03-31-2007, 02:23 PM
Finally did it. I went to the exam center 30min earlier than the set time as directed by the red sheet, but was shown in the room right away, the exam started before I had a time to collect myself, but at the end I think it's OK.
They don't allow to take anything in and specifically asked whether I have tissue in my pockets. Good that my claritin worked today and I did not need any of facial tissues. They even don't allow you to put your jacket on the chair, you can tie it around the waist.
The question stems are not as long as some say, the length and formats are very much like USMLE CD. The only difference is that when I did the CD, all Qs felt fimilliar, while the test felt very new. I feel at least 10Qs from each block are not covered by review matierials and takes some guessing. After coming back, I immediately realized some stupid mistakes such as point out vena cava on a chest CT wrong. Some really basic stuff and then 40% of basic things but with a twist. They like to test same thing over and over again, so if you missed one concept, you miss a few Qs. All subjects are well covered. Many vitamin Qs. Basic biochemisry Qs, things that don't see in reviews much like long chain, medium chain and short chain ffa metabolism. I got a few Qs on that. Chasing remembered Qs is not a good idea because after seeing Qs here, I got one Q that's repeated.
I think knowing the basics well will at least get you to pass. The exam is more stressful though. It took me 10-15 mins longer to finish each block than nbme. Some Qs looks scary at the first glance, but are very easy. Such as when they test for adrenal hyperplasia, they give the whole pathway in chemical forms and at the same time labled everything！
I picked up a habit 3 days before exam when I did the USMLE CD, which is the make off/high light function. I never find it useful when I did practace Qs, but I used it a lot during the test. Also there are 3-5 Qs in a block that I can confidently answer by just reading the last two sentences, saved me some time...
I would really like to thank the forum and all the nice souls here, hope you can all get a good score and crash this exam.
They don't allow to take anything in and specifically asked whether I have tissue in my pockets. Good that my claritin worked today and I did not need any of facial tissues. They even don't allow you to put your jacket on the chair, you can tie it around the waist.
The question stems are not as long as some say, the length and formats are very much like USMLE CD. The only difference is that when I did the CD, all Qs felt fimilliar, while the test felt very new. I feel at least 10Qs from each block are not covered by review matierials and takes some guessing. After coming back, I immediately realized some stupid mistakes such as point out vena cava on a chest CT wrong. Some really basic stuff and then 40% of basic things but with a twist. They like to test same thing over and over again, so if you missed one concept, you miss a few Qs. All subjects are well covered. Many vitamin Qs. Basic biochemisry Qs, things that don't see in reviews much like long chain, medium chain and short chain ffa metabolism. I got a few Qs on that. Chasing remembered Qs is not a good idea because after seeing Qs here, I got one Q that's repeated.
I think knowing the basics well will at least get you to pass. The exam is more stressful though. It took me 10-15 mins longer to finish each block than nbme. Some Qs looks scary at the first glance, but are very easy. Such as when they test for adrenal hyperplasia, they give the whole pathway in chemical forms and at the same time labled everything！
I picked up a habit 3 days before exam when I did the USMLE CD, which is the make off/high light function. I never find it useful when I did practace Qs, but I used it a lot during the test. Also there are 3-5 Qs in a block that I can confidently answer by just reading the last two sentences, saved me some time...
I would really like to thank the forum and all the nice souls here, hope you can all get a good score and crash this exam.