USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I've always wanted to start one of these...So here we go! 🙂

My stats:

M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270

 

[intubesteak]

Sketchy has become literally mandatory and it's only been out for four years. Zanki is something that most medical students will know about in a year, and will become staple in 4-5 years or less. It's amazing that such kind of a resource is essentially free, and I hope they don't run into copyright issues going forward.

Why do you feel like you need to contradict experts who have scored extremely well with your anecdotal M1 evidence? Neither sketchy or zanki are mandatory. Please stop posting on this thread.

 

[Lannister]

Welp. The pages in my new copy of First Aid are definitely less shiny. They're also bright yellow.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

Anyone have strong thoughts on the optimal length for dedicated? I'm looking at dates in the 4.5-5.5 weeks time frame. Originally I was thinking of erring on the side of longer rather than shorter but after talking to a few of my friends who did well they all seemed to think they peaked around 4-4.5 weeks and that they only started to lose momentum on the back end.

Shooting for a score in the 260s. Have been doing cumulative review since M1 so I hope to be in a good spot once dedicated starts.

Give yourself enough time. I felt like I was definitely tired by end of week 5, but I kept forcing myself to read FA/listen to Pathoma/grind questions until several weeks thereafter, which definitely increased my score (was in low 240s/high 230s at week 5, scored low 250s), even though I was starting to go slower over the material towards the end.

 

[Terence McKenna]

Why do you feel like you need to contradict experts who have scored extremely well with your anecdotal M1 evidence? Neither sketchy or zanki are mandatory. Please stop posting on this thread.

Initially I was planning on ignoring your vitriolic comment, but I think something very simple needs to be addressed. No one is an "expert" and everyone is allowed to have an opinion, regardless of their stage in an educational system we essentially made up. There's M2s here, as well as M1s, IMGs, FMG, and people who hve already taken the test. I haven't attacked or offended anybody, and have shared information that I feel is significant and important. Get over yourself.

 

[USMLE_Pro]

Initially I was planning on ignoring your vitriolic comment, but I think something very simple needs to be addressed. No one is an "expert" and everyone is allowed to have an opinion, regardless of their stage in an educational system we essentially made up. There's M2s here, as well as M1s, IMGs, FMG, and people who hve already taken the test. I haven't attacked or offended anybody, and have shared information that I feel is significant and important. Get over yourself.

Terence McKenna, first let me say I'm sorry you felt personally attacked, I don't think that was anyone's intention, even if things could always be phrased more delicately in hindsight. I agree with you that everyone is allowed to have an opinion, but by repeatedly posting it here (and not qualifying it by clearly mentioning that you haven't taken Step 1), you and others like you risk influencing other students with a strategy that you have less than even anecdotal proof works well for you, let alone others. Even people like me who have tutored for hundreds of hours may not be "experts", but I do think one should attach more weight to the opinions of people who have at very least taken Step 1.

As an analogy, imagine a physician kept telling other physicians to switch patients from a gold standard drug to an existing supplement that has recently shown promising data in mouse trials. You could see how the other physicians might get annoyed and mention that the drug hasn't even been studied in humans yet, and they would want to hold off making any switches pending human studies. The first physician's excitement is understandable, but he should probably clarify the relative weakness of his evidence.

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Welp. The pages in my new copy of First Aid are definitely less shiny. They're also bright yellow.

Jaundiced, interesting...
Notice any hepatosplenomegaly or tenderness to palpation on the abdominal exam?

 

[bonemann]

anyone on here using USMLERx? Still have about 4-5 organ system blocks to learn but getting an average of 60% on the questions. Wondering if that is okay so far prior to dedicated.

M2 here, doing the same thing.
My plan was to finish Rx before dedicated but i might just ship to Uworld sooner than that.
Rx on random would be good too, but I definitely see the value in learning subjects via questions. Although by organ block is not the most optimal way to study for Step during dedicated, I think its a good way of learning the organ systems the first time around. Preferably after doing Zanki or Pathoma for the block.
I'm around a 73% score but I'm only like 20% done 🙁

 

[attemptedintrepid]

hey buds, is anyone thinking of sticking with a primarily anki/Uworld approach for dedicated? I've checked out Zanki and think the fill-in-the-blank style isn't helpful for my learning style. But I've always had anki notes for my classes that I plan on using for dedicated (sans low yield crap). I've been keeping up with the Holy Trinity (Sattar, Jason Ryan, and Goljan) along with systems, so I've added in their explanations to my deck.

I'm posting on here in case in the future people want to take a look at whether pure consolidation with Anki and Uworld is a viable strategy for step. I had trouble finding as much information on that style of study plan, personally. Reading FA and watching pathoma on repeat wasn't a strong strategy for me in class and I don't want to get it in my head that I have to do that for dedicated. I did best on blocks when I committed to learning my anki cards well and early. My plan is to do some systems review with UWorld as we finish up class, and make anki cards for topics I still struggle with as I go. If I stay on track, I should have all the anki cards I need by the time our dedicated period starts in mid March. I plan on taking the test in early April.

If anyone who took the test before and did something similar to what I described, your input would help alot!

Cheers friends! Lets keep the positive vibes going.

 

[intubesteak]

hey buds, is anyone thinking of sticking with a primarily anki/Uworld approach for dedicated? I've checked out Zanki and think the fill-in-the-blank style isn't helpful for my learning style. But I've always had anki notes for my classes that I plan on using for dedicated (sans low yield crap). I've been keeping up with the Holy Trinity (Sattar, Jason Ryan, and Goljan) along with systems, so I've added in their explanations to my deck.

I'm posting on here in case in the future people want to take a look at whether pure consolidation with Anki and Uworld is a viable strategy for step. I had trouble finding as much information on that style of study plan, personally. Reading FA and watching pathoma on repeat wasn't a strong strategy for me in class and I don't want to get it in my head that I have to do that for dedicated. I did best on blocks when I committed to learning my anki cards well and early. My plan is to do some systems review with UWorld as we finish up class, and make anki cards for topics I still struggle with as I go. If I stay on track, I should have all the anki cards I need by the time our dedicated period starts in mid March. I plan on taking the test in early April.

If anyone who took the test before and did something similar to what I described, your input would help alot!

Cheers friends! Lets keep the positive vibes going.

I think I'm gonna try something similar, except I used firecracker for my flashcards. I went through some of FA this weekend and just wasn't thrilled with it. Good luck!

 

[pbrocks15]

hey buds, is anyone thinking of sticking with a primarily anki/Uworld approach for dedicated? I've checked out Zanki and think the fill-in-the-blank style isn't helpful for my learning style. But I've always had anki notes for my classes that I plan on using for dedicated (sans low yield crap). I've been keeping up with the Holy Trinity (Sattar, Jason Ryan, and Goljan) along with systems, so I've added in their explanations to my deck.

I'm posting on here in case in the future people want to take a look at whether pure consolidation with Anki and Uworld is a viable strategy for step. I had trouble finding as much information on that style of study plan, personally. Reading FA and watching pathoma on repeat wasn't a strong strategy for me in class and I don't want to get it in my head that I have to do that for dedicated. I did best on blocks when I committed to learning my anki cards well and early. My plan is to do some systems review with UWorld as we finish up class, and make anki cards for topics I still struggle with as I go. If I stay on track, I should have all the anki cards I need by the time our dedicated period starts in mid March. I plan on taking the test in early April.

If anyone who took the test before and did something similar to what I described, your input would help alot!

Cheers friends! Lets keep the positive vibes going.

I want to do a similar approach, but do it leading up to dedicated. Although, I have already completed a decent amount of Zanki wasn't continuing with reviews.

I have mixed feelings about the strategy. There is a lot of minutiae and that you can learn from Anki, but the testing skills and the practice doing questions is essential as well.

Open to thoughts on my dilemma as well of how to re-incorporate all the old zanki that I did into an ongoing daily regimen.

 

[intubesteak]

I want to do a similar approach, but do it leading up to dedicated. Although, I have already completed a decent amount of Zanki wasn't continuing with reviews.

I have mixed feelings about the strategy. There is a lot of minutiae and that you can learn from Anki, but the testing skills and the practice doing questions is essential as well.

Open to thoughts on my dilemma as well of how to re-incorporate all the old zanki that I did into an ongoing daily regimen.

I think you will be able to fly through the older cards easier than you think. That's been my experience going back to older subjects that I had mastered at one point but mostly forgotten. It comes back to you. Plus forced recall is going to help stuff stick in your brain better than passively reading it in first aid.

I am going to try reading through one pass of the subject in FA, then hammering through the flashcards for that subject. Of course it would not be smart to sacrifice Uworld time, but there is plenty of time in the day for both uworld and flashcards, unless they are bogging you down too much.

 

[banana_pancakes]

Does anyone have any tips on supplementing sketchy micro? Sketchy is my go-to for pharm and micro but I'm about 20% through uworld and i'd say 1/2 of the micro questions ive run across you can't answer with sketchy. They also ask some ridiculously nitty gritty details but that's besides the point.

First Aid!!!

Maybe boards and beyond-- I didn't personally use it, but it has more information than sketchy has.

Remember, everything said in sketchy is important (may not be depicted in the image).

 

[68PGunner]

There are literally crap that I get right on Uworld from Sketchy videos despite not covering some topics in depth. A recent example is Foscarnet for CMV pt w/ UL97 mutation.

 

[68PGunner]

there have been questions where the answer was not found anywhere in sketchy, either in the sketch or said in the video. not gonna say on here due to not spoiling the question for someone else, *cough cough*. micro is my best subject; thus, the crux of my post.

Agreed. Sketchy will probably cover 60-70% of what you need to know. The other 20-30% can be covered in a variety of other sources like FA, Uworld, or Kaplan. It’s much easier to fill in the other 20-30% knowledge gap when you have the 60-70% foundation down.

 

[sharkbyte]

Hey guys, in need of some advice. I'm not doing so hot on my first pass of UWorld. I'm taking my test June 8 and my plan right now is to do my first pass of Uworld over the next 4 months (I do 20 questions a day and review the previous day's questions) and then reset it and do a 2nd pass during my ~5ish weeks of dedicated. I have set it up so that I am only doing questions on the organ systems we have covered so far in class. Right now I am averaging about a 52%. I haven't scored above a 60% on any 20-question set. I feel like I have a basic understanding of what each question is asking but I'm not quite making the correct diagnosis or if I do, I am unaware of the small detail they're asking about that leads to the right answer. Also, there are random topics that show up that I straight up have never heard about and I didn't learn about it in class.

My initial thoughts right now are to not worry about the % since I have just started and I have 5 months to review and learn everything I need with FA/Pathoma/Sketchy/B&B/etc, but at the same time I don't know if this should be cause for concern. I would ideally like to score 245+ so I'm not sure if I have started out in bad shape. Any thoughts? Thanks for the input.

 

[USMLE_Pro]

I think it’s a bad habit to do organ based (inflates your % correct for one), but it’s pretty common

 

[Lannister]

I think it’s a bad habit to do organ based (inflates your % correct for one), but it’s pretty common

To me it kind of makes more sense to not include the organ systems you haven't covered yet. I'd rather focus on old stuff right now, especially since the organ blocks we're on right now will be much fresher in my mind come step. Plus if I include GI/endo/repro questions in my practice questions, I'm just going to get all of them wrong cuz I haven't learned any of that haha.
Unless you're talking about only doing practice questions relating to the block you're currently in (like only doing cardio questions during cardio). In which case, I agree, probably not a great idea in terms of studying for step, but super helpful for doing well on school exams.

 

[banana_pancakes]

To me it kind of makes more sense to not include the organ systems you haven't covered yet. I'd rather focus on old stuff right now, especially since the organ blocks we're on right now will be much fresher in my mind come step. Plus if I include GI/endo/repro questions in my practice questions, I'm just going to get all of them wrong cuz I haven't learned any of that haha.
Unless you're talking about only doing practice questions relating to the block you're currently in (like only doing cardio questions during cardio). In which case, I agree, probably not a great idea in terms of studying for step, but super helpful for doing well on school exams.

Just as a different opinion for other readers on this thread... I took step 1 last year and for my first pass through Uworld I only did questions pertaining to the organ block I was studying. During my second pass, I did random Uworld blocks.

I think there are advantages to studying this way. When you are in your first pass through the material using FA, pathoma, B&B, etc, doing Uworld questions related to what you are currently learning will solidify your knowledge base. The best way to succeed on step 1 is to ensure you knowledge base is strong before going into dedicated.

 

[Lannister]

Just as a different opinion for other readers on this thread... I took step 1 last year and for my first pass through Uworld I only did questions pertaining to the organ block I was studying. During my second pass, I did random Uworld blocks.

I think there are advantages to studying this way. When you are in your first pass through the material using FA, pathoma, B&B, etc, doing Uworld questions related to what you are currently learning will solidify your knowledge base. The best way to succeed on step 1 is to ensure you knowledge base is strong before going into dedicated.

Thanks for the input. I'm so torn about this. I definitely agree that doing questions that relate to whatever section you're studying in FA would help solidify the concepts. But at the same time, I'm afraid that if I don't set my practice questions to random (excluding blocks I haven't covered), I'll forget about the stuff I'm studying in January/February by the time June rolls around.

I wish there was just one good way to study for this test that worked for everyone! 😛

 

[banana_pancakes]

Thanks for the input. I'm so torn about this. I definitely agree that doing questions that relate to whatever section you're studying in FA would help solidify the concepts. But at the same time, I'm afraid that if I don't set my practice questions to random (excluding blocks I haven't covered), I'll forget about the stuff I'm studying in January/February by the time June rolls around.

I wish there was just one good way to study for this test that worked for everyone! 😛

If you learn it really well the first time I promise you won't forget the important concepts! Maybe a good idea for you would be to add a 2nd and potentially a 3rd qbank. Maybe you could do 20-50 random Rx and/or Kaplan questions a day to keep the old knowledge fresh.

Don't stress, you got this!!

 

[sahell]

First Aid!!!

Maybe boards and beyond-- I didn't personally use it, but it has more information than sketchy has.

Remember, everything said in sketchy is important (may not be depicted in the image).

Some stuff in sketchy is illustrated but not mentioned like arena virus and bunya virus having circular DNA.

 

[68PGunner]

Thanks for the input. I'm so torn about this. I definitely agree that doing questions that relate to whatever section you're studying in FA would help solidify the concepts. But at the same time, I'm afraid that if I don't set my practice questions to random (excluding blocks I haven't covered), I'll forget about the stuff I'm studying in January/February by the time June rolls around.

I wish there was just one good way to study for this test that worked for everyone! 😛

It is still pretty random even if you select just an organ block. However, if you have done 100+ Uworld questions, you will realize within 5 secs into each question the organ that the question is pertained to. Usually, it’s a gimme based on the answer choices.

 

[sahell]

Let's get some numbers on the board

IMG graduated 2016. Last saw M2 stuff in 2012.
Prep time - 8.5 months
Goal Score - 260+

Resources used-
Kaplan Live online lectures, on demand lectures and lecture notes read multiple times
FA - 2 complete passes
Pathoma - just videos once
Sketchy Micro and a couple of sketchy pharm videos
Half of khan's cases

Qbanks -
Kaplan(may-sep) - 85% cumulative
UW(sep-nov) - 87% cumulative (only 1 pass)
Retired NBMEs - between 5-12 wrong on all except NBME 1 with around 20 wrong.
Rx (dec) - 93% - projected 293 when I was done, but 298 today. Lol.

Practise tests -
Kaplan Sim 1 (3+ mo out) - 244/280
NBME 15 (3 mo out) - 248
NBME 16 (2 mo out) - 263
Kaplan Sim 2 (7 wk out) - 267/280
NBME 13 (6.5 wk out) - 263
UWSA 1 (5 wk out) - 275
Free 120 (3 wk out) - 94%
UWSA 2 (3 wk out) - 266
NBME 17 (17 days out) - 269
NBME 19 (10 days out) - 271
NBME 18 (2 days out) - 263

The Beast - Will our hero defy the odds and achieve his goal score or will he bested by the first gatekeeper and have his hopes and dreams crushed. Stay tuned...

265! Not as great as some of my NBMEs but I can't complain. I'm happy to answer questions if I can be of help to anyone. I'll probably check once in a while until my STEP 2 prep gets more serious.

 

[Egyptian Doctor 1989]

Took my exam 27th Dec, got my result today:
NBME 17 3 monthes before the exam: 196
NBME 19 11 days before the exam: 215
NBME 18 10 days before the exam: 223
UWSA1 9 days before the exam: 243
UWSA2 8 days before the exam: 230
then had flu, tonsilittis, fever for 1 week without studying any thing.
Real deal: 224

- I did perfect in first 4 blocks, Did very poor in the last 3 blocks.
- My target was 230 , Target specialty: psychiatry , Have 0 healthcare experience in USA , graduated 2014.
- This is my first exam (didnt take step 2), I dont know if I should continue and take Step 2 or I should shift to PLAB, I am very confused.
- I wish you can share your opinion.

 

[Saratorius]

Hey!
I'm glad this thread was made! I'm an IMG and my exams at the end of March..

Current Date: Jan 18

Goal :260
Last NBME taken Dec 11 : 210

Kaplan (Nov/Dec 2017 ) average 71%
USMLE Rx (Jan 2018 ) their software so so bad by the looks of i'll be done by next year. So far, I'm at 25% completion with and average of 76% ( doing my weak subjects from the NBME - (pathyphysio physio, immuno and Anatomy and some pharm)
Pushing for an end average of 85 +

I also found Rx way easier than Kaplan but I have to say Kaplan has some kickass physio and Bsci sections. I had trouble with the Kaplan software at first but I have to commend their customer service .

umm guys ...I was wondering did anyone get the new FA 2018 ? I'm still using my 2017 one and Idk if it makes a big difference..

I love the postive vibes! Let's turn up the 2018 averages for IMGs and AMGs alike'

 

[Saratorius]

anyone on here using USMLERx? Still have about 4-5 organ system blocks to learn but getting an average of 60% on the questions. Wondering if that is okay so far prior to dedicated.

Hi!
I'm currently doing Rx as well but I finished Kaplan before which I highly recommend doing, if you have the time that is.

I think that's a good score to start the qbanks with! I started with 60s in Kaplan and had quite alot of 80s bringing my average to 70.. It made me realize what I was not good at.Also, the NBME was quite accurate at reflecting that.

So far I'm using Rx to hammer down my weaknesses in a more high yield review ( Kaplan is better written but has too many minutiae )

For you I'd suggest first to finish your organ system blocks asap and then do the qbanks random and timed. But hey , you're the only one who knows whether what you're doing is working for you for or not.

Good luck!

 

[831929]

Hi!
I'm currently doing Rx as well but I finished Kaplan before which I highly recommend doing, if you have the time that is.

I think that's a good score to start the qbanks with! I started with 60s in Kaplan and had quite alot of 80s bringing my average to 70.. It made me realize what I was not good at.Also, the NBME was quite accurate at reflecting that.

So far I'm using Rx to hammer down my weaknesses in a more high yield review ( Kaplan is better written but has too many minutiae )

For you I'd suggest first to finish your organ system blocks asap and then do the qbanks random and timed. But hey , you're the only one who knows whether what you're doing is working for you for or not.

Good luck!

Thanks for the response! I dont think i will have enough time to do kaplan. I hope I can get through USMLERx once before dedicated and then uworld 1.5 times at least during dedicated.

I dont think I can finish organ systems soon (we go through april as our last month). But I hope I can start doing USMLERx for each one we have done so far. I just seem to be having a hard time keeping up with class AND doing USMLERx. The closer I get to dedicated the more I feel like most of my studying (reviewing) will have to occur during those 6 weeks.

 

[831929]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I do think that doing random is great but I feel like it takes too much time to review if I do an organ system question that I have not learn yet.

 

[Lannister]

Anyone know how closely the page numbers match between FA 2017 and 2018? Or if/when USMLE Rx will update their FA page numbers that they give for each question?

Edit: They do not match closely at all 🙁

 

[coldcase331]

Anyone know how closely the page numbers match between FA 2017 and 2018? Or if/when USMLE Rx will update their FA page numbers that they give for each question?

Edit: They do not match closely at all 🙁

Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch over

 

[coldcase331]

And while I'm at it I guess I'll through my hat in the ring:

M2
Current Date: June 2018
Goal Score: 245+
Interest: Cards or EM

Gameplan: Focus on classes for now. Doing 10 Uworld Q's a day (mixed with M1 and covered M2 topics....minus biostats.....), with a ramp up to 25 after my 1st exam (Mid-February, gotta solidify class grade so I have wiggle room.) Doing kaplan Q's specific to the organ system we are in to get ideas for what's important. Because we will have done all but 2 of the "less important" systems by the time my spring break comes around, will probably do a UWSA as a benchmark to make sure I'm at least passing, then review those Q's as my "work" during the break (by a pool in Vegas is the current plan). Plan to have UWorld done by dedicated. During dedicated, the plan is UFAPS (at least get through Marks/Incorrects and a partial 2nd pass of Uworld). Used Pathoma/Sketchy Micro/Pharm throughout my courses, so hopefully that will speed things along since we only have a 4 week dedicated.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Lannister]

Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch over

I use Kaplan to review for school exams so I've already gone through a lot of it, but at least the fact that Kaplan has already updated theirs makes me hopeful that Rx will update theirs soon too.

 

[etceteras]

Not quite 2018, but I did my test on the 28th of December, had a few questions come up from UWSA 2, would recommend going through it the night before

 

[Lannister]

Not quite 2018, but I did my test on the 28th of December, had a few questions come up from UWSA 2, would recommend going through it the night before

Haha go through an entire practice exam the night before?? Most people I've talked to say don't even study at all the night before!

 

[sab3156]

Kaplan already updated their Q's with 2018 if you wanted to switch over

Do you know if they simply added Qs in, or did they remove "old" ones?

 

[GoljansRightBicep]

Haha go through an entire practice exam the night before?? Most people I've talked to say don't even study at all the night before!

I've actually heard it's best to just avoid all board material and follow your school's cirriculum 100%, and then read through FA the morning of your exam. Or at least that's what my teachers seem to think.

 

[sab3156]

they mean they updated the FA references after each question to include the 2018 FA version

Ah. I misunderstood. Thanks.

 

[Lannister]

I've actually heard it's best to just avoid all board material and follow your school's cirriculum 100%, and then read through FA the morning of your exam. Or at least that's what my teachers seem to think.

Oh ya np, I start every morning with a complete read-through of FA!

 

[etceteras]

Lol, I get you, a lot of people take the night off before, that works for them. I did a quick pass through biochem in the morning, plus a review of NBME questions I got wrong. I also did the last two blocks of UWSA2 in the morning out of routine, as I was scavenging it for questions (was finished my second pass of UW). Still had time to go to the movies

I scored 248, 8 points above my last NBME a week previous.

Haha go through an entire practice exam the night before?? Most people I've talked to say don't even study at all the night before!

 

[Lannister]

Lol, I get you, a lot of people take the night off before, that works for them. I did a quick pass through biochem in the morning, plus a review of NBME questions I got wrong. I also did the last two blocks of UWSA2 in the morning out of routine, as I was scavenging it for questions (was finished my second pass of UW). Still had time to go to the movies

I scored 248, 8 points above my last NBME a week previous.

Congrats on the score! But I gotta ask, what time did you have to get up to do all that?? Like 3am?

 

[ShabbaRanks]

Hi all!
I will be sitting for my exam a week from today with a goal of ~245. Due to going through my schedule slower than anticipated, I still have about 1000 uWorld questions left. Took NBME 18 today and scored a predicted 242. My initial plan was to review FA/Sketchy the 3-4 days before my exam, but with the amount of uWorld questions I have left, it is going to have to be one or the other.

Does anyone have any suggestions on whether I should keep doing uWorld q's for the next week with the possibility of finishing, or should I get through FA/sketchy those last 4 days? I'm leaning towards getting through FA once more as everything will be fresh on my mind for my exam

 

[niku9]

How reliable are the predicted scores from the uworld self assessments? It appears they used to over estimate the real deal in the past but they changed the curve recently so its supposed to be more reflective of the actual score now. Anyone know if that is the case?

 

[Terence McKenna]

How reliable are the predicted scores from the uworld self assessments? It appears they used to over estimate the real deal in the past but they changed the curve recently so its supposed to be more reflective of the actual score now. Anyone know if that is the case?

Poll data from 2017. UWSA 2 seems to be the best indicator out of all of the self assessment options but all have a positive correlation. However, how well the score correlates with your actual score depends a lot on how late in your preparation you take the self assessment so I'm not so sure if the UWSA's are the true best assessments (since most people tend to take them after finishing UW, towards the end of their prep). Good luck!

 

[Midnight Schemes]

Can recommend a decent Anatomy review resource?

 

[ankiii]

looking for some advice as a MS2 in spring semester gearing for boards this summer....

have not utilized UW yet and considering starting it closer to spring break. How do you actually go about doing random questions without having touched the source material in 6-18 months?

I kind of wanted to read FA cover to cover once after spring break, then start UW but is that even realistic or make any sense? Maybe better to just do random Rx questions everyday until closer to dedicated and then use UW? It just feels awkward doing questions without having recently "studied" the material.

Just wondering how you are all attacking it....pretty much going to use simply UFAPS for dedicated of ~5 weeks, but trying to figure out stuff leading up to it.

 

[Lannister]

How do you actually go about doing random questions without having touched the source material in 6-18 months?

Mostly I just get them wrong. Then I see the right answer and read every word of the explanation, and I remember or learn. I personally see practice questions as a way to learn/re-learn the material, so I don't worry about what percentage I'm getting correct.

Edit: also, you'll probably find that you remember a lot more of the stuff you learned during M1/first semester of M2 than you'd think.

 

[foreign1711]

Well... IMG here, new to SDN

Test date: 2/7/18
Goal: 265 (lol this was back when I started studying - today: not sure I'll get that 265 but that number served as motivation)

Stats (step1 corr/score):

9/17/17 - NBME 13: 236/540
10/20/17 - NBME 15: 242/570
11/11/17 - NBME 16: 244/580
12/10/17 - NBME 17: 244/580
12/16/17 - UWSA 1: 271/- (ridiculous, I know)
1/6/18 - NBME 18: 244/580
1/20/18 - NBME 19: 248/600 (finally made it to 600)

uWorld first pass - As of today (1/24/18): 94.4% completed and 83.2% correct.....

Anxious/scared as f...... 14 days out and not sure if postponing
(feel free to comment/reply/ask/criticize/suggest/whatever)

 

[pbrocks15]

Well... IMG here, new to SDN

Test date: 2/7/18
Goal: 265 (lol this was back when I started studying - today: not sure I'll get that 265 but that number served as motivation)

Stats (step1 corr/score):

9/17/17 - NBME 13: 236/540
10/20/17 - NBME 15: 242/570
11/11/17 - NBME 16: 244/580
12/10/17 - NBME 17: 244/580
12/16/17 - UWSA 1: 271/- (ridiculous, I know)
1/6/18 - NBME 18: 244/580
1/20/18 - NBME 19: 248/600 (finally made it to 600)

uWorld first pass - As of today (1/24/18): 94.4% completed and 83.2% correct.....

Anxious/scared as f...... 14 days out and not sure if postponing
(feel free to comment/reply/ask/criticize/suggest/whatever)

What is your study methodology/resources?

 

[831929]

Well... IMG here, new to SDN

Test date: 2/7/18
Goal: 265 (lol this was back when I started studying - today: not sure I'll get that 265 but that number served as motivation)

Stats (step1 corr/score):

9/17/17 - NBME 13: 236/540
10/20/17 - NBME 15: 242/570
11/11/17 - NBME 16: 244/580
12/10/17 - NBME 17: 244/580
12/16/17 - UWSA 1: 271/- (ridiculous, I know)
1/6/18 - NBME 18: 244/580
1/20/18 - NBME 19: 248/600 (finally made it to 600)

uWorld first pass - As of today (1/24/18): 94.4% completed and 83.2% correct.....

Anxious/scared as f...... 14 days out and not sure if postponing
(feel free to comment/reply/ask/criticize/suggest/whatever)

Why would you postpone?

 

[foreign1711]

What is your study methodology/resources?

Did the entire Kaplan course (except for pathology); Pathoma+Book x2; Goljan x1; RX x1 (Random/All subjects/Usually timed); DiT (part 2) x1; FA x2 (so far + reading and annotating as I check my qbanks); uWorld (Random/All subjects/Usually timed)
I'm really slow. Studying 6-8 daily since mid-May: 4-5hrs of reading+videos and about 3-4hrs doing/going over Qbanks.

Edit: I'm doing clinical rotations, generally from 8AM-1PM; I usually get started as early as possible, usually at around 2PM.