rashi06
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 24
| | 09/13/07 - 02:14 PM
2 of 6 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
FINALLY!!!! i get to write here ! my story is gonna be a lil long , so bear with me .
okay first a lil background , i did my med school n residency in ophthalmology from india , delhi . then i came to the US . enjoyed myself fer one year , n started readin in sep '06 , took an eligibility period oct nov dec , the first obstacle i faced was what to read , and this is what i read :- kaplan for everything except goljan for pathology , hi yield fer behavioral science .
So i started reading in sep , things were very slow , being an old grad i was having a tough time reading the pre n paraclinicals , i found them very boring , so i found a study partner , we used to decide what we wud study fer the day n then discuss it in the evening , we were doing good , n i had gone thru physio goljan and half of pharmac when i fell sick !!!! i was so upset , i was in immense pain for two months n cud not study , then i got better started reading again had read fer a few days when my husband fell sick , he was in the hospital for a month , so in effect i just did nt study at all from oct 06 to march 07 .
then i RESTARTED in march '07 , again found a study partner , unfortunately this study partner was an expert in pulling me down and making me feel very low about the exam . Also , he was sluggish in his mind -in all he was bad fer my studies i wasted abt 2 weeks with him n then i decided i had to tell him we cud not study together , even then he wud time and again send me sarcastic remarks about how i wanted to take exam in june n i was lagging behind etc etc , so i blocked him from my messenger n phone. now with him outa the way , i decided to study alone.i got only anatomy done with him in entire march .
so now it was april , i had only done anat in one month !! i was feeling hopeless about the exam , i though i could never do it , forget abt 90 n above i felt i cud not pass it .
here was when my mother in law gave me the courage , she told me to just do my best n leave rest to god .
she read fer me passages from the "geeta", a religious hindu text which teaches u exactly this , put in your hard work n leave the rest to god for all that happens in our life n all we do , he has planned it for us , he decides for us , but we must do our part . After this i never looked back .
now begining april first week i started my prep as if i hd done nothin before , so i did micro anat n biochem n after doin all 3 i immediately did them again n also did kaplan qbank n UW for micro , and some qs from UW for anat .
now it was mid may and i had a lot left , then i picked up pharmac , physio and did them once n repeated them again along with the qbanks second time , for physio i only did half of UW and fer pharmac i did a lil bit of kaplan n a lil bit of UW i wud say 50% each of kaplan and UW .
In mid june i started with path goljan rapid review not the latest one but the one wth red cover . now this is a lil tricky , dont try to read goljan straightaway , u HAVE to listen to his lecture first n then read the respective chapter . how i did it was this way;- first listen to lecture for a topic ,then read from his book , and then do qs from UW for that topic . if i found anyhting extra i would learn n memorise it then n there cos i knew i ws nt coming back to patho , i had no time .
i had thought i wud do path in 15 days but it took me a very long time to wrap up patho . by the time i finished with patho i had only ten days left .
I was totally stressed out now , i had ten days to go fer exam , i still had to complete UW n kaplan for physio pharma . had done no qs for biochem , and also had never read behavioral .
so this is what i did in last ten days , i judged fer myself that if i read something well n did a few qs i did nt have probs doing qs , so contrary to a lot of advice i decided i was going thru all my kaplan notes again .
so last ten days were like this :-
day 1 - behavioral science hi yield
day2- kaplan qs for behav.sc. and micro
day3-micro and immuno
day4- immuno
day 5 - genetics and mol bio
day6 - genetics and mol bio
day7 - biochem
day8- pharma
day 9 - pharma
day10- flipped thru physio and stats n epidemiology
DDAY
thats it ! now fer the exam , i made sure i slept at 10 pm took me an hr to go to sleep , but i did , so slept well , reached half an hr before exam . the proctor let me start 15 mts earlier . i had gone thru the orientation CD at home so did not do it there n tht time got added to my break time , so i hd ample break time.
i took a 5 mt break after each block and one 15 mt break fer lunch , went to the restroom after each block , sipped on water after each block .did not use caffeine or energy drinks i was already very alert , just a lil tense which i feel is perfect during an exam . i took some bananas (which are very good for such situations as they provide a slow sustained release of sugar unlike chocolates which give u a burst of sugar n then a slump.also fer lunch i carried light cucumber sandwiches i made myself and water .
i ate something , just a very lil bit after every two blocks to keep my energy level stable .
Now abt the exam .
I did not feel the qs were about things that i hv never read , it was all covered in kaplan and goljan . the issue i feel is that the qs do not test WHAT u have read but HOW u have read it , do u KNOW and understand what u have read ? or have u just memorised it ? mind it u have to memorise it too BUT u have to understand it first . every q, i cud narrow it down to 2 answer choices n then it was a lil tough .
they do go into the nitty grittys too ,the minutae , but then q banks prepare u fer that .
physio path ws predominant but everything was covered . qs were all multistepped .
dont worry about the exam being long , time flies .
another thing a frend had told me( and i followed it )he told me to do my last q as my first , ur concentration n energy cannot dwindle , must maintain it till the last q .
well i took my exam on july 30 th , i hd no clue how i hd done the exam !!!!!
Got my result online on august 23rd , 243/99
im happy and satisfied my hard work paid off , just took my CS , now onto step 2 CK .
i hope my experience can be of some help .
FINALLY- MY TIPS FOR U
1- dont let anyone tell u u cant do it in the time u want to do it in . we r all diff n our brains work differently , u might do in one read what another guy might do in 5 reads .KNOW UR SELF
2- dont hesitate to say a no to someone for fear of offending him or her , U HAVE TO DO THIS EXAM , thats it , u will have to go into hibernation fer 2-3 months. i did not go out fer 2 mths , no parties nothing .
3- if a study partner is not improving things , be honest n tell him so , dont waste time! u r here to study not make frens , be frank frem begining, like i told my study partner im gonna do one subject wth u n if it works i wil go ahead wth u .
4- whatever u read, first understand it , then memorise it . n then right before exam last ten days revise it .
5- use ur break time to do qs , i am an internet addict , i need to fiddle with my MAC.. baby every two hrs , so whenever i wud get up frem studies fer a break i wud do qs on my comp or see some slides or just look up some syndrome on comp , trust me i used the internet a lot in my prep . if u SEE somethin u dont ferget . specially syndromes .
6- HAVE FAITH IN UR OWN SELF , AND GOD .
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99/99/CS pass/Non-US ophthal residency( 2005)/no USCE/no pubs/ EAD
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| medocuk
IM-RES
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,467
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Wow well done. Congratulations. Have read your story super fast but I grasped that U got a 99.  Congratulations.
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| jaZjaM
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 118
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Congrats great score...
Thanx fr a very nice experience n tips..
Wat were ur scores in qbanks uw
did u do nbme's...?
Edited by new_n_lost on 09/13/07 - 02:45 PM. Reason: No Caps !!! Plz Read the Rules OF Posting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| icandoittoo
Forum Senior
Topics: 20
Posts: 73
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
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| angel^Doctor
Forum Guru
Topics: 35
Posts: 481
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Amazing ! congatulations .. wish u a great score in CK too
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The more I know, the more I don't know!
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| beiwen
Forum Elite
Topics: 23
Posts: 238
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Congratulations!! your story is inspiring! and so true!
I agree with you in all you say with preparation. You've got to understand the concepts deep to their roots. Then revise and revise in order to remember milestones. The minuciae and little in between details can be reached by reasoning, not only facing the exam questions but also real life patients encounters.
I found, thus, this prep for the USMLE very educational.
Again, congrats!! ... and good luck! you grasped the core of what you had to learn. And a good score, too! Loved your post
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BW
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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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| usmletopper1
Forum Junior
Topics: 13
Posts: 68
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a big Congratulations
did u read FA,i havent started it till now planning to revise from kpln only what do u suggest?
what was u r UW percentage?just curious so that i can correlate with mine
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| mytime
Go Marching in!
Topics: 40
Posts: 3,182
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| kity
Certified.............
Topics: 32
Posts: 1,065
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CONGRTULATIONS... & thanks for detailed prep exp.. it DID help ..
(another example..its doable.. just reinforcing it in my mind)
Good luck..for st 2
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| vwilldoit
Forum Senior
Topics: 16
Posts: 177
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congrats for the score!! thnx for writing the details.. GL
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just do it .....
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| rashi06
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 24
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Hi,
thanx everyone for appreciating my effort . well my score in UW was 65% /70% done and in nbme
i did form 2 n gt a 243 , n tht is wht i gt on real test .
also i did downloaded nbme from forums and i ws getting an average 38 to 40 rt on each block of 50 . in form 4 n 3 .
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99/99/CS pass/Non-US ophthal residency( 2005)/no USCE/no pubs/ EAD
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| rashi06
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 24
| | 09/14/07 - 07:28 AM
2 of 2 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #13 |
and to answer usmletopper's q :-
no i did not do FA , i HATE the book , i dont understand why people talk so much about it , i used it only fer mnemonics off n on .
now , i would tell everyone to be a lil alert when using FA , it has just too many mistakes , u cud be losing out on scores memorising the wrong stuff!!!!!!!!
same is with UW there r a few qs n explanations tht are not accurate though it is a good q bank just be a lil alert . but FA is just too much . i just revised my kaplan A to Z last 10 days n i found that extremely helpful in exam .
BOL with ur prep .
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99/99/CS pass/Non-US ophthal residency( 2005)/no USCE/no pubs/ EAD
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| neopulsar
Forum Senior
Topics: 13
Posts: 93
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hey rashi, i noticed some errors in uw explanations too and tried to contact them regarding the prob but they never answered and the errors are still there.....quite disappointed with those uw guys
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99/99/85, 06 grad, need visa, IM. "May the Force be with all of us ;D"
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| rashi06
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 24
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yup , same here , they did not respond !!!! even then UW is useful but i used it alongwith kaplan q bank . which is also good .
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99/99/CS pass/Non-US ophthal residency( 2005)/no USCE/no pubs/ EAD
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 65
Posts: 960
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Congrats rashi! thats a great effort turning out fruitful!!!!!!
hey people, if you have those UW or FA errors noted down, could you please post them here so others can benefit from your experience. much appreciated!
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??/??/CS pass/??/4USlors/Need Visa - ok, i also need a good USMLE score !
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| nyimalay
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 295
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Dear rashi06,
Congratulation!!! your very high score
My exam is in september 28. I have done nbme 3 from on-line but i think i really need to do another one near my exam. I couldn't afford much for this entire preparation and i would very much appreciate if you could kindly give me the link to download NBME.
thanks,
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| edie
I can, and I will.
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,202
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Congrats!!! Great score for you, good luck with the rest!
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| anuba
Forum Elite
Topics: 6
Posts: 449
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Congratulations!!
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| zolid99
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 5
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congrats.great score.but its a lil confusing.you mean to say that you did not do behavioural science till last 10 days,like wise immunology?behavioural sciences in just two days?thats great.
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| usmletopper1
Forum Junior
Topics: 13
Posts: 68
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good luck for step 2 .is it alright if we skip the tutorial in the real exam?is it the same thing that they give on usmle cd?
did u read till the day before exam,no dayoff.you really have great stamina
thanks for the reply
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| hedieh
Forum Guru
Topics: 47
Posts: 435
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Congrats!
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| paheli
It'sAllAboutGoodKarma
Topics: 193
Posts: 2,590
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good one. congrats, and good luck for the next step.
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Prepare as if you're the worst, Perform as if you're the best! As you dream, so you manifest. So, DREAM BIG!! When you face hardship, remember, God never gives you more than you can handle. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
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| radresi
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 7
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hi
congrats on that great feet.well even i have a similar story n have cleared step 1 and have started preparing for step 2ck.i am looking for a serious study parner..if u are interested then mail me at-docrad4@yahoo.com
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| hope4dabest
Forum Elite
Topics: 19
Posts: 437
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Congratulations
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