How to do well on shelf exams

Things you will need

1. UWorld Step 2 CK
2. OnlineMedEd
3. These HY powerpoints

Pediatric Shelf: it's broad and occasionally frustrating. It seems like 85% a medicine exam but they reduced the ages. You can count on seeing the bread and butter pediatric content though: vaxx, developmental milestones, rashes, malignancy, *orthopedics. I had one repeat question on the shelf from the clinical science mastery form #3. No great textbook, but some used BRS pediatrics and liked it. Step 1 knowledge is helpful. UWorld questions are helpful. Click here for Amazon link to BRS pediatrics - http://amzn.to/2oxoTGi via @amazon

Psychiatry: super focused and can’t rely on knowledge from other clerkships to help necessarily. FA Psych is a fantastic book. They love to ask diagnostic criteria or give you a solid MDD vignette without all the criterion met and force you to assume and treat. Know the timelines required for diagnostics. Know intoxication symptoms. Know pharm. Probably most straightforward exam out of all of them. Check out this Amazon deal: First Aid for the Psychiatry Clerkship, Fourt... by Latha Ganti http://amzn.to/2tbstuP via @amazon

OB: again cant rely on other clerkship knowledge persay. For textbooks, people like Blueprints is dry but highly revered. Lots of focus on management of complications on the shelf. The ACOG Uwise bank was far far far greater than UWorld for this exam. Knowing Uwise very ver well will do you solid. I really felt like clinical science mastery form 3 and 4 were excellent and that 2 was tricky and 1 was garbage. Check out this Amazon deal: Blueprints Obstetrics & Gynecology by Dr. Tamara Callahan M.D. http://amzn.to/2F0iXQH via @amazon

Medicine: People recommend mostly IM UWorld, and SU2M. The SU2M book isn’t a fun read though. OnlineMedEd is super good for most topics. Also need to know ambulatory care and screening guidelines. Check out this Amazon deal: Step-Up to Medicine (Step-Up Series) by Steven S. Agabegi http://amzn.to/2t5mc3p via @amazon

Surgery: For textbook, I loved Pestansa's. DeVirgilio was also helpful but Pestansa's is most of what you'll need. Check out this Amazon deal: Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes: Top 180 Vignette... by Dr. Carlos Pestana http://amzn.to/2tbtrXZ via @amazon

Family Medicine: no great textbook. If you liked NMS or case files before, try it now. The AAFP has questions available to students. I felt like these are pretty low yield sometimes and have very diminishing returns after about 400. Know your USPSTF guidelines. Review some peds/ob stuff if you haven’t had it yet.

Get First Aid for Step 1!

Check out this Amazon deal: First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2018, 28th Edi... by Tao Le http://amzn.to/2t0dNhM via @amazon

Free ?s from USMLE and their correlation to actual score

Each year the USMLE will put out a free set of questions. Historically some people have had repeat questions from NBME 18/17 or the Free 130 released each year located here under sample items: http://www.usmle.org/practice-materials/.  They have had repeat questions from these on Step 1! 

Using these 130 + a paid 4 block exam will help simulate the stamina needed for test day. If you wish to do the 7 block a couple of times let me know. They reuse a fraction of questions each year so we have to go back a couple of years to find a “unique” test. No key to any of this so I recommend meeting up with people to talk about stuff and make sure you get the content down.

A reddit user called SpaceHawkins plotted 30 people's performance and got the following chart. Basically. Free ? percent correct * 2.68 + 11 = USMLE Step 1 score. The r squared is 0.80 which is pretty good.

Block 1: 90%
Block 2: 92.5%
Block 3: 92.5%

Need more questions than just this years batch from USMLE? Be sure to check out Indiana School of Medicine. They have been keeping up with these over the past several years. You can find them on their pages. http://medsci.indiana.edu/c602web/602/c602web/usmle/2007step1.pdf is an example of a link. Want 2008 too? Just change the year and you have more questions straight from the usmle source!

How to approach UWorld and a formula to calculate Step 1 score

UWorld is without question the best resource for practice questions. Your goal should be to get through Uworld twice. This includes a first pass, incorrects, a reset, a second pass, incorrects. My first pass percentage was 72% which is in the 84th percentile. Do not let the percentiles encourage you. Everyone is on a different playing field when this is calculated. Some people are on their second pass which will artificially deflate the percentiles.

Here's a chart that will help you correlate you uworld first pass percentile to your possible exam score. Notice mine correlates and several others did as well. 

https://usmle-score-correlation.blogspot.com/

My experience taking USMLE Step 1: 256

Hi all. I wanted to share my experience studying for USMLE step 1. This information will be helpful if you're a first year or second year medical student. Step 1 is 7 hours long with a 1 hour break for 8 hours to complete 280 questions.

Here's what you'll need.

1. UWorld for USMLE Step 1 : link
2. First Aid for Step 1 : link

Some other things you may want to consider:

1. Sketchy Micro is an excellent resource for microbiology.
2. DIT is super helpful if you need a structured course to get through First Aid.
1. DIT's biostatistics section is super helpful if you can borrow from a friend.
3. NBME Practice Exams
1. Clinical Mastery Series which are practice Step 1s : link
2. Yearly "free 150" practice questions from USMLE: link

USMLE Step 1 Breakdown

• 55-65% is Medical Knowledge/Scientific Concepts
• 20-30% Patient Care: Diagnosis
• This includes H&P, lab, diagnosis and prognosis/outcome 
• 7-12% Patient Care Management
• Health management/prevention
• Pharmacotherapy
• 2-5% Communication/Professionalism
• 4-8% practice-based learning

For the NBME practice exams. I would do as much as possible. Historically, some people have had repeat questions from NBME 18/17 or the Free 130 released each year located here under sample items: Using these 130 + a paid 4 block exam will help simulate the stamina needed for test day. If you wish to do the 7 block a couple of times let me know. They reuse a fraction of questions each year so we have to go back a couple of years to find a “unique” test. No key to any of this so I recommend meeting up with people to talk about stuff and make sure you get the content down.

Six Months before the exam  = 185

Two Month before Exam 223

Pre-Dedicated NBME 18 score = 230. This was a really tough exam. Definitely the hardest out of the ones that were available to me at the time. Did decent but not where I wanted to score. 

UWSA1 = 248. This test has some great experimental questions that make you really think about the data. Definitely similar to exam day.

NBME16 = 249. This was a good exam. Good microbiology questions.

UWSA2 = 258

NBME17 = 254, two days before exam.

MyReport.pdf