rezaaa
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 182
| | 05/15/07 - 07:29 AM
3 of 3 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
Whew!!!! I had to wait more than 6 weeks to get my result thanks to our slow snail mail.... but boy it was worth the wait certainly....thanks to almighty Allah i did ever so well and exceeded even my expectations. The jubilation i feel is indecribable... yet my belief that serious hard work and prayers never ever go un answered.... here is a little about my journey towards the ever elusive score...
I will describe how i prepared but its up to you to see which things might be useful for you or not. The thing is that we are all human beings and our essential quality is that we are different. hence we all dont have the same opinion about everything and same is for this test. the experience of everyone giving the test is at the same time same as well as different. I will give my opinion abou the various aspects of my prep but ultimately it is up to u to decide how useful my approaches will be for you.
Preparation started september 8th, 2006
Exam given march 28th, 2007 in Islamabad, Pakistan
result recevied : 16th May, 2007
Total prep time : about 6.5 months
Hours put in : usually 7-8 hours every day going upto 8-10 hours in the final month
Books used:
I used rather a different approach in books. i had researched a lot of books out there for the steps and i used a mixture of different series. Some people might find this disturbing or unorganized so its up to your individual choice. I will describe both the books i used and som eof the common alternatives other ppl use
Pathology: my book was brs + robbins pathology review question book. the only other alternative is goljan. i did not use goljan or hear his audios just sticked to brs + robbins qbook
Anatomy: I used high yield for gross anatomy, embryology, neuroanatomy and i did only the first chapter of histology from kaplan. In retrospect i would recommend if you have time do the whole of histology from kaplan, its short and doesnt take very little time. You have to weigh this against the fact that u will at the most get only 1-3 questions on histology but remember those 1-3 could be the difference between a 99 or less. I would also recommend using kaplan neuroanatomy section for anything u dont understand in high yield as sometimes high yield can be direct. esp the last chapter on cerebral cortex, its given very good in kaplan.
Biochemistry: KAPLAN all the way including its GENETICS and MOLECULAR BIOLOGY part. if u r from the subcontinent or at least pakistan do not use high yield molecular biology unless you have read molecular biology section from kaplan biochemistry cuz u wont get a hint of what the book is talking about. kaplan is very good in this subject. Also you need to watch the kaplan DVDs for molecular biology and genetics. skip the biochemistry ones.
Physiology: I used BRS physiology but many ppl choose kaplan.
Pharma: I started with Katzung Review for Pharma but in the middle i realized it just took two long. i tried another approach i started updating first aid from katzung review i.e. tried to do the two books together but that also took too much time. In the end i ended up doing some chaps from katzung review and some from first aid. in the end you might as well use the kaplan book for pharma. most ppl say its adequate.
Micrbiology: I used kaplan. its a bit difficult at first but that is how micro is, a lot of memorizing. in the end u will be thankful for the quick revision kaplan provides. i think this book was sufficient.
Immunology: i used the immunology section of Warren Levinson Micrbiology and Immunology (older name Jawetz) its a bit long but its gives you a very good idea about the overall picture of immunology and i found that handy. many ppl find the kaplan portion of micrbiology and immunology sufficient.
Behavioural science & biostatistics: i used high yield behavioural science. However i did the epidemiology and biostatistics chapters from kaplan behavioural science. i also did ethics chapter from kaplan too. i think this combination was quite sufficient. You have to watch the DVDs of first two chaps of kaplan biostatistics, Dr. Steve Daughtery is amazing and he makes this subject a little easier. You might also want to watch the chapters on physician patient relationships and ethics.
Question sources:
i think one of my strong points in the end was the amount of questions i did:
1. USMLE WORLD QBANK
2. Kaplan Qbook
3. Robbins pathology review (questions book)
4. NMS Review for step 1
5. Kaplan Qbank old book form 2002
6. Questions in katzung review of pharma
7. questions at the ends of chaps from kaplan
whew yeah those are a lot of questions. here is how i got about them:
i did the qbook subject by subject after finishing the respective subject during my first read. in the second read i did the old kaplan qbank 2002 book form with each subject. After finishing this is sat down to uworld and finished it in one go u can do it about in two weeks. Make your notes as you go on doing the questions as u will need to review them a few days before the exam. after this i did the robbins patho q book and that book along with brs or goljan will give you complete command on patho. NMS was the book in the end i found to be not so much helpful and i think many ppl can skip that. Also the old qbank of kaplan 2002 is more about revision and the type of questions it has are too much old style.
My objective in doing questions was always one thing. LEARN. i tried not to really care about the scores i got. focus on learning. I used usmle world for the sole objective of learning infact all the books. the more questions u do the more u read the scenarios the more comfortable u will be in the exam with the same scenarios and u will be able to do at least those questions pretty quick in order to save time to think about the hard ones.
Non-study related issues:
If you are from our part of the world (pakistan and thereabouts) u will find the prep for step 1 difficult. there is a lot of stuff in it that wasnt stressed during out time in med school and is essentially new to us. dont get scared i found a lot of this stuff to be very interesting e.g behavioural science and molecular biology. on the overall these subjects are not that hard. the other thing is that we are poorly practiced in doing questions. you should do as many questions as u can to get your mind to think that way. this will also improve your abilities to read and analyze stuff rather than the mostly rote memorization that we depended upon all these years.
i have mentioned in my prvious post on exam experience that the exam is certainly doable. But it demands hard work ,dedication and devotion in order to prepare for it. ENDURANCE is very important. many times during my prep i got really fed up and frustrated and i felt like burning all the books going on a trip to malaysia....but u have to remember to hold on. whenever u get tired of studying take a break, a day off ot two, go watch a movie go out with friends etc etc. i will recommend not taking a big break not more than 2-3 days cuz that takes your mind off studying and u will lose ure momentum.
How much time to study? It will depend a lot on your situation and how quick u r able to cover the course. If you are not doing a job and are say a regular student you should not take more than 6-7months. REMEMBER a lot of ppl make the mistake of delaying the exam again n agian n again trying to learn everything they can. there are two drawbacks to this...;.one you can NEVER learn everything, there will be things on the exam u never heard of probs not even published in books. it doesnt even matter no one will answer those questions correct. SECOND if u delay exam u will just get into the vicuious cycle of forgetting and memorizing again . then forgetting again n so on.
On the other hand if u r doing a job you might need to take longer it will depend on how many hours u work and how many hours u study.
THE UNIQUENESS OF THE TEST:
yes certainly those guys in usa and at nbme they just like making complex test which not only test ure conscious knowledge but also some subconcious things. i have mentioned this before that all of us are good at one or more subjects. in general life its true some are good at math and some are good at language etc. its the same in medicine. some of us are good at pshyio other are at anatromy and so on. so u have to work hard on ure weak areas only u can identify those. remember that those areas will still be weak but u can sure improve your chances of doing well.
There are many questions on the exam which u have to solve right there n then, in a way of saying they check your intelligence if you wanna call it. These questions will somewhat depend on what u studied but mostly they will test your what i call subconcious knowledege and your ability for problem solving. they are medical related but they are not the regular questions. those questions you are quite helpless about as they will test you overall how u have done all these years. you might be left there thinking and recalling something u read somewhere or studied ages ago. this is my personal opinion its hard to describe it. Most ppl also say that most of these questions are experimental but i bet a few of them still count.
WHAT I DIDNT DO:
=====
goljan patho or audios
nbmes
kaplan qbank
i didnt do these for one reason or another they were mostly personal. they are all good sources from what i hear but i either found out about them too late or i didnt have time for them. at the least i guess NBME is recommended by many.
I cannot compare kaplan qbank to usmleworld qbank cuz i did only one. i think usmle world is pretty good and it helped me learn a lot of new stuff as well as revise older stuff. its also much cheaper ! online version is best. timing ureself i the blocks is best although i sometimes did n sometimes didnt. always take notes form the explanations dont juts read them.
Well at this point in time that is all i can think of. i will be happy to answer questions for any of u. just do hard work and hope and pray for the best.
take care
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| rezaaa
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 182
|
my exam experience link :
http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/51833
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| rezaaa
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 182
|
i forgot to mention about the kaplan dvds. i only watched these:
Behavioural science (i did only biostatistics part but if u r weak in this subject watch the whole dvd because the teacher is great)
Biochemistry : only molecular biology and genetics
I didnt watch any of the other dvds. most ppl say dont watch the following ones at least cuz they most do book reading and ure better off doing that by yourself !
microbiology, patho, pharma, anatomy except neuroanatomy
that leaves only physiology which is better to watch if there is time.
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| kykie
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 219
|
Wow!Big congrats,such a great score.My exam is also comin up soon.Any advise?I am still on UW,doubt that i'll b able to finish it ,cos of time.I've done kaplan however. what were ur uw,kaplan or nbme scores?any advise or additional tips u could give would b appreciated.
All d best for your step2
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| shalini.ravi
Forum Senior
Topics: 17
Posts: 153
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wowieee congrats !!!! long wait but as u said worth it ! so good to hear that hard work pays !!! all d best for future step
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| doc sadaf
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 17
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congrats! did u do kaplan medessentials?
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| aim08
Forum Senior
Topics: 4
Posts: 24
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amazing score and an exellent post.congrats
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| bax
Forum Senior
Topics: 20
Posts: 170
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congratulations dude...
gr8 score and gr8 guidence....
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| unique1
InGodITrust
Topics: 19
Posts: 1,429
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Congratulations and good luck for your next steps 
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| tamar
Forum Senior
Topics: 2
Posts: 105
|
Hi rezaaa,
First of all congratulations passing exam with a great score.
I'm just wondering how useful was the NMS review. I'm having my test in a month. haven't started nms questions yet. Should I do them or just review the material...
Thanks,
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| tanmaynator
Forum Senior
Topics: 12
Posts: 153
|
wow rezaa!! congrats!!
so finally you got your result and it is certainly one that you can be proud of..
i also got my result and it is almost similar to yours 254/99..
so when is your step 2.. see you in the step 2 ck forum..
congratulations and all the best for further preparations..
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| MRMAVERICK
Forum Guru
Topics: 42
Posts: 749
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congrats rezaaa
in which city u live in pakistan??
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| hedieh
Forum Guru
Topics: 47
Posts: 436
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Congrates!
I wish Allah help you to get into the residency that you want.
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Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.
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| zolpidem
Forum Junior
Topics: 10
Posts: 80
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congrats rezaa..that really great...
thank you very much for your detailed experience and all the best...
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| rezaaa
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 182
|
hey guys thanks all of you for ure support. now for some of the replies!
tanmaynator congrats dude see u in the step 2 ck forum! killer score too!
TAMAR: if u r talking about NMS review for step 1 to be honest i didnt like it too much it wasnt very high yield and the questions were mostly not of the format on the exam. however if u have too much time and have no other source whatsoever to do questions from then u can do it 
doc sadaf: i didnt do kaplan essentials so i cannot comment on it
kykie: just revise all the high yield and imp stuff now forget about the small details, you will be surprised on how much of the high yield stuff appears on exam. as i said i never payed much attention to my scores but i think my uworld score was around 75%. i did not take nbmes as i didnt have time. i did not do kaplan qbank
MRMAVERICK: peshawar. you?
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| inkspot
Forum Guru
Topics: 30
Posts: 596
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hey Rez man! congratulations! I knew it from begining that u will get a high score, a 99 with 255 wow! you have made us all proud. MaasahaAllah. All the best dude! do some sadka and share your joy with the poor!
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Aagae Aagae Dekho hota hai kiya !!!
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| vwilldoit
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 180
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wonderful score!! congrats! all the best for next step
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just do it .....
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| tamar
Forum Senior
Topics: 2
Posts: 105
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thanks for you response rezaaa, I don't have much time-exam June 12th. I was thinking to do kaplan q-bank and nms, but no time for both of them. I guess I'll just revise materials again and do some q bank qust. ( I've don only Qbook, UW).
All the best,
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| Feyza
Forum Guru
Topics: 48
Posts: 1,432
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great score ...big big claps...big big thanx for such detailed advices...big big prays for you for the next step
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O my Lord! Open my chest for me ( grant me self-confidence ) and ease my task for me.Ta-Ha 25-26.
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| determine08
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 40
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congratulation !! wish u good luck for rest the journey...
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| Ujk
Forum Guru
Topics: 41
Posts: 445
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Congratulations!!!!!!!!
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“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”
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| obgyne2b
Forum Junior
Topics: 1
Posts: 56
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You nailed it big time!!!! Congrats to you rezaaa!!!
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| kingusmle
Forum Elite
Topics: 32
Posts: 269
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congrats buddy ....all the best ,u have made pakistanis proud..yeay!!!
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| jaide
say wat!~
Topics: 18
Posts: 539
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wow!!! congrats!!!!
and thanx for the prep details..
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God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference
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| ShweHope99.9998
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 12
Posts: 2,675
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Congratulation.
Excellent score & good exam prep explaination.
So No kaplan latest on line Q bank, No NBME, No BSS, No Golj books, live notes, audio , No web path or any on line web for CT MRI histo patho etc pictures at all .
Are exm pictures are doable by Q stem or have to know the picture by itself?
Any biochem in the ring form in purine , etc, base, nucletide/side etc?
In neuro any brain section, nerve pathway in diagram, myelin stain , non myelin stain etc. at the exam.
How many graph , calculation in physio, stat, pharmaco ?
How many read for each books, Q, subj in how many days for each read ?
Thank you,
GL in next one.
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