So finally its 249 guys
I won’t repeat the same things over and
over again(discussed in this group many times) ,and it will be very honest and non biased
experience.
I forget very easily so Idk the minor details.
In nutshell
- NBMEs are super underpredictive, so don’t get discouraged.
- Do UW nicely
At the end of day you should know the educational objectives of UW ques. - Final exam will be fully conceptual like uwsa
- Exam day and your mentality is super important.
Assessments
Somewhere in aug, 2018 Uwsa 1 – 251
Sep, 24 Nbme 17 – 234
Dec, 16 Uwsa 2 – 243
Dec, 30 Nbme 16 – 230
Jan, 13 Nbme 18 – 238
Jan, 18 Free 120 – 77 %
Jan, 21 – Final exam.
Why NBMEs underpredicts and UWSA predicts??
This is my very personal opinion. NBMEs will check how well you memorize FA. If you forget
just only one word the question in NBME will be wrong for sure.
UWSA will check the core concepts. You’ve to drive one thing from another and have to
integrate the concepts, and the question won’t be straight forward. The questions are
usually tilted in some way, exactly same will happen in final exam.
How the final exam will be?
Don’t worry guys, most of questions you must have seen somewhere in UW. This is for sure.
The most stereotypical case would be presented to you, ex- 40 yr African American female
having some lung problem must be something with sarcoidosis, like this ( Uw will teach
everything about this)
You’ve to think over there,
Like if question stem is easy the options will be tilted in some way,
If options are easy then question stem will be tilted in some way. You just have to think over
there and apply the UW concept on that thing.
Heart sounds will be always on exam, like always, so do prepare for them. ( I wasn’t)
How to attempt a question ??
I got this in very end phase of my prep, like in last 15 days
This thing is important too,
As I told you, they will ask the same HY concepts in a different way, same stereotypical case
will be presented, so choose the simplest one, don’t over think , don’t think that how
USMLE people can ask this simple thing,
For example, if there is a male patient with some abdominal pain, and you’re thinking about
acute cholecystitis ,so just review it again, because the stereotypical case is fertile fatty forty
female with abdominal pain,
Another example, second newborn female having some obstruction in GIT, and you’re
thinking about pyloric stenosis then review it again man, because the stereotypical case is
first born male newborn usually presented with pyloric stenosis.
These things you will learn while doing UW.
These are just some examples to tell you guys, what I want to say,
Second thing is, you always have to choose the most appropriate option, always exclude
things, exclude the options,
Third is always look over all the options, I mean it always, even if you’re damn sure about
your choice, still do it,
And keep lab values always open, their monitor screen is too big, not like our laptops, so it
won’t compromise your question stem.
If you’re not sure about Heart sound question, do it in last, don’t waste your time over that,
I took 4 minutes, and I got short of time at last, and 2 questions I left unread.
Manage your time properly, in UWSA 2 I mismanage the time, lest 4 questions unread, same
happened in my final one, though it was because of heart sounds, but can’t blame them too.
Mistakes I’ve done
1-Took a lot of time for prep, delayed my exam
2-Did NBMEs with explanations, with lot of extra searching, googling and all, I recommend
this, but only if you’re able to revise before exam, I didn’t revise, so at last I forgot the
questions of NBMEs
3-Didn’t do the Heart sounds
4-Unable to manage the time during exam
5-Underestimated the UW a little bit
Do I’ve to know each and every minor detail of UW ?
The question always bogged down me
The answer is NO, You just have to know the educational objective, that’s it. UW isn’t like
FA, that there are some hidden words, we usually skips, UW is designed this way, the basic
concept or you call it educational objective, If there is “a word” in the explanation that you
don’t get, it’s okay, focus on the basic concept not on the word and just move on . If that
word is important, UW already made a question on that, it’s now UWs responsibility, LOL.
My resources::
1- FA ( I don’t remember how many times I’ve read that, different chapters, different times)
2- Uworld (2 times, 2nd one was just my weak areas shown by NBMEs)
GET UWORLD FOR USMLE STEP 1 2018
3- Pathoma ( I did it religiously)
GET PATHOMA VIDEOS, PDF BOOKS, STUDY NOTE 2018
4- Sketchy micro ( highly recommend to those, who forgets very easily like me, and are visual
learner like me)
GET ALL SKETCHY MEDICAL VIDEOS, NOTES, FLASHCARDS AND PICTURES
5- Did neuro from Dr. Najeeb and Kaplan ( you can leave dr. najeeb, but just don’t leave Kaplan
videos of neuro, you will feel the difference)
Started my prep with Kaplan videos, idk those helped or not.
GET KAPLAN USMLE STEP 1 LECTURE NOTES 2019 ANATOMY
UWorld and First Aid::
You need to understand FA, and UW will help in this.
GET FIRST AID FOR THE USMLE STEP 1 2019, PLUS NEW UPDATES
Mentality:
I could write a whole post on this,
If you’re positive, happy, confident, and having an instinct that you can do it, then nothing
can stop you.
I live all alone, for so many years, my family is with me on and off ( 80% off), this thing
lagged me. Even on result day I was alone, no one was here to celebrate. But, when I
overcame this loneliness then my prep got better. I know so many people who sacrificed
everything, live alone knowingly to avoid disturbance from family, break up in relationships,
etc.
It may seem helpful in short term, but at last you will be exhausted. At the end of the day,
you need someone, with whom you can talk, share. So don’t get hard on yourself, and
everyone needs some kinda emotional support and all.
No one is supposed to know everything, you can search my questions asked in group, so
many simple questions I’ve asked , even on this day I may not answer very simple
question.
How I jumped from 243 to 249 in a month??
Guys I’m being honest with you, idk, seriously idk,
I revised FA with annotations in this month, some chapters once and some twice, didn’t do
UW.
I realized that, this is a matter of how you gonna take the exam.
My exam day
My mom visited me for exam purpose, that thing made me so happy, it took my anxiety
away, we went together,
So the point is I was so happy on that day, so much excited that finally step 1 will be over, it
made a difference guys, trust me.
Don’t be anxious, stay cool and calm.
I took break after every block, I used to wash my face, took a bite of chocolate, a bite of
protein bar, some water and red bull.
I talked to myself in mirror, that everything, will be fine, you’re doing great, good luck
sweetie, etc etc, LOL,
So good luck, guys, be positive and optimistic, you will be fine.
Dr. gagan aulakh