time management during USMLE!

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to know how pressed you are for time during the exam. i have herd some people finish a block in 30-40min. and if so is that through out the 7 blocks. Also, how can i improve my timing right now while i'm taking practice exams, and still maximaize my scores. I just wanted to adress this issue because some of my friends had problems with time, and they did not get a chance to finish the exam. i plan on taking it late may and wanted to maximize my speed and efficency. Thanks guys!!!

[Anonymous]

There are really 2 main factors dealing with timing.
1. effeciency
2. endurance

Both of these can be improved with simulated, timed practice exams which are similar to the real thing in length and content. NMS for example is not very good for this purpose because it is mostly straight forward questions (what is the 2nd messenger for x?) which is not representative of the test. BSS is not the best choice because it is a good learning tool, but might be too detailed in comparison to the real thing. The pirated qbank is not good for this because it doesn't simulate the real thing as far as the clock running, clicking the answer, etc.

The best things in my opinion when you are close to test time (final weeks) is to do the NBME online test ($40) given by the NBME (the people who conduct the USMLE). This will give you a good idea of what to expect because the questions are put together by the NBME. The only problem is that answers are not available, so you will only get a score (like the real thing). This is not good to do too early when you are still learning, but it is fine towards the end to work on timing and to evaluate where you stand.

The other thing is to do the online qbank. The newer version has questions (not included in pirated versions) which are more representative of the real exam (longer and more clinically relevant, newer drugs, etc). Do the timed exams rather than the tutorial style. Aim to build your endurance to completing 50 to 60 per block while completing 8-9 blocks in a day (more than the actual exam). You will probably notice that the more you do this, the more effecient (answering questions faster, but correctly) you will become. The next day, you can go over your answers and read why you got the ones that you did wrong. If you still don't understand, look it up. Once you do that, you will probably not get that concept wrong on the real thing. Plus you will be able to answer it quickly since you've already seen it before

Well that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

[Cadusma]

Thank you for your post ... It has been added to the "USMLE Step 1 Preparation Resource Center"