Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
My exam of step 1 was on March 14th, 2005.. after waiting for almost 2 months due to credentials check, i am finally happy to know that i passsed it!!! now, i will have to wait for my score report .
|
| saba_03
Topics: 18
Posts: 59
|
congratulations
ur big wait paid in the end
congrats again
|
| jiyaji110
Forum Senior
Topics: 24
Posts: 89
|
congrats!
___________________
Dr. SA
|
| madwoc
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 10
|
Congratulations!
|
| rubyedward
Forum Elite
Topics: 12
Posts: 197
|
congratulations!!! wish u have a great score!!!!
|
| tanisha
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 121
|
Congratulations!!!
|
| KEROCHI
Forum Guru
Topics: 60
Posts: 971
|
Congratulations!! Another sweet success! How long did you study & your materials? Thanks in advance for your reply.
|
| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
thank you guys!! i have to say the long wait of 2 months is VERY VERY hard to bear!!!! basically, i just avoid this forum for the last 4 weeks b/c reading posts made by someone concerning their score update or score release can really be painful!! kerochi: i didn't use any kaplan materials at all, i basically use top-ranked subjects recommended by first aid and go from there... will have a thorugh post after getting my score.
|
| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
Finally, I got my score 213/87. This score may not sound superb but I am happy with it since I only got 470 one week b4 the exam. About scoring, rumours spread that 50 out of 350 don't count so whatever 3-digit score u got, it represents the number of questions u got right and the highest step 1 mark I heard is 276 out of the possible 300.
[/c olor]
To me, the exam itself was much much harder than any exams I had done b4.. somehow, I feel like the exam as an adaptive testing. It was pretty much like a roller-costal ride as some people have described it. I had about 8 unsure answers in blocks except block 3 and 5 where I had about 22 unsure. During block 2, I felt every question in it was doable and was confident enough that I would ace the exam for sure. However, block 3 gave me the whole new experience.. questions were too difficult to do and I felt like I would fail the exam for sure and this kinda feeling started again in block 5 so I was wondering if adaptive testing was introduced in my exam..
now b4 I start off with the books I used for step 1, I just want to make some comments first: step 1 is about basic science. And basic is the key to the success of the exam; tot tally opposed to what I expected to be; I thought the exam would be in the fashion where the clinical vignettes dominated the game.. but no it wasn't.. out of 50 question in every block, 30 questions are like clinical vignettes while the rest 20 are purely basic（when I mean basic, the questions are directed in less than 10 words in a question; I think I got some questions that only contain 4 words in the question stem）and those basic questions have NOTHING to do with clinical aspects of the disease that one would normally encounter. I think I threw lots guesses on those. By the way, don't study buzzwords; instead, study the meaning of each buzzword b/c u will never get to see them appear on the exam.. in my exam, I think I only encountered two buzzwords out of 350 questions. Take home message here : make sure u cover those basic knowledge strong and study every subject like you study pathology. Yes, in doing so, you would have spent more time but come to think of it.. getting 99 on step 1 is never easy.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> >
Here r the books I used for step 1:[/highlight]
I didn't use Kaplan lecture notes/web path/goljan audio….. I don't think it matters as to what books u use as long u can MASTER the content.
Anatomy: High-yield anatomy, HY neuro, HY embryo; focus more on neuro/embryo [/highlight">
Behavior science: I only used HY and BRS. BRS is pretty good but doesn't cover in depth for ethics/doctor-pt relationship.. as an ims, I think this is the part where most of us did bad.. and I really don't think u could prepare well for it.
Biochemistry: I only use lippincott, and yes I agree that there r tons of information in there for one to master.. rule of thumb, use q-bank as guidelines.. for example, if you got a pathway wrong in qbank, study exclusively concerning that particular pathway in lippincott.. don't just read the explanation provided by the qbank.. in doing so, u should be well covered.
Microbiology: I did 'made ridiculously simple'.. I totally regretted it. Tho the book is light and contains relevant information for step 1 but does not cover enough in depth. I highly recommend LANGE. Mastering the book is enuff to ace the section in micro.
Immunology: I don't think that there is a good book out there in my mind to be classied as A+. I did lange immuno, hy, lippincott micro, but none of them is worthy of mastering. some questions in step 1 of immune are weird enuff to go beyond your imagination.
Pathology: I did BRS, Rapid Review Series, basic pathology 7th edition text. BRS is like basic; while rapid review series is like integration of basic knowledge and clinical aspects. Highly recommend to master those two reviews. I mainly use basic pathology text to go over the pictures and some important text that needs clarification.
Physiology: BRS and another book by her (the one about 50 cases, forgot the name). BRS is too easy, but 50 cases can reinforce some of the concepts clearly that BRS fail to do so. Physiology section in q-bank is very twisted and they do help me see how the questions in physiology are set up. In real exam, I think physiology is more twisted than that of q-bank. I highly recommend step up to the bed-side and focus exclusively on the tables concerning endocrine.
Pharmacology: LANGE is the best and first aid basically just follows the outlines directly out of this text. I agree this book just like LANGE micro contains toooooooo much information and it was such a miracle that I finished it while making my 73 pages of notes. I didn't do lippincott so cannot offer too much advice on that one tho I had it.
Genetics/Cell Biology: I only did hy molecular biology, hy histology. For genteics, I think u should cover the genetic terms inside out… for cell biology, none was tested on my version of the exam but u should study for it.
Comprehensive: first aid, step up to the bed side and another book by step up (only clinical cases), board and wards, UCV, secrets, made ridiculously simple. First aid is the must but not enough and I felt the statement like 70% of the exam can be covered by first aid is misleading unless u EXPAND every high yield described in it; step up to the bed side is great in differential diagnosis and help u work out why other choices r not considered right; boards and wars/UCV are pretty much designed for clinical vignettes and I really don't think they hold strong assets for step 1 preparation.. Secrets is an excellent book and I felt some questions are being rephrased from this book. Made ridiculously simple is a waste because the content of information is too superficial and hard to remember. If u r short of time on comprehension section, just focus on first aid and secrets.
>
Questions that I did for step 1: overall I did about 10,000 questions in which only 3000 questions r really worthy.
Pre-test for physio/pharmo/pathology: don't do them.. such as a waste… good review but doesn't help much..
Q-bank[/size">：use this as guidelines to study for your subjects.. Reading the explanation provided is never enough!! Something that I didn't do while doing the questions!!!!!
Robbins Pathology Question Book: about 1100 questions in total, good pathology exam after mastering two reviews for pathology listed above.
NBME: make sure you do it 1 month b4 the exam and u can cover your weak points effectively and do the 2nd part 1 week b4...[/highlight">
NMS: don't do it.. EXCEPTION type of question just drives me nuts.
Rapid Review Series: I highly recommend this series to everyone, not just the comprehensive but also the individual subject. I had done the comprehensive and pathology. I found those questions are very similar to the real one in terms of difficulty and content-wise. If I could have more time, I would have purchased every other subject.
Results of questions: q-bank: 68% one month b4 the exam
Kaplan simulated exam: 68% 3 weeks b4 the exam
NMS: 55% 1 month b4 the exam
Rapid Review Series: n/a
NBME part I: 470, didn't do part II
And various other question books that I won't list here because those r not worthy.
> [/highlight">>
[highlight=#ffffff" face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=3>A lot of people r saying that more questions u do, the better u prepare.. I have a different view.. I think as long as u r solid about the knowledge you have from all the reviews, you are pretty much set. In my case, I was not solid about my basic knowledge since I devoted tremendous time in analyzing clinical vignettes and left out basic stuffs that are not associated with clinical aspects. So it's better to cover both grounds effectively. I personally feel questions themselves r just like an assessment of your progress. For example, if your q-bank mark is somewhere around 75% on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />lace w:st="on">urlace> first try, then u r fine scoring 90% above. I would have spent more time reviewing again and again for the same subject than spent the allocated time in doing a new exam. Again, just my personal take..
As I am saying, I studied exclusively for patho/pharmo/physio, I pretty much left other subjects behind thinking that the exam covers 80% of 3Ps. But hell no, the exam is very much DISTRIBUTED among 7 subjects with a bit weight over some subjects. One month b4 the exam, I could get about 86% on each section of patho/pharmo/phsyio but pretty much flunk all other subjects and I was stupid enough to think it's okay as long as I did well in 3ps. So make sure you study every other subject like pathology as I have stated earlier. It was 3 weeks before my exam that I realized that I made a huge mistake. So please don't make the same mistake that I did.
I am hoping that this post can be beneficial to the people who are preparing for step 1 and you guys can learn something out of my experience.. I wish all of u good luck in the coming step 1 exam and may all your score shine with 99..
>
All the best and good luck
> >
Edited by Transcriptio on 06/01/05 - 08:56 PM
|
| KEROCHI
Forum Guru
Topics: 60
Posts: 971
|
Congratulations transcriptio! That'sa great score!! Your exam exp. served as a guide for me today! What a marvelous journey you had. Good luck in step2.
|
| kaira
Forum Senior
Topics: 1
Posts: 128
|
CONGRATULATIONS !!! its a gr8 score....thnx for such a detailed experience....u lifted up my rather very dull and unproductive day....thnk u
all the very best fr ur future steps...
|
| coolbabe76
Forum Guru
Topics: 92
Posts: 635
|
congrats transcriptio.its a good score.....after all the time you had to wait!!!
good luck
|
| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
thanks guys.. i tried to edit the my post to make it look better but turns out i screw up a bit.. so hopefully u guys can still read it
|
| LisaM
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
Posts: 321
|
Transcriptio, Congratulaions on your great score and for your sharing your exam expereince in detail - especially on the type of questions on your exam. Could you please tell what type of anatomy questions were asked? (vignette type, CTs, degree of difficultly, etc. Did you feel the material you prepared from was sufficient?). Many people say that anatomy is not extensively tested, but few say otherwise. Rapid Review is one book with questions just like NMS right?
___________________
lisa
|
| Transcriptio
Forum Senior
Topics: 39
Posts: 166
|
Hi LisaM,
for anatomy, most questions span around neuro; esp, cranical nerves.. questinos types r mostly mixed up in between basic and vignette. i think hy neuro is sufficient and it is important to master the content... ct/mri are all from neuro and they r straight forward.. some people claim that only mri of specific disease r displayed w/o discription, however, i didn't find any of those in my exam. as for hy anatomy, two plexus lesions along with muscls/nerves involvement r considered reviewing; as well as upper/lower limbs vessel ligation.
hope those help
good luck
|
|
| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
