cherryho
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First of all, I want to thank those who shared their experience with us. Most of the advice is very helpful, so I was able to get the right books and study efficiently. Now it's time for me me to give back.
My background: I am a foreign graduate and now a PhD student in the US. Since I am applying for a non-competitive residency and have a strong research background, I was aiming for a score above 240.
Prep time: I studied for 4.5 months starting in January: 3 months to study prep books and 1.5 months for Q banks. The first three months I still had to work ~ 8h a day. However, there was some down time I could use to study while at work. I usually studied 4-6h after I came back from work. The last month my thesis adviser allowed me to stay home to study for the board as well as write my thesis, so I could fully concentrate on the exam prep. Originally I scheduled my exam in April but didn't feel ready, and re-scheduled it on 5/15.
Books:
- First Aid. It's a really good book that I would recommend every examtaker to get. It's also worth to get the latest version. If you know the book well and remember every little detail in it, I am pretty sure by itself you can score > 230. Mnemonics are extremely helpful. I usually read the section on First Aid right after I finish studying the same section in a bigger book, and keep notes in it.
- Kaplan Lecture Notes: I got the 2001 version on ebay for $50. Except for pharmacology, which didn't include the new drugs, most subjects in this book series are still up-to-date. I used it for Behavioral Science, Pharm, Microbiol (Immuno), and Biochem, Cell Biol (the first chapter in Anatomy). For Behav Sci, Kaplan seemed to cover enough materials, but it was a bit hard to read and had no practice questions. Pharm, Microbiol and Biochem are pretty good.
- BRS Physiology: I got a '97 version from my dear husband, but it still worked  . Good and simple. Went through it in five days. Love it.
- High-Yield Gross Anatomy, Embryology, Neuroanatomy. These books are thin and concise. They are especially helpful for those who have limited time to study. You can pretty much finish the whole book in less than one week. Very clinically oriented. Reasonably priced (again, I got the old version for $14 each). Down sides are no practice questions.
- Goljan Rapid Review Pathology. It's a great great book. I bought the new version because it offered on-line exams. It's a pretty big book but easy to read. I like the images and the margin notes which single out the high-yield info.
Q Banks: I did USMLEWorld (~70%) and Kaplan (75%), together with WebPath (~80%). Even though UW is widely recommended, I personally like Kaplan more. The Web program of UW is too slow. Exam questions are a bit too hard. didn't have as many Anatomy questions as Kaplan. The only thing that would make me choose it over Kaplan is the images. UW Bank seems to have more questions with figures and charts, which is a trend of current exams. WebPath is a pathology qbanks constructed by University of Utah. It's not only free but an excellent resource for those who want to emphasize more on Path. I got a Q Book for free, but it was too late to finish it. The questions were not very board style and I don't really like it. However, the front part about the exam-taking strategy is worth reading. Besides the two Q banks I did the sample questions and scored ~94%, but didn't do any NBME questions coz I thought they were overpriced. I tried to read through the explanations for the questions and take notes after each test session. I used 21 sessions from Kaplan Q banks to simulate three actual exams a week before the exam. The day before I went through the questions I got wrong the first time to refresh my memory.
Test day: I took the exam in a medium-sized city in Louisiana where my husband is, instead of NYC where I go to school. The tiny test center is located in the suburbs. There were about 9 people taking the computerized exams with me, but I guess I was the only one who took the medical boards. All the computers were unbelievably old and the screens kept flashing subtly (wasn't a malfunction). I had no choice but tried my best to fight through it. I took a 5-min break after each block and a 15-20 min lunch break. The actual exam was easier than any Q bank. I was able to double-check all my answers in most of the blocks. I brought my First Aid and put it in the locker just in case I wanted to look for answers at the break. I had "4" granola bars and rice crispy treats for lunch because glucose is the solo and best energy source for brain. I was pretty hyper the whole exam except for one block, during which I felt it hard to concentrate. Good thing that I learned to "pace" myself for the exam a week prior, so I didn't feel burned out during the test.
At the end, I want to encourage those who are still fighting for it. It's not as hard as you think. Just have to be strategic, efficient and fully committed. No one feels completely ready before the exam. So don't panic. Hope my experience can be of some help for you.
Step 2....I am coming.....
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99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| Kalyann
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We can refer books during the breaks !!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats new and Thats news to me....
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| sandeep366
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awesome experience..... thanks a lot....
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| sandeep366
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hai, congrats on ur success. i have my exam in abt 6 weeks.... i have finished 2 readings of kaplan books and 2 readings of goljan RR... i finished kaplan q bank offline(approx 60% score).... now i am doing USMLE WORLD.... 63% (just 10% finished) i bought first aid 2008 but havent yet read it yet..... how shud i proceed now....? i am disappointed that my scores in q banks is not upto the mark...how shud i improve? when shud i study first aid? how many more times shud i revise all the books?
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| acintya
FOCUS on your Goal!
Topics: 7
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GREAT SCORE!!! Congrats Cherryho!
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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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| 5fluorouracil
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congratulations on the great score and thank you for writing your experience with preparation and taking the actual exam... good luck for the future!
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Yes we can.... and yes we will!!!!!
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| study499
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Thank u for yr experience,
congrats on yr achievement...well done.
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| cherryho
Forum Elite
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To sandeep366:
I think 6 weeks is plenty of time (at least for me). By now you should be able to now which subjects are your weakness. If you don't have much time for First Aid, I would suggest you just to use it for your weak subjects. However, it is worth going through the "bold-faced" info and the mnemonics. They really help you memorize some trivial info.
I am a big fan of Q banks but not multiple reading. I tried to finish reading the books as soon as I could in order to have more time for the questions. To be honest, no matter how great your memory is you just can't remember everything. So you need to do questions to know which parts you've ignored or missed. What I like to do after taking Q bank is to look for the answers in First Aid and mark them. One star means I get the particular question wrong one time. If I come across the same question or topic again and still get it wrong, I'll give it two stars to remind me not to make the same mistake again. My First Aid has stars everywhere but I usually remember the facts before they obtain three stars. If I can't find the answers in First Aid, I'll try to write down the notes from UW or Kaplan Q Bank. At the end, First Aid became my own study book which recorded every mistake I made. I could bring this book everywhere with me. I found this trick very helpful.
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99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| tilingo
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i'm not sure if you could refer to the books during the break.. well.. i wouldnt just in case...
Great score!! and congratulations!!
I took the step 1 on the 5/16, and... no score report yet... kinda sad..
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| study499
Forum Elite
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cherryho,
are you sure FA alone can get u to 230 score?
this score is what i want? hv done 2 reads of kaplan books and 1 read of Goljan RR but had a big gap of no studies after that... so do not remember much...now have only max 4 weeks to my exam...and want to concentrate mainly on FA and start q...hv not done many q so far...
please any advice would help me big time...
Thank you
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| sandeep366
Forum Junior
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thanks! i ll start my first aid as soon as possible...
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| cherryho
Forum Elite
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To study499,
I love First Aid and don't know why many people don't have faith in it. Like I said, after each Q Bank session I tried to search for answers in FA. To my surprise, a lot of info was in there. I just missed them when I read the book the first time. For path and anatomy I wouldn't rely completely on it. But with Goljan Path and High-Yield Anatomy, 230 shouldn't be a problem. You just have to REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE DETAIL in the book. Of course it's always good to have big books like Kaplan notes to refer to. But honestly, the big books are not very high-yield. In the last few weeks I'd just try to consolidate the knowledge I already learn by reading FA.
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99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| study499
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Thank you very much for your reply.
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| kingsof2005
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congrats
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| sm
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Hi cherryho,
Congrats for your great score! I have a some questions:
1) How to study fast and more efficiently...I tend to lag and as a result, my first read is taking so long! This frustrates me.
2) How did you use your time per subject to study after work? How did you divide up your time in the 4 or 5 hours that you had? If someone is having full time during the day, and weekdays only, like me, how do I divide my time? I do have family too!
3) Did your phd help you read or understand things better, or you had to start from scratch? By the way, what subject are you doing your phd?
4) Rapid review is a huge book, and how did you divide your time to finish it , and how long did it take to finish one read
5) How many readings of the books (all the books used during the preparation) did you read?
6) How many months for the first read?
I know everybody's study pattern is different, but it helps to know what worked for people like you, so that I too can try to follow the same/similar path and achieve a good score!
Kindly help me. I am an old graduate, and I am confused and nervous about the preparation and the exam. May God bless you.
Regards,
sm
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| sm
Forum Junior
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Hi cherryho,
I have the first aid 2006 edition, is it okay to use that , or buy 2008 edition. Thanks again.
Regards,
sm
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| sigh
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Congrats!
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| hitesh
.
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Hey, awesome experience and a great score.. congratulations, and thanks for sharing!
Did you take the exam with the new format , with 336 questions?
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Three down, one to go...
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| cherryho
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To sm,
1) If you tend to procrastinate, try to set up a study timeline, usu one week for each subject. It's hard to stick to the schedule, but try to finish a subject within two weeks. Pay attention to the hi-yield facts rather than details. I like to have my FA with me while I am reading the other bigger books to help me determine which info is hi-yield.
2) I was by myself while I was in NY, so I could dedicate all the 4-5 after-work hrs to studying. I guess I just didn't care anything but studying at that time. My apartment was a mess but whatever. I took the whole last month off while I was doing Q banks, and I went to Louisiana to be with my husband. In the daytime my husband was gone for work, so it was quiet at home, very good for studying. I had to cook and do the house chores, and I like to do that after a test session as a break.
3) I am a PhD in Pathobiology and I am doing research in Parkinson's disease. I do have some background in molecular biology and neuropathology, but as you know, they were not big parts in the exam. I graduated from med school five years ago so I wasn't familiar with the Step 1 materials when I started.
4) Goljan is not hard to read. I spent about 2W on it. originally wanted to finish it within one week but couldn't make it.
5) 3 mo for one read and only one read. My goal was not only to score high but also to study efficiently. I personally think going through the whole books again and again is a waist of time. It's better to focus on the weaknesses coz some facts might need more attention (e.g. brachial plexus, how to distinguish G(+) bacteria). One book for each subject, plus FA.
6) I only read the books one time. I reviewed the materials mostly through doing Q banks. I read the explanations even for the questions I got right. And for the questions I did wrong, I would try to locate the info in FA or other books. You can say that was my second or third read.
I honestly don't know the difference between 06 and 08 versions of FA. Since I used Kaplan and Hi-Yield from '01 (don't be surprised, old books still worked!!), I would like to have at least a current version of FA for some new knowledge, esp new drugs.
Hope the answers help.
___________________
99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| cherryho
Forum Elite
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To hitesh,
My exam was actually the original format: 350 Qs. I did read about the new format from the ECFMG bulletin and am still wondering why I didn't get the shorter format.
___________________
99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| sm
Forum Junior
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Hi Cherryho,
Thanks a lot for the help. I appreciate and will take all your guidance to heart. May god bless you!
Regards,
sm
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| cherryho
Forum Elite
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Posts: 402
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Something I forgot to say about the actual exam,
I looked at the analysis of my exam performance. Behav Sci was obviously my weakness. I recalled that the exam had lots lots of Qs on medical ethics. Biostats were pretty easy. Unfortunately, I did pretty bad on ethics according to the Kaplan Q bank (I guess I don't have common sense?). So if any of you are like me, consider studying harder about this topic (no joke).
Biochem - The exam Qs were not very straightforward. are those you don't know where to find answers to, even if it were an open-book.
These two subjects I didn't do as well as the others. So you might want to use other prep books than the one I used.
There were several Qs (< 10) that I consider very hard for med students. Most of them were fresh topics such as new disease genes, new disease mechanisms, new chemo regimens (my husband, a rad onc, thought it was ridiculous). But they might be survey Qs which didn't count.
Finally, don't forget the pharmacokinetics/dynamics. Extremely hi-yield.
___________________
99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| kalyanova
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Thanks for the nice description of your preparation and exam.
I am planning to subscribe to both Kaplan and UW Qbanks and needed some advice on how to use them.
Some advocate to use them as a ' learning tool' and therefore do the questions on 'untimed subjectwise mode' which would be easier to write down any new pertinent material as well learn new details.
Others advocate to use them as ' test prep tool' and therefore do them on a ' random unused timed mode'..and to avoid the subjectwise format!
I even heard people saying that they have done their Qbank twice or even three times!!.. would it make sense to do that? I understand that by repeating the Qbanks several times would increase the %age of correct answers but I always believed that it would be due to 'habituation' the already seen questions. Furthermore would it have any relevance in the actual exam?
Any advice on how to use them would be greatly appreciated!!
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| cherryho
Forum Elite
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Posts: 402
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To kalyanova,
I personally prefer the random timed mode. By using this mode I was able to learn how to pace myself, mark questions which I'd like to revisit, and prioritize unanswered questions when I had limited time left. After each test session, you can always go through all the Qs and the explanations one by one.
I actually redid half of the UW and 2/3 of the Kaplan. Surprisingly, I didn't get 100% correct. So I guess it's better not to trust your memory too much. I think it's a good idea to go through the incorrect Qs and facts one week before the exam. For me, this strategy really worked.
I know a lot of people like UW but I found that Kaplan is more similar to my actual exam. Just want to let you know.
___________________
99/99/Pass; Certified; 2003; US PhD; 2M US clerkships; GC; Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
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| kalyanova
Forum Newbie
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thanks cherryho!
so you advise me to start 'cold' on the qbanks with 'timed random mode' right? and to check the answers after a block of 50qs..so that I ll not only learn how to prep myself for the exam but also use it as a learning tool.
This should mean that I must have done complete readings of the material and have acquired a certain comfort to be able to start with ' random' mode? or is it me only?
What about doing it subjectwise untimed til i get all the nitty gritty details down..and then redo the qbank on timed random?
Did you use the New online 2008 Kaplan? as I have heard that they have made some changes and are more like the real thing...you are the only claiming that Kaplan was more like your real exam.
thanks!
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