Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
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hi guys,
for some reason i cannot post in experiences forum (????)
so i post my experience here. i am so happy!!!!
a short note about my background: i am 3rd year medical student in germany. for the last semester i have only been working in research and had no courses. during the two and a half years before that, i have had courses and examinations in anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, psychology, pathology, microbiology and pharmacology but NOT internal medicine or surgery.
now my preparation: i have started thinking about the exam around fall 2005. then i began gathering info on the internet and also found this forum. i applied in february 2006 for the may-july 2006 period. as many have already noted, i could only start studying seriously after the fluorescent orange piece of paper arrived in march. but i could not study full-time b/c my research is VERY time-consuming and i have a family (in particular my grandfather who is very ill) to take care of. but i started reading this forum more intensely, in particular the posts from p53 (VERY BIG THANKS TO YOU!!!  ) and ordered my FA2006 and my other books (see below). i began seriously studying for 2h a day in may and made a plan in excel (i love excel...).
but my research went well and i just couldn't take time off until 4 weeks before the exam (even those 4 weeks cost me a lot of arguing with my supervisor and i had to postpone a fantastic clinical rotation which i would be doing right now until next march...)
now my ressources:
-> FA2006:
very important, but i felt the blanks are more important than
the actual text b/c the notes you are taking is the secret of FA in my
eyes. my FA is completely full w/notes, which would not have been
as organized if i had used a blank notebook.
-> WebPath:
i listened to p53 (did i already say how grateful i am to this man???) and worked myself through the whole website during breaks from my experiments. i printed the questions i had not answered correctly and went through them once again in the metro on my way home. i can really recommend this website.
-> Katzung:
again thank you p53! this is a great book (i am talking about the lange review series not the rapid review and not the large book)- i did not work myself through it completely, but the ANS chapter is VERY important!!!! in pharm, you should really concentrate on pharmacodynamics, ANS (!!!), and antibiotics. that's the big ones. everything else: know the major drugs and concepts. (especially for those who feel pharm is not really their best subject (that was my feeling)).
-> Levinson/Jawetz:
guess who recommended this book
again, same series as the katzung above. again, i did not go through the whole book but rather went over the summary of important organisms in the back, and looked up the ones i did not know a lot about. here i felt that i did really poorly and it was my major concern that i am so bad in microbio. then a friend from my university who had already taken the exam recommended MRS- i was really skeptical in the beginning but now i love this book. the pictures are so funny! i gave myself 2days to work through it and it really really helped! after this i did all (!) the questions in levinson/jawetz. then i knew i was prepared for microbio.
-> fadem:
i know i am repeating myself but THANK YOU p53!
this is a great book. when it came by mail i was negatively surprised it was so small and thin. but after having worked through it (3-4days, do the q's after each chapter but not immediately after you read the chapter, rather alternating: ch1, ch2, q's 1,ch3,q's2,ch4,q's3...)
i had major concerns about behavioral science (just as all non-american students i suppose) but this book really helped. and you don't need a bigger book!!!
-> Dr G:
here i have to thank Dr Pak who uploaded the lectures and the notes. i listened to the lectures while performing my experiments. i listened to every lecture twice i think. the first time i was shocked b/c i did not understand half of what he said. but i got used to his style and soon i loved it.
-> exammaster online:
as you probably know there is this exammaster online website (thanks to the person who made it known here on the forum) but it is not very popular among the members of this forum at least. i did around 350q from there. it was not too bad actually for preparation.
-> Kaplan
i could not afford the online course. a friend borrowed me the qbook2005, from this forum (THANK YOU GUYS!:nod i downloaded the LN2004. i only worked through biochemistry ln seriously. everything else was not really appealing to me though everyone recommends it. i decided to stick with the books i mentioned above and only looked up certain topics on kaplan ln in which i knew i was weak (like renal phys, respiratory phys) but another friend gave me some old kaplan cd (2000 or so) with altogether 2000q. i did every single one of these and i took notes in FA on everything, even the most obscure stuff (pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, anyone? )
AND i put everything down in my excel table: date, source, number of q, time needed, %correct. like this i had a rough impression of my strenghs and weaknesses. time was never a problem by the way. altogether, with all the qs in my books, in the ln that i used, the kaplan cd, the qbook, the WebPath, and exammaster, and LWW online i think i have solved over 3000q.
a summary of some things that i did that i think are recommendable although many people advise against them:
- i took the usmle step1 as a student before having had much clinical experience, but soon after i have had all the subjects in my university
- i studied for a very short period of time, but very intensely
- i studied on the last day (went through FA); i even took FA to the examination center and still couldn't stop going through it until 10min before the exam.... it sort of relieved my horrors. it was comforting.
- i did not take NMBE. it is certainly useful to estimate how good you are, but i thought, to hell with it, i am not going to postpone the exam anyway, no matter what my NMBE score would be, so what's the point of doing NMBE at all??? believe in yourself, that's what really counts.
i think this is it for now. please feel free to ask questions, i will be glad if i can help someone the way this forum has helped me.
you guys are great!!!
Janka
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
|
oh, and something i have forgotten to mention:
BIG ROBBINS.
i know it sounds crazy, but i looked up the weird stuff i found in the qs and also what i did not understand from dr G in this book. it is very well written and i just love it. i think i maybe read 30% of it alltogether but i still feel it helped.
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| MRMAVERICK
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 933
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congrats
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245/264/CS pass All on first attempt/2006 Grad/1 month Observership/1 US LOR/Need VISA
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| focusmle
Forum Guru
Topics: 0
Posts: 284
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CONGRATULATIONS ON THE WONDERFUL SCORE JANKA!!
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| drpkaur
Forum Guru
Topics: 196
Posts: 810
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congrats...
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| robin082006
Forum Hero
Topics: 471
Posts: 5,123
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Congrats
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The Key to Succeed is Patience.
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
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thank you guys.
another important fact: the usmle cd (the official one they send us) comes VERY close to the real exam in my eyes in terms of question style, length and content, so better get used to it
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| raves
Forum Elite
Topics: 23
Posts: 248
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congrats janka.....
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"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"
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| Nan
Forum Senior
Topics: 12
Posts: 159
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congrats janka. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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| Luckyall
Forum Guru
Topics: 11
Posts: 592
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Big time congratssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! )
Bravo, very well done!
Have a Qs regarding new Katzung Pharma ( by the way, i found p53 advises very valuable as well , i took the robbins atlas of patho, the new 2006 .....very good, just my opinnion), sooo comming back on Katzung Pharma...is it usmle road map katzung& Trevor 2006 edition the one you re talking about ???
Thanks and best of luck for st 2 !
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
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thank you all for the good wishes...
actually i needed 48hours to understand that i should be happy. the first time i saw the score i did not feel anything special- just thought "ok, now i am through with this". that was on saturday. and on monday i woke up and was happy and proud and grateful to everyone who helped me. wish you guys all the best for your steps!
about katzung: i am talking about this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071422900/sr=8-...
i also heard that robbins atlas is good but i already had the big book and didn't feel like buying any more books. i sometimes tend to be quite fatalistic, and said to myself "ok. this must be enough. if i am supposed to pass with a good score, i will. if not, 100 more book will be useless" i know it sounds freaky but it helps focussing.
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| DrPak
Forum Elite
Topics: 49
Posts: 348
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Well done janka! Ur right, you should be happy and proud!
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,174
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congratulations janka. you did prepare well and nothing short of a good success would be good enough.
all the best at step 2 and med school
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It has been a looooong hard journey but I am inches away from my destination...
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
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thank you dr pak and tolito and everybody.
big time congrats to you tolito! great job!
(for some reason i still cannot post in experiences forum...)
now i have a somewhat stupid question: is this poor 1page score report all we get or will ecfmg send some other official document? just wondering - because, for the 850bucks, they could have sent a nicer and more official looking document, couldn't they? 
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| MRMAVERICK
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 933
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CONGRATS
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245/264/CS pass All on first attempt/2006 Grad/1 month Observership/1 US LOR/Need VISA
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| MRMAVERICK
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 933
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___________________
245/264/CS pass All on first attempt/2006 Grad/1 month Observership/1 US LOR/Need VISA
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| yoga
usmlelogy professor
Topics: 73
Posts: 649
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amazing..
congrats
i am happy that u recommend taking it during medschool because i intend to do the same
i want 2 ask u did u feel that 4 weeks is sufficent to prepare?
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we are all in the gutter but some of us looking at the stars
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 30
Posts: 150
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thanks guys.
well, yoga, i did have loads of doubts whether 4 weeks fulltime would be enough, but looking back at it i would say YES. 
you should start gathering material and preparing yourself mentally before the 4weeks and then just dive into it and not stop before exam day. at least that is my opinion. everyone has a different learning style, remember that this exam is not about how good a physician you are/will be. this is about how well you can grasp concepts and memorize facts.
good luck
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| goodyear
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
Posts: 409
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Congrats! You worked hard. Well desrved success.
Im inspired to work harder by all the success posts..
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| Ewa
Forum Junior
Topics: 4
Posts: 48
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First congratulations on your great score, Janka!!!
I'm starting my USMLE prep today I'm aiming at May-June of 2007...
I was in the US this summer and bought loads of recommended step1 books (BRS, Lippincott's Illustrated etc.), but I'd still need some live lectures, like the ones you mentioned - Dr G?
Could you post the link where I can upload those? That'd be great!
Thanx and congrats again!
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