Sunday, April 29, 2007

USMLE STEP 1 SCORE: 248/99. YOU CAN DO IT TOO!


On a much much lighter note, I finally got my USMLE Step 1 result a few weeks back. Got 248/99! Woohoo! Needless to say, all my hard work indeed had paid off. I got a lot of help, though, both direct and indirect.

Visiting different forums about USMLE on the net opened my mind to a lot of things. At first, I completely had no idea what the test was about, where to start, what materials to get and how to go about in doing my review. The different USMLE forums had such much needed information. After all, knowing what you are up against decreases the anxiety and increases the likelihood of success.

The most important information for me, however, was that “getting a 99 is very much doable,” a feat which at first I thought was remotely possible. Quite a number of people are actually getting this score. This means that as long as you prepare right, especially if you’ve got the right attitude, you’ll get the right score. After all, isn’t it that “if you aim for the sky, should you fall, you’ll fall on the roof but if you aim just for the roof, when you fall, you’ll fall on the ground.”

And so I’m posting this note to inspire those about to take the same exam, to relieve some anxiety and most of all, to tell you guys that you can get a 99 on Step 1 if you really wanted to.


PREPARATION FOR THE EXAM

I’m bound by rules not to divulge the specifics of the exam so I’ll just tell you how I prepared for it. I had a total of around 3 months worth of preparation for this exam. I studied full time usually 8 hours per day and used the following materials:

BOOKS:
Kaplan Review Books (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology, Behavioral Science)
Kaplan Videos
First Aid 2006

QBANK:
I just used Qbook

MY SCHEDULE:

First 28 days
Read Kaplan Review Books
Allotted around 4 days per subject

Next 22 days
Did Kaplan videos while taking down notes on the Review Books
Allotted 3-4 days per subject

Next 3 days
Read First Aid

Next 5 days
Did Qbook

Next 21-28 days
Did my third read of Kaplan textbooks (3-4 days per subject) while putting random notes on paper per subject. I took special attention to things I might forget.

Next 2 days
Did second read of First Aid

2 days before the exam
Did FRED sample exams

The day before the exam:
Reviewed the random notes I made for each subject
Reviewed 1st 50 pages of Qbook (Test-taking Guide Chapter)


THOUGHTS AFTER TAKING THE EXAM:

Step 1 was a fair exam - fair but nonetheless quite a tough exam. It was actually a lot harder than I anticipated it to be. The Philippine Physician Licensure Exam is nothing compared to it in terms of level of difficulty. And waiting for the result wasn’t a bit easy either. I didn’t imagine a mere six weeks of waiting could feel that long. In fact, the anxiety got to me to the point that doing the “Oasis Trick” seemed to be a reasonable thing to do just to know if I passed. I guess feeling low after the exam is but normal. It helps to think, however, that you did all that you can and you’ll reap what you deserve.

Looking back, the exam was, indeed hard but doable as long as you make preparing for it your number one priority at least for three months. The exam had a bit of everything and the questions required in-depth understanding of basic science principles. Kaplan Review Books plus the videos were enough. It’s actually more than enough, to cover all bases so to speak. UNDERSTANDING and REPETITION are essential. First Aid was very helpful as a sort of consolidation of all the information you acquired during the past weeks of study especially during the few days prior to the exam.

Well that’s it, I guess. I’m off to prepare for my next step…

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very useful USMLE step.

Thanks,
Mark - USMLE Solutions

Anonymous said...

did you take the step 1 after your four years in the pi?

Unknown said...

Hi where did you get your kaplan review books? Pls reply thanks