Took Step 1 today..

[USFOptho]

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As many of my other classmates have said: Qbank is nothing like Step 1. After today, I agree with them! Qbank, in reality, was pretty much worthless when it came for preparing for the test, and this is coming from someone who did all the QBANK questions, plus many others.

With that said, in contrast to many others on here, I will again agree with many of my classmates: Knowing First Aid inside and out (knowing, not just memorizing) is enough to ace the test. Reading Kaplan's materials is unnecessary overkill, unless you read their Biochem book.

I finished with alot of time left. It wasn't that bad!

Later!

 

[USFOptho]

As many of my other classmates have said: Qbank is nothing like Step 1. After today, I agree with them! Qbank, in reality, was pretty much worthless when it came for preparing for the test, and this is coming from someone who did all the QBANK questions, plus many others.

With that said, in contrast to many others on here, I will again agree with many of my classmates: Knowing First Aid inside and out (knowing, not just memorizing) is enough to ace the test. Reading Kaplan's materials is unnecessary overkill, unless you read their Biochem book.

I finished with alot of time left. It wasn't that bad!

Later!

P.S. The books I used were the following: BRS Phys, BRS Path, Kaplan Biochem, HY Molec and Cell Bio, HY Gross Anatomy, Med Micro Made Redic Simple, F/A.

 

[joshua_msu]

What made Qbank worthless? So many people swear by it.

 

[Qwest]

As many of my other classmates have said: Qbank is nothing like Step 1. After today, I agree with them! Qbank, in reality, was pretty much worthless when it came for preparing for the test, and this is coming from someone who did all the QBANK questions, plus many others.

With that said, in contrast to many others on here, I will again agree with many of my classmates: Knowing First Aid inside and out (knowing, not just memorizing) is enough to ace the test. Reading Kaplan's materials is unnecessary overkill, unless you read their Biochem book.

I finished with alot of time left. It wasn't that bad!

Later!

Congrats on finishing the beast! Just wondering but, you thought Qbank was worthless?! Did you think the real thing was harder/easier/different? I just started Qbank and am getting quite frustated with their level of nitpicky details. My average is 55-60%, finished 10% so far.

You said knowing and not just memorizing First Aid is key. Could you elaborate? Isn't memorizing the first step?

 

[HiddenTruth]

congrats! Any other q sources that u used that u thought were more helpful than qbank? Thanks.

 

[Tedebear]

As many of my other classmates have said: Qbank is nothing like Step 1. After today, I agree with them! Qbank, in reality, was pretty much worthless when it came for preparing for the test, and this is coming from someone who did all the QBANK questions, plus many others.

With that said, in contrast to many others on here, I will again agree with many of my classmates: Knowing First Aid inside and out (knowing, not just memorizing) is enough to ace the test. Reading Kaplan's materials is unnecessary overkill, unless you read their Biochem book.

I finished with alot of time left. It wasn't that bad!

Later!

I seem to recall (correct me if I am wrong) that BigFrank also mentioned that Qbank wasn't as useful for his preparation. Maybe that is why many people are using Robbins Question Book and Appleton and Lange as the main question sources.

 

[skidmark]

As many of my other classmates have said: Qbank is nothing like Step 1. After today, I agree with them! Qbank, in reality, was pretty much worthless when it came for preparing for the test, and this is coming from someone who did all the QBANK questions, plus many others.

With that said, in contrast to many others on here, I will again agree with many of my classmates: Knowing First Aid inside and out (knowing, not just memorizing) is enough to ace the test. Reading Kaplan's materials is unnecessary overkill, unless you read their Biochem book.

I finished with alot of time left. It wasn't that bad!

Later!

I find that qbank is coming straight from first aid. Anyone else think so?

 

[Mnemosine]

Word for word.
My task has been to decide which came first.

 

[ucbdancn00]

i agree a lot of qbank is in first aid..

not all is though....

for instance there was a question regarding "Acanthamoeba" that wasn't in FA

both are damn important......

however USFOptho, how did you find the questions on step 1 in contrast to qbank? easier, more difficult?

let us know and congrats on finishing!!

ucb

 

[samyjay]

What about Qbank was worthless? I have 18 days until step 1, i wanted to get thru all of qbank, i do random 50 timed, and i just want to know if it is good at least for getting used to the time constraints and the variety of questions. thanks

 

[skidmark]

Word for word.
My task has been to decide which came first.

Exactly...So if qBank is pretty much coming from first aid, why does USFOptho says qBank was worthless but FA was good? Did he not see that they correlated?

 

[HiddenTruth]

Exactly...So if qBank is pretty much coming from first aid, why does USFOptho says qBank was worthless but FA was good? Did he not see that they correlated?

I think he was referring to the quality of the questions relative to the real thing, rather than the material represented in them. It's all medical knowledge, per say, but it may be worthless, in terms of the questions that were asked to prepare you for the "practice questions" part of the marathon. But, anyways, maybe we should just wait and see what USF has to say, rather than come up with theories and justifications --lol

 

[Pox in a box]

I think he was referring to the quality of the questions relative to the real thing, rather than the material represented in them. It's all medical knowledge, per say, but it may be worthless, in terms of the questions that were asked to prepare you for the "practice questions" part of the marathon. But, anyways, maybe we should just wait and see what USF has to say, rather than come up with theories and justifications --lol

Good call. This shouldn't be a "Cancel your QBank subscriptions" thread.

 

[zeloc]

Congratulations USFOptho!!! I'm sure you got a great score.

About the Qbank issue: I think most people would agree that Kaplan's practice MCATs were not representative of the questions on the actual MCAT, and yet I know someone who did really well on Kaplan's practice tests and got a really high score on the MCAT as well. Maybe it is the same for the USMLE. I hypothesize:

1. Qbank questions require similar reasoning to the USMLE, so doing Qbank will help on the USMLE, but the questions will seem unhelpful because the style is different.
2. The person who does Qbank questions will remember some of the factual information (the stuff in First Aid) from the questions without realizing it.

Or of course maybe Qbank is not helpful. But is it really possible to know that you really know the material in First Aid without doing questions?

 

[Pox in a box]

2. The person who does Qbank questions will remember some of the factual information (the stuff in First Aid) from the questions without realizing it.

I totally agree with this statement. QBank isn't good for simulating questions you'll see on the boards. It is good for rehashing knowledge you have tucked away in your mind but didn't know how to retrieve it.

 

[USFOptho]

What made Qbank worthless? So many people swear by it.

Joshua,

to be honest with you, I was disappointed. As a kaplan employee (current!), I swore by their MCAT materials: they helped me achieve a great score.

However, QBANK just didnt' cut it. I found the questions to be too easy and straightforward: Too many associations, not enough depth. On Step 1, a question will go " blah blah blah blah " and you'll say, "oh, that's takayasu's arteritis" and the next sentence in the question will say " Considering this patient has takayasu's arteritis, what will their 5th generation progeny look like if they have a mutation on the 6th chromosome, short arm? (doh!)"..

haha...that is a bit of an exaggeration, but the questions are very complex...So, other than reviewing knowledge, I didn't find qbank that helpful in preparing me for the type of questions.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

Congrats on finishing the beast! Just wondering but, you thought Qbank was worthless?! Did you think the real thing was harder/easier/different? I just started Qbank and am getting quite frustated with their level of nitpicky details. My average is 55-60%, finished 10% so far.

You said knowing and not just memorizing First Aid is key. Could you elaborate? Isn't memorizing the first step?

The real thing was harder and different. My recommendation isn't to quit QBANK...I say use it to shore up knowledge base (along with F/A and other materials), but it doesn't prepare you for the actual test, i.e., the actual questions.

Memorizing is the first step, but for instance, first aid biochemistry or physiology will have serious diagrams and arrows that require understanding and integration. First Aiders should not live by memorization alone: that screwed a couple of my classmates I know of. Memorize, and understand.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

congrats! Any other q sources that u used that u thought were more helpful than qbank? Thanks.

Appleton and Lange were decent. Robbins Path Q Book was decent, although I didnt finish it during the "prep" period, I used it during the year.

I'll be honest, though: The questions I ran into were ones I couldn't exactly prepare for, because, while the material wasn't foreign (there were about 2 questions I had no what they were talking about...one behavioral, and one pharm), it's the unique integration they have.

I memorize F/A like a banshee, understand it, and use BRS path and phys. HY gross anatomy is OVERKILL. In fact, FA covered all my anatomy, embryo, and neuroanat. Molecular wasn't actually that bad, but I did the entire kaplan book and HY molec and cell for that.

I finished each section with about 30 min left, reviewed my marks, and took nice long breaks. I'm a good test taker, so timing wasn't an issue for me. I can't say the same for my classmates.


USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

I find that qbank is coming straight from first aid. Anyone else think so?

Yeah, the content is the same, which is why it's good to prepare the knowledge base, but for the taking of the test? The only similarity I saw was the computer format! Qbank is too shallow. Kaplan needs some more R&D bigtime, and this is coming from a huge kaplan fan and employee.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

i agree a lot of qbank is in first aid..

not all is though....

for instance there was a question regarding "Acanthamoeba" that wasn't in FA

both are damn important......

however USFOptho, how did you find the questions on step 1 in contrast to qbank? easier, more difficult?

let us know and congrats on finishing!!

ucb

More difficult, and different, really. Like I said, I barely saw anything I hadn't seen before, but the way they asked it could really screw ya over if you weren't careful.

When I say memorize FA, I mean word for word. I, unfortunately, didn't have this complete mastery in all sections, and I felt that heat a few times!

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

What about Qbank was worthless? I have 18 days until step 1, i wanted to get thru all of qbank, i do random 50 timed, and i just want to know if it is good at least for getting used to the time constraints and the variety of questions. thanks

Read previous posts, but when you're burnt out from reading, do some qbank to shore up the knowledge, but don't expect it to really help you learn how to tackle the test.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

Exactly...So if qBank is pretty much coming from first aid, why does USFOptho says qBank was worthless but FA was good? Did he not see that they correlated?

Skid,

love the name.

I have since answered your ?. If you want more details, just post a ? here..

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

I think he was referring to the quality of the questions relative to the real thing, rather than the material represented in them. It's all medical knowledge, per say, but it may be worthless, in terms of the questions that were asked to prepare you for the "practice questions" part of the marathon. But, anyways, maybe we should just wait and see what USF has to say, rather than come up with theories and justifications --lol

Yeah, it's about the quality of the questions relative to the real thing. Kaplan needs to step things up!

FA has the knowledge you need (mostly, supplement with previously stated books). It's the integration that's key, and it's suprisingly much harder said than done for most people!

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

Congratulations USFOptho!!! I'm sure you got a great score.

About the Qbank issue: I think most people would agree that Kaplan's practice MCATs were not representative of the questions on the actual MCAT, and yet I know someone who did really well on Kaplan's practice tests and got a really high score on the MCAT as well. Maybe it is the same for the USMLE. I hypothesize:

1. Qbank questions require similar reasoning to the USMLE, so doing Qbank will help on the USMLE, but the questions will seem unhelpful because the style is different.
2. The person who does Qbank questions will remember some of the factual information (the stuff in First Aid) from the questions without realizing it.

Or of course maybe Qbank is not helpful. But is it really possible to know that you really know the material in First Aid without doing questions?

Zeloc,

I'll actually have to disagree with you on the MCAT stuff. I felt that Kaplan's MCAT stuff was harder than the real thing: Highest Kaplan I got was a 30, a week before the real thing, and I ended up scoring in the mid-high 30's on the real thing. Although, like USMLE, it is a bit of a luck of the draw on the questions...

Qbank, however, is not harder than the USMLE: quite the opposite. Furthermore, the questions are not too deep on the reason side of things, imho.

I think it is helpful, however, when you're tired of reading, to switch over to some qbank to learn the knowledge in the question explanations. Don't expect to use it as a good iindicator of the test, though!

I took both the NBME paid exams earlier this week. Unfortunately, my computer kept screwing up (they had to reset my test 4 times because of problems on their side AND mine), so I dont think I trust the scores I got on them (unreasonably low for scoring 70-80's on qbank). Nevertheless, the NBME paid exams ($45, www.nbme.org), were decent indicators of the question types, I'd say.

BTW, all of this stuff I'm saying correlates with all of the classmates I've spoken to so far..except one, the #1 guy, who said after step 1: I just got my derm residency!!

We'll see how that turns out.


Pride goeth before the fall,

USFOptho

 

[HiddenTruth]

Joshua,
.

However, QBANK just didnt' cut it. I found the questions to be too easy and straightforward: Too many associations, not enough depth. On Step 1, a question will go " blah blah blah blah " and you'll say, "oh, that's takayasu's arteritis" and the next sentence in the question will say " Considering this patient has takayasu's arteritis, what will their 5th generation progeny look like if they have a mutation on the 6th chromosome, short arm? (doh!)"..

haha...that is a bit of an exaggeration, but the questions are very complex...So, other than reviewing knowledge, I didn't find qbank that helpful in preparing me for the type of questions.

USFOptho

That's scary 😱 --I see you were a exaggerating a bit, but still. How do you prepare for these complex integrations that don't click right away? Is the MATERIAL from where these are stemmed present in all these review books that we use?

 

[Long Dong]

That's scary 😱 --I see you were a exaggerating a bit, but still. How do you prepare for these complex integrations that don't click right away? Is the MATERIAL from where these are stemmed present in all these review books that we use?

Agreed, from reading this thread all I get is more scared. 😱

And the fact USF says that qbank is easier, and is in less depth than the real thing just adds to my fear, cause I'm having a hard time finishing qbank in timed mode as it is. I can't imagine finishing each block in 30 minutes like usf did, if the passages are much longer then qbanks. 😱 And I was just getting confident about finishing all of qbank timed and randomed with a fairly good cumulative. There goes all my confidence.

 

[dcpark74]

Guys, who cares what anyone says about correlations between Qbank and Step 1? Don't let people scare you into thinking Qbank is harder, easier, or similar to the real exam.

I've realized that two people can know material verbatim but get different scores...there are way too many variables to account for score discrepancies. So to whoever said, 'FA...know it verbatim,' is...um unrealistic and overly simplifying matters.'

What we do not know are the intangibles that each of us possess...and i believe that is the difference.

Good luck studying.

 

[Row Jimmy]

I took Step 1 a couple days ago and have to disagree with USFO a little bit. I thought Qbank helped me a great deal with the exam. I would not say the questions were the same but the content was certainly there. What it comes down to IMO is being able to figure out the one question they are asking from the stem. Sounds basic, but it is so true. This goes for any question you may be doing. They ask a bit more direct questions on Qbank and on Step 1 they tend to mask the question in useless information that seems confusing until you get to the one sentence where the real question is buried. So many times I was reading a stem and very confused and then it all comes together and the real question pops out.

I found Step 1 as a whole to be more broad based in both questions and answers than Qbank. Step 1 questions were more vague if that makes sense. I also think if you read through Qbank explanations after doing the random blocks, that is the best use of that product. I also thought there were more very easy questions on Step 1 then on Qbank.

Please don't get me wrong, I found Step 1 to be a strange and difficult exam in that I never really felt comfortable with a lot of my answers. This is probably because they force you to figure out the question they are asking from several clues and if that reasoning is flawed, you will be going in the wrong direction and that was in the back of my mind the entire time.

As far as time is concerned, I am a pretty fast test taker and I tend to speed up when stressed and make mistakes so I really worked on slowing down a little and tried to finish each block with 5-10 minutes left in order to review the few I marked. A couple blocks I finished very early and the last couple blocks I finished with just a couple minutes left because I was tired and that damn monitor flicker was reeking havoc on my eyes by that point.

If you are having a problem finishing Qbank random blocks of 50 on time, I would say that is a problem and should be the focus of your studies prior to Step 1 as there is more logic to be worked out on the real exam and in my case, there were many more charts, diagrams and long stems than on Qbank.

RJ

 

[USFOptho]

That's scary 😱 --I see you were a exaggerating a bit, but still. How do you prepare for these complex integrations that don't click right away? Is the MATERIAL from where these are stemmed present in all these review books that we use?

Hidden,

remember,

the material is all in the books i listed.

It's the integration on test day that isn't.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

Agreed, from reading this thread all I get is more scared. 😱

And the fact USF says that qbank is easier, and is in less depth than the real thing just adds to my fear, cause I'm having a hard time finishing qbank in timed mode as it is. I can't imagine finishing each block in 30 minutes like usf did, if the passages are much longer then qbanks. 😱 And I was just getting confident about finishing all of qbank timed and randomed with a fairly good cumulative. There goes all my confidence.

Long Dong,

Don't let your confidence get down! Qbank is an easier type of question, and more shallow, but if you have the knowledge base and your timing is good, then you'll be fine. I have no problems with timing, but if you do, then keep practicing questions...

You're gonna do great.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

Guys, who cares what anyone says about correlations between Qbank and Step 1? Don't let people scare you into thinking Qbank is harder, easier, or similar to the real exam.

I've realized that two people can know material verbatim but get different scores...there are way too many variables to account for score discrepancies. So to whoever said, 'FA...know it verbatim,' is...um unrealistic and overly simplifying matters.'

What we do not know are the intangibles that each of us possess...and i believe that is the difference.

Good luck studying.

It's not about scaring park, it's just fact that QBank isn't as hard as step 1.

I think that me breaking it down into : "Know FA cold, and also review the following books" is a service, but, you can take it or leave it.

The intangibles do make a big deal: As do the questions you get on test day. There is so much they can test us on, and you end up getting tested on very little. In fact, i had many "repeat" questions within the 350 in one form or the other.

Keep up the confidence, study hard, and you'll be fine. Work on the content, practice the questions for timing, and do your best. That's all you can ask for.

USFOptho

 

[USFOptho]

I took Step 1 a couple days ago and have to disagree with USFO a little bit. I thought Qbank helped me a great deal with the exam. I would not say the questions were the same but the content was certainly there. What it comes down to IMO is being able to figure out the one question they are asking from the stem. Sounds basic, but it is so true. This goes for any question you may be doing. They ask a bit more direct questions on Qbank and on Step 1 they tend to mask the question in useless information that seems confusing until you get to the one sentence where the real question is buried. So many times I was reading a stem and very confused and then it all comes together and the real question pops out.

Yeah, Qbank does have the content. But, as we both saw, the questions are far too shallow on Qbank.

I found Step 1 as a whole to be more broad based in both questions and answers than Qbank. Step 1 questions were more vague if that makes sense. I also think if you read through Qbank explanations after doing the random blocks, that is the best use of that product. I also thought there were more very easy questions on Step 1 then on Qbank.

More easy questions on step 1 than qbank? 🙂 I don't know about that one! I found qbank, for the most part, to be pretty easy.

Please don't get me wrong, I found Step 1 to be a strange and difficult exam in that I never really felt comfortable with a lot of my answers. This is probably because they force you to figure out the question they are asking from several clues and if that reasoning is flawed, you will be going in the wrong direction and that was in the back of my mind the entire time.

I'm with ya there on the comfort level.

As far as time is concerned, I am a pretty fast test taker and I tend to speed up when stressed and make mistakes so I really worked on slowing down a little and tried to finish each block with 5-10 minutes left in order to review the few I marked. A couple blocks I finished very early and the last couple blocks I finished with just a couple minutes left because I was tired and that damn monitor flicker was reeking havoc on my eyes by that point.

That monitor flicker did suck. I got tired too, but after every block I would take a break, drink gatorade, walk around outside, and hit the granola bars.

If you are having a problem finishing Qbank random blocks of 50 on time, I would say that is a problem and should be the focus of your studies prior to Step 1 as there is more logic to be worked out on the real exam and in my case, there were many more charts, diagrams and long stems than on Qbank.

RJ

I agree: If you have problems finishing QBank, then you gotta work on timing.

USFOptho

 

[Pox in a box]

Are any of you suffering from recall bias?

 

[joshua_msu]

USFOptho, how long would you say that you did hard core serious studying? Is three weeks enough if you pull some long 12 hour days?

 

[Tedebear]

I hate to say this but the boards people have widened the gap with the resources out there. As USF mentioned, Kaplan needs to improve R&D because the questions are not the same. This is like the old prey-predator graph from introductory biology. The prey (board type questions) are more sophisticated then the current available questions.

Here is my theory. The test committee (Basic Science faculty at medical schools) meets once a year, March-April, http://www.nbme.org/AnnualReport/2004/governance.htm. They get together and put in a batch of new questions every year, and retire old questions. Therefore, in 4-5 years majoritiy of the questions would have been replaced with new questions (complete turnover of the test bank). This is one reason that HLA types, and chromosome numbers of disease are showing up less and less on Step 1 exams. HLA subtypes and chromosome numbers were emphasized in the late 90's and early 2000. Also, the UCV series is not as relevant either because the buzzwords are replaced with physical diagnosis and description of the diseases.

As for Goljan, I think Goljan is gold for the NBME shelf exams because they are retired questions. However, the audio that is circulating is from 2002. Sure, I remember many questions that jumped out during shelf exams. However, the test committe has met in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. That is four years of adding new test questions. Granted, you will see goljan's questions, but it won't be as many as you think. The number of questions that Goljan mentions as "you will see this on the boards" decreases year by year because of the influx of new questions. If you see 20 questions verbatim from Goljan's lecture consider yourself very lucky.

Here is my conclusion. If you want to just pass Step 1, then First Aid and Qbank will be enough. However, if you want the 240+ you will have had to already worked very hard the 1st 2 years of medical school. The test is designed so you won't be able to learn new information during your review period. This is why you will often hear people say, "There were questions that I could not have prepared for on the exam."

Also, working hard in medical school doesn't necessarily mean that you have a high class rank. I know some students that have honored medical school classes because they memorized class notes verbatim. Yet, when I talk to them they can't integrate information from one class to another. For example, if I tell them Graft Versus Host disease is localized in the terminal ileum. what type of pathology would you expect? These people can't reason out the pathology because they memorized GI diseases (in their mind they think what are the DDX at terminal ileum) rather than reason the pathology by going backwards (if terminal ileum is affected well the normal physiology is this so if this is knocked out this happens i.e. pathophysiology).

These same people memorize First Aid, BRS Physio, and BRS Pathology verbatim but then during the test realize that Boards require you to think and apply (unlike medical school exams) so they are screwed during the exam. You can pinpoint these people in your medical school because they will say "I wish I did more questions." This is why you will see some students that score below a 240 on Step 1 with a high class rank. On the other hand, there are some students that have learned the material in medical school but have only honored a couple classes here and there, but when you talk to these people they have integrated the information.

Lastly, there are only about 2-3 people out of 100 medical students that have the strong work ethic (Junior AOA) and intelligence (260+ Step 1). These people are truly gifted.

Still, half of these people lack the social skills/personality that are exposed during residency interviews. So I would say 1 out of 100 medical students are truly gifted i.e. have the social skills/personality, impeccable work ethic (Junior AOA), and intelligence (260+ Step 1).

http://www.nbme.org/examiners/FallWinter2001/ForStudents.htm

 

[Long Dong]

Long Dong,

Don't let your confidence get down! Qbank is an easier type of question, and more shallow, but if you have the knowledge base and your timing is good, then you'll be fine. I have no problems with timing, but if you do, then keep practicing questions...

You're gonna do great.

USFOptho

So should I do qbank again for a second time, or I'm I better off doing a different source (e.g. blueprints, rapid review, pre-test vignettes, IV qbank)?

 

[dcpark74]

It's not about scaring park, it's just fact that QBank isn't as hard as step 1.

I think that me breaking it down into : "Know FA cold, and also review the following books" is a service, but, you can take it or leave it.

The intangibles do make a big deal: As do the questions you get on test day. There is so much they can test us on, and you end up getting tested on very little. In fact, i had many "repeat" questions within the 350 in one form or the other.

Keep up the confidence, study hard, and you'll be fine. Work on the content, practice the questions for timing, and do your best. That's all you can ask for.

USFOptho

I forgot to say congratulations on finishing step 1. 🙂

I'm glad to know that you have to think, integrate, etc. on the exam. I like those type of exams. We'll see how my 'intelligence' holds up on the exam. 🙂

You agreed with the guy about comfort level of your answers. That bodes well for me then, since i tend to keep my first choice answers when i have only a decent idea...maybe i can meet my fiancee for a late lunch! 😀

 

[mjl1717]

I hate to say this but the boards people have widened the gap with the resources out there. As USF mentioned, Kaplan needs to improve R&D because the questions are not the same. This is like the old prey-predator graph from introductory biology. The prey (board type questions are more sophisticated) then the current available questions.

Here is my theory. The test committee (Basic Science faculty at medical schools) meets once a year (March-April), they put in a batch of new questions every year, and retire old questions. Therefore, in 4-5 years majoritiy of the questions would have been replaced with new questions (complete turnover of the test bank). This is one reason that HLA types, and chromosome numbers of disease are showing up less and less on Step 1 exams. HLA subtypes and chromosome numbers were emphasized in the late 90's and early 2000. Also, the UCV series is not as relevant either because the buzzwords are replaced with physical diagnosis and description of the diseases.

As for Goljan, I think Goljan is gold for the NBME shelf exams because they are retired questions. However, the audio that is circulating is from 2002. Sure, I remember many questions that jumped out during shelf exams. However, the test committe has met in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. That is four years of adding new test questions. Granted, you will see goljan's questions, but it won't be as many as you think. The number of questions that Goljan mentions as "you will see this on the boards" decreases year by year because of the influx of new questions. If you see 20 questions verbatim from Goljan's lecture consider yourself very lucky.

Here is my conclusion. If you want to just pass Step 1, then First Aid and Qbank will be enough. However, if you want the 240+ you will have had to already worked very hard the 1st 2 years of medical school. The test is designed so you won't be able to learn new information during your review period. This is why you will often hear people say, "There were questions that I could not have prepared for on the exam."

Also, working hard in medical school doesn't necessarily mean that you have a high class rank. I know some students that have honored medical school classes because they memorized class notes verbatim. Yet, when I talk to them they can't integrate information from one class to another. For example, if I tell them Graft Versus Host disease is localized in the terminal ileum. what type of pathology would you expect? These people can't reason out the pathology because they memorized GI diseases (in their mind they think what are the DDX at terminal ileum) rather than reason the pathology by going backwards (if terminal ileum is affected well the normal physiology is this so if this is knocked out this happens i.e. pathophysiology).

These same people memorize First Aid, BRS Physio, and BRS Pathology verbatim but then during the test realize that Boards require you to think and apply (unlike medical school exams) so they are screwed during the exam. You can pinpoint these people in your medical school because they will say "I wish I did more questions." This is why you will see some students that score below a 240 on Step 1 with a high class rank. On the other hand, there are some students that have learned the material in medical school but have only honored a couple classes here and there, but when you talk to these people they have integrated the information.

Lastly, there are only about 2-3 people out of 100 medical students that have the strong work ethic (Junior AOA) and intelligence (260+ Step 1). These people are truly gifted.

Still, half of these people lack the social skills/personality that are exposed during residency interviews. So I would say 1 out of 100 medical students are truly gifted i.e. have the social skills/personality, impeccable work ethic (Junior AOA), and intelligence (260+ Step 1).

Tedebear,

{In pure slang} I feel you.
Good post!

 

[RetroMan]

More difficult, and different, really. Like I said, I barely saw anything I hadn't seen before, but the way they asked it could really screw ya over if you weren't careful.

When I say memorize FA, I mean word for word. I, unfortunately, didn't have this complete mastery in all sections, and I felt that heat a few times!

USFOptho

I agree with USFOptho...I am starting to get the feeling we got a somewhat similar exam. 😉

Memorize FA, there were a questions on my test that I was...$h!#...I wish I had review that section on FA a couple more times.

 

[steady]

USFOptho

As a regular lurker on this board, I was surprised by your assessment....

You seem to be in the minority regarding qbank and the usmle.....by far (and this is up to now) most people have reported that they found the qbank questions to be somewhat more difficult than the actual exam questions....

Can you theorize as to why so many others have felt differently?

I'm just wondering if you had a particularly harsh exam and this report is an anomaly, or whether this might be the sign of a new trend.....

Also, what is it about memorizing First Aid that would help so much? I would think that First Aid would be pretty good for flipping through, but in the end, the more questions one does, the better...am I wrong? I've got about 3 weeks to go, and I've covered Pharm, Path, and Phys.....the only time I've hit First Aid pretty hard so far was for Pharm (I'm sure I'll need to look at it a few more times, for sure). Otherwise, it's been flipping through review books and lots of questions, but mostly questions (but as a reviewing and learning tool).

It seems that with the time constraints, it would be easier to find an answer if I somewhat recognize the nature of the question, as opposed to scanning my brain for some random First Aid fact......but then again, I haven't taken the test..

Perhaps you could elaborate a bit more?

At the end of the day, I'm choosing to spend my time more with hitting questions then staring at First Aid....perhaps I should change....or not.....ehhh i don't know........

 

[jwin]

USFOptho

As a regular lurker on this board, I was surprised by your assessment....

You seem to be in the minority regarding qbank and the usmle.....by far (and this is up to now) most people have reported that they found the qbank questions to be somewhat more difficult than the actual exam questions....

Can you theorize as to why so many others have felt differently?

I'm just wondering if you had a particularly harsh exam and this report is an anomaly, or whether this might be the sign of a new trend.....

Also, what is it about memorizing First Aid that would help so much? I would think that First Aid would be pretty good for flipping through, but in the end, the more questions one does, the better...am I wrong? I've got about 3 weeks to go, and I've covered Pharm, Path, and Phys.....the only time I've hit First Aid pretty hard so far was for Pharm (I'm sure I'll need to look at it a few more times, for sure). Otherwise, it's been flipping through review books and lots of questions, but mostly questions (but as a reviewing and learning tool).

It seems that with the time constraints, it would be easier to find an answer if I somewhat recognize the nature of the question, as opposed to scanning my brain for some random First Aid fact......but then again, I haven't taken the test..

Perhaps you could elaborate a bit more?

At the end of the day, I'm choosing to spend my time more with hitting questions then staring at First Aid....perhaps I should change....or not.....ehhh i don't know........

steady:

i don't know if you have taken many NBME shelf exams or not, but at my school we have taken them for most every subject (anatomy, cell bio/histo, neuro, micro, physio, pharm, and path). it is only from these tests that i realize the value of FA. there was just stuff on these exams that i would have never gotten without FA. the question would seem totally unfair and arbitrary had i not seen the fact in FA. now i know that step 1 is a different test, but i imagine there are fair number of questions that as people have previously mentioned just "jump out" at you if you know FA backwards and forwards. obviously, without the proper conceptional framwork you can't understand any of the stuff in FA, but in a time crunch i don't think there is any better use of your time. i read FA for the pharm shelf exam three times in the 2 days before the exam, and there were still 2 or 3 questions that i missed that were straight out of first aid.

 

[lola]

For those who have taken shelf exams and Step 1, how did you find Step 1 compared to shelf exams? I did not have any problems with the shelf exams but am having a bit of trouble with Q bank so am getting a little nervous.

 

[streetdoc]

steady:

i don't know if you have taken many NBME shelf exams or not, but at my school we have taken them for most every subject (anatomy, cell bio/histo, neuro, micro, physio, pharm, and path). it is only from these tests that i realize the value of FA. there was just stuff on these exams that i would have never gotten without FA. the question would seem totally unfair and arbitrary had i not seen the fact in FA. now i know that step 1 is a different test, but i imagine there are fair number of questions that as people have previously mentioned just "jump out" at you if you know FA backwards and forwards. obviously, without the proper conceptional framwork you can't understand any of the stuff in FA, but in a time crunch i don't think there is any better use of your time. i read FA for the pharm shelf exam three times in the 2 days before the exam, and there were still 2 or 3 questions that i missed that were straight out of first aid.

i have a thought or two on the shelf vs. Step (caution, i have not taken step 1 , but have taken a number of shelfs in my days)
FA is obviously made every year from what students report back to certain people. from this list of "remembered" stuff they make the book. ofcourse, the shelfs are a few years ago Step test and therefore i think that's why a good bit of stuff is in there. (ie C. jejuni and GB dz on the path shelf...VERBATIM!!!). although i love first aid for it's "ablility to be memorized" and this comforts me, i feel it is my hours of work thru the first 2 years thay will be the underlying factor of my score (whatever it may be come june). my thoughts...same goes for goljan too. while helpful (to me), i expect no "straight otta there" questions. maybe i will be pleasantly surprised?!
thanks for your time
streetdoc

 

[Doc Ivy]

although i love first aid for it's "ablility to be memorized" and this comforts me, i feel it is my hours of work thru the first 2 years thay will be the underlying factor of my score (whatever it may be come june). my thoughts...same goes for goljan too. while helpful (to me), i expect no "straight otta there" questions. maybe i will be pleasantly surprised?!
thanks for your time
streetdoc

I couldn't have said it better myself streetdoc.
I like FA, it's great for focusing you in on what tends to be on step 1, Goljan rocks too --I'll admit his HY notes has random pearls are good for that stuff that you just can't find in any book like" how to disinfect a bedban of C. diff" 🙄 but in the end the bulk of the test is going to based on the core knowledge you've built in 2 years.