Hello Everyone, this is actually my first time to try posting videos in my blog. So please excuse the effort if the quality is not too good. Hope to get better at doing this in the future.
A lot of people think that all they need to do in order to do well in the USMLE Step 1 is to get the correct study material and viola, they will get a good score. In reality, using the right study material is just one of many things you need to do right if you want to pass, much less get a high score in this exam.
This video is a short introduction to the first lecture in the series of lectures offered in my course on preparing for the USMLE Step 1. The original lecture is almost 2 hours long. This video is posted in my facebook page
It’s been over a year since I first published “NBME Self-assessment Tests and USMLE Review.” Little did I know it will become the most popular of my post with over 14,000 pageviews in the past year. Since that time a lot of things have changed, hence this update.
If you have not read the previous two posts on this topic, please do so as I will not be repeating what I have said there in this post. You can access Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
How well does NBME predict your USMLE Score?
That has been the number one question asked of me since I wrote about this topic. My answer is still the same. Fairly well. Although correlation is never 100% more like 70 to 80%. However, certain development in the past few years have made the assessment tests less reliable for some people. Continue reading »
I wrote part of this post in answer to questions from my readers and students. After 2 emails and one answer to comments, I have decided to elaborate and write in more detail as a post that I will share with everyone.
So what do you do on the day of the examination? The day you sit for the USMLE is the culmination of months of preparation. It may seem unfair that no matter how well your performance were in those countless q banks and test simulation, the only performance that really counts is the one you do on exam day. Therefore, it makes sense to maximize your chances of performing well for that date.
Your preparation should begin way before the date of your examination, when you schedule the examination. It is a known fact that during review, people do reach a plateau and the best time to take the exam is just before or just after you reach your peak. Earlier or later than that can result in lower scores. When you review, immediately after learning and memorizing your lessons, you immediately start forgetting. Normally, the amount of medical concepts you are memorizing and retaining is growing faster than you are forgetting them. However, there comes a time when you reach your peak and eventually plateaus. Afterwards you will go into decline and forget more than you are learning. Most people go into plateau in about 6 to 8 months, therefore the ideal review time is around that long. That is why my prep course is around 6 months long. Continue reading »
Note: This was initially published in 6 parts and was then consolidated into a downloadable ebook.
Why create a study plan?
This is probably the question foremost in the mind of anyone who ever thought of tackling the USMLE. I remember when I was starting out, how this pre-occupied me a lot. Although studying for the USMLE is a big endeavor, studying how to study for the USMLE is no mean feat either. Just like an architect or engineer needs to plan out how to build a building before actually building it, we need to plan out how to prepare for the USMLE before we even begin studying.
Now some people can just jump right into reviewing and 3 to 5 months later take the exam and come out with a 99. I’m not one of those and so are I believe majority of those taking the USMLE. Some will start by applying and scheduling an exam 5 months later, only to find out that they’re not ready. So they extend their period of eligibility and still they’re not ready. Some will take the exam and fail or score so low that it amounts to the same thing. Some will forfeit the application fees and reapply later. Of those who do, some wind up getting good scores because they’ve learned their lesson and did better preparation this time, while for others the results are going to be poor because they did not change anything they’ve done before. Proper planning is crucial for proper preparation Continue reading »
We will now continue with Part II of our series on “Answering USMLE Type Questions”. In Part I we discussed the 3 most common problems people have with USMLE type Questions. In part II we will discuss various strategies to correct these weak points. There are strategies you implement during the preparation phase and other strategies you do during the exam itself.
However, the strategies during preparation is more effective than those you employ during the examination and therefore it makes sense to fix these problems before the actual examination day.
The main challenge in clinical vignettes is to be able to diagnose the case as fast as possible. As a medical student, the way we learned clinical cases starts with a diagnosis, say Myocardial Infarction. Then we study the signs and symptoms that accompany myocardial infarction followed by laboratory tests that suggest or confirm the diagnosis. Lastly we study therapeutic interventions. That is how clinical vignettes are presented in Underground Clinical Vignettes, which is fine for medical students having their first taste of medical cases. Unfortunately for most people who are ready to take the USMLE, they’ve already gone through that process and will probably need only a short review and it will still not help them with diagnosing clinical vignettes. The reason is that clinical vignettes are presented the other way around with signs and symptoms as clues while you come up with the diagnosis. Continue reading »
I wrote this initially in response to someone who was really having a hard time answering tough USMLE type question. Most of the time, when people think their problem is answering tough USMLE type question. the reality is that they have a KA (Knowledge Acquisition) problem. In other words, they did not do their review properly and their problem is primarily with insufficient knowledge base rather than difficulty with USMLE type questions.
Therefore, I always make it a point to test their knowledge base first. This is usually done by testing them using straightforward questions that test knowledge and recall without the common tricks that accompany USMLE type questions.
Now as you may know, I have an online prep site at http://prep.askdoc-usmle.com. The prep site contains all the courses available to course participants of my USMLE Step 1 prep course. There is a demo prep course for Review of Pathology which features the first chapter out of 25 total chapters of Review of Pathology. It covers cell pathology. The online quiz is a straightforward quiz which directly tests recall and does not use USMLE type question. Do well there and it proves you do not have a knowledge base problem.
Everyone knows the usefulness of keeping a large amount of high yield information in your head just before the actual examination. This can help a lot in boosting your score up in the last few days before the actual examination. Although I am never an advocate for last minute cramming for an examination like the USMLE, the benefits of having a large number of high yield facts in your immediate memory is something no one can ignore. The reason is that unless the information is in your immediate memory, chances are it will take some time for you to recall that information and in the context of timed examination like the USMLE, that can make or break you.
Most reviewers acknowledge these facts. First Aid for Step 1 has its Rapid Review section. Levinson and Jawetz has its “Brief summaries of Medically Important Organisms. and Trevor and Katzung’s Pharmacology Review has it’s “Key Words for Key Drugs”. All to be reviewed just a few days before going into the examination.
This started out as a reply to a question asked by dr patel on my blog on how to evaluate one’s readiness for the USMLE and avoid making the mistake of taking the examination and failing it. However, it got a little bit too long, so I have decided to rewrite it into an article.
Failure to properly evaluate one’s readiness for the examination and one’s progress during the whole USMLE preparation process may be one of the most crucial reason not only for failing the USMLE but also for failure to achieve a less than stellar score.
Proper self-evaluation involves not only how to do the evaluation, using the right tool to measure the right parameter but also when to do the measuring to insure maximal effectiveness. Most failures in self-evaluation can be divided into these 2 broad categories.
We begin part 4 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. In Part I, we discussed the need to choose our review material based on what we want to achieve in the exam. We also discussed the use of substituted judgment when we rely on reviewers to know what to review for the examination, and the need to make sure that these judgments are based on the same goals we have with regards to passing, scoring well or acing the exam.
In part 2, we discussed that the score you want to achieve not only dictates the review materials you choose, but also how much of those review materials should be mastered and not just read through. In part 3 we talked about the various materials you used for review and the need to go back to textbooks for concepts you do not know, since you cannot review concepts you do not know. You have to learn them first and you need textbooks for that.
In part 4, we will discuss the two types of text reviewers you should be using for your review and how to use the concept of different types of recalls with the reviewers to maximize the amount of material you can store in your head for the exam.
We begin part 3 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. For those just joining us, please refer to previous post here and here. Due to the sheer number of review materials available to examinees, we need to classify them in order to make it easier to choose and mix and match between them.
Broadly, we can classify our study materials into three. First are reading materials, mainly books and other written study aids, eg. Flashcards, etc. Second are Question Banks, which by themselves are very important and crucial study materials. Lastly and increasingly gaining importance are audio and visual resources like lectures both audio and video.
Today, we will talk more about the NBME self-assessment tests. We previously discussed what the NBME self-assessment tests are and how they impact your USMLE review. You can read the posts here. Now we will cover three important topics. When to use the NBME self-assessment tests, how to use the NBME self-assessment tests and how wise it is to use the USMLE World self-assessment tests instead.
We begin part 2 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. For those just joining us, please refer to previous post here. Before we discuss the various criteria for selecting study materials for review, we need to clarify some concepts and discuss some limitations.
First, there is no real guarantee that if you study certain materials you will get a particular score. Continue reading »
We now come to the second part of our discussion of “Using Q Banks effectively for USMLE Review”. For those just joining us, please review the previous post here.
Previously we talked about what Q Banks to use and when to use them for review. We will now talk about how to use Q banks as study tools and how to use them for review and assessment.
The NBME self assessment test is another of those tools that I feel is responsible for the increasingly high scores in the USMLE. It is a great tool that allows the test-taker to assess his or her readiness for the exam. To a certain extent, if used properly, it is also a useful tool for the examinee to target a certain score, even 99’s and achieve it.
Doing Q banks is now considered part and parcel of USMLE review. Any person still not using Q banks is taking a big chance of doing poorly in the examination. In fact I believe one of the biggest reason for the increasingly high scores among both AMGs and IMGs is due to the existence of superb Q Banks, primarily USMLE World and Kaplan. My double 99 in step 1 and Step 2 CK Continue reading »
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25, ESV)
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25, ESV)
Recent Comments