Phrasing of questions/answers on Step I vs. NBME practice exams and qbanks

[bonez318ti]

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Hi all,

I'm within days of my scheduled exam and I've got a question about the way the USMLE asks the questions for those who have already taken it.

I've noticed that the phrasings of the questions are alittle different between UW, Kaplan Qbank, and the NBME practice exams (i've only done Form 3).

I felt that the NBME practice exam had the most vaguely phrased questions, sometimes I'd spend 20 seconds thinking about what they are trying to ask.. and sometimes I'd even have to read the answers to try to figure out the direction they are trying to go in. I'm not sure if this is b/c I was tired when I took the exam or that perhaps it is meant to be vaguely phrased... but I did not come across this on the USMLE world questions nor Kaplan Qbank. Of the Qbanks, I felt Kaplan had the most clearly phrased questions and answers.. most of the time I can immediately identify the concept they are trying to test (assuming it wasn't a nitpicky factoid that I didnt know) and they are also usually the most generous with the 'classical presentation' in the vignette making it easier to make the dx. In UW, I also rarely had trouble with the phrasings of the question but they didn't always give the most obvious presentations.

So my question is.. What source is most realistic to your USMLE exam? The NBME practice exam, Usmle World, or Kaplan Qbank? Did you ever have trouble with question/answer phrasings on the real USMLE (ie: awkward/unclear phrasings?)

Looking forward to any input..

 

[RockShox]

Well, don't take this in the wrong way but heres an answer in the form of a question...

-would the questions be closer to the style created by a private company that doesn't write the test, another private company that doesn't write the test, or...perhaps the questions written by the organization that actually writes the test?

The answer is that the NBME test is obviously the most similar in fact it is pretty exact. Also, deductive reasoning is going to be a Godsend skill for the test too.

I never has trouble with with question stems in the USLME but I also never had trouble with them on the NBME practice tests either. It could be that you are reading to much into it or are expecting too many memorization questions that really are not on the test.

 

[discreet44]

You will find some questions that very much resemble NBME (in fact, on the actual exam there were a few repeats directly from NBME). You will also find some questions very similar to UWORLD. I did not use Kaplan, so I'm not sure how those questions compare. Basically, expect to see everything - some questions will be extremely straightforward and easy, while others will be more difficult (on my test the most vague questions came from behavioral science "what would you say to the patient?" questions). Good luck on your test.

 

[bonez318ti]

Repeats? Makes me wish I had done the other forms... 😛 ah well..

Thanks for your input

 

[cdql]

While I haven't taken the exam myself, I've been hearing that the NBME exams and USMLEWorld are closest to the actual exam. I believe the actual exam's question stems are still a bit longer and wordier which is why some students may feel a time crunch that is normally not experienced during practice runs with NBME exams/UW sets

That being said, I'd recommend using all 3 for prepping. Might as well pick up as much diverse info as possible right? 🙂

 

[discreet44]

The question stem length on the exam was highly variable. Some were one sentence questions, while the longest questions had a short intro paragraph followed by 10 lines of lab data, followed by a short concluding paragraph with the question. Most questions were about 2-4 sentences. If you've done one or two NBME's and completed UWORLD, there should be at most only a few surprises throughout the test.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Does all the lab data on the actual exam show what is normal/abnormal?

 

[discreet44]

Does all the lab data on the actual exam show what is normal/abnormal?

Not in the question stem, but yes, there are normal lab values provided for comparison.