logic is what gives you confidence from a tough question. i honestly regret not knowing uworld cold and just "glancing" at certain answer choices. for example, i know uworld asks the acid/base balance of aspirin overdose yet i still couldn't remember the concept during the exam when asked in the SAME SCENARIO! ahhh soo annoying!

i felt molecular bio was absolutely rough too. this needs to be including in medical school curriculums. its just too important of a topic on the boards to learn from HY molec/bio (which is too foreign to me anyways) on your own.

immuno was pretty doable. saw a question from an NBME exam, it was a schematic of an immunoglobulin labled A through D at different points and asked where compliment would attach to. had a question about knocking out FAS gene in lymphocytes. i had a Question where a kid got scratched by a barb wire and was asked what would be seen after 24 hrs. i couldn't decide between neutrophil, macrophage, or neovascularization only cus i wasn't sure if 24 hrs is considered acute... haha i know i'm a *****! another question asked what the immediate precursor was for type1 pneumocyte.
micro was intermingled with antibiotics or genetics. i'd be able to deduce the bacteria but then bam they hit me with mechanism of virulence on a molecular genetic level with all sorts of exons/introns/promotors/enhancers..
neuro was tough too especially with brain scans and spinal sections. whats funny is i was prepared for these but still couldn't execute on test day. yikes!

like goljan, Uworld staff has spent they're time reviewing previous exam questions and basing their own material off of it. which is why they're both golden. uworld is nice because it uses those same concepts that have been tested on step and make it harder with funkier choices. you're suppose to get demoralized doing uworld bank in hopes that reppin with big weights makes all other questions feel light weight. interface is exact too.
but don't just memorize concepts but be like goljan and develop a binary tree system where you can logically derive at a fact/concept that makes it distinguishable from the rest.

anyways thats my 2 cent for now.. i'll probably add more if i think of anything else i want to ramble about lol. will hope for the best in 3+ weeks.

much love SDN