Test Taking Techniques

[SKaminski]

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Hey Everyone!

In this thread I am interested in discussing test taking techniques in order to excel at the USMLE Step 1.

There were many tips/hints on how to approach questions. (One such tip was: anytime they gave you a patients status and asked you for their hormone levels, you stated which hormones CAUSED that scenario, not how the hormones would RESPOND.)

Anyways, I've been doing a lot of studying, and it seems that the majority of time, when i get questions wrong, it isn't because of a lack of knowledge, it's because of a lack approaching the question/understanding what the test asker thinks is important. any tips?

 

[Kazaki]

study more

 

[gobigorgohome22]

Read the last sentence first then glance at the choices. If there is a long list of lab values, ignore it till you're read everything else then look at the labs that most pertain your your DDx. Dont look up all the lab values.

 

[SKaminski]

@gobigorgohome22 thank you! I started glancing at the last sentence before reading through, but i'll encorporate looking at the answer choices as well. Thank you.

 

[ninjaman22]

I would also try to know some of the common normal lab values so you don't have to look them up every time they show up on a question. I am not saying remember all the lab values, just some of the common ones (TSH, Na, K, Cl, HCO3, Hb, Hct, WBC count, Plts, etc.)

 

[OrthoRehab33]

Definitely no expert, but something that helped me was telling myself, "they aren't trying to trick me" because usually they aren't. If you approach every question like they're trying sneek something in you end up talking yourself out of easy points

 

[zhopv10]

^i am the worst at this! Totally agree with this advice haha.


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[Blue Flame]

Definitely no expert, but something that helped me was telling myself, "they aren't trying to trick me" because usually they aren't. If you approach every question like they're trying sneek something in you end up talking yourself out of easy points

Going off of this, always remember that every (good) question only has one best answer. If you have to talk yourself into picking an answer choice by saying "This would be the correct answer if X were true", then it's probably not the right answer. I've gotten so many practice questions wrong by settling for an answer I knew to only be partially correct because I didn't know what the answer to the question actually was. I probably would have been better served on these questions by making an educated guess from the remaining answer choices as difficult as it may have been to not choose the answer I was somewhat familiar with.

 

[SKaminski]

You guys are great! Not talking myself out of questions, and not adding things into questions that aren't there. I'm going to add that to my approach to my future test questions. Thank you!

 

[ortnakas]

Read the last sentence first then glance at the choices.

If you're in a DO program (or if someone else reading this is), this method has been clutch for me for COMLEX style questions. It doesn't work quite as well for me in Uworld, when you usually need the whole paragraph, but a lot of the time COMLEX questions actually ask the entire question at the end and you don't reaaaallly need all the information they give you in the middle (eg "Bob presents with A,B,C and D and a family history of E. He's taking a statin, metformin and a multivitamin. Bob has a posterior left ILA, anterior right sacral base and a positive seated flexion test. What lab finding would you associate with cystic fibrosis?")

 

[SKaminski]

If you're in a DO program (or if someone else reading this is), this method has been clutch for me for COMLEX style questions. It doesn't work quite as well for me in Uworld, when you usually need the whole paragraph, but a lot of the time COMLEX questions actually ask the entire question at the end and you don't reaaaallly need all the information they give you in the middle (eg "Bob presents with A,B,C and D and a family history of E. He's taking a statin, metformin and a multivitamin. Bob has a posterior left ILA, anterior right sacral base and a positive seated flexion test. What lab finding would you associate with cystic fibrosis?")

hahahah, i am DO, and the thing ive been strongling with is that the COMLEX is 400 questions and the USMLE is 280. Whenever i take long practice tests (more questions, less time) like the comsae, I always burnnnnn out. This should be helpfuL! Thank you

 

[ortnakas]

hahahah, i am DO, and the thing ive been strongling with is that the COMLEX is 400 questions and the USMLE is 280. Whenever i take long practice tests (more questions, less time) like the comsae, I always burnnnnn out. This should be helpfuL! Thank you

Hope it helps! You often still end up reading the whole thing, but if you start with the question, at least you're looking for the right info, and don't end up wasting your time (for example) thinking through a cranial diagnosis for what turns out to be an pituitary endocrinology question, or whatever.