New year, new beginnings!

I'm baaaaaaack!

So MBBS III was one of the busiest years of my life.  Studying for the Step 2 CK just didn't happen.  So, I decided not to write in December as planned, and instead postponed to May 2012.  Incidentally, I also need to write the MCCEE ... so I'll just toss that one into the pot as well.

And now with this bubbling cauldron of pending busy-ness, I need a plan!

1) Get USMLE World subscription
2) Read First Aid for the CK + Toronto Notes for each topic
3) Learn by practice question!
4) Practice exams
5) Actual exams May 2012
6) ... ? ...
7) Worldwide fame and success!

Here we go, 2012.  *Grabs bull by the horns*

Step 1 score!

239/99!!!!!!!!

It's been a long year but I got a great score and my hard work paid off! I'm totally satisfied!

Step 1 is OVER!

Well, I did it!!  I survived Step 1!  I still will not get my scores for a few weeks.  I know I did my best, and hopefully my score will reflect that!


I arrived at the testing centre at 0815, hoping that I would be able to get registered early and get out of there sooner.  The lady did not even show up until 0900, so that plan fell through.  However, registration was quick and easy so I was able to start almost immediately.

::Block 1::
- Time spent: 50 min
- Most questions were way easier than I thought they would be; very little micro or pharm in this block.  There were lots of questions about embryology and hereditary diseases.  My approach to the questions was:

• To read the last sentence first.  That way, I knew whether the question was about diagnosis, treatment, or something I didn't even need the vignette for.
• To read the vignette and highlight relevant information.  This was very helpful went I was reviewing my answers for each block.  Also, just having a purposeful activity during each question helped me to stay focused and not wander off into dream land.
• To try to answer the question in my head without looking at the answers.  This wasn't always possible, but it actually worked for about half of the questions!
• To explain to myself why the other answers were wrong.  Again, not always possible, but it helped me feel very confident about my answer choices, and I was able to find the answer for some harder questions simply by process of elimination.
• Marking questions that I felt merited more time.  I did not mark every question to which I did not know the answer.  Some of the questions were about things I had never even heard of before.  I didn't waste my time on these ones.  I simply made as educated a guess as possible, and moved on.  The questions I did mark were ones that either required some calculations, or needed more "brain time" to sort out.

I was able to finish answering the questions for every block in about 35 minutes using this method.  With the remaining time in each block, I went back over every question and made sure that I was happy with the answer.  Review took 10 - 20 minutes depending on how many marked questions I had in each block.


- I did not take a break after block 1, but went straight into block 2

::Block 2::
- Time spent: 50 min
- Again, a pretty easy block.  I had one question in this block about why HIV rapidly becomes resistant to reverse transcriptase inhibitors.  I really hope I answered correctly, since that question came up in almost identical form three more times during the exam!
- Took a 10 minute break afterward; ate a granola bar, went to the bathroom, had some water

::Block 3::
- Time spent: 55 min
- I felt very fatigued during this block.  I am not sure if it was because I ate during my previous break, or if "midmorning blues" just kicked in.  I almost fell asleep halfway through the block.  There were also some very long vignettes in this block which were exhausting to read through.  History, blah, blah, vitals, blah, blah, patient remembers some relevant fact, blah, blah...  Anyway this was the hardest block for me just because I had to force myself to stay awake.  I made use of my writing boards and drew some cartoons.
-Took a 5 minute break afterward

::Block 4::
- Time spent: 50 min
- I felt better during this block.  I was still so tired, but I knew lunch was coming!  There was a lot of cardio and path in this block and a few weird biostats questions that I wasn't sure about.
- Took a 30 minute lunch break afterward

::Block 5::
- Time spent: 45 min
- I was re-energized and ready to kick the crap out of the last three blocks!  The last three blocks kicked back.  There was a lot of MSK and Neuro anatomy that I was really not prepared for.  I had a couple of questions about paths of cranial nerves, about 5 upper limb msk questions,  and a CT scan of a knee.
- Took a 5 minute break afterward

::Block 6::
- Time spent: 50 min
- At this point I was just really angry about all of the MSK and neuro anat.  Then I got a bunch of stupid pharm questions about adrenoreceptors and crap.  I really wanted to throw a temper tantrum and walk out!  But I didn't. :)  I finished it up and prepared myself for the last block.
- Took a 5 minute break afterward

::Block 7::
- Time spent: 45 min
- This block was actually pretty easy.  There were two or three "WTF" questions, but for the most part it was actually a great block to end with.  I was just really bored and tired at this point.  There are only so many times you can read the word "Zidovudine" before you want to take a nap and explode at the same time.
 - Finished as quickly as possible and got the hell out of there!

Overall, I feel pretty good about the Step 1.  I don't think I did better than on the Qbanks, but I also don't think I did worse.  I found the questions to be a bit easier than Kaplan and UWorld.  They were more straightforward and a lot more clinical (better for me) in emphasis.  The fatigue and boredom just killed me by the end of the day, though.  But I finished in under 7 hours.  And now it's over!!!

Now, the waiting for results begins ...

C'mon... 240!!

I found this nifty USMLE score predictor whilst traversing the internet today.  It's predicting 248 +/- 23.  Which is an enormous range!!  Worst case is a 225, best case is a 271.  While I don't think a 271 is very likely at this point, a 240 would be excellent!!

This is my last official night of studying.  I will do a small bit of review tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow is the real deal! 

I'm so nervous but excited to be finished with this thing!

--KM

70% seems to be my limit :P

Well, 70% is apparently my number. I have completed 50% of UWorld, and my cumulative average is still 70%.  I also did a full-length practice exam from Kaplan today.  (Yes, that is how I spent my Christmas Day.)  Again, 70%.

The breakdown by topic was:
Behavioural science - 71%
Biochemistry - 83% <--- WTF? this one surprised me :S
Biostats - 81%
Cell bio - 100%
Embryology - 100%
Genetics - 88%
Gross anatomy - 77%
Histology - 100%
Immunology - 75%
Micro - 51% <--- ugh SERIOUSLY?!?  Stupid viruses...
Molecular bio - 100%
Path - 82%
Pathophys - 71%
Pharm - 61%
Physiology - 85%

If I can manage to perform similarly to this on the actual day, I'll be pretty happy. :)  I definitely need to cram some more micro in, since it seems to be my nemesis at the moment.  Ugh but right now I'm soooo bored of it all!! Time for some relaxation and comfort food!  --KM

I think I can do better!

So I have done 350 questions from UWorld, and my cumulative average is 70! :D  I think I can do better than that, though!  Below is a chart of my test blocks and cumulative averages so far:  As you can see, it creeps up v e r y      s   l   o    w     l        y (but it is rising)!  That random 90% spike seems like a fluke - but it gave me a lot of hope.

The biggest thing I am struggling with is still Pharm.  I am going to set aside a couple of hours tomorrow to revisit it, and see if I can bring that average up some more.  My goal is a cumulative average of 80.  Big goal, I know - but I really think I can do it!!  --KM <3

T-2 weeks!

Yay! I'm finally in the home stretch!  I have just been reviewing Goljan's audio lectures to brush up on my pathology, and finishing the Kaplan Qbank.  Kaplan is predicting my score to be 235.  I would be really happy with that!  I want to keep pushing, though!  Today I bought the USMLE World Qbank and self-assessment tests.  For the next two weeks, I will be going through those and re-reading First Aid.

It's almost time! :D

--KM