Where do I begin.
People this test was 50% Pharmacology>Neuro>Anatomy>Behav>Bio>Path>Phyiso

I took Kaplan Live Lecture took another 4 months and redid all the notes about 4 times then went and took the exam. Everything Kaplan told me was pretty much the EXACT opposite of what my exam was about. Kaplan told me Path, Physio, Biochem maybe Mico were going to be my top 3 subjects, nope!

Pharm- I really only went over this subject in the Kaplan book 2 times. Then I concentrated on First Aid for this. Maybe 5% of the questions I had a fighting chance on. The rest of the questions I don't know where they got the answers from. I never even saw those answers in either Kaplan or First Aid. Believe me, I looked after each block! Top subjects in this- Neruo, Cancer, HIV

Neruo- There was some really bad pictures they gave with arrows. The arrows pointed to a never and said what does this do. (example- raise the eye, ect....) the pictures where so bad and so small, I was right up at the screen trying to figure out what they were pointing at. Honestly if you where far from the screen, the picture looked like a penis. There was 1 stroke question. 1 Epidural, skull fraction question.

Anatomy- Just the regular crap anatomy has. Brachial Plexus questions. Someone hurts there arm, can't raise wrist what caused it. Not much need to go into detail about this stuff. You either knew it or you didn't

Behavioral- Wow, forget studying Kaplan OR First Aid. The questions they asked here are weird and hard. YOu either know these or you don't. I don't know how you could prepare for these questions. THey have a knack of twisting things around to make you think 2 of the answers are good, then you have to pick 1. This part of the exam can go either way. You either did really good or really bad.

BioChem- I spent a lot of time on this subject studying. I thought I was pretty good in this subect. What baloney. When I first walked into the exam, I spent 10 minutes drawing out the pathways to hmp shunt, ect.. None of that was on the exam. They had i-cell disease and the regular things that I could pick out in the exam, yet down in the answers the regular answer wasn't there. They twisted the answers around, that made it super hard. Even the G proteins on there that I knew and they had a knack for twisting the answers around to make me think, "Did I even study this"

Path- Parathyroid, RHF, Graves where the top getting here. There was some other questions on here. If you studied Kaplan you got this stuff.

Physio- Not a lot of charts, No heart graphs, no heart at all. It was mostly Drug X and Drug Y, whats gonna happen. Competitive inhibitors graphs was the main point.

So with the main parts of the exam explained, or at least shined upon. I'll say this about the exam. I think its totally baloney. I think they can make the exam to screw you, so they can get more money. For instance of this, A guy took the exam 1 day before me. When I walked in the FIRST thing the lady told me, There is a button on the top by the lab values, in the right top hand cornor. DON'T PUSH THIS BUTTON. IT LOCKS YOU OUT OF THE EXAM. The guy who took the exam 1 day before me hit it. It locked him out and they wouldn't do anything about it. He got maybe 25 questions into the exam and the day was over. He failed becasue he hit it. The people at prometric phoned in they said and the USMLE people said, Sorry, there's nothing we can do. So he spent that money and time and now has 1 fail because of that button..... WHY DO THEY HAVE THAT BUTTON... WHO WOULD WANT TO GET LOCKED OUT OF THEIR EXAM... Just 1 proof that they think some people would click it and get more money from them.

The answers that I was used to seeing in Kaplan and 1st Aid aren't what is on the exam... They go SOO much deeper. You can recognize the disease in the stem of the question and you can even say its such and such causing it, but this exam changes those answers and takes them 3X further down. Kaplan and First Aid does not prepare you for that. I don't know what books would.

Maybe I got a bad exam, maybe I wasn't prepared enough? I did Kaplan Qbank had roughly 63% overall with 100% questions taken, 1st time around.

I did 1st Test of NBME- worked out to about 190 for USMLE standards. Even those questions where WAY easier than kaplan.

anyways, any questions I'd be happy to try and answer them.

Back to studying, I'm the 1st person to write this exam off.

Did you got inmuno questions?
they were hard?

what about general principles I suck on that area?

with the pharma Q did they ask alot of side effects?
did they had drugs you never hear before?
did they ask you to make the DX?

So first aid dinot help you?
did you had the class with GOLJAN?
Bioq please tell me how hard was that area and molecular biology?

thnaks

Didn't you take Step 1 a couple years ago?

I should've stopped reading your crap when you said 50% of the exam was pharmacology. Either you are seriously delusional, or you didn't know your head from your rear on the exam.

Yah, I took it 1.5 years ago my first time. Then about 4 months later my brother died in a car accident. Thanks for bringing that up. I always love to relive those moments. Didn't think school and tests where that big of a priority. Just started to pick up the books again in the last 5 months. Took live lecture to get back into the swing of things.


To the *** who said I'm delusional.... I hope you get making babiesed on your exam ... I don't make pooh pooh up about exams... At any given time there is 15 different exams on that day. Surely 1 person had the same exam as me. They can say the same thing... But then who gives a making babies what you think.

I'm done asking question.. This forum is a piece of crap anyways.... The way peopel talk and try to run other people down. they make crap up about schools to get them to join there's....

All idiots if you ask me.

Hey many people feel like they flunked the exam and then pass. Some even with very high scores felt that way.

So - Hey good luck. It sounds like you did the correct things in studying for the exam. I think you will do ok on this testing.

Your report bares out what alot of other forums are saying right now - One the Kaplan lectures and materials are way out of date with the current exam. Two - Kaplan's q-bank pharmacology is way-way out of date with the current exam.

Some testers are even stating that, "the USMLE people are pulling any questions covered by Kaplan's q-banks". So for other testers - that is something to consider.

DearMe - we appear to get trolls - after your excellent post You deserve better than that - BTW - each exam is unique and computer generated just for you. I have to agree with you the USMLE makes this way harder than it needs to be.

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PreMed Forum Moderator

In Grad school in Biology

all i can say is good luck my friend and hope you pass... i did kaplan too and i feel they do a really good job of preparong you, oh one other thing what is that button you were talking about, i really did not understand that... anyways, hope you receive a pleasant surprise in about 4 weeks, you deserve it!

Hey Mr _Rolon - Hope you are having a cold one. Any news yet??? Hope the best ----

__________________
PreMed Forum Moderator

In Grad school in Biology

not yet, my scores haven't been reported, i was expecting them today, but i guess it'll be next week!! anxioussss!!!

Kaplan and goljan talked about these type of questions... there is no one answer reasoning; it's two, three, four,.... answer reasoning. what do I mean? The best way to explain is to give you an example....

A 37-year-old chemist with a 20-year history of bipolar disorder is rushed to the emergency department by his wife, who found him lying unconscious in the living room of their home. The man's skin is bright red, and the manis breathing rapidly. Upon presentation, his breath smells like bitter almonds.
1. What is the most likely diagnosis?
2. What biochemical process is disrupted in this condition?
3. Does this patient have a greater-than-normal or lower-than-normal proton concentration in the intermembrane space of his mitochondria?
4. What is the most appropriate treatment for this condition?
5. What other substances inhibit the electron transport chain?
6. What additional substances disrupt oxidative phosphorylation?

As Goljan states: We must be "thinking docters" for this exam as we are in our clinical rotations, residencies, and in real life. The exam is moving towards more of a case scenarios type of questions. Why? my reason is that this is what we see in the "real" life. A patient will come to you with signs and symptoms OR nothing at all, then you must investigate on what is wrong with him/her. This is my opinion (or my 2cents).

DearMe... most that have come from the exam have felt this way.. and then they find that they have passed. Stay positive and focused on your GOAL!!! Don't worry about what others have said in this forum including myself... remember it's our opinions. What really matters is what you think and feel, along with your family and closest friends. I wish you the best of luck and wishes in your medical career.

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