I know that this post kinda doesn't belong here, but I think that it will kinda let you know how Saba prepared me.

I just wrote the USMLE Step 1 TODAY! WOW is all that I can say! I am still speechless.

What to expect for all of you who have no idea what its like. Okay, so in Canada the exams are held at Sylvan Learning Centers (they have a little Prometric sign in the window). So, I pulled in at 8:30 and my exam start time was suppose to be 9:00am. I came in showed em my ID and my orange ECFMG card saying I was suppose to be taking the USMLE. The people were very friendly, and they set the exam up. Then they get you to read over some rules. After that you sign in, and you sit down at your assigned computer and you are off! LOL... It was CRAZY!

On the whole, the exam was very hard. I would say that they went after the very very little details. All in all there was a fair distribution of everything on the test. Mostly Path as expected, but a bunch of biochem, and ethics (Dr. Patient relationship), very little statistics and anatomy. NOT A SINGLE EMBRYO QUESTION!!! LOL... I was sooo happy! All in all, I felt that Kaplan was NOT enough. It gave you the information, but it did not tie together the thoughts that the USMLE wanted you to have. Also, it was not detailed enough for the exam I got. I think the only way to get that is to do many many questions! I did QBank (2000Q's) and I think that on my test, ONLY 2 were from QBANK. However, I read the QBANK answers even for the wrong answers, and some of the wrong answers came up on maybe 10 questions (as correct answers on my test!).

The thing that I found odd was that the test was very very long, normally I could do the QBANK Q's in about 50 min (1 Q per minute) and on the Step 1 I was really taking the 72 seconds. I found that almost every question was at least 5 lines and out of my 350 Questions, maybe 10 were only 2 liners. Maybe 30 questions required scrolling down the screen. What else.... just in general, the stamina thing was not an issue for me, but honestly you do have to build up to it, cause you don't want to miss any questions.

As for SABA, I think they did a fair job with preparation for the USMLE. I will be the first to admit that I didn't pay attention in lecture so I MAY have missed some facts that the professors spouted out. HOWEVER, saying that, I think that there were things on there that we definitely did NOT cover (even though it was maybe only 5-10 questions) and for the most part I think SABA did a great job. Also the Kaplan course helped a lot, but again, you also need to do questions to get a hang of the material. Also the Kaplan questions from QBANk were easier then the ones I got on my exam. The ones from the USMLE CD were easier too! LOL... Umm... People to really pay attention to on Saba are:

Dr. Stewart (Physio)
Dr. Dykstra (Micro/Immuno)
Dr. France (PD)
No idea who the path people are now, but them too!

Also, all in all on the USMLE, there were not many questions where you were like, what is going on, it was more like, I have no idea what the answer is! The wording of some questions was also tricky! Ummm... just in general a very difficult exam. As you have all heard, people have NO IDEA how they did cause you can not judge how many Questions you really got right, so I will have to wait for my score in the mail. I feel okay about it... that is all I will say.

Val

Hey, good to hear your experience ...thank you for the post. I have heard that recently they have pooled out the old multiple choices and have updated with new ones to be more harder. Good to hear your experience with USMLE, i wish more students can give an update on their experience. Good Luck,

Siddman

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Faith it seems, is not without a touch of irony

Thanks for your post. Of course it belongs here!

Were Kaplan and QBank all you used? Did you use Goljan any? What books did you find the most useful, if any?

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PGY-1 Psychiatry

I used the Goljan audio tapes.... they were GREAT for RENAL and I scored highest on my path tests at SABA on the RENAL section. I would recommend Goljan if you have the time especially during the classes!!! Very usefull and lots of clinical info!

I didn't use any other books. Sorry. LOL... I think in hindsight, there would not be any book that would have helped. I think the only way to prepare anymore for it, is to go through Robbins, and also to look at Physical Diagnosis and Clin Med stuff and do questions! That is all I will say.

Val

Congrats on getting it out of the way and thanks for the info. I'm starting Kaplan on Monday and hope to do as many questions as possible before I take the test.
How much did you use First Aid in your prep? Do you think it was relevant? One person in the class ahead of us said he thought First Aid was right on the money and another person in our class - Kris - felt it wasn't very helpful.

I await your answer with (fish)baited breath.

P.S. What are you doing in the meantime?

great post

Hey Chip!

Well, I personally thought that the MICRO from Kaplan was dead on. The Pharm from First Aid was dead on. The rest came from out in left field. And in general, I would say that none of the biochem was really enough. It would have been more useful to do the Lippencott probably.


Val
P.S. When did Chris write?

Kris wrote the day before you did, literally. I got his email, then yours, then felt that I was getting behind. (Of course, I don't intend to take a month off afterwards

It may be more than a month... it all depends on how I am feeling...


Val

Hello everyone,
Just writing to let you all know that I got my score back from the USMLE. Wow.... I am just shocked.... it came sooo soon. So just to let you all know, I did pass, and I scored 217, 88%. Anyways, this just shows you that you can start at SABA and not even know that Bones are alive, and still pass step 1. Good luck to all. Saba gives you the resources, but you have to take control, and put in the effort. GOOD LUCK AGAIN TO EVERYONE,

Val