EXAM EXPERIENCE

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody
I have been visiting this forum for the last 5 to 6 months.this forum has been a lot of help to me sp the exam experiences of different ppl.a lot of inspiration and lot of good questions.u don’t realize how much u learn from this forum .regular visits and answering the questions really help u.
I would like to thank everybody in this forum for their input and advices.i don’t want to take any names bec I know I would miss a lot of ppl since the names keep on changing as ppl give this exam and move on to the next one.
I gave my exam feb 27 and my score report arrived today.i got 99/249.
I cant remember the last time I was so happy as I am today. I took around 7 months to prepare for the exam I have studied very very consistently around 5 to 6 hrs a day more on some days and less on others and more towards the later part of the preparation.where I was giving the entire day to studies i revised the entire course 4 times and I had a very strict study schedule which I had mapped out after my first reading and I stuck to it . i did the entire preparation sitting at home I donot work anywhere.i really envy those ppl who can work full time and study and get great scores but since I had a choice I opted to sit at home and study and work after I am done with the exams.i did not use any Kaplan course .i just studied from the A rated books by myself .i never had any study partner or any friend to discuss my stuff with .although I would like to mention that dr bhutta did help me when ever I had a problem and he has explained a lot of stuff to me.i would take this opportunity to thank him again for giving me time from his studies.i am mentioning all this bec I want all those out there who cannot take course and who have no one to discuss with believe me u can do it .u just have to have faith.
Coming to the books I did
Anatomy high yield series (do not go anywhere else this is great series for antomy including neuroanatomy)
Physiology Kaplan +BRs physiology both
Biochemistry and genetics from Kaplan +cell biology from high yield
Pharmacology from Kaplan (do not I repeat donot read any thing else expect the part of ANS if u want from lipponcott . Kaplan pharmacology is a great book but u need to know it like the back of ur hand ,each and every point written inthat book u should know each and every side effect .i have worked so hard over this subject taking it one day at a time till I knew it well. For me this was the hardest subject but with regular viewing it becomes easier .do not take it lightly it takes a lot of effort to remember all the points but they earn u easy and great marks in the exam )
Behaoviour scince from BRS(it is a silly subject .i hated it till the end but u learn to deal with it when u do questions from q bank )infact I have shown high perfomance in this very subject which amazes me
Pathology from BRS (I also supplemented the first reading with questions from web path cd and robbins review of pathology .they are great questions help u get a grip of the subject and help u remember points.do not read pathology from anywhere else .if u read BRS pathology 4 to 5 times and know it well and do these questions believe me it is more than enough)
Microbiology from MRS and Kaplan(MRS is great for remembering the points bec it has great pictures while Kaplan iss good for fungi ,viruses and bacterial resistance.FA is also excellent for Microbiology )
Immunology (first 2 reading I did from jawitz and I thought it was better than Kaplan but the third and fourth reading I did from Kaplan and I thought it was very concise and to the point sp the immunology questions at the end of each chapter of Kaplan are excellent.
Question sources
NMS(although I didn’t do the entire CD)
BSS(I did around around 75% of thw questions)
Web path question cd
Robbins review of pathology
Kaplan simulated cd
Q book
Q bank
I did not do Blackwell questions hardly 2 to 3 blocks .i didn’t do any one remembered questions bec believe me DONOT WASTE UR TIME reading rememberd questions .it is not the question which is difficult it is difficult to pick the answer choices.some of them are so close that u get stuck that what the hell what do I do.so plz plz do not waste time on some one else questions.i have been throught he exam and believe me u do not remember what came .it is totally useless.i cannot emphasize this point enough
I did q bank twice .and I did it only after my second reading .Because when u read the course the first time u feel so overwhelmed by the amount of info u have to rememeber that it is useless to do questions .when u have read the course the second time u feel better and it is only useful to do questions after u feel u know the text some what. the first time I marked all the difficult questions and read all the explanations and marked the points in the explanations which I didn’t kknow
The second tim e did only the difficult question.i used it as a learning tool.
Although I never found the q bank to be very challenging infact I thought it was too easy and did not represent the exam but it is very good learning and practice tool and prepares u very well for the exam.
Another thing I would like to stress on is that the questions that are given at the end of each chapter of Kaplan are great.do them very well and remember the points u have gotten wrong .they help u a lot
Also regarding First aid I would like to say that a lot of ppl think it is a very helpful book and it a must do before the exam I do not fully agree with that.i did do the book twice but I found that it was not making any difference to my preparation.Anyway that’s everyones personal experience and opinion .i however do think that microbiology is definetly given very well I the book so is embryology and some other stuff.u have to pick and choose.
One day before the exam I didn’t study .i just couldn’t .i just tried to relax and watch tv .i did visit the prometric centre before the exam so that was no surprise for me and I think every one should visit the centre before the exam so that on the day of the exam there are no suprises.i tend to get back ache if I don’t sit on the correct chair so I visited the center to check out the chair.and on the day of the exam I adjusted it accordinly so that I would have no problem.
I prepared everything the night before my orange card and my id ,my clothes and prepared my bag of food.although I took a lot of stuff to eat but I realized later that I was not hungry .the stuff I had with me were sandwiches.a bag of chips,chocolates and sweets and coffee.i found later that I couldnot eat and I took only coffee and chocolates during my breaks.
Since I was very relaxed the day before the exam I slept very soundly.i knew that I had put in my best effort and I had done what ever I could and now the rest was up to god .keeping this is mind I never stressed out or freaked out.i went to bed at 11 pm and woke up at 6:30 in the morning.i changed took a heavy breakfast and strong coffee.and I took2 pain killers even tough I didn’t have a headache(I think it is a very good ideato take pain killers so that u don’t get a headache at all infact I took another after my fourth block just in case)i left my house at 7 :45 and reached the centre at 8:00.we waited for the test to start.i made it a point ot go to the bathroom 5 min before the test .after my name was called I went inside and we were all given instructions .i put on my headphones to block out the sound.iskipped the tutorial and before starting the block I took a few deep breaths and sat there for like 15 sec before typing in my id .i was able to finish each block in around 40 to 45 min.after that time I reviewed all the marked items again.and I usually had around a min to spare before each block ended.believe me time is no problem in the test.the questions are not very long .i did 2 blocks straight.after the 2 block I stepped out to stretch my legs .i ate a choclate and had half a cup of coffee and went to the washroom .after the 5 min break I went back inside.after that I took 3 or 4 min breaks after each block .i did not take any long lunch break because I didn’t feel like eating and bec I didn’t feel tired infact I fifnished the test 20 min before my time since I had 20 min left from my break time.but I strongly recommend that everyone should take 5 min break after each block .eat something and take coffe and decide if u need to go to the wash room.anyway different methods work for different ppl and it is for u to decide how u feel at the time of the test.
Anyway the point I want to stress on is that all the block are not of the same level of difficulty.each block has three types of questions
1.very very easy .u don’t even have to think about the answer u just know it.
2.medium level of difficulty.where u are stuck btw 2 options and u don’t know which one to go for .
3 .extremely difficult and weird questions.there is no way u can prepare for thes e questions.u can memoroze all of the A rated books at the back of ur hand and still ucant get them.so plz do not try to prepare urself for these questions bec u just cant.some of the questions don’t have any options and they frustate u.but it is not these questions which u should be worried about .ur goal should be to not miss any of the easy questions.
Another thing which I would like to mention here is that all the blocks do not have the same level of difficulty.my first five blocks were designed as I told u above with the three types of questions.but my last 2 blocks were KILLERS.i was stuck I had no idea what to choose and what not to bec I had no idea at all what could be the answer.i felt like crying but I told my self that it doest matter ,I will do my best and I did .so plz do not lose ur cool if u come across difficult blocks .they may be ur first 2 or ur last 2 or maybe in the middle but I am sure they are going ot be there .so just calm downand u will get through it.it is better if u have them in ur first 2 blocks bec u r fresh and u can deal with the difficult questions better.anyway that’s what luck is all about .

About my scores in Q bank .i always thought Q bank was very easy and I knew that the actual exam will not be like this .i did q bank after my second reading and I was scoring in 75% and it went nearly 85 % to 90%in subjects like patho and physio
After the thired reading the scores improved further till I was getting them all right except for 2 to 4 questions in a set of 50.
I didn’t do the NBME
I scored 41 ,35 and 45 in the usmle cd .a couple of questions in ur actual exam do come from that cd so do it well
Anyway that’s all I have to say ,if any one has any questions I would be glad to answer them
Wishing u all the best of luck and I hope my exam experiece helps some one

[lily]

hi &congrats on ur achievement,
must say very nicely shared experience
very valuable points to note
thanks
wanted to know
i dont know where am going
my q bank i get around 86-68 avearging around 72/73
after my second reading
i just dont know whts going to happen now
have my exam on 30
pls pray amn not very happy with my scores
didnt do well with some subjects doing very well in some idont know wht to interpret

[Anonymous]

Congratulation!
Thanks for sharing.
Which BSS did you do? CD or books? Is there any difference and which one is better? Thanks.

[DrLeopardshark]

Dear Shery,
Congratulations, exitos, and kudos to you !!! It appears that you did just as much, if not more, work as I did when I took mine. Going into it, you know what you were capable of doing, and you did it. Superb. Getting that envelope was nerve racking, wasn't it? When I opened mine, tachycardia, tachypnea, and diaphoresis was upon me. However, relief was immediately afterwards after seeing the 251/99. Now the real game begins. PLEASE do yourself and me a favor:

PLEASE TRY TO TRANSFER TO A US MEDICAL SCHOOL !!! YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY AND THE REWARDS ARE IMMEASUREABLE !!

Congrats again, and good luck !!

Regards,
RAP

[Anonymous]

Dear,

Thank you very much for your detailed explanations.

though you are above average student.

please tell me the part of the forum you regularly visited to answer questions.

i am a mother of three and just have 6 hrs daily during the week to study.

i do not have the question sourses you listed except q-bank and kaplan simulated cd, will be glad if you can help with yours. i will copy it and send it back to you.
my e-mail address is nk_x2k2004@yahoo.com
i will be glad to hear from you soon.

nk.