Taking Two NBMEs back to back to simulate real day?

[disciplined]

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What are your thoughts on this?

This was discussed over two years ago:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=526001

But only a few posts were on topic. Has anyone tried this 8hour grind and wants to comment?

The real thing is one hour shorter, but I'm wondering if stamina is a huge factor. I am dying by the 4th block on the NBME's. My eyes get all watery, the text starts to blur, and my vision starts to tunnel.

 

[kaleerkalut]

I am VERY interested to know this as well. Student doctors please discuss! 😀

 

[kac714]

what about one nbme and then 3 blocks of 46 on uworld? i'm planning on taking 2 more nbme's before my test on the 17 but i dont want to take them both on the same day. I took nbme 7 yesterday and i was kind of bored by the end of it....

 

[Sheldor]

I did this last weekend and found it VERY useful. It helped me to plan when I'm going to take my breaks and just let me know what it felt like. Plus, now the 7 blocks of 46 will feel shorter than the real deal on Monday!

 

[coffeeeandtea]

i have actually done the 3 blocks + 1 practice test (4 blocks) to simulate the real deal. not gonna lie, those last two blocks were pretty tough, haha. but i think on the actual day it's gonna go by pretty fast (due to combined caffeine/adrenaline rush).

48 hours ... effffff

 

[MossPoh]

Meh, I think the test stamina thing is a little blown out of proportion. Theoretically, you are putting sustained mental effort into your studying normally and have been doing just as much if not more time than when you are taking the exam.

I'm not saying it isn't helpful, but the sheer adrenaline involved with the day and the weight of the exam can give one a lot more energy and focus than normal. When one is taking a practice exam, it is usually a little low key "let's knock this out" kind of deal combined with a little bit of finish line syndrome and diminished significance of the practice.

I know plenty of people who did and didn't do variations of that and I've never had the group that didn't do it complain that they were losing focus at the end. The most common thing I'm told is that the first couple of blocks are a blur and that you settle in after that and the last one is almost a sense of elation. I notice that when I do several hundred questions in a day, there is a point almost like the wall with running where I just can't seem to read the whole sentence but then I get a little bit of a runner's high once I push through that.

It also seems like a little mentioned trick is to get some of those individually packaged preservative free eyedrops for inbetween blocks. Most human beings don't realize how much less they blink when staring at a computer screen, which also leads to your eyes feeling like they had sand thrown in them after a while. I'm a big fan of the systane eyedrops. Don't get visine or some crap like that. Has to be lubricating eye drops. The individual preservative free ones are ideal for general eye health. I like to keep them in my pocket so the drops are warmed a bit and it doesn't feel like an ice cube on my cornea.

 

[coffeebeanjenn]

Sure. I did 6 & 7 on my first day of dedicated board studying. Then I did 11 & 12 three weeks out of my test date. (as for two and one week out, our school has exams they make us take). I thought that doing 8 blocks of 50 Qs was fine. It certainly helped build mental stamina, so that when I did the 7 block exams the past two weeks it seemed a lot faster and less of a grind.

 

[sivman17]

what about one nbme and then 3 blocks of 46 on uworld? i'm planning on taking 2 more nbme's before my test on the 17 but i dont want to take them both on the same day. I took nbme 7 yesterday and i was kind of bored by the end of it....

I'm actually planning on doing what you mentioned in the first sentence tomorrow. I'm going to do an NBME then 3 sets of 46 UW questions. I think it will give me a good idea for when I want to take breaks and how much food/snacks I want and things like that.


Oh, and go Reds!

 

[12six]

Can't recommend this enough. Do it well in advance of your exam, though, because it makes you crazy-tired and sick of seeing Q's. It helps you schedule how you want to take breaks. I realized I needed to take a break after every block once I saw how my scores crashed when I tried to "power through" a few blocks at once.

That and you won't be completely gassed by block 5 on the real thing. Adrenaline can only do so much.

 

[veaselhaufen]

Another option is to take a NBME back to back with the free 150 which puts you at 7 blocks just like the test. I noticed that fatigue became a big factor for me as I was going through the 6th and 7th blocks. I'm glad I tried a real full length before the test

 

[shaman06]

I did a full 7 blocks (UWORLDSA2 + 3 more qbanks) a week out from my exam (which is this Tuesday!) and found it really helpful.

Besides gauging & learning testing endurance, this really helped me approach a full length test to coordinate my break time and all the intangibles. I did a 100% full simulation - packed foods, timed myself between breaks, etc.

 

[disciplined]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

So for those that did it and say they learned how to take breaks, pace yourself, etc. what do you mean?

Can you share some mistakes you made, things you learned, or changes you would/did make when you took the real thing?

I think this would be supremely helpful to myself and others.

Thanks!