use of nbme exams

[strongson]

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has anyone considered taking all of the nbme exams prior to beginning their intensive board review? since the nbme exams seem to be a fairly accurate predictor of performance, it would seem that knowing the concepts tested by these exams extremely well would build a core knowledge of concepts commonly tested on the real exam. focusing on these concepts might also streamline the review process, cutting down on extranneous use of review time.

any thoughts?

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

has anyone considered taking all of the nbme exams prior to beginning their intensive board review? since the nbme exams seem to be a fairly accurate predictor of performance, it would seem that knowing the concepts tested by these exams extremely well would build a core knowledge of concepts commonly tested on the real exam. focusing on these concepts might also streamline the review process, cutting down on extranneous use of review time.

any thoughts?

This doesn't sound like a great idea. For one, if you use them all pre-studying, you have no effective way to gauge your progress as you go along and see how much work you still have to do. For another, these have been around for awhile; they are older exams. There's alot more you need to know than just what happens to be on this 800 question qbank (note that ALL the front-runner qbanks have at least 2000 questions, which is about the minimum you need to touch on everything you might be tested on). Further, since the questions don't have explanations, it's not like you can learn as you go like you do with qbanks-- you'd have to look each individual question up in some other review book, which seems like a massive timesink. Finally, you KNOW the concepts you need to learn already. You've been studying them for 2 years, they're in first aid, etc. The content of step 1 is not a mystery-- the hard part is knowing it all 🙂

All that said, I think taking ONE before you start is a good idea-- it tells you where you are, and how far you are from where you need to be (and in what areas). Blowing your load with all 4 of them right at the beginning, notsomuch.

 

[babies2009]

I took one of the exams before I started my intense study. Just so that I knew where I stood. I did look up all the answers to questions I didn't know the answers to. But, like the previous poster said, don't waste your time/money on using this as your focused study material.