xeroorex
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 14
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First, i'd like to say how much i have benefited from this forum. It was a way of relieving myself of guilt when i was surfing instead of studying. And it provided me with a place to channel all my anxieties after Oasis reported my status and before i got my score in the mail,
I just got my scores in the mail today. 246/99. I was, and am ecstatic. Praise and glory to God, i could not have done it without Him.
I'd just like to outline the resources i used, and also the scores that i got on the practice material that i used. I recognise that there is at best a tenuous correlation between practice scores and actual results. But I trawled the forums in search of such posts, as i hoped to find some reassurance that i wasn't doing so badly with my practice tests. Maybe my placing my scores for others to compare will provide some encouragement for the worry warts out there.
Alright for those in a hurry
Blackwell simu (6 weeks before): 71%
Kaplan Qbank (first pass done by around five days before): Each question once, or thereabouts 75%.
NMS review book (did all questions in the week before): Total: 72%
Kaplan simu test cd 2002 (or sth) (four days before): 73%
USMLE CD (two days before exam) 45,40,45.
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I took my Step 1 on 22 June. It was a harrowing experience indeed, and i was totally drained at the end of the experience both physically and emotionally. The last block was especially tiring, and i was so tired that i was no longer thinking straight. I had checked my "time available" button, and noted that one of the middle blocks had not been marked as completed. I freaked out and promptly ended the current block thinking that i had a block left to go with approximately 25 minutes left. This turned out to be a false alarm and on terminating the block i was at, i was greeted (more like mocked!) by the survey page. I felt so silly after that, but i guess better to have panicked right at the end than at the start.
Here's the beef. (point form to be brief)
Profile: Just started fifth year of undergrad medical course. Took the brief break between fourth and fifth year to take on the USMLE Step 1. Procrastinated, and procrastinated. Started in earnest preparing for Step 1 ten weeks before exam, after my school's pathology exam. (i had read that patho, was the bulk of the exam and therefore planned my exam such.) I bought some books and borrowed from my school library for others. I can't make comparisons, but i can tell you what i liked about the resources i employed. I placed a lot of faith in the book reviews in FA, and i foudn them very useful.
First Aid: Need i say more! I won't belabour the point, many others have shared the different ways that they used this resource. Butthe same thing applies to them, they ALL used it. Get it if you don't already have it! I used FA 2003. I won't mention this further.
Step Up: I'd say this should be used as a secondary resource to help pigeon hole ones information under the systems.
My brother bought this for me as a birthday present, so i used it. I read about half of it before my school's pathology exam about three months before the exam. I used it this book exclusively the day before the exam.
Goljan 36 pages: I managed to find this, but only found 100pgs AFTER my exam! Guess my friends'll benefit from that. The patho section is HUGE! i didn't finish it all. But the other sections weren't too bad. I found microB and Physio sections especially good. The lack of any organisation made it hard to used in formal prep.
Anatomy:
High Yield Gross Anatomy- I loved it, easy to read and very clinically relevant. Didn't feel like a chore.
High yield neuroanatomy- Skimmed through, read the cranial nerve chapter, and maybe one or two more. Was pressed for time and had read from many sources that FA was enough. I think FA is sufficient, provided you understand the topics covered there. HY Neuroanat is fabulous if you have the time.
Behavioral Science:
BRS behav sci. This was one of the first books i bought, mainly because it was a totally alien subject to me. (I didn't study Behav sci in my preclinical years.) That i was rotating through psychiatry a few weeks before my step added the extra benefit of my effort getting twice the bang for the buck.
Kaplan qbank qns were quite useful in learning to tackle BS questions
Biochem:
High Yield biochem- A God send! I had used Lippincott's for my school's exam. If you are like me and loathe (alright, dislike) biochem, i would highly recommend this book. If going (more like plowing) through lippincott's is unthinkable to you, you aren't alone! HY Biochem is short (hurray!), clinically relevant like HY anat, and spot on! That biochem isn't examined heavily on the step, is another reason not to get hung up over biochem.
Microbiology
I went through MB ridiculously simple. Simply ridiculous, but darn effective! I couldn't bear the thought of going through Jawetz's review. Read FA also and memorized the viruses characteristics. (about good for only one qn! What a waste of grey cells)
Pathology:
BRS pathology. The be all and the end all.
Used it for my school's exam as well. Awesome.
Pharmacology:
I had a though time trying to go through katzung's review, so i didn't! Read through the principles section in the katzung review, and concentrated on the systemic drugs in FA.
Physiology:
Used BRS physio. Long chapters made it scary to embark on, a significant commitment, considering all the understanding needed. That said physio to me was very logical and didn't require too much hard recall.
My scores for the question reviews are as above.
I'd be glad to answer any queries.
As much as this has been a chore to read, i hope it has been useful.
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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congrats xeroorex!!!! yours is a great and encouraging story. where do you live, if i might ask? my scores are STILL in the mail!
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Way to pack a solid punch xero.
Also, nice roundup of al your resources.
peace
lo
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| cococat
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 46
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Congratulations!! Can you tell me the ISSN number of NMS review book you used or just give me a link? I don't know which to buy... Thanks a lot.  Good luck on the rest steps!!
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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CONGRATS great score and real great review on your prep. can u please tell me bout the blackwell test u mentioned? is it a book or a cd? how much molecular biology or genetic tests appear on the usmle? what source was helpful for those subjects?
thanks and good luck in the future.
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| Ria
Forum Elite
Topics: 30
Posts: 229
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CONGRATULATIONS!A wonderful score.
It must have been cumbersome writing such a long post,but I must thank you for having taken out the time for those of us out here who need you guys advise.Really awesome job you have done.
Thanks alot
And Good Luck for the future!
___________________
"The Only Way Out Is Through it"
Robert Frost
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| xeroorex
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 14
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Hang in there nuprin. i can totally empathise with you. The wait is agonising to say the least! I felt like i was bipolar, alternating between periods of hypomanic nonchalance and being a down and out nervous wreck. And oh i live in Singapore. (invisible on the average table globe!)
cococat, the NMS review book i used is this one.
ISBN 0781732921
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/078...
I got this because 1) it was favorably reviewed in FA. (it was the only source with an A (if i remember correctly) 2) it came with a CD, containing the same questions. 3) i had yet to decide on whether to fork out big bucks for kaplan qbank (i did however succumb later)
and oh, i made an error with my report of my NMS score i got 70.8%.
i still have my records of how i did for each test (i've got a hint of OCD).
I found the questions very challenging, and i couldn't finish them as fast as kaplan qbank qns. They required a fair bit of deliberation, and i was blown away by the detail required by some of the questions.
Were they reflective of the usmle qns? Rather. But i would say they were reflective of the more difficult USMLE qns.
At risk of sounding like a broken record... The usmle practice cd is THE most representative of the spread of qns, generally "do-able" with a sprinkling of challenging qns.
If the USMLE was like a clear chicken consomme, the NMS book was like a hungarian goulash, all spiced up.
The blackwell test is this one, it's free, and i came to know about it through this forum. I used it more to challenge myself with the ordeal (and you bet it is one!) of sitting down at that kind of length. Helps you train your bladder as well!
Blackwell USMLE: http://www.blackwellusmle.com/
With regard to mol bio and genetics, i have to say that i didn't commit much time to those topics. I was very comfortable with genograms, and the like, and calculating probabilities, and so i didn't need to study the topic in earnest. I just used the kaplan qbank to test me. (i got 81% for the genetics qns in Kaplan qbank) Mol bio i got 61% in kaplan. did i mention that i didn't commit much time to it!! =)
That said, with the stellar reviews that Kaplan qbank got, i used the number of questions that kaplan qbank had for each topic to aid in my prioritisation.
Kaplan Patho: >650 qns, Genetics: ~60, Mol bio:<20
I'm not sure of my numbers, because i may have copied the score analysis after having done some questions twice, but i think you get my point.
For my preparation, i felt that it boiled down to a balance between the lack of time, and the competing interests. When it came down to prepping for pharm (kaplan ~200 qns 71%), patho, mol bio. i spent the last bit of time prepping for pharm. I believe it's called the law of dimnishing marginal utility!!
Enough ranting for now. hope it has been useful. admittedly not a very HY post, considering the length!
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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thanks for the blackwell link, i will sure check it out soon 
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| cococat
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 46
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thanks a lot. all the best.
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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thanks for the well wishes, xeroorex! argh... i was expecting to get back my scores on friday, and they're still not here, so i feel completely immobilized!!! like i'm stuck and i can't do anything... i just want to sleep until i get them. anyway, best of luck for step 2 and the rest!
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| mauie
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 34
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nuprin,
i've read a lot of your messages on this forum and i want to thank you for all the advice and tips you've included in them. just hang in there ..... you'll be a great physician!!
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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thanks, mauie! the encouragement really helps. i'm glad i can be of help to people, too, since it wasn't too long ago that i was in your shoes.
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| soonerfan
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 7
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I am so glad to read that I am not the only one freaking out while waiting for my Step score. I have been upset since I took it June 30th. My poor boyfriend is taking it the 28th and I have him scared to death. I've tried to be supportive but it's hard when I don't even know if I passed it. Coming out of the test I totally felt like I bombed it . Is that normal? Also, how long has it taken for most of you to get your results back?
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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soonerfan, you know you can check nbme.org to check your exam status, right? then you can know whether or not your scores have been reported. they release them once a week on wednesdays. then you can calculate how long it takes for mail to come from philadelphia to wherever you are.
i think everyone feels crappy when they leave the test, so no worries! if you're in the us and your score has been reported you should be getting them soon, so you'll be able to be supportive soon enough. my friends who took the exam at the end of june have theirs reported (but they still haven't arrived) but there are other people who took it earlier who still haven't had theirs reported! in any case, soon... i guess that makes me a sooner fan, too, huh?
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| retroviridae
Forum Guru
Topics: 29
Posts: 871
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Hey Soonerfan, you should go read my post from way back entitled "am I to worried." I was a nervous wreck for a week or two after my test. Then I got comfortable with the idea that it would take a while to get the score back. Then last Wed or so I found out the score had been reported and I passed. You would think that would be a great relief, right? Nope, now it's back in the forefront of my mind, and much like Nuprin, I thought Fri or Sat it would be here. Well, here's lookin' at Monday .... It's ok and normal to be EXTREMELY nervous. Heck, after my test, I took the NBME that same night because I was so scared. That's got to be a record for anxiety induced masochism. Now I must go and pray to the mail gods .... come oh great score report, come!
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| bm
Forum Elite
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