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+--- Thread: My Exam Experience - gracie (/showthread.php?tid=174240)
My Exam Experience - gracie - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
I have been a silent observer, but I have learned a lot from this forum. I hope my experience might be somewhat helpful.
I took the exam on Feb. 27 and got my socre on Mar. 24. 225/94. Not a stellar score, but I am more than happy. I graduated in 1994. I wasn't interested in practising medicine at that time, so I went to research. I got my Ph.D. in 2003 and did several years' postdoc after that. And then I just lost motivation in pursing research. You see, it took me more than ten years to decide to go back to medicine. I have been studying on and off for six months. The last two months was pretty intense. I have a full-time teaching job in an undergraduate college, so I couldn't take any time off before the exam.
Material I used: First Aid (did four times, the last reading was done one hour before the exam), Goljan Path Audio (twice), and USMLEWORLD (55%). Didn't do Kaplan Notes or qbank. Didn't do NBME online. Did the downloaded NBME 3 a week before the exam: 41/36/38/42 and had no idea where I stood and went for the exam anyway, since my extended eligibility period ended in Feb.
All the subjects were evenly distributed in my exam. 1/3 of the questions are straightforward. 1/3 are twisted and require logical thinking. Rest of the questions are difficult and long, very much like those hard ones on USMLEWORLD. Over 2/3 of the questions can be answered if you know FA well. So my suggestion is do FA at least 4 times and try to remember every word. Since I didn't do Kaplan qbank, I cannot compare it with UW. But I do think UW is a very good learning tool and explains the concepts very well, even though the score can be depressing.
Even though understanding concepts is extremely important, please do not overlook details, which are heavily tested in my exam. Again FA, FA, FA...
I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Best wishes for all of you! If I can do it, you will definitely do better.
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
hi gracie congrats
how long did you do UW
i am scoring around 40-45% on UW. I starte early march doing UW but my score kind of stuck.
i red Kaplan 1 time FA 1 time
any suggestions? also i go thru 50 question of UW almost whole day is it bad?
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
a_doc,
I did all UW questions in 45 days. I finished it 10 days before my exam. I was doing the timed mode in the beginning and getting around 50%. I found it's very hard for me to go back to read all the explanations, so I switched to tutor mode probably after 300 questions. I found it's extremely helpful, since I had to read all those explanations and got to take notes as well. Don't worry too much about your score. Focus on understanding the concepts. Take as much time as you want. Going through 50 question a day is not bad as long as your time allows.
When are you taking the exam? I would suggest you read FA at lease three more times. Good luck!
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
good...better late than never! what type of research did you do?
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
thanks gracie
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
wow congratulation great score .i had one question u said that u can answer 2/3rd question that is like 200questions in exam by just from first aid .u mean just from first aid without supplementing from anyother source thats amazing if that is the case there is no need to study this huge kaplan books .iam sorry but r u for real think that u can 200question from just first aid alone
how much percentage of question can be answered by the concepts tested in usmle world
i will truely appreciate your response
thanks
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
congratulation Gracie, 94 is a great score and thanks for the suggestions. I read kaplan, i dont know why i dont like reading any other book, did you do anything from goljan audio or notes, if not i will be very happy, because i dont want to read that note, lol. thanks again.
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
also which edition of first aid did u used
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
congrats....thanx a lot for ur suggestions.
0 - ArchivalUser - 03-27-2007
I recognize the importance of reading FA, but I wonder if it is a good idea to focous only on FA & Q,B for some one who has been away from clinical practice for a while, with out at least
get some basic facts to answer twisted questions.
by the way congra Gracie.