hong2008
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 22
| | 09/27/07 - 10:40 PM
3 of 3 forum leaders found this post helpful
| #1 |
Hello dear USMLE friends,
At last I forced myself to sit down and write a review of my USMLE prep story because the guilty feeling of not sharing my experience on this wonderful forum is growing day by day...
About myself:
I am an IMG graduated in 1994. Came to US in 2000. Got phD in 2005. Started postdoc since then. Now when I think back, I hesitated too much because I was scared by this exam. In fact, I have 3 editions of FA (2000, 2004, 2007). I missed many good opportunities to take this exam. Finally I realize that this is the path I want to take, sooner or later. And also encouraged by many posts on this forum especially those who has similar background as mine. So this time I started seriously prepare for this exam.
Points to share:
-never too late to start USMLE
-decide early, don’t waste your time
-stay with positive people like those in this forum.
About my prep:
Please don’t laugh at me. My whole preparation took a long time (20 months) because many family events happened during this period: moved from NC to MA, had a baby 3 months before exam, sickness etc.
At beginning I started to watch kaplan DVD and combined with notes. It took me about 8 month or so to finish first round review. During this period, I mainly woke up the clinical zone in my brain that has hibernated for 10+ years. Meanwhile I had to build up my medical vocabulary since my medical education is not in english. Many times, I have to go to textbooks and websites in order to understand a basic terminology or concepts. bit by bit, I digested all subjects for step 1. meanwhile I did the questions at the end of each chapters in kaplan notes. after I finished each subject, I did kaplan qbook. My performance on qbook was horrible, but I felt that the knowledge started to flow into my brain.
Then I started the second round review, this time I use kaplan qbank, subjectwise and timed mode. I reserved half of the bank for later comprehensive review. I remembered the score of my first block was only 39. But I kept doing it. Slowly the score stays between 40-50s. I occasionally got 60s. I finished 2nd round within 4 months,. practice questions is the key, it consolidates your knowledge and make many connection between subjects and corrected many misunderstood concepts in the first round review.
At the half way through qbank, I have to take a major break (2mon) because my second son was born. After this break I felt like I forgot almost everything. I was really scared because I couldn't postpond my schedule anymore. At this time i subscribed UW qbank because I wanted to expose myself to different qbank. I slowly gained confidence after I finished 10 blocks of qbank. However I don't have time to do more. I only have 3 weeks. At this time I had to stop again to handle my green card application problems, since there was a deadline. This wasted about one week. I had to use the last two weeks to review my kaplan notes. In fact, I was not able to finish review the kaplan note before exam. Until the night before exam,, I found there may be multimedia questions in the exam. oh... I have no way, just said to myself: just take the exam, let GOD decide which path (research vs medicine) I will take for the rest of my life....
Points to share:
-carefully plan your preparation. avoid long break.
-stick to your plan, never lose your hope.
-grasp the concepts is the key, not just memory
-practice, practice and practice
About the exam:
One day before the end of my eligible period, I took the exam. Overall the exam is easier than uw, harder than USMLE CD example questions and Kaplan Qbank. My first two blocks was hard, I marked around 20 questions per block for review, in fact I didn’t have time to review anyone of them. On the 3rd I went back to conscious, and calmed down and last 4 blocks seemed to be easier....there are many research related questions and long questions. Topics are evenly distributed. Many interdisciplinary questions. Calculations were easy. My feeling is that although questions were decorated with variety of setting or scenarios, the core of these questions are still those basic concepts. Once you finish UW, you should be good. Occasionally there are some weird questions, I simply just take a guess because there is no time for me to linger around.
Points to share:
-during the exam, keep cool, learn to adjust yourself.
-in most cases questions are not straightforward. There is always a turning point in a question, which is the key to exclude other options.
-eating well (quality not quantity) is essential to keep your energy until the last minute.
My prep data:
Test date 8/29/07, escore report date 9/19/07
Kaplan qbook 50% completed, score too low to show
Kaplan qbank 50% completed, score 39-60%
UW qbank 40% completed, accumulated score: 60%
What a waste!
USMLE CD 40/41/40
Step 1 score 228/95
Finally I want to thank almighty GOD for His blessing, and my wife for her unconditional support and my two lovely sons. I also want to thank people from this forum, who encouraged me to go through this difficult period.
Last point I want to share with those old IMGs:
“Constant dropping wears the stone” [Chinese proverb]
“If I can do it, you can do It” [prep4usmle]
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| robin082006
Forum Hero
Topics: 471
Posts: 5,123
|
Good story,
Congratulations
Are you from China, or VN, or TL?
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The Key to Succeed is Patience.
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| angel^Doctor
Forum Guru
Topics: 35
Posts: 480
|
wow ..Amazing ! u worked hard and deserved your score .. congratulations
best of the luck in ur MEDICINE path
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The more I know, the more I don't know!
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| yad
Forum Junior
Topics: 12
Posts: 30
|
Wow your story is truly inspirational! I too have a family and understand how things can delay your studying! Congratulations you have persevered!
I have delayed my exam twice now and will not change it anymore. Exam is on October 12. I will work hard, as you did, to make it happen. Thank you for inspiring me once again!
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| beiwen
Forum Elite
Topics: 23
Posts: 238
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Congratulations! great story and preparation! great score, too!!!
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BW
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| hedieh
Forum Guru
Topics: 47
Posts: 435
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Congratulationssssss!!!!!!!! Very good score! I am also a graduate of 1994, and your post was like a new inspiration for me! Thanks!
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Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.
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| forevergood
Forum Junior
Topics: 17
Posts: 51
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hi, congrats ur good score. Are you from VN? if yes, so hi me too.
If no , hi nice to meet u. I love ur inspirating story. Good luck to all on the long run
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| medicus_81
Forum Elite
Topics: 12
Posts: 432
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amazing and inspiring story!!! good luck!
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If you judge people you have no time to love them
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| hong2008
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 22
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Thanks a lot everybody for your warmful wishes! I will keep working hard on this medical path. Also wish everybody here successful!
To robin082006 and forevergood: I came from China. Thanks.
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| oldkidontheblock
Forum Guru
Topics: 60
Posts: 926
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Congrats!!! What was your PhD in?
___________________
Malcolm Forbes: Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat
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| acintya
FOCUS on your Goal!
Topics: 7
Posts: 758
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Thank you so much Hong for sharing your story. Your perseverance and hard work is inspiring me to try harder. Congratulations!! and good luck for the rest of the journey
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Life is a Mind Game! Remember, obstacles aren't meant to prevent your success; they only slow you down and show you where you must work harder.
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| medocuk
IM-RES
Topics: 26
Posts: 1,467
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Wow, all is well that ends well. Congratulations to you. well done. Thanks for sharing your story.
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| hong2008
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 22
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to oldkidontheblock: My phD is in Biomedical science. Thanks.
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| good_girl
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 12
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Congratulations having two sons and still great score. Thanks for sharing. I feel the same way about at lot of things you shared in your post, but like they say here, If you can do it, I can do it.
Good luck with everything. 
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| rashmi verma
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 40
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thanks for inspiring , you really helped people who are strugging, and have similar stories, lose hope and then restart, may GOD bless you for inspiring, I have been struggling too and now finally taking exam in march, GOD helps people who are true to themselves and helping others.
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winusmle
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| rashmi verma
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 40
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thanks for inspiring , you really helped people who are strugging, and have similar stories, lose hope and then restart, may GOD bless you for inspiring, I have been struggling too and now finally taking exam in march, GOD helps people who are true to themselves and helping others.
___________________
winusmle
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| s19v22
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 3
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Congrats Hong. If I plan to take only 1 online Qbank, should I go for USMLE World or Kaplan? I am thinking USMLE World as it is supposed to be more difficult. What do you say? Also, I am not planning to read either First Aid or Goljan. I have read the Kaplan Notes twice & taken the Kaplan Qbook with scores of 42%, 58%, 60%, 66%, 74%, 74% & 76% in various subjects. What do you say? Thanks for the lovely post. Comments from other visitors are also welcome.
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| wyb
Forum Junior
Topics: 8
Posts: 43
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Biggggg...... congrats, Hong! Thank you for sharing the great experience here! Did you have study group or study partner during the period of preparation? Thanks again for the inspiration!
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| mikky
Forum Elite
Topics: 17
Posts: 400
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big congratz hong!!!! ur story is very inspirational....i really mean it....
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it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities!!!!
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