usmle world

[obiwan]

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hello

i was wondering to all those who have taken step 1, did you think that the questions were fairly good representatives of the test or are they easier/harder

it seems like most people were in the 60ish % for accuracy in UW and they do pretty well on the test. i've started doing some questions and there are some questions that are pretty difficult to think through

 

[mudphudwannabe]

The questions on USMLE world are representative of the more challenging questions you will get on the boards. In last year's Test Prep Week, a representative from USMLE World explained it here: Why USMLE World is hard -- and I would say that breakdown is fairly accurate. Some of the questions on Step 1 will be so easy you'll hardly have to think about them. You won't find many questions on USMLE World like that, but USMLE World questions are very representative of those ~50% of questions on step 1 that will be difficult but doable. In my opinion, that makes USMLE World very efficient preparation. (I'm not affiliated in any way with USMLE World)

 

[DragonWell]

The questions on USMLE world are representative of the more challenging questions you will get on the boards. In last year's Test Prep Week, a representative from USMLE World explained it here: Why USMLE World is hard -- and I would say that breakdown is fairly accurate. Some of the questions on Step 1 will be so easy you'll hardly have to think about them. You won't find many questions on USMLE World like that, but USMLE World questions are very representative of those ~50% of questions on step 1 that will be difficult but doable. In my opinion, that makes USMLE World very efficient preparation. (I'm not affiliated in any way with USMLE World)

Thanks for that info. So based on this, is it also fair to say that in terms of timing, UWorld is somewhat tougher than the real deal?

I didn't anticipate timing being that big a deal, but I'm finding that I need to ponder most UWorld question for at least a couple minutes...hopefully that "easy 30%" will give me some extra time on the real deal...

 

[mudphudwannabe]

Hmm. I don't know that I would count on that. Even if these tough questions are only 50%, you don't really have a couple minutes per question --
25 "challenging" questions * 2 minutes/question = 50 minutes, which only leaves you 10 minutes for the other 25 questions. 😱 I would still work on speed on USMLE World questions, especially because you never really know how many of those tough questions you might get in each block and you still only get 60 minutes per block regardless of the difficulty of the questions.

Definitely do the questions timed - you need to get a feeling for what it's like on the real exam, even (or especially) if it's difficult for you. You don't want to be stressed out by suddenly seeing the clock counting down on exam because you've been doing all your questions untimed. And you need to learn how to strategize and manage your time -- if one question really has you stumped, just pick an answer, mark it, and come back if you have time later. If you're just starting out, though, you might find that your speed improves as you go. I remember feeling a bit rushed when I first started doing USMLE World questions, but it definitely got easier. On the real exam I had plenty of time.

 

[DragonWell]

Hmm. I don't know that I would count on that. Even if these tough questions are only 50%, you don't really have a couple minutes per question --
25 "challenging" questions * 2 minutes/question = 50 minutes, which only leaves you 10 minutes for the other 25 questions. 😱 I would still work on speed on USMLE World questions, especially because you never really know how many of those tough questions you might get in each block and you still only get 60 minutes per block regardless of the difficulty of the questions.

Definitely do the questions timed - you need to get a feeling for what it's like on the real exam, even (or especially) if it's difficult for you. You don't want to be stressed out by suddenly seeing the clock counting down on exam because you've been doing all your questions untimed. And you need to learn how to strategize and manage your time -- if one question really has you stumped, just pick an answer, mark it, and come back if you have time later. If you're just starting out, though, you might find that your speed improves as you go. I remember feeling a bit rushed when I first started doing USMLE World questions, but it definitely got easier. On the real exam I had plenty of time.

Thanks for the advice !

 

[obiwan]

i've been doing the questions untimed and for some of the questions, i'm taking at least 3 minutes to think through everything so i guess i need to work on that

thanks for the advice

 

[rox]

I'd like to add my humble opinion.

Here's how I classify the questions I had in my exam:
1. very simple clinically-oriented questions that depend on your clinical background( about 60%). You will rarely encounter such questions in UW.

2. Questions that depend on simple knowledge of basic science. If you prepared, you will answer them easily( about 30%). In UW, they test very detailed basic science knowledge that you won't be tested for in the real one, specially in pharmacology! So, UW doesn't have this category of questions.

3. Questions that include curves or graphs that you have never been exposed to. Answering these questions would need a scientist( about 10%). You will find such questions in UW, but unfortunately such questions are endless and you won't have the same idea in the real exam. So, technically, UW is not helpful here.

I know that many people will disagree with this input, but this is at least what I came up with from using UW and taking the real exam. This should not be applicable to everybody else's exam.

 

[countryboy75]

Rox, that 60% clinical based Q's you talked about, can you throw in some examples? Not necessarily the question verbatim but perhaps the subject matter.

 

[rox]

Alright. For example, one of the complications of Diabetes is renal failure. Renal failure results in anemia due to decreased erythopoitein secretion from the kidneys. This famous question is posted on usmle's website.

An elderly with history of atherosclerosis and a pulsatile mass in the abdomen>> aortic aneurysm.

You'll find many similar questions.

 

[tony montana]

Alright. For example, one of the complications of Diabetes is renal failure. Renal failure results in anemia due to decreased erythopoitein secretion from the kidneys. This famous question is posted on usmle's website.

An elderly with history of atherosclerosis and a pulsatile mass in the abdomen>> aortic aneurysm.

You'll find many similar questions.

So what qbank (if any) has such questions?

 

[radiodoc99]

Hey

I like Rx....they FA people have made it and they seem pretty challenging as well. Most people get like 60% on it (you can act track your score with others).

I got it cuz my Big(3rd,4th yrs), used it to fill out their FA book.

see the demo on www.usmlerx.com

gluck...

 

[lankysudanese]

used it to fill out their FA book.

i don't think that that is possible. i've heard that the answers in USMLERx are nothing more than a picture of the page in FA, where that subject is mentioned. so how are you going to fill a book using answers that add nothing new?

 

[countryboy75]

thanks for the reply,

 

[Doctor Bagel]

i don't think that that is possible. i've heard that the answers in USMLERx are nothing more than a picture of the page in FA, where that subject is mentioned. so how are you going to fill a book using answers that add nothing new?

There's a little more text, but yeah, the bulk of the explanation for most of the USMLERx questions is straight from FA. I'll add that I'm also getting frustrated with USMLERx because it's really poorly edited. It's not at all unusual to encounter questions where they're asking for the wrong thing, and you have to figure it out just based on the answer choices. You'll see stuff like "What disease does she have?" and all the choices are drugs.

 

[oreosandsake]

There's a little more text, but yeah, the bulk of the explanation for most of the USMLERx questions is straight from FA. I'll add that I'm also getting frustrated with USMLERx because it's really poorly edited. It's not at all unusual to encounter questions where they're asking for the wrong thing, and you have to figure it out just based on the answer choices. You'll see stuff like "What disease does she have?" and all the choices are drugs.

I wrote in a few examples of this and the person who responded to me said, "watch your email for a gift certificate"

it's been about a week already and I've yet to receive anything.

I'm not thrilled w/ this qbank (usmleRx) - and I think my avg (and everyone elses) should be higher d/t the fact you get questions like those wrong.

also, they seem to ask a lot of buzzwords.

 

[rox]

It is not that Qbank has no clinically oriented questions, but the point is that they concentrate too much on the pure & detailed basic science knowledge, which I found unnecessary.