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Cheerkut


Finally its over .

Overall the exam was a mixed bag.
Quite similar to NBME.

however there were few differences

Qs stem were a lot lengthier.....if this is supposed to tire u...i did tire out in the last few blocks.

Often the lengthier questions were the simplest ....

Many options ...one question had upto N (15) !!most were HUMBUG!

subject wise .

Pathology ...is the core ...may be 70 % in my portal
pathophysiology was stressed rather than knowing the diagnosis!

The diagnosis was often mentioned..they wanted How?
What?
Why?

Pharmacology was direct ....MOA...very little though
microbiology ....stress on diarrheas(bact/viral)

Biochemistry ...tricky about 5 questions per block.
I think konowing the enzymes and cycles inside- out is a must.

immunology ....not much ..surprisingly! Ithought this was

nemesis for most.

Biostats and behavioural ....not in depth...ratios/risks/mean/modeetc
behavioural and psy were manageable.

NOTHING OF EMBRYOLOGY/ 2 questions in ANATOMY in the whole exam...

Many graphs .... some really tested the concepts .

MRI/CT often with pathophysiology...so these were simplified.

Pictures/photographs are ...DISTRACTORS...thats what i found ....since the question really demanded something different from what the picture /Photo showed.

Very much doable exam ...i finished all blocks about 15-20 mins before time and could review the answers later.

Hope i do well.

thanks everyone for the good vibes ,should see u all soon in the step2 forum.
thankyou.

good luck to all those who are to give the exams ..

GOD BLESS.

farhana

Good Luck to you too.!!!.....Good memory ....I should say.......
Congrats in advance!

hehadoc

well done. i think i couldn´t do the exam so quickly, but your explanation about the content is consistent with other people have said.
congratulations. i hope you will get a very good score

Karan


Hey Cheerkut:

Hope ur having a blast..!!

Can u give us an overview of ur studying methods, books, etc...

I am using the kaplan home study book - step 1 review. Will
start wil FA + Q bank soon...!!

Did u use kaplan books...

Thanks

Cheerkut


I studied from kaplan notes.....I found it better to restrict my reading from a few Complete books . THIS HELPS IN REVISION ....F.A is GOOD enough ...u may add on things S.O.S

downloaded some goljan notes (valuemd.com)..pretty nice stuff
did USMLEASY.com quite early ...(3 months before )
did kaplan Qbank... it grinds u through all that is required.

NBME is very close to what u could be expecting save it for the last month /3 weeks.

Karan

Hey Cheerkut:

Thanks for ur reply..

Did u attend the kaplan live lectures or did u just use the live lecture notes (7 books)...

What did u think about the home study books (2 books)...

I bought the live lec. notes from a friend but i'm frustrated reading them without attending the lecs. or listening to the audios.

Another friend of mine gave me the home study - step 1 review books. These are better to read i feel..

Do u have any idea about these..?

Thanks

Karan



And besides i finished med. school in 1998. So it's been a while....Taking the exam in nov...Started studying like 2 weeks ago..I have a full time job. Mon- fri 8-5

hehadoc

what about biochem/genetics questions?
did you have trouble in answering these?

Cheerkut


Karan,
i have no idea about live web prep. i studied from the 7 books only. with anecdotes from varied sources.

Practising questions is THE thing ...TRy your hand on AS MANY AS POSSIBLE .

U being a full timer....give urself sufficient time >= 3months to get the hang of the exams .

I too graduated in 98' its also about recall..more the better

Hehadoc.
Genetics.. was along the lines of Q bank.
all Qs look for the concept.rather than
content.
PCR sequences , P53 ,oncogenes are HOT
i wud say.
Biochem.... as i said ...don,t just know them ..link them
u wud then answer most of the questions.

hehadoc

thanks cheerkut