Usmlerx v UWorld averages

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sanj238

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Looking at both qbanks Im wondering why my usmlerx averages were so low. I was averaging between 60-70and am thinking maybe I'm not preparing well enough (i excluded the easy q) - A lot of times it was low 60s. However, my usmle average was between 80-85 and I think it was in large part because of overlap. Should this be a concern or is this normal and no one gets above 80 without doing a previous qbanks?

I was looking at Pollux and maryjanes' posts and their rx average was over 80%- which scares me. Was rx recently made harder - past 3 years or has it always been this way? :(

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Sometimes the easy questions turn out to be quite difficult. I do not think that the program rates them accurately (you can tell by the percentage of students who get these "easy" questions correct). Are you doing them in tutor mode or timed blocks?

I have a relatively low USMLERx average too and it's the first bank I'm using (between 40-something % completed; about 60% average so far). The questions often have multi-step reasoning and contain items not explicitly written in FA. They are tough questions.

If your UWorld average was a lot better then it's an improvement. I'm also interested in hearing what others have to say since I'm saving UWorld for March.
 
I'm running about a 5-7% difference between Rx and Uworld, in favor of Rx.

However, things that I get wrong in Rx I won't get wrong on Uworld, which might artificially inflate my Uworld percentage. For instance, I saw a question on mechanism of action and toxiticty for cardiac arrhythmics that I bombed on Rx, but saw pretty much the exact same question on Uworld and nailed it. That's probably how you are supposed to use Qbanks in the first place.
 
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Good going. Are you guys doing other banks as well?

I have nothing against Rx and am using it as well, but I absolutely do not think it should be used for assessment. UW should be your gauge of progress. The questions on Rx can be hard in their own way, but IMO they don't make you think with the same dexterity as UW does. Sanj, if youre getting 80-85% on UW, that's all that matters, regardless of Rx, period.
 
I have nothing against Rx and am using it as well, but I absolutely do not think it should be used for assessment. UW should be your gauge of progress. The questions on Rx can be hard in their own way, but IMO they don't make you think with the same dexterity as UW does. Sanj, if youre getting 80-85% on UW, that's all that matters, regardless of Rx, period.

Yeah and the messed up part is the really hard rack your brains stuff on UWorld that require you to really think - especially on physio and biochem I basically ace. the averages are around 25-35 % for these q and never on rx but I do well- but rx- I basically get wrong because they are mental traps. eg-

pt walks in 65 has recent cough and dyspnea. Patient also complains of brown sputum from productive cough. Of particular note is his pet parrot that he comes in with his wife. Patient presents with lobar pneumonia on cxr in the lower right lung. Aggressive penicillin treats this patient. Whats his disease?

strep pneumonia, stah aureus, chlam psitacci, legionella, H influenza

Don't look it up
 
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Yeah and the messed up part is the really hard rack your brains stuff on UWorld that require you to really think - especially on physio and biochem I basically ace. the averages are around 25-35 % for these q and never on rx but I do well- but rx- I basically get wrong because they are mental traps. eg-

pt walks in 65 has recent cough and dyspnea. Patient also complains of brown sputum from productive cough. Of particular note is his pet parrot that he comes in with his wife. Patient presents with lobar pneumonia on cxr in the lower right lung. Aggressive penicillin treats this patient. Whats his disease?

strep pneumonia, stah aureus, chlam psitacci, legionella, H influenza

Don't look it up

I hated that question. That had a variant of it too, and the answer changed.

OP - I used Rx for learning and then applied that knowledge for Uworld. Uworld should still be lower just because there is a lot more new information in it, but everything that you see in Rx, you try not to miss in UWorld. That's not cheating or overinflating your Uworld score - that's applying new knowledge.
 
Yeah and the messed up part is the really hard rack your brains stuff on UWorld that require you to really think - especially on physio and biochem I basically ace. the averages are around 25-35 % for these q and never on rx but I do well- but rx- I basically get wrong because they are mental traps. eg-

pt walks in 65 has recent cough and dyspnea. Patient also complains of brown sputum from productive cough. Of particular note is his pet parrot that he comes in with his wife. Patient presents with lobar pneumonia on cxr in the lower right lung. Aggressive penicillin treats this patient. Whats his disease?

strep pneumonia, stah aureus, chlam psitacci, legionella, H influenza



Don't look it up

This question is mean haha, typical rx


Strep pneumo, idk if I would've caught it unless you said something
 
This question is mean haha, typical rx


Strep pneumo, idk if I would've caught it unless you said something

But aggressive penicillin won't always treat strep pneumo, either. But it certainly won't treat psitacci.
 
yea, penicillin (attacks cell wall, which don't work on chlamydia species), brown sputum and lobar pneumonia all scream strep pneumo.
 
My knee jerk response was C. psittaci. I couldn't see anything beyond that darn "parrot".
 
My knee jerk response was C. psittaci. I couldn't see anything beyond that darn "parrot".

but fall back on what you know. Psittaci is a weird bug, therefore, it'll cause an atypical pneumonia (eg interstitial). Penicillin won't work on it because there is no cell wall; it's an obligate intracellular parasite. Hence, you need something that penetrates intracellularly. Furthermore, the protocol is to treat all atypical bacterial pneumonias (eg legionellas, mycoplasma, chlyamdia) with macrolides.

That parrot is the biggest red herring out there and you should be pretty wary of seemingly obvious distractors like that.
 
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Yeah and the messed up part is the really hard rack your brains stuff on UWorld that require you to really think - especially on physio and biochem I basically ace. the averages are around 25-35 % for these q and never on rx but I do well- but rx- I basically get wrong because they are mental traps. eg-

pt walks in 65 has recent cough and dyspnea. Patient also complains of brown sputum from productive cough. Of particular note is his pet parrot that he comes in with his wife. Patient presents with lobar pneumonia on cxr in the lower right lung. Aggressive penicillin treats this patient. Whats his disease?

strep pneumonia, stah aureus, chlam psitacci, legionella, H influenza

Don't look it up

I literally did that question today.
 
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