tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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I finally finished my step 1 this Monday after a preparation of 4.5 months. I have been an inconsistent participant of this site, most of the time dwelling in the subject forums. I initially spent a lot of time with this forum, but then less and less as my exam day came near because I have little time left for anything else besides doing practice questions. But I have to say this site is really GREAT! I used to know nothing about how to prepare for the exam and as an IMG, I don’t have many friends around to discuss about it. From this site, you can learn every aspect of the exam. So I would like to thank everybody who actively participated in this site and especially Mdfriends, who explained to me in detail the difference bw Qbank Qbook. That motivated me to buy online Qbank just 15 days before my exam and found it to be a great or even essential resource.
OK, here are the materials I used for the exam and my rating of them (in *):
Pathology: BRS***** and Goljan audio; *****
Pharmacology: Katzung and Trevor’s 5th edition (wanted to get newer edition but realized I was running out of time); ****
Biochem: Lippincott’s***** and Kaplan lecture notes; ****
Microbiology and Immunology: Levinson and Jawetz’s 6th edition; ****
Anatomy: BRS*** + Anatomy made ridiculously simple****; BRS is too thorough and it took me way too much time for a low-yield subject, but the CT, MRIs are very good; (the amount of info made me feel incompetent in Anatomy so I ended up with reading Kaplan notes for this subject too!! Am I too crazy about anatomy? )
Neuroanatomy: HY*****, very good and sufficient; but I still supplemented it with Kaplan notes;
Histology and cell biology: Lange medical book*** + Kaplan notes***;
Behaviroal science: BRS****+ Patient-physician relationship part of Kaplan notes;
Physiology: BRS*****+Kaplan**** (these 2 does not overlap that much so they really supplement each other).
Overall, the lange medical book series are really detailed and requires a lot of time. To reduce the volume, I wrote my own notes after reading Microbiology and Pharmacology and condensed the two 500-page books into 70-page notes.
For questions, I only used Kaplan Qbook***** and online Qbank*****. I also did 5 blocks of Board simulator. My scores are as follows:
Qbook: 82% (1 month before exam);
Qbank:: 85% cumulative (finished all Qs in 10 days and that was 5-15 days before exam);
Kaplan simulated CD (3 days bf exam): only had time to do first 4 blocks and average is 87%;
One thing I want to mention is that I spent 3.5 month reading and reviewing the books and only had 1 month to practice questions. I don’t know whether it is right or wrong. The good thing about it is that when I start doing questions, I had less frustration since I got better scores. The bad thing is that I had no time for more Qs which I think we help me improve a lot. I will see after I get my score.
For the exam itself, it is just like another practice. The level of difficulty and format are similar, or a little bit harder than Kaplan online Qbank. The first 3 blocks are relatively easy but suddenly I got a hard 4th block and finished it only 20 seconds before time up. So had no time to review marked questions. Then I had another hard block and 2 medium-level blocks. Pathology Qs are of course the mainstay, and I did get Qs from every subject. The behavioral Qs are not as hard as I imagined because most of the time the right choice just seemed to stand out from other choices. What I mean is it is not very ambiguous. The right answer are those sensitive, reasonable or considerate ones. Physiology graphs are mainly from endocrine, cardio and neuro; some neuro CT/MRIs but no my much-feared trunk (chest/abdomen/pelvis) images. Some Histo/patho slides seemed a little small to me. What surprised me a bit is that some Qs require you to be able identify the thing in the image—you can’t just get the right answer without looking at pictures. This percentage should be definitely more than 10%, which I heard from others. Genetics and molecular biology Qs are not so hard and not so many but the calculation of recurrent risks may take you time. I did not see weird new drugs that I never heard of, most are well-known prototypes. Nothing extremely picky about micro either. So I figured if you know the most important things in medicine, that is enough. They don’t require you to know everything. So forget about those very rare diseases, pathogens and focus on most important ones. I did get several Qs that I totally had no clue of, most of them are probably some rare diseases. But the percentage is too low for you to worry about. My break schedule for the exam was 10-minute bw 2nd and 3rd block, 30-minute lunch break bw 4-5 block, and 10-minute before last block. Don’t’ eat too much for lunch or breakfast, that’ll make you sleepy. Your adrenaline will work you through the exam even if you eat very little (unless you’ve been on prolonged fasting). I didn’t sleep very well the night before, that was my old problem and had some really bad emotional disturbances too from family matters. But in the exam, those all went away because I was too busy to think about anything else during the exam.
Finally, I wish everyone and myself good luck for step 1 exam. I don’t’ know if my experience is helpful or not. My mind just go here and there so randomly and that may make this post look poorly organized. But I am happy to contribute my share and if you have more questions feel free to ask.
Tong
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hey
thanks a lot for your wonderful test experience....
i started doing the BSS series...but i heard that they are outdated...can you please suggest me whether i should do them or not(though i started)
thank you.
GOODLUCK for your scores.....
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Hi karanadi,
If you have enough time, I suggest you go through it. I realized BSS format does not match the real thing that well. Most of its Qs are too short and it has too many groups Qs (1 case, several Qs), but the concepts tested are relevant and useful. I regret I did not have time to finish it.
Tong
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thanks a lot tonguo for ur information,if you dont mind can you answer my another question....now what i'm using is 97 edition,which one did you use?
sorry to bother you with my questions.....
thanks once again
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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don't say sorry, kiranadi, my BSS was 2000 edition. I know nothing about 1997 version.
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thanks a lot tonguo for ur information. :lol: :lol:
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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nervously waiting for scores in the mail :roll:
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congratulations and all the best for ur scores!!!! :lol:
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Thanks a lot, kiranadi. All the best for your step 1 too!
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| drsoso
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 12
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thank you for your helpfull information and i wish that you get a high score,
can you help me plz about
- what do you mean by caplan lecture notes
- what about genetics , what the good book
- molocular and cell biology, whats the good book
thank you soo much
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Oasis said my score was reported on Nov. 17 and I did Oasis trick yesterday. I was very surprised to receive my score by mail today(11/19). Its fast!! Another surprise--my birthday is tommorrow, and this is definitely the best birthday gift!!! I can't ask for more..... My hard work finally paid off.... I'm in happiness......
About my exam: mean 217, std 23, SEM 6. Passing is 182.
drsoso, kaplan notes are the accessory review book that accompanies kaplan lectures. many people in this forum used the notes to achieve amazing scores. I'm sure you can find more info about it on the "support" forum. Use kaplan notes for genetics and molecular biology, it should be sufficient. I used Lange medical book for histology, but you might find it to be too long (>300pg) and time consuming. although I think its good integrative review book, I dont recommend it to you because of its sheer volume. sb. told me that high-yield histo is the best. you can probably try that.
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which one should i tell you first ......hmmmmm????????? :wink: :roll:
I WISH YOU A VERY VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 
CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE AWESOME SCORE!!! :lol: :lol:
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Thank you so much, kiranadi. Its really nice of you to say that. I believe you will get wonderful scores for your Steps too.
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| drsoso
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 12
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thank you sooo much for your help i really apreciate it,
sorry for bothering you but do you mean by kaplan note this (Kaplan Medical USMLE Step 1 Home Study Program), and if its not can you tell me where can i find it on the net, i mean can you give me the link,
thank you very much and CONGRATULATIONS again for your scrore and i wish you good luck in your next step and your life
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| prabhu
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 8
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hi tonguo,
u r gr8.u r an inspiration for most of the site visitors... sorry 4 belated birthday wishes..
cud u plz clear my doubt....
did u attend kaplan coaching?is it necessary?wat do u mean by BSS?in what order shud we read the subjects-what are the high-yielding ,low-yielding subjects?did u read full time for 4.5 months ...i want to know this because i'm a CRRI now...will the same period apply to me?r u a fast reader?this will help me to give dates for the exam.......i'm sorry if i'm disturbing u..bye
___________________
pdk
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Hi guys,
I am very pleased to help those who are still going through the step 1 ordeal. You are more than welcome to ask qs.
drsoso, kaplan notes are different from home study program. its a 7 subject book set+qbook+simulated exam CD. you can get the notes by attending a kaplan course near you, or get it from some websites like ebay, or share them with friends/classmates who have them. if you want to know more, i suggest you search the "support" forum and you will get more detailed answers.
prabhu,
thank you very much for ur greetings. here are the answers to your qs: I didn't attend kap course, therefore logically i would not say its "necessary". but i think it may be very helpful for some testtakers. BSS is board simulator series. i read the subjects in this order: anatomy--neuroanatomy--embryology--histo--biochem--physio--micro--pharm--pa thology. Patho is absolutely most high-yield, then physio, then pharm and micro. in anatomy, neuroanatomy is definitely the major part. embryology is lowest yield. dont' spend too much time on anatomy like what i did. i spent 4.5 month full-time and read materials slowly and carefully. 1 month before exam, i stopped reading books and started qs.
hope all these help.
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| prabhu
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 8
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thanx a lot tonguo..
when r u planning to take step2...by the way what do u do right now?think all of us wud be glad to kno more abt u.....
bye
___________________
pdk
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| drsoso
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 12
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thank you soo much tonguo
i really apreciate what are you doing for us, wish you good luck in your future.
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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Hi prabhu,
I plan to take step 2 in March or April of 2005, but it depends on if I feel ready at that time. I am an IMG and just started doing medical research in a school. I hope that will help my residency application a little bit in the future.
Thanks, drsoso. I wish you the best for your exam too.
I have just started my step2 prep, and I will jump back occassionally to see what is going on here. Good luck to everybody who is on the forum.
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| prabhu
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 8
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hi tonguo,
can u plz comment abt the importanc3e of biochemistry in mle..
is it a high yield or low yield subject....
u didnt mention abt it in ur last post in which u talked abt the order in which we can read subjects..
another ques...(soory)
wat is HY (for neuro anatomy)?most of the people advice it
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pdk
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| docsnq
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 19
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Hi ...I am new foe prep for USMLE.....can anybody tell me which subjects are high yield and which are low yield...and what its mean...
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| tonguo
Forum Senior
Topics: 29
Posts: 125
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prabhu,
I will put the yield of biochem after pharm/microbiol but before anatomy. the molecular biol and genetics are good yield, and I don't remember any q testing pure biochem knowledge. they're always associated with diseases. HY is High-Yield series of books, HY neuroanatomy is an excellent book in this series.
docsnq,
please read this post and an earlier post of mine, also under this topic. you will find it. of course this is only my personal experience, it may not be all-representative.
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| Miss_doc
Forum Junior
Topics: 9
Posts: 32
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hi tongue,
conratulation on ur BIG success. i am also in the process of preparing for step 1. can u tell me how long were the questions in the real exam. you said the format was similar to kaplan qbank but a bit harder but were they also longer than the kaplan qbank questions? i will appreciate your help...
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| doc_rajan
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 26
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Hi tonguo!
CONGRATS FOR YOUR SCORE!!
AND A VERY HAPPY BELATED B'DAY!!
though I'm a lot late in wishing u both...
Thanx a lot for sharing ur exam experience.. it really helped a lot..
And wish you all the best for further studies...
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| sumie
Forum Elite
Topics: 33
Posts: 178
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hi tonguo
congrats for ur wonderful score
can u tell me what ur qbank scores were
thanks
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sumie
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