Goal 250+ With God's bless I Scored 250

Goal 250+
With God’s bless I Scored 250
Prep time around 9 months and 20 days.
Like almost everyone else, I didn’t know where or how to start, I wanted to finish in the shortest
time possible. Everyone recommended what they thought were the best books and I didn’t want
to just try things.
With the advice of a friend, I went for a course by a tutor that explains in my native language
called Elhusseiny and it was great as it was concise, direct and in my native language. even
though I am fluent in English. I still thought it would be difficult to start getting used to a
different way of studying for some totally new subjects.
I finished Elhusseiny’s course and books along with First Aid and Uworld first round in 5
months. During which I had a part time job (20 hours/week) and spent the rest of my time just
studying. I stopped social media and all of other distractions and was totally dedicated to this. I
had so many obstacles and rough times that I can’t say here but I tried as much as I could to
block whatever was happening around me.
After finishing the first time I did NBME 16 and had 45 mistakes, I felt really bad, I guess I was
hoping for a miracle or something that lets me take the exam in the next 2 months. But I realized
it’s normal to forget, especially after the first round. I needed to go through everything again.
I had problems specifically with pharma and micro, felt like I forgot every single drug and every
single microbe.
I quit my job, started online one. I subscribed to sketchy. and it was magic. As at that time I was
very tired and so sick of studying. Sketchy was fun and enjoyable and very useful. Everything
just stuck in my head after just 1 time of watching videos!
It took me 1 month to do sketchy micro and pharma along with first aid and uworld parallel to
these subjects. I also went through Elhusseiny books in areas that First Aid didn’t cover well.
After that I subscribed to boards and beyond, did everything else from Boards and Beyond. I
wanted to finish the second round as fast as possible. I pushed myself soo hard. I binge watched
each chapter’s videos along with writing notes on first aid which took me 1 day of videos for
most chapters and up to 2 days in long chapters.It took half day to 1 day to read first aid of that
chapter and then solve it’s Uworld questions (80-110) questions/day depending on the chapter.
And I finished those in 2 months.
For general pathology I subscribed to Pathoma and did first 3 chapters ( a must )
Whole second read and Uworld time : 3 months
Now it was September. I decided to take my first online NBME because now I felt ready for it. I
took NBME 21 and scored 234… I felt awful… My performance was good in general but
behavioral and biostat were lowest performance. Biochemistry and Neurology were borderline.
I was so sick of studying, I basically haven’t left the house in the past 3 months!
I took the rest of the day off… Next day I reviewed my mistakes in NBME 21… And then decided
to work on my weak areas.
For biostatistics I watched Randy Neil videos on youtube… very short and entertaining along with
boards and beyonds and first aid again ( 1 day ). Also bought Uworld Biostatistics review, they
were around 70s questions and I did these in one day as well. Bought 100 cases of ethics ( 1 day)
and then I used the 5 days trial of Rx and solved Biostatistics, Behavioral, Neurology and
Biochemistry. I read explanations carefully and looked at the First Aid part they showed in the
explanation. It was really good especially in Neurology as Rx relates the question and
explanation with the corresponding first aid page and so I didn’t have to read first aid again as I
was so sick of it.
I also wanted to try Amboss and try doing random questions so I did around 400 qs with 1 day
simulating exam of 280 qs.
That whole work took me 2 weeks… and then I took my second NBME which was NBME 22 -->
Score 244 was glad about this score and my performances in biostat, behavioral, neurology and
biochemistry were high now.
But still haven’t reached 50s…
I felt lost now… didn’t know what to do… I knew I needed to read whole First Aid again on its
own just like everyone advised… But I was burnt out… feeling down…
That’s when I looked for study partners and thankfully I found 2. We went through the whole
first aid in 10.5 days… we also did some ANKI in areas we felt volatile… we studied over 14 hours
a day on skype as we all had motivation.
Note: It’s very important at this point to find a study partner at same level of prep as you are, so
that you can support each other and fill the gaps for each other and so it won’t be just giving from
one side.
I was even more burnt out after 11 days of no sleeping, continuous studying and speaking… SO
EXHAUSTED but still took another NBME which was wrong … as I wasn’t in good shape nor
energy… I should’ve taken a day off…
Took NBME 24 and score 240… Felt really bad…
It was 20 days before my exam…
Took rest of day off… Next day went through my mistakes and I realized how stupid they were… I
just wasn’t in the mood…
Next few weeks I had no energy to study and studied around 6-8 hours a day only… Had so many
break downs. they were really tough… Had to get out of the house more often… Anyway…
My endocrine and reproductive were weak so I subscribed to Rx and did these…
General principals were weak so I did these in Uworld, I also had around 50 questions remaining
in Uworld that I didn’t do and I did these. 3 days later I wanted to feel better so I did UWSA1
and scored 269… I knew it was over-predictive…but still needed the self confidence boost.
I went throught the answers and explanations for it.
Next few days I did my wrongs in Uworld random and read the explanation Also I had weakness
in Anatomy in almost all my NBMEs so I took 1 day for Anatomy shelf notes… and then took
UWSA2 and it was around 10 days before my exam … Score 256 … I felt glad ofcourse finally
over 250 but still wanted to see that in my NBMEs.
Next day I went over answers and explanations… took longer than expected…
Then I did NBME 18 and I scored 246 … 7 days before my exam… Felt awful… I just wanted to
score over 250 in NBMEs… I spent rest of the day looking at my stupid mistakes lol
Next day I wanted to work on my general principals so I got Duke’s ANKI deck for Pathoma. I
did first 3 chapters and studied them again in Pathoma book
Anyway,I realized that every NBME I make SO MANY stupid mistakes, my focus wasn’t good…
I wanted help before my next one. And that day suddenly I found the magic video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJgjMZk8_To
And I realized I’ve been doing it wrong. Ive been eating heavy foods and sitting awkwardly
during my NBMEs… so I followed this video and Magic happened…
NBME 23 5 days before exam --> 257
I had registered for free120 in Prometric highly advised so I went there 4 days before my
exam and got 88%… I watched tutorial there and I had no time for second break…
After I came back I went through my mistakes and did some random Amboss questions… Idk
why lol
Anyway I was advised by people in this group not to do Amboss but do my remaining NBME 20
and My marked UWorld and I thank them so much for that.
I did NBME 20 3 days before my exam got 250
Doing marked Uworld was veryy useful also I had written a very specific list for the topics I had
problems with … I read them quickly… if you make list like this then DONT LOOK AT
ANYTHING ELSE because you’ll feel you forgot everything. Also make the list as specific as
possible. I had pronblems with Nephritic and Nephrotic syndromes, testicular and ovarian tumors
( I finally did pathoma videos for these. Also types of receptors… and small other things.
I went through the NBMEs that I took, older ones took me long to revise and newer ones passed
fast. There are some helpful discussion forums that help you understand the answers.
By the way I also watched random Youtube and Dirty Medicine videos for some topics.
I used google search and Wikipedia as well
Day before the exam, as per Dirty Medicine video I woke up at 5 am did exercise for 30
minutes… took shower … even though the magic video said to NEVER STUDY THE DAY
BEFORE THE EXAM. I had some small things left and I read them until 11 am but it was the
most stressful experience so I left everything and went out… went to movies and lunch and also
went to get the protein bars advised for the exam. It’s important that you try them before you
actually take them to the exam as some taste awful and others are really good. Also prepared
some very light sandwiches.
Went back tired prepared my bag …and slept at around 8:30 pm
The months before the exam I had great anxiety and problems sleeping, I was so scared that I
wont be able to sleep the day before the exam but the advises worked… I fell asleep… I woke up
like 3 times in the middle scared that I missed the alarm but I was able to fall back asleep but just
calming myself and trying not to panic…
Exam day: I woke up around 5:15 am… prayed had 2 eggs and 1 whole wheat toast as advised,
didn’t have coffee as I’m not used to it, and left. Even though my exam was at 7:30 am Prometric
had told me they open at 6:30 and if I am there early I can start early so I was there by 6:35 and
they weren’t there lol… actually ended up starting around 7:20…
Again I tried to follow Dirty Usmle video for instructions time management, breaks and meals
MISTAKE DURING EXAM DAY
Even though I had watched tutorial earlier I had forgotten how strike out answers… I just click on
answers using left or right mouse but it wouldn’t strike out…I wasted some seconds on that… and
on my 3rd break I reported it to the prometric people and they changed my station and wasted
some time during my break… And it still wouldn’t work. After the exam I realized that I was
doing it wrong and I’m supposed to DRAG NOT JUST CLICK on answer to strike out.
Last 2 blocks I had no time for break between them
I was afraid it would affect my score much. thank God it didn’t.
I was definitely thankful it was over… my general idea of the questions that they were mostly
direct but very long stems, more like UWORLD. I almost never had time to review my marked
and had to rush through last questions in some block.
I had post exam depression and nightmares for about 3-4 days… But was very thankful to God…

General thoughts and tips:
1- I was told by more than few people not to rush and I won’t be able to get high score in less
than 10 months, but I did. I had set goal for myself to get this done before 2020 and I did
everything I can for it. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do. No one is like you.
2-It wasn’t easy and it’s not going to be.
If it was, then everyone would do it.But If it was impossible then noone would.
I was cut off from the world for almost 10 months. I had so many obstacles in my life but it’s up
to you whether you use them as an excuse or use them as motivation to move forward.
3- Do the free120 in prometric center.
4- I had this advice from someone and they were totally right " Make your enemies your
friends". If you keep ignoring the subjects you hate or weak at then you’ll always feel like you’re
carrying a big weight. Work on them early in your prep and trust me you’ll end up loving them
and you’ll feel relieved throughout your prep.
5- Follow the instructions for this video while doing any NBME as well as the exam day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJgjMZk8_To
Makes a big difference in your concentration.
6- I am against using downloaded materials and lectures. I admit I used NBME 16 offline and I
regret it so much. The intellectual property belongs to those who don’t allow you to use them.
Make in your intention that you don’t want to do harm and God will reward you. (I’m not judging
I am just stating here, rest is up to you)
7- Do online NBMEs only when you feel ready for them.
8- Always revise your NBMEs and know why for the answers … they seem tricky but the more
you do the more you know how to think like them.
9- NBMEs help you to know where you stand at that point and the areas you need to work on.
They help you not judge you. Use them well and don’t panic.
10- I mostly enjoyed the knowledge. I wasn’t excelling in my university and I hated the
“essay” type of questions and memorization style of my university. I was never confident as
a doctor but now I am. And that’s the biggest gain.
11- Ask questions! Don’t be afraid to! Don’t ignore anything that doesn’t make sense to you. I
asked questions, used google, wikipedia, youtube… whatever it took.
12- Exams differ from one person to another, even though I had questions that are very long and
more like UWorld… others stated their stems were very short. So be flexible
13- I regret my diet and lack of exercise. Spent weeks just sitting and eating junk even though I
had very good diet before. I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of hair from stress lol. I thought
junk food and sweets would give me energy but I realized it was the opposite. Eat healthy and
exercise around 20 minutes each morning. Your health is very important!
14- I am easily distracted and slightest noise distract me as well as wake me up from sleep. I had
huge problems with that in the beginning of my prep but I found noise cancelling earmuffs, ear
plugs (33 db) and white noise machine… all of which saved my life.
15- Set up hard work/dedicated plans for yourself but at same time don’t make something crazy
like " finish 10 hours of lectures in 4 hours" … seriously I did such crazy plans and falling behind
unrealistic plans made me feel worse, had to change my goal exam date 3-4 times.
16- Anyone asking about my breaks, 40 min -2 hour nap in middle of day and watching one
episode of House MD per week as a treat and motivation boost in final 4 months
17- IMPORTANT IMPORTANT: sleeping early and waking up early makes HUGE
difference in your energy, concentration and the actual amount of time you study during the
day. I found that out late in my prep and I wish I done it earlier. Started waking up around 5-6
am and sleeping around 9 pm … total magic! Some days I was so energetic that I didn’t even
need my usual nap…
18- How I dealt with awful depression days: I usually never like to study in public places and I
don’t focus as much… but in these days I felt like I’d choke if I stay one more second in my room
at that same desk, so I went to Starbucks and spent whole day there wearing my earmuffs and
earplugs to delete noise lol, I think they were around 5-7 days in total. + The days that I needed
to do whole 3rd read of FA I was kept motivated and distracted by having full time study
partners during the ~10 days.

In short, here are the assessments starting 6 weeks prior to my exam in order:
NBME 21 - 234
NBME 22- 244
NBME 24- 240
UWSA1 - 269
UWSA2 - 256
NBME 18 - 246
NBME 23 - 257
Free120 - 88%
NBME 20 - 250
I’ll keep editing this post if I remember other things I want to add… Newly added things will be in
Italic .
I wish you all the best everyone.