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NBME Self-Assessment Tests and USMLE Review – Part II

By askdoc, on July 26th, 2009%

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.

Continue reading NBME Self-Assessment Tests and USMLE Review – Part II

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What to Do on the Day of the USMLE Exam

By askdoc, on March 13th, 2009%

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.

Be at Your Best on the Day of the USMLE Exam.

So what do you do on the day of the USMLE 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 USMLE examination, when you schedule the examination. It is a known fact that during review, people do reach a plateau and the best time to sit for the USMLE exam is just before or just after you reach your peak. Earlier or later than that can result in lower scores. During review, immediately after learning and memorizing your lessons, you start forgetting right away. 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 for the USMLE is around that long. That is why my USMLE Step 1 prep course is around 6 months long. Continue reading What to Do on the Day of the USMLE Exam

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Answering USMLE Type Questions – Part I

By askdoc, on October 15th, 2008%

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.

Continue reading Answering USMLE Type Questions – Part I

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