tobesurgeon
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 12
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Hi, everyone
I first want to thank everyone for posting their experience here. It helps me greatly since I began to prep USMLE 1 year ago. My prep is part- time because I am still in the PhD track.
I got 99 in both steps. Thanks God!
Below is my personal experience. I hope it can help you guys.
Step1:
 Materials:
FA: Bible of step 1. Sooooooooo great. absolutely necessary. read at least 5 times until the book cover is broken. If you don't have FA, I suggest you get one ASAP.
Kaplan note 2004 edition. This is the only note I can get. Studied for 3 times, but read Pharmacology notes for 5 times. The first round is watching the videos. I really think it is not that necessary especially the teacher of pathology just read the book. I would rate it 3.5/5; pro is its comprehensive but con is also its comprehensive. It's the way too much information. But if you have time, I would suggest you read it for at least 2 times. They are great in terms of the coverage.
High yield of embryology: only once. rate 2/5. Not really necessary. I read it just before I got it for free.
High yield of biochemistry: read it for 3 times. Great book. I love it. rate 5/5.
Pathophysiology for Boards and Wards: read it for 2~ 3 times. a lot of pics and great for pathology. rate 4/5.
Questions banks:
Kaplan Qbook: I did it right after I finish Kaplan notes while still reading the FA. Anatomy, physiology and pathology are relatively easy for me. Biochem is kind of difficult. Did horrible on Behavior. I postpone step 1 exam date after I missed 50% questions in behavior part. Overall performance: 60~ 80%.
UW: absolutely necessary. rate 5/5. I did it once and made notes. Whenever I had time, I went through the notes. Overall performance: 70%.
Kaplan Qbank: I did it in the last month before my real exam. It is much easier than UW and got 73%. I did not make any notes because I did not have time to do it.
USMLE free questions: finished all three blocks in the three seperate days right before my exam. They are easy and the purpose is to get more confidence.
Final 3 weeks:
I read the FA again and again. I told myself that the time is limited and I did not have time to read any more books. I' m happy I did it because I felt the FA covered about 80% questions I met in my real exams.
real score: 251/99.
step 2 CK:
materials:
FA: not really useful. I felt it is more like step 1. I would rate it 3/5. If you begin step 2 CK prep right after step 1. You even don't need it. But if you plan to take step 2 first, it is a good book.
Kaplan note: I had 2004 edition and I did watch video based on my experience of step 1 prep. The book is good, but surgery note is kind of misorganized. I don't like it that much. I read it for 2 times and rate it 4/5.
Kaplan qbook: very very easy. I gave me the wrong feeling that my prep is almost done but UW made me realize I'm wrong. I would rate it 3/5 just becaues it is too easy.
UW: absolutely necessary. I rate it 5/5. Long questions and difficult. I began from 72% and stayed in the middle of 60s for about 1 w. I made my own notes for 50% questions and the speed is kind of slow. But it is worthwhile, I went back to 70s after the painful 1st week. The biggest problem for me is I cannot control my anxiety if I met several difficult questions and I have to pause the exam to re- catch my breath. I tried to solve this problem but it still remained even at the end of Qbank. The overall performance is 71%.
Internal Medical Board: Every long questions and expensive. I spent $150 on it and I doubt it is useful after I finished it. The timer has some problem because I can never finish all the questions in time. finally, I used my own timer. But the questions are good, especially it mainly focused on the cardio, pulmonary and renal dz. I would rate it 3.5/5. My suggestion is: split it with your friend otherwise not really necessary.
NMS: I got the CD in school and did it because it is free. The questions are easier and the format is completely different. And the software can be very puzzling. I do not like it. rate 2/5. Don't buy it but you may try it if you can get it for free. Just for fun
Kaplan Qbank: I thought it should be easier than UW according to my experience of step 1, but that is not the case at all. They just update the whole Qbank and it turned out to be more challenging. The length of it is very similar to real exam. If you think you lost temper in the kaplan Qbank, you'd better try to control it better because the real exam is also very long. I got one question in my real exam occupied the whole screen. I got 72% on average. 57% of my score is between 70~ 79%, 29% is below 70% and 14% is above 80%.
NBME: I only did form 2 because I though I have spent too much on step 2 CK. The questions are not as difficult as the real one, especially the length is sooooooooo short. You will realize the difference after you take the real exam. But it estimate your score every acutely. I got 680/254 in NBME and my real score is 250/99.
OK. I appreciate you are patient enough to read the above things. Following is the my experience of the real exam. Starts from step 1.
step 1: I did not sleep very well the night before the exam but still alert enough during my exam. My test center was still using CLASSIC CRT monitor. It almost killed my eyes after 7 hours' exam. The questions are not very difficult. If I know the answer, I'm pretty sure it will be correct. I did meet some questions that I had no idea at all. Just guess and go.
tips: be patient, keep you pace constantly and tried to focus.
step 2: I slept very well and the same test center switched to LCD screen, which makes my feel really good. The first 3 blocks are easy although I can feel every block is a little bit more difficult than the previous one. The 4th block is kind of difficult and I tried to finished it on time. I continued to the 5th block, which is the most difficult one in my exam. The questions are longer, more puzzling and I felt really hungry. I thought I did not perform well in this block.
I had my favorite meat- ball soup made by my self, and had a small chocolate for lunch. And I felt much better. The 6th block was really easy and I had about 10 min left when I finished all the questions. The last two blocks were also easy, too.
I met about 2 multimedia questions on each block and I am only sure about 50% of my answer. I think the new version is more difficult than the old one.
All right, I finished all my experience of both steps. Good luck for everyone who is pursuing his/her own dream.
If you have any questions, please send me an email.
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| tobesurgeon
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 12
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I did NOT watch the video of step 2. sorry for the mistake here.
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| Liferocks
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 229
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congrats man.......good luck for match
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The biggest obstacle is inside us......conquer ur innerself and u conquer everything.
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| falcon
Forum Guru
Topics: 27
Posts: 478
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Congratulation
GL for ur match
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| USMLEGladiator
2009 & still in race
Topics: 136
Posts: 510
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congrats
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Chance favors only the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur.
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| indsha008
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 14
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CONGRATS and Best of luck
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| dr_puma
Forum Guru
Topics: 40
Posts: 542
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congrats
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do whatever u want,but do it wholeheartedly...never hold back.
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