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View Full Version : Whats this about Biochem?

MYMD
10-03-2006, 06:13 AM
Hi, I really do not understand? How can there be biochem on the recent USLME that is not being taught? What good is it giving us a test to see if we are biochemists? Yes biochem is important but one poster on VMD says theres a special biochem book you need to study from, they did not give the name of the book, and it is hard to get. It's not being used in the schools and it "makes Kaplan and Lippincott look like grade school" Huh? IS this just a myth or have the USLME people just lost it and are designing a test to fail more people?:confused:
wcb22
10-03-2006, 05:36 PM
i didn't find this to be true... though biochem was heavily emphasized on my exam (by the number of xxxxxxx , you know how "precise" a subject was on the exam, so on MY EXAM, it was heavily tested, and i didn't even think about it). if you really understand lippincott biochem, if you really see the big picture, you'll do fine in biochem. my score for this subject was up there.
superoxide
10-03-2006, 05:47 PM
i didn't find this to be true... though biochem was heavily emphasized on my exam (by the number of xxxxxxx , you know how "precise" a subject was on the exam, so on MY EXAM, it was heavily tested, and i didn't even think about it). if you really understand lippincott biochem, if you really see the big picture, you'll do fine in biochem. my score for this subject was up there.

the more "xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" you have does not mean that it was heavily tested and a few "xxxx" does not mean it was lightly tested. The broader the band, the less precise it is. For example: if you only had 2 questions on the whole exam on GI, and you got one of them wrong, you would have a really broad band of "xxxxxxxxxxxx". you only got one question wrong, but there were only 2 questions, so it doesnt really test your knowledge very well on the subject. the narrower the band means that there was a bigger pool of questions (example: 50 questions on cardiovascular).

the bigger the sample size, the more accurate is the assessment. There is power in numbers;)
wcb22
10-03-2006, 06:57 PM
that's what i was saying, you'll know how precise it is by the number of xxxxxx. the more "x"s the less precise.

it seems like everyone's exam has the least amount of x's on pathology (so the most questions). when i looked at mine, the most questions, therefore, came from pathology, physiology, and general principles of health and disease (11 x's). next, pharm, nervous, micro/immuno, and biochem (13 x's). so it was up there. i didn't even think biochem was a heavily tested subject on my exam, but biochem can come in a lot of different kinds of questions.
superoxide
10-03-2006, 07:07 PM
that's what i was saying, you'll know how precise it is by the number of xxxxxx. the more "x"s the less precise.

it seems like everyone's exam has the least amount of x's on pathology (so the most questions). when i looked at mine, the most questions, therefore, came from pathology, physiology, and general principles of health and disease (11 x's). next, pharm, nervous, micro/immuno, and biochem (13 x's). so it was up there. i didn't even think biochem was a heavily tested subject on my exam, but biochem can come in a lot of different kinds of questions.

I misread your post....sorry:oops: