rabia203
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 10
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Hi
Its has been two weeks since I took my step1 exam. I m expecting my results in a week or two. I had always been thinking that I shall b writing only after getting my results but I was just thinking today that I owe a lot to this forum and to all the bros and sisters who have been helping me so that I should b contributing my experience.
Personally, I benefited a lot from this forum, and one name I must b mentioning is Tallu .I shall always remain indebted to him for being always a helping hand. I am thankful to all the people in this forum whose experiences I have been avidly resorting to and that has really been rewarding. In addition, perhaps an inspiration behind writing this is his vision that we must b helping each other. Any way, here is my experience.
I shall not be describing my experience in a narrative way, rather I would just illustrate any thing that can b of help to those aspiring for step 1 in the coming days. I m writing as I m recollecting so if u are not able to find a nice sequential arrangement in my writing
, I m sorry about that.
First of all let me a little bit philosophical,For success in this exam or even any other exam in your life, firstly, u must have a large capacity to dream and secondly u must have a conviction in your dreams.” So think high” I personally believe u cannot go beyond what u have dreamed. Done these two things, u shall be able to put in effort effortlessly.
1) I would not b recommending any books at this stage as I have yet to receive my results. It is only then that I might b suggesting or b in a position to recommend. However I would simply state at this stage that plz, try to keep your horizon as narrow as possible. Following just a single publishers anthology, to my view, can b the best option rather than resorting to too many books and at the end of day just feeling that u r not able to organize what ever u have read. I followed kaplan and I think this exam was not beyond the scope of its material. Follow whatever u want but the most important thing is ” it is not what u study its how u study. “ and one more thing” the most important thing is what not to study rather than what to study”
A blend of good cramming with a background of pure concepts is what is required for this exam.
2) I think it is not an exam of just your factual knowledge. plz make your concepts clear. They are asking no different things. The same old cock and bull story but in the garb of new clinical vignettes. If u just brush off the clinical aspect the left over is the same old factoid. Nevertheless, it is important to familiarize yourself with clinical vignettes so that u dont panic and stay cool.
3) Every block is a blend of very easy and very difficult questions. plz remember that if a question is taking more than 1.5 mins , the probability is that u actually don’t know the answer. So try to narrow down your choices to two (which u r usually able to do) and then simply go by your instinct and just click any one of the two and move ahead. (50% probability of being correct any way)
4) If u keep one thing in mind then u shall not panic "usually one block is always very tough.” so don’t panic. Just assume that it is testing your nerves.
5) Its advisable to take five mins break after every block (25mins for five blocks+ 5 mins for all the blocks to log in). It leaves u wid 30 mins for a long break or two long breaks that’s up to u.
4) Take every new question as a different battle fought on a different soil. Just try to forget whatever u have done in previous questions. If u can manage to do that then believe me, u shall never get tense. Have a faith that u have put in your best effort and u cannot go beyond your capacity so if u know u r definitely going to do it, else u cannot simply help it.
5) Its my personal experience (others might differ though) that u should not b wasting much time on path slides. However just doing the very basic of radiology slides (some basic CT's, some basic angiograms) can be helpful. Path slides, which were given were just a few and far between. In most cases, even reading the stem of question was sufficient to answer correctly.
6) I think the questions, which were the longest were the easiest to answer, provided u stay cool and do not panic just seeing the length of the questions.
7) Likewise, the questions which had a large no of options (may b even 9) were the easiest to answer. In some I had to just think and guess the answer without reading all the options and then I just looked for the pre-conceived answer and it was there somewhere among the choices. Moreover, it did work for me in almost all of such questions.
8) Its important that u have taken a good 8 hours sleep the night before your exam. So even if u have to resort to sleep inducers that night just take a pill or two. It shall b a good option if u don’t study one day before your Exam. Just relax and have fun. Try to rest your nerves in prep for the strenuous effort u r goanna put the coming day
I think I should b writing the rest pending upon my results. I just wish that u pray for me. Good luck to u all. God bless u all
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| Ancylostoma
Forum Guru
Topics: 42
Posts: 636
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Good luck on your results !!
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| jamdoc
Forum Elite
Topics: 30
Posts: 244
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thank u so much for sharing ur experience with us.i wish u all the best for ur score.
p.s can u give me any tips on how to prepare for last 1 month based on ur experience.im thinking of doin only FA and Qbank, supplementing with high yield kap.notes.
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Dont worry.Nobody knows 100%
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| docash
Forum Junior
Topics: 13
Posts: 61
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Hi,nice that u shared your exam experience.I too am waiting for my result which is expected in another two weeks.I took exam on jan17 when did u take it?
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| GoodGirl
________
Topics: 128
Posts: 1,809
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Hello Rabia203,
First of all, I wish you the score you dreamed about ! And after reading your reflections and espetially suggestion I don't have any doubt that you will score high!
Thanks for pinpointing some things I did not have an idea about. Your post was a great help and motivation to me. God be with you.
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Prioritize & simplify
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| euphoric
Forum Senior
Topics: 21
Posts: 128
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Good luck!
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| euphoric
Forum Senior
Topics: 21
Posts: 128
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Where do we get ct scan and angiogram any site?
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| Sayulita
Forum Guru
Topics: 105
Posts: 548
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you will do just fine I hope
thanks for the input
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| mona1976
Forum Senior
Topics: 14
Posts: 119
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Rabi ,May u have ur dream result.
good luck.
how long u studied? i have only one month left in my exam. and alot is left.
how much genetic ,immunu and biochem is important.
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| rabia203
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 10
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thanks a lot in the first place for all your wishes. well, i took exactly 5 months for my prep. as to the last month, i have a feeeling that every one is in the same situation in the last month. seems like u have forgotten things or u r just lost . some times u even think that u should extend your date. but plz always have a conviction in the fact that there is no other date or extension unless u have some valid raeson for that. lot of self-suggestion and motivation is needed. persistence and parience is the crux of your prep. GL
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| bangledoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 10
Posts: 138
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Good luck. What about nbme,Q bank score?
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| oldkidontheblock
Forum Guru
Topics: 61
Posts: 964
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Good luck for scores.
I have a couple of questions I would be glad if you could answer them for me. I am an old grad and last time I wrote the exam was 10 years ago, June 1997 when I got 74. I am not aware of the pattern nowadays as I know many things have changed in the exam.
So, do they ask the questions in single best format only or do they twist the question by putting the words " least likely", " unlikely", " except" ?. Also are there any matching questions? like they would give a figure and label it then you have to match the choices according to the letters given. In my last exams they used to have these all 3 patterns of questions of which the bulk were single best, then about 20-25 least likely like stuff and then 20-25 were matching questions, so I am a bit confused. Can you help me in this regard?
Thankyou.
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Malcolm Forbes: Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat
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| epica
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Don't be confused, you are not "Old"
The best way to see the Q format is theit CD. Please go to the usmle.org and download the practice Q Also read FA about the exam.
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| rabia203
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 10
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well, there is only one format now in step1. that is, single best answer(however the no of choices do vary, there is a minimum of four choices, though in some questions the no of choices may b even 9 and rarely 11).no negative sense questions r asked as u have inquired. as to labelled diagrams or slides. yes they appear quite infrequently, but u have to just pick one of the labelled letters as per requirement of the question. no matching questions r asked. i hope it makes u clear. hope so.tc
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| coolmavs
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 775
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Hey Rabia, congrats on getting the exam done with and Thank you for the excellent write up! This has to be one of the most practical and well written exam experiences of this forum!
Your advice and exam experience seems to go with the exam experiences of a few of my friends who have already taken the exam. It would be great if you could also share your opinion about the UW, Kaplan QBank, NBME and how best to utilize them. I know that you are waiting for your results before you wanna enter all those things, but it would be really graet if you could share your experience with us about these, since this well help us plan a bit better!
Good luck and Praying that you get nothing less than a 99!
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“Media manipulation in the United States today is more efficient than it was in Nazi Germany, because here we have the pretense that we are getting all the information we want. That misconception prevents people from even looking for the truth.” ~ Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Ecology, New York University
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| oldkidontheblock
Forum Guru
Topics: 61
Posts: 964
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Thanks epica for telling me I am not old, yes I am waiting for my usmle cd. Thanks rabia for your reply. It cleared my mind a lot.
___________________
Malcolm Forbes: Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat
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| rabia203
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 10
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well, i know my write up is incomplete. but i think i can beef it up once i get my results. its just a matter of a week after which i hope to u get my results. so guys only if u can wait. i shall surely write in detail afte that. thanks
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