Hey guys.. I am finally done with step 1!!! i ll do a fast write up since i gotta pack to leave for skiing tomorrow
First about test: Its doable.. Most of the questions test super classic concepts but they may twist it a bit so you can never be sure .. I felt like I was guessing in >40% of my questions… They took a great effort to make even simple stuff as vague as possible . I got tricked in stupid answers in at least 5 questions! Like when i saw the answer in FA i wanted to hit my head on the wall.. Anyways the questions are like that : 5% super easy , just a random guy off the street can answer them , 10% easy for med student , 40% normal stuff but twisted , 35% kinda hard but doable , 5% impossible!! ( i have never seen this stuff in my life before , total guess) Don't care about this last 5% unless you are shooting for 280.. They put them in there so noone can ever answer all the questions correct
About time : I had like 10-15 mins spare in each block that I used as extra break to relax , reviewing stuff tends to make me over think and do stupid mistakes.. Last 2 blocks i finished just on the hour mark because I was tired and wasn't 100% focused ( checked ceiling , floor , other people etc.. ) Did a total of 2hours break
Be very careful with red bull and other similar products .. I wasn't used to it and chugged one before my 2nd block and i thought my heart was gonna break and got super dizzy during the last 10q's of the block ( hope i didn't bomb them…) Had to take 30 min break to get well again… If u don't drink that stuff regularly stick to good old coffee
Minutiae questions were around 5 in my test , so don't get too crazy with memorizing .. Also i had ZERO questions on milestones!!! GOOD RIDDANCE , i never bothered to 100% memorize it and never will , also ZERO questions on lysosomal storage diseases… GOOD RIDDANCE too!
I truly think that if someone reads through FA and truly tries to understand it instead of just trying to memorize it he will do great on this test ( but take it with a grain of salt , I have very mixed feelings about my test , I think my score could be anything from 200-260)
About anatomy… like 20 questions max about classic stuff , 3-4 WTF minutiae that only anatomy professors can answer , so just stick with FA uWorld
My prep :
Path : Pathoma in 3rd year ( now I am fifth year , just reviewed a little and annotated to FA ) Goljan one pass in the beggining and annotated to FA what i found important , Webpath ( GREAT use it if you have time) + Goljan lectures ( hear them if you can , got at least 5 q's right due to listening to the Path master ) No kaplan lectures or book , Barone was funny but half of the lecture was jokes , i aint got time for that..
Biochem/Molecular/Genetics : Kaplan + HY molecular just a little bit about the developmental genes + FA . More than enough , they ask standard stuff but VERY twisted
Immuno/Micro : Kaplan + FA + Sketchymicro + How the immune system works ( PERFECT BOOK , read it if you have time) Kaplan redundant for micro , maybe general chapters and Chapter with clinical presentations , just to get a hold on it , no memorizing.. Kaplan also good for some immunology concepts , still the other book ROCKS
Stats / Behavioral / Ethics blah blah : Kaplan + FA ( wanted to do khans book , had no time..) So much guessing on those.... Stats very straightforward , I thought '' Are they kidding me?? It cant be that simple..'' , Psychiatry / Psychology ridiculously easy
Anatomy /Neuro : Kaplan / HY Gross(clinical vignettes only ) / FA--> Neuro super simple on my test .. all these pathways and brain stem memorizing… total waste.. Dont care that much about anatomy imo .. study the standard stuff and guess on the rest
Pharm : Kaplan + FA ( so many drugs , so little time… i got 2 wtf q's on drugs that i think no resource could ever prepare you for ) . Remember Rule about CYP450 isoforms.. If they ask about it , 90% of time its CYP3A4 .
Physio : Kaplan / Wikipedia/ FA Try to put extra effort here so no arrow q's can scare you , lectures on that stuff really important , you just cant grasp these from a book . Had highest performance on physio with that combo
Qbanks: Each took me ca. one month to finish , I did only one pass random timed in each , blocks of 44qs
Kaplan --> 80%
Uworld --> 88%
Practices-- > 6wks ago : NBME 11- 262-660( But i cheated in 2q's)
4wks ago : UWSA -2 : 265+
3wks ago : UWSA - 1 : 262
2wks ago : NBME -17 : 266/680
Remember its doable , and don't stay too much on SDN ( found out that the stuff we talk about here are so LOWWWW yield.. stick with the basics and master them) Merry Christmas to all!!!
