physiology shelf

[greater_omentum]

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since i have the dubious honor of getting the chance to remediate an internal marginal pass to a pass by taking the physio shelf this summer, i figured i'd carpe the diem and pose a question or two...

first of all, any words of advice on this test? i've heard its pretty clinical, if i go through pretest and BRS is that sufficient preparation? also, is there any way to get my hands on an old test- i couldn't really find it on the NBME or USMLE sites...but i'm holding out hope that maybe there might be something out there.

the existing threads out there seem to suggest that its a beast of a test...does the mean reflect this? i.e. how difficult is it to get the mean on this test or somewhere thereabouts?

 

[OddNath]

Definitely take the shelf for the chance to bring up your grade-- nothing to lose, right?

As for the test..it was something like 125 questions, where each one was a paragraph, arrows, kind of tedious. So be prepared to read *fast*. That may have been the hardest part. I went through the BRS in preparation, but there was quite a bit of pathology and biochem that I wasn't prepared for. Maybe supplement your studying with Pre-Test? And go over vitamins? Granted, with the curve given by our school, everyone in my class did fine (I think everyone may have passed).

So from my experience with it, it was easy to pass but very difficult to do well on. Good luck!

 

[thesauce]

Definitely take the shelf for the chance to bring up your grade-- nothing to lose, right?

As for the test..it was something like 125 questions, where each one was a paragraph, arrows, kind of tedious. So be prepared to read *fast*. That may have been the hardest part. I went through the BRS in preparation, but there was quite a bit of pathology and biochem that I wasn't prepared for. Maybe supplement your studying with Pre-Test? And go over vitamins? Granted, with the curve given by our school, everyone in my class did fine (I think everyone may have passed).

So from my experience with it, it was easy to pass but very difficult to do well on. Good luck!

I'd say exactly the same thing. Easy to pass, but hard to do really well.

Knowing BRS is only a small part of what you need. If I had to do it over again, I'd get a big book on physio and memorize as many clinical correlations as I could. I wouldn't read anything else though.

 

[thackl]

It was a tough one and time was an issue. Just remember, the scoring is relative. BRS is good. If you have the time, NMS is better.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I didn't take the physio shelf, but I have found Pre-Test to be invaluable. Given that everybody is saying that there are clinical correlations, maybe read the biochem section in First Aid (it's great, but very concise!) and if you are really motivated try the Physiology Cases and Problems BRS.

 

[ADDchild]

I found that the physio shelf was mostly pathophyiology. If I was to do it again(dont need to did fairly well) I would study BRS physiology for some major concepts like lung volumes and starling forces, etc.. and then concentrate on pathophysiology.

 

[OrnotMajestic]

The phys shelf was a bear this year. I barely finished in time.

Things to know/study:

-Calcium, Calcium, Calcium. Know what affects it, know how to recognize symptoms of deficiency.
-Vitamins, especially D (see calcium)
-Did I mention calcium?

I swear, half my test was about parathyroid gland.

 

[medchick09]

I agree with the above. I studied only BRS and I passed, but I felt like I knew nothing. I too had PTH, Ca and Vit D questions every page. Also look at the other endocrinology disorders (there are like 6 ACTH disorders). You can skip the chapter on Neuro unless your school has you take an additional section that's just neurophys. Remember, your grade is based on a national percentile scale so you don't have to get a certain percentage of questions right to pass- just know more than some of the other poor souls who had to suffer through this test. You'll be fine.

 

[OrbicularisOris]

The questions were much more similar to the PreTest than to the BRS chapter tests. If I had to take it over again, I would redo the BRS, then also do the PathoPhys Pretest.

My test had a lot of hematology on it- basic stuff, but not covered in my phys class (blood clotting, cell counts). It also had a lot of really detailed reproductive endocrine. I guess I would also try to focus on these topics more in studying.