USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August..

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[Theppunisher]

Congrats! Are most people scoring higher compared to their practice NBMEs or are most people who are scoring higher posting? lol

By the way, is the new test with changes supposed to be anything we need to be concerned about? TIA!


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No while I think the previous score post is amazing and shows you never really know... I do not think that happens too often not to be a downer. People should still work as hard as possible and have a good mindset but not think that because they have similar or close stats to barrel of monkeys their outcome will be the same. it will most likely not.
with that being said work as hard as possible and have a positive outlook but do not hope for a higher score instead work to achieve it.

 

[mymembernames]

So i unlocked a major key here: on breaks go for a walk, and do anki cards of bro deck = epic

is that allowed?

 

[Ismet]

Friendly reminder that posting screenshots of questions or reproducing questions from NBME or UWorld or any copyrighted material is illegal and is not permitted on SDN. The screenshots in question have been removed.

Please be aware that representatives from these companies may see these posts and and can take legal action if so desired. We have these rules in place to protect our members, but we ask that everyone use good judgment in posting.

 

[sss2g2]

So i unlocked a major key here: on breaks go for a walk, and do anki cards of bro deck = epic

PERFECT. NEVER. EVER. STOP STUDYING!

 

[Brorthopedic]

So i unlocked a major key here: on breaks go for a walk, and do anki cards of bro deck = epic

you're a wild man, please calm down

 

[kthxbai]

Took it today.

Had a motley crew of questions, that's for sure: organic synthesis (yup, straight up structure and mechanism knowledge), obscure microbiology (I'm a microbiology major and a former employee in a clinical microbiology lab, so take my word for this), janky biostat, alien anatomy, annoyingly detailed biochem.

I feel pretty hosed.

 

[LAK84]

Took it today.

Had a motley crew of questions, that's for sure: organic synthesis (yup, straight up structure and mechanism knowledge), obscure microbiology (I'm a microbiology major and a former employee in a clinical microbiology lab, so take my word for this), janky biostat, alien anatomy, annoyingly detailed biochem.

I feel pretty hosed.

ughhhh

this is demoralizing...my test is in a few days

 

[Brorthopedic]

Took it today.

Had a motley crew of questions, that's for sure: organic synthesis (yup, straight up structure and mechanism knowledge), obscure microbiology (I'm a microbiology major and a former employee in a clinical microbiology lab, so take my word for this), janky biostat, alien anatomy, annoyingly detailed biochem.

I feel pretty hosed.

What were your NBMEs?

 

[LAK84]

Does anyone have any good way to learn/memorize heart sounds?

The mechanisms (ex: squatting, valsalva, standing, etc...) that change heart sounds are annoying too but in general I can't seem to identify heart sounds when I hear them.

Need to do a review of cardiovascular for the next few hours and I'm just going to go over FA and Pathoma notes (with uw explanations)..but I'm weak at recognizing heart sounds :/

 

[kthxbai]

Haha, I'm not saying I didn't know the answers! I did, but none were in FA. FA is still a good resource but sorely incomplete.

EDIT: I had a bezoar question. And a Zika virus question. And a super specific Chlamydia psittaci question (as in, pathogenesis to presentation kind of thing).
It's not about my NBMEs, it's about how odd my exam was.

 

[Theppunisher]

Haha, I'm not saying I didn't know the answers! I did, but none were in FA. FA is still a good resource but sorely incomplete.

EDIT: I had a bezoar question. And a Zika virus question. And a super specific Chlamydia psittaci question (as in, pathogenesis to presentation kind of thing).
It's not about my NBMEs, it's about how odd my exam was.

congrats on being done.
all in all though would you say regardless of the obscurity that you were able to dwindle down answers and make more or less objective answers choices?

 

[quincyfuturemd]

Does anyone have any good way to learn/memorize heart sounds?

The mechanisms (ex: squatting, valsalva, standing, etc...) that change heart sounds are annoying too but in general I can't seem to identify heart sounds when I hear them.

Need to do a review of cardiovascular for the next few hours and I'm just going to go over FA and Pathoma notes (with uw explanations)..but I'm weak at recognizing heart sounds :/

Good call reviewing heart sounds. I found this site really helpful: Demonstrations - Heart Sounds & Murmurs Exam - Physical Diagnosis Skills - University of Washington School of Medicine

 

[Brorthopedic]

Haha, I'm not saying I didn't know the answers! I did, but none were in FA. FA is still a good resource but sorely incomplete.

EDIT: I had a bezoar question. And a Zika virus question. And a super specific Chlamydia psittaci question (as in, pathogenesis to presentation kind of thing).
It's not about my NBMEs, it's about how odd my exam was.

I wasn't saying you didn't know the answers, but without knowing what your knowledge base is, it's difficult to assess your perspective of the exam (other than micro, obviously).

 

[cellsaver]

...it's difficult to asses your perspective..

Did you get this from FA? Wouldn't be surprised if you did.

Assess is what I think you are referencing but then again, asses might be what you are seeking

 

[cellsaver]

...but I'm weak at recognizing heart sounds :/

3 questions tops.

However, if you insist on learning heart sounds, Blaufuss is amazing...Flash based so probably won't work on a tablet

 

[Doctor.Mario]

Took it today.

Had a motley crew of questions, that's for sure: organic synthesis (yup, straight up structure and mechanism knowledge), obscure microbiology (I'm a microbiology major and a former employee in a clinical microbiology lab, so take my word for this), janky biostat, alien anatomy, annoyingly detailed biochem.

I feel pretty hosed.

Agreed. I had a question or two straight out of undergrad biochem with stuff I hadn't even thought about in years, so that was kind of bizarre. Definitely nothing in FA or UWorld about any of that. Luckily my micro questions were pretty standard. Biostats was... biostats. Bleh.

Also had a weird glitch at the very end: I finished my test and after ending the final block, the screen just went white instead of moving on to the survey. The test admins were nice and tried to fix it a couple of times, but they said the test was showing as complete so I told them not to worry about it. Kind of annoying, but not a big deal overall as long as all my answers were saved!

 

[Brorthopedic]

Did you get this from FA? Wouldn't be surprised if you did.

Assess is what I think you are referencing but then again, asses might be what you are seeking

yeah my B

 

[kthxbai]

I wasn't saying you didn't know the answers, but without knowing what your knowledge base is, it's difficult to assess your perspective of the exam (other than micro, obviously).

I'll post all that jazz when my scores become available. I actually did something pretty risky in my approach to this exam, so if this works out I'll have some new information to share. But I will tell you this: I'm in the top 20% of my class, so do with this what you will (all honors all the time, baby!).

 

[kthxbai]

congrats on being done.
all in all though would you say regardless of the obscurity that you were able to dwindle down answers and make more or less objective answers choices?

Thank you!

And absolutely; gross questions like the ones I encountered had one saving grace: no ambiguity. If you knew them, you knew them.

 

[kthxbai]

Agreed. I had a question or two straight out of undergrad biochem with stuff I hadn't even thought about in years, so that was kind of bizarre. Definitely nothing in FA or UWorld about any of that. Luckily my micro questions were pretty standard. Biostats was... biostats. Bleh.

Also had a weird glitch at the very end: I finished my test and after ending the final block, the screen just went white instead of moving on to the survey. The test admins were nice and tried to fix it a couple of times, but they said the test was showing as complete so I told them not to worry about it. Kind of annoying, but not a big deal overall as long as all my answers were saved!

I had that happen too! No survey at the end for me either. But who cares - I wasn't going to fill it out anyway. They can blow it.

 

[mymembernames]

I'll post all that jazz when my scores become available. I actually did something pretty risky in my approach to this exam, so if this works out I'll have some new information to share. But I will tell you this: I'm in the top 20% of my class, so do with this what you will (all honors all the time, baby!).

Care to share what risky thing you did? I'm a risk taker.

 

[bakegyamon]

I wasn't saying you didn't know the answers, but without knowing what your knowledge base is, it's difficult to assess your perspective of the exam (other than micro, obviously).

Agree, even you had tons of knowledge, Y
you wont able to answer surely the weird question. I think the questions they publish for this month is brutal.

 

[quincyfuturemd]

One thing I wanted to add for future test takers about heart sounds. Make sure you understand the tutorial on the free 120 and can move the stethoscope around. You can see when you do the free 120 as well that when you enter a question the part of the chest the steth is automatically placed on may not be where the pathology is. Make sure you check each area. This may be common sense for alot of people but it tripped me up the first time lol.

 

[2332740]

.

 

[nanitch]

I was wondering what is the highyield for step 2? Step 1 was ufap, what about step 2? If something i regret is not reviewing a little earlier.

 

[nanitch]

One thing I wanted to add for future test takers about heart sounds. Make sure you understand the tutorial on the free 120 and can move the stethoscope around. You can see when you do the free 120 as well that when you enter a question the part of the chest the steth is automatically placed on may not be where the pathology is. Make sure you check each area. This may be common sense for alot of people but it tripped me up the first time lol.

This is true!! I used the tutorial to write in the board and when i got heart sounds in the sxam which where like 8-10 i didnt know how to do ir so be sure u do the tutorial from the website before going or doing it when in exam

 

[ridethecliche]

I'll post all that jazz when my scores become available. I actually did something pretty risky in my approach to this exam, so if this works out I'll have some new information to share. But I will tell you this: I'm in the top 20% of my class, so do with this what you will (all honors all the time, baby!).

Oh hay, I know you!

Did you read robbins you sly devil, you...

 

[ridethecliche]

Hey everyone. So I just took NBME 15. I got a 207 and I'm freaking out. I still need to review Micro, MSK, Biostats, behavioral, neuro, reproduction and all pharm. Exam is in 1 month from today. I plan on going through all of pathoma next week. Then all pharm the following week. Then watching all of Boards and Beyond the following two weeks coupled with UWorld focusing on neuro, biochem, reproduction heavily. I'm only 50% through UWorld right now. 60% so far. Does anyone have advice or think it's possible to get to a 240? I know I've got a lot of material to get through in a short amount of time. Plan on doing 16 hour days (8am-12am) with 8 hours Boards and Beyond, 8 hours UWorld (120Q/day). Reviewing my exams, I'm mostly narrowing everything down to two choices. Of the 46 questions I missed on NBME 15, I should have easily gotten 10 more questions right but I haven't reviewed some things for awhile (reason for B&B quick review). Please give insight! Thanks.

I think that's wicked ambitious. How well do you retain things that you watch once without repetition? I know I struggle with that.

There's a big difference between following along and internalizing information.

 

[doc-Oc]

Took the exam yesterday (Thursday the 27th). I thought it was much harder than NBME 18 or 19 (which I scored 250+ and 260+ on). Not straightforward at all. Tons of obscure pharm side effects (not in FA or Sketchy). Tons of obscure biochem (again, from case reports - unique mutations resulting in polycythemia anyone?). Half of the micro was straightforward. The other half of the micro gave you bugs that were super easy to identify but asked about an aspect of pathogenesis/tropism that is not in any known review book. I also got slammed on my weakest sections (breast, pelvic anatomy, repro). Had three questions on erections alone. Had three questions on different breast masses. Expect much, much more CT images and histology than NBME.

The rest of the exam was a mix of straightforward recall, abstract reasoning, and "WTF" moments.

Hopefully other people found it difficult as well. Good luck everyone!

Sighh this is scary to hear. How many times did you do uworld? Did you annotate?

 

[chromuffin]

I think that's wicked ambitious. How well do you retain things that you watch once without repetition? I know I struggle with that.

There's a big difference between following along and internalizing information.

i have a great sense of retention short term. My problem is long term (>1 month) when I have not reviewed the material in forever. Not sure how to deal with this. I can get 95%+ of a section right when I have reviewed it and do questions a week later. And I'll get 60% when I review it two months later.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Gonna throw out a Conspiracy theory, The NBME takes your uworld and NBME assessment weakness and puts them on the exam

 

[sss2g2]

For the people who are more visual learners, is B&B better to supplement FA with or is DIT?

DIT if you're visual

 

[sss2g2]

Gonna throw out a Conspiracy theory, The NBME takes your uworld and NBME assessment weakness and puts them on the exam

I disagree. What if you take your assessments under a different name? I'm going to one up your conspiracy theory and say the test is constantly evolving between blocks like an HIV virus. If you start messing up on anatomy questions early on then your next block will be riddled with alien anatomy.

 

[Brorthopedic]

Gonna throw out a Conspiracy theory, The NBME takes your uworld and NBME assessment weakness and puts them on the exam

they can't pick on your weaknesses if you don't have any strengths

 

[Theppunisher]

actinic keratosis where the patients have semi horns growing out of their face has to be one of the grossest things I have learned so Far

 

[gilaze]

i have a great sense of retention short term. My problem is long term (>1 month) when I have not reviewed the material in forever. Not sure how to deal with this. I can get 95%+ of a section right when I have reviewed it and do questions a week later. And I'll get 60% when I review it two months later.

That's what reviewing/flashcard/repetition is for. If you don't do it, you'll forget it. Maybe not all of it, but at least half. You said it yourself that when you are material fresh you get 95%, but weeks later it starts dropping, so why not keep all the material fresh by reviewing via flashcards/rereading/rewhateverworksforyou?

 

[mymembernames]

So is the 1.4 x number correct formula still valid for the old NBMEs? Seems like that is what people are using as a rough estimate?

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

So is the 1.4 x number correct formula still valid for the old NBMEs? Seems like that is what people are using as a rough estimate?

i dont think thats true, my nbme would have been higher. I suggest you pay and find out. The curves have changed dude

 

[mymembernames]

i dont think thats true, my nbme would have been higher. I suggest you pay and find out. The curves have changed dude

I was asking for the old NBMEs, friend

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

define old cuz 15 is old technically

 

[mymembernames]

define old cuz 15 is old technically

1-7

 

[quincyfuturemd]

1-7

I wouldn't rely on old nbmes as accurate predictors especially now with the last curve change. I could see if you are using them to hit a passing point bare minimum but you could easily go write an online nbme the next day and score 10/15 points lower.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

1-7

I suppose, idk how fruitful they will be to predict your score. the way the test is written and the depth of the question has changed quite a bit since those


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[pre med 2014]

Took the exam yesterday (Thursday the 27th). I thought it was much harder than NBME 18 or 19 (which I scored 250+ and 260+ on). Not straightforward at all. Tons of obscure pharm side effects (not in FA or Sketchy). Tons of obscure biochem (again, from case reports - unique mutations resulting in polycythemia anyone?). Half of the micro was straightforward. The other half of the micro gave you bugs that were super easy to identify but asked about an aspect of pathogenesis/tropism that is not in any known review book. I also got slammed on my weakest sections (breast, pelvic anatomy, repro). Had three questions on erections alone. Had three questions on different breast masses. Expect much, much more CT images and histology than NBME.

The rest of the exam was a mix of straightforward recall, abstract reasoning, and "WTF" moments.

Hopefully other people found it difficult as well. Good luck everyone!

Just took it recently (before April 24th) and this resonates with me... I thought on a lot of questions I was sure I was about to get the answer right while reading the question stem cause I had the bug or disease down cold based on UFAP and sketchymicro then it would ask some random super detailed mechanism that is too deep for UFAP

So whatever that change that was supposed to happen on the 24th with the new questions getting rolled in sounds like was happening before the 24th

 

[LAK84]

Just took it recently (before April 24th) and this resonates with me... I thought on a lot of questions I was sure I was about to get the answer right while reading the question stem cause I had the bug or disease down cold based on UFAP and sketchymicro then it would ask some random super detailed mechanism that is too deep for UFAP

So whatever that change that was supposed to happen on the 24th with the new questions getting rolled in sounds like was happening before the 24th

Taking the exam sunday...this just made me feel very demoralized lol

 

[quincyfuturemd]

Taking the exam sunday...this just made me feel very demoralized lol

I really think this stuff comes down to experience and instinct. When I took UWSA2 (I would highly suggest doing it if you haven't already) I thought I was getting alot more questions wrong then I actually was. I got about the same as my nbmes but before I saw my score I was guessing I scored much lower. Trust your instinct and assessments and try to stay as calm as possible.

Also I would suggest taking a lot of little breaks during the exam and pacing yourself nicely. Personally I think that helped me focus alot better. I ate a little, drank a little, and went to the bathroom each time.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Can someone tell me how to approach studying during my dedicated period knowing that they've changed the pool of questions? I'm thinking that might be contributing to everyone posting here about seeing lots of weird stuff that wasn't in the core resources (UFAPS). Obviously, I will be going thru UFAPS and making sure I understand/memorize/re-learn/solidify as much of that as I possibly can, as well as do all the NBMEs and UWSAs. But is there any way to prepare for the new stuff? Like for Zika virus, I can look at some class notes (cuz we are in Zika territory...), but other crap maybe not.

 

[quincyfuturemd]

Can someone tell me how to approach studying during my dedicated period knowing that they've changed the pool of questions? I'm thinking that might be contributing to everyone posting here about seeing lots of weird stuff that wasn't in the core resources (UFAPS). Obviously, I will be going thru UFAPS and making sure I understand/memorize/re-learn/solidify as much of that as I possibly can, as well as do all the NBMEs and UWSAs. But is there any way to prepare for the new stuff? Like for Zika virus, I can look at some class notes (cuz we are in Zika territory...), but other crap maybe not.

I do know Zika is in 2017 FA. I think the core resources are still the best bet

EDIT: I feel like really hammering down the core resources eats up all the step prep time fast. I think if you started focusing on other things it would take away from the cores.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

I do know Zika is in 2017 FA. I think the core resources are still the best bet

EDIT: I feel like really hammering down the core resources eats up all the step prep time fast. I think if you started focusing on other things it would take away from the cores.

Thanks. So I should just hope these new weird questions are experimentals that don't count and focus on UFAPS?

 

[truetalk]

any thoughts about osmosis pathophysiology videos ,i have gone through fewof them ,they are really awesome like pathoma but how helpful they are for step 1?