usmle advice

[amyl]

i know there is a whole section on this in another part of sdn but i was hoping for some advice from some of the new anes residents or ms4s here. i have two weeks until i have to take the usmle and am freaking out because i feel like i know nothing and have to get >220 to match anes which i am not confident of at all...and if i am not an anesthesiologist i will have to throw myself off a bridge or something.
any advice for studying resources? i have first aid and goljan lectures, brs path and physio. someone who got >240 said that is all i need but i sure doesn't seem that way taking practice tests on usmleworld.com. (btw any idea how representative that site is?)
any help/advice is greatly appreciated as always!

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[veetz]

I'd say postpone. If you take the exam and do poorly or even fail, then you have essentially killed your chances of getting into anesthesiology.

Most people, though, do feel overwhelmed right before taking the exam. You must be honest with yourself about how you are doing on practice questions. If you're not doing well, then postpone. If you must take it in 2 weeks, I'd say cram First Aid, BRS physio, and Goljan notes and do atleast 25-50 practice questions per day. Goodluck...

 

[smgilles]

i know there is a whole section on this in another part of sdn but i was hoping for some advice from some of the new anes residents or ms4s here. i have two weeks until i have to take the usmle and am freaking out because i feel like i know nothing and have to get >220 to match anes which i am not confident of at all...and if i am not an anesthesiologist i will have to throw myself off a bridge or something.
any advice for studying resources? i have first aid and goljan lectures, brs path and physio. someone who got >240 said that is all i need but i sure doesn't seem that way taking practice tests on usmleworld.com. (btw any idea how representative that site is?)
any help/advice is greatly appreciated as always!

Take the $45 NBME exams online...they are the closest predictors of where you stand for the USMLE.

 

[excalibur]

it sounds like you're taking step 1. If so, why are you taking it in December???

Also, if it's true you need >220 on Step I to match in anesthesiology, than I'm up ****'s creek (see <200) on March 15th.

 

[amyl]

taking it in december because I am a DO candidate that only took the comlex this summer before I had any exposure to anes. now i have decided anes or death ;-) and really want an allopathic program, hence the need to take the usmle. As a DO student I thought that 220 would be a good number to shoot for and feel competitive at the places i really want to go -- UKY, ULouisville, Ohio State, UF...but lets face it i will go anywhere where i can be an anesthesiologist! ;-)

 

[jennyboo]

1. Stick to the books you have. Less is more.

2. Try not to spend more money. (On books, sample tests, etc. Although the NBME sample test might be encouraging or at least good practice for you.)

3. Don't keep postponing your test. You are stressed and worried, but postponing the test may bandage your anxiety but not necessarily improve the outcome. There's a point at which you have to suck it up and take the test, then let your life go on. I posted and asked the same questions the week before my Step 1 several years ago, and many other people posted saying, "Relax, don't put off the test, just take it." I followed their advice and it turned out fine.

 

[eskimo]

I wrote a little thing on here about my experience, you can look it up. But you will never feel confident that you are ready to take this exam. so just review what you really need to and get the exam over with...postpone only if you REALLY feel you know nothing. The exam is all about luck I think: Anatomy and embryo are my weakest areas and I got only a couple of questions from these; there is a guy in my school that only studied first aid before the exam and got a score in the 90s; there is a girl in my school that read a lot of review books and failed. Also, remember to memorize those equations in the back of FA, I had to combine a bunch of them for some questions. Good luck

 

[Emvious]

I second the notion that the NBME practice exams are a pretty good predictors. I took one late in my studying just before I took the exam and scored 5 points higher than my Step 1 score. Many people say not to do it that way in that you may psych yourself out but I felt it helped. It may give you a decent idea of where you stand. Supposedly there is some variation in difficulty level among the 4 but that was second hand info.

I have little faith in the myriad of review sources and practice tests out there as far as their correlation to scores. Don't freak out too bad. My average on Q-Bank wasn't so hot but I was happy with my score in the end. It seems that some preps try and overshoot making you work harder than the real thing while others undershoot and may falsely boost your confidence.

As far as resources go you are pretty similar to what I used. I would say First Aid and Goljan are excellent. I used BRS for Physio and Path as well and a few high yields for things like Behavioral Science etc. The only thing you may be lacking is a question source. I did most all of Q-Bank and felt it helped. I had one friend who said he used questions exclusively (Q-Bank only I believe) and another who did nothing but First Aid. Of course there are those who read the entire Kaplan series as well. Figure out what works for you and run with it.

I beat the 220 mark but not by a lot. I am looking at some of the same schools as well. I feel your pain of trying to get a little breathing room by scoring well. I would agree with the posts above - don't put it off unless you are certain you are screwed. More than likely you will do fine. I would suggest taking at least a little time off the day before to go to a movie or something else to relax.

Best of luck to you

 

[fakin' the funk]

I second the notion that the NBME practice exams are a pretty good predictors.

Anecdotally, NBME practice tests are VERY accurate predictors of where you're at at a given point - perhaps +/- 5 points. I think it says something when the NBME people actually have the balls to correlate their wacky scoring system on those practice tests to real Step 1 scores.

And I agree with previous studying suggestions...First Aid, Goljan audio & Rapid Review Pathology, Clinical Micro MRS, HY Anatomy, HY Embryo, perhaps a phys and immuno source. (I prefer Costanzo for the former and Lange for the latter). Of the students I know, I'd say, oh, approximately 100 PERCENT of them use QBank

 

[loveumms]

I second all the responses that you will NEVER feel completely ready/prepared to take the step I. Unfortunately the amount of material is so great that you can't possibly know EVERYTHING (although some people on SDN would make you believe they did when they took it).

I used step-up alongside of first aid (then used the internet to find answers to any questions that still remained). I think Q-bank saved my butt and even though I don't think I had any better then 60% total I did fairly well on step I (>220). I think the key with Q-bank is learning from the answers you got wrong. Some of the questions are ******ed and are nothing like the real questions.

Also remember that some of doing well is total luck. If you studied biochem well and know it down pat and have lots of biochem questions then you may have just gotten lucky. I remember I had a ton of molecular biology questions (don't ask me where the heck I ever learned some of the questions I was asked in med school) but, if I didn't know the answer I would make an educated guess and move on - don't dwell on any question too long b/c it can really cause you problems at the end of the block. I got timed out of two of my blocks.

I really think that keeping a positive attitude works in your favor. Just keep telling yourself that you have studied hard and are ready to rock it!

Best of luck!