Step 1 Stamina - an issue?

[rocketbooster]

Is stamina a big issue? NBMEs are only 4 hours and I can see an extra 3 sections on the real Step 1 to be pretty exhausting. I figured I'd take a 25 min lunch after the 4th section. You think eating + that long break would be enough to to revive you for the last 3? I'm also planning on taking 5 min breaks after each section.

My school recommends doing 3 UWorld sections after doing an NBME to simulate the full test length. Anyone else do this? Was it necessary to do this in order to reach that full stamina or does the adrenaline rush during the test carry you through anyway?

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[Zarika]

I haven't taken the real thing yet (Thursday, yikes!), but I did the NBME + 3 UWorld thing. I would only recommend doing it once, b/c it takes up the entire day. After I did that, I was way to fried to review the UWorld blocks and saved it for tomorrow. I thought there was a pretty big difference b/w 4 hours of exam and 7 hours of exam. 4 hours is like a final, and I'm sure you've done dozens of those between undergrad and med school. 7 hours is a whole day affair.

 

[NewYorkDoctors]

I took it last year. My score was 258. I'm not here to brag.

Rather, I want to let you know it is of utmost importance to take breaks in between sections. Bring snacks and water. Take bathroom breaks. Stare outside the windows into the distance.

These breaks are essential. I felt they helped me immensely.

I know this because in between sections 4 and 5, I got cocky and did not take a break. I paid for it with reduced concentration and energy in section 5. I completely crossed wires on a number of freebie questions. (e.g. dominant vascular supply of the ascending colon is right colic artery. my tired brain convinced me it was middle colic)

Moreover, i brought a 5 hour energy to use for that final section.


Bottom line: take breaks and relax your mind.

P.S. try to abstain from bringing FA in your locker. use your limited break time to... take a break! Stressing over what could have been does not help your state of mind.

 

[Bigdog2330]

DItto what the above poster said. I took the USMLE yesterday, and overall, I felt like I had seen most of the test before. But, I got very,very fatigued halfway through the test and I know I made some very stupid mistakes because of it. Sometimes, I would have to read the same question a few times. Take your breaks.

 

[WonderBoy]

What kind of break schedule do you guys recommend?

 

[Valadi]

What kind of break schedule do you guys recommend?

I took a 5 min exit break after the first two, 5 minutes after the 3rd, then a 30 minute lunch break after the 4th because at that point I had reached the 4 hour limit we are all accustomed to. Then ~10 minute breaks after each of the remaining sections.

For each break, I would put on my head phones, drop some Jeremih, and drink a sugary iced coffee. If I felt like it I'd eat a granola bar or one of the 800 different types of high-energy snacks I brought

 

[Valadi]

Also I ate my lunch quickly and took a 15 minute nap during that lunch break. It was killer sweet. Highly recommended.

 

[mdeast]

I'd personally say take breaks every 2 sections. And just train for that (i.e. do 2 UWORLD 46 blocks back-to-back). Also...you do have limited breaks. But, if you skip the tutorial they add up to 1 hour. If you finish a section and feel tired, hungry, sleepy, anything....take the break and recuperate.

I'd agree with others have said. At a certain point, you may find yourself making silly mistakes if you don't take adequate break time.

 

[lrkoehle]

I had two friends just take it on Friday, and they told me their adrenaline was flowing through the whole thing enough to the point that they didn't feel fatigued; just in the zone. They had only done 1 NBME too. They said the NBME felt like it took FOREVER, but the real thing was over before they even knew what happened. One of them said she didn't even bother with a break over the last 3 blocks after lunch; she just went straight beast mode and crushed those mother ****ers. IIRC, their breakdown was like first 2 blocks, then break, do a block, break, do a block, then lunch, then they sort of diverged. The one was just ready to finish and powered through. The other I believe intended to do a small break after each block after lunch, but on the second to last block his computer screen blanked out. The testing center people had him sign out for a break then, only to find out that his time was still running on his 6th block while they fixed his monitor! After that I think he just felt like getting the hell out of there. They said that they ended with like 45 minutes of break time left over at the end of the day, which I thought was insane (apparently if you finish blocks early, that time gets added into your break time, and they were finishing things up early).

 

[DroptheBop]

The other I believe intended to do a small break after each block after lunch, but on the second to last block his computer screen blanked out. The testing center people had him sign out for a break then, only to find out that his time was still running on his 6th block while they fixed his monitor! After that I think he just felt like getting the hell out of there.

If this happened to me while my block was still running, I would break out the spatula because it would certainly be time to flip out... Even if it was just running my break time I would probably be pretty upset. Kudos to him for just going with the flow and finishing it up. I do wonder what would have happened had he been out of break time/been unable to finish the block in time though...

 

[lrkoehle]

If this happened to me while my block was still running, I would break out the spatula because it would certainly be time to flip out... Even if it was just running my break time I would probably be pretty upset. Kudos to him for just going with the flow and finishing it up. I do wonder what would have happened had he been out of break time/been unable to finish the block in time though...

Yeah, me too. He was all calm when he was telling me about it. I told him I would've stabbed someone in the freaking throat if that happened. The kicker was that since the testing sites are all super anal, when they had him take a "break" when the monitor crashed on him, they made him sign out. So when they got it fixed and he found out that his block time was running, he still had to sign back in and do the whole thumb print recognition software crap, which he said seemed to take forever that time around.