USMLE/COMLEX USMLEWorld Step 1

[USMLEWorld]

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Step 1 Qbank

Our Step 1 Qbank subscription includes the following contents:

• Over 2000 high quality, unrepeated multiple choice questions
• State-of-the-art, classic board-type questions created by real-life physicians
• Detailed explanation and educational objective for each question with excellent illustrations and charts that are easy to read and interpret
• Board simulated interface design with FRED V2.0 software features (highlight, strike-out, annotation, searchable lab values, calculator, mark/flag items etc)
• Customization of practice tests (create subject-specific, system-specific or combination tests in timed, untimed and tutorial modes)
• Suspend and resume a test at anytime at your convenience with 24 hr account web access
• Compare performance scores with other USMLEWorld users, see which subjects you need to improve and view your cumulative performance outline
• Sequence and media questions

Detailed description and information regarding our Step 1 Qbank subscription can be reviewied from http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_qbank.aspx page on our website.

Step 1 Qbank Subscription Rates

• 30-day Qbank membership: $99
• 60-day Qbank membership: $135
• 90-day Qbank membership: $185
• 180-day Qbank membership: $299
• 360-day Qbank membership: $399

Step 1 Self-Assessment Exams

Each Self-assessment exam subscription consists of:

• Four blocks of questions (48 questions per block) in timed mode
• Completely different set of questions (not taken from Qbank) written based on most realistic exam content
• Answers and detailed explanation for each question
• Educational objective for each question
• Board simulated interface design with FRED V2.0 software features (highlight, strike-out, annotation, searchable lab values, calculator, mark/flag items etc)
• Score report with assessment score and approximate USMLE™ 3-digit score
• Detailed analysis of relative strength and weakness in difference subjects and systems
• Consisting of sequence questions (media questions to be added in future)

Detailed description and information regarding our Step 1 self-assessment exam subscription can be reviewied from http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_exam.aspx page on our website.

Step 1 Self-Assessment Form Subscription Rates

• Self-Assessment Exam Form 1 (2-weeks): $30
• Self-Assessment Exam Form 2 (2-weeks): $30

Discounted combination subscription packages
To review the combination prices visit http://www.usmleworld.com/purchase.aspx and click on the large Step 1 image. This consists of all currently available subscription options including combination packages.


FAQ

Q: When does a subscription start? Can it be purchased now but used later? What if I purchase a combination package consisting of multiple courses?
A: All subscriptions go into effect from the date/time it is activated and not the date/time of setup/purchase. This process of activating a subscription after purchase allows you flexibility of starting a subscription when you are truly ready to utilize it. If your initial purchase consists of multiple courses (qbank, self-assessment exam forms), you need to activate each of them individually via your account on our website.

Q: Is there a guest account or trial option to test the product prior to purchase?
A: We do not offer guest/trial accounts to test our product(s). However, you can view a demo of our software from each of the product pages. You will need to have Adobe Flash installed on your system to view the demo.

Q: Is the software accessible via mobile device (Android powered phone, Blackberry, iPhone, etc.)?
A: Mobile devices lack the necessary resolution of 1024x768 pixels, hence our services cannot be used from any mobile (or) other hand-held devices. It is recommended you consult system requirements to use our offerings via http://www.usmleworld.com/system_requirements.aspx page.

Q: How often is the content updated?
A: All of our qbanks have a finite set of questions and we routinely review and update them based on new research, changes in diagnostic and patient management practices. Question containing older or non-relevant material are replaced with updated question content. Once a new question is added or an existing question is updated, it is automatically made available to all users with an active subscription to that particular course (regardless of their course subscription duration).
- Content for Step 1 does not change that often as it is based on core scientific principals
- Content for Step 2 is added and/or changed based on new diagnostic procedure and medical research (this occurs quite frequently)
- Content for Step 3 is also changed based on new protocols in patient management (not as frequently as Step 2)

Q: Does USMLEWorld offer any discounts?
A: Unfortunately, we do not offer discounts to individual subscribers for purchase of a new subscription. To inquire more about group discounts, please contact us (via http://www.usmleworld.com/contact_us.aspx page) with:
- Number of users in the group
- Desired subscription package(s) (from those outlined on http://www.usmleworld.com/purchase.aspx page)
- Contact telephone and available timings


Reference URL's
- View a non-interactive demo of qbank/self-assessment exam: http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_demo.aspx
- Recent subscriber feedback: http://www.usmleworld.com/Step1/step1_testimonials.aspx
- System requirements: http://www.usmleworld.com/system_requirements.aspx
- Answers to a majority of general/technical queries: http://www.usmleworld.com/help.aspx

We will be giving away one 'Step 1 Qbank 60-day Membership' to two members. Winners for each raffle will be drawn by forum administrator from among the members who meaningfully contribute to the thread (ask questions, respond to other member questions, share their usage experience, etc.).

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[AndyEmmDee]

How long after the initial purchase must the user activate the subscription? Is there a set time limit?

I ask because I haven't yet completed 2nd year and would really like to use the USMLEWorld questions towards the end of my study period.

 

[beyondbethany]

Is the question page/server completely mac friendly? I have had some trouble with online testing features from other companies.

 

[ChiDO]

When reviewing questions/explanations on UWorld, does the software give a breakdown of how many students answered each question specifically (ie. 8% answered A, 10% B, 82% C, ect) or does it only give a general breakdown (ie. 72% answered question 10 correctly)?

 

[lacrossefiend73]

I have heard with some question banks that when you are using it, it "locks out" other functions on your computer (i.e. the only thing you can use is the question bank while it is open). Is this how UWorld is?

Thanks!

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Does this Qbank have practice questions for the new audio portion of the USMLE step1? ...heart sounds and what not?

 

[medstud2be]

I have heard that Step 1 now includes audio portions in some questions. For example, heart murmurs may be played during the exam. Does USMLEWorld have audio questions to practice these type of questions? Also, does the exam have annotation for First Aid that are linked with the questions?

 

[kryptik]

it says 2000 unrepeated questions but i constantly read students complaining on how there are like multiple questions asking the same cystic fibrosis gene, has those been taken care of?

 

[footcloud]

Can you repeat the test questions with both of your attempts shown?

 

[iA-MD2013]

How does this Qbank differ from those offered by other companies?

 

[StereoSanctity]

How does this Qbank differ from those offered by other companies?

I've heard from upper-level students in my program that this Qbank is one of the more difficult ones... students I spoke to said that they were scoring well below 70% on their questions and did fine (all passed, some did very very well) on the USMLE. Several people said when they started, they were scoring below 30%. So if you need a lot of positive reinforcement, it may not be the best for you. (They said that Kaplan was easier, and may have been more predictive, but I've heard other people say that Kaplan was too easy)

But they also said that it prepared them very well for the long question threads, and that the explanations were great (most people suggested keeping notes of which things kept coming up in the explanations). They said that it sometimes gives more info than you need, but for those who prefer a comprehensive explanation, it sounds good.

I'm planning on using this question bank, along with some combination of the Kaplan Qbook (not the online bank), in a modified Taos method for my studying later this spring.

Does anyone else have advice on this Qbank? Thanks!

 

[StereoSanctity]

Is the question page/server completely mac friendly? I have had some trouble with online testing features from other companies.

hey - i have a mac too, so i was interested in seeing if this was compatible as well.

I checked out the systems requirements link above (http://www.usmleworld.com/system_requirements.aspx), and it says that we should be fine, so long as we have OS X 10.3.9 or higher (and enough RAM, etc)

 

[AndyEmmDee]

hey - i have a mac too, so i was interested in seeing if this was compatible as well.

I checked out the systems requirements link above (http://www.usmleworld.com/system_requirements.aspx), and it says that we should be fine, so long as we have OS X 10.3.9 or higher (and enough RAM, etc)

I'm a mac user myself.

It seems like most of us mac users should be fine. Version 10.3 ("Panther") came out way back in 2004, almost six years ago. Hardly anyone around still uses that, so the vast majority of us mac users should be just fine

 

[RoseLee]

Hmm... I currently have a subscription to USMLERx and am using that with my classwork. Everyone says to save USMLE World til the end. Is this good advice? Basically, is this the closest we get to what the real USMLE questions are like? And, is one month enough to get through a significant amount of questions? (I was planning on activating this in mid May (taking the USMLE on or about June 30).

 

[bioteach]

I can probably only afford to go with one Qbank company for my USMLE study. Everyone talks so highly of USMLEWorld, but why is it superior than USMLERx and others? A few people mentioned that USMLEWorld is more difficult than the real thing. I don't want to make a mistake and order a Qbank that is not reflective of the actual test. Anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[Aceso]

Can you return to a question set later in time after it's already been scored? Also, can the software hone in on your areas of weakness and suggest areas of study?

 

[ChiDO]

I can probably only afford to go with one Qbank company for my USMLE study. Everyone talks so highly of USMLEWorld, but why is it superior than USMLERx and others? A few people mentioned that USMLEWorld is more difficult than the real thing. I don't want to make a mistake and order a Qbank that is not reflective of the actual test. Anyone have an opinion on this?

My M3/M4 friends have said that UWorld is really good because it is very high yield compared to other QBanks. I have a current subscription to Kaplan, provided by my school, and there are questions that sometimes I cannot find the answer in FA, RR, ect. I feel these questions are testing such detail that it is not reflected (hopefully) on Step 1.

I have yet to speak to any of my upperclass mates that did not use or would not recommend UWorld.

 

[ButImLETired]

How do you feel the difficulty of these questions compares to that of other Step 1 review resources and that of the boards themselves? How extensive is the "debrief" after the test (explaining what went wrong)? Is there a system to tell you which subjects are your weakest?

Thanks!

 

[abmd]

how much is the program updated? i.e. how many questions are changed each year to reflect the material in the most recent exams?

 

[nogolfinsnow]

I have heard with some question banks that when you are using it, it "locks out" other functions on your computer (i.e. the only thing you can use is the question bank while it is open). Is this how UWorld is?

Thanks!

UWorld definitely locks the rest of your computer.

Can you return to a question set later in time after it's already been scored? Also, can the software hone in on your areas of weakness and suggest areas of study?

One of my favorite things about UWorld is that questions are assigned categories and subcategories and gives you a %age correct in each category, so after only a week or 2 you can see where your weaknesses lie and adjust your studying accordingly. For instance, after 2 weeks I was getting about 40% of biochem questions right. I spent more time on biochem the next 2 weeks, and ended up doing extremely well on that portion of the real test.

 

[bestmed]

After I am done with a set of exam, can I print out the questions that I missed?

 

[pingouin]

I can probably only afford to go with one Qbank company for my USMLE study. Everyone talks so highly of USMLEWorld, but why is it superior than USMLERx and others? A few people mentioned that USMLEWorld is more difficult than the real thing. I don't want to make a mistake and order a Qbank that is not reflective of the actual test. Anyone have an opinion on this?

that's kind of where I'm at, too. I already dropped a couple hundred on a different test prep/Qbank program, and I'm not sure how much money I should sink into one test. what nogolfinsnow says about score breakdown makes sense, but that's true of most of the prep programs I've looked at.

I've heard "harder than the real thing" and "easier than the real thing". I've heard "better than Kaplan" and "worse than Kaplan". Of course it's largely subjective, but I guess my question is- on an objective level, what does UWorld offer that makes it unique?

 

[f1re11]

How accurate scoring-wise are the self-assessment exams?

 

[bestmed]

Is there a statistic in comparing NBME practice exams vs UW self-assement exams?

I can only afford one or the other for simulated exam so I need to know which would be a better predictor. Thanks.

 

[medoc117]

One of the comments I've heard students say is that USMLE World questions are good because they tend to be more challenging in many cases than the real Step 1 Questions. In my experience, this isn't always as helpful for boosting standardized exam scores. Does your company have any data showing the performance or improvements of your consumers? Thanks very much for participating -

medoc117

 

[yellowumbrella]

I've heard that you can only reset the question bank if you purchase a subscription that is 6 months +. Does that mean you can only see each question once? What if you don't completely finish a question set?

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

What changes has UW made to better represent the USMLE Step 1? Kaplan has made the chances, what has UW done?

 

[scudrunner]

Is UW a good way to prepare for the non-OMM portions of the COMLEX, as well as the USMLE, for those who plan to take both?

 

[DrTacoElf]

How many times can the Qbank be reset?

 

[newbie04]

Does this Qbank have practice questions for the new audio portion of the USMLE step1? ...heart sounds and what not?

I have heard that Step 1 now includes audio portions in some questions. For example, heart murmurs may be played during the exam. Does USMLEWorld have audio questions to practice these type of questions?

For the two questions above, UWorld states that they have "Sequence and media questions." See below:

Our Step 1 Qbank subscription includes the following contents:

• Over 2000 high quality, unrepeated multiple choice questions
• State-of-the-art, classic board-type questions created by real-life physicians
• Detailed explanation and educational objective for each question with excellent illustrations and charts that are easy to read and interpret
• Board simulated interface design with FRED V2.0 software features (highlight, strike-out, annotation, searchable lab values, calculator, mark/flag items etc)
• Customization of practice tests (create subject-specific, system-specific or combination tests in timed, untimed and tutorial modes)
• Suspend and resume a test at anytime at your convenience with 24 hr account web access
• Compare performance scores with other USMLEWorld users, see which subjects you need to improve and view your cumulative performance outline
• Sequence and media questions

I hope this helps.

 

[USMLEWorld]

@AndyEmmDee: We recommend a course be activated within 180-days of purchase/setup. However, this is not strictly enforced.

@DrTacoElf: Please refer to our help page at http://www.usmleworld.com/help.aspx under "I want to reset/delete my Qbank test history (or) start all over again, is this possible?" section for additional details related to your query.

@scudrunner: Our offerings are designed for USMLE, however you can use them for other exams with mixed success.

@Doctor4Life1769: You will need to be more specific as to what changes you are expecting that are not described on our course description page.

@yellowumbrella: You can generate test blocks within our software in multiple ways hence can rework on a questions multiple times without resetting. Please take a moment to view the non-interactive software demo of the qbank to better understand the test generation process.

@medoc117: Our users do not always communicate their actual score after taking our course offering so any direct or implied correlation data is not available.

@bestmed, @f1re11 : Our self-assessment exam scores are an estimate based on other users’ performance in our self-assessment exam and users typically do not share their exact score after the test for us to generate any direct correlation with the data. Based on the feedback we received from prior subscribers, their score was accurate within 10 points within 7 days of taking our self-assessment exam. This gap increased as their test date was further away from them taking our self-assessment exam.

@pingouin, @jgberken: The only objective way would be to compare both offerings on your own as what we describe is relative to our product offerings.

@bestmed: Please refer to our help page at http://www.usmleworld.com/help.aspx under "Can I save my subscription content to my hard disk or print the material?" section for additional details related to your query.

@ButImLETired: Please take a moment to review the non-interactive qbank demo to better understand the test process used within our qbank software.

@Aceso: Yes, you can return to a previously completed test block to review it again and see analysis of said test block.

 

[Nikki2002]

I know more and more students are choosing to use usmleworld. In your own opinion, what makes the usmleworld qbank stand out from the crowd? Why should we choose your product?

 

[USMLEWorld]

@Nikki2002: We are unsure if you reviewied our original post in its entirety or our website for product description as that describes why our product is the optimal for test preparation. We urge you to review it to learn specifics on what makes our services unique.

 

[farandaway]

I know more and more students are choosing to use usmleworld. In your own opinion, what makes the usmleworld qbank stand out from the crowd? Why should we choose your product?

From what people at my school say, UWorld is the closest to the real thing that's out there. A lot of people will tell you that they felt like they were just doing practice blocks when taking the actual exam.

 

[farandaway]

I'm trying to decide how long of a subscription I should get. I want to be able to finish them all but have time to review all the ones I mark/get wrong before my exam. Is 2 months enough for that?

 

[psychforme]

I can probably only afford to go with one Qbank company for my USMLE study. Everyone talks so highly of USMLEWorld, but why is it superior than USMLERx and others? A few people mentioned that USMLEWorld is more difficult than the real thing. I don't want to make a mistake and order a Qbank that is not reflective of the actual test. Anyone have an opinion on this?

USMLEworld is hard because it makes you think - not just memorize. Usmlerx just tests if you have memorized the tables in FA.

 

[tourniquet1963]

are the questions organized by systems like the content is in the First Aid book?

 

[alesa]

Hi,

In the Qbank, If one finishes doing all the questions completeley.
Can one redo all the questions again without the questions being repeated, the second time around.

Thank You

 

[USMLEWorld]

@farandaway: It actually depends on your study schedule but the average duration of subscription is 90-days.

@tourniquet1963: Please take a moment to review the non-interactive demo to see additional details related to your query.

@alesa: Yes, it is possible with some manual work on part of the user.

 

[zalato5]

You've done a very good job of addressing most questions in your FAQ that there's hardly anything to ask and your products are highly recommended by most. Keep up the good work. Would be great though if sometime in future individual subscribers will receive a discount for a new subscription even if that is done once in a long while.

 

[username456789]

A friend of mine recommended that I get USMLEWorld and try to complete it before my dedicated studying time this summer, and then go back through it a second time during the summer. Most of the advice I've found online tend to conflict with this, saying that USMLEWorld should be used more towards the end.

I'm curious about the overall intentions that the USMLEWorld developers had when creating the program? I understand it can function as both a resource for information as well as a simulation of a testing experience. Would you argue more for one than the other? In other words, is it advisable to focus on the content and use USMLEWorld similarly to a book or noteset as far as trying to glean information from? Or more for the simulated test experience?

I realize the two are sort of hand-in-hand, so maybe this is a dumb question. I'm just trying to sort out how to utilize all my resources.

 

[drizzt3117]

How does the cumulative performance review feature work? Does it give you a simulated score and percentile for each test you take?

 

[peludoguy]

I used USMLEWorld for Step1 and it was amazing. I learned so much from this source. I highly recommend it.

 

[drmekhi]

Is the question page/server completely mac friendly? I have had some trouble with online testing features from other companies.

Im interested in knowing about uworlds compatibility with mac also!

 

[drmekhi]

How close to real exam scores are uworlds scores..? anyone?

 

[abmd]

many people say they get a certain % over the entire course. do you get a breakdown of % overtime, so you can see your change. or does it just factor in how you did this time and give a longterm average