Step 1 score came in today: 233

Hey guys.
It was lower than NBME 6,7,11,12.
But I expected it. My timing was way off. Always rushed at the end of each block
and took too much time on hard ones that I probably couldn't get anyways. Which
left no time for easier ones towards the end.

Make sure you fly through it and trust your instincts. You know the material. Give yourself
enough time to get the ones you can get instead of wasting time on ones you probably can't get.

At least its over
Lets see what the MEAS office has in store for me for clinicals.

Originally Posted by aucdoctor

Hey guys.
It was lower than NBME 6,7,11,12.
But I expected it. My timing was way off. Always rushed at the end of each block
and took too much time on hard ones that I probably couldn't get anyways. Which
left no time for easier ones towards the end.

Make sure you fly through it and trust your instincts. You know the material. Give yourself
enough time to get the ones you can get instead of wasting time on ones you probably can't get.

At least its over
Lets see what the MEAS office has in store for me for clinicals.

Ah, so they limit where you can do your clinicals based on your step score? Even with a score that is better than >80% of test takers!?! Do you have any idea of what the minimum step score would be to get mostly NYC clinicals?

Originally Posted by PreMed74

Ah, so they limit where you can do your clinicals based on your step score? Even with a score that is better than >80% of test takers!?! Do you have any idea of what the minimum step score would be to get mostly NYC clinicals?

Well I live in NYC. So I'm not going anywhere except here

As far as minimum score that I don't know.
All I know is I submit my scores to my clinical advisor. They ask you
to tell them your top 3 geographical locations.
In a week they send me a schedule.

I only gave them one geo location = NYC.

In the meanwhile you need to get a criminal background check done as well as vaccinations/titers/etc.

No, they don't limit based on step score. Your options for clinicals are based on when you submit your score and what spots are available/will become available in the near term. Scores themselves have nothing to do with where you will get clinicals. First come, first served.

Very respectable score! Get that or better on Step 2CK and you're in major business. And of course make sure you get good clinical grades.

Way to go!

Originally Posted by Medical Moose

Very respectable score! Get that or better on Step 2CK and you're in major business. And of course make sure you get good clinical grades.

Way to go!

thanks moose

Originally Posted by aucdoctor

Hey guys.
It was lower than NBME 6,7,11,12.
But I expected it. My timing was way off. Always rushed at the end of each block
and took too much time on hard ones that I probably couldn't get anyways. Which
left no time for easier ones towards the end.

Make sure you fly through it and trust your instincts. You know the material. Give yourself
enough time to get the ones you can get instead of wasting time on ones you probably can't get.

At least its over
Lets see what the MEAS office has in store for me for clinicals.

First of all Congrats!!!!

Would you share what you used to slay the dragon (Step 1)?

I was a bit disappointed because I was averaging about 240 on NBMEs.
But I'm not surprised because I realize that my timing strategy really sucked.
I took too long on questions that were tough and didn't give myself enough
time for some easy ones at the end of each block. I was trying to answer everything perfectly. DO NOT DO THAT. Try to fly through it. Don't second guess yourself. You know your stuff so trust yourself. My problem was I didn't trust myself that much. I'm always doubting myself.

What I used:

I didn't use First Aid at all unless I needed to look something up really quickly.
I could not get myself to read it. Too much of a laundry list.

This is what I used.

1. Kaplan Anatomy: Excellent. Dr. W for Neuro is fantastic as well as the gross anatomy/embryo guy.

2. Kaplan Pharm with Dr. Raymon is a must. He's so ridiculously good. If you ever get to meet him in person he's awesome. The way he integrates is so much better than Goljan.

3. Kaplan Immuno/Micro: Dr. M is great but the micro videos are lengthy and some portions are irrelevant. However, this was my weakest subject so did everything I could for Micro.

4. Kaplan Behavioral takes 24 hours and is enough for Step 1. Make sure you know biostatistics.

5. Kaplan Biochem. I did Dr. Raymon's from like 10 years ago and I did the 2010 vids as well. I wanted to know biochem inside and out.

6. I didn't do much for physio because I thought I learned it pretty well in school. I have to say though that I went to graduate school for applied mathematics so physio stuff just stuck with me or I could sort work my way through problems.

7. For Path, I did listen to Goljan.

8. Pay attention when Dr. Raymon comes to do the integration series. He is simply amazing when it comes to teaching and integrating.

9. If you're having issues with Physio go see the darn Kaplan Physio guys. For some reason when I was on the island, only like 10 people showed up. I guess people were freaking about the comps.

I got through half of USMLE World Qs. I had a subscription to Kaplan Qbank but never got around to doing them. I mainly used it for what I felt I needed practice in. For example I did all of the UWorld micro Qs (200) a couple of times. I did all the behavioral sci/biostats a couple of times.
But honestly I don't feel like any Qbank is like Step 1. I would not dissect each question. Go through them quickly just as an extra source of info. Don't waste a whole bunch of time because UWorld explanations suck. They are not simple explanation and you're going to stress yourself out and waste time. They key is how you approach learning in general.

The key is integration, integration, integration. Also, don't gloss over stuff. For instance, always ask yourself questions: Why why why? Example: everyone knows that you get mediastinal widening with an anthrax infection. What is causing the widening?

Simple things like that. If you're learning vitamins. Make sure besides their functions you're asking yourself which ones are co-factors for bio chem rxns. Or even with trace minerals. Where does selenium fit in? Copper? Zinc? You to jump to the enzymes that use them. Metalloproteinases, oxidases, etc etc.

If you're studying the anti-oxidants? Know how they fit in with acetaminophen. Tx for tylenol poisoning? Should lead you to the different zones in the liver. Where does CYP 450s live? Which ones are inducers/inhibitors? Do you know how they look on a Burke-Lineweaver plot? When you induce gene expression are your increasing Vm or Km?

Where does selenium fit in with the HMP shunt? Speaking of the HMP shunt what's its purpose? Where its link to micro? Where its link to purines & pyrimidines? How does GSH fit in? NADPH? How about cysteine and its relationship with GSH? Cysteine's role in the nitric oxide pathway.

You say copper and you think Wilson's or Menke's? You think of lysyl oxidase which then leads you to collagen and so know every single thing about collagen. Whats happening intracellularly and then after export from the cell? Then be able to jump about wound healing and how collagen is involved. Type III? Type I? etc etc What is keloids made of?
If you're constantly asking questions and being proactive you'll be good.

Sorry if I'm blabbering. Just rambling off the top of my head. I feel like if you can begin to push yourself in this manner it'll be good. I think sometimes in med school things just are not connected well for us. Its tough to make those connections when you're professors don't really point them out. So you're going have to do the work yourself.
You learn things separately and medicine is all integration. So please start early in the way you think about the material.

If you're constantly making a roadmap this exam is not hard. Honestly. Sure there are some tough ones, but the questions are very fair. Do not simply memorize! They want to know WHY? Mechanism...mechanism...mechanism. Start early. There is no easy fix for this exam. There is no substitute for working hard during your basic sciences. Really immerse yourself in the material during those 2 years.

If I could do it all over again I would of been more diligent during my basic sciences and taking this approach instead of figuring it after 2 years.

Good luck everyone.

Pretty good advice, but for most, Uworld is dead on. Do it 1-2x, and really read the explanations, they are more than sufficient to do very well on both step 1 and 2. Kaplan Qbank is decent, but overly nitpicky. In my experience, UW was perfect for both steps, and in fact all I used for both was UW and First Aid.

Maybe that would of helped my score. I barely got through 50% of UW.