11-11-2011, 08:58 AM
Hi everybody, I promised to share my experience again. Although it is something personal and I always discouraged using personal experiences in detail(because everybody should act based on her/his personal plan SINCE HE/SHE KNOWS him/herself better) I try to share as much useful information as possible with you. I got a good score(281), although I have thought of around 290 before my exam, but so many confounding factors made my achievement suboptimal. I had many problems with my exam , including a delay in my flight and near-break down of the computers and a 3-hour delay in my exam. This experience showed me that being prepared in extremely important to bypass or at least lessen the influential factors.
Exam was mostly like UW, and somehow NBME. I strongly recommend doing UW, reading all answers in details and at least a 1-month time just dedicated to UW.
My study duration was about 6 months, with about 10 hours a day. I generally did not have good concentration at the time of my studies, so do not panic if you are like me!.
My study material was primarily Kaplan( about videos I only watched PART of Gyn videos).
Psych-->Kaplan Neuro-->FA IM-->mainly Kaplan (other than dermato, hemato, GI which primarily FA) OBs/Gyn-->blueprint Surgery-->Kaplan
In all cases FA or Kaplan were used as complement to each other. In some cases, FA has more topics or some topics that are not included in Kaplan. (for example osteoporosis, fibromyalgia in rheumato, or sepsis in ID) so study both of these with one of them as the main text, and add points of the other in your main text.
This hint is extremely important: Always ask yourself question. ask yourself what is the next best step in diagnosis and management? what is the likely mechanism? WHENEVER THIS IS NOT IN YOUR STUDY MATERIAL, GO AND FIND IT IN A GOOD REFERENCE (UPTODATE IS PREFERRED BUT IF YOU HAVE HARRISON'S, CECIL, OR EVEN MEDSCAPE IS OK) This is the most important step in your study. This is particularly important in the case of CVD, DM, and other common diseases.
The next important thing is preventive measures. both Kaplan and FA are clearly WEAK in this area. You yourself should find it. First of all visit USPSTF website and master the screening tests there. Then focus on preventive measures particularly in the field of CVD, stroke, DIABETES (you will have questions on this topic without any doubt), and renal disease. UpTodate can be very very helpful here.
Regarding NBMEs do not rely on answers , many of them are false. Just rely on the material to study that concept from whatever reference possible.
Another important thing is that when you reach a question which you think you should answer it intuitively , you are always WRONG. Many subjects might be unfamiliar for us (for example hospice, many ethics questions, many preventive measures) BUT THEY ARE AVAILABLE IN THE LITERATURE AND UPTODATE, MEDSCAPE, AND TEXTBOOKS. SEARCH AND FIND AND STUDY IT.
If you want to ace the test , you should check that you have mastered all the material listed on the orientation material PDF file of USMLE website.
In the last month I read as much as material which I had studied until that time.
And my first and last ADVICE (all of the above were just suggestions) :GUYS KAPLAN AND FA ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. SO IF YOU ARE DISCUSSING A QUESTION IN THE FORUM THEY ARE NOT GOOD REFERENCES ALWAYS. USE TEXTBOOK OR UPTODATE INSTEAD AND ALWAYS SPEAK ON EVIDENCE. I FREQUENTLY SAW THAT YOU DISCUSS SOMETHING AND THEN REFER TO NO REFERENCE OR JUST TO MTB AND ACCEPT NOBODY'S COMMENTS. TO REACH A CONCLUSION ALWAYS SPEAK ON EVIDENCE.
if you have any questions , I will check the forum frequently. Think that you are going to be a doctor who is capable to manage all kinds of patients when they present to you as a primary care physician. This will help you to know what to learn and what to bypass. For example you should know the first line management of a patient who comes with open Fx of the tibia, but you do not need to learn the details of next procedures.
Exam was mostly like UW, and somehow NBME. I strongly recommend doing UW, reading all answers in details and at least a 1-month time just dedicated to UW.
My study duration was about 6 months, with about 10 hours a day. I generally did not have good concentration at the time of my studies, so do not panic if you are like me!.
My study material was primarily Kaplan( about videos I only watched PART of Gyn videos).
Psych-->Kaplan Neuro-->FA IM-->mainly Kaplan (other than dermato, hemato, GI which primarily FA) OBs/Gyn-->blueprint Surgery-->Kaplan
In all cases FA or Kaplan were used as complement to each other. In some cases, FA has more topics or some topics that are not included in Kaplan. (for example osteoporosis, fibromyalgia in rheumato, or sepsis in ID) so study both of these with one of them as the main text, and add points of the other in your main text.
This hint is extremely important: Always ask yourself question. ask yourself what is the next best step in diagnosis and management? what is the likely mechanism? WHENEVER THIS IS NOT IN YOUR STUDY MATERIAL, GO AND FIND IT IN A GOOD REFERENCE (UPTODATE IS PREFERRED BUT IF YOU HAVE HARRISON'S, CECIL, OR EVEN MEDSCAPE IS OK) This is the most important step in your study. This is particularly important in the case of CVD, DM, and other common diseases.
The next important thing is preventive measures. both Kaplan and FA are clearly WEAK in this area. You yourself should find it. First of all visit USPSTF website and master the screening tests there. Then focus on preventive measures particularly in the field of CVD, stroke, DIABETES (you will have questions on this topic without any doubt), and renal disease. UpTodate can be very very helpful here.
Regarding NBMEs do not rely on answers , many of them are false. Just rely on the material to study that concept from whatever reference possible.
Another important thing is that when you reach a question which you think you should answer it intuitively , you are always WRONG. Many subjects might be unfamiliar for us (for example hospice, many ethics questions, many preventive measures) BUT THEY ARE AVAILABLE IN THE LITERATURE AND UPTODATE, MEDSCAPE, AND TEXTBOOKS. SEARCH AND FIND AND STUDY IT.
If you want to ace the test , you should check that you have mastered all the material listed on the orientation material PDF file of USMLE website.
In the last month I read as much as material which I had studied until that time.
And my first and last ADVICE (all of the above were just suggestions) :GUYS KAPLAN AND FA ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. SO IF YOU ARE DISCUSSING A QUESTION IN THE FORUM THEY ARE NOT GOOD REFERENCES ALWAYS. USE TEXTBOOK OR UPTODATE INSTEAD AND ALWAYS SPEAK ON EVIDENCE. I FREQUENTLY SAW THAT YOU DISCUSS SOMETHING AND THEN REFER TO NO REFERENCE OR JUST TO MTB AND ACCEPT NOBODY'S COMMENTS. TO REACH A CONCLUSION ALWAYS SPEAK ON EVIDENCE.
if you have any questions , I will check the forum frequently. Think that you are going to be a doctor who is capable to manage all kinds of patients when they present to you as a primary care physician. This will help you to know what to learn and what to bypass. For example you should know the first line management of a patient who comes with open Fx of the tibia, but you do not need to learn the details of next procedures.
Congratulations and thank you for the valuable suggestions.