04-30-2008, 02:00 AM
I started my USMLE journey in 2007 january.....I took somewhere between 6-8 weeks for step 1 and step 2 each....they seem pretty straight forward...CS was unpredictable but went over smoothly....
When I came to step 3....I realised its not the same as step 1 and 2.....and will need a different sort of preparation......I also realized that most of the people at that point( I am talking about last september) in step 3 forum have there own way of prep and its difficult to change the way.....looking at the questions in step 3....its like mostly step 2 ....but bit more practical oriented and practice oriented......so I begin my prep in step 2 forum....which is the nicest forum and had top class guys and very eager to discuss....which tremendously helped me....although I must say step 3 forum is much better now with people coming up to discuss....
MATERIALS:
now its always been the difficult bit....before I say anything...I must emphasize that u should read what u like rather than follow a blanket policy.....I did UW and than looked at the questions posted in forum .....what I found is step 3 qs are very vague....however much u read...u will have difficulty in answering....so first thing is to do as many q as u can do....so I attempeted almost everything posted in forum...I did MKSAP which was a lot of help...specially the explanations.....I did UW ...and got 62%...again the impression I got from others exam experience is that its not reflective of real exam....so 50% or 62% doesnt make much difference......I read swanson......this book most closely resembled the exam......and step 2 kaplan books were of tremendous help.....
so to summarize...I think...UW, MKSAP, Step 2 Kaplan and swanson is a must for those aspiring high scores in step 3.....
METHOD:
as I said before...I was forum addict....its the single most thing that helped me achieving my dream....the way I used to prep is....I attempt every thing....even if I knew the answer...I used to look in the net in detail about most of the topic...specially emedicine....which is a very reliable net source....I am in full time work...so I never used to get much time....however any time I get....even in work...I used to come to forum to attempt some questions.........I preped for nearly 6 months for step 3....couple of hrs every day.....for first 3 mo....I only did UW and forum....for the last 3 months I did rest of the material....I did swason from page 1 till the end...I did 95% of MKSAP...UW ..I revised once....kaplan in last 2 weeks...I just went through each book....I had gone through medicine and surgery with my wife when she was preparing her step 2...which also helped me a lot......2 weeks before my exam I gave NBME...and got a dissapointing 460.....I didnt want to tell my score before my exam so that I dont get discouraged by anybody.....I knew NBME is not reflective of final score....and u can see whats the difference.....it doesnt predict...however.....after NBME .....I realized the true pattern of my exam....and confirmed my belief in Swanson.......
Duration:
6 Months....I didnt want to prepapre that long...however...since my wife was giving step 2...I had to baby sit.....I think 3-4 months will be more than enough to give u a good score.....
EXAM:
First day....
MCQs were vague as anticipated....however there were quite a few straight qs as well...specially the ER qs were easy if u know ur stuff.....very lengthy qs....but here the old trick worked....read the first line and last line of the q first....u can answer 10% qs without going through all of its length....it saves a lot of time.....I was never short of time in day 1.....
Second day....
I anticipated it will be easy....contrary to my belief I found everything was tough.....36 very long qs in 45 min was tough ....I almost finished every block just in time...I was on my toes through out the block....again...my prep helped me a lot...I was able to answer qs pretty fast......
CCS...I didnt do great....only 4 of my cases ended in 15-17 mins...rest all went on till eternity....I wasnt happy with my CCS...hwoever my score card reads higher performance.....so I realized u can score high even if screw up the cases...trick is to do the initial management correctly...like realize the threat...intervene early when needed...do tyhe appropriate investigations...even if patient doesnt get better.....it doesnt make a huge difference....I bought saher and did UW.....didnt have time for FA....I think UW and USMLE CD are more than enough...I used to do 4 cases every day....Icouldnt finish all the cases in UW....and went through quickly the day before tha exam.......
so this is waht my score...
UW-62%
NBME-460
actual score -241/99
I am sure some of you will not believe it....I care a damn about those people....I have a lot of friends who know me.....and certainly believe me......I can assure u...every body can get a 99...believe in urself......make a strong and wide base.....know as much as u can..do as many qs as u can do.....check with emedicine...whenever u can ...go through all the stuff I mentioned above....give a tiny bit more time for CCS.....u will be laughing at the end with a fantastick score....good luck to all my well wishers.....I love you all and very thankful for all your help and wishes.....
I will be around for next couple of days....and will answer ur queries....bye bye USMLE and soon I will say good bye to forum!
When I came to step 3....I realised its not the same as step 1 and 2.....and will need a different sort of preparation......I also realized that most of the people at that point( I am talking about last september) in step 3 forum have there own way of prep and its difficult to change the way.....looking at the questions in step 3....its like mostly step 2 ....but bit more practical oriented and practice oriented......so I begin my prep in step 2 forum....which is the nicest forum and had top class guys and very eager to discuss....which tremendously helped me....although I must say step 3 forum is much better now with people coming up to discuss....
MATERIALS:
now its always been the difficult bit....before I say anything...I must emphasize that u should read what u like rather than follow a blanket policy.....I did UW and than looked at the questions posted in forum .....what I found is step 3 qs are very vague....however much u read...u will have difficulty in answering....so first thing is to do as many q as u can do....so I attempeted almost everything posted in forum...I did MKSAP which was a lot of help...specially the explanations.....I did UW ...and got 62%...again the impression I got from others exam experience is that its not reflective of real exam....so 50% or 62% doesnt make much difference......I read swanson......this book most closely resembled the exam......and step 2 kaplan books were of tremendous help.....
so to summarize...I think...UW, MKSAP, Step 2 Kaplan and swanson is a must for those aspiring high scores in step 3.....
METHOD:
as I said before...I was forum addict....its the single most thing that helped me achieving my dream....the way I used to prep is....I attempt every thing....even if I knew the answer...I used to look in the net in detail about most of the topic...specially emedicine....which is a very reliable net source....I am in full time work...so I never used to get much time....however any time I get....even in work...I used to come to forum to attempt some questions.........I preped for nearly 6 months for step 3....couple of hrs every day.....for first 3 mo....I only did UW and forum....for the last 3 months I did rest of the material....I did swason from page 1 till the end...I did 95% of MKSAP...UW ..I revised once....kaplan in last 2 weeks...I just went through each book....I had gone through medicine and surgery with my wife when she was preparing her step 2...which also helped me a lot......2 weeks before my exam I gave NBME...and got a dissapointing 460.....I didnt want to tell my score before my exam so that I dont get discouraged by anybody.....I knew NBME is not reflective of final score....and u can see whats the difference.....it doesnt predict...however.....after NBME .....I realized the true pattern of my exam....and confirmed my belief in Swanson.......
Duration:
6 Months....I didnt want to prepapre that long...however...since my wife was giving step 2...I had to baby sit.....I think 3-4 months will be more than enough to give u a good score.....
EXAM:
First day....
MCQs were vague as anticipated....however there were quite a few straight qs as well...specially the ER qs were easy if u know ur stuff.....very lengthy qs....but here the old trick worked....read the first line and last line of the q first....u can answer 10% qs without going through all of its length....it saves a lot of time.....I was never short of time in day 1.....
Second day....
I anticipated it will be easy....contrary to my belief I found everything was tough.....36 very long qs in 45 min was tough ....I almost finished every block just in time...I was on my toes through out the block....again...my prep helped me a lot...I was able to answer qs pretty fast......
CCS...I didnt do great....only 4 of my cases ended in 15-17 mins...rest all went on till eternity....I wasnt happy with my CCS...hwoever my score card reads higher performance.....so I realized u can score high even if screw up the cases...trick is to do the initial management correctly...like realize the threat...intervene early when needed...do tyhe appropriate investigations...even if patient doesnt get better.....it doesnt make a huge difference....I bought saher and did UW.....didnt have time for FA....I think UW and USMLE CD are more than enough...I used to do 4 cases every day....Icouldnt finish all the cases in UW....and went through quickly the day before tha exam.......
so this is waht my score...
UW-62%
NBME-460
actual score -241/99
I am sure some of you will not believe it....I care a damn about those people....I have a lot of friends who know me.....and certainly believe me......I can assure u...every body can get a 99...believe in urself......make a strong and wide base.....know as much as u can..do as many qs as u can do.....check with emedicine...whenever u can ...go through all the stuff I mentioned above....give a tiny bit more time for CCS.....u will be laughing at the end with a fantastick score....good luck to all my well wishers.....I love you all and very thankful for all your help and wishes.....
I will be around for next couple of days....and will answer ur queries....bye bye USMLE and soon I will say good bye to forum!