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From:
Date: 23 Dec 2004
Time: 17:41:57 -0500
Remote Name: 192.30.202.11
Posted by jos from IP 67.163.230.191 on December 23, 2004 at 10:51:06: hi everyone!!!! it is finally over.i first of all would like to thank all of you for your help.let me start by telling you about this exam first. 50% of my paper was about what a practicing physician would do in a variety of scenarios (sounds easy)but the options were so vague that i cant say whether i marked the right answer or the wrong one.lots of vague pathology.i had read goljan with a little supplementation of k aplan and brs.i cant say that was enough .although the topics were the same most questions were not asking any mechanisms of injuries and not a single direct question .i think if i had read a step 2 book i probably could get them right but they were very vague.pharmacology is one of my worst subjects but this exam asks very straightforward pharmac. questions .some were in the graph form and most were mechanism of action.i also got a lot of indirect questions about the drug metabolisms.focus a lot on cancer drugs and antibiotics.read all you can about them .they can ask you anything.l ippencotts is enough.for physiology read k aplans very well and you cant go wrong.that book gives you a beautiful way of analysing physiology questions especially if you solve the ones at the end of the topics.i got a few physiology graphs that were even easier than q bank.there were a lot of arrows going in every direction and trust me these people know how to confuse you with these.i knew such questions are common so i had practiced a lot of such questions but the usmle people think a bit further and come up with things one can never think of.behavioural sciences questions as expected were the doctor patient relationships.these are always vague and you can only mark whay you think is right and hope for the best.well for a change one of these was from the q bank.i highly recommend the q bank for behavioural science questions.if you go through them once you are in a good shape for behavioural sciences.i got a few questions on defence mechanisms and personalities.statistics had a few calculations (very basic)and i recommend a good practice in solving error questions.microbiology was ok and very obvious.a few odd questions in cell and molecular biology and a few easy ones.k aplan is more than enough.genetics was ok too again read kaplan.read about the genetic mechanisms of gene disfunctions very well.not in kaplan .i was asked a few of such questions that i had no clue about and i was just doing innie minnie mina mo amd marking those.immunology had a very few mice questions and all were indirect but the options were easy to decide and so finally they were not hard atall.again kaplan is perfect for this subject. if you have a lot of time just flip through the pages of j avetz immunology.biochemistry was a nightmare and i cant even remember the questions .horrible is the only word i have.practice the metabolisms and synthesis very well.knowing just the basics wont help here.learn how to interconnect pathways.anatomy had some photos that i had never seen and could only do guess work.but overall anatomy was ok.high yield is good for anatomy.i got a very few ct scans just 2 or 3 maybe.got some diagrams that i had no clue about.and most of the pictures i got didnt have any explanations so i had to know the diagram to identify anything.some patho pictures were very obvious but they had lengthy explanations.overall i think it is doable but noway do i think it is easy.i am not trying to scare anyone here,just giving my point of view.i am sure all will do well but i thought i need to tell the truth so that all my friends will be well prepared rather than take it easy.they test just the basic concepts in most of the questions only in a very twisted way.remember there will always be queations that you have unheard of but dont panic.thats the key. now let me tell you about my preparation .i came to the usa 1 year ago .found this site from google.started attending this forum and met a lot of wonderful helpful people.i started collecting books in jan-april and was travelling here and there .started studying on and off.i am married with family commitments .from august i sat and studies for about 5 hours a day.this last month i have been studying for 7 to 8 hours a day.never reached the 10 to 12 hours mark though.i used to take breaks,go out for small picnics.i think they are very essential to refresh your mind.thankfully i have a very supporting husband.so no complaints there.i read k aplan probably 4 time lippencotts for pharmacology and high yield for anatomy.some immunology from javetz.my qbank scores were 79%,usmle cd 2and 1/2 before the exam was 42,42,42.nbme scores 1 and 1/2 month before the exam was 560(thats when i got very scared) and the kaplan simulated c.d. 14 days before the exam was 75% or 76% i cant remember.i had no time to do nbme part 2.i found this exam to be similar to none of these.the difficulty level was harder that all of these exams .but i recommend all of them as the give you a good idea of your weaknesses. thats all i have to say.thankyou very much for your help and best wishes and now i will pray for all of you to give this exam and pass it with flying colors.if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Posted by jos from IP 67.163.230.191 on December 23, 2004 at 10:51:06: hi everyone!!!! it is finally over.i first of all would like to thank all of you for your help.let me start by telling you about this exam first. 50% of my paper was about what a practicing physician would do in a variety of scenarios (sounds easy)but the options were so vague that i cant say whether i marked the right answer or the wrong one.lots of vague pathology.i had read goljan with a little supplementation of k aplan and brs.i cant say that was enough .although the topics were the same most questions were not asking any mechanisms of injuries and not a single direct question .i think if i had read a step 2 book i probably could get them right but they were very vague.pharmacology is one of my worst subjects but this exam asks very straightforward pharmac. questions .some were in the graph form and most were mechanism of action.i also got a lot of indirect questions about the drug metabolisms.focus a lot on cancer drugs and antibiotics.read all you can about them .they can ask you anything.l ippencotts is enough.for physiology read k aplans very well and you cant go wrong.that book gives you a beautiful way of analysing physiology questions especially if you solve the ones at the end of the topics.i got a few physiology graphs that were even easier than q bank.there were a lot of arrows going in every direction and trust me these people know how to confuse you with these.i knew such questions are common so i had practiced a lot of such questions but the usmle people think a bit further and come up with things one can never think of.behavioural sciences questions as expected were the doctor patient relationships.these are always vague and you can only mark whay you think is right and hope for the best.well for a change one of these was from the q bank.i highly recommend the q bank for behavioural science questions.if you go through them once you are in a good shape for behavioural sciences.i got a few questions on defence mechanisms and personalities.statistics had a few calculations (very basic)and i recommend a good practice in solving error questions.microbiology was ok and very obvious.a few odd questions in cell and molecular biology and a few easy ones.k aplan is more than enough.genetics was ok too again read kaplan.read about the genetic mechanisms of gene disfunctions very well.not in kaplan .i was asked a few of such questions that i had no clue about and i was just doing innie minnie mina mo amd marking those.immunology had a very few mice questions and all were indirect but the options were easy to decide and so finally they were not hard atall.again kaplan is perfect for this subject. if you have a lot of time just flip through the pages of j avetz immunology.biochemistry was a nightmare and i cant even remember the questions .horrible is the only word i have.practice the metabolisms and synthesis very well.knowing just the basics wont help here.learn how to interconnect pathways.anatomy had some photos that i had never seen and could only do guess work.but overall anatomy was ok.high yield is good for anatomy.i got a very few ct scans just 2 or 3 maybe.got some diagrams that i had no clue about.and most of the pictures i got didnt have any explanations so i had to know the diagram to identify anything.some patho pictures were very obvious but they had lengthy explanations.overall i think it is doable but noway do i think it is easy.i am not trying to scare anyone here,just giving my point of view.i am sure all will do well but i thought i need to tell the truth so that all my friends will be well prepared rather than take it easy.they test just the basic concepts in most of the questions only in a very twisted way.remember there will always be queations that you have unheard of but dont panic.thats the key. now let me tell you about my preparation .i came to the usa 1 year ago .found this site from google.started attending this forum and met a lot of wonderful helpful people.i started collecting books in jan-april and was travelling here and there .started studying on and off.i am married with family commitments .from august i sat and studies for about 5 hours a day.this last month i have been studying for 7 to 8 hours a day.never reached the 10 to 12 hours mark though.i used to take breaks,go out for small picnics.i think they are very essential to refresh your mind.thankfully i have a very supporting husband.so no complaints there.i read k aplan probably 4 time lippencotts for pharmacology and high yield for anatomy.some immunology from javetz.my qbank scores were 79%,usmle cd 2and 1/2 before the exam was 42,42,42.nbme scores 1 and 1/2 month before the exam was 560(thats when i got very scared) and the kaplan simulated c.d. 14 days before the exam was 75% or 76% i cant remember.i had no time to do nbme part 2.i found this exam to be similar to none of these.the difficulty level was harder that all of these exams .but i recommend all of them as the give you a good idea of your weaknesses. thats all i have to say.thankyou very much for your help and best wishes and now i will pray for all of you to give this exam and pass it with flying colors.if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Posted by jos from IP 67.163.230.191 on December 23, 2004 at 10:51:06: hi everyone!!!! it is finally over.i first of all would like to thank all of you for your help.let me start by telling you about this exam first. 50% of my paper was about what a practicing physician would do in a variety of scenarios (sounds easy)but the options were so vague that i cant say whether i marked the right answer or the wrong one.lots of vague pathology.i had read goljan with a little supplementation of k aplan and brs.i cant say that was enough .although the topics were the same most questions were not asking any mechanisms of injuries and not a single direct question .i think if i had read a step 2 book i probably could get them right but they were very vague.pharmacology is one of my worst subjects but this exam asks very straightforward pharmac. questions .some were in the graph form and most were mechanism of action.i also got a lot of indirect questions about the drug metabolisms.focus a lot on cancer drugs and antibiotics.read all you can about them .they can ask you anything.l ippencotts is enough.for physiology read k aplans very well and you cant go wrong.that book gives you a beautiful way of analysing physiology questions especially if you solve the ones at the end of the topics.i got a few physiology graphs that were even easier than q bank.there were a lot of arrows going in every direction and trust me these people know how to confuse you with these.i knew such questions are common so i had practiced a lot of such questions but the usmle people think a bit further and come up with things one can never think of.behavioural sciences questions as expected were the doctor patient relationships.these are always vague and you can only mark whay you think is right and hope for the best.well for a change one of these was from the q bank.i highly recommend the q bank for behavioural science questions.if you go through them once you are in a good shape for behavioural sciences.i got a few questions on defence mechanisms and personalities.statistics had a few calculations (very basic)and i recommend a good practice in solving error questions.microbiology was ok and very obvious.a few odd questions in cell and molecular biology and a few easy ones.k aplan is more than enough.genetics was ok too again read kaplan.read about the genetic mechanisms of gene disfunctions very well.not in kaplan .i was asked a few of such questions that i had no clue about and i was just doing innie minnie mina mo amd marking those.immunology had a very few mice questions and all were indirect but the options were easy to decide and so finally they were not hard atall.again kaplan is perfect for this subject. if you have a lot of time just flip through the pages of j avetz immunology.biochemistry was a nightmare and i cant even remember the questions .horrible is the only word i have.practice the metabolisms and synthesis very well.knowing just the basics wont help here.learn how to interconnect pathways.anatomy had some photos that i had never seen and could only do guess work.but overall anatomy was ok.high yield is good for anatomy.i got a very few ct scans just 2 or 3 maybe.got some diagrams that i had no clue about.and most of the pictures i got didnt have any explanations so i had to know the diagram to identify anything.some patho pictures were very obvious but they had lengthy explanations.overall i think it is doable but noway do i think it is easy.i am not trying to scare anyone here,just giving my point of view.i am sure all will do well but i thought i need to tell the truth so that all my friends will be well prepared rather than take it easy.they test just the basic concepts in most of the questions only in a very twisted way.remember there will always be queations that you have unheard of but dont panic.thats the key. now let me tell you about my preparation .i came to the usa 1 year ago .found this site from google.started attending this forum and met a lot of wonderful helpful people.i started collecting books in jan-april and was travelling here and there .started studying on and off.i am married with family commitments .from august i sat and studies for about 5 hours a day.this last month i have been studying for 7 to 8 hours a day.never reached the 10 to 12 hours mark though.i used to take breaks,go out for small picnics.i think they are very essential to refresh your mind.thankfully i have a very supporting husband.so no complaints there.i read k aplan probably 4 time lippencotts for pharmacology and high yield for anatomy.some immunology from javetz.my qbank scores were 79%,usmle cd 2and 1/2 before the exam was 42,42,42.nbme scores 1 and 1/2 month before the exam was 560(thats when i got very scared) and the kaplan simulated c.d. 14 days before the exam was 75% or 76% i cant remember.i had no time to do nbme part 2.i found this exam to be similar to none of these.the difficulty level was harder that all of these exams .but i recommend all of them as the give you a good idea of your weaknesses. thats all i have to say.thankyou very much for your help and best wishes and now i will pray for all of you to give this exam and pass it with flying colors.if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Hi Jos, This is the time to take rest and enjoy X-mas. Your input is very useful for us. I have 2 Qs. 1.Have you found out *many Qs* similar to your pre-exam practising Qs asking and scrutinizing those of molecular biology (for eg. Q asking Hoxd gene, Ras gene, Leucine zipper, Cdk 2 cyclin D & E, etc). 2.Do you think that Histo HY and Cell and Molecular Biology HY are useful and shuold be studied well ? Thanks ! Best of luck for great score ! sjs yes sjs i got about 10 questions on cell and molecular biology about the topics you mentioned above.most of them can be answered based on k aplan molecular biology .histology high yield is good but my exam had very different slides on histology but they were very few.still i would say read histo.high yield not just for the histology part but also for the molecular biology part that they have given.all my embryology questions were based on hoxd gene etc about 5 or 6.so read that part very well. Javab: Wow! I scored 210/85 on the USMLE and my score on Qbank was 70 and Kaplan simulated Cd were 65 and 68.