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erythromycin
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Experience: USMLE
Step 1 was not as bad!
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#1
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HI Guys,
I just finished my exam two days back and would like to share my experience.
First of all, it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. It was not very different from the mcq's we have. There was not any special stress of any discipline or system. All the questions were in equal proportions and more of interdisciplinary ones.
The difficulty level was slightly say 10% more than what we have in cd's.
And I attribute this to their presentation of questions in a way that they are not testing what we have studied but what we know. there won't be any usual key words. Everything was "camouflaged". This doesn't mean that there were not easy questions. Some around 25% were damn easy requiring only reading of the question and you are with the answer even without reading the choices.
Time factor is important because I found myself stuck on some questions for more than two minutes because of really long clinical history. Actually, there were quite a few taking 30 seconds just to read the question.
break time was surplus. I had seven minutes break left even after i finished my last block.
If anyone wants to ask anything in particular, feel free to ask here.
All the best guys.
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vineetgsvm
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congrats .please post in more here
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#2
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congrats for having done well on ur step 1 exam...we all would appreciate if u may share ur recalled questions type....
and others points to stress.
Iwould also request all the exam takers to post their experiences here and all the posts besides the relevance would have to be unfortunately edited.Please comply.
thanx
vineet
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RxPG_Team
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Re: congrats .please post in more here
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#3
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| vineetgsvm wrote: |
| ...we all would appreciate if u may share ur recalled questions type.... |
Can we mention here to exercise caution as ECFMG does not allow sharing of questions and consider it as an irregular behaviour. Read on:
| Quote: |
The USMLE
Committee on Irregular Behavior reviews proctors' reports and other relevant information and makes determinations as to whether USMLE
examinees have engaged in irregular behavior. The transcripts of those examinees who are found to have engaged in irregular behavior are annotated to reflect these determinations. This means that anyone receiving these examinees' USMLE
transcripts in the future will be made aware of this finding. For some infractions, the examinees are also barred from USMLE
for a period of time.
A determination of irregular behavior can put your medical career in jeopardy! Third parties, such as residency program directors and state licensing authorities, receive annotated transcripts and make determinations that could adversely affect your future.
The types of behaviors that result in findings of irregular behavior include bringing unauthorized material into the testing room (including cellular telephones, pagers, etc.), falsification of information on USMLE
documents, such as applications and score reports, making notes while in the testing room, and not adhering to proctor's instructions.
In 2003 alone, seven examinees were found guilty of having posted examination content in Internet chat rooms, and this determination led to sanctions as described above. The posting of any examination content in a public forum such as the Internet may provide unfair advantage to future test takers and is therefore strictly prohibited.
Remember, all examinees are expected to be familiar with the USMLE
[bleep] of Information and the rules of conduct. The USMLE
program will use any means necessary and appropriate to protect the integrity of the examination program.
Source: |
You all are welcome to share your exam experience, frequently asked or high yield topics in exam as there are no restrictions on that. But if you share actual examination questions, you would be doing that at your own risk.
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vineetgsvm
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Re: congrats .please post in more here
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#4
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| RxPG_Team wrote: |
| vineetgsvm wrote: |
| ...we all would appreciate if u may share ur recalled questions type.... |
Can we mention here to exercise caution as ECFMG does not allow sharing of questions and consider it as an irregular behaviour. Read on:
| Quote: |
The <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
Committee on Irregular Behavior reviews proctors' reports and other relevant information and makes determinations as to whether <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
examinees have engaged in irregular behavior. The transcripts of those examinees who are found to have engaged in irregular behavior are annotated to reflect these determinations. This means that anyone receiving these examinees' <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
transcripts in the future will be made aware of this finding. For some infractions, the examinees are also barred from <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
for a period of time.
A determination of irregular behavior can put your medical career in jeopardy! Third parties, such as residency program directors and state licensing authorities, receive annotated transcripts and make determinations that could adversely affect your future.
The types of behaviors that result in findings of irregular behavior include bringing unauthorized material into the testing room (including cellular telephones, pagers, etc.), falsification of information on <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
documents, such as applications and score reports, making notes while in the testing room, and not adhering to proctor's instructions.
In 2003 alone, seven examinees were found guilty of having posted examination content in Internet chat rooms, and this determination led to sanctions as described above. The posting of any examination content in a public forum such as the Internet may provide unfair advantage to future test takers and is therefore strictly prohibited.
Remember, all examinees are expected to be familiar with the <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
[bleep] of Information and the rules of conduct. The <a href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
program will use any means necessary and appropriate to protect the integrity of the examination program.
Source: href="http://www.rxpgonline.com/forum5.html">USMLE
</a>
.org/news/2003cib.htm |
You all are welcome to share your exam experience, frequently asked or high yield topics in exam as there are no restrictions on that. But if you share actual examination questions, you would be doing that at your own risk. |
Thanks rxpg team for the enlightenment
Well restrict ur posts for exma experiences then and as quoted by rxpg team.........
plz dont post recalled questions as itis , but u may post in the topics and the type of questions here......
hope we all help each other without breaking set rules
thanx
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dana
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#5
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hi, erythromicin
congs on doing well in ur exam.
can u post the imp topics.if not the questions.
thnx
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samip
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#6
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hey erthro congrats for doing well.
can u tell me list of books/cds that are gud for practising mle MCQs.
among these which is a must to do.
congrats once again, its a gr8 milestone afterall.
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drss
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12.21.05 (2 years ago)
#7
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congrats erythro .........am in hurry see u all later
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palls
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congrats
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12.22.05 (2 years ago)
#8
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good to hear that u did it well.so what r ur plans next?pls can u tell us abt the time management more elaborately.how did u divide ur break time?
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palls
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how to divide and utilise the break time in step1
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12.22.05 (2 years ago)
#9
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can anybody tell me whats the best way to divide the break time?pls post in ur replies even if it varies.will get a better idea abt the best possible ways .
is it better to take breaks aftr every block or at once aftr two or three blocks...?
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erythromycin
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12.22.05 (2 years ago)
#10
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Well guys, too many questions asked. Let me tell all my exact happenings of the day.
First of all I found a friend who stays just 1 km away from the center. It helped me save morning travel time and get one hour more of sleep. I slept at 11 pm and got up at 7. Reviewd first aid in one hour and reached the center ten minutes before the time given. I familiarised myself with the surroundings till i was called which was the exact time given to me in my appointment. After doing the necessary identification process i was seated in the exam chamber and asked to start.
In my first block I had problem of time. I wanted to be so sure of the choices I clicked even in the easy questions that I won't move on to the next question till I know yes I have clicked the right answer only.
This is something that we should be careful of because in the last ten minutes there were 15questions left and I had to go fast then. First I searched for the workable questions with short stems and answered them and then came to longer ones. In the end i finished all questions in first block but I was not satisfied with my performance.
I took a deep breath and went to open the next block, repeatedly telling myself not to spend extra time on any question.MARK AND GO...MARK AND GO.......No turning back.If I found myself stuck on any question I left it there and started from reverse. from 5oth questions backwards. Surprisingly you will find easy questions there. but still i wasn't perfect in 2nd block. Last two minutes I had 5 questions left.
THen I took a break for 15minutes.(I had skipped the tutorial and had 55 minutes before I took my first break.I had chocolate and cold drink.washed my face, did deep breathing, took a walk in lounge and came in.
Block three onwards I found myself composed and not getting panicky even if I found difficulty in answering the questions.
Thereafter I took a break after every block.Had a long break of 25minutes after fourth block for lunch and also because i had lot of time left and only 3 blocks to go.I would suggest even if you take a break to just walk around till the loo and come back that refreshes you so take a break after every block after doing first two in a go.
I got pictures, images, mri, ctscans around 30 in whole test. They were pretty workable, didn't find any serious problem there.
there were questions making you imagine things.Suppose if this happens......then what will be the changes, like that. Those were the questions for which I wrote in my first message that THEY DON'T TEST WHAT WE HAVE STUDIED BUT WHAT WE KNOW.I found graphs with new parameters on x and y axis, never found in any review books. testing the same concept but in a different way.
I think I have answered all the questions. If not please reask them.
Thanks
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