USMLErx.com is up

[personal jesus]

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www.usmlerx.com

Id be curious to see if people who have already taken the exam think the 10 sample questions are closer to the board format than Kaplans Qbank

 

[MDFACC]

wow i just did this. i haven't taken the exam but here are my thoughts.


usmlerx is badass. haven't done too much kaplan but from what i have seen, its all buzzwords. i don't think your % correct on kaplan is indicative of anything except your ability to recognize buzzwords (which apparently are not tested anymore). i think kaplan is an important learning tool but is unlikely to be representative of the real exam.

usmlerx was challenging and required secondary and tertiary analysis (2 step or 3 step thinking). i think this is more representative of what the real test is like. i'm strongly considering investing in this resource. if you have time for only kaplan, do kaplan or else you will feel guilty for not using a proven resource. but if you have time for both, definitely consider this.

 

[dara678]

more opinions would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

 

[missbonnie]

i just did them too. i havent staken step 1 but the questions were good, i thought. the interface was kinda flakey tho, but I also use a mac.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I haven't taken Step 1 yet either.

I thought they were too First Aid-ish; each question was based on info from the book. Considering who makes this I guess that isn't a surprise.

It may be useful for seeing how well you've memorized FA, but I wouldn't want this to be my primary question source. I've spent a lot of time with my FA so the questions seemed really transparent.

I've only done 4 QBank questions so I can't really make a comparison to that. They're certainly not as good as Robbins Review of Path in terms of how much thinking you have to do.

 

[JulianCrane]

So did anyone see the question about the 3 wk old infant with bacterial meningitis? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the primary cause of bacterial meningitis in a neonate (0-6months) is Group B Strep, NOT S. Pneumoniae. Hmm. . seems like the QMax people slipped up.

 

[lord_jeebus]

So did anyone see the question about the 3 wk old infant with bacterial meningitis? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the primary cause of bacterial meningitis in a neonate (0-6months) is Group B Strep, NOT S. Pneumoniae. Hmm. . seems like the QMax people slipped up.

Yeah I agree. You can see on the first aid sample in the answers that it should be Group B Strep.

Also, I looked it up on uptodate: "Among newborns, group B streptococcus was responsible for approximately 70 percent of cases, L. monocytogenes for 20 percent, and S. pneumoniae for 10 percent." (This uptodate article defines newborn as < 1 mo.)

EDIT: Interestingly, uptodate does not list E. coli as a significant cause of newborn meningitis, while FA says it's #2.

 

[dara678]

lol i was just going to ask you about that 3 week old infant question. i'm pretty sure it's group b strep and not strep pneumo. that error doesn't look too good for usmlerx ... the questions are good second/third order questions and i thought they were a little more complex than qbank, but at the same time the interface really, really, really annoys me. it looks ugly and for the life of me i find it difficult to scroll down on it.

 

[tkim]

I think the interface looks like that to simulate the FRED software design you'll encounter when taking the actual test. It certainly looks like the Step I test I took.

Sucky interface or not, it will make you more comfortable to encounter a familiar interface come test time.

 

[theprizefighter]

Can anyone please list the subscription cost for Step 1 Qmax and how many questions are offered?

Thank you,

tpf

 

[myt]

It concerns me that they picked 10 questions to give on their "test drive," and you would think that they would CAREFULLY review those since they are being judged on them, and they screwed one of them up!!!

I do, however, like how they have the little piece of info from first aid down below, you can check their answers and see where you should have gotten it from.

Interested to hear other thoughts, esp. people who have bought it.

 

[theprizefighter]

From the usmlerx.com website....

Make the most effective use of your limited study time to maximize your test performance with the USMLERx Step 1 Qmax testbank. For a limited time only, get two months of access for $99! Offer expires April 30, 2006.



Why choose USMLERx Step 1 Qmax?
Step 1 Qmax has all the features you need in a testbank system to ensure your success on the USMLE Step 1 exam:


2000+ high-yield USMLE-style questions
Developed by Authors of the renown First Aid series
Concise explanations for answers and distractors
Continually revised and updated with student feedback
NBME FRED-style interface for true simulation
Customizable by test mode, subject matter, and question reuse
Detailed performance feedback
Accessible 24/7 anywhere
COMING SOON! Integrated First Aid facts
Not convinced yet?
Take our live test drive to see what we offer you.

What subscription option is best for me?
Step 1 Qmax is flexible to accommodate your studying needs. We offer the following subscription plans:


What you want
to use Step 1 Qmax for 1 month
Step 1 Qmax 3 months
Step 1 Qbank 6 months
Step 1 Qbank

Intensive review and practice tests under simulated exam conditions

Discovering your strengths and weaknesses to guide your overall review strategy

Reviewing topics as you learn them, planning ahead what topics to schedule more time for while reviewing

Subscription price: $99 $199 $349





You can also extend your existing subscription by 15 days, 1 month, or 3 months (up to two extension subscription periods) if you need more time.

 

[Kashue]

So did anyone see the question about the 3 wk old infant with bacterial meningitis? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the primary cause of bacterial meningitis in a neonate (0-6months) is Group B Strep, NOT S. Pneumoniae. Hmm. . seems like the QMax people slipped up.

HAs anyone subscribed and checked it out? I'm wondering if I should subscribe in case I run out of Questions....

 

[eripearson]

Haven't subscribed yet though I'm thinking about signing up for it in my last month of prep. Currently I'm using the Qbank and after 2-3 weeks am scoring in the high 70s and mid 80s but it feels like a bit of false confidence as the answers tend to jump right out the the stem. I agree with the above posters that the USMLERx may have the edge in multistep thinking though it is a bit discomforting to see a mistake in the demo. This was just another "agree with the above" post but I'm anxious to see what people who have subscribed think. Any thoughts on the USMLEasy Qbank?

 

[ertugrul]

So did anyone see the question about the 3 wk old infant with bacterial meningitis? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the primary cause of bacterial meningitis in a neonate (0-6months) is Group B Strep, NOT S. Pneumoniae. Hmm. . seems like the QMax people slipped up.

Please check the microscope image of the specimen 😉

 

[Kashue]

Please check the microscope image of the specimen 😉

It's strep for sure. It's in chains. Pneunococcus is in pairs.

It's a mistake.

 

[ertugrul]

It's strep for sure. It's in chains. Pneunococcus is in pairs.

It's a mistake.

surely it's not pneumococcus

 

[generic]

did they recently fix it? I thought that question's answer was correct when I just did the test drive...S. agalactiae right?

 

[ertugrul]

did they recently fix it? I thought that question's answer was correct when I just did the test drive...S. agalactiae right?

yes, it's s. agalactia

 

[jcdoc107]

Has anyone tried the 30 free practice Q's on usmlesteps123.com? Based on the sample Q's I think this may be a better Qbank than usmlerx.

 

[Kashue]

did they recently fix it? I thought that question's answer was correct when I just did the test drive...S. agalactiae right?

Lol, yup they fixed it.

 

[Pollicis]

is anyone else finding the usmlerx.com website really really slow?

 

[theprizefighter]

When I was doing the practice questions everything seemed a bit slower. I don't know what's up with that.

 

[personal jesus]

I wish someone who has taken the test would respond. Well anyway, I dont find these questions to be any better than Qbank. For me the problem is that I study almost exclusively from FA so the material looks too familar. With Qbank I learn a little more just because its not the FA people writing the questions. That being said I prefer the wording of USMLErx to Qbank.

 

[Heal&Teach]

I took Step I and just tried out the sample questions, and they look pretty good IMHO. I definitely wouldn't use them as a sole mode of study, mainly because you would be missing a lot of important information that is not included in the oh so skimpy First Aid. However, the way the questions are written more strongly resemble actual Step I questions - they are shorter and devoid of typical buzzwords like Q-Bank. I think that I would still use Q-Bank, since doing all of the questions gives you a good range of topics that can be covered on the actual exam, even if the questions are not worded similarly. If anything, USMLERx might be a good source of practice questions on high-yield topics for the exam such as Pharm and Micro right before the exam when you've exhausted Q-Bank and are starting to memorize your notes from First Aid.

Also, if anyone is looking for additional question sources, the NMS questions (~850) are a little more challenging (for some topics) than Q-Bank, but I'm not a fan of the interface.

 

[MDFACC]

healandteach

can you provide test day experiences. what worked well for you or what you wished you did differently.

 

[Heal&Teach]

Hi MDFACC,

I don't think this is the appropriate thread for this, so I am BUMPing the thread on mistakes in studying for Step I. Ozarka (apologies for mispelling) especially had a great post that I would encourage you to look at - I would echo the same things that this poster talked about.

H&T