Neurology shelf prep?

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Quijotemd

Quijotemd

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Can anyone recommend resources to prepare for the neurology shelf exam?

Thanks!
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Quijotemd said:
Bump
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pretest neuro was pretty good. honestly, not much neuro questions out there. I did pretest neuro (probably got like 50-60% of qouestions right), the blueprints mcq which i got like 68% on, as well as the neuro questions from qbook (just flip through the medicine section of qbook and pick out the neuro questions...there's about 50 in all) which I got around 70%. Score on real shelf was like low 70s.
 
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With only pretest and blueprints, I scored 81raw (90 %tile). I had excellent neuro attendings who taught a LOT, though (consistent golden apple winners).
 
I also thought pretest was good. We only had 2 weeks of neuro and had to take the shelf, and I read some of first aid for step 2 and did most of the neuro pretest. What I was shocked at was how little CNS stuff there was. It was mostly peripheral nervous, vascular, and headache questions.
 
Our neuro department gives us Pretest and Clinical Neurology ( LANGE by Greenberg) on the first day of the rotation. Doing questions is key - reading... not so much.
 
dfagod said:
I also thought pretest was good. We only had 2 weeks of neuro and had to take the shelf, and I read some of first aid for step 2 and did most of the neuro pretest. What I was shocked at was how little CNS stuff there was. It was mostly peripheral nervous, vascular, and headache questions.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree that there was almost none of CNS stuff, no weird strokes or localization. But tons of PNS: metabolic, toxic, hereditary, etc. Bunch of dementias showed up as well.

I did Casefiles and some of Pretest (50%), and thought it was plenty. I also tried reading Lange Clinical Neuro, but it was overkill. I managed to get through 100 pages (was lucky that it was all about PNS).
 
We are recommeded the House Officer Series for Neurology. ISBN#: 0-7817-4747-3 It has short chapters on pretty much every major subject and is an easy read. I am in Neurology right now and it the book is even small enough to fit in a pocket if you have time to read on the floor. I know of several students who say that this, plus pretest, is enough for the shelf.
 
I am a third year Neurology resident and I saw all these posts, i can say that students in my department have found this Neuroprep very useful and seemed to have got good scores. I also used it myself as a resident to prepare for my RITE exam. Good luck to all of you with your shelf!!!
 
I couple people in my class recommended case files neuro-- anyone use it? How does case files compare to blueprints?
 
Anybody has any recommendations for neurology shelf? I got blueprints and pretest from a friend, but everyone at my school says "Nothing helps"

This was by far the toughest shelf exam my friends have taken...I'm :scared:

want to do well, any body has any suggestions?
 
You'll be fine with Blueprints and Pretest. I didn't blow it out of the water, but I did fine with those two resources. I really didn't study that much either. Yeah, its tough but don't stress too much. I took it with mostly 4th years and they thought it was very difficult though
 
can anyone post about what his/her raw score correlated to in terms of national percentile? thanks
 
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eachpeach said:
can anyone post about what his/her raw score correlated to in terms of national percentile? thanks
Click to expand...


Raw score is based on a normal distribution for every single one of the NBME shelf exams. The average is a 70 and the standard deviation is a 7 or 8. So a 77 means you were 1 STD above the mean and so you are 84th percentile. 84 is 2std and thus 97.5th percentile.

I used Pretest and blueprints + reviewed USMLE for step1's neuro section. I have never been a fan of blueprints in the past but I thought it was very solid for the neuro shelf.

I agree there was not a whole lot of CNS stuff but it definitely showed up. The key is being able to localize the symptoms. To a specific part of the brain, brainstem, cord or PNS. Spend some time reviewing dermatomes, what each nerve does (like obturator, femoral etc) which will help with localizing radicular vs mononeuropaties. Of course, know how each major disease presents and the treatments.

Raw score 87. Percentile 98th
 
hi -- yeah, the "average of 70, mean of 8" is what the shelf is supposed to be ideally, but in fact, the organization provides a different mean and SD for each "quarter" or the year.

For example, in medicine, a raw score of 79 corresponds to the 80th percentile in the first quarter but only the 72nd percentile in the 2nd quarter. [and in the 2nd quarter, a score of 87 corresponds to the 94th percentile]

That's why I was looking for individuals to post their score & percentile for neuro. Thanks for doing so!
 
Does anyone else who has taken the neuro shelf within the last several months have a score and a national percentile? Thanks
 
Are you sure the raw score is 70 SD 8? I received a raw score of 97.5, does this mean that I scored 3.5 SD above the mean?
 
I second all the recs for blueprints neuro and pretest neuro. Both are relatively high yield. If you only have time for one I would do pretest.
 
RunningKing said:
Are you sure the raw score is 70 SD 8? I received a raw score of 97.5, does this mean that I scored 3.5 SD above the mean?
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I dont think raw scores come with decimal places. That probably is your percentile score. Nice job though.

u rocked it
 
i used case files and pretest scored a 85 raw. My clerkship director said that corresponds to a 92nd %ile...
 
RunningKing said:
Are you sure the raw score is 70 SD 8? I received a raw score of 97.5, does this mean that I scored 3.5 SD above the mean?
Click to expand...

No, a lot of schools just curve your scores and call it your "raw" score so that it is not confused with percentile. I think it is actually pretty rare for NBME shelves to have raw scores over 95...
 
If not all the neuro shelf q's are about neuro, then what else do the NBME ask about?

Are there any IM, or Psych q's?
 
Shelf in 2.5 weeks. PreTest, UWorld questions, Case Files, Blueprints, Kaplan Step2 notes at my disposal. Haven't done ****ake mushrooms yet as far as studying 1.5 weeks in. Any advice for the best materials?

Definitely will get through the UWorld questions next weekend (not many) and the Kaplan notes the week of the test (not long, easy read over high yield topics). But for the next 1.5 weeks not sure how to best utilize my time.
 
Man that stinks, I guess my school's the only one left standing who takes the Neuro shelf?
 
naw we do it too. I plan to go at it with Blueprints, Case Files and Pretest. Hopefully this strategy will pan out. I hear it was a mother of a test. We only need to get above 5%tile to "pass" the shelf. I don't know what that corresponds to in terms of a raw score...
 
vicinihil said:
naw we do it too. I plan to go at it with Blueprints, Case Files and Pretest. Hopefully this strategy will pan out. I hear it was a mother of a test. We only need to get above 5%tile to "pass" the shelf. I don't know what that corresponds to in terms of a raw score...
Click to expand...

Blueprints, Casefiles and Pretest worked really well for me!
 
I did Pretest and Case Files for the shelf. Also a handful of UW questions. I HATED the Lange text, though my attending did show me Lange Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Neurology and it seemed to be a better read, though perhasps too wide a range of scope for the clerkship.
 
My final shelf exam is now behind me. :D

Tons of us take here Neuro right at the very end of 4th year, even post-Match. I prepared for the Neurology shelf by slacking off on the floors, drinking, and watching too much TV. About a week or so before the shelf, a bunch of us realized that we wanted to make sure we passed comfortably and graduated on time, so we sorta freaked out and started studying 1-2 hours/day. My book of choice was Blueprints Neurology (x1). I'm actually not sure it helped.

Raw score: Mid 80's
Percentile > 90th

Medicine and Psychiatry galore. Whatever.

Bottom line: If you worked your ass off for the shelf exams during third year, you will have absolutely no trouble with this test. I was really surprised how much stuff came back to me when I read each question.

Also, you MS3's this year have NO idea how lucky you are to have 2 hours and 30 minutes for these exams. It was waaaay more time than I needed for this one. Last year, the 2 hours and 10 minutes cutoff had us sweating bullets almost each and every time.
 
Wait, shelves are now 2 hr 30 min? Where does it say that? I'm used to 2'10".

Casefiles + UW neuro = pass? Thx!!
 
ROBINHOOD001 said:
If not all the neuro shelf q's are about neuro, then what else do the NBME ask about?

Are there any IM, or Psych q's?
Click to expand...

there are basic psych questions. the NBME Subject Test Outlines for the neuro shelf state that 5-10% of the exam is "mental disorders," which are basically psych questions. i think that outline was reasonably accurate for the real exam. i probably had 6-7.
 
Bump. I have this shelf in less than two weeks. I tried to read through CaseFiles and did most of it but hated it. I'm 2/3 of the way through PreTest now. I've never felt so underprepared for a self before. Suggestions?
 
bump?


I'm curious about this too. GuyWhoDoesStuff - how did it go? Thoughts on prep?
 
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