UWorld usage

[dyeguy21]

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So to avoid filling up the STEP 1 experiences thread I'd thought I'd bring this topic out here. I know its been semi addressed before but....

As far as Board studying goes is it better to do timed, random 46 OR tutor/untimed 46 in a subject specific area?

The reason I ask = With 46 random, timed (Which is what I considered the norm to be) I have gotten a 52-56% on every damn block for about the 1 & 1/2 weeks I've been doing it.

And when I go back through them the ones I have gotten right (Save for 1 or 2) are things I have studied, and the ones I have gotten wrong are thing I haven't touched. (I'm currently using DIT and it takes time to get through it all obviously) Thus, is Uworld "teaching" these before I do them or should one go for the topic specific usage and make sure the "day's" knowledge is learned? (And then at the end of a full review start doing randoms)

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

I do the Uworld questions random and timed as that is how they will appear on the test.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Question banks are helpful for a number of reasons.

1. You get exposure to the material and read the explanations. This will occur no matter how you do the question bank.
2. You see how questions/concepts get tested. Once again, testing mode won't change this.
3. You get used to integrating multiple systems and topics in rapid succession. This will only occur if you do random/timed blocks. Many who have taken the exam have said that test taking-ability is one of the most important aspects of getting the score you want, so you might as well build this skill while you build your knowledge base.

 

[beeitchness]

I don't like how others use UWorld with random blocks, before they brushed up the subject - seems inefficient to me. It's more efficacious to learn things in a structured/organized manner before you start secondarily learning things sporadically. I do it differently as follows:

I have 5 weeks to study.
I'm doing FA thoroughly the first 3 weeks, not touching UWorld at all.
I'll be doing Kaplan/USMLERx immediately after I complete the corresponding FA section.
(For example, I did this for Neuro section. Went through FA Neuro multiple times in 1 day, then the next day I plowed through 579 Kaplan/Rx Neuro questions and averaged 86%/90%. I believe this really drills the info and helps retain it for at least the next month)

Then Uworld/NBMEs in the last 2 weeks, with the goal of completing UWorld twice in that time frame

 

[banister]

I don't like how others use UWorld with random blocks, before they brushed up the subject - seems inefficient to me. It's more efficacious to learn things in a structured/organized manner before you start secondarily learning things sporadically. I do it differently as follows:

I have 5 weeks to study.
I'm doing FA thoroughly the first 3 weeks, not touching UWorld at all.
I'll be doing Kaplan/USMLERx immediately after I complete the corresponding FA section.
(For example, I did this for Neuro section. Went through FA Neuro multiple times in 1 day, then the next day I plowed through 579 Kaplan/Rx Neuro questions and averaged 86%/90%. I believe this really drills the info and helps retain it for at least the next month)

Then Uworld/NBMEs in the last 2 weeks, with the goal of completing UWorld twice in that time frame

Getting through UWorld twice in 2 weeks is going to be pretty damn tough... That means ~4200 questions, which means about 6.5 blocks of questions (300) per day. That's already 5 hours just to take it. Plus, it takes me about 2 additional hours per block to read the explanations and annotate....

*Edited for math mistake

Don't feel like you need to "save" UWorld. Do a quick run-through of FA and let UWorld fill in the holes and hammer in weak points.

 

[VisionaryTics]

I don't like how others use UWorld with random blocks, before they brushed up the subject - seems inefficient to me. It's more efficacious to learn things in a structured/organized manner before you start secondarily learning things sporadically.

I did learn things in a structured/organized manner before I started secondarily learning things sporadically.

I call it the first two years of medical school.

 

[Alvarez13]

Getting through UWorld twice in 2 weeks is going to be pretty damn tough... That means ~3200 questions, which means about 5 blocks of questions per day. That's already 5 hours just to take it. Plus, it takes me about 2 additional hours per block to read the explanations and annotate....

Don't feel like you need to "save" UWorld. Do a quick run-through of FA and let UWorld fill in the holes and hammer in weak points.

How did you come up with 3200?

Also, I can't imagine anyone getting through UW twice in 2 wks. Not if you actually want to read the responses.

 

[lakerfan38]

How did you come up with 3200?

Also, I can't imagine anyone getting through UW twice in 2 wks. Not if you actually want to read the responses.

this is impossible

on my third run through u world im struggling through 5 blocks a day

 

[banister]

How did you come up with 3200?

Also, I can't imagine anyone getting through UW twice in 2 wks. Not if you actually want to read the responses.

Sorry, I meant 4200. Uworld is ~2100 questions. I can't do math 😛

 

[notcuttingit]

You can also do a combination of approaches, which is what I'm doing.

I'm reviewing each subject itself in FA and a few other sources, thoroughly. I'm doing 45-question blocks for each subject. I do about 2 blocks a day, sometimes 3. But a lot of subjects have a huge number of questions. I made sure not to use up all of the questions on each subject. Once I got half-way through my review, I started doing blocks that include all of the subjects I've done so far (except the few that don't have enough questions...I'm annoyed that there aren't more renal questions).

So at this point, each block of questions covers most of the subjects, but not the ones I haven't reviewed yet. Using this method, I've gotten 76, 82, 78, 72 on the last 4 blocks I took. I think it's working for me.

I will still have questions left when I'm done reviewing subjects and will finish them on random. Then I'll go back and do the ones I missed. And then I'll take my test.

 

[The kitchen sink]

My advice, start Uworld ASAP. Do it whichever way you like. Random/timed works, Untimed/subject-based/tutor mode works as well. I agree that doing questions that you've never even touched is annoying, but you will learn from the explanations and Uworld will test you on that same subject matter in a different approach on a different question. I've only completed about 50% of the bank but I've seen drastic improvements in my score by being persistent. I do however believe that near your test you should be doing random/timed to simulate test conditions.

 

[Aclamity]

As long as you're actually learning from all your missed questions I don't see a problem. In fact, as you study more you should start seeing your scores go up dramatically. If anything, that'll be awesome motivation (moreso than people who have studied the material once through and then start UW). Keep doing UW timed, random to get used to the flow of things--just make sure you're actually reviewing/learning from your missed questions afterward, instead of just saying "ooh I haven't studied that, I'll just skip the explanation"