exam experience

[Anonymous]

hey guys. since alot of u wanted to know about my experience now rather than after the result i have decided to write it out for u. i just want u to know that this might be biased becuz of a few factors. its difficult to assess how uve done exactly right after an exam. also i had 2 hrs of sleep in 2 days so that could also color my judgment. anyway here it is...

i purposely denied myself sleep 2 days prior to the exam becuz i knew that i would be so stressed the night before the exam that i wouldnt be able to sleep. IT DIDNT WORK!!! the night before the exam i was wide awake. having tachycardia that was about to make my heart explode. anyway thru some miracle of God, i got some sleep for about 2.5hrs which i think helped.
anyway i went in for the paper and started. i was nervous but as soon as i sat down i felt ready to go and i felt as if this was going to be just another test. the first block was pretty tough. and i expected it this way, the questions being slightly confusing and testing the main subjects as well as molec biio and genetics. molecular is a strenght of mine but in the exam i was unsure about alot of the answers since i hadnt done it for about a few weeks and i forgot some of the details. but on the whole kaplan is perfect for it, along with the webprep lectures. genetics was the same. anyway this was the first block and it was relatively tough. i was unsure about half the questions, maybe a little more.
the rest of the blocks were alot easier. i had quite alot of direct questions and on an average i was unsure of about 20 of the questions per block. they were pretty straight forward alot of them being like q bank. but dont mis understand me here. q bank is different from the exam itself and i will tell u how. q bank tests u straight of out of kaplan and the patho has alot of morphology which i felt the exam didnt and q bank is a great tool for practising and honing ure analysis skills. so u have to learm the explanations thoughorouly and really grasp the main concept. when i was studying for this test i would constantly try to correlate the different subjects together. for example like vitamins is dealt with in biochem and in patho. so i would link the 2 together. physio and pharma can be correlated together alot as well.
the main thing is u have to really grasp the main concepts well here. u cant get lost in details. but u have to know certain specifics and the only way u r going to know specifics is by doing questions. i did a block of questions everyday for 6 months from different sources, well almost everyday ill get back to that in a second.
ok the rest of the exam was doable. the questions were mostly pathophysio and pharma. a couple of neuro questions.not much micro and immuno was a little tricky but kaplan was enough for it. genetis was also straight forward, most of it, there were a few tough questions which i think focused on details, like knowing details like uniparental disomy and stuff like that. there wernt too many genetics questions..2-3 per block.
4-5 cts and some images which u could answer thru the text in the question. webpath is good if u can do it, but i dont think its worth the time if ure limited in time.
books i used :
physio : kaplan
patho: brs, kaplan, goljan lectures...i combined them into my brs.
pharma.,,, kaplan
micro.... MRS and kaplan ...i also did the microbial genetics from kap and viral replication from kap.also IMMUNO from kaplan.
anat, neuro, emb,histo, all HY series.
genetics kaplan and molec kaplan.
i did questions almost everyday from day 1. i started with BSS in my first and 2nd read. and in my 2nd read i also startted using NMS CD and q book. after my 2nd read i started q bank which i used mostly as a learning tool and to assess myself. i feel maybe 30% of the questions were like q bank in the exam...the rest were mainly like NBME.

question sources i used:

BSS about 1000 questions.
NMS cd..300q
q bank. all of it.....71-72%
NBME.....590 about 2 weeks before.
usmle cd....42,40,45 out of 50. a week before exam.
BLACKWELL questions...just the first 3 blocks...39,40,41 out of 50. these were the same difficulty level as the exam in my opinion.
nms ....70%..i didnt like these questions in my opinion.
and bss i didnt really record that but i read the explanations which r unbelievable...do them in ure first read with the webprep lectures. they will help in streghthening ure concepts.
i got alot of advice during this exam prep and the best advice that i got was to do questions everyday...in the exam i felt i haddealt with most of the questions in 1 form or the other.
this is a pretty badly written review i am stil exhauseted from this exam and i am unsure of how well i did. inshallah ill do ok. i want u all to take frm this experience 2 things, firstly DO QUESTIONS!!!
and secondly read everything very carefully and focus on interconnecting subjects and corelating, and most importantly have faith in God!!!
i hope this helped a few ppl. i wish i could have written this better. i will probably write another one when my result comes, talking about what i think i did write. o yeah the 1 mistake i felt i made ws that i focused alot on details during my prep and less on main topics. so when i saw some easy questions i felt a little confused at times. but apart from that i think i did all that i could do. this forum was a blessing. the ppl r amazing here and so helpful. i couldnt have done it without all of u. i hope to follow in the example of ppl like armin, and ra and ani and TAC...and some others im sure im forgetting.but i thank everyone, all the ppl that take time out to put questions up...like linda and others r amazing. most of all i would like to thank my man ARMIN!!! he has always given me great support and lifted me when i have felt down. u will do my friend , u have a good approach. ABOVE ALL I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALLAH (swt) he gaveme the strenght to go thru this ordeal. and i will always be grateful.
take care...o yeah one more thing...NBME does have the strongest correlation in my opinion in terms of difficuty and style. i found my test easier than the nbme one and i pray i get a score which reflects that.
sorry about the disorganization of this review.
take care aand GOD BLESS!!

BOGGS.

[archon218]

What was your score?

[Anonymous]

i just gave it yesterday, this was my experience.

[Anonymous]

i just gave it yesterday, this was my experience.

[Anonymous]

Salaam Boogs...I am currently reading out of both kaplan and BRS physiology. I find kaplan is a little too detailed but i also feel like BRS even though complete..just leaves out a few important pathophysio aspects. I am just confused on which one i should use for a second run through. any comments?
Also congrats..its seems like you did well enough on the Exam. All the best
Salman

[Anonymous]

Salaam Boogs...I am currently reading out of both kaplan and BRS physiology. I find kaplan is a little too detailed but i also feel like BRS even though complete..just leaves out a few important pathophysio aspects. I am just confused on which one i should use for a second run through. any comments?
Also congrats..its seems like you did well enough on the Exam. All the best
Salman

[Anonymous]

wasalaam salman,
i think u should stick with kaplan since it covers everything u need to know. u have to remember the details in that book. if u can u might want to make some additions from the endo chapter and the cardio chapters of brs into your kaplan since these topics r heavily tested. physio is alll about grabing these concepts. and keep doing questions.
gluck
boggs.

[Anonymous]

SALAM Boggs,
Thanks for your detailed feedback about the exam. WHen you are saying NBME, what it mean is this the deal of 45$ for self assessment or for how long you did these questions.
Thanka
GN

[Anonymous]

i only did the first form of the NBME , standard paced. i did them in under exam conditions. 1 hr per blck. and i finished the whole exam in 5hrs. i took an hr or half hr break after 2 blocks. hope this helps.
boggs.