Special tricks.

[RedSoxSuck]

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Anyone has a specific technique regarding being able to finish a timed block , nbme or just practice, in timely manner. I can barely finish a block in timed condition and sometimes even run out of time on a question or two. This is a concern because on the real thing vignettes are longer and meaner.

I have tried to give up on a harder question little but quicker. And most of the time I do okay in time management but most of the time it's just few questions here and there that suck up too much time. Any suggestions?

 

[ijn]

I think it's definitely an acquired skill. With enough practice and sufficient familiarity with buzz words and high yield images you can kind of skim the prompt for important words and already have a picture of the answer in your head without really reading it. After a while stuff like granular casts, sterile pyuria, dry cough, etc. all start to jump out at you and you don't have to read another word after that. I don't know what to recommend beyond practice assuming you have a solid knowledge base.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

I tend to skip around. If I read a question and it seems like it might take me a while, I mark it and go back to it when i am done with all the other questions.

 

[lemonade90]

Read the last sentence first, look at the answers to try to get an idea of what he prompt will say and then read the prompt.

If its a calculation or lab value interpretation q that takes me too long and I can't get the answer I mark it to answer it at the end. I try to do 10 questions in 10 minutes or less so as to leave a time buffer at the end. Hopefully I can shave this time down even more so I can reexamine every single answer I put (even the unmarked ones). If you are stuck on a question for more than a minute and can't get the answer in the next few seconds, just mark it and move on to come back to it.

 

[tjquinn]

Lemonade90 nailed it. If it is a big ass prompt, just read the final sentence and then I skim the nasty prompt and look for clues and highlight them. I just took the step today and used that technique and had around 15-20minutes leftover for each of the 7 blocks which let me then go and look more carefully at my flagged questions.

Whether or not I did well is a different story, I will be sure to let you know if it worked when I get my score.

 

[Phloston]

I find that it helps only when the question is long (i.e. a healthy paragraph) or when there is a huge list of lab values to read the last sentence of the question first, just to get an idea of what they want.

If the question is shorter (i.e. just a few sentences) or the lab values are meager, muscle through it from first to last lines, in that order, and don't skip around.

 

[tjquinn]

Right, I only read the last sentence when I knew that the people who wrote the question are deliberately trying to confuse me with a long nonsense story. Btw Phloston, our conversation on power was quite fruitful. I got a question exactly on power and its relation to type II error, nailed it.

 

[Phloston]

Right, I only read the last sentence when I knew that the people who wrote the question are deliberately trying to confuse me with a long nonsense story. Btw Phloston, our conversation on power was quite fruitful. I got a question exactly on power and its relation to type II error, nailed it.

Hey, I hadn't read that you just took the Step. Congrats on being on the other side now. 👍

I look forward to your thorough analysis of the exam after you've had three-ish weeks to digest. You realize how hungry we are for helpful perspective, so I'm curious to hear your unique thoughts..

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Thanks guys!