APMLE 1 Feedback

[Linea Alba]

How difficult did everybody find our boards to be? Was it easy, fair, or too difficult? Maybe it reflects the effort my friends and I put into studying for it, but we found the test to be relatively simple. I felt like the MCATs was harder. But that's just my opinion...

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[feet2017]

I felt it was simple as well and didn't have a fear of failing, but I also studied like the test was going to be hardest test of my life. Most people I know that overstudied felt fairly confident. Other people that didn't study as much were sweating bullets when the results were coming out and didn't feel confident after taking the exam. For some reason it seemed like people fell into two categories: overstudied and understudied.

 

[Linea Alba]

Honestly I feel slightly embarrassed that our boards were this easy. If our MD/DO counterparts saw our step 1 boards, they will be shocked that we are allowed to do surgery! And what I really wonder is how easy the boards must've been when our faculty and mentors took it...

 

[heybrother]

Take the practice ABFAS 420 and you'll know.

 

[SLCpod]

The test was both difficult and easy. All the anatomy and LEA was easy but my test was very heavy on biochemistry. It was weird. The test will be different the upcoming years because the testing format is Changing.

Part of the path to parity is that the upcoming classes will have to take a usmle test prior to the ample. This will give us some clarity to how we compare to MD/DO programs.

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[Linea Alba]

Take the practice ABFAS 420 and you'll know.

I meant the APMLE Step 1..

 

[heybrother]

I agree with you - I'm also saying its even worse than our crappy school boards. Even the old "gold standard" post-residency board certification test isn't challenging.

 

[Linea Alba]

I agree with you - I'm also saying its even worse than our crappy school boards. Even the old "gold standard" post-residency board certification test isn't challenging.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Rather, I'm feeling a bit embarrassed that our boards were easier than the MCATs.....

 

[monkey_banana]

We took it today for step 1, I didn't find it was super easy. I studied quite a lot and did at least 1000 practice questions, but I didn't feel that I was over-studied as some ppl mentioned before.
Have to say that the practice tests that prometric provided online are not representative of the real test. The practice tests are way too simple...
I would say it was random. About 1/2 of the questions were fairly straight forward; 1/2 are so random that I would not think I would review it. Like some of the questions are low-yield details that we learned during freshmen year undergrad. Some of the questions topics are the ones that I am not sure I have encouraged before...
So at this point, I felt I was kind of upset and worried. Have to wait for another 3 weeks for the result. Finger crossed!

 

[acromium]

I agree with the above posters that the test was pretty random and not high yield. Doing sketchy videos, pathoma, or even first aid can be overkill depending on the question. Some are detailed (obscure mutations) while most are very basic and straightforward (e.g. drug class). It was hard to study for in the long run, but I might have overstudied because I found it easier than the MCAT.

 

[rayovac]

Ill say how i felt about the test after tomorrow hahaha

 

[JCJS]

It was difficult, but yeah it turned out pretty much exactly like how people have described it over the years. Half is easy and the other half is really hard. You won't feel good walking out, but chances are you probably passed if you felt good about at least 50% of the questions. You won't know everything, but having the ability to eliminate answers using your reasoning skills is necessary.

 

[Allykat2006]

It was difficult, but yeah it turned out pretty much exactly like how people have described it over the years. Half is easy and the other half is really hard. You won't feel good walking out, but chances are you probably passed if you felt good about at least 50% of the questions. You won't know everything, but having the ability to eliminate answers using your reasoning skills is necessary.

What was your schools pass rate? KSUCPM had 74% pass

 

[dtrack22]

What was your schools pass rate? KSUCPM had 74% pass

 

[JCJS]

Barry: 84% (down from 90% year before)