Hello friends, my sole purpose of writing my experience is to help someone similar to me. I found many in this group whose journey did correspond to mine and their experience helped me immensely.
Target: 250+
Final score: 252
Time period of study- 1.5 years (dedicated: 6 months)
Resources recommendation:
MICRO – FA+ UW
Biochem – FA+ UW ( Kaplan for all tables)
Patho: pathoma+ fa+ uw
Anat : fa+UW+ Kaplan (quick go thru), Dr Najeeb for Neuroanat (best medical teacher ever)
Stats, epi, behav. Science: uw biostat review+fa+uw, Conrad fischer 100 cases for behav.
Pharmac: fa+ uw (Kaplan for gnrl pharmacy)
Physio: fa+ uw+ Kaplan/ BRS
{I also used sketchy for micro in the beginning but was comfortable solving UW ques without it and hence left it in between and didn’t review ( but it is a nice tool). }
Ofcourse UWFAP is gold .
Journey:
I started my prep during my internship. It was a very depressing phase and was unable to focus on my studies. But still I managed to complete Kaplan/Pathoma videos and uworld first pass by the end of December,2018. I had booked and confirmed everything for an elective from 7th Feb to 7th March and just for the sake of not letting this opportunity go I had to compromise on my step1 dates. In January all I did was read First aid and few other things but the intensity had already dropped by quite a bit. After returning 1 month of pending internship was dealt with (till 7th April). Finally gave my step 1 on 9thOctober.
Assessments :
UW first pass : 60-65%
NBME 21: 230 (14/6/2019)
NBME 22: 234 (1/7/2019)
UW 2nd pass: 87%
UWSA1:251 (28/7/2019)
NBME 23:234 (lost all hope) (9/8/2019)
NBME 24: 244 (felt relieved- took my date after this) (29/8/2019)
NBME 18: 252 (self belief regained) (15/9/2019)
UWSA 2 : 245 (22/9/2019)
As you can see I kept a gap of almost 1 month between nbme 21 and 23 during which I had completed reading and reviewing all my souces, but still remained at the same static level. At this moment I felt completely lost but deep down I believed that my potential was 260+ and nothing less. I kept pushing myself and went through some of the difficult topics that I kept on leaving and also reviewed my mistakes that I had committed in UW 2nd pass. I think this is what made the difference. Also I gave a few offline nbmes during this period and scored much higher on them. So my advice is not to judge yourself entirely based on the new nbme scores. Again 18 and uwsa2 were the best predictors. {After taking uwsa2, I wanted to postpone my exam but I knew that my sleep cycle was altered during this time and my mind was not at my best during this assessment. So I decided to go on with my exam.)
Real deal (9/10/2019): was very nervous during the first 10-15 ques but was comfortable after that. I took 5-7min break (minimum) after each block, 15 min after 4th block, 10-12min after 5th and 6th.
After the 5th block I again lost my way in the 6th block and my mind was not catching the necessary key words in the stem. So again I had to back myself and trust myself with my answers. Gradually as the block progressed it became easier and I managed to save some time to review the initial questions. But on the whole the exam is made to suit our abilities and all we got to do is remain confident and trust our mind, hardwork and God.
IMP ADVICE:
1.Repeat Rapid Revision is key
2.Don’t fall for multiple sources. Revise the source that u had studied from earlier
- Practice uworld questions till the end even though u find it repetitive. The reason being the exam is quite similar to uw ques and assessments and also what this will do is help you retain your ability to catch key words in the question step
3.Try and give the exam in 1 stretch: Maybe if I skipped the elective I would have completed my exam much earlier. If anyway you are opting for it give step 2 CS before returning. It seems I missed the trick there.
4.Build concepts during the initial phase of your study. Don’t leave difficult things for the end instead start with them
5.Take timely breaks, maintain a daily routine and stay fresh while you study
(Sleep cycle disturbances, tension headaches and neck pain due to poor posture were my biggest enemies. Find ways to avoid these. Also remember they are way more common than you think so don’t curse nature for giving them to you (top secret: I used to do that.
)
6.Stay focused and away from negative people
7.Set your targets high, trust your hardwork and have faith in god
So this was all about my experience. To conclude I would like to thank all my , friends, family, seniors and fellow members of this group for every help that I received. Best wishes to every1. Feel free to contact me.