Recent USMLE I Candidates...

[SYD]

Thanks for all your comments, it is going to help a lot of people who are panicking with step I material..

Ludy, You mentioned graphs in physio and Path .
I can't recall any graphs in Path, could you give a few examples, if you don't mind.

With Biochem, could any of you suggest where we need to spend more time on, I believe molecular biology in general is high yield.

But other than the disease type AD, AR, XR do we need to know if a pathology is due to deletion/ repeat or what ever in the chromosome ??

Also I hate this kreb cycle VDL/ LDL/ HDL stuff.
Do you see any soliutions there ??

Thanks heaps..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ludy]

Hey Syd,
I guess when I said graphs in path, I was thinking more along the lines of pathophys. You might get a vignette where you have to recognize the symptoms of COPD, and then they'll ask you to identify what that patient's pulmonary function curves would look like. I had some acid-base problems that were similar: a vignette and a graph with a bunch of choices, and you'd have to pick where the patient would fall on the curves, given his/her particular illness or current state.

My best advice is not to worry! I worried WAY more than was necessary. When I got there, it felt just like doing QBank, and even a little easier. It's hard to say what you should and shouldn't study in terms of biochem because everyone's test is different. While I don't recall any questions on the Krebs cycle or LDL, I'm sure that someone else had some. Just do the best you can with the books you already have, know First Aid, and do lots of QBank questions!

Good luck!

 

[ckent]

Biochem: I would use First aid and a book called "Crashing the boards".
And of course, just like Ludy said, do a lot of Q bank questions.

 

[Medic13z]

Well...I took it today...I am sooooo glad it is over. Here is my experience- Overall, I passed, how well ????????????

Path-by far the biggest section...amlost all was correlated with another discipline ie Biochem/Pharm etc. There were a few plain Path questions but not a lot.

Pharm- cam in second. Lots of graphs and potency/inhibition ie...Drug X and Y..which is X?
For the drug classes, know when you would NOT use a drug...ie HTN and Asthma or DM. I had several experimental drugs, and was given mol bio/biochem and study info to try and figure out a drugs profile ie Chemo.

Behav Sci- tons, mostly..what would you say, and a lot of stats calcs, prevelance/PPV etc.

Hardly any Anat/Embryo...only 2 ct's they were path related, but you had to figure out what organ based on the stem

Lots of micro..esp Mycoplasma???
Lots of "what is the cause of the rash"

Thats all I can think of...I gotta go get a beer!!

Good Luck

 

[Bamboozeled]

can please people post more questions that appeared on the exam? thanks