Below is the information from forums, which I found useful.
NBME CCMSA approx 1 week out and got 680 on that. is probably the most similar to actual exam content so I would imagine it is the best way to gauge where you stand.
UWorld-78%
UWSA 1-236
UWSA 2-239
NBME 4-510
NBME 5-510 (a new test)
Resources used-mostly UWorld, recalling a ton of the material from Step 2CK, some DIT and Kaplan Step 3 material, a smattering of MKSAP material for IM residents. Took the test 2 months after graduation (AMG).
Step 3 (07-30/31)-240s. To the right for most sections, borderline CCS.
Relatively: the first day had 30-40 questions biostats, 30 questions ethics, 40 questions (basics, mechanism of actions and underlying pathological process ), 15 questions for drug ads. Those combined almost consist half of the questions of the first day.
It had a lot more basic science/step 1 type stuff then I expected.
questions stems were long. There were times I had to hurry though, which could have lead to some misses. I never have issues with time on practice sets, so this was different.
Overall, I felt it was harder on average than UW though
Ccs Nearly every other case was similar to one in UW, so if you do all the practice cases, you should be fine. One thing I don’t see people mention is how many 10 v. 20 minute cases there are. I can’t remember the exact number but it was roughly half and half.
Overall, I would say the test was slightly harder than expected with regards to MCQ and easier with regards to CCS.
A decent number of repeats from the NBMEs so may not hurt to take those. For CCS, enter the HY orders and don’t worry about the tons of minutiae UWorld cites.
Reviewed biostats from my old First Aid for step 1 book. Took notes as I did UW and reviewed them the last couple days before the exam.
I was surprised at how much biostats and ethics were on the exam. Make sure you have a solid grasp on biostats basics. My main advice is that for the 1-2 days before the test, go through all the biostat questions instead of being overwhelmed by reviewing all the other much broader subjects. I repeated all the the u-world biostat questions the two days before Day 1 and it helped me feel confident with biostat on the actual test. Over the next few days I reviewed pharmacology just using the pharmacology section from Step 1 with drug mechanisms (not interactions or pharmacokinetics) as well as the drug tables from each section. This was MONEY on day 1. "
Some general advice: Try and avoid looking up answers or googling percentage correct to pass. I did, but the curve must be generous. If possible, I would also avoid scheduling your test when there will be a score delay as the wait gnaws at you.
Study basic science pharm, micro and pathophys for Day 1 out of First aid.
Def work hard on the CCS though. That is a must
I don’t recall much histology. The anatomy was present in a clinical fashion. UW x2 is a good plan!
Thank you for reading,
good luck!