DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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hey all just got back from step 1.it's extremely doable as long as you keep cool.i'll write more tonight after i'm rested.But the style of questions have changed,but they are still answerable.I wish i could help out more specifically but you know the rules about improper behavior.
i got about 5 or 6 questions with knockout or transgenic mice,but it was basically another way to ask immunology or physiology questions,for example if this mouse doesn't have this receptor or this molecule what is the expected outcome of blahblahblah.If you know the normal than you can answer the abnormal.
Normal aging,very important,a big thing i saw was they want you to know what is normal as well as abnormal.
i thing everything was pretty much well distributed.I finished with 30 to 20 minutes left,i marked the ones i thought would take alot of time to think over with a tentative answer and finished all the other questions so i would have time for the marked ones.alot of one liners,some long questions,make sure you read the last line to see what they're asking or you will end up reading the question more than once.
Images are very clear and most are very simple,alot of graphs but read the labeled axis and you can figure them out.
the main thing is keep cool,there will be questions you can't answer deal with it don't waste time,there was about 5 questions in everyblock that i had noooo idea,some drugs i never heard of from katzung or kaplan,don't waste time,try to reason it from the question.5-10 questions i was confused about.but some questions are extremely easy.
People know your autonomic receptors,now the molecular level.
path some questions were hard in that you have to go beyond just knowing what is wrong,like in genetic diseases if you know this molecule is defective(gene product),make sure you know what that gene product does(functionally)i had to guess on some of these.
tumor suppressors make sure you know what they do normally
another thing,some ppl posted you can't keep track of blocks or breaks.
not true,the little clock on the upper right hand corner,you click it and it tells you how much time you have left and what blocks you have done.but it's also good if you put a mark on your sheet b4 you start each block.and if you finish any block early it adds on to your total break time.
i strongly advise anyone taking this test to register for the practice test at the prometric center,the questions are the same as the usmle cd they send,but the benefit of becoming familiar with the enviroment and decreased anxiety the day of the exam is worth the 42 dollars.it helps you be more relaxed and natural.
i didn't do many readings(1 1/2 to 2 of each subject)but i did q-bank and many simulated exams and those really help.
i'll be on vacation for a month but b4 that i'll be happy to help with any questions.
By the way i'm an img,graduated 2003 took a year off after getting married and live very far from any family(so had no help at home except for the most supportive and loving and patient husband in the world who took everything i threw at him including a grouchy mood and returned it with a smile)!!!
hope i passed hope everyone could and good luck to all 
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| JS
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 95
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Hi DiaHuq,
You are going to ace the step 1 and will get the highest score D Can you please tell me what sources you have used for every subject ? You said that question pattern is changed? But,how ? Can you please explain this more because this part scares me a lot !
Thanks.
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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honestly i bought a whole bunch of books but didn't use many.First aid i tried to use during the week before but only read the micro.Ace i don't about but thanks.there were so many questions i didn't know at all,but i just didn't waste time thinking about it or i would have freaked.
Mainly kaplan.i took the live lectures last year before i started to study and then the USPS lost my books,so i took 3 months off.
I think everyone should listen to Dr.Goljan's lectures atleast once,i remember 20 questions that i could almost hear his voice in my ears.
some questions scare you while you're reading it,like lets say someone with symtoms of hyperthyroidism and heart failure at the same time,but the question wasn't that hard.In fact honestly except for 5-10qs per block i'd say kaplan q-bank was harder in that the answer choices were there seem more similar to each other.
people please do questions and more questions,for those who have the qbank cd,i don't know if that's timed or not,but i would recommend buying qbank so you can get used to the timing even before you have finished studying,and always do random,doing it subject wise gives you falsely elevated scores.
do the blackwell,and the kaplan simulated get used to sitting for hours.
Normally i freak out before tests,but after doing so many questions on q-bank i felt normal.
now that i'm back home and the rush of getting it over is gone,i remember so many questions that i did not know the answer to.But we only have to get like 65-70 % right so it's okay to not know everything.
I highly recommend kaplan's books especially for biochemistry,physiology and pharma and try to get the latest editions.my first two questions were drugs that i had never ever heard of.
I found about katzung's board review 2 weeks before my exam,didn't get to read it all,but read autonomic pharma from there and i really like the question calibre,i'd recommend that to people who are just starting.
i read embryology once from high yield then it got lost,but i remember liking it alot.
guys,i bought many of the brs,but it's such a waste of time switching from book to book that i just stopped after trying.Concentrate on one book and doing many questions.It's not how many books you read or how many times it's if you can apply the knowledge and correlate between subjects.
i don't want to say anything else until my results,but I STRESS AGAIN!!!!!EVEN IF THE QUESTIONS SEEM UNFAMILAR OR YOU DON'T KNOW IT.STAY CALM AND TRY TO APPLY COMMON SENSE!!! You have 20%chance of getting it right,and if you can discard 1 or 2 ans choices than your chances improve.DON'T WASTE TIME,IF IT'S A QUESTION YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT CHOOSE AN ANSWER,MARK IT AND MOVE ON,IF YOU HAVE TIME COME BACK TO IT.
my exam had more molecular biology in it than anything else.more than i thought it would be....and that's my weakest subject.I had many many blood pics,but they were pretty clear pics.
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| Raingirl
Forum Junior
Topics: 19
Posts: 40
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thank you for your experience, really helps! appreciate it very much! God bless you get a wonderful score!
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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I hope all of you do great on the exam!!!!good luck
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| KEROCHI
Forum Guru
Topics: 60
Posts: 971
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Thanks for your valuable info. Appreciate it. Got a question? What's katzung? I know he's an author but was that a st of question book also or a reference? Appreciate if you could reply.. Thanks..
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hi diahuq
thanks a lot for your reply
goodluck with your scores and step 2.
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| itsme
Forum Junior
Topics: 11
Posts: 44
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congratulations DiaHaq....
u ll definately score good...GOD BLESS U
ONE QS...is it sufficient to do qs..from blackwell,usmlecd,qbank online,kaplan simulated,qbook,qbank 2001,2003from cd..and nbme...or more should be done.?
thanks..ll really appreciate it.
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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it's a book from lange.the textbook is from the same people,but this is the examination and board review.It's great and there is more than 1000 questions inside. after each chapter plus 2 practice exams at the end.I was able to only do one chapter but i'm sure it'll help me with drugs in step 2 if i pass.It's more concise than the textbook.Whenever i heard someone say they used katzung i thought they meant the textbook we used in med school and that is way too big for a review book for step 1.
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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it's sufficient i had bought the nms,the rapid review,etc and the bss series,but all are sitting untouched....maybe i'll have to use them again who knows.But yes,those are sufficient if you're using first aid,i think that site, USMLEasy.com or something has questions straight from first aid.
good luck :lol:
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| nimta49
Forum Junior
Topics: 14
Posts: 27
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Dia,
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!
Can you pl let me know about break time and did you skip tutorial. does it same to the sample of usmle CD or they're using new one FRED.
You wrote about Ketzung Review, how many pages that book has?
Thanks
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NIMTA
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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i skipped the tutorial,i just went to item review and put end.break time i had alot left at the end.I took about an hour break total.10 minutes after the two blocks,then 20 minutes after 4 blocks, then 20 after 6 blocks.remember any time you have extra after you finish a block is added to the break time.but no matter how fast you finish a block,you still only get 1 hour in each of the next blocks maximum.i started my exam at 12 pm so i didn't need time for lunch.i took some snicker's marathon bars and energy drinks.which i kept in the locker and would take a few sips and few bites of during each break.you can take books but i didn't look at them.
i scored a cumaltive of 77% in qbank random blocks of 50 and 77%in phys qbank
katzung review has around 500 pages but it's alot of questions,the chapters aren't that long,(it's for board review only not the textbook)
and the new FRED software i thnk will be used from the middle of this year around july.
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| nimta49
Forum Junior
Topics: 14
Posts: 27
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Dia,
Thanks.
Did you go directly on Item review or just click on and finally go in Item review.
Thanks
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NIMTA
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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i clicked item review after the first page of the tutorial
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| ANUPCHIKKAPPAIAH
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 14
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Hi Diahuq,
Im new to this forum,Did you take up step 1 on 7th march???because i took up mine on that same day.i felt the exams were ok.but i finished my exams pretty soon,finished every thing in 6 hrs and 50 mins.how many breaks did you take??
Thanks
when can the results be expected???
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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i finished each block within 30 minutes and took an hour break
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| ANUPCHIKKAPPAIAH
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 14
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Hi,
You mean you used to finish each block of 50 questions in 30 minutes each??thats amazing. i just took one break after 4 blocks and felt i was getting distracted so i finished the next 3 blocks without breaks at all.
when can we expect the results
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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i'll be going on vacation from tommorrow,so i won't know my results until i get back but it's already been one thursday,so i think we have 3 weeks more left.
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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thank you so much for all the support
i got a 99/252
way beyond what i dared to hope for.
good luck everyone and wish you all scores even higher
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| ANUPCHIKKAPPAIAH
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 14
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Hi diahuq,
congrats for a great score.i guess it was expected.all the best
___________________
Never Give Up.....
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congratulations!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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thanks.
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| usmlerock
Forum Senior
Topics: 3
Posts: 93
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can u tell me which subjects did u revise in the last month,i mean in which order?also how many breaks did u take after the blocks?
thanx and all the best
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| wombat
Forum Guru
Topics: 22
Posts: 304
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Congratulations!!!
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| DiaHuq
Forum Elite
Topics: 46
Posts: 402
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i wish i cld,honestly in the last month,some things were still my first reading.I could tell you this,if i thought i knew a topic and my performance on q-bank was good enough...then i didn't touch it.I was supposed to take my exam later,but my grandfather was in a car accident back home and my mom couldn't go so i had to schedule my exam in a hurry.I read my weakest subjects(biochemistry and molecular biology and i listened to goljan audio.)but more then read i did alot of questions.i didn't study anything the day before the exam. and the 3 days before that.I wld just pick up a kaplan book and flip through the pages looking for something i didn't remember and reading that line.just refreshing my memory.Once i have read a book once,i hate repeating it because even if i don't have the information memorized,the book seems too familiar.
break time was okay,becuz if you finished a block early that is also added to your breaktime.i finished the first 2 blocks in an hour.took ten minutes break,then did blocks 3 and 4 in just over an hour,took 20 minutes break,then did block 5 and took 5 minute break and block 6 and a 20 minute break than 7 and i was finished.
dia
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