- Joined
- Dec 13, 2003
- Messages
- 329
- Reaction score
- 0
physical diagnosis NBME shelf?
- Thread starter mountaindew2006
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2002
- Messages
- 243
- Reaction score
- 1
mountaindew2006 said:
its basically a path, micro, behavioral..... exam.....and a few heart and breath sounds. and some "management" questions. clinical dx describes the exam perfectly....virtually every question is a clinical vignette requiring a diagnosis?". U really don?t need any "phys dx" to do well on this. I don?t know if there is a pretest for this?I personally didn?t study for it.
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2002
- Messages
- 224
- Reaction score
- 0
I think they take that test at the end of the 2nd year at my school as a shelf exam for the ICM-2 class.
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2003
- Messages
- 329
- Reaction score
- 0
yah i was glancing at the PreTest book. Its soo ridiculous they have management q's on here. As someone above this posted, its TOTALLY something one should take after doing an Int Med rotation. Urghhhhh
oh well..just gotta suck it up I suppose...
oh well..just gotta suck it up I suppose...
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Gah! This test is our final for our Intro to Clinical Examination course....which is nothing like what it sounds like this test covers. What is this pre-test you speak of? We haven't had any shelf exams do far in the first two years, but I know they use them in the clinical years at my school. Advice appreciated! I don't want to freak out over this, because it's only ICE, but at the same time, I don't want to low-pass or fail ICE, you know?
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2003
- Messages
- 329
- Reaction score
- 0
yah...its this yellow book of q's essentially. Its called PreTest for Physical Dx. Like i said its bright yellow, you cant miss it. as i stated earlier, it does seem like its for step 2, but i suppose this NBME shelf called 'clinical dx' is for those doing rotations. I do not know why the F they give it to us only after second year.
oh well
hope that helps
oh well
hope that helps
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Thanks guys, I picked up the pretest book for cheap on amazon. It baffles me that they want to use this to test for a course that was pretty much a brief intro to the major subspecialties in medicine (for lectures), and then learning to take H&Ps one on one with a preceptor. Oh well. Everyone in my class is saying not to study for it, as they are supposedly curving it. I can't just walk in cold, though. It's just not in me.
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 286
- Reaction score
- 0
can anyone who took this exam recently post some more advice, i have to take it next week myself and just wanted to get an idea about how to prepare for it. did pretest or USMLEeasy help? what should i focus on? any questions about managment?
thanks in advance for your reply, i'd really appreciate it!
thanks in advance for your reply, i'd really appreciate it!
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2003
- Messages
- 329
- Reaction score
- 0
yah i just took it today. its sort of a waste of time doing pretest, although pretest was somewhat good. i ran out of time!!! urgggggggggh
but truly, it isnt hard. its just asking you str8 up facts from almost every system you've learned! I think i overstudied, but unfort prolly did bad since i didnt finish
oh well
but truly, it isnt hard. its just asking you str8 up facts from almost every system you've learned! I think i overstudied, but unfort prolly did bad since i didnt finish
oh well
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2003
- Messages
- 828
- Reaction score
- 4
Like an earlier poster mentioned, the PhysDiagnosis shelf is basically pathology, microbiology, behavioral (mainly doctor-patient relationships and ethics), and some physical exam kinda stuff. It's really not too difficult. I borrowed that PreTest book from our library here and read through it and felt that it was really good for the physical exam stuff, but didn't really help out on the other things. Overall, I think most people have trouble with the behavioral questions on this exam. "A 15 year old female patient has just been diagnosed with bone cancer, what do you do next?" <-- that kinda stuff.
My advice is to study Path and Micro as though you were taking the respective nbme subject exam. BRS Behavioral and prayer for the "what would you do" questions. Use pretest to focus on the physical exam stuff (such as heart sounds and techniques, for example!). Good luck
My advice is to study Path and Micro as though you were taking the respective nbme subject exam. BRS Behavioral and prayer for the "what would you do" questions. Use pretest to focus on the physical exam stuff (such as heart sounds and techniques, for example!). Good luck
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2003
- Messages
- 329
- Reaction score
- 0
sorry if this is late....
i've been real busy w/ exams. basically, i would say that u should conc on Cardio, pulm, neuro and mx-skeletal. there were a few Gi q's, but definitely know ur murmurs!! i thought i knew mine (and i really really do), however, the way the answer choices were presented, really threw me off.....
surprisingly, there are also a lot of 'ethics' q's. Theres possibly NO way you can study for them since theyre soo oooo random.
later
i've been real busy w/ exams. basically, i would say that u should conc on Cardio, pulm, neuro and mx-skeletal. there were a few Gi q's, but definitely know ur murmurs!! i thought i knew mine (and i really really do), however, the way the answer choices were presented, really threw me off.....
surprisingly, there are also a lot of 'ethics' q's. Theres possibly NO way you can study for them since theyre soo oooo random.
later
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2003
- Messages
- 557
- Reaction score
- 97
Hey guys, I took this exam today, here are my thoughts:
1. Get the infamous bright yellow "Pre-Test" book. Don't worry about the questions, just read through all of the explanations, but don't get caught up in all of the management stuff and their massive pnemonics. Just read quickly through the explanations.
2. Review the "biggies" in Bates: Cardiovascular, Musculoskeletal, GI pain/presentation, Pulmonary, Neuro.
3. Have a working understanding of EVERYTHING ELSE! Some people mentioned USMLEasy.com, that sounds like a good idea. Basically, this part you either know or you don't know. If you just completed your MS2 year with Pathology and Pharmacology, you should be OK as far as this stuff goes. For the few days before the test focus on #1 and #2 above.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't get too bogged down in the "Pre-Test" book. Although it has some very good parts that are extremely helpful, it goes into far greater detail than you will need on many topics. Keep the book for your Step 2 prep, it is probably more useful then! This test is not as hard as the questions in the Pre-Test book!
Damn, I should get a cut from Amazon, don't you think????
Pre-Test Physical Diagnosis at Amazon.com
Bates Guide to Physical Exam and History Taking at Amazon.com
Good Luck!
-Scott, MS2
1. Get the infamous bright yellow "Pre-Test" book. Don't worry about the questions, just read through all of the explanations, but don't get caught up in all of the management stuff and their massive pnemonics. Just read quickly through the explanations.
2. Review the "biggies" in Bates: Cardiovascular, Musculoskeletal, GI pain/presentation, Pulmonary, Neuro.
3. Have a working understanding of EVERYTHING ELSE! Some people mentioned USMLEasy.com, that sounds like a good idea. Basically, this part you either know or you don't know. If you just completed your MS2 year with Pathology and Pharmacology, you should be OK as far as this stuff goes. For the few days before the test focus on #1 and #2 above.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't get too bogged down in the "Pre-Test" book. Although it has some very good parts that are extremely helpful, it goes into far greater detail than you will need on many topics. Keep the book for your Step 2 prep, it is probably more useful then! This test is not as hard as the questions in the Pre-Test book!
Damn, I should get a cut from Amazon, don't you think????
Pre-Test Physical Diagnosis at Amazon.com
Bates Guide to Physical Exam and History Taking at Amazon.com
Good Luck!
-Scott, MS2
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2001
- Messages
- 79
- Reaction score
- 0
I took it last week and overall didn't think it was that hard compared to other shelf exams I've taken, i.e. micro or physiology. It was actually fairly similar to the NBME comprehensive basic sciences shelf, but easier. I studied from the summaries at the end of each chapter in the Bates. There were a lot of heart murmur, breath sounds type of questions. The ethics questions were brutal, lots of Q's about how to deal with confidentiality issues with teenage patients (do you tell the mother, or encourage the patient to tell her mother type scenerios).
I didn't use the Pre-test and the people from my class that did said it didn't help that much. I think most of the exam comes from the Bates so study that.
I didn't use the Pre-test and the people from my class that did said it didn't help that much. I think most of the exam comes from the Bates so study that.
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2003
- Messages
- 557
- Reaction score
- 97
csmith1 said:quit posting on the internet, Scott. get back to studying....you don't have time for the net anymore.
I know, I am disconnecting my cable modem this weekend and not connecting it back until June 18!!
Hehehe
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
I took it last week, and I thought the Pretest book was a fair review. Definitely concentrate on the explanations of questions you don't know, that helped me a lot. I did think most of the real test was easier, and there were a LOT of gimme questions, like what is the most appropriate thing to say to a patient in a certain situation...I didn't expect that. I'm gonna hang on to the pretest book for Step 2 as well.