09-08-2018, 03:23 PM
I am heartily thankful to god, parents, myself and very importantly, this forum and its members. Without you this would not have been possible. I owe a lot to you.
Thank you so much.
I am briefly narrating my preparation for step 1. I hope this will help someone.
1st Reading: I used Kaplan Lecture Notes for all subjects except Pathology- for which I used Goljan. During my internship, I completed physiology and anatomy 1st read (except neuroscience). After that I had to stop study due to some personal reasons. I resumed it after 4 months and completed anatomy-neuroscience. After that, I completed Pharmacology, Pathology, Microbiology, Biochemistry and Behavioral Science in order. I completed Kaplan Step 1 Q Bank subject wise after completion of every subject. In the end, I was left with 2 months and 10 days for revision and Uworld.
UWORLD: I have got only one word for it- INDISPENSABLE. I completed all questions in timed, random, unused mode. It took me 1 month 5 days to finish it with cumulative score 65%. I was really confused how to revise it. First, I started same way as the first read- timed, random, used mode, and I was averaging 90% !! I stopped that way and started to do previously incorrect questions. However, I was not able to complete all incorrect questions due to lack of time(revised only half UWORLD). Bottom line: Revise only incorrect and flagged questions if you are lacking time.
First Aid: A very helpful material. As someone mentioned here in the forum, every single sentence can be a question. I completed it twice. A good comprehensive book.
Kaplan lecture notes Revision: I had no time for it ( only because of my fault –not to consume more hours a day for reading and spending it in sleep) . I feel one has to maintain good speed and punctuality to finish whole revision as it’s a big task.
Questions: This is the part I liked the most in my preparation. I completed Kaplan Q bank, Uworld Qbank, NBME, Kaplan Q book(half), Lippincot free 350 questions(half). Reading explanation may feel tiresome and boring but I read each & every explanation , even when I was sure about the answer and its concept. This practice perhaps spared me from the need of revising Kaplan notes. Get questions material from wherever you can. Do as much questions as possible.
Self Assesment Exams: I used UWSA-1, UWSA-2, NBME-11 before 23 days, 15 days and 7 days, respectively.The score was 228, 248,231, respectively. UWSA-2 was relatively accurate in my prediction. I was aiming for >235, and nbme 11 predicted 231, so I was in a bit worry before 1 week as had it gone 4 to 5 points less, I would surely be disappointed. I kept going believing that I will get at least 230. Do not postpone the exam if you get 5-7 points less than your target, as once momentum is lost, its tough to rebuild it.
The ORIGINAL CLASH: The day before exam, I travelled to my exam center city, relaxed myself with very few things to revise(which I noted behind first aid book so I wouldn’t miss to revise). I took 8 hour comfortable sleep(though struggled to induce it . On the test day, reached the center before around 25 mins. Then the exam started. I had decided not to spend too much time on the difficult question. After 10-20 mins of the first block, I was kind of set and there was no more anxiety. I comfortably finished the first block. Whole of the exam went smooth, with two of the blocks I found little damaging, but I didn’t worry about that as my friend had told me not to worry if whole one or two blocks go bad. I suggest to read test taking strategy from First Aid and Kaplan Question Book as they proved very helpful to me for my exam.
Thank you so much.
I am briefly narrating my preparation for step 1. I hope this will help someone.
1st Reading: I used Kaplan Lecture Notes for all subjects except Pathology- for which I used Goljan. During my internship, I completed physiology and anatomy 1st read (except neuroscience). After that I had to stop study due to some personal reasons. I resumed it after 4 months and completed anatomy-neuroscience. After that, I completed Pharmacology, Pathology, Microbiology, Biochemistry and Behavioral Science in order. I completed Kaplan Step 1 Q Bank subject wise after completion of every subject. In the end, I was left with 2 months and 10 days for revision and Uworld.
UWORLD: I have got only one word for it- INDISPENSABLE. I completed all questions in timed, random, unused mode. It took me 1 month 5 days to finish it with cumulative score 65%. I was really confused how to revise it. First, I started same way as the first read- timed, random, used mode, and I was averaging 90% !! I stopped that way and started to do previously incorrect questions. However, I was not able to complete all incorrect questions due to lack of time(revised only half UWORLD). Bottom line: Revise only incorrect and flagged questions if you are lacking time.
First Aid: A very helpful material. As someone mentioned here in the forum, every single sentence can be a question. I completed it twice. A good comprehensive book.
Kaplan lecture notes Revision: I had no time for it ( only because of my fault –not to consume more hours a day for reading and spending it in sleep) . I feel one has to maintain good speed and punctuality to finish whole revision as it’s a big task.
Questions: This is the part I liked the most in my preparation. I completed Kaplan Q bank, Uworld Qbank, NBME, Kaplan Q book(half), Lippincot free 350 questions(half). Reading explanation may feel tiresome and boring but I read each & every explanation , even when I was sure about the answer and its concept. This practice perhaps spared me from the need of revising Kaplan notes. Get questions material from wherever you can. Do as much questions as possible.
Self Assesment Exams: I used UWSA-1, UWSA-2, NBME-11 before 23 days, 15 days and 7 days, respectively.The score was 228, 248,231, respectively. UWSA-2 was relatively accurate in my prediction. I was aiming for >235, and nbme 11 predicted 231, so I was in a bit worry before 1 week as had it gone 4 to 5 points less, I would surely be disappointed. I kept going believing that I will get at least 230. Do not postpone the exam if you get 5-7 points less than your target, as once momentum is lost, its tough to rebuild it.
The ORIGINAL CLASH: The day before exam, I travelled to my exam center city, relaxed myself with very few things to revise(which I noted behind first aid book so I wouldn’t miss to revise). I took 8 hour comfortable sleep(though struggled to induce it . On the test day, reached the center before around 25 mins. Then the exam started. I had decided not to spend too much time on the difficult question. After 10-20 mins of the first block, I was kind of set and there was no more anxiety. I comfortably finished the first block. Whole of the exam went smooth, with two of the blocks I found little damaging, but I didn’t worry about that as my friend had told me not to worry if whole one or two blocks go bad. I suggest to read test taking strategy from First Aid and Kaplan Question Book as they proved very helpful to me for my exam.