general malaise
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Topics: 14
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yes i have so wanted to shoot myself while listening to dunn!!! his explanations are great, though his monotone is a killer. i do a pretty good imitation of him already. thanks mazinger.
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"El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" Benito Juarez
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Imitation of Dr Dunn is a classic I will never get tired to see.. haha!
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original mazinger z
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| yolanda
Forum Elite
Topics: 18
Posts: 247
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Mazinger, great score, congratulations, I remember you from previous posts, and I am glad to see your hard work paid off. Best of luck!
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Recognize that you have the courage within you to fulfill the purpose of your birth. Summon forth the power of your inner courage and live the life of your dreams - Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Thank you yolanda.. Remember the key is the time you dedicate to your books and not the time they were written..
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original mazinger z
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| truedeam59
Forum Elite
Topics: 29
Posts: 145
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Congratulations mazinger.
I just want to know how many questions bank you work with.
Did you use Board simulator or only Kaplan.
That a very very good score . you are a master for me
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Thanks for the compliments, but Im just average joe.. I did like 3000 mcqs in my whole preparation.. Did whole kaplan qbank subjectwise very good mcqs, but quite a few were off, so bizarre... its impossible to answer 100% qbank unless you repeat quiestions over and over. Whole kaplan products tend to be more picky than the real test, well this is just my subjective perspective. Of the books I used I think Goljans mcq book is the closest source to the exam, probably nbme is closer, but I never did nbme. The difficulty level is almost the same as the 70% of the exam. Tried to do BSS, I bought the whole set of books. I found questions nasty hard and not board relevant at all... Just hated it I was scoring as low as 40% in BSS 2 weeks away from the test, I didnt want to feel frustrated close to the test so I just threw them away.. There's a bunch of people who really like that set of books, royalgeorge highly recommends them, but that's not my case. I think you should try them and see if they suit you.. Take this last advice as a principle for the whole process, what suits for me is not the same that will suit you, is what your gut and your feelings tell you.. Have conficence in the knowledge you acquire from your sources.. Your goal is not only to score high, but also fulfilling our never ending need of helping others.. Good luck..
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original mazinger z
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| prader-willi
Forum Elite
Topics: 28
Posts: 364
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well said mazinger!!!!.......reallyy really well said.....true to the core
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hang on in there......u will survive....
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| snake0613
Forum Elite
Topics: 96
Posts: 191
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mazinger,contrats.!!!!
i want to know how to crack Microbiology, in your test the microbiological question type is similar as ones in Qbank?
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Snake: yup questions were pretty, pretty close... so If your scoring very high on qbank you will score high on the test.. Micology (systemic fungus try to identify them on a micrograph, cryptococcus) and parasites (cryptosporidium) were tested, but qs were very easy.. What you should focus on is basic biochemical propperties, virulence factors with clinical importance, modes of transmision and most important all the spectrum of dzs that a bug can produce. Remember you dont need to know every single detail of a bug, but try to focus on whats more important in a clinical point perspective. And thank you
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original mazinger z
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| ing
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 435
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mazinger, how did you study each time reviewing Kaplan? Did you listen the vedio every time? Thanks.
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Never give up!!
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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dear ing: no I just watched every single video once... The main reason is because I took great notes (sorry if I sound cocky, but Im trying to make a point here).. Copied every single detail the faculty said.. So everytime I reviewed my books was like watching the video all over again, but in less time... hope this helps, and do what best suits you, if you have the time and the patience take good notes and you will see how your level of understanding goes sky high..
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original mazinger z
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| ing
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 435
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Thanks for the quick response. I do need to be more patient.
Wish you the best and good luck with your next step.
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Never give up!!
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| OBO
Forum Senior
Topics: 10
Posts: 106
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CONGRATULATIONS.and have the same luck in the next steps!
Did u use First Aid?
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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OBO: Nope not a bit, didnt like it... Or because I was afraid of revising that book... Well you know it could happen.. I was afraid of finding out that I didnnt know every single detail in it just a couple of weeks before the test, since everyone considers FA as the bible for step 1.. So I was avoiding additional stressors, and thats probably the main reason I avoided it in the first place... hahaha Im glad I didnt need it!
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original mazinger z
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| truedeam59
Forum Elite
Topics: 29
Posts: 145
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Well done and thank you for your message.
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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well done mazinger. i am happy for you. great advise there about books and notes and clinically relevant stuff.
all the best at step2
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It has been a looooong hard journey but I am inches away from my destination...
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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thx truedeam and tolito
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original mazinger z
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| general malaise
Forum Guru
Topics: 14
Posts: 433
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hi mazinger, what did u do for the last couple weeks of prep if u didn't use FA? were you able to go thru all the kaplan notes one last time??
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"El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz" Benito Juarez
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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General malaise... As I said before, I crammed every single book I had (so I could go through them very easily)... For example I could go all over pathology in just three days.. I prepared myself with that thing on mind, I studied each subject so I could read each book in a couple of hours or a couple of days in my last weeks of revision.. By the way I studied between 10 to 14 hours daily.. It was hard, so hard! I was away from my family, and I missed a lot my wife and son. There were days I felt so lonely, but it was all worth it.... This is a tip for all of you guys, I dont want to sound harsh, but dont expect a miracle to happen unless you are willing to make lots of sacrifices, hard work really pays off.. Look at me, Im no genius, nor have a high IQ, just average joe who fought for his dreams..
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original mazinger z
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| royalgeorge
Forum Elite
Topics: 10
Posts: 266
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Hello Mazinger, Congratulations again for the high score & best of luck for step 2.
I think i will downgrade BSS if u think it is not worth it, so let me know by PM of any more suggestions u have got so i can add to my original post.
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| USMLEGladiator
ck, CS Finish by Feb09
Topics: 130
Posts: 475
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congrats mazinger.
My exam in 2 months. i have not done Kaplan DVDs.I have done kapln 2001 notes.Listened Goljan.My Q-bank av score 70%.I'm doing 2nd reading of my kaplan notes.
Should i must see Kaplan DVDs? Are they worth it esp. since my exam is very near.
How many kaplan pages i must do daily?Is it worth the time to revise kaplan q-bank again.?
any tips for last month of step1 prep?
thanks
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Be confident,do hard work,forget past failures and success is yours.......
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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Thx usmle gladiator, qbank of 70% is a high score, mine was 73%, but before doing anatomy and its similar subjects was 80%... Your kaplan notes are ok, I used 2002. I think you should watch videos in which you may need to improve, I will tell you my personal experience how it was... I was very weak in BS, physio, anatomy and pharm, so I dedicated my last 2 motnhs in improving those subjects, but then I realized no matter how hard I tried I could never improve my scores in behavioral science, probably was the subject I studied the most and got my lowest score.. So you should focus in improving your weak areas, but you should be aware that we all have limits in a particular field, and no matter how hard you try you wont improve it beyond your limit.. But, if you are scoring low in a subject and you see theres no way you can improve it (I know it sounds lame, but it happened to me), try studying something else; more attainable... I got 2 low scores (high fail, low pass) in nutrition and behavioral science and I still got a high score.. Why? I didnt realize until now that you can compensate low scores in a one or two subjects with very high scores in other fields.. Its still time to try new material, so try to define what you may watch according to your needs. Videos I can recommend and I think are the very best of kaplan biochem and physio, anatomy.. watch pharm CVS specially action potential and antiarrythmics (TAKE NOTES from the videos, read them over and over).. Try to study 8 - 10 to 14 hours a day, I know is hard, but you will not only gain knowledge, you will also gain endurance.. PS Anatomy videos are not enough for scoring hot in qbank, but they are more than enough for the test... Good luck my friend dont ever lose faith in yourself, be confident and put your heart and soul in this..
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original mazinger z
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| dipti
Forum Elite
Topics: 32
Posts: 237
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hey mazinger,i have one month to go forr exam.actually i postponed it as i got bad score on nbme 3.can you tell me how to improve in 1 mnth.i am weak in behavioral sciencein general principals genetics
,my qbank score is in 50 to 60s.help me.
thanks.
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 918
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How to improve on short time...? Well all I can highly recommend are time consuming strategies.. For BS I have no effective recommendation because I sucked.. But, for genetics I can help more.. In order to fully understand genetics you must know very well molecular biology, my sources were kaplan for these two.. Lionel Raymond amazing, and Vernon Reichenbecher is good and practical reading notes/watching videos of cell bio and genetics, wont take that long.. Are you assessing your self on this subjects with qbank? this subjects are tested very heavily in qbank, I was getting high fifties to low sixties in these 2, and I got stars on the test in these 2.. So try to know the sources I told you absolutely cold.. Be aware that is not very advisable to read new info in the last month.. zerocool improved his score very rapidly, he can be of better help than I am.. sorry about that  .. Ive read from many posts: sarika, zerocool they improved a lot by memmorizing first aid in their last month, so its up to you. If you feel you have strong background in order to memmorize first aid, then go for it.. Wish you the best..
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original mazinger z
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| samdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 20
Posts: 86
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HI Mazinger,
congratulations on your score!!!!
The Q BAnk you are reffering to, which Q Bank are you talking about?
Is it the online kaplan Q Bank?
Thanks in advance
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