USMLE question distribution

[peripateric]

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Is it true that you can actually have a whole test full of say molecular biology or anatomy... and almost none of pathophys, biochem, ...?

given that all the tests are standardized, it may theoretically be something you encounter (eg. molecular biology pertaining to path, molecular bio pertaining to biochem, etc.... but would you not think that people running the boards would take this probability into account?

also, mathematically, given the percentage of eg. mol. bio. on each subject, it is really rather surprizing to hear, as i read off another forum, that a test would be SOOO lopsided....

anyone can comment?😕

 

[Idiopathic]

I would say no. I believe (no matter what we hear) that the NBME standardizes the question distribution to some extent.

 

[Gibby Haynes]

This is absolutely false. The usmle is a good mix of all areas and tests your application of basic science principles. Be cautious if someone tells you that they had a ton of biochem on their test. I've found that most students tend to exaggerate the amount of questions pertaining to subject matter that they are weakest in. So if you are weak in biochem, every time a biochem Q pops up you will be saying to yourself "not another biochem question" and thus it may feel that the large portion of the test was biochem. The only way to remedy this is to be prepared for each subject area.

 

[Idiopathic]

Excellent analysis. I treat this situation just like I do the people who say they had "5-10 anatomy and neuroanatomy questions combined" on their exam. If they did, then great, but it was probably more, they just didnt realize it because to them it was easy, or they didnt recognize the subject clearly enough.

 

[Stinger86]

Bingo.

It seems a lot of people lately complain about there being an emphasis on biochem or neuroanatomy on the Step 1, but like these guys said, it's probably just because they didn't study it well enough. Just make sure you take biochem and neuro seriously.

 

[neilc]

well, i am someone who got a bit of biochem, certainly more than i expected....you are right in saying i should have learned in better, but i still think i have a good idea of what my test contained!😉

i am confident that it was a significant part of my test because it was the only subject that i tested poorly on according to my score report, yet i got a crappy score...192/78

i didn't study it enough, and my biggest excuse was that nobody ever gets a lot of biochem, so even if i miss the 10 questions, i will be fine...well, i had a bit more than the 10 questions.

there NBME builds the blocks of 50 with a pretty reasonable distribution through the blocks. but, there are different quantities in each block. now, if you happen to get 8 blocks that have some with a few extra questions in biochem or whatever, it can make a difference in your score.

and, Idiopathic, i think i had 5 anatomy questions. i loved anatomy, was hoping for more. that is a low yeild topic, IMHO. 😱

 

[Samoa]

is USMLE an adaptive test? What I mean is, do the questions you get depend on whether you got the previous ones right in that subject?

The reason I ask is because my pharmacy board exam was a computer-adaptive test, and people complained about the same kind of diversity of question distribution.

On that test, it was not a false perception that they got more questions in the area where they were weakest. What happens is that in the areas where you're strongest, you rapidly get to the most difficult question in the series, and if you answer it right, you move on to other topics. Whereas in a subject where your correct answers aren't so consistent, the computer adaptive program requires more questions in order to hone in on where you stand with respect to the rest of the pack.

 

[doc05]

Originally posted by Samoa
is USMLE an adaptive test? What I mean is, do the questions you get depend on whether you got the previous ones right in that subject?

no, it is not an adaptive test.

 

[Idiopathic]

Originally posted by doc05
no, it is not an adaptive test.

Can you say for sure? Allegedly they have been planning the change, and it has been asserted that we will not know when they make the change.

 

[peripateric]

i doubt if there is any reason usmle will keep it a secret....

is it legal to describe testing conditions incorrectly?

could it be that those guys who get all kind of difficult questions in one subject area are actually part of adaptive testing.... unbeknownst to anyone but the usmle? sounds scary! a test is a test.... but knowing what to expect is just so important.... getting only questions from one area of medicine... unexpectedly could be so disturbing....

 

[Idiopathic]

we have no idea how the test is graded or scored, so yeah, anything is a possibility. I dont even think it is a question of legality.

 

[Surgery2Do]

I recently took step 2 and I thought that it appeared to be adaptive.

 

[peripateric]

Originally posted by Surgery2Do
I recently took step 2 and I thought that it appeared to be adaptive.

meaning that you felt questions were getting harder?


did you feel you were tested equally in different specialties? or rather, did you feel that all specialties were tested?

 

[Samoa]

An adaptive test will seem just like any regular test unless you're doing really well (and also paying attention to patterns in question difficulty). On an adaptive test, if you're getting them all right, you will notice the questions getting progressively harder, and then you'll see an abrupt shift to both a different topic and an easier question. If you're missing some, you'll see more of a alternating pattern of hard-easy-hard-medium-somewhat hard, and so on.

 

[neilc]

check out the usmle website. i saw on there that it was not an adaptive test, and they did not have a definite plan to make it adaptive when i took it in august. they also mentioned that when it changed it would be announced.

so, unless they have changed it since i was stressing in august, it is not adaptive.

 

[dancelover]

We were told this week by our school that Step 1 is not an adaptive test, though there are plans to make it that way in the future. Our administrators are under the impression that the plan to change it will not affect those of us taking it this spring.