Official 2009 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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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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Is there any correlation between your feelings post test and your actual score? I took the beast yesterday and felt it was different from UWorld. Some questions were right out of UWorld while others seemed to be far off the beaten path of what UWorld focused on.

Beyond UWorld I used FA (1.5 times thru), BRS physio, Goljan audio and notes, HY embryo and micro. That pretty much wraps it up. I completed UWorld and began redoing questions, incorrect and subjects I was weaker on. (ended up with 61% which is prob an overestimate due to redoing ?s) I'm not the best test taker so I just hope it all went okay.

There is a Step II UWorld formula that predicts your score. I wonder if this could work for Step I. Step 1 score = 2.3 (UWorld cum %) + 84. Let me know what you think and if it could have predicted your score.
 
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bball25 said:
There is a Step II UWorld formula that predicts your score. I wonder if this could work for Step I. Step 1 score = 2.3 (UWorld cum %) + 84. Let me know what you think and if it could have predicted your score.
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I know many people have used that for step 1 and it seemed to correlate well unless they were at the upper extreme, such as >80% on UW and also provided their scores were based on random, unused and ideally timed blocks.
 
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formula correlates very well with the practice tests I've been taking. Hopefully I can squeeze 10-20 points in the next 2 months
 
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Hi. I got 5 weeks and I am really unprepared. I have most of my study materials, but I want to do an initial NBME assessment. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find them on any website. So what do people mean when they say NBME 3 - # ? Where can I find these exams? Any help is appreciated. Thank you 🙂
 
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mahdego said:
Hi. I got 5 weeks and I am really unprepared. I have most of my study materials, but I want to do an initial NBME assessment. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find them on any website. So what do people mean when they say NBME 3 - # ? Where can I find these exams? Any help is appreciated. Thank you 🙂
Click to expand...

Visit https://apps.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main

you will need to create a new acct
 
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triniman said:
Visit https://apps.nbme.org/nsasweb/servlet/mesa_main

you will need to create a new acct
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Bah! I am so stupid... I saw the CBSSA abbreviation without reading the text earlier and I assumed it was for some other kind of test. I guess being hung over from the last day of 2nd year didn't help. I appreciate you pointing me back in the right direction.

Is there a recommended test to first complete and a recommended one to complete last? Thank you 🙂
 
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mahdego said:
Is there a recommended test to first complete and a recommended one to complete last? Thank you 🙂
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I believe NBME 3 is widely regarded to be the most difficult so many people recommend taking it last so as to have a realistic, or slightly low estimate of your real score.
 
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mahdego said:
Bah! I am so stupid... I saw the CBSSA abbreviation without reading the text earlier and I assumed it was for some other kind of test. I guess being hung over from the last day of 2nd year didn't help. I appreciate you pointing me back in the right direction.

Is there a recommended test to first complete and a recommended one to complete last? Thank you 🙂
Click to expand...


What I did was take Form 6 before I ended 2nd year as a self assessment and just used USMLE World's Form 1 and Form 2 as benchmarks during my five weeks of study. I felt as though the UW exams were easier than the Q bank but similar in difficulty to my actual step 1 exam. Good luck!
 
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I'd say no at some score level. I think in the 200-240 level it's good. But it's variable after that. I had 261 and 264 on UWSA and 251 on the real thing. From what I've been reading, it usually over predicts by 5-15 points.
 
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rabbitsfeet777 said:
I'd say no at some score level. I think in the 200-240 level it's good. But it's variable after that. I had 261 and 264 on UWSA and 251 on the real thing. From what I've been reading, it usually over predicts by 5-15 points.
Click to expand...

Ya, there are also some people on here who do boast either improvement or similar scores only a few days out from their UW score too... I think the range they give is +/- 13 which seems to hold true for most people I'd say.

This could also be me trying to deny that it over predicts lol, one more week of this waiting game :scared::xf:
 
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Yeah, and what happens?

I took it 4/29. A friend of mine took his 2 weeks before and he got his score two weeks ago so..... can I expect it today?

No e-mail or anything yet. :/
 
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pagemmapants said:
Yeah, and what happens?

I took it 4/29. A friend of mine took his 2 weeks before and he got his score two weeks ago so..... can I expect it today?
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From earlier posters, they've said that the scores go up at midnight on Tuesday night, with an email to follow on Wednesday morning.

I took mine on 4/28 and my scores aren't posted yet either, which makes me think I'm SOL. Ugh.
 
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notdeadyet said:
From earlier posters, they've said that the scores go up at midnight on Tuesday night, with an email to follow on Wednesday morning.

I took mine on 4/28 and my scores aren't posted yet either, which makes me think I'm SOL. Ugh.
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Hmm, I took mine 4/25 (Saturday test) and nothing yet either. Classmates with dates from 4/21-4/24 got there's last week so it should be our turn! :xf::scared:
 
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stiffany said:
Hmm, I took mine 4/25 (Saturday test) and nothing yet either. Classmates with dates from 4/21-4/24 got there's last week so it should be our turn! :xf::scared:
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Interesting. I know two other folks from that same time frame who haven't heard back either.

Has anyone talked to anyone who's heard this week? Maybe scores are going up later than usual. It's hoping against hope, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Best of luck to all those still waiting...
 
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Dudes, relax. You're get an email at like 11 AM saying you can check your score.
 
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Dookter said:
Dudes, relax. You're get an email at like 11 AM saying you can check your score.
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Thanks. I kept forgetting it was score report day up until this morning, but now sadly my stomach keeps doing those awful flip things. Good luck to everyone waiting on scores (and for that matter, those who haven't taken the beast yet)! :luck:
 
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pagemmapants said:
Thanks, Mr. AOA-I'm-Awesome-Incarnate-and-already-have-my-scores. 😀
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Tell that to the people in my lab who all think I have some sort of genetic abnormality leading to severely reduced intelligence....ha ha.
 
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Just got my score back and wanted to share my experience.

Official score: 250

World avg ~70%

Total time studying ~ 7 weeks (4 of really buckling down)

I took nbme 6 less than 2 weeks before the exam and scored a 230. I was really disappointed because I was expecting better. I decided I wasn't going to take any more nbme's because I didn't see much benefit and didn't want to risk hurting my morale any more with the test approaching. While I'm sure that the nbme's are reasonable predictors of score performance, my advice would be to take those scores with a grain of salt and to consider all factors when judging your progress. Also, don't feel pressured to take those tests if you feel like your time is better spent elsewhere.

Good luck!
 
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enema said:
Just got my score back and wanted to share my experience.

Official score: 250

World avg ~70%

Total time studying ~ 7 weeks (4 of really buckling down)

I took nbme 6 less than 2 weeks before the exam and scored a 230. I was really disappointed because I was expecting better. I decided I wasn't going to take any more nbme's because I didn't see much benefit and didn't want to risk hurting my morale any more with the test approaching. While I'm sure that the nbme's are reasonable predictors of score performance, my advice would be to take those scores with a grain of salt and to consider all factors when judging your progress. Also, don't feel pressured to take those tests if you feel like your time is better spent elsewhere.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

What was your World average when you took the NBME?
 
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Just got my score report this morning, somewhat disappointing:

Official score: 231

All my subject areas were on the right side of the gray area, except for behavioral sciences which was on the very left, so I'm assuming most of the points i lost came from there, even though I felt very prepared for this area

I really thought I had done much better than this, as I had scored a 245 on NBME 6 10 days out, and i felt these questions were even more straightforward than those on the practice tests.

I'm requesting a re-score...
 
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i got my step 1 scores back today and i passed, i tell you so there might be some validity to any advice i have to give. Obviously i didn't score a 8,907/345 like a LOT of SDN students. I'm okay with that as i have no intention of doing a specialty, my goal..pass, and i succeeded so i'm satisfied.
first: UW vs Kaplan - i did both, UW first, i felt that UW did a great job of making you think 3/4 steps ahead on e/question as fast as possible. Qs are sometimes difficult, no doubt you already know, but step 1 Qs can be difficult as well. That's why being able to already be 2/3/4 steps ahead b/f you even finish the vignette is helpful. Although, not every step 1 Q is going to require this and that's where UW becomes too much. I know it's the sexy Qbank right now and e/one loves it, so prob what i'm saying is considered blaspheme in a lot of circles.
Kaplan is really good for "solidifying" the basics. for e/Q there is a reference to FA so i annotated and it stuck. I actually feel that Kaplan is more of a representative of the overall knowledge you need for step 1 than UW...again blaspheme i know.
I studied during the day, 7-8hrs (you may not need that much, i did) and did 3 blocks at night. I did e/subject and used the explanations to annotate, even if i hadn't covered the subject yet. I did mine all on tutor mode: 1) this saved me time in not having to go back and check answers 2) this prevented me from not going back and checking all the answers. Some say it's best to do it all on timed mode, but i say if your test-timing is adequate then worry more about your knowledge and the timing will follow.
Hope this lengthy post helps at all, good luck to all and the most important, IMHO, step in completing this exam is not allowing it to get so big in your head that you don't allow yourself to succeed.
 
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kluverbusy said:
i got my step 1 scores back today and i passed, i tell you so there might be some validity to any advice i have to give. Obviously i didn't score a 8,907/345 like a LOT of SDN students. I'm okay with that as i have no intention of doing a specialty, my goal..pass, and i succeeded so i'm satisfied.
first: UW vs Kaplan - i did both, UW first, i felt that UW did a great job of making you think 3/4 steps ahead on e/question as fast as possible. Qs are sometimes difficult, no doubt you already know, but step 1 Qs can be difficult as well. That's why being able to already be 2/3/4 steps ahead b/f you even finish the vignette is helpful. Although, not every step 1 Q is going to require this and that's where UW becomes too much. I know it's the sexy Qbank right now and e/one loves it, so prob what i'm saying is considered blaspheme in a lot of circles.
Kaplan is really good for "solidifying" the basics. for e/Q there is a reference to FA so i annotated and it stuck. I actually feel that Kaplan is more of a representative of the overall knowledge you need for step 1 than UW...again blaspheme i know.
I studied during the day, 7-8hrs (you may not need that much, i did) and did 3 blocks at night. I did e/subject and used the explanations to annotate, even if i hadn't covered the subject yet. I did mine all on tutor mode: 1) this saved me time in not having to go back and check answers 2) this prevented me from not going back and checking all the answers. Some say it's best to do it all on timed mode, but i say if your test-timing is adequate then worry more about your knowledge and the timing will follow.
Hope this lengthy post helps at all, good luck to all and the most important, IMHO, step in completing this exam is not allowing it to get so big in your head that you don't allow yourself to succeed.
Click to expand...

Would you recommend doing more questions or is doing just 1 QBank (Uworld) and spending the other time reading FA better?
 
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kluverbusy said:
i got my step 1 scores back today and i passed, i tell you so there might be some validity to any advice i have to give. Obviously i didn't score a 8,907/345 like a LOT of SDN students. I'm okay with that as i have no intention of doing a specialty, my goal..pass, and i succeeded so i'm satisfied.
first: UW vs Kaplan - i did both, UW first, i felt that UW did a great job of making you think 3/4 steps ahead on e/question as fast as possible. Qs are sometimes difficult, no doubt you already know, but step 1 Qs can be difficult as well. That's why being able to already be 2/3/4 steps ahead b/f you even finish the vignette is helpful. Although, not every step 1 Q is going to require this and that's where UW becomes too much. I know it's the sexy Qbank right now and e/one loves it, so prob what i'm saying is considered blaspheme in a lot of circles.
Kaplan is really good for "solidifying" the basics. for e/Q there is a reference to FA so i annotated and it stuck. I actually feel that Kaplan is more of a representative of the overall knowledge you need for step 1 than UW...again blaspheme i know.
I studied during the day, 7-8hrs (you may not need that much, i did) and did 3 blocks at night. I did e/subject and used the explanations to annotate, even if i hadn't covered the subject yet. I did mine all on tutor mode: 1) this saved me time in not having to go back and check answers 2) this prevented me from not going back and checking all the answers. Some say it's best to do it all on timed mode, but i say if your test-timing is adequate then worry more about your knowledge and the timing will follow.
Hope this lengthy post helps at all, good luck to all and the most important, IMHO, step in completing this exam is not allowing it to get so big in your head that you don't allow yourself to succeed.
Click to expand...

Hey Kluver, I'm taking a similar route as you and am wondering what you were scoring in each of the Qbanks and was that fairly predictive of your score? I agree with you in that UW teaches you how to "think", but that Kaplan is good at helping "solidify" things. With your recent experience, where would you place the real questions with regard to UW/Kaplan?
 
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kluverbusy said:
I studied during the day, 7-8hrs (you may not need that much, i did) and did 3 blocks at night. I did e/subject and used the explanations to annotate, even if i hadn't covered the subject yet. I did mine all on tutor mode: 1) this saved me time in not having to go back and check answers 2) this prevented me from not going back and checking all the answers. Some say it's best to do it all on timed mode, but i say if your test-timing is adequate then worry more about your knowledge and the timing will follow.
Hope this lengthy post helps at all, good luck to all and the most important, IMHO, step in completing this exam is not allowing it to get so big in your head that you don't allow yourself to succeed.
Click to expand...

quick question kluver... what books did you read and how many weeks did you prep for? your method of studying sounds really good to me and i want to do something similar too 🙂
 
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I used Falcon review studies, but i'll say right away, and i'm sure falcon will have my head: whichever review program you use will be more useful than you, yourself putting something together would be. i know e/one wants to know, how good is it...didn't end w/ a ? mark b/c it's not my question! ha
anyways, the point is that whomever you use as a review, one thing you can be sure of is that they prob put e/thing together better than most of us would have; and it's enough. so there's MHO for reviews
FA: e/one mentions it's their Bible and honestly, my Bible was my Bible, but >85% of the exam can be found in some form from that book; it's true. man if i can say one thing, please don't blow off behav. some say it, some say whatev; but serously you can raise your score if you memorize a few equations, and rd UW or Kaplan Qs regarding behav. those "feel good" Qs, you know, what would you initially say? will def be there and as you all know every point counts! Seriously good luck to all, i hope e/one rocks this test; Good Doctors are needed E/WHERE
 
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flabs said:
Hey Kluver, I'm taking a similar route as you and am wondering what you were scoring in each of the Qbanks and was that fairly predictive of your score? I agree with you in that UW teaches you how to "think", but that Kaplan is good at helping "solidify" things. With your recent experience, where would you place the real questions with regard to UW/Kaplan?
Click to expand...
I actually scored better on the Qbanks than what my real score was. Please don't let that worry you, b/c honestly i'm prob the worst test taker you've ever met. at the end of UW i was consistently hitting high 50's and low, mid 60's. i've seen ppl w/ step 1 scores better than mine w/ those Qbank numbers. again, don't correlate that to your future experience b/c taking tests and i just don't get along.
the kaplan Q I scored high 50's, anywhere in the 60's and occasionally low 70s.
kaplan gives you the meat, UW gives meat and a little more clinical than you'll need for step 1 IMO. As far as Q difficulty, both banks and the step are going to be mixed. one thing i did notice is that sometimes you'll get a Q on the step, and you'll think, I can't believe they asked this easy question, you'll double-check just to make sure (i laughed during the exam b/c i marked a Q that i thought i was being tricked on for that very reason). then you'll get the next Q and you'll think, I can't believe they asked this question, how would i ever know this! ha but anyway that just goes to show, no way you will EVER know all the info you'll get on the exam, but i am a firm believer that w/ those Q banks, the "WTF" questions will be limited.
Good luck to all, i hope in 2 yrs the world has a great new batch of MDs/DOs
 
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Cliff Huxtable said:
Would you recommend doing more questions or is doing just 1 QBank (Uworld) and spending the other time reading FA better?
Click to expand...
I honestly think it depends on your understanding of the knowledge. Ie) for me, my knowledge base was soso, therefore i needed the long hours studying. i used both banks b/c i needed both to solidify what i was re-learning and learning.
Cliff if you have the base, doing UW in conjunction w/ FA, you're gonna do great.
remember not to let "the beast", lol i actually love when ppl call it that, shows you what kinda power this test has over MS! become so big in your head that the dragon slays you
Good luck to all
 
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kluverbusy said:
I honestly think it depends on your understanding of the knowledge. Ie) for me, my knowledge base was soso, therefore i needed the long hours studying. i used both banks b/c i needed both to solidify what i was re-learning and learning.
Cliff if you have the base, doing UW in conjunction w/ FA, you're gonna do great.
remember not to let "the beast", lol i actually love when ppl call it that, shows you what kinda power this test has over MS! become so big in your head that the dragon slays you
Good luck to all
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
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Took Step I this morning - I'll summarize what I can remember and what I can recommend - take it with a grain of salt until I get my score and my word can be trusted 😉

Woke up around 6 to a pot of fresh coffee and looked at a few things in FA while eating breakfast. I don't think that it helped me on any questions but I was pretty stir-crazy and couldn't help myself. Took off at about 7:05 as it was half an hour to the testing center. The check-in was nice and quick and I think I was through the tutorial by 7:50 or 7:55 even though I wasn't scheduled to begin until 8:30.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of the lengths of the questions. The only comparisons I'd had was the CBSE we'd taken 2 or 3 months ago with really long questions stems and Kaplan QBank or USMLEWorld with no more than a few sentances per question. Thankfully I was relieved that time wasn't going to be a factor, most questions were no more than 3 or 4 sentances and the ones that seemed to take any decent amount of time either had 10 lab values or the WTF factor. I finished most sections with 8-12 minutes to spare and then wasted a few more trying to crack the ones I marked. Speaking of which I probably marked an average of 6 or 7 per section with the toughest being the last block, I probably marked at least 13 where I had it narrowed down but couldn't nail it down, but that was the exception and not the rule, for the most part the questions weren't a great mystery.

Pharm: As has been said here in the past - major side effects are high high yield. I had a P450 induction/inhibition question or two but they pretty much cracked the riddle themselves in the stem if I remember correctly.

Physio: Probably the hardest section, easy to second-guess yourself when you're sure of the first 3 of 4 arrows. A few times I think it helped to write out the necessary equation and work through it carefully and there should be plenty of time to do this but leave it for last if you think you might be under a time crunch.

Path: Pretty straight forward. There were as least two disorders that didn't show in FA including one with a rash and then a few serum markers, the only one of which I recognized was anti-Jo and this was no polymyositis/dermatomyositis. The slides helped once in a while (psammoma!) but they rarely were make or break.

BioC: I might have been the most apprehensive about BioC but either I got really lucky or they just really emphasize the main enzymes, the main deficiencies. I'd say I learned 95% of my BioC from FA and UWorld and that was plenty.

Anatomy: Totally random but I seemed to know some of them.

Histo: Had maybe one question with cell connections.

Micro: Really straight forward. Had one or two max fungal questions. I don't think I had one question that asked "Positive vs. negative sense, enveloped vs. non) Bacteria were usually really obvious and no tricky cultures (except for an alternate way of saying acid-fast if I'm correct.

I've already looked up a few that I've gotten wrong and a few that I've gotten right but can't dwell on anything for too long as I have to take the gd COMLEX Tuesday the 26th.

As for my stats:

I got a 83 (233ish) on the CBSE (I think that's the initials) 2+ months back.

61 cumulative on Kaplan QBank which I don't put much faith in because I began doing them in January back when I hadn't covered a fair amount of stuff but I'm glad I started so early because my studying was cumulative from that point forward.

UWORLD: 71% All timed and random blocks of 48, 90% complete. Started off mid 60s a month ago and was averaging a 74 my last 15 blocks.

I annotated the **** out of FA and while this was turned FA into more of a primary resource I'm not sure how many of my side notes showed up on the exam. Not that I regret it just pointing it out. FA and Qbanks took up 75% of my time with the rest filled in my RR Path, Micro cards and whatever else I felt I was weak in on a particular day. When I went through the QBanks I never just quickly clicked through a question while reviewing it just cause I got it right and it was a snap. It took me forever to go through the answers but I did so very thoroughly to the point of boring the crap out of myself but I feel it helped me get a great deal of the stuff down COLD.

Be wary that your test could be full of very tough micro and never take anything anyone says one here too seriously in regards to "OMG you have to know x!!!" because you really have to be prepared for everything. If anyone has any questions I'd be more than willing to answer them as I lurked here for a while and got some great advice from many of the forum's regulars. Now the worst part - waiting for my score... I really don't know what to think - anywhere from 220 to 250 - depends on my guessing? I'd be ecstatic with 240+.
 
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thanks for the detailed post.

did you have Fred 1 or 2.
how many A/V questions did you have.....one more, did you have any sequential questions...?

thank you......good luck on your score.
 
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hey..
i joined SDN last night,,after getting my step1 score report which has disheartened me..i started my preparation from January and gave my exam last month on 30th April..i thought my exam went well and i would be likely scoring in 90s..my UW went ok in which i scored around 65%. when my score report showed a 202..i was kind of shock..my exam's last three blocks were really tough..alot of genetics which was my weaker side..im very much depressed and right now dont know how to proceed further after this..🙁 any suggestions...
thank u SDN..wish i had joined it earlier...
 
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ACE Stimulator said:
thanks for the detailed post.

did you have Fred 1 or 2.
how many A/V questions did you have.....one more, did you have any sequential questions...?

thank you......good luck on your score.
Click to expand...

Fred 1 unfortunately because I certainly had gotten used to 2 while doing UW the last few weeks. It was annoying to have lab box disappear if there was something I wanted to highlight in the stem. One A/V question - it was a computer animated (not bad quality if I may say so) baby and you were able to shift the stethoscope from spot to spot. Unfortunately I didn't get a peep out of my headphones (which I knew worked because you test them during the tutorial) so I made my best educated guess based on the given info 😕

And no, no sequential questions of vignettes with more than one question based on one presentation.
 
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ata said:
hey..
my exam's last three blocks were really tough..alot of genetics which was my weaker side
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Genetics like the features of random diseases (e.g. tuberous sclerosis) or genetics like 2x2 tables, Hardy-Weinberg, other weird stuff?
 
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264

My main method of preparation was to orient all of my class studying towards the boards. I also did a lot of studying in Jan, Feb, and Mar (~ 3 hrs a day). I had 4 weeks of dedicated study time before the test during which I mainly just did q's for about 4 hrs each day. I probably could have started stuyding later, but I'm not a crammer and I'm not very good studying for long periods of time so I think this was best for me. Incidentally, the clinical calculator predicted my score exactly (using the last 500 q's as my UW and Qbank avg's)

Resources Used:
RR Path/Goljan Audio - This was my overall top resource which I used a lot throughout the first two years of school (systems based curriculum). I put more emphasis on studying this than focusing on class notes. In total, I probably went through RR Path 3x. Listened to Goljan probably around 2-3 times but almost entirely during class (ie did not use during review).

BRS Physiology - Again, used mainly during class. Went through most chapters a total of 3 times.

First Aid - My main resource for most things not systems based (embryo, beh sci, biochem, etc.) I don't see the need to study any other resources for embryo, or beh sci/psych. For pharm it has all the drugs in it, but for me, flash cards are a better way to learn them (I really liked Brenner flash cards). It has all the biochem you need, but it is difficult to learn biochem from FA so if you're not very good in biochem you might want another review book. I studied the organ system chapters some, but if you know RR Path and BRS Phys really well there's not much extra in FA (and a lot that's not in FA).

CMMRS - Used during our ID block where it was very helpful (esp. for antimicrobials). Since ID was our last unit I didn't spend much time reviewing this for boards. Also used MicroCards which I thought were quite good.

HY Neuroanatomy - A very good resource during class. Focused mainly on images and pathways during dedicated board review.

Kaplan QBank - 50 q's a day starting 3 months before the exam. An ok resource but I felt some q's were too detail oriented. I did q's in tutor mode by subject because I was more focused on learning the material than evaluating where I was at. Overall 72% (~75% at the end).

UW - I liked these q's better than Qbank so if you're only going to buy 1 get UW. IMO, q's are the best way to learn so it's not a bad idea to do both UW and Qbank if you have the time. 100 - 150 q's a day starting 1 month before the test. I had completed most of my review before doing UW. Overall 78% (~80% at the end).

Robins Review of Pathology - An excellent resource for board-like path q's. Used in conjuction with Rapid Review while studying for class. ~80% overall.

Board Simulator Series - I did some of these q's during class but found them to be too nitpicky/out of date to be all of that helpful. Cheap, but not necessary with the other available options.

NBME1 201 Aug '08 (paid for by the school)
CBSE 252 8 weeks out
Free150 95% 4 weeks out
NBME6 257 3 weeks out
NBME5 257 1 week out
 
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joeylux said:
Very nice work, congrats. How did you feel walking out of the exam?
Click to expand...

Mainly just relieved that it was over. I thought I had a decent shot at 260 with a likely range of 255-265, but that was based more on my performance on qbanks and practice tests than anything else. The q's were harder than the nbme's but I was expecting that since other people have said that. I could be wrong, but I assume that your score is based on how you do in relation to other students, so if you happen to get a harder test you can miss more q's and still get a good score. I was thrilled when I got my score.
 
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drsara23 said:
hey can any1 tell me wut books or study material wud b best 4 usmle step 1 2009/10? thanx🙂
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Here's a definite way to do well: Read this book called Robbins 3x. Then, read through Harrison's Internal medicine book 3 times. Then, hit Cecil's 3x, but don't worry, this one's shorter (i.e. less than 2,000 pages). Steer away from FA and RR Goljan...those books are prone to making you oversimplify questions. Try to do about 5 practice questions a day on tutor mode too. You should hit about 290+.

😉
 
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As of today I am officially DONE with Step! 🙂 Now for the wait.... has it been taking ~6 weeks for others here to get results?

I took both the USMLE and COMLEX, USMLE on Monday and COMLEX today (Wed). Overall gut feeling is that it wasn't horrible, but definitely not fun either. I was expecting the worst and I don't feel like a total failure so hopefully that means something.

There were sections where things just clicked, and then there were sections where I even wondered if I had been in med school for the past two years.

Can post a little more on specifics later, now it's time to let me brain recover.
 
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