lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Hey all
Took my s1 today. I think from what I've read from nuprin, docarjun etc... I got exactly what I expected on my exam. In fact, I was looking at nuprins report, and my exam looked almost identical to hers.
DO Q-BANK, AND REREAD THE ANSWERS!!! I can't begin to explain how many questions I had that were almost IDENTICAL to the ones I had on my exam. I would put the number at close to 20...% of my exam!I have a couple of weeks left with Q-bank, so if anyone needs it, lemme know. I did 76% of the q's in 2 weeks, and thus still have 2 weeks left to my subscription.
First aid is brilliant. Just by knowing the mnemonics, I was able to answer 12 q's cold. Also, the Pharm section might as well be written directly out of first aid.
Dr Goljan. What can I say about this man. I could practically hear his voice while I was answering some of my questions. I never read his notes, but his lectures definitely serve their purpose. You can download this at coolgoose.com, as I am sure most of you know already.
Kaplan gave me most of what I needed. I feel if you study kap-notes w/ledtures a few times, you will have a good base.
What I would do if I could go back in time: 3 mo prep. I would start by ordering Q-bank, and kaplan, and doing the dx exam. In the first 2 months, I would do kaplan 1 or 2 times in order to really lock in the concepts w/o memorizing much. At the same time, i would do 50 mixed q's every 3 days... keepin it fresh, and previewing what I am reading next. Also, the questions I got wrong, or thought were especially interesting, I would make a note in FA, so I could review them later.
At the beginning of month 3, i would do the nbme 1. Also during the last month, I would spend all "spare" time listening to goljan, and making notes in first aid w/stuff they don't cover, or cover well. In study time, I would read First aid 1x/wk for 3 weeks, adding and annotating as I go. During these last few weeks I would do 1-2 full length exams/wk using q-bank, and nbme2 and the usmle practice q's.
2 days b4 exam, wake early and no napping so i would set my sleep pattern for an early wake the day of the exam.
Day b4, wake early again, and do a quick "flip-thru" of my annotated FA, without really studying past noon (assuming a wake-up time of 6:00 am).
Then I would spend the rest of the day hanging out with people that truly support me, and the last hour or two of the day watching a few comedies that really make me laugh... hard! I can't stress how much that last point of laughing really made a difference today. Whenever I got frustrated, I would take a few minutes at the end of that block, and think of a funny joke from the night b4 (my source of comedy came from Ron White from blue collar comedy. Not a very righteous man, but funny indeed)
Day of the exam: remind yourself during the exam that this is the only thing you have to do. Nowhere to go, no one to see, nothing else to do. All your friends, family and forum support friends are praying for you, all you have to do is live up to your end of the bargain. This helped me not to rush (as i average about 30-35 min/block), and also pushed me to read the entire question, and not jump to conclusions. Also, ONE THING THAT I CAN NOT STRESS ENOUGH IS TO GLANCE AT THE ANSWERS, AND LAST FEW WORDS OF THE Q STEM B4 YOU START THE STEM :!: :!:
I did most of this stuff, but only over a longer period of time, and not spending as much time annotating FA as I should have.
Anyway, Q-bank offer still stands.
PS: 2004 FA is outstanding, get the new one!
Now pray for me all.
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| docarjun
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 334
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Congratulations...u did it!!!!
I am sure you did well...u r so confident...ur post shows it!
Now enjoy....u have done lot of hard work and now u deserve some party time!
Hey i have entered my last 10 days phase....
will u share what u did in these last 10 days?
It will keep me on track.
And regarding qbank..i have done with cd ,so i am just curious to have a look.Please send me personal message if you dont mind.
Hope it will help me!!!
As days are literally flying,i am getting more and more tense..still have lot to do.Have decided to go for FA only these last days!
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| kalsam
Forum Elite
Topics: 31
Posts: 361
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Congratulations..lvspro..sure you will do great..ur post gives us all the hope for us..since we are also doing the same..
May Almighty bless you with great score..
With prayers!
___________________
"Read Repeat Recall Remember Recognise & Reproduce"
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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congrats!!! now we're both waiting... it sounds like you were well prepared. will be praying for your score!
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| docarjun
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 334
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Hey NUPRIN god to see u back!!!!!!!! 
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| nuprin
Forum Elite
Topics: 16
Posts: 338
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thanks!! now, to get through all the messages i missed!
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| tasneembanu
Forum Guru
Topics: 96
Posts: 545
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it was good to go through ur exam experience,from what i have read,ur very confident and u will surely get a very good score,all the best,im having my exam in 10 days,what ur advice for the last 10 days.
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| krampus
Forum Senior
Topics: 25
Posts: 107
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congratulations lvspro
I could see reading your report, that you worked hard on this exams and I think results will reflect that..good luck wiht your score
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| krampus
Forum Senior
Topics: 25
Posts: 107
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good luck!! :wink:
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| ddd
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 19
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Thanks for your review and best of luck for your scores. I am doing Q from the cd, so it would be great if you could send me a mail to ddd_9001@yahoo.com regarding your Qbank offer. I could compare the two! Thanks again.
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Hey docrjun
My last 10 days were pretty frantic b/c i bought q-bank kinda late. I don't remember the exact sequence, but you will see the dates on q-bank. Anyhow, i took a 3 full length exams using q-bank as the source. I read FA twice, and did the 2 NBME forms. Also, I was having trouble with stats/ethics so I reread the 60-70 pgs in kaplans behsci book.
One thing I can't stress enough, Know the q-bank answers cold!!
Peace
lo
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| aish
Forum Junior
Topics: 3
Posts: 74
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Congrats on beig done and good luck with your score!
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| docarjun
Forum Elite
Topics: 11
Posts: 334
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Hey i pm you.
thanks for ur advice!
You will get a great score!u did ur best,now dont wory.
Do you think we should know the q bank questions by heart?actually i did thm,but i stressed more on theory!spent more time ereading and making concepts clear!
and now i have my big day withinn 9 days!!!!!!!
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| ddd
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 19
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Hi Ivspro
Thanks a lot for your email!!!! Its helpful people like you and others in forum who show that good virtues still does exist! Thanks and wish you the best of your score
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| ddd
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 19
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I tried to login with the info you gave me, but it dosent seem to work. Can you please help out. Thanks once again.
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| bm
Forum Elite
Topics: 37
Posts: 421
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you're done, you're DONE :icon_bounce: no scores yet, but you know what i mean congratulations!
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| drbg
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 12
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HEY,WISH YOU GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR RESULTS!THANKS FOR THE ADVICES AS WELL!!!IF THE KAPLAN Q-BANK STUFF IS STILL AVAILABLE,PLEASE LET ME KNOW-MY MAIL IS nd77@excite.com. Thanks in advance!!!
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| namf
Forum Elite
Topics: 80
Posts: 312
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Hi lvspro,
Congratulations!!!
If you could answer this 1 question I would be thankful: please rate these 3 resources in order of importance with 2 weeks to go. If you feel like explaining or not, either way would be great~
First Aid
Goljan
Qbank
Thanks a lot!
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Hey everyone
I have been overwhelmed by well wishes since I have taken my exam, and I just wanted to take a minute, and thank everyone.
If I had to rate the three heavy hitters for USMLE study, I would be at a loss. From my particular exam, it seemed like Q-bank was first, then FA, then goljan.
Since I don't like rating this stuff, I am gonna tell you how each of these sources influenced me.
Q-bank: This helped me to do 3 things. 1. It got me used to the exam format, and even more important, the language of the exam. Once your mental dialogue begins to sound like Q-bank explanations (MOA), I feel you have a solid grip on the subject. 2. It helped me to really give myself a CANDID look at my weaknesses. For example, I always thought ethics Q's were common sense, and that i was doing well in it... which was not the case. I was consistently scoring low, so that is why I went back and read that section of kaplan. This helped me raise my score from 52ish to I think a consistent 90 in the last couple of days on ethics questions.3. Finally 3. kaplan helped me to examine subjects in a different light. By this I mean, as we go thru med-school, we usually have old exams for our classes, and hence gear our studying towards them. On step 1, some of the brightest minds in each field are submitting questions that they feel are challenging, yet reasonable. So, if one of your professors was a direct question kind of examiner, then you would not be ready for s1 questions, and vice-versa.
FA: This saved my buns in the last few weeks. I would study a subject like mad, and then try some questions only to find that I couldn't remember some small detail like whether a virus was ss+ or ss-. I think the reason was that I was not consolidating the information properly. FA works wonders in this department. I found that after going through a self-annotated FA reasonably fast (w/i a few days), much of the memorization stuff would stick pretty well, but it did not do much for understanding concepts. I think nuprin stated b4 that FA is a hard read, and I agree with this evaluation for the reason that it does not have a smooth flow w/i, and between concepts. But like I said, not much else comes close to the amount of memorizable info that FA helps you "cram" in during the final stretch.
Goljan: In my Q-bank, and FA evaluation I didn't say much for learning the concepts. Kaplan webprep is good for this, but the way Goljan teaches, classic gestaltian psych, is sure to imprint in your memory vital information. The reason this man's material is so coveted is that he takes difficult concepts and puts them into the most simple terms possible. Furthermore, his analysis of the WHY of each disease makes you look at pathology as more of a logical, mechanistic process as opposed to massive amounts of info which must be memorized. Since Path is the core of medicine, you have to expect an overwhelming majority of most peoples exam to test path-related stuff. Goljans multi-discipline approach to path allows you to integrate Rx, physio, micro etc... seamlessly into your memory bank, and thus answer q's from a variety of other disciplines.
And thats that.
lo
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| shahana
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 9
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hi lvspro
congratulations.
best of luck 4 ur result.
can u help me ,from where u downloaded goljon lectures as i dont know about it .
i will be great full 2 u
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Hi shah
A good place to download the Goljan audio is coolgoose.com
Go to the website, and at the top of the screen there is a musical note symbol signifying music. Hit that, then search for papi.
Here is a direct link to the search result of papi at coolgoose.
http://web.music.coolgoose.com/go/music
Also, if you search the forum, you will find a site for the goljan HY notes 36, 48, and 100 pgs for free. The 100 pg notes seem to be getting a lot of hype on this forum lately.
Good luck
Peace
lo
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| josh2004
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 168
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I am wrting my daily diary on this forum.
I have one month to go for the exams.I am not scoring well....its low in 40's and 50's! :evil: :evil: :evil:
Just fighting!I am doing very intense evsion with my study material tht is kaplan.I have been studying from kaplan these last 3-4 months.I have taken the webprep course.
I was just wondering ....what was ur score?
Is there some extra efforts u put in something while doing the qbank?
I need ur suggestion....
___________________
99 is 99....no compromise!No matter how much you will have to burn for it!!!!!!!
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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Hey josh
Well, 1 month to go and I bet you are a little nervous. All I can say for that is this: here is your opportunity to teach yourself to work under pressure.
Since you said that you have been doing a lot of kaplan, I am assuming you know your concepts pretty well. Now is the time to consolidate all that you have learned. I would suggest going through FA one time quickly, then try a block or two. Also, I think goljan does a good job of bringing together multi-disciplinary concepts, in a summarizing manner. Try listening to goljan and annotate your FA accordingly, especially concepts you are deficient in. Use Q-bank in a similar manner. Go through Q's you answered wrong, or thought were interesting, and make a note of them in your FA. You will notice that from your 1st read-through of 1st aid to your 2nd read-through after annotating a lot of the memorizable stuff will be easily remembered. Goljan and FA annotation should take about a week if you work diligently. Also, if you have the $$ try the NBME 1 during the 1st week of your last mo, as I felt my exam was much like it.
After this, I would spend my last 3 weeks doing simulated exams from sources like Q-bank, or any others you may find (I thought Q-bank was very close to my exam). When you finish a full length exam, immediately start checking it through, and annotating FA as you go. Also, take a day between exams to do quick reviews of FA. When I say quick, I mean focus on the things you consistently score low on, and glance over stuff you are comfy with.
During the last week, you should be pretty much done w/Q-bank. Try the NBME 2. Also, One full review of FA couldn't hurt.
Last 2 days, focus on setting your internal clock to waking early, and not napping throughout the day. Review hazy concepts.
Last day: Get a few hours of study in the morning if you feel it necessary, but don't overdo it. I felt that by spending my last day hanging out w/friends, and watching comedies it helped me toreally be calm during the exam.
Gameday: stay cool.
I am not saying this is the best way to study b/c I don't have my score yet. Although, I do feel that if you can do all of what I just said, you will feel that the test is "just another day"
Hope this helps.
peace
lo
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| josh2004
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 168
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Hey u gave me the idea of using these last month so wonderfuly!!!!I never had imagined such a nice schedule!It will defnitely help me put my timetable form next week onwards.(which i willl ut after this revision with kaplan)
You are a gem ...no doubt!!!!!!!!You will rock with very bright score in this exam..i can bet on it!!!!!!!!!
All the best for your score!Man you are a good inspiration for me.
I will pray God for your great score!!!!!! [-o<
I will do it,you gave me the way to handle the low scores in qbank.I will follow it for sure!
Thanks again........here i go :icon_study:
___________________
99 is 99....no compromise!No matter how much you will have to burn for it!!!!!!!
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| lvspro
Forum Senior
Topics: 8
Posts: 91
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No sweat man.
Lotsaluck on gameday.
lo
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