Struggling with board prep

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rodmichael82

rodmichael82

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I just got into crunch month this week, well technically I have 4 and half weeks left.
I've been prepping for boards here and there since Spring break by reading First aid, Pathoma and doing Uworld.
My uworld performance the first pass was okay, nothing special but not too bad.
The thing that's bothering me is that I took a baseline NBME exam #12 and I struggled with it. I thought that the NBME questions were much much harder than Uworld because you really either knew the answer or you didn't where as in Uworld I can kind of figure the answer out by spending a little bit more time, also I'm very used to Uworld style questions. I've also been doing USMLE-Rx and I'm having a problem of doing very poorly on USMLE-Rx compared to Uworld.

I know people have mentioned not to use Uworld as an "assessment" tool but more for learning but either way my biggest concern right now is that should I be bothered by this? Has anyone been through this before and how did it work out?

This is my second pass of Uworld now I'm doing timed, randomized blocks and using it as my primary tool for learning (it takes me roughly 4-6 hours a day) and I use first aid secondarily, should I continue to do that?
 
no one can really tell you the best way for you to study....you need to look at why youre doing poorly (what sections) and focus on them. NBMEs are the most predictive tool. That said, I think I vaguely recall NBME 12 being more difficult than the others.
 
rodmichael82 said:
I just got into crunch month this week, well technically I have 4 and half weeks left.
I've been prepping for boards here and there since Spring break by reading First aid, Pathoma and doing Uworld.
My uworld performance the first pass was okay, nothing special but not too bad.
The thing that's bothering me is that I took a baseline NBME exam #12 and I struggled with it. I thought that the NBME questions were much much harder than Uworld because you really either knew the answer or you didn't where as in Uworld I can kind of figure the answer out by spending a little bit more time, also I'm very used to Uworld style questions. I've also been doing USMLE-Rx and I'm having a problem of doing very poorly on USMLE-Rx compared to Uworld.

I know people have mentioned not to use Uworld as an "assessment" tool but more for learning but either way my biggest concern right now is that should I be bothered by this? Has anyone been through this before and how did it work out?

This is my second pass of Uworld now I'm doing timed, randomized blocks and using it as my primary tool for learning (it takes me roughly 4-6 hours a day) and I use first aid secondarily, should I continue to do that?
Click to expand...
Can you give some percentages, so we can compare the performance? I'd say, continue hammering away at UW, FA, Pathoma. If you still have a bunch of questions in Rx, construct a half simulation, and use that to see your weaker areas. Rx essentially is FA in question form, so I think it's very helpful in that regard for learning FA.
 
bulldogmed said:
Can you give some percentages, so we can compare the performance? I'd say, continue hammering away at UW, FA, Pathoma. If you still have a bunch of questions in Rx, construct a half simulation, and use that to see your weaker areas. Rx essentially is FA in question form, so I think it's very helpful in that regard for learning FA.
Click to expand...

Is posting percentages really necessary, or appropriate at all? Seems like you could have given your advice without asking the person to post percentages, which really isn't something we should be sharing with each other anyways.
 
H Y F R said:
Is posting percentages really necessary, or appropriate at all? Seems like you could have given your advice without asking the person to post percentages, which really isn't something we should be sharing with each other anyways.
Click to expand...
Huh? Why isn't it helpful? Hearing someone's percentages helps me to understand their goals...their reality, how much can be done given their time allotment, etc. Unless you're ashamed, then go keep it all under wraps.

I don't even understand these kinds of posts anymore. In MS1, you come to SDN and those are the first posts you read non-stop for like 5 days...but once you know what needs to be done...I mean...uh...there's nothing more anyone here can tell you that you can't use your IQ and a brief search of the USMLE forum to figure out.

And where is @Ionian's best friend Muddphudd? His questions are funny. lmao...could be the alcohol but I'm laughing really hard that he's the only person you've ignored on SDN.
 
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H Y F R said:
Is posting percentages really necessary, or appropriate at all? Seems like you could have given your advice without asking the person to post percentages, which really isn't something we should be sharing with each other anyways.
Click to expand...
Yeah, calm down bro. I'm just trying to help a fellow student out. Like Anasto said, I was trying to gauge the OP's goals and feasibility.
 
H Y F R said:
Is posting percentages really necessary, or appropriate at all? Seems like you could have given your advice without asking the person to post percentages, which really isn't something we should be sharing with each other anyways.
Click to expand...
He's not asking for his Social Security number or how much money he makes, princess.
 
DermViser said:
Forgive him, he has anger issues. See his Step 1 thread in which he takes personally someone talking about a "knowledge deficit".
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Dude you're a doctor. Don't you have anything better to do than sit on the internet and chat with students? Is your social life really this pathetic?
 
H Y F R said:
Seriously, you really are this pathetic. Saturday morning, and you're being so petty on a message board.
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It's no more petty than your statement of "You don't know me to 'bro' me, bro." to @bulldogmed.

Funny, in an other thread you quibbled about people such as @CherryRedDracul, @Ionian, and others giving you genuine Step 1 advice that you personally took offense to (for no reason, I might add) and now when @bulldogmed tries to give more personalized and specific advice to someone else by asking for specific information on their Qbank performance so he knows where the OP can tweak his studying, you label it as not "necessary" or "appropriate", as if it's some major invasion of privacy. Give me a break.
 
H Y F R said:
Is posting percentages really necessary, or appropriate at all? Seems like you could have given your advice without asking the person to post percentages, which really isn't something we should be sharing with each other anyways.
Click to expand...

can you explain your rational behind that?. Why is it in appropriate? we don't know him so why would he care if we know his scores?. Also it can give us an idea of how's he doing. For example if person A scored well on NBME 12 and did well on the actual steps it would help the OP. An inappropriate question would be like "do the curtains match the drapes?", because even though we don't know them, its still sexually orientated, and as far as i understand that is not tolerated on social websites.
 
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Just don't be this guy. Friend of a friend has a boyfriend who's studying for Step I right now, and just posted this on social media:

EwXrO05.jpg


The brachial plexus and a list of chromosomal abnormalities, evidently. Laminated. I was hoping this kind of thing was just urban lore.
 
GuyWhoDoesStuff said:
Just don't be this guy. Friend of a friend has a boyfriend who's studying for Step I right now, and just posted this on social media:

EwXrO05.jpg


The brachial plexus and a list of chromosomal abnormalities, evidently. Laminated. I was hoping this kind of thing was just urban lore.
Click to expand...

Lol wow.

Heh he probably needs it though. You could put anything on those 4 sheets and he chooses the brachial plexus...not exactly HY for step 1.

Bugs and drugs? Nope. Cancer syndromes? Nope. Endocrine disorders? Nope.
 
The actual Step 1 exam is way more like Uworld than the NBMEs online.
 
GuyWhoDoesStuff said:
Just don't be this guy. Friend of a friend has a boyfriend who's studying for Step I right now, and just posted this on social media:

EwXrO05.jpg


The brachial plexus and a list of chromosomal abnormalities, evidently. Laminated. I was hoping this kind of thing was just urban lore.
Click to expand...

Of all things he picks as high yield for Step 1 to put on laminated spreadsheets - he puts chromosomal abnormalities and the Brachial plexus? Love the shower curtain and Tigi S factor shampoo. Does he have the entire salon brand set? And no I just had to Google "S shampoo" and it popped up.
s_factor_shampoo_group.jpg.jpg
 
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DermViser said:
Of all things he picks as high yield for Step 1 to put on laminated spreadsheets - he puts chromosomal abnormalities and the Brachial plexus? Love the shower curtain and Tigi S factor shampoo. Does he have the entire salon brand set? And no I just had to Google "S shampoo" and it popped up.
s_factor_shampoo_group.jpg.jpg
Click to expand...
"Friend of a friend has a boyfriend" should clue you in that this is probably the girlfriend's shampoo and shower curtain.
 
Areola said:
"Friend of a friend has a boyfriend" should clue you in that this is probably the girlfriend's shampoo and shower curtain.
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Most boyfriends don't actually LIVE WITH their girlfriend. The boyfriend is the one studying for boards.
 
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