USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[drwatson1575]

I think West's Respiratory Physiology probably has everything they could possibly test you on, plus the online lecture series is free. You could also use the short BRS Physiology if you want a quicker review.

Thank you!!!

 

[DrTacosMD]

Just took NBME 12 a few days ago. 440 - 215 (got 35 Qs wrong). Anyone know what a good first practice test score is?
I'll be taking Step 1 on May 22, 2017.

Good luck everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[W19]

Just took NBME 12 a few days ago. 440 - 215 (got 35 Qs wrong). Anyone know what a good first practice test score is?
I'll be taking Step 1 on May 22, 2017.

Good luck everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

That is a good first practice test score... A couple 0f people I know went from 210+ to 245+ in 8 wks... You should definitely aim for 255+

 

[drhousemd77051]

Hello, can anybody tell me a good way to remember the S/S of intoxication and withdrawal of psychoactive drugs?? I somehow always seems to forget them. Thanks Wish there was sketchy for this

 

[DrTacosMD]

Hello, can anybody tell me a good way to remember the S/S of intoxication and withdrawal of psychoactive drugs?? I somehow always seems to forget them. Thanks Wish there was sketchy for this

I just did practice questions and reread the first aid pages for it a few times. When u do practice Qs, they'll often single out 2-3 most defining SSx for each tox or withdrawal syndrome.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Brorthopedic]

I just did practice questions and reread the first aid pages for it a few times. When u do practice Qs, they'll often single out 2-3 most defining SSx for each tox or withdrawal syndrome.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

This. Make sure to also read the explanations for why the other options aren't correct. Sometimes those are more useful than the explanation for the right choice.

 

[drhousemd77051]

I just did practice questions and reread the first aid pages for it a few times. When u do practice Qs, they'll often single out 2-3 most defining SSx for each tox or withdrawal syndrome.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

This. Make sure to also read the explanations for why the other options aren't correct. Sometimes those are more useful than the explanation for the right choice.

thanks. yeah doing qs helps a lot. I am doing UW for the second time. 2-3qs about tox and withdrawal came up. I found the UW tables helpful. They gave 2-3 s/s in bold letter. Remembering those and their actual characteristic like stimulant, hallucinogen makes life a lot easier. I had another qs. Can you say how long should i give to review one block of UW as i'm doing them for second time? I think i'm spending too much time on them.

 

[iscream4icecream]

Any advice on which flashcards are the best for pharm? (ex. lange, pharmcards, kaplan, etc.)

 

[Dr-G]

Anybody tried boards & beyond online videos .. I heard they are pretty good but still not many reviews are out there ... ??!!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[doctakay]

Any advice on which flashcards are the best for pharm? (ex. lange, pharmcards, kaplan, etc.)

Honestly, i wasted alot of time doing flash cards. I would just look at pharm like any other organ system in FA. Focus ONLY on the pharm in FA and UWORLD. No need for flashcards. I Barely got any questions on pharm. Maybe at most 10ish..and they were super straightforward and right out of FA. Took exam December 19th,2016.

 

[doctakay]

Hello, can anybody tell me a good way to remember the S/S of intoxication and withdrawal of psychoactive drugs?? I somehow always seems to forget them. Thanks Wish there was sketchy for this

Repetition Repetition Repetition and questions

 

[ASM student]

Anybody tried boards & beyond online videos .. I heard they are pretty good but still not many reviews are out there ... ??!!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I've seen some free videos on their YouTube channel and they were very useful but I don't know if you can use them as your primary source or if it's worth the subscription fee. You can check their channel and see it your self.

Sent from my PLK-L01 using Tapatalk

 

[medstu99]

Anybody tried boards & beyond online videos .. I heard they are pretty good but still not many reviews are out there ... ??!!
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Honestly I've watched some of their videos but found this one website more helpful - they're called Lecturio. They've got a bunch of videos on youtube www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYmF43dpGHz8gi2ugiXr0Q

 

[hihidongok]

Everyone has different methods. I would recommend just FA and practice questions for pharm. If one absolutely struggles to memorize the pharm in FA then the Lange pharmacy cards are ok to use.

Hi, I intend to learn Pathology, is it worth reading Big Robbin, I'm currently in 3rd year/6-year curriculum. I have about 3 years to take step 1. Any advice? Thanks doc

 

[Phloston]

Hi, I intend to learn Pathology, is it worth reading Big Robbin, I'm currently in 3rd year/6-year curriculum. I have about 3 years to take step 1. Any advice? Thanks doc

Big Robbins is good for cursory read alongside coursework. For usmle it's not what you want.

 

[enthusiasticimg]

hey guys I need advice, I'm having problems with immunology, it is my weakest area based off NMBE reports. what can I do to get better at immuno? whats the best resource for immuno ?step 1 exam in 3months

 

[doctakay]

Hi, I intend to learn Pathology, is it worth reading Big Robbin, I'm currently in 3rd year/6-year curriculum. I have about 3 years to take step 1. Any advice? Thanks doc

Utilize those years for memorizing FA and uworld and brs physio. Make sure u have good resources for FA tho and ur gold.

 

[Phloston]

hey guys I need advice, I'm having problems with immunology, it is my weakest area based off NMBE reports. what can I do to get better at immuno? whats the best resource for immuno ?step 1 exam in 3months

Step1 exam in three months then you should be doing nothing but questions and FA at this point. Improve your immuno? Memorize FA. If after you've honestly ingested and digested that chapter you still feel weak, then yeah, questions. Remediation resources are ok if you were further from your exam. But now that ur in the yellow zone the strategy is different.

 

[doctakay]

Step1 exam in three months then you should be doing nothing but questions and FA at this point. Improve your immuno? Memorize FA. If after you've honestly ingested and digested that chapter you still feel weak, then yeah, questions. Remediation resources are ok if you were further from your exam. But now that ur in the yellow zone the strategy is different.

Use free trails for firecracker and annotate FA with it. U only need 3 days max and ur solid. Any questions hit me up ill tutor u free of charge

 

[Phloston]

You've quoted me back here. So I'm guessing you wanted my input on your point about Firecracker?

No, I would not recommend spending time on that (not being disputatious; that's just my strong opinion). Within three months of your exam, I would not recommend spending time on anything apart from FA memorization and practice questions (getting your question completion count high). My advice would be to have the immuno chapter basically memorized from FA. If after you've genuinely done that and you still feel weak, just questions.

 

[Brorthopedic]

You've quoted me back here. So I'm guessing you wanted my input on your point about Firecracker?

No, I would not recommend spending time on that (not being disputatious; that's just my strong opinion). Within three months of your exam, I would not recommend spending time on anything apart from FA memorization and practice questions (getting your question completion count high). My advice would be to have the immuno chapter basically memorized from FA. If after you've genuinely done that and you still feel weak, just questions.

Any idea where the pdf for your step 1 pearls is? I use to have it on my old laptop but I can't find at anymore. Cheers.

 

[wallaby524]

Anyone using Kaplan Qbank? Over half way through and overall average is at 60% with the last month averaging closer to 65%. Not sure how this stands compared to others.

 

[AlteredScale]

Anyone using Kaplan Qbank? Over half way through and overall average is at 60% with the last month averaging closer to 65%. Not sure how this stands compared to others.

I'm using it. Around 65-70 for the USMLE one and 70-80 for comlex. This is random and times.

The explanations are great for USMLE. For comlex it's fine but I've noticed almost all of the questions haven't been updated since 2012 which is weird.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[wallaby524]

Agree with the great answer explanations. I think Kaplan doesn't get enough credit for its qbank, it seems very thorough. The COMLEX qbank is plain terrible so I'll be using COMBANK later on.

 

[doctakay]

Anyone using Kaplan Qbank? Over half way through and overall average is at 60% with the last month averaging closer to 65%. Not sure how this stands compared to others.

Kaplan qbank is very detailed. It definitely wont hurt u. However, i rather think its a bit excessive in such a stressful situation like preparing for step 1. If u have time for kaplan qbank do it anything above 55% is good for kaplan, it can be tough, so give urself credit..hope i helped i feel i sound very confusing lol

 

[nonick123]

Can you recommend some other sources than FA and Uworld for anatomy and neuroanatomy ?

 

[doctakay]

Can you recommend some other sources than FA and Uworld for anatomy and neuroanatomy ?

Becker for neuroscience is solid. I personally did not use it, and just stuck with FA and uworld but i STRONGLY recommend it. If you do becker for neuro u will be solid!! Im helping my friend study for step 1 cuz i took it dec. 19th and i skimmed through his becker book...man it looks gold. For anatomy, my humble opinion is that FA and UWORLD is sufficient for anatomy. But know them cold.

 

[Shams al Deen]

This might be from one of the older NBMEs so don't read ahead if you plan to do the old NBMEs.
























A married 78-year-old man is brought to the ER after ingesting ten 15-mg temazepam tablets. After he is stabilized medically, he undergoes psychiatric evaluation. Which of the following is the most important in assessing his risk for suicide?

A. Early morning awakening with decreased appetite
B. Family history of suicide
C. Male gender
D. Marital status
E. Patient's belief that temazepam would kill him









I liked E but the "answer key" I was using said it was A. There are tons of conflicting opinions online. SDN is filled with 260+ beasts. What's the actual right answer? lol

 

[Taco Time]

This might be from one of the older NBMEs so don't read ahead if you plan to do the old NBMEs..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
A married 78-year-old man is brought to the ER after ingesting ten 15-mg temazepam tablets. After he is stabilized medically, he undergoes psychiatric evaluation. Which of the following is the most important in assessing his risk for suicide?..

A. Early morning awakening with decreased appetite
B. Family history of suicide
C. Male gender
D. Marital status
E. Patient's belief that temazepam would kill him



.




.
I liked E but the "answer key" I was using said it was A. There are tons of conflicting opinions online. SDN is filled with 260+ beasts. What's the actual right answer? lol.

I believe it's A, and that's what I went with as my first-choice. Regardless of the med, realize that most patients aren't aware of the mechanism of the drugs they're taking. They simply reach of a rx and ingest an excessive amount often as an impulse due to them dealing with depression. I don't think it would be E for that reason because the patient is "hoping" the meds would kill him instead of "believing" they would. This is kind of a weird explanation, and I don't know how much sense it makes coming across. I went with A because early signs of depression (which lead to suicidal ideation and is the biggest risk factor) often include changes in sleeping patterns, with either sleeping excessively or waking up early and not being able to go back to sleep. Diet is also affected as well in these patients, so it's important to ask. It's easier to see why A is the right answer than to try and get caught up into why E is wrong. Just realize that depression affects sleep and diet is ALWAYS a risk factor for suicide. Hence, it makes sense why a doctor would seek out this information in this patient.

 

[OlgaW007]

Hey guys!
A friend of mine just got her score today. She took her test at the end of December and got less than 210. She says that many people who took step 1 in the second half of December got an unexplained low score (15 points lower than their last NBME). What do you think?
My test is next week and it makes me very nervous.
Also, I have two NBME left - 17 and 18. Which one is more predictive in your opinion?

 

[ASM student]

Hey guys!
A friend of mine just got her score today. She took her test at the end of December and got less than 210. She says that many people who took step 1 in the second half of December got an unexplained low score (15 points lower than their last NBME). What do you think?
My test is next week and it makes me very nervous.
Also, I have two NBME left - 17 and 18. Which one is more predictive in your opinion?

I've got my score released this Wednesday and it's 252 !!!!!!
My first self assessment was in July and (UWSA 1) with a score of 241 then Did only 2 nbmes in the same month with an average of 225.
Used my extension as I was having final year exams at my school in august and early September and had to focus on my school.
From September I reread FA few times + most of DIT videos + uworld however I didn't think that taking another nbme will make any difference (my exam was 28 of dec which is the last month after my extension) so I was going in anyway.
The exam experience was terrible, I was devastated from the first few questions in my first block, I was going out from prometric thinking it wouldn't be surprising if I didn't pass.
Talked with a lot of people almost all of them telling me to trust my self assessment average (my last one was >5 months before the exam)
Which only added up to my anxiety but today things came out unexpectedly well. I was aiming for IM residency and had no problems with a 230s but thank god things came out even better.

 

[OlgaW007]

I've my score released this Wednesday and it's 252 !!!!!!
My first self assessment was in July and UWSA 1 with a score of 241 then Did only 2 nbmes in the same month with an average of 225
Used my extension as I was having final year exams at my school in august and early September and had to focus on my school.
From September I reread FA few times + most of DIT videos + uworld but didn't think that taking an nbme will make any difference (my exam was 28 of dec which is the last month after my extension) so I was going in anyway.
The exam experience was terrible, I was devastated from the first few questions in my first block, I was going out thinking it wouldn't be surprising if I didn't pass.
Talked with a lot of people almost all of them telling to trust your self assessment average (my last one was >5 months before the exam)
Which added up to anxiety but today things came out unexpectedly well. I was aiming for IM residency and had no problems with a 230s but thank god things came out even better.

Congratulations!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[ASM student]

Congratulations!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Thanks man, good luck!!

Sent from my PLK-L01 using Tapatalk

 

[Shams al Deen]

NBME 15 I got 242 with 89% correct (missed 22). I'm super discouraged with the crazy small margin of error. I feel like I could easily have missed 4 more questions and gotten at 230. Or I could have guessed better on a few and gotten a 250. Makes me very uneasy.

Furthermore, I found this old thread of people saying that missing 21 on NBME 15 yielded a 250, and 20 missed was 252. https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/nbme-15-scores-and-percentage-correct.994942/

That would mean if I got 1 more correct my score would boost 8 points? Or those posts were inaccurate, or the scale changed in the last couple years.

 

[Taco Time]

NBME 15 I got 242 with 89% correct (missed 22). I'm super discouraged with the crazy small margin of error. I feel like I could easily have missed 4 more questions and gotten at 230. Or I could have guessed better on a few and gotten a 250. Makes me very uneasy.

Furthermore, I found this old thread of people saying that missing 21 on NBME 15 yielded a 250, and 20 missed was 252. https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/nbme-15-scores-and-percentage-correct.994942/

That would mean if I got 1 more correct my score would boost 8 points? Or those posts were inaccurate, or the scale changed in the last couple years.

I think that the scale has been changing of recent, probably within the last couple of years, which makes no sense. There's no way that getting nearly 90% correct on an NBME should align with a 240. If there's people getting 270s (technically) then how would they stratify the 30+ point distribution over 10%?

I'd say that if you're scoring well in UW, and can pick up on your mistakes, you'll probably score above a 240 on step 1, which is a solid score but still is within 1 SD above the mean. No way that 15-20% of step 1 test takers are getting more than ~92-93% of questions correct on step 1 at the end of the day. I think NBME might have changed their scale on practice tests as a reflex to other test companies, like UW. The caveat is that the NBME has data available to them that the public does not, so it does make for some frustrating questioning by students.

 

[doctakay]

How does your friend know that many others also got low scores? Is your friend on this fourm? What did she/he do about their low score?

Hey guys!
A friend of mine just got her score today. She took her test at the end of December and got less than 210. She says that many people who took step 1 in the second half of December got an unexplained low score (15 points lower than their last NBME). What do you think?
My test is next week and it makes me very nervous.
Also, I have two NBME left - 17 and 18. Which one is more predictive in your opinion?

 

[Shams al Deen]

So I took the real step 1 couple days ago and wow it was hard AF. NBMEs are a joke compared to that beast (thus, I hope the curve is more representative of UWSA). If the curve for real step 1 is anything like the curve for the NBME practice exams, then wow, I'ma end up retaking this ****.

My last NBME17/18 avg was a 253. My UWSA1/2 avg was a 257. UW Qbank was 77%. If only those scores counted for something

 

[Anti-PD1]

How have people been doing in terms of consistency?

On UWorld, sometimes I'll get a few wrong, and then sometimes several. There's no real weakness area I can identify, it just seems like sometimes I'm in the zone and sometimes I justify wrong answers.

Also, are the NBMEs easier, question for question than UWorld? With the grading scale people are describing, it seems like to break 250, you can only get 3-4 wrong per block.

 

[vacterl]

hello everyone, I am taking the real deal on tuesday, my NBME scores like this
nbme 16 250(4 weeks ago)
nbme 17 250 (3 weeks ago)
nbme 18 238 (2 days ago)
uwsa 1 260 ( 2 weeks ago)
uwsa 2 262 ( 1 week ago)
I am gonna take free 120 tomorrow
As you can see I have a huge decrease in 18 and I am really freaking out about it, Altough I am not in my mood during 18.
what do you guys think, should I postphone my date. I really wanna break 250.
#shams al deen what do you think about quality of real deal q's. is it more like nbme or uw or completely something else
good luck everyone

 

[vacterl]

How have people been doing in terms of consistency?

On UWorld, sometimes I'll get a few wrong, and then sometimes several. There's no real weakness area I can identify, it just seems like sometimes I'm in the zone and sometimes I justify wrong answers.

Also, are the NBMEs easier, question for question than UWorld? With the grading scale people are describing, it seems like to break 250, you can only get 3-4 wrong per block.

#anti-PD1 I am sure there are people just like us in terms of consistincy. I think we have some shallow weeknesses, when we encounter hard q about it, we are having really having a hard time and I believe we couldn't see it in statistics because they are some spesific cases. I suggest you to learn very well the q's that you have problem with. I am saying this because generally we blame the q for it's stupidity and can't focus on it .

about NBME's I think last ones(16 17 18) is on the same level in difficulty or maybe higher. there are lots of vague questions that you can not be sure what it's telling you. of course there are some straight forward q's.(%50-60) but your score decided by those wierd q's. so bring it on

As far as I know real deal is somothing else than nbme's and uworld q's but I just heard from a couple of friends :/

good luck

 

[Shams al Deen]

hello everyone, I am taking the real deal on tuesday, my NBME scores like this
nbme 16 250(4 weeks ago)
nbme 17 250 (3 weeks ago)
nbme 18 238 (2 days ago)
uwsa 1 260 ( 2 weeks ago)
uwsa 2 262 ( 1 week ago)
I am gonna take free 120 tomorrow
As you can see I have a huge decrease in 18 and I am really freaking out about it, Altough I am not in my mood during 18.
what do you guys think, should I postphone my date. I really wanna break 250.
#shams al deen what do you think about quality of real deal q's. is it more like nbme or uw or completely something else
good luck everyone

It is most like UWorld rather than the NBMEs. However there were a few on the real deal that were even crazier than some of the '23% correct' crazy **** you seen on Uworld sometimes.

 

[vacterl]

It is most like UWorld rather than the NBMEs. However there were a few on the real deal that were even crazier than some of the '23% correct' crazy **** you seen on Uworld sometimes.

thank you very much.
I think I am gonna pass out

 

[Medstart108]

So I took the real step 1 couple days ago and wow it was hard AF. NBMEs are a joke compared to that beast (thus, I hope the curve is more representative of UWSA). If the curve for real step 1 is anything like the curve for the NBME practice exams, then wow, I'ma end up retaking this ****.

My last NBME17/18 avg was a 253. My UWSA1/2 avg was a 257. UW Qbank was 77%. If only those scores counted for something

Just took my step 1 today and feeling like I might have failed. I'm just aiming for a pass rather than a high score but it was way harder than the NBMEs and I feel like the emphasis was different than Uworld.

 

[A$AP]

Just took my step 1 today and feeling like I might have failed. I'm just aiming for a pass rather than a high score but it was way harder than the NBMEs and I feel like the emphasis was different than Uworld.

Can you explain how you felt the emphasis was different? Perhaps using examples (does not have to be directly from your exam). Congrats on finishing by the way, and want to add that nearly everyone feels very badly about their exam but end up doing right around their NBME average.

 

[Anti-PD1]

So I took the real step 1 couple days ago and wow it was hard AF. NBMEs are a joke compared to that beast (thus, I hope the curve is more representative of UWSA). If the curve for real step 1 is anything like the curve for the NBME practice exams, then wow, I'ma end up retaking this ****.

My last NBME17/18 avg was a 253. My UWSA1/2 avg was a 257. UW Qbank was 77%. If only those scores counted for something

Hope it all turns out well for you!

Do you think the questions were more tricky in their wording, or do you think they covered content not in UWorld/FA/Pathoma?

 

[drhousemd77051]

Hello guys, wanted an advice. I have bought NBME 16 and 17, both of which i have to give within 21st Feb. I want to give one within 2-3 days time and the other one on 21st feb. Which one to give at first? Some says give 17 2 weeks before your step, some says 16 and 18 closely emulates with step. Big time confused. Can anybody clear the air and say which one i should give at first and keep other one for last? Thanks.

 

[OlgaW007]

I took nbme 16 and nbme 18. Nbme 18 is not much harder than nbme 16 but questions a lot like uworld - they are longer than nbme 16. In your position I would take 16 and then 17th. But I would also try to take nbme 18 just in case.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[enthusiasticimg]

hi guys, what resource can I use to improve on physiology. exams in 2months

 

[Brorthopedic]

hi guys, what resource can I use to improve on physiology. exams in 2months

BRS Physiology, it's a small book and can be done in its entirety in under a week.

 

[mymembernames]

^How about Anatomy? TIA.