amygdalaa
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Hi
I just took my exam.
Let me tell u a bit about myself. I am an 'old' graduate, with 2 kids, 2 and 6. I have been preparing approximately 6 months. In the end , I just couldn't wait to be done with this exam. After a lot of hard work and stress on me and my family, I hope and pray that I pass. Even though I was not an active aprticipant, I would read all the posts. I took a lot of comfort in finding people in the same boat as me. I would be especially hopeful when I see people like Kerochi, Maylea with kids and family and still able to beat this thing. Thank you all.
Overall I think the test was mostly fair. Even tho I did not know many answers and had to guess quite a bit, I feel they were not hard. Some qs were very straightforward and I knew the answers. Soem I just did not know and had to guess or rule out most answers and choose between 2 or 3 choices. As to the tim efactor, it was close, but not as bad as I thought. I had planned my breaks and I was at the edge of my seat the whole time monitoring my time. For a couple of blocks I had time left over to review my answers. The fred system is good. This is what I remember-
Anatomy- not much at all, some CTs, some muscle attachments and action, some histo qs that I am not able recall, 2 on intermediate filaments
Biochem- gluconeogenesis, one pedigree, some genetics, one Hardy-weinberg, phenylketonuria, Hurler's, receptors,
behavioural - lot of statistics, SD from data grap, a lot abou tthe sensitivity, specificity, som,e calculations odds ratio, relative risk, About 6-7 qs on doctor patient relationship.
path- not as much as I expected, fibroadenoma, MEN II, thyrotoxicosis, a lot of CVS, esp chest pain and MI and a lot of alcoholic complications, and a lot on HepB.
physio- Renal aff and eff arteriole qs. , up and down arrow qs, a lot of them from endo
pharm- MOA of antivirals, resistance to acyclovir, heavy metal poisonign, ACE inhibitors(3 qs), interactions, overdoses of a couple of drugs, some adrenergic, cholinergics
Even tho this is the hard part to wait for the score, I want to really forget about this and spend some time with my kids, I've really missed spending quality time with them. So I am in no hurry to know my results, since I dont look forward to them. Anyway, I am glad it is over. Good luck to everyone in this forum and thanks again. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping all the ones I got wrong were experimental 
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| reet
Forum Fanatic
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thanks fr posting ur experience and all the best for the result
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| Stan
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Thanks for posting your experience. Best wishes .......
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| drsnq
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thanks and good luck..
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drsnq
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| mavis
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Hi there
I'm sure u did fine, just out of curiousity what did u do in terms of questions, and did u do the NBME's. Okay well best of luck, just sit back and enjoy ur kids.
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| ALFA
Forum Senior
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Congratulations, it's over...now time to relax! Do you remember are there many calculations to do? Like physio or some other?
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| sturge_weber
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good luck
hope u come out with flying colours
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| vic2005
Forum Senior
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I just did my step 1 (Nov 23 rd) , I have a family too and I know the feeling of being able to spend time with my family again . Enjoy it , you deserve it and good luck!!!
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
Topics: 24
Posts: 399
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Thank you all very much.
mavis: I did the q bank for 1 month. I always did timed random qs. I did not do NBME. I did 2 kaplan simulated exams. I did most of the qbook, for behavioural, I did qs from BRS. And also solved some of Goljan's review qs.
ALFA: Yes, I had calculations, but nothing major. Most were doable on the writing pad. I had one calcu for odds ratio, one for relative risk, one for risk per se, one for sensitivity, pretty straightforward ones. Actually none in physio. But I got a lots of arrows for physio.
vic2005: I saw your post, I hope you do great in your exam too.
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| amygdalaa
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mavis: I did the practice USMLE released qs too.
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| robin082006
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Congratulations, hope you have a great score
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
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Thank you rx_tox and robin082006.
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| dr_nikki
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Good luck.....hope you'll pass with great score
Can you plz. tell me what was your scores in Qbank etc.....
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| dr_nikki
Forum Newbie
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Good luck.....hope you'll pass with great score
Can you plz. tell me what was your scores in Qbank etc.....
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
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Posts: 399
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dr_nikki
Thank you for your wishes. I was scoring on an avg of 75% in tthe qbank. Of my two kaplan simulated I scored 70% and 81%. The usmle cd, I scored 39, 43 and 44. As I mentioned before I did not take the NBME. hope this helps,
Edited by amygdalaa on 12/01/05 - 08:41 PM
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| GMOB
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I wish you the best of lucks!
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
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Thank you GMOB, and you too.
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| KEROCHI
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All the best w/ your test results amygdala
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| Doc2378
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Hi Amygdala...
Your socres on Qbank and Kaplan exams look pretty promising...I am sure you'll end up with a good score on your exam. Good luck friend!
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Courage does not always ROAR. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow" - Mary Anne Radmacher
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
Topics: 24
Posts: 399
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hi Kerochi
thanks for your wishes.
Doc2378,
You have raised my hopes. Thank you.
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| drsnq
Forum Elite
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hi amygdala...
congratulations...my exam is very near about 20 days more ...cud u plz guide me what i have to do in these days ...i did my q bank but revise these qs again with explanations..plus divide my subjects to review ...almost daily memorizing FA stuff and daily listning one golian lecture (2nd time)..is that enough...i did NBME but score is low...360...which let me down.
second thing ...what u feel how the qs were ...is that like q bank and kaplan simulated cd..or more difficult ..my score in q bank is 70-75 %...
really appreciating if u guide me ...thanks
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| maylea
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Hi amygdalaa...congratulations on getting step 1 out of the way. From one mum to another, enjoy spending time with your kids before you have to go back to your books for step 2. I had 4 weeks break - was lovely to be fulltime Mum again, but now, back to study once more. Goodluck.
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
Topics: 24
Posts: 399
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Hi drnsq
I am not sure I have to guide you because I do not even know if I passed. You seem to be doing the right things. Your qbank score seems to be good. The questions were in my opinion more straight forward than qbank. But the matter covered was wider than qbank. I would say 70% or more qs were on basics. Hope you do well in your exam. Two things on the day of the exam are key- be calm and manage your time well.
Maylea,
So you are back to studies. I am being a full time mom, feels a bit strange after a week or more of constant studies. I am loving every bit. I just have the exam on the back of my mind, constantly nagging me. But I swore not to let it hold me back. What resources are you using for step 2 and do you have a strategy? thanks for your wishes.
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| drsnq
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thanks amygdalaa...and enjoy ur moments with ur kids...
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| tania_b
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Hello everybody,
I have been following the forum closely, and thus want to share my exam experience of step 1 with all of you. I am a very average student, with score of 82 for step 1, step 2 and CSA passed, all 1st attempts, and am not here to give you advices about what big books you should study etc. Here I would just like to tell you some basic stuff which will at least help you to sail through.
The most important thing for confused people preparing is, that PLEASE GET NEW - LATEST EDITION OF KAPLAN text and do it cold at least 4 times well..WELL.It is very important, because since the time FRED system has been downloaded, their exam q banks have also changed. questions are much tougher, and kaplan q book, by the end, is not of much use. But yes, q bank + q book does give you a good insight to the whole thing.
Do practice NBME tests, even if it costs you, because I myself never believed in them earlier, but when I gave the exam, there were a lot of questions which were similar to the NBME questions.
Those who have given step 2 earlier, I had done the same, but clinical questions, though a significant portion, comprises only 50% of the test. Rest all were 1 liners for me, which is even more difficult, because it is very difficult to know so many bare facts.So do concentrate well on PHYSIOLOGY ,BIOCHEMISTRY , CELL BIOLOGY and IMMUNOLOGY. Those are the places from where 1 liners are usually thrown from. But the most important thing is to read the latest kaplan notes and NOT the old ones.I had a very tough time with immunology because that is something that is not a concept based thing...you just have to know it through and through.Lot of DNA , RNA stuff....BUT again..most important- PHYSIOLOGY. Also, remember to do endocrine chapters well, with biochemistry. That will give you a better concept.
So all the very best....Also, this piece of info was not for 99 scorers. I have posted this, for good doctors, for whom mcq exams may be a bit dicy to score from!
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