INVISTA NO SEU SUCESSO:
Preparing for the USMLE Step 1 is a daunting but achievable task with the right resources and mindset. Posts from successful test-takers consistently recommend First Aid as the cornerstone of preparation, often enriched with annotations from Boards and Beyond (BnB) or Sketchy, making it a personalized study tool (e.g., Post 1). UWorld stands out as the go-to question bank, praised for its depth and ability to mimic the exam’s question style, with users completing anywhere from 50% to 80% of it (Posts 1-4). NBMEs are essential for tracking progress, offering a realistic benchmark with scores improving through repetition and review (Post 1). Tools like Anki are lauded for retention, especially for high-yield topics such as ethics, musculoskeletal (MSK), and microbiology, which frequently appear on the exam (Post 1). This combination of resources builds a robust foundation for success.
The preparation journey is fraught with challenges, including low initial scores and feelings of being overwhelmed, as shared across multiple posts. However, strategies like thorough NBME reviews and targeted use of Mehlman PDFs for subjects like ethics or arrows can turn the tide (Posts 2, 3). AMBOSS shines for ethics prep, while Dirty Medicine and Randy Neil are go-to resources for quick mastery of ethics and biostatistics (Post 4). Visual learners swear by Sketchy for microbiology and pharmacology, making complex topics stick (Post 4). Emotional resilience is key—users advise trusting in your preparation and leaning on faith or perseverance, as seen in Post 1 and Post 3, where confidence and a higher power helped overcome doubt. These insights show that persistence and smart resource use can bridge knowledge gaps.
For those pressed for time or resources, prioritizing UWorld and NBMEs is a common thread, with the Free 120 often cited as a final readiness check (Posts 3, 4). Logistical tips include leveraging group discounts for tools like Sketchy (Post 208) and being mindful of test center conditions or rescheduling fees (Posts 145, 202). The exam itself tests endurance and strategy, with long stems and a focus on applying concepts rather than rote memorization (Post 3). Ultimately, a tailored approach—balancing content review, practice questions, and self-assessment—is the path to passing, as diverse experiences from an IMG mom (Post 3) to a structured six-month prep (Post 4) demonstrate. Success lies in adapting these tools and tips to your unique circumstances.
Resources
UWorld: A widely used question bank for Step 1 prep, highlighted for its comprehensive questions and explanations.
Post 1: "I PASSED!! TRUST GOD AND BE CONFIDENT" (18/03/2025): Completed 60%, used for ethics questions.
Post 2: "A girl failure's guide to passing step one" (19/03/2025): 60% completed, 58% average.
Post 3: "Passed Step 1" (14/03/2025): 50% completed, 52% average.
Post 4: "Passed below is my experience" (14/03/2025): Most important question bank, 20-80 questions daily.
Post 30: "International Student, weak foundations, need help/have a few doubts" (17/03/2025): Planned offline use.
First Aid (FA): A core resource, often annotated with other materials, considered foundational for Step 1 content.
Post 1: Used as a reference, annotated with BnB and Sketchy.
Post 2: Not completed, used at exam center.
Post 3: Completed Micro and Reproductive sections.
Post 4: Primary resource (2024 edition), exam based on its concepts.
Post 30: 2025/4 edition planned.
Boards and Beyond (BnB): Video lectures for content review, useful for foundational learning.
Post 1: Annotated into FA, took 3 months.
Post 3: Used lectures, not fully completed.
Post 4: Limited value, recommended skipping for FA.
Post 30: Option alongside Bootcamp.
Mehlman Materials (PDFs, Videos, Podcasts): High-yield resources for specific topics like arrows, MSK, and ethics.
Post 1: Arrows, MSK, Immuno, Neuroanatomy used, flashcards made.
Post 3: Podcasts during commute.
Post 4: Random videos and PDFs (Biochem, Immuno, Ethics, etc.) reviewed.
AMBOSS: Focused on ethics questions, recommended as a supplement.
Post 1: Ethics questions recommended.
Post 4: Ethics highly recommended during dedicated period.
Sketchy (Micro, Pharma): Visual learning tool for microbiology and pharmacology.
Post 1: Micro annotated into FA.
Post 4: Micro and Pharma recommended for visual learners.
Post 30: Pharma and Micro planned.
Randy Neil: Videos for biostatistics, highly praised.
Post 1: For biostats questions.
Post 4: Highly recommended.
Post 30: Planned for biostats.
Dirty Medicine: Useful for ethics and biochemistry, often used for quick reviews.
Post 1: For ethics and biostats.
Post 3: Gold for last recap.
Post 4: Recommended for Ethics and Biochem.
Pathoma: Pathology resource, often paired with other materials.
Post 30: Planned use.
Pixorize: For biochemistry, immunology, and neuroanatomy, paired with Anki.
Post 30: Planned for Biochem and Genetics.
Physeo: Anatomy and physiology resource for foundational learning.
Post 30: Planned for Anatomy and Physiology.
Bootcamp: Alternative to BnB, comprehensive content review.
Post 30: Option alongside BnB.
Anking: Anki deck for retention, widely used but challenging for some.
Post 1: Recommended for retention.
Post 30: Considered but found hard.
ChatGPT: Used for generating revision questions.
Post 2: Used to make questions.
Scores
NBME Scores: Practice tests to gauge readiness, scores vary widely.
Post 1: NBME 25 (42.5%-67%), 26 (55%-78%), 27 (57%-80%), 28 (58%-86%), 29 (59%-78%), 30 (57%-95%), 31 (66%).
Post 2: NBME 28 (68%), 30 (70%).
Post 3: NBME 28-31 (50%-55%).
Post 4: NBME 24 (58%), 25 (61%), 26 (70%), 27 (68%), 28 (71%), 29 (70%), 30 (70%), 31 (73%).
Free 120 Scores: Indicator of exam readiness.
Post 1: 68% (2 days before).
Post 2: 50% (Feb 18).
Post 3: 57% (2 days before).
Post 4: Old 71%, New 66%.
UWorld Scores: Completion and accuracy metrics.
Post 1: 60% completed.
Post 2: 60% completed, 58% average.
Post 3: 50% completed, 52% average.
Post 4: 20-80 questions daily.
UWSA Scores: UWorld self-assessments.
Post 2: UWSA 2 (76%).
Post 3: UWSA (55%, day before).
Methods
System-Wise Study: Studying by organ systems.
Post 2: Started with systems first.
Resource-Wise Study: Using resources sequentially for weak foundations.
Post 30: Planned resource-wise approach.
Annotating First Aid: Adding notes from other resources.
Post 1: Annotated with BnB, Sketchy.
Daily UWorld Questions: Consistent question practice.
Post 4: 20-80 questions daily.
Thorough NBME Review: Deep analysis of practice tests.
Post 2: Reviewed NBME blocks thoroughly.
Post 3: Reviewed at library.
Anki for Retention: Spaced repetition for memory.
Post 1: Used religiously.
Practice Tests (CBSE, UWSA): Simulating exam conditions.
Post 4: NBMEs for time management.
Opportunities
Group Discounts: Cost-saving for resources.
Post 208: "Sketchy Medical 30% Group Discount- March 2025" (15/03/2025): 30% off Sketchy.
Practice Tests at Prometric: Familiarizing with test environment.
Post 179: "Can I book step 1 practice exam at the prometric before booking an eligibility period for step 1?" (14/03/2025): Inquiry about practice exams.
Tips
Focus on First Aid and UWorld: Core preparation strategy.
Post 4: FA as primary, UWorld most important.
Use Mehlman and AMBOSS for Specific Topics: Targeted study.
Post 4: Mehlman and AMBOSS recommended.
Do Anki for Retention: Enhance memory.
Post 1: Emphasized for retention.
Trust Your NBME Scores: Gauge readiness.
Post 3: Trust brain to retrieve info.
Perseverance Pays Off: Keep pushing forward.
Post 3: Highlighted as key to success.
Revise High-Yield Topics Regularly: Focus on key areas.
Post 2: Revise 5 topics daily (immunodeficiencies, vitamins, etc.).
Use ChatGPT for Revision Questions: Creative review method.
Post 2: Suggested for question generation.
Tricks
Use NBME Portal Insights: Analyze performance trends.
Post 2: Comment mentions insights tool (https://www.nbme.org/educators/resources/insights).
Take Practice Tests for Stamina: Build endurance.
Post 2: NBME reviews for stamina.
Focus on Understanding Concepts: Beyond memorization.
Post 1: Prioritize understanding over memorizing answers.
Key Information
Exam Content: Heavy on ethics, MSK, and microbiology.
Post 1: Ethics, MSK, micro heavy.
Post 2: Cancer syndromes, ethics emphasized.
Test Center Challenges: Noise, waits, etc., can affect experience.
Post 145: "Should I take the exam on consecutive days?" (15/03/2025): Notes on test center conditions.
Rescheduling Policies: Fees and timing considerations.
Post 202: "Question About Rescheduling Step 1 Exam" (17/03/2025): $100 fee up to 6 days before.
Test-Taking Strategies: Crucial for success.
Post 2: Use method of elimination.
Here are all non-Reddit URLs mentioned in the document, relevant to Step 1 preparation:
https://www.nbme.org/educators/resources/insights: NBME insights tool for reviewing performance (Post 2 comment).
https://www.usmle.org/performance-data: Official USMLE performance data.
https://www.amboss.com/us/usmle/score-predictor: AMBOSS score predictor.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGfF5mAgIS0sxjNdcPO2Ct3ru7W65pzA/view: Google Drive link, possibly Mehlman-related.
https://youtu.be/HqBp424eCSk?si=gLtx7O35FclBT3AK: YouTube video, unspecified content.
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/444814983: Anki deck link.
https://youtu.be/FSmvbtrq7pM?si=qDpt7cRS0RHZaJ9D: YouTube video, unspecified.
https://www.medstudentsuccess.com/resources: General medical student resources.
https://youtu.be/WmPx333n5UQ?si=AA8EFrZS33m5BpyO: YouTube video, unspecified.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dih2D1dwqkw: YouTube video, unspecified.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaJ7xpakKy2K770srDDFjCZj18xtsaSsK&si=k5conuOclFVxrhda: YouTube playlist, possibly study-related.
https://exception.network: Unspecified resource.
https://wry-drill-0b1.notion.site/Our-Library-f87b880f48464a87a72e83ed39b87583: Notion library of resources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE_AKUgRU2Y: YouTube video, Memorize Hypothalamic Nuclei and their functions in 4 min. Easy Mnemonic (appears twice).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eq1K4o8LeH5YFvbynxhg-aKsyINjQVy94467MDO0xiY/edit?usp=sharing: Dirty Medicine Excel sheet (Post unspecified).
https://forms.gle/GemNNME95M6Udpgd7: Google Form, Sketchy group discount.
https://forms.gle/SZVsp5APJvu1XbQf6: Google Form, Sketchy group discount.
https://forms.gle/eRktsXyz72k7oDLm9: Sketchy discount form (Post 208).
https://youtu.be/kEMjVykmQzI: YouTube video, Failed Step 1 Twice | Study Strategies with Vickie | Medical Student.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwAhNMZ9cEY: YouTube video, Potter Sequence EXPLAINED! First Aid 2025 Breakdown + UWorld-Style Practice Questions | USMLE Step 1.
https://www.osmosis.org/invite/jtmVD78: Osmosis invite link.
Post 1: I PASSED!! TRUST GOD AND BE CONFIDENT
18/03/2025, 19:52:53
76 comments
I passed Step 1 about a week ago and it's now sinking in
For context, I am a non-US IMG, graduated 2022, started house-manship then took a break to take step 1
I gave myself about 3 months to do some reading and sit for the exam. Truth of the matter is, i stayed home for a solid 7 months, and its not because i was lazying about but i wasn't getting the scores i wanted to take the test.
Resources I used
1. Uworld - completed about 60% of it
2. First aid- was everything. I used it for as a reference than reading cover to cover
3. BNB- I annotated notes from here in my first aid. Took a long while to complete them\~ 3months; in the end, i couldn't remember specific stuff from BNB
4. Mehlman Arrows, MSK, Immuno and Neuro anatomy- they are GOLD!!! went through MSK, Immuno and Neuroanatomy twice and made flashcards for the arrows
4. AMBOSS ethics- if you get the chance, go through all the 100 ethics questions in AMBOSS
\+ UWORLD questions and you're good to go
5. Sketchy micro- I'm not a visual learner so I can't vouch for it. I only, again annotated my first aid
6. Randy neil and Dirty medicine for all your biostats and ethcis questions respectively
I took all my NBMEs offline; scores weren't too great but I kept pushing and exhausted all the NBMEs. I did post my scores on here and asked for help and immediately realized it wasn't the way to go for me because you'll have so many people discouraging you even when you're confident in taking the exam
So after attempting all NBMEs, I repeated them 25-31 and then took free 120 2 days before the real deal
NBME 25 Oct.12th -42.5% 2nd Jan REPEAT 67%
NBME 26 8th Dec- 55% 3rd Feb REPEAT 78%
NBME 27 15th Dec- 57%. 7th Feb REPEAT 80%
NBME 28 23rd Dec- 58%. 9th Feb REPEAT 86%
NBME 29 5th Jan-59%. 5th Feb REPEAT 78%
NBME 30 15th Feb-57% 18th Feb REPEAT 95%
NBME 31 20th Feb 66%- put in learning mode for 'repeat'
Free 120 (2 days to exam)- 68%
After the first NBME 29, I realized i needed to do some work and go back to Q banks; so I pushe dmy date back, went to Uworld solved between 80-120Q a day, did some Mehlman and then started the repeats
Day prior to exam, solved all Uworld Ethics questions and did FA rapid review which I highly recommend. It put everything in perspective for me; I also did AMBOSS 100 ethics questions few days as well
Exam day; I was calm throughout the drive to the center about 40mins away; nerves started kicking in when i walked into the building. I skipped the tutorial and got an additional 15mins as break
My form was mostly ethics, MSK and maybe micro but ethcis heavy \~8-10 questions per block; surprisingly low yield stuff which you would think are too easy to ask. By the last block i was so drained it felt like i was just ticking anything
Got some food afterward and had the faith that i would pass although those two weeks had its occasional what ifs but we made it by God's grace
My advice is to do your best and lean heavily on the help of God. It's not any easy process, emotionally, financially and physically; it is only God who can help you and He sees all the hardwork you've put in; so go in confident, trust in God and you'll be fine
For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ Isaiah 41:13
Leave your questions here; will answer when i can
Comments:
User:
How do i retain stuff? I forget after 5-7days
User:
ANKI ANKI ANKI; I did ANKI religiously till the end. There were times I piled up my due cards and would take a day or two revise but I did it anyways. I believe in quality over quantity; studying everything and not retaining anything is pouring into a can with holes. Use ANKI or some form of paper made flashcards to help you retain or just go over the materials over and over again a=until you can explain it to yourself without referring
User:
Please do you make the cards yourself or use decks made by others. Then, if you made them yourself how did you go about it? Could you elaborate on how you made your anki cards. My biggest issue also is forgetting stuff I've read
User:
Congratulations for the P I have my exam in 2 months and I am on my second pass of U world Still scoring 50-60% per block Gave two NBMEs scored 45 and 50 Please tell me what should I do ! I try to do two blocks a day Should I focus more on reviewing them ( takes me 3-4 hours) Or should I focus more on solving questions!
User:
I was in the same boat. I scored in the fifties on NBME 27, 28, 29, and 30. So, I postponed my exam for a month and a half. During that time, I focused on NBMEs—I reviewed 27 and 28 thoroughly—and I also went through Mehlman notes, as I hadn’t read them before. After a month, I retook NBME 29 and 30. Honestly, the questions felt new to me, but I scored in the eighties. Then, I took NBME 31 and 26 (which were new for me) and scored 68 and 69. My advice: focus on NBMEs and Mehlman, and don’t waste your time on UWorld.
User:
I agree. Uworld is a learning tool so don't base your assessment on your UWORLD scores. However if you identify the reason you're scoring low in NBMEs is because you have zero idea about subjects, you should definitely revisit Uworld. You can do systmewise if you identify a particular system is challenging. You can also go through your incorrects if you've already done a first pass of Uworld. Conversely start taking the earlier NBMEs, NBME 20-24 if you wnat to familarize yourself with NBME's style of questioning
User:
Thank you so much ! Means a lot at this stage ! I’ll keep this in my mind Ps Would it be alright if I dm you sometime in yhe future if I feel like losing the pace or flow
User:
Sure you can
User:
Thank you so much! Appreciate your advice!
User:
CONGRATS!! God bless!
User:
Amen!
User:
Congrats!!!! <3 ... happy for you!!!!!!! how I can jump from 50 to 70 in the NBME in 3 months?
User:
Hi I was in the same boat. I scored in the fifties on NBME 27, 28, 29, and 30. So, I postponed my exam for a month and a half. During that time, I focused on NBMEs—I reviewed 27 and 28 thoroughly—and I also went through Mehlman notes, as I hadn’t read them before. After a month, I retook NBME 29 and 30. Honestly, the questions felt new to me, but I scored in the eighties. Then, I took NBME 31 and 26 (which were new for me) and scored 68 and 69. My advice: focus on NBMEs and Mehlman, and don’t waste your time on UWorld.
User:
Thanks you very much
User:
Go through your NBMEs very well. Understand the concepts and find a way to retain it. If you get a question on say Bullous pemphigoid, don't just understand why you got it wrong, go through FA/any accurate reference material and read the topic again
User:
Thanks you...
User:
Congratulations May Jesus Christ bless you. 1 question did you see repeated or very similar questions on the real deal from NBMEs? Which mehlman notes are the best ones in case of short time ?
User:
Thanks and amen.The questions were not repeated word for word but similar concepts. I got \~3 questions from the high yield NBME images but obviously asked in a different way
User:
Thanks for sharing 👍
User:
Congratulations!! How did you figure out which topics are high yield and which ones are low yield? Also did you memorise all the low yield stuff point to point or just had an overall idea of the concept? And did you do anki for all the topics or only high yield ones?
User:
Congratulations 🎉. How did you improve your nbme scores from 50s to 80s ?
User:
By retaking them
User:
Right; there were some i took in close proximity to each other so i was familiar with the questions but earlier ones, I could not remember most of them also because i hadn't reviewed them very well; felt like i was taking a new form
User:
Please did you make the anki cards yourself or use decks made by others. Then, if you made them yourself how did you go about it? Could you elaborate on how you made your anki cards. My biggest issue also is forgetting stuff I've read
User:
Many Congratulations 💐💐💐
User:
Thank you :)
User:
Congratulations mannnnn!!!!! Post Came at the right time bro Sitting for mine on 27th Have okay NBMEs
User:
You'll be fine; go through what you can and build your confidence between now and 27th
User:
Hey man had a doubt Did u see pharmacology graph Qs in ur step? Just wanna know if they’re tested Since NBMEs have a lot of them Atleast the latest ones
User:
Can I dm you??
User:
sureee
User:
Congratulations!!! 🙏🏽🥳 may I ask how you began it all? I feel like I don’t know where to begin! I have everything I need but I can’t bring myself to start
User:
Get a date; once you pay for the exam, get an eligibility period and most importantly a date, you only have the option to study
User:
It’s terrifying, but you’re right! Congrats again and best of luck for the rest of it! 💪🏽🙏🏽
User:
congratulations!!!!! What did you do to improve to higher scores for nbme repeats?
User:
ANKI and I built a relationship after NBME 27 when I felt pressured with the low scores. I reviewed the subsequent NBMEs very well, took pictures of topics from FA that appeared on NBME and revised with it. The only danger with these repeats is the familiarity; you may know the answer but you don't understand the concepts, so prioritise understanding rather than memorizing answers
User:
Congrats DUDE omg Can I dm you ?
User:
Sure you can!
User:
Congrats 🎉 God bless you.
User:
Thanks and AMEN
User:
How do to remember heart murmurs?
User:
I love Cardio so it wasn't a problem for me; did not learn anything new just what I was taught in medical school and maybe Uworld questions on murmurs
User:
CONGRATULATIONS I AM SO INSPIRED BY YOU. Please tell me what you did to improve these results for repeat nbme?
User:
ANKI and I built a relationship after NBME 27 when I felt pressured with the low scores. I reviewed the subsequent NBMEs very well, took pictures of topics from FA that appeared on NBME and revised with it. The only danger with these repeats is the familiarity; you may know the answer but don't understand the concepts, so prioritise understanding rather than memorizing answers
User:
congrats and goodluck for step 2 and further.
User:
Thank you so much
User:
omg congrats! how did you approach pharm?? happy for u!!!!
User:
Uworld and FA; did not do sketchy or bootcamp etc. Took it as any other system on the exam
User:
Congratulations ,i ant to ask u how u can go over 80-120 q in a day how u study them/and then go through mehlman how many hours u study/ in same position now repeat the uw?
User:
In my earlier prep, I studied 10-14hrs a day; would wake up solve 1 block of uworld in learning mode \~2-3hrs; read a system in FA alternating with Mehlman and then solve another block of U world on that particular system. Wasn't doing ANKI then so i didnt retain a lot but i guess was helpful. In my last week, it was more NBMEs and their reviews; took approximately 3 days to review one NBME
User:
Congratulations. I am happy for you, wishing you the very best in the remaining part of this journey !
User:
Thank you so much, appreciate it
User:
Congrats on the pass, I also found that when repeating the nbmes I was scoring high because I knew the answers. Did this affect you in any way during the exam because you repeated nbmes and scored high on them? Thank you
User:
Yes it did; for NBME 25-27 I did not review after i took them so questions appeared new to me. Subsequent ones were taken in close proximity so the factor of familiarity was involved. My whole approach to repeating NBMEs was to figure out if I really understood the concepts and not just memorizing answers
User:
Heartiest congratulations. Soo happy for you. Well deserved. I have my exam next week and my nbme scores won’t budge 65-66% and this is me giving them the second time. Deffo better than the first but still in the border. Giving nbme 31 today but freaking out. What should I do in this last week to really hammer stuff and get that P I review stuff but always keep forgetting or I’d know the content but not apply them at the right time. Please help / give advice in any way you can give? When you say MSK heavy, do you mean anatomy questions or others too? Also how much was cardio/respo part of your form?
User:
Thank you; I remember freaking out anytime i had to do an NBME but calm your nerves and go through it. Last week advice will be to do last NBME 31 review between 1 and 2 days, take new free 120 of not taken already, read FA rapid review, Randy Neil Biostats and solve Uworld + AMBOSS ethics questions. It's not the time to be learning new stuff; review what you've already learnt and relax Yes MSK anatomy, nerves etc; as I said go through Mehlamn MSK; can't recall a lot of respiratory questions; more cardio question comparatively but still can't be compared to the number of ethcis questions
User:
Congratulations!✨
User:
Thank you
User:
Congratulations!!🤍
User:
Thank you
User:
Congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉 I hope you ace step 2
User:
could you please share your anki decks with us
User:
Are you from Ghana by any chance?
User:
Amen !!
User:
Where can we find NBME for free ?
User:
Congrats! Your uplifting tone motivates me to start studying again instead of doom strolling. May I ask, what did you do for biochem? How did you go about studying a UWorld question where you weren’t familiar with the topic?
User:
congratulations!
User:
God bless you congrats well done your experience reaches me deeply thankyou anlot for sharing❤🥺🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
User:
do you see similar ethic question similar to amboss in the same deal?
User:
Great post. Thanks for sharing. Same non us img, finishing house job this year. Hope to take it later in the year. I’m using FA, BB, u world (now approaching 50% done) and pathoma. What’s the best way to actually get the high yield stuff and retain, or do i just Anki all the way through. I’m starting to see that FA is quite high yield, like id get questions wrong in u world and review them in FA only to see the answer there word for word. I’m using the notebook feature on u world to at least make notes of all the education objectives and incorrect so ill cross reference with FA
User:
Thousand congratulations!! Can I DM you?
User:
It’s so refreshing to see other believers in medicine sharing these inspiring testimonies. I take STEP in June this year, and Im a little stressed. But im trusting in the Lord bcuz He told me I would make it thru!! Starting our MSK block now. But i wish we had more dedicated time!
User:
Thank you Jesus 🙏
User:
I took the exam today it was soo hard 😭😭
Post 2: A girl failure's guide to passing step one
19/03/2025, 11:22:50
82 comments
Hey everyone , I'm an img from India and a bang average medical student from a pvt college
I started prep from october to march so 5 months of prep time ?
I took a break in my internship to prepare , I did systems first and started NBME 10 days before the real deal
these are my scores
free 120 - 50% 18th Feb
NBME 28 - 68% 21st Feb
NBME 30 - 70 % 26th Feb
UWSA 2 - 76% 3rd March
I did through reviews of the nbme blocks , went through every concept , I was still grossly underprepared as I hadn't completed first aid and did 60% of Uworld with an average of 58% , I would say it's an exam of endurance and in the last 2 blocks I blindly relied on instinct !
if you guys have any queries I'm happy to answer them !
Comments:
User:
What resource helped u the the most to build ur basics? And how did u retain the info till the very end?
User:
Hey I wouldn’t say my basics were very strong , for the last 10 days I did only NBME reviews, I thoroughly read the concepts again , I felt like that repeated reading of concepts kept it a bit fresh , I took my FA to the exam centre as well and after each block I was seeing topics that were repeated , I wouldn’t recommend taking first aid as it really broke my confidence too
User:
https://www.nbme.org/educators/resources/insights To do a thorough review you can use insights on your NBME portal. Queue to 2 min mark of the video. For example: you can review all of your neoplasm questions w INSIGHTS across all of your exams. This is why I don’t recommend pdfs of NBME and push for computer versions for the data.
User:
Which system was highly tested in ur form ? Is it important to review nbme?!
User:
General pathology , especially cancer syndromes and a lot of Ethics
User:
What do you mean by cancer syndrome
User:
Li Fraumeni, FAP, etc.
User:
What is a good source for cancer syndromes?
User:
What about systems?!
User:
I felt more of path was tested not pertaining to a system in oarticular
User:
Hi firstly congrats!! I started my prep in Dec and completed first pass of FA last wk and started dng Uworld which is going not great with avg of 40-45 percent till now(system wise)and can not recollect a whole lot of FA I am planning to give exam around june. Tips for improvement plz...
User:
That’s lovely , I’d say revise 5 topics everyday , immunodeficiencies , vitamins , cancers , alpha and beta blockers , interleukins
User:
How to approach revision?
User:
It’s a grind , I felt very irritated revising , because I felt I knew everything, so I was doing mixed blocks from U world and asked ChatGPT to make questions as well
User:
Huge respect! Congratulations:) can you tell me please from where to start the systems? If I didn’t buy a course and I want to study independently, what’s the best sources? As I don’t have much strong base yet, thx 🙏
User:
Hey ! I would recommend you watch all the dirty medicine videos , use melhman free resources , pdfs and questions banks , read first aid from cover to cover and try to focus on basics more by repeated revision and random youtube videos , I used unacademy Priyanka Sachdev videos
User:
Congratulations 🥳
User:
Thank you <3
User:
Can you give any tips on how to thoroughly review NMBEs? I’ve scored a 51 % consistently on 2 nmbes even with reviewing new subjects
User:
Any progress is progress , don’t feel like you’re stagnant , I reviewed 2 blocks of nbme before moving on to the other 2 blocks , so my score was a bit higher , if you’re doing all 4 blocks it’s really good for building stamina , I’d say revisit the memory heavy topics and figure out why you got the answer wrong , was it time ? did you get confused ? Or did you not know ?
User:
Congratulations!! I’m in year 3 right now and haven’t started prep for step 1 yet, so I wanted to ask if you could go back and start prep again how would you go about it/ what would you focus more on?
User:
I’m I could go back I’d take it in 3rd year , I’d do the basics first before starting on systems and I’d start with the questions way earlier , I’d also focus on ethics
User:
You have a good score though.....
User:
After a lot of NBME reviews 🥲
User:
How many nbmes?
User:
2
User:
im an average student in a pvt college too, by average i mean super average. do u think ppl like me could attempt giving a test like usmle? 🥲 ive only ever heard of overachievers giving it
User:
Ofc you can , with good prep and time any one can , that’s the beauty of competitive exams
User:
how much time would u suggest
User:
About 3-5 months
User:
When was your exam ?
User:
5th March 2023
User:
My exam was on 7th march when should i expect my result
User:
Next Wednesday , or check your mail for the notice
User:
What’s the best way to study biochemistry? I am really struggling with it
User:
Reading , revision and dirty medicine
User:
What resources you used to study i am also having 6 months for preparation and my medical foundation is terrible what resources you will suggest me
User:
Revisit core subjects before systems , do pharmacology well , use all the free videos on YouTube
User:
Congrats first how many pure biochem and genetics punnets squares did u get ? Where did u do ethics from and did u get any stages of labour qs ??
User:
I got one labour question , Zero genetics , 4-5 clinically significant and statistically significant questions , no pure biochem
User:
Thanks
User:
congratulations first of all. Then I want to ask you how to improve NBMEs in short time ?
User:
You have to revisit and revise the most tested concepts in the previous NBME and practice method of elimination to get the correct answers ( this personally worked better for me )
User:
By the way. Do you think it'd true that 70-80% of the real deal is based on NBME content ? And also did you find like similar NBMEconcepts with different wording in the real exam ? I am curious
User:
I guess so , I felt the way the NBME was worded was similar to the real Deal , but the concepts differed
User:
Appreciated 👏
User:
Thanks for the answer.
User:
Go off gf!!
User:
🩷🩷
User:
First of all congratulations! Can you guide with the resources and cost with how much time is needed if you are currently in your 3rd prof . I just have 2 subjects due to new curriculum. I'm planning to set my mind and prepare but I can't seem to find the starting point
User:
I think you should look for a study partner to help motivate you , I found my study partner in this sub Reddit and we passed together ! Start with FA reading and bnb videos
User:
Thank you for the advise and again congratulations!
User:
fellow girl failure here 🙈 how did u start? I mean did you do FA and UWorld alongside it system-by-system? I feel like getting started is the hardest part for me...I have 6 months to prep from scratch and congrats xx
User:
I did then side by side with lots of free YouTube videos and boards and beyond videos
User:
Can I DM you?
User:
What do you think about NEET PG ? I’m sort of confused between USMLE and INICET/NEETPG. Can you suggest something??
User:
I gave USMLE and I’ll be giving NEET PG with STEP 2 , I want to keep all my options open I do not have a financial constraint , so I’m open to giving more entrance exams , I’d say that USMLE is very time consuming and it takes a lot of money as well , if you’re looking to earn money in the longterm and you have money now , give step one , if not prepare for Neet Pg using step one and 2 free resources as it makes giving neet pg a bit easier ( so I’ve heard )
User:
hey. Many congratulations. im struggling with increasing my scores too. did nbme 31 today and scored arounnd 61-62%, was scoring between 65-69 before that. cant delay further so what would you suggest me to do . only have a week and im freaking out and too scared to give free 120 too.
User:
That pretty good , keep revising the repeated concepts and do ethics , revisit the source of incorrects , was it the concept ? The way it was worded ? Did you not know it ? Did you get confused ? I feel that helps a lot , in not making the same mistakes again
User:
Congrats!!! What were your primary resources, which ones did u feel helped you out the most?
User:
U world and dirty medicine
User:
Was this yr 2nd attempt?
User:
No , internship attempt was first attempt
User:
What resources did u use to study systems? And micro and biochem? I want to do all basics in a month and scared it won’t be enough
User:
I used boards and beyond and free youtube videos , Priyanka Sachdev , ninja nerd , doctor najeeb , dirty medicine
User:
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User:
Congratulations . what was your revision strategy throughout preparation??
User:
Doing mixed blocks of Uworld and using chat got to simplify concepts and ask me questions
User:
What is chat got?
User:
CHAT GPT ( typo sorry )
User:
Is Uworld that importance? I did only 50% im trying to make them 70% Im gonna start nbmes soon and doing uworld piss me off !
User:
It’s alright , you don’t have to like doing Uworld , but do go through the explanations of right and wrong questions as it is very important , use Uworld to help you see how they’re testing that particular concept , even if you get everything wrong , it doesn’t matter , don’t look at averages , look at test taking strategies and concept building
User:
I feel burnt out and i want to start nbmes journey asap , what is ur advice to reach70% then start nbmes? At the beginning i used tl read wrong question tho but i changed to read explanation only bcz it tooks so many times im so slow in doing uworld
User:
Take your time and take some breaks as well , I’d suggest start off with nbmes , they help you think differently, like approach it differently
User:
I bought boot camp which is basically FA front to back. I’m looking to take step1 end of June. Any tips please share! Best of luck to everyone🙏
User:
Hello congrats !!! , resources for biostatistics and ethics plz
User:
Randy nielson and dirty medicine
User:
I was seeking an advice so I will be taking my exam in 2026 and I will start preparation now so do you recommend me start preparation with 2025 first aid and then check fA 2026 or just start preparation in 2026
User:
I did my prep with 2022 FA , I wouldn’t say that the edition matters as much , as you can annotate the old versions
User:
And will you recommend hard copy or soft copy of FA
Post 3: Passed Step 1
14/03/2025, 10:28:19
71 comments
Hi team! (‼️VERY LONGGGGGG RANT‼️)
I took the beast on 02/24 and got my Pass two days ago. Mine is a very complicated situation, so had to take a very unconventional path; and I would not suggest anyone follow it.
Backstory: Very old graduate. Mother of a 5y old girl (she turned 5 in the middle of my dedicated 2 weeks). Full time job in Research (40h/w). People used to say that I am a talented person, though I do not agree anymore. Once upon a time when I had no commitments, maybe. But right now, most days than not, I feel like I’m drowning and am overwhelmed.
Prep: Even though I started studying 2y ago, it was never consistent. Tried group sessions over teams, but I’ll have my AirPods on and be cooking or cleaning while I listen to the others discuss. 😢 Tried waking up early mornings, but my daughter will come downstairs and lay down on me (she was very young then) that I will not have a free hand to take notes. Nevertheless would continue reading UWorld questions from the ipad in God knows weird positions. Then all of a sudden I’ll take months of break with zero studying. When I start again it’ll be like from scratch.
We used BnB lectures. A little bit of FA. I only completed Micro and reproductive thoroughly in FA. All the rest were just here and there. Then jumped on to UWorld. I completed only 50% of UWorld with around 52% average. Was listening to Mehlman podcasts during my commute to and from work. Dirty medicine is gold. Keep that for the last recap of your prep.
The final 14 days I took off from work and hit the library. But fear not, each morning I had to prep food for my child, get her ready to school, pack myself food, arrange lunch and dinner for everybody at home and only left to library. The women in this thread would understand how much of mental space that would take.
I hit the NBMEs at the library. Only had time to finish 28-31. I got nothing above 55% or below 50%. Did I feel ready, absolutely not. When you start doing questions is when you will realize how much of time you need to complete qbanks. I used to come home and review the remaining questions, all the while tucking my daughter in bed. I still remember how my fingers used to cramp while I was holding the phone in landscape mode to read NBME easier while giving back scratches to my daughter in the dark. Dark times those were.
Finally took the Free120 like 2 days before the real deal and scored 57%. I also took UWSA the day before and scored 55%. I felt defeated. But had no way of postponing the exam. I had already lost 1100 bucks due to not being able to muster up the courage to go face it. This time again paid another 1000 and the 100 for one time extension. So, being a single income family, I just couldn’t afford to lose more money.
A little voice in me kept telling me, trust your brain. It would retrieve information from all the rapid reviews you did and everything will come to you on the test day. I couldn’t believe that 100%, but what other choice did I have??
Test day: I couldn’t sleep the day prior. I was wide awake even at 1:00am. Don’t know when I dozed off. Made it to the center on time. Took boiled eggs, banana, a protein shake and some nuts. I was eerily calm when I entered the center. My heart was pounding in my throat the previous night and even on the way to the center. But while I walked towards my cube it was almost like God had taken over!!
The exam: It was more like Free120 in my opinion. Had some mega long stems. But I felt like years of clinical experience at my home country helped me extract necessary info from them to pick an answer. Had some WTF questions for sure. Skimmed over them. Lots of risk factor questions. And ethics atleast 3 per block. I started developing a headache by the 4th block. Kept pushing through.
Overall when I walked out I felt okay-ish. It was not as tough as everybody makes it be. I felt underprepared, but the exam itself was not that vague. If you know the stuff you need to know, you can pass. Like one of my mentors used to say back in the day “Common things are common”. You got to know them.
All I’m trying to say is, perseverance pays off. There is a force governing all of us. Not everybody’s story is the same. Not everybody has it easy. It’s just a mind game. What you believe you become.
Good luck guys. I’m open to any questions. Sorry for the long read. I hope my story motivated atleast 1 person. That’s all I want.
Edit: And also, I feel like I should give credit to my husband and my brother who really helped me keep it under control. My husband is the only person who kept saying my scores are good. Haha. Even though I knew he was just trying to keep my spirits up I went with the flow. My brother entertained my daughter and made sure she was fed during my final 14d. They both were my rocks.
Comments:
User:
From another woman in clinical research working 4ohrs with two kids and an ancient grad attempting step 1 .. you are my hero !!
User:
Like I said, being a mum gives you super powers. You got this. 😍
User:
I am full time MPH student, a mom of 1.5 year old and graduated in 2019. You just gave me hope. I have scores similar to yours! My prep even follows the same trajectory as yours! Thanks a lot for your post, all busy moms needed it! <3
User:
More power to you mumma. I too am thinking in the lines of MPH. Would you mind if I DM you in a few months maybe??
User:
Yeah sure. You can DM me anytime. I would be happy to be of any help.
User:
Can I Dm you?
User:
Congratulations!!! This is amazing!
User:
Congratulations!! As a mom myself in this process, i have to say you just earned my OUTMOST respect!
User:
Being a mum gives you super powers. Trust me. Haha.
User:
I failed Step 1. There were fewer biochemistry questions on the exam, but I think microbiology questions had increased. I hadn’t studied microbiology and pharmacology well enough before taking the exam. I completed my residency in my home country and then pursued a Ph.D. after three more years of doctoral studies. I have two small children. When I went for the exam, I had a feeling that I wasn’t fully prepared—I knew I needed at least two more months to study properly, but I took the risk and failed. My NBME scores were around 60-65%, and my Free 120 score was 61%. I had completed UWorld, but during the exam, I felt that UW makes the brain work differently. In the actual exam, the correct answers were more straightforward, but someone who has done a lot of UW tends to overthink and look for something more complex. Apart from Free 120, I found that the exam questions were similar to AMBOSS questions, though AMBOSS questions tend to be longer. I took the exam in February and received my failing result yesterday—I feel really bad. Honestly, I know my weak areas. I think I need about three months to strengthen them. What advice would you give me?
User:
Reinforce your weak areas, you are already confident and aware of your situation... I don't think it's a big deal for you, refocus.
User:
Congratulation!!!! Thanks for the motivation.
User:
Congratulations you're such a warrior👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
User:
Ommgg all moms here love you !! Good luck our hero
User:
Thanks for sharing I’m also a mom who is trying to find time to study for de step 1 with my 1 yo son, you give me hope 🥹
User:
Congratulations and im very proud of you!!!
User:
I have done first aid very well is this going to help in nbme exams .
User:
I honestly do not know as I did very minimal FA. But I don’t wanna say NO.
User:
Thank you so much for ur time
User:
God bless!
User:
Congrats! What were your exact resources that helped you pass the exam? If someone has weak foundation, what should he do step by step? Appreciate your help!
User:
If weak foundation, I would suggest BnB lectures section wise along with FA read and section wise UW question. Then do only UW random and timed mode as a 2nd run. Need not complete it fully in my opinion. By that time you would know your strengths and weaknesses. Then is when you dive into NBME. This should work. I didn’t have the luxury of time to do this. But if you do, this is a fool proof method.
User:
Heck yeah! congratulations
User:
Omg having the courage to get into the exam with free120 57% !! You’re great!
User:
Congrats!
User:
Can I dm you ! Very similar story here ! I need your help
User:
Sure !! DM away.
User:
So happy for you! Congratulations 🥳
User:
Indeed You are a strong person, lovely post!
User:
Congratulations! Keep it up. All the best for Step 2.
User:
Congratulations on passing!!! And this is such an inspiring post. Thank you so much for sharing
User:
Thank you for your contribution; you've given me hope. I graduated several years ago. Life takes many twists and turns, and I have to take this step. I just got off work, and I have 4 weeks to study intensively. I think this was what I need to see today. Thank you again.
User:
Perseverance pays off👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Congratulations on your well deserved success! I’m a mom of two, old IMG preparing-ish for step 1 and you have no idea how much courage & wisdom your words gave me❤️❤️❤️
User:
congratulations!!
User:
Congratulations 🎊 you rock! And thank you for sharing. Stories like these give me hope. I’m not a mom, I graduated „only“ 5 years ago, but my job (resident, average of 55-75 h weekly with 24h shifts) leaves me with what feels like no time at all. I hope I can pull it off but I’m still very uncertain about how to/what resources to use 😩
User:
All I have to say is: wow! Inspiring story. I graduated in 2023, no kids and I am still struggling with this beast haha. Nothing to say. Just. Wow.
User:
Congrats btw 🎊🎊🎊🎊
User:
Hey I hav a 2 yrs old….. kindly tell me what to focus on more ….FA , NBME or anything else… and what helped u the most in ur resources…, and lastly were the questions evenly distributed or more from som less from others
User:
I would say concentrate NBMEs. Those were the concepts you need to know. But the question pattern itself were more like Free120. Long stems I mean. And no, not evenly distributed. Some blocks were immuno heavy and others were micro heavy. Like that.
User:
And how did u manage ethics …. What resources helped u in ethics most
User:
The only thing I did for ethics is UWorld. I am not joking. Absolutely nothing else. UWorld and of course whatever came in NBME 28 - 31.
User:
Can I dm you ?
User:
Please check your dm !
User:
Congratulations🥳👏 What did you do those 14 days?? Which resources did you use??
User:
NBME and Free120
User:
How many nbmes??
User:
I did 28 - 31. But would suggest doing 25 - 31
User:
how to use dirty medicine at the end?
User:
Just listen to videos. Some high yield topics like leukemias, clotting cascade, HIV medications and stuff. When you do NBMEs it will hit you as to what you may need to review.
User:
did you travel to the us to take the exam? how many days for that?
User:
Nope! I live here. I thought the “lack of help” part made it clear that I live here. Haha.
User:
are you an img?
User:
Yes! Old IMG so to speak.
User:
Do not give up! Just keep at the NBME questions. I haven’t ever done any Amboss, so I have no take on those. I think the NBME concepts were tested enough. Just sharpen your test taking strategy.
User:
Congratulations! 🎉 How did you organized your day? I work also 40 h/week and I can’t find the time to study since I’m not a morning person 😭
User:
There was no organizing anything. I studied whenever I found time and also when my mind and body were in alignment. Just the last 14d I studied savage regardless of any alignment.
User:
Do you think BnB is good for a student which doesn’t have a solid foundation? İn my country we don’t have a very good basic science education and I’m looking for a source which is not too detailed and can teach a student which doesn’’t have a good knowledge.
User:
I’d bet my life with BnB, especially if you need to polish basics. But it is time consuming. Depends on how much time you have on hand.
User:
I have at least 2 years before giving the step 1 but my basic knowledge is very bad 😔
User:
Then BnB is your friend. 😀 Good luck.
User:
What systems were most tested?
User:
It was a good mix. Concentrate a teensy bit more on endocrine and repro.
User:
Can I send a dm?
User:
Sure!!👍
User:
Can I send a DM
User:
Sure!
User:
>Sure! sure?
User:
>>Sure! sure? sure?
User:
congratulations 🎊 👏 💐 nice story ! May God bless you in all your journey
Post 4: Passed below is my experience
14/03/2025, 08:56:30
52 comments
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, first and last, outwardly and inwardly, for His guidance and great blessings. Thanks belong to Him alone for allowing me to reach this point today.
I extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my dear father and my beloved mother who have been my strongest support system from the very beginning. I also thank my dear siblings for their continuous support throughout this journey until this success.
I must also acknowledge my fellow doctors who were part of this journey and provided me with both psychological and academic support and everyone who taught me a single letter and contributed to my academic growth. For whoever does not thank people does not thank Allah.
My Journey in Preparing for the USMLE Step 1
Preparation Duration:
6 months
Study Resources:
First Aid 2024: The primary study resource; the exam is entirely based on its concepts.
B&B Videos: Did not add much value for me, so I recommend starting directly with First Aid.
Dirty Medicine for Ethics and Biochemistry: Highly recommended.
Sketchy Micro and Pharma: Great for those with a visual memory.
Randy Neil for Biostatistics: Highly recommended.
Mehlmann Random Videos: Strongly recommended, as they immerse you in the exam environment from the beginning.
UWorld (The Most Important Question Bank):
I started by solving 20 questions daily while reviewing First Aid, then gradually increased to 80 questions daily after completing my first pass of First Aid.
B&B Start Date: 22/10/2024
First Aid Start Date: 26/10/2024
UWorld Start Date: 3/1/2025
Intensive Review Period (Dedicated Period):
Began after completing First Aid and included:
Reviewing Mehlmann’s PDFs (Biochemistry, Immunology, Ethics, Biostats, Neurosurgery, Muscles, Arrows).
Using Amboss Ethics (Highly recommended).
Reviewing First Aid again (though I didn’t finish it).
Assessments:
NBME 24 (3/1/2025): 58% (Used it to practice time management rather than aiming for a high score).
NBME 25 (6/1/2025): 61% (Started feeling anxious, so I focused on my weak areas).
NBME 26 (12/1/2025): 70%
NBME 27 (19/1/2025): 68% (These two scores reassured me since Mehlmann recommends having two consecutive NBME scores above 65% to ensure passing).
NBME 28 (26/1/2025): 71%
NBME 29 (2/2/2025): 70%
NBME 30 (7/2/2025): 70%
Old Free 120 Offline (12/2/2025): 71%
NBME 31 (15/2/2025): 73% (9 days before the exam).
New Free 120 Online (20/2/2025): 66% (4 days before the exam, and it was the closest to the actual test format).
3 Days Before the Exam:
Reviewed NBME 1-31 images.
Day Before the Exam:
I tried to stop studying but couldn’t, so I read until noon, then completely stopped due to exhaustion. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, walking, and exercising to reduce stress. I went to bed early after preparing my exam essentials.
I planned to take a 10-minute break after every two blocks, based on advice from colleagues who had already taken the test.
Exam Day (24/2/2025):
I had breakfast and coffee, then headed to the testing center early. I felt confident that I had done my absolute best and entrusted my success to Allah.
Test Session Breakdown:
Block 1 & 2: Took them together, followed by a 10-minute coffee break.
Block 3 & 4: Attempted them together but big mistake—I felt exhausted during Block 4.
10-minute break with a protein bar and coffee before Block 5.
Block 5 & 6: Repeated the same mistake and took them together, making Block 6 extremely tiring.
Long meal break before the final block, which ended up being my best-performing block.
Exam Observations:
The exam is not difficult but requires intense focus.
The questions are very long, some reaching 30 lines without answer choices! Others were medium-length or short, but the format was similar to the New Free 120.
The entire exam is based on First Aid concepts, so repeated revision is key to success.
Final Words:
This is the hardest exam you may face in your life, but with dedication and perseverance, you can overcome it.
Lastly, I sincerely thank the Reddit community and Kira Pota community, as they played a significant role in sharing experiences and learning from others.
All praise is due to Allah for this achievement. May He grant success to everyone!
Comments:
User:
MashaAllah! Plis pray I get a P too, inshaAllah!
User:
Hope the best for you
User:
Congratulations brother May Allah help and guide us all. Ameen
User:
Best luck for you friend
User:
Thank you
User:
Mashallah tabarakallah
User:
Alhamdulillah. Congrats and i hope that i pass this exam next year inshaAllah
User:
Ameen
User:
Heartiest Congratulations, well deserved pass. I'm also giving my exam soon and unfortunately my score would budge beyond 65%. i'm yet to give nbme 31 and free 120. what advice will you give me that'll help me with those 6-7 marks push. I'm freaking out.
User:
The exam is not NBME concepts anymore My only advice for you is to give a revision for First aid again This will be the only savior for you in the exam
User:
do you think a score of 65 can lead to a pass in the exam?
User:
I Think that you saw some people with high NBME scores and failed sharing their experiences. I think that because of not reviewing First aid well. For me and my friends who passed the exam the whole exam was First Aid concepts.
User:
thats true, im too anxious about failing after investing sm. how would you suggest one to review FA during the next 10 days? every time im reviewing nbme qs, i go through that topic from FA but obv this review is all scattered and not in order for each system? also my entire day goes in reviewing these questions. how would you divide your day in the last 2 weeks if you can share.
User:
Did you go through it before ?
User:
you asking about FA? So once i did when i was going through all the systems. then with UW i would go through topics that needed clarity. and while reviewing nbmes, i go through topics from FA for all incorrects and mostly for corrects too to see if i got it right because of luck or becuase i understand the concept. but if you ask for a all in one go reviee from start to end then it was the first time only.
User:
You can go through systems in FA quickly in the next days and do mehlmann major pdfs
User:
Can i DM you?
User:
Yes
User:
Congrats 🎉 Can you please share which Mehlman PDFs to go over?
User:
And how many times ?
User:
Congrats . What county are you from?
User:
Sudan
User:
From what uni ? Mashallah im so proud of you brother🫶
User:
AAU
User:
Mashallah, I am also from AAU. Big congratulations 👏🏽👏🏽
User:
CONGRATULATIONS IM TRULY SO PROUD OF YOU! (But if you dont mind me asking) what are we going to be doing for the travel ban ? Im just so freaking lost sorry to be a bummer after your amazing news but i have nobody to talk to this about
User:
Did you do second pass of uworld too ?
User:
Nope only one
User:
Ameen! I love the sentence “whoever does not thank others, does not thank Allah” 🙏🏽
User:
Congratulations brother
User:
mashallah congratulations my exam in few days keep me in your prayers guys
User:
How was the questions similarity with nbme and uworld? What about ethics? Can you please tell us more about the contents?
User:
It was similar to the new free 120 online Mainly first aid concepts
User:
Congratulations bro ⚙️
User:
Ma shaa Allah!!! Thank your for sharing your experience with us 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
User:
الله يحفظك ويبارك لك…آمين
User:
Mashallah congratulations ! So do you mean to say that B n B videos are not worth the time , I have done my MD Anesthesia from India . Now moved to USA , plan to give my steps soon . I have started with First Aid and B n B , but since you have already passed I would want you to give me a good suggestion for my preparation .
User:
Congratulations op! , how was the timing compared to nbme and were you scared about the drop in free 120???
User:
I got 10-15 min left in each station and I used them for revision.
User:
Congratulationssss 🤩😍great job onto the next one ! Mine is in a few toooo hoping to DEVOUR IT!
User:
Congrats ❤️ did you start first aid from the beginning or by subject
User:
I started First Aid from beginning
User:
Hi, is B&B sufficient for USMLE,and did you start from scratch Like I studied sincerely for my uni exams,so I do have a background knowledge And how much time should I dedicate to B&B I'm confused how do I approach studying?? cuz there are so many different ways
User:
No it’s not sufficient I’m a GP graduated 2 years ago It’s better to start FA and don’t do B and B
User:
Congratulations for your achievement
User:
No need for B and B First Aid is your main source during the pre dedicated period and during the dedicated period and Uworld (try to solve it all) Mehlman pdfs and videos And the known assessments
User:
Congratulations op! , how was the timing compared to nbme and were you scared about the drop in free 120???
User:
Masha Allah. Can i message you please? Im just starting my prep.
User:
congratulations!
Post 5: Passed step 1
13/03/2025, 21:05:27
19 comments
I started relatively early with an invitation from a friend who printed the immunity chapter for me. After I got a taste of how sweet the subject is, I decided to study these books even if I won't take the exam.
I spent some time browsing Kaplan 2014 videos and enjoyed it very much. Then I subscribed to an online course to stay committed and finish the curriculum, not for the explanation itself. During the course, I used Boards and Beyond, tried Anki, and solved UWorld once. After that, I had a relatively long gap period where I did (Amboss self-assessment) and (Lecturio self-assessment) and passed both, thank God. During my internship, I decided to take the exam at the urging of the same friend who guided me at the beginning of the journey, and thank God, God's grace is great and His blessings are countless.
* Are courses useful? In my opinion, if a student is in the early years of college, a course is better, and if they are an intern or post-graduate, a course is mostly a waste of time, and it's better to listen to Boards and Beyond and solve UWorld. If they are in between, it's their choice depending on their level and dedication.
* Kaplan 2014 videos, especially bio, physiology, and neuro, are wonderful if you want to enjoy the journey and are not in a hurry.
* The journey is long and requires patience. It's very enjoyable at the beginning, but exhausting in dedication.
* From my personal observation of the experiences of people who get high scores, many of them use Anki. Anki is an excellent tool and makes a big difference. I tried it and quit about 3 times before committing to it. There are more than one way to deal with it, and people's experiences with it vary. Personally, I would solve the deck once while studying the chapter and finish it. If I wanted to review a specific chapter, I would solve its deck. I was using the Cheesy Lightyear deck.
* Mehlman files are good for organizing ideas and are studied at the end. As for the (NBME inflation) dilemma, it doesn't make the difference you imagine, at most 2 to 3%, meaning 4 to 6 questions.
* Mehlman micro and pharma are very good and important.
* Repetition is the key. The curriculum is large, and forgetting is inevitable, and there's no solution other than a lot of repetition. It's normal to forget something you studied a lot, so don't let despair get to you. Most, if not all, of those who took the exam forgot things they studied a lot, but NBME scores are what allow you to make the decision to register and take the exam.
* Never register or set the eligibility period early hoping to pressure yourself to study. If you follow the groups, you will find that many people do extensions and get stuck and take the exam against their will while they are still not ready. Get ready first, then register.
* Boredom is one of the most annoying things we face on this journey. I wrote a saying by Imam Al-Shafi'i to fight boredom, which says, ('The student's affliction is boredom and his lack of patience in lessons and contemplation.' Then he said, 'The bored one will not be a memorizer, but only he who continues his lessons, strains his mind, and stays up at night, not he who pampers himself').
* Burnout is normal and will happen and cannot be avoided, so you must take it into account. At the beginning, it won't be a problem, but in the last month before the exam, you must deal with it professionally because it can waste a large part of your effort that you put in throughout the preparation period.
* Regarding the number of study hours, there are two points to consider.
The first point concerns the (quantity): what is the actual number of study hours? You might say I started studying at 9 am and finished at 9 pm, so I studied for 12 hours, but the reality is different because there are many wasted times in between. To calculate the actual number of hours, you must use a stopwatch. When you start studying, turn it on, and if you stop for any reason, turn it off, to track your progress objectively.
The second point concerns the (quality): what is the type of study, and therefore the achievement and benefit? An hour of studying by solving questions is not equal to an hour of solving Anki, is not equal to an hour of listening to an explanation. An hour of solving questions is more beneficial and rewarding, but it consumes a lot of mental effort. You may find that you studied for 3 or 4 hours in solving and can't continue, but you have the ability to solve some Anki or listen to any explanation as a review because they don't consume as much mental effort as questions. That's why I advise you to diversify while giving priority to solving questions. There is a section in First Aid after the rapid review that talks about the preference between study resources, called 'Top Rated Review Resources.'
* On the exam day, try to sleep well or not, the important thing is to close your eyes. If you can't sleep, just close your eyes and tell yourself it's okay if I didn't sleep, this will calm the anxiety a bit. Indeed, just closing your eyes is better than nothing. I spent about 3 hours trying to sleep, and thank God, I slept for about 6 hours.
* Anxiety is inevitable. The idea is not to get into the positive feedback loop of anxiety, which is simply anxiety leading to more anxiety because of anxiety.
* The exam has many long questions. I had about 15 minutes left in the NBME in each block, but in the actual exam, I barely had 5 minutes left.
* In the last block, I couldn't read the words, let alone think about them, and only God knows how that block passed.
* Mark the questions you want to review and have a hope of getting right, not the questions you won't know the answer to no matter how much you think about them. In some blocks, I didn't have time to review all the marked questions.
* Be careful of the break time. I would go out and come back, planning for a five-minute break, only to find that ten minutes had passed. In the last break, I went in and found that there was still one minute of break time left.
* I advise you to eat a protein bar during the break, even if you don't feel like it. In the first break, I wasn't hungry, I ate a banana and went in, and I got very hungry inside.
* I didn't review after the exam except for one question, and thank God it was correct, and I don't remember any questions to review anyway.
NBME 25 78% (228) 57 days before
NBME 26 83% (238) 52 days
UWSA 1 71.8% (240) 45 days
NBME 27 83.5% (240) 38 days
UWSA 2 68% (233) 29 days
Old free 120 87% 26 days
NBME 28 84% (241) 24 days
NBME 29 88% (249) 16 days
NBME 30 84.5% (241) 11 days
NBME 31 84.5% (242) 8 days
New free 120 81.6% 5 days
UWSA 3 76% (248) 2 days
* The NBME scores are good, thank God, but this is due to the long preparation period. I don't advise anyone to target high scores if it will prolong the period excessively, but I strongly advise you not to take the exam unless you have acceptable scores, even if it will prolong the period.
Good luck to everyone.
Comments:
User:
MashaAllah, such great scores! Please pray for me that I get the P too, inshaAllah 😭
User:
Inshaallah you get it soon brother
User:
InshaAllah this Wednesday!!!!
User:
I'll make dua for you, iA you'll see that you crushed it 👊
User:
InshaAllah InshaAllah, ameen!
User:
Congratulations brother! I have just started preparation. What was your total preparation time? How to score well on NBMEs.
User:
2 years, then 2.5 years gap, then 7 months. The more you solve Qs the higher your score
User:
Congratulations😊🙌🏼
User:
MashahAllah! Great news! Its such a relief to get the p.
User:
Congratulations on your success 🙌. So inspiring journey and real opinions you have shared. May ALLAH(swt) reward you for yours honesty . ❤
User:
Congrats dude, one question Why did you decided to go for BnB instead of bootcamp I’m deciding in which one I should use.
User:
I just did it, about bootcamp.. I just know it exist but have no idea about it
User:
we gave our step 1 the exact same day! hahah wild
User:
Hope you passed
User:
yep!
User:
Dude had 78% on nbme 2 months before 😭 This ain't us
User:
Have been studying for more than 2 years and a half 🥲
User:
Congratulations!!
Post 6: REAL TALK- you will be FINE
12/03/2025, 23:51:02
15 comments
This sub had me freaking out so badly that I legit had to turn off my phone for a week.
DO NOT FEAR PLATEAUS- you will get through it.
School administered CBSE (12 weeks out)- 53
8 weeks out NBME31- 55
6 weeks out NBME 29- 55
3 weeks out NBME26- 60
1 week out NBME30- 72
Free120 (new) 67
Free120 (old) 78
Passed. So did all my friends who never saw a 70+ on a NBME or free120.
Go over incorrects WITH FA and then read the page before it and the page after it. Read it until you can’t get it wrong again. Once I started that method of reviewing, my scores jumped.
STOP LISTENING TO PPL NERVOUS ABOUT SCORES IN THE MID 70S.
Goodbye forever everyone I’m OUTTT
Comments:
User:
Congratulations! I want to start incorporating that method of FA review; how long did this method take you per block? It’s taking me about 3 hours just to review 1 Uworld block just briefly looking at FA for incorrects.
User:
I didn’t spend more than 5-10 minutes on each Q- I found that if I did I was basically wasting my time. I did however write things down I truly did not know or think I would have forgotten to look over from those incorrects
User:
Congratulations
User:
Did you read the complete syllabus before giving the nbmes or what was your pattern of studying?
User:
Congratulations btw 😅
User:
Thank you! What do you mean by syllabus? Before I took my first NBME after the school gave me the CBSA I took three weeks to go over each system using FA and Mehlman’s PDFs to make sure I at least I had exposure to the topics I was going to be studying once I focused on Qs
User:
How did you study for CBSE
User:
I didn’t! They gave it to us 3 days after our last exam for second year and it doesn’t count for anything like as a grade. They said to not worry about it and use it as a benchmark for what to focus on
User:
Oh that’s cool. I need to pass cbse before being allowed to take step. Are you in US school?
User:
Yep!
User:
By incorrect you mean NBMEs or UW? Did you use UW at all? Also if you did use UW isn't the explanation there redundant to the FA pages you'll read?
User:
I meant NBMEs! And for UW, I did look things up in FA but not as often. (Finished 75% of UW btw!) basically if the UW explanation was very specific on one topic and I knew there was a knowledge gap on more than what the fact they were testing on, I went into FA
User:
Where to find the old and new free 120?
User:
Here’s a [Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/comments/v8brgm/free_120_link_and_new_free_120_link/) with the links
User:
Thank you!
Post 7: The latest performance data for Step 1 (as of Jan 24, 2025)
13/03/2025, 12:41:34
72 comments
I’ve been waiting for the latest Step 1 performance data to drop, and unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed—the pass rate has once again fallen below 90%. I was hoping to be wrong, but here we are…
🔗 [USMLE Performance Data](https://www.usmle.org/performance-data)
# Step 1 Pass Rates for MD Test-Takers
* **2019:** 96%
* **2020:** 97%
* **2021:** 95%
* **2022:** 91%
* **2023:** 90%
* **2024 (as of Jan 24, 2025):** **89%**
If first-time MD test-takers—the group that statistically performs the best—are now below 90%, this trend has major implications for everyone else: DO students, IMGs, repeat test-takers, and especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. Fewer passing Step 1 means fewer students progressing to clinical years, fewer graduating from medical school, and ultimately fewer physicians.
From personal experience and conversations with others, there's a growing disconnect between **how students are preparing** for Step 1 and **what the actual exam expects**. The shift toward more clinical content is exposing the fact that most study resources were built around the old version of the test. By the time these materials catch up, the exam will likely evolve again—widening the gap even further.
This isn’t just a fluctuation—it’s a **consistent downward trend** since 2020. And as this **pass/fail experiment** plays out, we have to ask:
* Is this truly a step in the right direction?
* What systemic issues are contributing to this decline?
* How can we, as a community, adapt and support each other through these changes?
If this trend continues for the next few years, more and more students will struggle to pass, and that impacts **all of us**. I think this deserves a serious discussion. What are your thoughts? Have you felt the shift in exam difficulty firsthand?
Protect ya neck!
Comments:
User:
We are all victims. No matter that the direction is correct or not, we examinee have no appropriate place to voice our opinions, and I believe NBME would never take our opinion into consideration either. To be honest, I still think that the NBME is trying to punish us for its Scandal via making step 1 harder. Turning the grading system into a P/F one is just a way to prevent from showing the average score, which can definitely objectively underpin how this test is turning to be pathologically hard. I know there may be some people saying I'm paranoid. The test is undoubtedly getting harder. It starts to test those obscure basic knowledge in a more clinical way, which is obviously far away from what a preclinical medical student could get in touch with. Before my own test, I thought that people were just whining. However, after finishing my own, I felt speechless and horrified.
User:
You aren't paranoid. You have a very real experience to go off of and that is valid. It's a tough one because you devote so much of yourself to this only to get punished for even attempting. That's rough on all accords
User:
Seconding that it's definitely harder. I went back and did old (offline) practice NBMEs (i.e. 23, 24, 25) when I was struggling with raising my score on the actual CBSSAs, with the thought that it would help me get accustomed to what the NBME wants from us. I was scoring 60-64 for four tests in a row. When I did 23, 24, and 25 (after I had taken 26 (52), 27 (64), 28 (62), 29 (60), 30 (64) with basically no score raise), I scored 77 on 25, 81 on 24, and 79 on 23. The fact that I scored such a distinctively different score on the older tests with literally no change in studying or my knowledge base tells me the modern test is absolutely harder. And the fact that my scores trended DOWN the more recent the tests got, despite my increase in knowledge, also tells me that. I'm a US MD student. I scored pretty average on my MCAT for an MD acceptance (like 510?). While I was lucky enough to pass the first time (if anyone asks how, I followed the step2 reddit guide called something like "how I raised my score with no new knowledge"), I have no shadow of doubt in my mind that the change from scored to P/F has allowed them to instead shift the metrics for what STEP1 looks like. And part of the reason for that is more than half of my MD classmates have had to push back their tests multiple times. I know multiple MD students who are WAY smarter than I am, but because they did either only third party, or only class stuff, they're missing half the respective knowledge that STEP now expects from us.
User:
Exact same feelings after taking it
User:
This sounds scary. Do you have any advice for those in dedicated now?
User:
Not even sure I know how to describe it, but the test overall seemed to emphasize concepts in a different way than the typical NBME. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take them because regardless they are helping you prepare in some way, whether or not the test is getting more difficult. For example, I spent a lot of time on Biochem and genetics like a week before I sat. However, these did not seem to be nearly as prominent as the NBMEs would suggest. Ethics questions were much more prominent as well. I would say during dedicated, focus on how to get the correct answer the fastest way possible. That is through practice questions and building up a strategy with how you will approach each question the same way. It should become second nature to you. That way once you get to those more difficult/ experimental questions during the actual test you have something to fall back on. I found that the length of the questions were much longer compared to UW (around 20-30% were patient charts with so much extra information), and because of that, it can be a shock while you are actually taking the exam and can definitely increase testing anxiety. This can lead to you making too many errors on those easier questions you wouldn’t have missed before or taking a longer amount of time per question. Remember that there are many experimental questions, and I think these experimental questions are the ones that really lower confidence and hinder your performance on the more representative questions. It’s almost like a distraction. So you have to learn to recognize these experimental questions, guess, and move on. I think this is something that the NBMEs don’t reflect well and can be significant for those like myself who really struggle with testing anxiety. First aid is always helpful. I had multiple passes because I used it as my primary resource halfway through preclinical, so I already had most of it annotated. Know your drugs, focusing on the MOA!! Sketchy is super helpful with this. Know relationships very well so you can get those arrow questions right. (Mehlman HY Arrows pdf for this). I don’t want to scare you, but I just want you all to know how the exam actually felt while taking it so you can over-prepare. You definitely still got this! I was still able to pass with coming up with a strategy to approach each question no matter the difficulty: read the question at the end first, skim the answers to get some context on what to focus on, read the last couple sentences before the question (this usually gives the most meaningful context to ruling out answers and removes the distractions). I could usually get the answer doing it this way. I then skimmed the remaining parts of the question once I narrowed it down to 2 answers.
User:
Those patient charts had me flustered. All those extra disorganized comments and lab results that filled like a page and half. Didn’t see that coming from doing the NBMEs.
User:
Exactly, literally like a page long of patient information. Was not expecting so many questions like that.
User:
speechless and horrified lol dude it's not that deep
User:
actually, when I left the test center, I felt that I would fail....
User:
Thanks for the write up and I largely agree with your assessment. Though I passed, 25%+ of my exam questions were 10+ lines long or patient charts. The new step 1 is testing whether or not you can make a quick decision based on limited information, and doesn’t allow much time to check answers. In addition, a lot of the basics - immuno, biochem, etc. - were not as heavily tested on in my exam like they were in practice materials and on NBMEs. Not to mention NBME 25-31 all had shorter question stems with similar difficulty levels to the real deal. For these reasons, I feel like the new step is more difficult than the old step. When you combine the changes in the exam with students and administration alike not taking it as seriously as they did in the past, you will see declining step pass rates. If you’re reading this and haven’t taken step yet, take this exam very seriously. I locked myself in a library for 12 hours a day for two months to get my P.
User:
The assumption is that people aren't taking the pass fail exam seriously, but that isn't actually true if across the board. People are spending just as much time and being less successful. But you are correct, the exam is tough and not to be taken lightly.
User:
Is it true that people are taking just as much time and still not passing? Our predecessors took this exam with the intent of not only passing but also scoring well which is why the passing rate used to be so high. But, nowadays, because the exam is only pass/fail, there is no incentive to try and score high, you just need to pass which only requires the minimum amount of effort. I do think there's an argument to be made that there is a significant proportion of people not being successful because they rationalize the idea that they only need to pass
User:
When you talk to people who have taken it recently and are also studying for the exam currently and they are spending alot of time and money with not as much success. Unless you've taken it and helped people with it, you can only speculate. I assure you that people are most definitely fighting an uphill battle with this...
User:
Not speculation bc I literally took it 3 weeks ago and got the pass last week. I followed the same advice that's been passed around for years prior which includes doing Uworld, pathoma, and sketchy. Is the presentation of the actual exam nowadays different than previous NBMEs? Yes, but the content itself is the same. The principles behind the pathophysiology of COPD for example is the same no matter where you learn it. I don't agree that there was more clinical content on the exam bc most of the questions were "what's the most likely diagnosis?" which is largely pattern recognition.
User:
You said it yourself, the presentation of the content is different. And that is the impact point. The information in the past may have worked for you, but it clearly isn't working for others. So, not to discredit your experience and success along this path, all I am making space for is the reality that what has worked in the past is not as effective now, and it is not because people aren't trying as hard. That's just simply not true. That's all. It's a systemic issue.
User:
The presentation of the content was how it was like in the free 120 which was organized like a medical chart. If anything, it's a better representation of what practicing medicine is like because buzzwords don't actually exist and we'll have to actively look for clues and trends on our own to diagnose a problem. The study routine that worked for me is the gold standard that's worked for thousands upon thousands of students for the past decade at least. But what's more is that it's still obviously working bc a clear majority of students (89%) are still passing the exam on their first try. I'm not discrediting the struggles of students who tried and failed but to make it seem like there's been some dramatic shift in the difficulty of Step 1 is disingenuous. In the same way that you've met students who failed because they felt the exam was more difficult, I've also met students who said they failed bc they didn't take it seriously.
User:
It's not disingenuous, It's a trend. Like I said in my original post: If first time MD students are impacted then those in the margins will be impacted even more. Regardless of how you interpret the results, they are still a symptom of something broader. To imply that the increased rate of failure is due to people not taking it seriously is somewhat a deflection from the experiences people have that both passed and failed. The resources for preparing don't accurately reflect/predict preparedness for the actual exam now compared to in the past. It is what it is...
User:
Took it today, with the exam going pass/fail their is no way to communicate high competence vs barely competent. Which is why they increased the difficulty in my opinion. I just wish the NBME were representative of the new exam. They currently are not. Exam was today by the way.
User:
The actual thing was brutal when I took it a week ago. I don't think I'll pass. NBME is severely out of touch with students. The real deal was nothing like nbmes, without official study material to prepare from, this will only get worse.
User:
The lack of direction on top of the lack of transparency is such a crazy way to assess competency. It's very unfortunate.
User:
Ok I thought I was insane. Did so many practice tests and none of them were like the actual exam as far as the level of detail. I passed, but I felt horrible after testing. Started studying afterwards because I was just sure I was gonna fail.
User:
do you wish you did something different? like is there anything that could've helped?
User:
If you can find a resource that uses very long vignettes (even longer than the average UW question) and practice with those in addition to your typical resources, I think that would be very helpful. Also make sure to not slack on ethics questions/content because that is now making up a larger portion of the exam, at least when I sat.
User:
Bootcamp PQ’s were GOATed for my exam
User:
Did you find the Bootcamp questions more helpful compared to UW?
User:
No, UW is still the gold standard, but bootcamp is the best resource I’ve encountered for learning time management on the real deal while going through step-relevant questions.
User:
Got it. I’ll be done with UW in a few days. I’ll have 4 weeks - will hammer through bootcamp instead of Uworld incorrects
User:
Sounds like a good plan if you’re doing anki or something else for spaced repetition of concepts covered by your incorrects. If not, I’d suggest doing a block of boot camp / 2 blocks of incorrects a day
User:
Agreed. I said It long time ago. The resources, particularly the nbmes, are outdated. Are not predictive anymore. People with barely 60/ in the nbmes are passing while people with 75/ are failing. The new exam became a lottery.
User:
damn
User:
Yeah not that extreme but I agree less predictive now. We will see in August when they update the percentages though for the exams.
User:
I took mine 29th Nov, 2024. Though I ended up passing (I felt I’d fail post exam tho), tbvh I did gauge a shift in the difficulty level towards the harder spectrum during the real deal. Some questions were really nowhere near as the nbme ones, also idk but I feel the trend going towards the real deal being such ethics heavy might have a part to play in the drop in the pass rate given that the step prep in itself isn’t that ethics oriented, definitely not as much as it is asked on the exam.
User:
Very much so. the resources do not reflect/predict preparedness at all. Hence why we see it as a large gap in how we feel vs how we do.
User:
Oh yeah, kinda makes sense; the how we feel vs how we do bit
User:
Oh and having said that, I still would back up Kaplan as one of the best resources out there ATLEAST for biochem, Dr. Sam Turco really has done a great job at the lectures, the old ones. Tho I swore by kaplan for a few more subjects too, but I strongly advocate doing biochem (esp metabolism) from it, once.
User:
If I only had to choose one between Kaplan BioCHem and Dirty Med, what would you reccomend?
User:
How would yall prepare for Ethics? Besides the U World Ethics Questions
User:
At the same time, average Step 2 scores have risen. They used to be 245, but late last year, I heard they had reached 248 - H.O.W? Honestly, I don’t understand the point of these exams. They’re supposed to reinforce core clinical concepts, yet they’ve turned into nothing more than a giant filter. I’d love to praise the test writers with my extensive vulgar vocabulary in all three languages I know, but it wouldn’t make a damn difference to them.
User:
Recently got results back and passed. I agree with general sentiment that test felt very different to the NBMEs. Am curious though if those extremely longer questions are just pilots cause that usually seems to be the belief for step 2. My main advice is to study ethics cause I did not realize how much it would be on the exam. Also questions are rarely what disease is this but more like what gene modifies this and how does the treatment mechanism work.
User:
How would you prepare for Ethics?
User:
I got my pass yesterday. But despite studying very hard for it it was very….different? I feel like some questions were not like the NBME or uworld. A lot of things highly emphasized on both materials was not mentioned on the exam. I saw that there are people who think perhaps pass fail is making people not take it seriously, but I feel like medical students (vast majority) know this is important and wouldn’t risk not studying hard for it. I think the exam could be written in different ways. I still believe it should be challenging (important for our patients) but even on some questions I knew were right, I could tell that some of the answers were purposely being misleading
User:
Most of my classmates including myself take this seriously. I don’t know anyone who laid is back on step 1
User:
I disagree somewhat. I think the rates only dropped with P/F. If you look back to like a decade. It just hovered around 95-97. It was 96% a lot of years. It was 94% in like 2009 for example as a lower end example. Then, right after Pass/Fail, a dramatic shift. Why? I think because when you don't need the best score possible and you "just need to pass" and that is all you try to do, more people miss the mark. And let me add that the research push is a bunch of crap that is taking up our time. Not everyone wants to be a researcher. What's wrong with just wanting to excel as a physician? Let me do that well. I know some giants in the medical field who aren't researchers. What makes them giants? If you needed x,y,z done, you would want them. I'm not going to name names or specialties. Then it will descend into a competition as to what is the "best" and most "valuable", which isn't my point. It's across specialties. If you are busy researching, you often lack the time to perfect your clinical expertise.
User:
I agree and disagree. Are some students misled into thinking they just need to pass? Yes, and they may pay the price of inadequate prep. However, this exam has become far more difficult than the years before. Just look at old NBME step 1 questions that schools now use for subject-based exams. Look at the older NBMEs compared to the new ones. Old questions are an absolute joke. 1-2 liners that are mostly easy. I got >95% on every NBME exam my school uses and didn’t even complete the old NBMEs because they’re not even remotely resembling what the test is today. Subjectively, my opinion is the new free 120 is most representative but still lagging in stem length and difficulty. I don’t think the exam is difficult to pass but the exam is difficult to prepare for, much more so than prior years.
User:
95% is wild
User:
As a DO student waiting for my score to come out and knowing that exam was insane, this feels bad man
User:
The only fluctuation greater than 1 or 2% in the data you presented is from 2021 to 2022 which is likely from the p/f transition. I’m not sure if the drop from 90% to 89% is statistically significant. Also, the first time IMG test taker pass rate has increased by 1%. I don’t think we can read too much into 1% fluctuations.
User:
Regardless, overall trends are downward.
User:
You only have 3 years of data relevant to p/f with it going down by 1% in 2 successive years, and that’s only looking at US MD/DO first time test taker data.
User:
was definitely brutal. definitely a disconnect.
User:
form a student organisation and raise your voice against this. there's power in numbers and you will be heard if you get all US medical school student groups to sign petitions for renewing NBME test content
User:
I have a question for those who applied and passed step 1. Which is better, FA or Mehlman PDF?
User:
Reddit just now recommended this post for me but I think it depends on the individual. Mehlman does nothing for me but overwhelm me ;I’m not good with the lack of additional context. So o prefer FA
User:
If you have already done a somewhat decent content review go mehlman all the way!!! His pdfs are literally awesome. It is like reading a pdf from somebody who has mastered a topic and for him it was USMLE step exams lol.
User:
Stop telling each other to do so much damn anki.
User:
Why not? I know Anki isn't for everyone but for me it's been really helpful for pharm
User:
Who is saying that? Cuz it ain't me lol. I say do practice questions and get your review reps up!
User:
I agree. The test is skewing more conceptual as opposed to little details. It's more of a test of reading comprehension and piecing together the main picture. \-I say this as someone who just got the big P result this Wednesday
User:
Just as a differing viewpoint. I relied heavily on anki and believed the exam rewarded that through having my illness scripts down. Formulating differentials and ruling out or in based on the information presented is essential as the question asks you to know the disease and then asks for underlying mechanism. Anki helped me memorize every disease in FA and they all showed up on the real deal. Also P in early 2025.
User:
Wait really? that's good news for me, cause my reading comprehension is great, my biochem and not so much...
User:
I don't think you can skimp on biochem. You still have to understand the main diseases and main metabolic paths. My point is that it is sufficient to understand the rate-limiting steps of glycolysis and associated pathologies, rather than every single enzyme of every single step.
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Anki isn’t good?
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Agree with the change in difficulty. You can even see the change once you start taking practice shelf’s for your clinical rotations. All of the older forms, people will easily get A-Bs on and then after MORE studying somehow get 60-70s on the newer forms. You can look at the questions and see such a clear distinction between NBME 3-5 vs 5-8 for clinicals. Step 1 I felt had the same changes, where it’s clearly a much more difficult test. I do think that while there are people not studying as long for step 1 (guilty of taking it at the beginning of dedicated and flying to Europe). However, I wouldn’t say that I necessarily studied “less” than my peers, I just crammed a lot in ahead of dedicated to be able to do this and knew my priority would always be the exam and not the trip. If you are going into step without giving yourself a decent margin of error, I think you are doing a massive disservice to yourself for the rest of medical school. I will say the CBSE results at my school have been decently accurate. We required a score that would be 97% likelihood of passing to sit for the exam, and only had 1 failure, and 2-3 people who delayed one rotation to take their exam a month later after the school provided a prep course. This seemed to work very well, and I believe everyone is still on track to graduate on time other than the 1 failure out of 110 people
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Maybe lot of the recalls people failed this time looool
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That’s for US MD, IMG’s lower
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COVID era lock down consequences? . Tele-classes /clinical ? Every student has been affected from elementary level to med school students.
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one million percent. not sure why youre being downvoted.
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To be honest, 89% is still relatively a high pass rate. Many exams in other countries don't have such an amazing pass rate. We can only continue studying harder.
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why are u getting downvoted bro it’s true 89% is crazy high still 😭😭
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The point is not the pass rate but the fact the student pool if anything has way more resources to learn content way better/efficiently vs 10 years ago yet somehow we are doing worse??
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Don't worry, they want the exam to be dumbed down so that it will be 104% pass rate without studying. So that they can also go clubbing while preparing for the exam. I did my medical school in Nigeria and our pass rate in each yearly exam is always between 30-40%. So I see 89% to be very high whether they like it or not.
Post 8: shit pisses me off so much
17/03/2025, 00:09:39
1 comment
No content found.
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Hahaha. It's the joke on House MD that it's always lupus?
Post 9: Passed as an average student
19/03/2025, 13:24:02
20 comments
Got the P today. As you can see my scores were very average but I trusted the AMBOSS score predictor with my life and went for it.
I only used Uworld during pre-dedicated, completing around 60%. Dedicated was a short 5 weeks that consisted of lots of mehlman videos, mehlman pdfs and plenty of NBMEs (all taken online in testing conditions). After each NBME I’d go over the whole exam with friends who took it the same day. Then I’d use dirty medicine to brush up on weak topics and also spam mehlman videos on the topics I did the worst on. I also used old offline nbmes as q banks. Truly a very lazy approach to dedicated but it got the job done. Took free 120 at the prometric center 4 days prior and I believe that really helped to calm my nerves on test day. So happy to be in this position.
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I had very similar scores- consistently in the 60s but never hit 70. Just took it today. Thanks for posting this because I feel like everyone in this sub waits to take it until they have higher scores than me lol
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This is exactly why I posted. I felt like I had to scavenge reddit to find scores similar to mine with a pass lol. As long as ur consistently passing NBMEs in testing conditions you should send it
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How did you feel about it walking out of the exam? What time span were your practice tests taken over? (If you don’t mind me asking)
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Felt horrible directly after lol. Thought I failed. Here’s my order with dates: (Form 28 - 62% - 02/08), (Form 29 - 64% - 02/15), (Form 26 - 68% - 02/18), (Form 27 - 63% - 02/21), (Form 30 - 63% - 02/26), (Form 31 - 63% - 02/28), (New Free 120 - 66% - 03/03), (Real Deal - Passed - 03/07)
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what program lets you score predict?
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It is the AMBOSS score predictor, https://www.amboss.com/us/usmle/score-predictor
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How’d you study Mehlman? Just reading?
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YouTube videos, reading pdfs, arrows, took his biochem, Pharm and micro free quizzes, did his biostats and ethics doc as well
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What about mehlman pharmacology modules? Do you think it’s worth the money? Congrats for the P !
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I would stick to sketchy and first aid for pharm. when the modules were free I used them but sketchy was more than enough
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Okaay thanks for the device .. good luck on step 2!
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Using old NBMES as a q bank is good idea or not My exam last week of May
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I used a combination of offline NBME 20-25 as random q banks and found it more useful than uworld. Took 26-31 and new free 120 online as my actual practice exams
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Congratulations 🎉 Best of luck in step 2 I'm but how about your basic it was good enough For more I'm facing some difficulties in remember some of steps in pathology and bio ways
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ah i see form 28 was also your lowest. I did so bad on that, hoping to improve from here T.T
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How was it using online nbmes vs offline forms? Did you notice any difference in the questions? Are the questions different?!
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The offline forms are just a little outdated as they change the online ones once in a while by updating or replacing entire questions
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Congrats
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First of all congratulations Dr!!!!!!! You did question from amboss ?? Mhelman which PDF you recommended?? Im tired of FA.. i was doing mhelman but then a lot of people say just inflate the score..
Post 10: Passed with low NBME scores — Ask me Anything
12/03/2025, 15:58:21
81 comments
-USMD student
-Took 1.5 months to prepare
-NBME scores started from Low 30’s to mid 60’s w/ 120 score of 65.
-Took and passed 1st attempt
-ASK ME ANYTHING!!! If I can help even one person out, it would be worth it. Stay strong, believe in yourself, you got this
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[deleted]
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Because I truly felt ready. I strongly believe that people read way too much into NBME scores, UWorld scores as if they are life and death. They are not. Look at WHY you are getting things wrong and stop focusing on the numbers so much. By the end I truly felt like all the things I was getting wrong were mainly a matter of misreading or getting a tiny detail wrong. That, in my opinion, matters far more than reading deeply into one number and thinking that defines everything. Hope that helps!
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This is exactly what I've said to people it's not the scores that matter it's what you understand that does
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Great and sane approach honestly
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congratulations on passing!! my scores look just like this and my test is in 2weeks and I am terrified. I feel as though I am doing well and know what I am doing, but my practices just don't reflect that, because like you said I keep getting tripped up on tiny details. This is not what it means to be a doctor. Any advice for what I should do these next 2 weeks? the numbers these tests keep spitting out are so disheartening!
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I totally know the feeling — this was 100% me before I took it! As hard as it is, trust yourself even if the scores don’t reflect it. I would list out your weak topics and hammer those whatever way works for you — for me it was flashcards. I would highly suggest ripping thru the end of first aid where it has the rapid review section as well. Be sure to not burn yourself out— that is the worst thing you could do. Make sure you’re going in with the right headspace and confidence
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My exam is on the 31st my scores are so far nbme 27- 45% 26 - 54% 28-63% 29(took today) 61% Plan to take 30 in the next 4-5 days… and 31 free 120 before my exam of course Will I be okay 😭😭😭
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You’ve still got time! And you’re on a solid trajectory. I would take the ones you have left and make sure that at this point your scores are CONSISTENT meaning you’re maintaining them in the low to mid 60’s. Then take 120 and see how you feel bc the 120 is truly the most similar to the real thing. Most importantly, go by how YOU feel. Anyone (including myself) can tell you what to do and we could be right or wrong. But the most important thing is that YOU are confident when you walk in for that exam. I can speak for myself and say your scores are super super similar to mine and I felt fine. Hope this helps and you got this!
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ohmygosh THANK YOU!!
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Congratulations! How did you prep to increase your score from 30s to 65 in free 120?
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1. Focus on the basics. I realized that pathology, which makes up a huge portion of the exam, was a weak spot for me, so I spent a few days doing nothing but pathology. Everyone said “don’t bother doing content review” — nonsense. Spend whatever time you need to know the basic content and know it well. 2. Spend ample amount of time reviewing NBME’s. I spent a day doing it, and day reviewing it. And let me tell you, sometimes the reviews took 12+ hours. But this is where the money is- I would look up the content I got wrong, relearn it, and make a card on it to review later 3. Quality over quantity — emphasize learning over forcing yourself to do a million practice questions. Of course more practice the better, but make sure there’s a balance and that you’re actually RETAINING what you learn Hope this helps happy to talk more
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yesss making anki cards of incorrects is where the money is, congrats on the P
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Hi, how and where did you study the basics like biochem immuno micro pharma patho ?
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Immuno: Pathoma Biochem: Dirty Medicine Micro: sketchy Pharm: mehlmann Path: Pathoma
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Thank you but Pathoma doesn't have immuno which chapters are you referring to?
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Path 1-3 very immuno heavy and will create a great foundation for you. Fill in gaps with first aid or mehlmann!
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"For USMLE Step 1, can I use these same resources?
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Congrats OP! Could you provide the link used for pharm mehlmann? Thanks and congrats again!! :)
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Did you complete your uw ? And is it necessary to complete >70% of uw
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Wanna say I only completed 60% if that. Didn’t touch it my last 3 weeks of dedicated. Only thing I would say is an absolute must on UWorld is the Ethics!
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Heyyy Soo how did you feel after the exam? Any tips on test taking??
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To be honest with you after the exam was a blur hahah. Even between blocks was a blur. You’re so focused that you kinda forget My only tip for test taking is to really keep track of time. My prompts were very long, and I had to force myself to choose an answer and move on. Do not get hung up on individual questions and do not let your emotions carry from block to block. Remember, there are experimental questions so if there’s stuff that looks crazy it might be that
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this gives me hope! Congratulations on passing!!
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Thank you — you got this!
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Congrats
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Thanks!!
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After going through the exam do you think it’s worth it to annotate FA with the stuff from Uworld or if that’s a bit excessive now that it’s a pass/fail?
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I’d say it’s a bit excessive to annotate anything. Use anki for repetition and use FA to review a topic if you get a question wrong on it or don’t remember it as much when doing practice problems. But spending time reading and annotating a book is just a waste.
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Yeah I mainly agree with what’s been said. There’s so hard or fast rule, I only really annotated the stuff I repeatedly would get wrong bc at that point it would help. But don’t think you need to read through all of FA and annotate to pass
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Congratulations
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Thank you! Good luck
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Congratulations!! That's a short amount of time to prep but you pulled through!!!
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I appreciate that — anything is possible and you gotta do what works for you as hard as it is!
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How many pure biochem qs did u get and how many genetic qs like the punnet square ones??
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I got maybe 6-7 pure biochem and 1-2 punnet square q’s
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I got maybe like 3 pure biochem and no punnet squares. But like someone else said every exam is different and it’s impossible to predict. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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Oh my god every test is going to be different this is pointless to ask
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What would you say the real deal is like ? NBMEs or UW ? NBMEs tend to be vague sometimes and UW has stuff which ain’t in FA ! 😭
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It’s so hard to say honestly. I feel like NBME is one style, UWorld is another style, and the real deal was its own style as well. In general I would say the stems were very long, and it took a couple derivatives to get to what the question was asking, but the level of depth of the information I needed to know was genuinely not close to the depth of UWorld. In other words the level of detail felt closer to NBME, maybe even a bit more superficial if anything. Let me know if you need clarification
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NBME gives vague wordings for its options and some stems…. Is this what u tryna convey ? Or that it doesn’t complicate the questions like UW so one can derive what’s being asked .. Thnx for the help 🫶🏻
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Yeah what I was trying to say is that the questions (I felt) did not go in as much depth as U world, and the content depth felt very similar to NBME’s. The tricky part was the stems were so long, you had to read through it and understand what exactly it was even asking you. Lmk if that makes sense!
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I think I get the overall gist 🥹 thanks a lot 🫶🏻
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Any advise on how to relearn psychology and biochemistry? Also big Congrats!
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Thank you! For biochem: dirty medicine all the way. Don’t waste your time learning any more in depth. For psych, I mainly just learned through the NBME’s and supplemented with FA
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Thank you, Should I try BNB or would you think its too extensive!!! Also sorry I meant to say physiology.
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I would say for physiology use whatever resource you’ve been using (BnB, Bootcamp, Physio, etc.) sure they’re different but they’re all teaching the same thing. The key is then applying what you learn to the NBME questions
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What was your timeline for practice tests like? Like how far out from your exam? I’m 5 weeks out rn and planning my first one in 3 days. Thanks for your help
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That sounds like a solid plan to me — I would def recommend 1/week and again make sure you’re leaving enough time to review!
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Took it yesterday, how did you not go crazy during the 2-3 week wait for your score? 😭
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I booked a trip with my girlfriend (now fiancee) to propose and ski. I also went out with friends and started getting kickstarted with a research project I’ve been putting off since October. Just do whatever you can to take your mind off of school. You’ve got it!
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First off, congrats on being done!!! That in and of itself is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud. I def went a little crazy waiting but at the end of the day — you worrying is not gonna do a damn thing. Pass or fail, enjoy these couple weeks of freedom!!! Then when you get it back cross that bridge when you get there. Cheers
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Was most of the concept similar as nbmes?
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Yes I would say most concepts were very similar to NBME’s. And that’s why I think I felt confident even tho my scores weren’t the highest — I throughouly reviewed NBME concepts and didn’t take any shortcuts. Good luck!
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So if I have a good grasp on nbme concept pass is possible?
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Any tips for someone with 2.5 weeks left of dedicated? Only had four weeks of dedicated anyways, and school only gave us uworld now
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Have you taken NBME’s? With little time left if they just gave you U world, I would recommend not doing random blocks, but instead doing focused blocks on your weak areas + ethics
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Thanks for replying! For more context, Our school gave us Uworld in january (as we started clerkships). I went from surgery clerkship to my dedicated, so I hadn't touched uworld at the start of dedicated. I took one UWSA at the start of my dedicated as a baseline and got 41%..in the past week and a half I've gotten through 30% of Uworld. I am doing focused blocks (finished ethics already). Just super stressed but will be taking NBMEs in the next week. My test is April 4! If you have any advice let me know please 🥲🥲
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Could you go into how you did your reviews please? I tend to struggle with feeling overwhelmed on how I have to go back and not only watch videos on the concept (I.e hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and then doing Anki cards on it, on top of the other 50 questions I got wrong in a 60 questions block. It takes me like 2-3 hours to even review just the uworld explanations for like 15 questions I got wrong
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Personally I’m not an anki person. Barely used it during preclin and dedicated. What I would do is have the NBME, Amboss, and First Aid all pulled up. If there was a phrase or concept I didn’t understand, I would look it up in Amboss and first aid to cross reference. Then I would make myself a flashcard on that topic. It’s important that you look up all the answer choices you don’t understand, not just the correct answer. I know this process sounds tedious (it certainly is) but this is where I personally saw the most improvement!
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i feel like i already forgot most of the things i studied and im 4 weeks away from my exam w only 60% of UW completed w an average of 60% as well. any advice?
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Totally get that! I also felt like stuff I learned in the beginning of dedicated I was forgetting midway thru. It’s normal. You’re putting so much info into your brain at once! I would def recommend spaced repetition, whether that is anki or your own flashcards. Personally I’m not an anki person so I would make my own flashcards for things I got wrong. Also ask yourself: “is this really specific detail likely to show up again?” Or “is this a general concept I don’t understand that can present itself in many ways?” It is important to spend your time understanding concepts and NOT little tiny details that are prob not gonna show up again
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How was your approach in 1.5 months
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What many people don’t understand is that most Q banks were created during the time when step was scored and not pass fail. I mention this because you should not be trying to memorize every little detail of everything you see in a Q bank or even an NBME. Instead, focus on understanding CONCEPTS that you know you will see again. Every time I got a question wrong I would basically ask myself if this was likely to appear again, and if it was, I would make a flashcard for myself. Hope this helps!
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Congratulations!!! Proud of you, Hi could you please enlighten me on your daily schedule for the past 1.5 months, describe your whole day please ✨.
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How did you get your scores higher? I’m in mid 30’s too and I just started dedicated
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Just here to say congrats and love to see posts like this on this sub! Thanks for being open and congratulations again!!
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Thank you I appreciate that! At the end of the day we’re all likely future colleagues and I think helping each other is the way to go. It’s a crazy process, but we can all do it!
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first of all congratulations could u plz tell ehich topics to revise few days before exam which are super helpful! TIA
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What were your main resources for the systems and how did you complete in one and half month. Did you even revise
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Resources used: -Pathoma for everything — I’m a huge fan of his explanations for everything. Especially chapters 1-6 were amazing -First Aid to go over topics and rapid review -mehlmann: I supplemented my weak areas with his docs. I did not touch the high yield arrows doc and have no regrets. I think his individual organ system docs are fantastic. Also used his pharm modules and that’s all I did for pharm -sketchy micro: did all of it, it’s unbeatable for micro. -ethics: UWorld -stats: Randy Neil, if you know his cheat sheet and how to use it, that’s all you need Topics tested the most: I would say endo/repro was by far the heaviest for me. But this changes exam to exam Lmk if you have any follow up questions!
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Congratulations on the pass What resources did you use and is 1.5 months your dedicated period or your entire prep time What topics were tested the most
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Thank you! Resources used: -Pathoma for everything — I’m a huge fan of his explanations for everything. Especially chapters 1-6 were amazing - First Aid to go over topics and rapid review -mehlmann: I supplemented my weak areas with his docs. I did not touch the high yield arrows doc and have no regrets. I think his individual organ system docs are fantastic. Also used his pharm modules and that’s all I did for pharm -sketchy micro: did all of it, it’s unbeatable for micro. -ethics: UWorld -stats: Randy Neil, if you know his cheat sheet and how to use it, that’s all you need Topics tested the most: I would say endo/repro was by far the heaviest for me. But this changes exam to exam Lmk if you have any follow up questions!
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Was 1.5 months of prep enough ?
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Hello can you please tell Me when to incorporate NBME in preparation? What is this NMBE 20,30,60 so on which people are referring to , I m confused I just start my prep with unworld and First aid .. don’t know how to proceed further when to book exam when to do NBME when to take other resources please guide me thank You
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Same!! Congratulations:)
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How did you spend the week before your exam? I’m overwhelmed by how much to revise
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First, congrats that’s huge. Im taking step in abt 2 weeks and I’m scoring in mid 60s-low70s on nbme and averaging 73 on UW. People say that’s a good place to be but I also see a lot of people scoring high and end up failing. Any advice?
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I’m scared after finishing uworld that when i solve A NBME that i would get a bad score cause my exam is near like a month after finishing uworld and i don’t know what to do
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Just wanted to say that I had the exact same experience as you. Peaked at 65 on my practice forms, got the pass result this week. Borderline gang rise up
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Broo, i am in the same boat! Need help. In my first nbme i got 56 and now i am 65 but i cant improve more. Can you tell me your nbme scores?
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congratulations 😊, I'm planning for USMLE Step 1, is there any similarity between these exams, and if where can I get exam questions to study ?
Post 11: I TOOK STEP!!! The new stems are not horrific.
19/03/2025, 16:32:02
25 comments
The new long question stems were not impossible to sift through. In fact, the kind of didn't even feel longer than the normal stems. They have about the same amount of info as normal stems, they just LOOK way longer because they're SPACED OUT.
Because these "longer" question stems are organized into a patient chart format, they're actually maybe even easier to read than normal question stems. The info is also in the same order: age and gender, then subjective data (chief complaint, HPI, symptoms), then objective data (vitals, physical exam, labs).
My approach for them was basically the same as for normal UWorld/NBME style question stems: read the question (last sentence) and the sentence before the question (usually labs), so I know what I'm looking for, then read the whole stem from the beginning.
If you highlight the key parts of each sentence, you end up highlighting the same things whether the question stem is written in a normal format or patient chart format.
There is a question with this "long" stem (patient chart format) on the old free 120.
I had good NBMEs. I had about 15/40 flagged each block, so I didn't feel phenomenal but I the question length people have been talking about on reddit was not a huge issue like people made it out to be.
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While I felt the same way - most questions are doable, I disagree with the chart point. Yes, some questions may appear longer due to the chart, but I noticed a few questions that were objectively significantly longer than the others. I was finishing each block with 10 minutes remaining, but there was one block where I had just enough time simply because I had many superlong questions on that specific block. I had to actually scroll down for a couple questions. And your experience is also form specific. You may have simply gotten a form without much long questions. The general consensus is that the real deal is longer than uworld and nbme/free120. People would be smart enough to recognise if charts were artificially inflating perception.
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this sub is filled with fearmongering. that’s why it is recommended to not open reddit on the final days before the real deal
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Hi, what systems would you say were high yield? And were the questions reflective on nbme concepts?
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Agreed most stems really aren't bad. The long ones are easy to sort the garbage out. But there were a bunch of questions that felt like they were not topics on any q bank (I did 2.5) and were just down right confusing. Good luck. Those getting ready to take it practice your communication Q's
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What does 2.5 mean?
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Yeah what does it mean?
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What are communication questions?
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The ones where it asks what is the most appropriate initial thing to say to the patient.
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I disagree, I took step on Monday and I never struggled with finishing on time for the CBSSAs but with the actual STEP 1 exam, there were 3 sections where I ran out of time and had to randomly choose an answer for the last ~2 questions based on a single glance of the text. It definitely puts people who are slower readers at a disadvantage, and there should have been at least ONE practice test or free 120 with similar length questions. After the first couple of blocks I was able to up my pacing to not run out of time but I wish I had gotten a chance to actually prepare for the correct pacing of the exam instead of the super short passages from the CBSSAs and free 120.
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Very true
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Would you say calculations or the vagueness slowed you down?.
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There were very few questions that required calculations, around only one in the entire exam. What slowed me down was the length of the passages with tons of irrelevant details. About 1/3rd of the questions were written in patient note style like OP mentioned with a bunch of irrelevant info included like details about their PMH that didn’t matter, a bunch of normal labs, a completely normal PE documented etc. Whereas in the CBSSAs the question would say “PE was unremarkable” or “PE was notable for ____ finding”, the actual exam was literally like: cardiovascular: regular rate and rhythm, no murmur rubs or gallops, normal S1 & S2 Pulmonary: normal work of breathing, no wheezes crackles or rhonchi And so on. Basically I wasn’t used to this format and was trying to read everything so I would not miss any important details but it ended up making me run out of time, so after the 2nd section I starting reading the question at the end first and then skimming over the passage super quickly. I’m not kidding when I say it was literally paragraphs of info written out for some questions. You also have to be able to quickly recognize if labs are abnormal without checking the reference ranges because they would regularly include a list of 10+ labs and half of them would be WNL and irrelevant to the case
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Thank you for this! Any qbanks you’ve found that compared to the longer format? Id like to practice a bit with the timing if possible. I could ask ChatGPT to make up some, I guess lol
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I’ve come across some on amboss! Not sure if there’s a way to filter just for those questions though if that’s what you are looking for
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Appreciate it!
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good luck!
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I have done nbme26:78% , nbme27: 73% My percentage dropped ,i feel stressed out. What should i do?
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Don’t street out at all, as long as you keep +70s, you are in a good position. Complete all NBMEs. And take the free 120 before 4 days of the real deal.
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I had a drop too. Went back up. Scores in the 70s are good scores
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yooo thanks for this! good luck op!
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Thanks for the post! Can you please somehow get that old free 120 question which is similar to the exam chart you talked about? It would be really appreciated!
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thank you for the post
Post 12: Passed! If I can pass you can pass
19/03/2025, 14:02:42
30 comments
Older U.S. MD student who really barely passed his classes (study 4-6 hours a day)
My NBMEs were in the low 50s for my first four tests. I spent 3 days reviewing every answer I got wrong and my score shot up 9% from 61 (the fifth NBME I took). That left me with a 70% on my last NBME (I thought it had to be fluke)
Got a 69 on the free 120 and decided to send it.
2 month dedicated:
80% of Uworld at 49% correct (anki cards for all wrong questions just using the plugin).
Did all the pathoma chapters.
Melhman high yield arrows really help with physiology.
Randy Neil for biostats on the last week.
Sketchy micro.
Opened FA on some diseases I really didn’t understand and went over some topics that were pretty bad in my NBMEs.
Watched a ton of dirty medicine.
I’m by far not a really smart guy. If I can do it, YOU can do it.
Flagged 14-20 questions per section
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Thank you for sharing with me. Last question is about timing. Solving UW question - how much time do you have after finishing block? And the same question about the real exam experience.
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A 40 question uworld block takes me around 40 mins. On test day, I had no time to review flags and on 2 sections I really had to push through fast to get those last ~3 questions. Big tip that a classmate gave me: some of the questions take way too long to analyze. You have to read the last sentence, the answers, and then dive through the bulk load of information to find supporting information for the answer. There will be a lot of useless information in some really long winded questions. Edit: I had zero time at the end of the majority of sections.
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Why do you think this time differences between UW and real deal happened? I have the same timing in UW (usually 20 minutes left) and a little worrying about timing on real deal.
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Some of the questions like on the free 120 can be a chart full of information. You kind of have to know what’s relevant. I don’t remember many chart like questions on uworld (if any?). Think of it like this, you get a min and 30 seconds to answer. If your taking a min + 15 seconds to just read the question and analyze it, you would only get 15 seconds to weigh why some answers are wrong versus this is more right then this one etc. I also tried my best not to fixate on questions I knew there was a low chance I would get and would just go with my gut (at this point you’ve done thousands of practice questions and kind of get an idea what the answer will probably be or at least a good guess).
User:
I usually finished UWorld blocks with 5-10 minutes to spare but on the actual step 1 exam I was extremely rushed to finish on every section and there were 3 sections where I didn’t finish and had to randomly select an answer for the last 1-2 questions without reading the passage. It’s because the passages are crazy long, most of them were in the style of a whole patient note with HPI, PE, labs etc and most of it is irrelevant details meant to throw you off
User:
Can you describe how you reviewed nmbes?
User:
This is really hard for me to describe and I'm not that good at analyzing questions. The mistake I made initially in my studying was not throughly reviewing the NBME's. I would take it and glance at wrong questions but wouldn't really understand my thinking at the time and why I truly got it wrong. For three days, I reviewed 5 NBMEs I previously took and it just really clicked with me. I made separate sections for each NBME in my one note and for every question I got wrong I typed out only the part of the concept or the connection to the concept that I didn't know. If I didn't know anything at all about the disease I would watch a youtube video dedicated to that specific disease and would keep a running list of said diseases. What could I of done, recognized, or know to get this question right? Again, not an expert and I would take how I did this with a grain of salt. Someone probably has a way better way of doing this.
User:
Can u tell a little about your test day, please 🙏
User:
Sure. I had a couple times during the test that I started to panic. I needed a few seconds to get back locked in. On the free 120, my worst section I flagged 20 questions and it was still passing. The most I flagged during the test was one section for 20 questions. Other sections were more closer to 15. To me at least, my form felt just like the free 120 and I also had a lot of HY images, uworld questions, and NBME questions that were recycled on my form so I knew I was getting a lot of those right. I also promised myself regardless of the result I gave my all to do this and that’s all you can do at the end of the day. Studied maybe 8-10 hours a day and took 5 days off total during dedicated. Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know. Also I did 0 studying the last 2 days and got like 9 hours of sleep before going in. My biggest piece of advice is timing. I tend to take tests quick but even I felt like time was very limited on game day.
User:
Where does one review the High Yield images?
User:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGfF5mAgIS0sxjNdcPO2Ct3ru7W65pzA/view and https://youtu.be/HqBp424eCSk?si=gLtx7O35FclBT3AK
User:
Was micro heavily tested? Is it necessary to do the entire uw? Or is sketchy enough?
User:
It was tested very heavy in mine. There were maybe 2 micro questions I wasn’t 100% on. Sketchy was all I used and I didn’t finish the micro section in uworld. That was definitely one of my stronger subjects coming in. If the question is vague then what is the most common cause? Do you know what it actually looks like microscopically? Risk factors? What complications can this lead to? How do you treat it? Just some examples of things you should be thinking of when learning the different bugs and drugs. I think sketchy is enough but something like biochem was at the start of medical school so I had to spend a lot of time relearning that. Besides EBM and Psych, micro was probably my better section with pharm. So if you know your good with bugs sketchy is enough. I’ve seen horror stories on here of sketchy not helping, but it definitely was enough for me.
User:
Sketchy doesn’t really tell the most common cause, does it?
User:
He can hint at it sometimes like GBS most common cause neonatal meningitis, cryptococcal meningitis in HIV patients etc. So maybe sometimes?
User:
was there a lot of endo and repro?
User:
Good amount. Mine was cardio light.
User:
thank you and congrats OP!
User:
First congrats! Do you mind sharing the UWorld plugin you used?
User:
Thank you. https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/444814983
User:
Sorry, but what does the plugin do exactly?
User:
You can use the ID number on a uworld question to unsuspend Anking cards pertinent to the questions you got wrong.
User:
Congrats 🥂
User:
Congrats. How did you study pharm? And how was it tested on the real thing? Less drug names more MOA’s?
User:
I focused very hard on MOA's. Knowing how to treat each disease and the major adverse events (ex. spiranolactone and gynecomastia), not a question on my test, but a good example with a pretty unique side effect. I didn't use sketchy pharm (a few ppl recommended it to me but didn't end up doing it), and I would just watch videos on youtube on topics of medications I knew I was pretty bad at like antiarrhythmic drugs (dirty medicine on YT). The real deal wasn't a surprise in pharm for me atleast.
User:
Appreciate it. Other than YouTube, did you primarily just use UW explanations or FA pharm sections? Or a combination of both? YouTube wise, I’ve been using some speed pharmacology/ Dirty. Any other channels you recommend?
User:
what did you do for BioChem? Dirty Med?
User:
Some dirty med. Watched this video 3-4 times: https://youtu.be/FSmvbtrq7pM?si=qDpt7cRS0RHZaJ9D
User:
thanks
User:
Most tested systems??
User:
Endo + repro, renal + respiratory, behavioral health + nervous system, in that order.
Post 13: Am I missing anything??
18/03/2025, 17:51:57
42 comments
Freaking out please help
To all who have given step 1
Is this good ?
Comments:
User:
Rapid review (end of FA)
User:
Added!
User:
I’d add Pathoma Ch 1-3
User:
Oh yeah thanks man Lots to do Added
User:
Pathoma ch. 1-3 and 200 concepts on amboss
User:
Where is 200 concepts on Amboss available?Is it paid?
User:
Yes or you could do free trial for 5 days and do as much as you can
User:
Pharmacology and mechanisms of action of drugs of all systems
User:
Try getting ur question faster because I failed by 3-4mcqs last month just because time wasn't enough
User:
It's Perf.
User:
What is the last point?
User:
Mehlman Audio Q bank I’ve written #and then the no associated with them to review later on And few imp details that he mentioned there
User:
Oh great good luck. Will implement this my exam may be next week depending on my upcoming NBME. Hopefully we all pass 🙏🏻🙏🏻
User:
All the best bro How’re they tho?
User:
I started off with NBME 26 did s 68% , then 25 73% then 27 73%
User:
I just recalled you can also do the Mehlman HY Mixed Review the 4 parts
User:
Mine aren’t that high In mid 60s
User:
Oh yeahhhhhhhhh
User:
With a little bit of work you’ll pass hopefully 🙏🏻🙏🏻
User:
Wow how much time in between thats a massive jump and what did you do?
User:
One week but I only focused on the dumb mistakes and it was doable
User:
which ones will you do? he has so many
User:
What's HYRF biostats? A Mehlman doc?
User:
Yes , Risk factors
User:
Gotcha. Thanks
User:
What about mehlman pharmacology modules Did anyone do that?
User:
Whats HY ARROWs?
User:
Other than some of these, I also redid 100 concepts of anatomy and a few Dirty Medicine videos that I felt I could use a recap of. The night before my exam lol, not advisable, yes. but definitely helped me personally. And I think I did a review of the free 120 and nbme 31 (latest). just a skimming, not too much time invested.
User:
Just go through your NBME incorrects and the NBME concepts in final week along with important FA tables
User:
What is 6th point? HY guru??? The one which says if time permits
User:
I think It’s youtube channel . HY Guru by Rahul Damania. He has HY rapid review videos of step 1 subject wise
User:
Yes you both are right But which videos of his will be most yielding rn for me? As I’m approaching my step
User:
Actually my exam is 6 weeks away. But i am definitely thinking of playing that playlist in my last 2 weeks. So yeah if you have time go for it.
User:
As for as high yield is concerned i think HY images and Hy arrows for sure
User:
Okay 👍
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[deleted]
User:
Nope
User:
How can I extend for 15 days my Uworld Subscription?
User:
Divine Intervention!
User:
memorizing "HY arrows" is comical. Every one of those questions can be reasoned through if you understand basic physiology. Better push that exam date
User:
Rapid Review is great!!! Also lots of ethics questions :)
Post 14: GOT THE P !!!!
19/03/2025, 12:57:28
23 comments
Hello everyone so I’m gonna keep it super short
_EXAM DAY_
The night before I was tossing and turning in bed, I thought of sleeping at 10PM but I had some revision left so it stretched til midnight
Then I went to bed by around 12:30 AM but I couldn’t sleep til like 2:30 AM. Then I searched up on the internet how to go to sleep when u got a big exam coming up and some dude on YouTube told me how to breathe and regulate my nervous system 💀
I was super scared before the exam, during and after the exam. While attempting the first block I was suffering halfway almost through a panic attack and before the exam I got psychological diarrhea out of everything lol so I was blowing up the prometric restroom before I went into the exam
When I went into the exam, the dude told me to enter my CIN number and enter, the exam started (I wasn’t mentally prepared cuz I thought I was logging into smth) and again I panicked that ayoooo dude I wasn’t ready ???????? You should’ve been clear that it was gonna start
Anyways, during the exam. It was tough but doable, I stuck with my gut. The first answer that I felt was right, I picked it
I did not go back to change my answers. I trusted in my knowledge. Stayed calm and did that breathing technique that helped me sleep the night before
_THE MONTH BEFORE_
Focused on NBMEs, mehelman, anki
_OVERALL PREP_
Uworld completed it 98%
Corrects : 54%
First aid, sketchy, dirty medicine, randy Neil, Pixorize
NBME 25- 50%
NBME 26- 54%
NBME 27 - 60%
NBME 28- 67%
NBME 29 - 72%
NBME 30- 78%
NBME 31- 62%
Old 120- 71%
New 120 - 68%
Honestly, I’m an average student and I watch like 4 hours of Netflix a day because I love cinema, if I can do it so can u
Keep believing in yourself and be confident
Stick to a routine, don’t get discouraged
It’s not linear, there are gonna be so many highs and lows throughout. You just have to keep going
I fell down and had to pick myself up from the ground every single day because the entire grind of the preceding months is more difficult than the actual exam day
If anyone has any questions- I’m here to help
Good luck everyone ❤️
Comments:
User:
How did you improve your nbme score
User:
I was on like 4 hours of sleep and thought I’d fumble just bcuz of sleepiness but the adrenaline kept me going Aim for 8 hours of sleep though because a sound mind is more important than anything
User:
Yes. And the week, at least, prior to the exam you need to be on a regimented schedule. Sleep at this time every night, awake at this time every single day, for more than 7 hours of sleep. You should also be eating healthfully (no junk food), getting 10-30 minutes of exercise and 10-30 minutes of meditation for at least a week prior to your exam, longer is better.
User:
YESSSS 100% Making your body used to that schedule is so important Unfortunately I lived at a place where it was impossible to study during day time so I had to make a nighttime routine But it worked out in the end
User:
Everyone is saying the exam was tough but doable. What does that mean😭 and please tell us about biostatics and ethics questions ??
User:
Mine was very few biostats questions but a lot of communication/ethics questions
User:
Where did you study from biostatics nd also ethics?
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I used first aid and step 1 med bullets to study for bio stats. I didn’t really study for the ethics/communication questions since my school does a great job of teaching us how to approach those questions in our curriculum
User:
Right!!! Thank you
User:
Way to go champ!!🍾🎉
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Thank you ❤️
User:
Congrats!!!By the way how did you use anki with uworld reviews and first aid!I’m doing Anking step deck but don’t know how to fit it in the schedule
User:
Which modules were tested the most?
User:
The question % breakdown they provide is pretty accurate
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Congratulations 😌😍😍😍
User:
What are the highly tested topic
User:
Can you tell what kind of questions you felt were asked the most? Ethics? Pathophysio of systems?
User:
My exam is in to days and i only have one score in 70s and was 29 31 was 67 and this is my average , should i go?
User:
go for it! Scores are good enough. Make sure you do free 120 to be sure
User:
congrats! could you share the video! lol
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Many Many Congratulations🎈 Can you please guide After how many days you gave each nbme And what did you revise btw nbmes How did you improve after nbme 27
User:
Very well done.
Post 15: Where did it go wrong
13/03/2025, 10:13:40
40 comments
I wanted to know I was short of how many mcqs
Comments:
User:
Hey, M4 here. Did the exact same thing a couple years ago- peep my first post. One french fry away from a happy meal. Never, in any circumstance give up. Keep doing questions, review your incorrects, rip Anki. You will prevail. Mentality means EVERYTHING.
User:
Thankys buddy really feels good for support but there is on thought in my head constantly telling me the there is mark of fail on ur step and that will be forever nm how much I score later
User:
My graph back in December 2022 looked exactly the same way - sorry, buddy. I agree that working on your confidence as well as content knowledge will bring you the P on your next attempt. I was an outlier and took about 9 months (life will be that way sometimes) but I know some that had similar graphs and passed in as little as 2-3 months.
User:
Love the emphasis on mentality. I think a lot of people focus solely on the content however, after you have failed I think it’s super important to focus on mindset in addition to content knowledge.
User:
Truely said
User:
do you mean rip anki as in like finish all of your anki cards?
User:
The stylopharyngeus obviously comes from second pharyngeal arch because it forms that bone called the stylohyoid…What? Nvm who cares…
User:
You know more than me, good ol mnemonic MS2? Arch 1=M stuff, Arch 2=S stuff?
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I think no more than 3-4 questions
User:
Try again buddy. The thing is lots of us have gone through this challenge. Many have failed step the first time but will never admit it because they are either embarrassed or don’t want to be judged. A Doctor is a Doctor. You know?? Take a few days off, get yourself a private coach/tutor and then kick some ass. You’ll be able to help people soon with your skills even batter now that you’ve overcome challenges
User:
I totally agree! Stick with it. A doctor is certainly a doctor. The interesting thing is that your patients are never going to ask you if you passed Step 1 on the first time. they will only care about the excellent care you deliver.
User:
Yes the end goal is to become a good doctor
User:
Yes true i have taken a few days break and think I am going to start again
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Any suggestions on private tutor ?
User:
Actually I did my prep myself so I don't have idea on that
User:
A heavy dose of Mehlmann towards the end before the exam can give a boost
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Yup did that too
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Actually mehlmann help?
User:
What exactly would you recommend from mehlmann?
User:
Can I ask how was your NBMEs?
User:
Nbmes were 56-62% total score divided by 2
User:
Yeah how was your free120? Your highest was 62?
User:
Free120 70 and nbmes highest was 68 in 29
User:
Is this the average?? Your highest ??
User:
Nbmes 13&24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31
User:
What about free120? And what were thoughts post exam ?
User:
I was confident post exam except it was lengthy causing me to rush in last 3-4 mcq
User:
Did u review qs after coming home? Did you count that how many you got right or wrong ?
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I’m so sorry you had to go through this! So many prayers on your way ❤️🩹❤️🩹
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Thank you
User:
Keep you chin up and hang in there!
User:
Bad things happen, don't stress read mehlman endo to make sure you have your basics covered. take a second look at the proto-onco genes. You'll kill it next time
User:
Thankyou will surely make it crisp and clear
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Don’t take a long break, gather urself, and go take it as soon as u can, don’t waste time and forget stuff
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U r right even with few days break I am loosing grip
User:
Appeal it maybe they’ll have some mercy these jerks and give u a mark on the experimental questions that u got correct
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Can we do that?
User:
I wouldn’t recommend it - I wrote a post on requesting score rechecks and it’s basically giving money to ECFMG.
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You didn’t pass. Thats where you went wrong.
User:
your comment is insensitive – this is a normal thing that happens and it's important for people to talk and be open about it. don't belittle OP, especially when they're going through an incredibly difficult time and are vulnerable enough to talk about it
Post 16: Failed my Step 1
13/03/2025, 03:47:51
145 comments
As the subject says it all. Im doomed. I just don’t know what to do.
Comments:
User:
How did the test go? People say you get so low if usmle flags you for possibly cheating. Even if you blindly guessed, you'd get around 25% correct.
User:
The exam was neither easy nor tough. I never cheated during the exam nor was notified about it? How do I appeal about this?
User:
How many questions do you estimate you got correct. For example, I tested on 4/3 and marked 20-25 per block, but I know that every unmarked question is correct. Even if I fail, the bar won't be that low. It's not practically possible to score as badly as that unless usmle intentionally sabotaged your result. It's not about cheating during the actual exam. Did you use recalls? If you're answering previously asked questions within 20 seconds and score poorly on experimental questions, usmle will know and will ban you. You can't appeal, even if you do they won't budge. You could request a score recheck maybe, but score rechecks never work. Expect an email within a week banning you from taking usmle for a year. Some users a year ago reported scores like this due to a test centre glitch. Did you computer turn off midway?
User:
I flagged Atleast 10-15 questions and completed last 2 blocks with 10 mins remaining in each. Im banned to retake the exam for a year!???? The monitor did glitch for 2 seconds but nothing was too serious tho.
User:
No, you're not banned yet, but people with this result usually get an email that bans them for a year. Monitor glitch could be it, try contacting nbme. Did you use recalls, that's the biggest question.
User:
Im sorry but what do you mean by recalls? Because I never carried any books nor material to prometric center.
User:
People take the test and memorize a few questions. Like that, they recreate the entire question pool and circulate the questions. There are groups on telegram and even on reddit, which sell the questions. This happened on a massive scale in Nepal and to a smaller scale in India, Pakistan and Jordan. So if you get say 90 percent of normal questions correct, answering all of them within seconds and only 30 percent of experimental and new questions correct, nbme will know you cheated. This has happened before: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2024cv00410/264885/28/ here is the case. did you cheat, or did you not.
User:
Ohhh HELLL NAAAH I DIDNT DO NONE OF THAT. All I did was attempt last 2 blocks in rush because I was burnt out.
User:
Ok bro, I'm sorry you have to go through this.
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I’ll call nbme and enquire about this tho because my anxiety is fucking me up.
User:
I was under the assumption that there are completely different questions each test day. Is that not the case?
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They have a pool of questions which is reused, that is definitely not the case.
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Dude i know these people from that part of the world and I'm pretty sure India is in the larger scale than nepal, I went to my school the other day to get my papers and I saw IMG mostly indians in the school park they're studying in the bench and I look at their device I caught a glimpse of them using recalls, there's also few of them studying honestly.
User:
No, it is not. Don't be racist. Your personal experience is not representative of an entire country. The profession of medicine is based on evidence, not anecdotes. So your "pretty sure", it doesn't mean a damn thing. What I said is based on fact, and I've literally linked the official court documents to support it. To say it happened more in India than Nepal is factually incorrect, there's a reason why test centres in Nepal are shut down, whereas those in India are still open. NBME describes the way Nepal cheated in detail and how they were caught. They conducted a thorough investigation, and quite honestly, it was sickening to read. The ones who cheated do not deserve to be doctors anywhere.
User:
Just got in the bus, starting my Step1 studies. What is a recall in this case? Am I'm cooked for using Anki, Bootcamp and focusing on high-yield topics and terms so I don't lose as much time and obviously don't have to read the whole question before answering? I don't think it's realistically possible to read questions top to bottom and answer them all without running out of time. If I read the last line and already have an idea of what the question is about, I'm absolutely going to mark my answer and only come back to it if I have extra time. Would they assume I somehow cheated because of this? Thanks.
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>What is a recall in That's too much for me to explain, just know that it's cheating and something you should never use. I kinda explained it in a different comment. >I don't think it's realistically possible to read questions top to bottom and answer them all without running out of time. If I read the last line and already have an idea of what the question is about, I'm absolutely going to mark my answer and only come back to it if I have extra time. Would they assume I somehow cheated because of this I don't think they will. The way you answer questions should be reading the last line of the question, then reading the entire question. You should be able to read the entire question, if you can't you have a serious problem with time management or reading speed. I was completing blocks with 10 minutes to spare on the real deal, having read every single question top to bottom. As long as you don't waste too much time on thinking, it should be doable. Elimination of incorrect options will help shorten time spent.
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You’d actually get lower than 20% most likely by blindly guessing. A-E is by far the most common answer selection layout but there are also a fair number of A-G or I saw some even to J on my test. There are no A-D so 20% or lower is most likely.
User:
True, its lesser than 25, but still its not literal zero.
User:
Well what you see there is not raw scores. It's a curved performance. The end of the scale wont be 0. It will correspond to the worst performances out of the cohort. So around 25% for the ones who blindly guessed.
User:
Oh. That makes sense. I think this my be it.
User:
Ain’t no way that’s real
User:
Wow how horrible. If you didn't cheat I really hope you can get this appealed.
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Yes im gonna call ECFMG directly. My anxiety is fucking me up.
User:
appeal with NBME / USMLE, not ECMFG, they don’t handle your scores. they simply process your credentials and certifications but the scoring regardless of IMG or US-MD is done by NBME
User:
Oh my...! If you didn't cheat/use recalls, how the hell is NBME doing this? I am not saying that you did that, but it must mean that NBME is inaccurate at predicting cheating....I am honestly scared
User:
Im totally confused myself bro. Im gonna call nbme directly in few hours.
User:
You should update us after you talk to them
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Telling you I was scared, too..
User:
Only 2 possibilities 1) You used recalls while studying 2) You scored so low that NBME is questioning if you were even trying to pass in the first place (ex: you came to memorize questions and then sell them to others or try to do better on repeat exams by memorizing past exams) Either way, you should get an email within 1-2 weeks suspending you from USMLE exams for 12 months. There is no appeal and NBME is purposely vague. People have gotten lawyers to no avail. In the pre-USMLE scandal era, if you scored this low, they were actually concerned and would give you a chance to explain circumstances (prometric error etc) and then a review board would make a decision. Someone made a post on what the letter looked like in 2014 if you scored low versus now- huge difference. In the post-scandal era, you can only accept your fate. Sorry man.
User:
What do you mean by using recalls while studying? How would that be flagged?
User:
It means you went out of your way to look for and memorize questions from past exams via platforms such as telegram etc. Unsure how it's flagged but logically NBME is likely releasing bait recall questions on the test so - spending an unreasonably short amount of time answering recall questions compared to the other test takers, answering recall questions unreasonably well compared to other test takers, scoring exceedingly well on recall questions compared to new experimental questions etc etc.
User:
some questions in my test were brain-dead easy... I choose the answers in less than 30 seconds. Sounds that I am dangerous now...
User:
Haha that’s not what this is. You can answer questions quickly (I surely did for some and passed). This is if there are some questions that they historically have data on that shows what percentage of people get them right and a normal amount of time to read and answer said question. If you are someone getting all these questions right at a disproportionate rate to other questions and also answering them faster than they believe is reasonable for reading the stem, you’d get flagged. Although not impossible to get flagged if you didn’t cheat, it would be nearly a 0% chance. The algorithms they use to pick up on these trends are highly intelligent. If you didn’t see test questions before the actual test, you shouldn’t worry about this.
User:
Thanks a lot for your kind and detailed explanation. It really help a lot to alleviate my nervousness.
User:
Thanks Kayla
User:
Can he retake the exam after 12 months normally or will be a red flag in his Cv??
User:
Good question, no one knows. My guess is that it will only show a failed score on the transcript and nothing else (which is a red flag on its own, but not as bad as cheating). NBME doesn't want to deal with the legal stuff again. When the scandal first came out and they were forced to invalidate scores that were already released, it was somewhat tough for them to prove in court that someone actually used recalls even though they won (had to use statistical probabilities to show likelihood, no hard evidence). Now they just straight up just fail you if you use recalls and suspend you for 12 months but they probably won't red flag your transcript for "cheating", they don't want to deal with more law suits and having to prove someone may have used recalls. But in a way i think programs will still know you might have been up to something suspicious, as they will see on your transcript that you waited 12+ months to repeat your exam which is a bit unusual. They might even ask about it on interviews. Maybe this is NBMEs way of dealing with the recall cheating scandal without the legalities of it.
User:
You were flagged and will likely receive an email indicating you can not take the test again for a year. That isn’t just a fail- it’s a zero as if you answered nothing which means they invalidated your test. With all the recall cheating that has gone on they are pretty savvy at picking out concerning tests.
User:
No I disagree. This is not a zero it's a low score. If you get less than 155 it shows this.
User:
In the text, it says that this is a distribution and depicts score relative to peers. So, may be it's like <1%ile?
User:
Yup check the score reports before p/f. It shows less than 1 percentile is less than 155
User:
How is this score possible?
User:
It means they were flagged for cheating.
User:
Wait wdym by flagged for cheating? Because I was never notified about it? What do I do about it?
User:
Frankly I don’t think there is much you can do about it. You can file an appeal with NBME, but these are very rarely if ever overturned. Did you use recalls or violate any testing center rules?
User:
Legit none. All I used was my phone during breaks which was allowed according to center rules and was placed in lockers during exam. No center rule was violated as well.
User:
That sucks man— the other alternative is that you really did score 0th %ile but that is super hard to do even by chance. If you didn’t use recalls and you didn’t violate any testing center rules, I would for sure reach out to NBME, though unfortunately I doubt it will make any difference. With any luck you will be allowed to retake.
User:
“Rarely”. Lmao no. They are “never” overturned. Unfortunately, OP is cooked.
User:
Ur not wrong homie, ur not wrong. I also don’t buy the “what happened I didn’t do anything” on these posts most of the time.
User:
what are recalls?
User:
Recalls are question banks made up from actual in use questions that other test takers have memorized and sell. Illegal to use per NBME policy that you agree to when you sign up to take the test.
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How do they even check for that?
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[deleted]
User:
They flag an extremely tiny group of people for which they are confident cheated occurred or there was documented suspicion in the testing center. This includes using recalls to study.
User:
I didn’t even have no recalls nor notebooks on me during the exam except my phone. All I did was call my mom during blocks?
User:
[deleted]
User:
Dude, they’re a medical licensing board. This is done by a computer for suspicious activity because people cheat on exams all the time. It sucks if someone didn’t cheat, but frankly I’m not sure I buy it given the data has to be pretty clear on these to avoid legal issues.
User:
I’m so sorry you had to go through this. Did you attempt your questions super fast or in a rush? I heard if people complete their blocks way before time they suspect irregularities. Was that your case too ?
User:
Yes the last 2 blocks I attempted it in rush cause i was burnt out.
User:
You ended them before 10 mins or you just completed them and reviewed them for last 10 mins ?
User:
Ended it with 10-15 mins remaining.
User:
This is pretty normal... I do not think this should be suspected as cheating
User:
This is absurd, gotta be more going on here.
User:
Drop out and start an onlyfans
User:
Yesterday’s exam for me was brutal! Honestly, only about 10 questions seemed to come from First Aid 2024. Most of the questions were so vague, and a bunch of them felt like they had more than two correct answers. So if I get the same result , I won’t be surprised! I’ve never chelated, read First Aid twice.
User:
First aid is not a very good resource anymore, the majority of my class didn’t even touch it. UFAPS + BB + Podcasts is the gold standard forever
User:
What podcasts? Also what is UFAPS?
User:
DI podcasts, Dr HY. UFAPS is UWorld, technically first aide, Pathoma, Skechy. I think B&B is better than FA, but that’s just me. You should basically only use FA to confirm stuff but it’s not enough to actually pass
User:
I think you may receive temporary termination from appearing from step 1 for a while. One of my friend received it. I hope you do not get that.
User:
[deleted]
User:
So u took it in 2023 interesting 🤔....
User:
bro I took my test on 1st of March and I got this result
User:
I thought the same but it's the same for everyone else too who posted about P/F.
User:
Nope bruh , it's an old report, and this post is total BS
User:
There are like 3 other failed posts and it's 2023 in every single one😭
User:
Another example of someone clearly thinking they can slip under the radar. Pointless for you to post this. You know what you did. HIGHLY unlikely you missed every single question. It’s actually harder to miss every question than get a few right blindly. Spade for a spade.
User:
Why would someone intentionally get every single question wrong? What am I missing here lol
User:
We’re saying that the reason the applicant got a 0 is due to the fact they were flagged for cheating. Most likely irregular behavior in answering recall questions.
User:
oh so going in to the test and answering as fas as possible in order to write out questions after?
User:
Why does it say 2023?
User:
Where did you write your exam? Which country?
User:
UAE
User:
Same. Even I got the same result
User:
wtf?
User:
It was in Dubai, prometric office. This is normal?
User:
I’d say let him pass. Probably knew all the correct answers and chose the incorrects on purpose!
User:
Dude i had the same thing. Banned 1 year after receiving this. I took the test in California. I didn’t do nothing wrong. My ban will expire in 2 months. Sorry for you
User:
Did you pass after retake the exam ??
User:
I did not retake it. I still have 2 months from my ban
User:
Did you ask if you can retake it normally or not ?
User:
Yes i called and emailed them. Nothing
User:
Did you ask anyone or did someone advise you about retaking the exam, or would it be a bad mark on your academic record? What did you do about this?
User:
In the email they said that I cannot retake the test, i need to wait for the 1 year ban. After the ban will be lifted i will take the test again
User:
So everything will be ok ?
User:
Hopefully yes, I cannot do nothing, just to wait. And it wasn’t about cheating or things like that. I took the exam after 1 month after the huge scandal with india and pakistan started. I don’t know if i was unlucky or it was a problem. I tried to contact a lawyer but it s too expensive. It s not worth it
User:
Did they directly accuse you of cheating, or did you conclude that yourself?
User:
The same thing happened to me. The suspension only left me in shock. I have mailed and contacted them but they said if you want you can get a recheck by paying 80 $ and that may not have much changes. All my life is on a pause now. Never had a Plan B and this result is just making me question my whole medicine career. Please help if somebody knows what to do
User:
Hey same results . I got banned . I can give exam next year . I thought my exam went good . But yes i flagged questions and on some questions i answered quickly because i had no time . But they think its cheating
User:
but I haven’t gotten any ban message tho
User:
Do questions until the end of days and then take the test again
User:
This score feels impossible - at least for me. If I actually get it, I’d be super suspicious of… well, I don’t even know what. But what I do know is that the exam was ridiculously hard. I have a really good memory, and I can remember almost every single question. Some of them just seemed weird to me.
User:
Email nbme and see what they have to say, if you've been flagged by mistake it will be corrected
User:
Yep im going to call them directly
User:
Has NBME ever done that?
User:
I think once or twice I've heard someone who got 280 on step two and his score got invalidated but then it got turned around cuz it was falsely flagged
User:
Did they flag by mistake or flagged for suspecting cheating and overturned their decision?
User:
Flagged for suspecting cheating and overturned their decision
User:
Hold ya head.
User:
Seems that people who are IMG are being flagged now. From previous posts this seems to only happen to people taking the exam outside the USA. Never heard of any of my USMD friends score being invalidated.
User:
The comment before yours said they were in California and same thing happened
User:
What were your practice exam scores? Previously, this score glitch appeared for people who failed, regardless of degree of failure or use of cheating materials.
User:
whats the recall thing everyone is on about
User:
Recalls is using past USMLE questions people memorized. It's illegal because just like in the MCAT, we all have to agree to terms and conditions twice (when signing up for the exam as well as right before doing the exam), we agree to not memorize questions and distribute them (let alone discuss questions after exam), and also not engage in any form of collecting and doing these type of recall questions. I remember they gave me a sheet after my MCAT restating all the terms and conditions we've accepted which includes to not discuss the questions and stuff with others I assume it's the same thing for the STEP exams since it's by the same company. Although I can't believe they just give out fails for not adhering to these rules. iirc, the MCAT makes it clear that if you're caught doing this, you get a permanent ban along with a voided score, so it seems too light for the STEP exams. I'd expect greater consequences for the STEP exam since we're in professional school and not in undergrad anymore. I don't think OP cheated like this. There is probably more to it, and it's something else that we're missing.
User:
Im really sorry for you hope it is NBME mistake and the appeal will work out . I just wonder how do they know if you cheated i never used recalls and never intending to do so from a moral perspective but what if i scored high do they see that as irregular behaviour because i have been preparing for too long now and mu NBME's are high without mehlman should i be worried or can someone explin how this work please ?
User:
You're joking
User:
Just because the line is all the way at the left doesn’t mean he got below 40%, he could’ve gotten around there but it doesn’t start showing on the graph until you get higher than that
User:
Wtf. How does that even happen??? Were you able get a hold of someone from NBME and get this figured out??
User:
They said nothing can be done and I just have to retake the exam again
User:
Did they tell you why you received this report? Were they able to confirm if this was your true performance on the exam or if this was an erorr or something?? I'm genuinely so confused rn. I'm so sorry this is happening to you! No one deserves this. We all work so hard to get here ugh
User:
I’m so sorry about this OP. Why does it show 2023 though?
User:
Hey, it's not you. This score doesn't even make sense. Has nothing to do with your efforts. Don't put down your efforts! Regardless, take it again. How were the nbme scores and how was the stress/confidence level throughout taking the real exam? Regardless, if you'd like a tutor, I have one I can refer you to, PM me if needed. Keep going!
User:
How was your nbmes?
User:
I'm not even in med school yet, just curious. What happened here? How did OP get 0th percentile?
User:
Got flagged for cheating so they move you all the way to the left. Or he genuinely did worse than anyone else in the world which is unlikely
User:
Dude even if you guess all the questions you can't possibly get a 0 lol. It's harder to get a 0 than actually do good cause you need to know all the right answers and not pick that 🤣
User:
It’s a percentile; so 0 is not a 0%. Plus like i said, more than likely flagged for cheating
User:
How do you cheat on Step1??
User:
Using recalls most likely, there was an entire scandal in Nepal this year where they invalidated thousands of exams because there was an elaborate ring of people colllecting recalls to do well. Easy to detect when someone answers entire blocks in record time
User:
So they repeat the same questions every exam? That's the only way recalls would work right?
User:
A large percentage of questions are reused, they have a question bank that slowly updates over the years.
User:
Remindme! 10 days
User:
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User:
Try smoking less weed bro
User:
This exam is taken in 2023?!
User:
FAKE POST . There are no histograms ever since the exam became pass/fail.
User:
Okay bro.
User:
Uhm you’re extremely wrong lol, if you fail it shows you the graph, it just doesn’t show it if you pass.
User:
Dude that is ridiculously low
User:
Dude that is ridiculously low
Post 17: US MD who was 100% convinced I failed and got the P today!
12/03/2025, 21:56:31
9 comments
Hi everyone!! I searched up and down this subreddit for the past 2 weeks for someone to give me hope that I passed even though I walked out of Prometric feeling like absolute garbage. As someone who felt like I was behind and did everything wrong, I hope this post can help someone and instill some hope and confidence.
USMD who is an average to below average student, scored right at the mean on most in house exams but did fail one preclinical exam. Had 2 months of dedicated. Did no studying prior to that.
Resources: Sketchy Micro, First Aid, Dirty Med Biochem, UWorld, Pathoma Ch 1-6. Random Bootcamp and Youtube videos to supplement.
Scores: NBME 26 - 48%, NBME 27 - 50%, NBME 28- 41% (This scared the crap out of me), NBME 29 - 63%, NBME 30 - 61%, Old free 120 - 63%, NBME 31 - 66%, New Free 120 - 68.5%. All NBMEs were taken online with simulated testing conditions. I also did UWSA1 and 2, but more for practicing stamina and for practice questions -- I did not use them to assess my progress and I could not tell you what my scores were.
Completed 52% of Uworld with 57% average.
During the first month of dedicated I felt like I was very distracted. The first month was the U.S. inauguration and I felt so distracted by that and what was going on in the world. It was difficult to be focused and care about the exam. I had to delete all of my social media and block any news apps. My first month was highly focused on content review because I felt like my foundations were so weak. This didn't help my scores but I felt like it was necessary to understand questions.
When NBME 28 happened, I freaked out. I had barely done any Uworld so decided to switch my studying primarily to that. I ramped it up and was doing 80-120 questions per day. I did concurrent content review and reviewed answers in depth, with supplemental Bootcamp or Youtube videos on especially weak topics. I am not an Anki person and I also do not take notes on most things unless it's really not sticking in my brain. Luckily my scores increased after this, but they never got into a range where I was fully comfortable. School gave me the go ahead to sit
On test day, I had the absolute worst time. My entire routine went out the window -- couldn't sleep because of anxiety, couldn't eat my breakfast because of nausea, was overheating in the testing center, issues with staff being loud and disruptive. I was so tired during the exam. I felt like the stems were so much longer than I was used to. The exam felt very difficult for me. Ethics was tested heavily and many were not so straightforward. I ran out of time on 3 sections and had to skim and select random answers for 3-5 questions for those sections. Never struggled for time before on NBMEs and stamina was not an issue for me in the past. I left crying 1000% sure I failed, the exam was a blur, but the ones I could remember I looked up and knew I got wrong.
The last 2 weeks was the worst time throughout the whole process. I could not enjoy anything, all I could think about was how this stupid exam was going to ruin my life. I felt like a failure and was sick to my stomach every time I thought about the exam. I scrolled this subreddit till the wee hours of the night looking up posts on what to do if I fail (please don't do this to yourself)
Well all of that worrying was for nothing -- today I PASSED!!!! I am so glad this nightmare is over. I'm glad I trusted my scores and my chance of passing. If I can do it, you can definitely do it. Just reminder to be kind to yourself -- you have worked hard and that will show. Good luck!
Comments:
User:
much needed. Thank you and congratulations
User:
So many congrats!!!! What was the jump from 28 to 29?
User:
Thank you! I think 28 was a fluke tbh. But also ramping up UWorld helped (had not done much before that)
User:
wowww! amazing OP! congratz!
User:
This was very reassuring to hear, thank you!
User:
Thanks for writing this! This is a very realistic timeline of scores to compare yourself to! I freaked for weeks bc of this subreddit bc everyone was screeching they were going to fail with mid 70s on NBMEs.
User:
How far apart were you taking each exam?
User:
About 7-10 days!
User:
congratulations!
Post 18: Worst prepped student but got the pass
13/03/2025, 02:55:51
23 comments
Hey everyone, before I start, I'd just like to say, please don't ever attempt what I did, it was totally stupid and planned poorly.
I managed to pass Step 1, done Feb 27, while feeling wholly unprepared for it. Here's some stats
Uworld: 20% done, 58% average
NBME 25: 63%
NBME 26: 62%
NBME 29: 72%
Free120: 73%
All other NBMEs, UW SA 1 and 2: Not done
I was a slacker in med school, barely studying at all and getting by with pitiful scores, low GPA type of student. Had to repeat many failed courses. Thus, I had a pretty poor foundation in medicine as a whole, and when I started studying for Step 1, it became abundantly obvious. My first few UW blocks had averages ranging around 40%, and it stayed that way for the first 10 or so. Very demotivating. I realized alot of the problem was that I didn't sit down and properly understand the pathology of what's going on, I instead just relied on memorizing mnemonics and word connections without fully grasping what was going on. I've since come to realize that pathology is the heart of medicine, and knowing something is wrong, comes after knowing what is normal, so physiology is the heart of pathology.
My study sources were mainly UW, FA, Pathoma, and Dirty Medicine, along with some ChatGPT. I can not stress this enough: crunch out Uworld questions. Do at least 1 block a day, and accelerate up to 2 blocks a day if you feel more comfortable with the topics discussed. I tried reading First Aid cover to cover, but realized I got bored very quickly and didn't retain much. The content I retained the best was the stuff I was tested on in UWorld. My study strategy boiled down to:
Wake up, Do Uworld block and review it. Takes about 4 hours. While reviewing it, I kept a notepad open and noted down the names of topics in the questions that I wanted to research and understand further. After finishing the review, I'd go straight to First Aid and CTRL+F and search for those specific topics. Pathoma was a once in a week thing where I would binge any specific organ systems or topics to get a deeper understanding. Dirty Medicine on YT was GREAT, for memorizing just about any topic. He won't go very deep in detail, but he's amazing when you have a ton of stuff to memorize and are low on time. Finally, ChatGTP is amazing since it'll teach you concepts exactly how you ask it to. Either very easy, simplified, understandable (most trivial topics), or deep and properly explained for big topics I knew I needed to know better.
That's pretty much it, just UW grinding with FA, Pathoma, and DirtyMedicine reinforcement. I slacked off alot during this study period, and in the 2 months I designated, I barely did 10 Uworld blocks in the first month. Despite all that, I finally locked in about 10 days before the exam, and mass studied just about any topic I came across. NBMEs were all done in the last week, I was doing 1 every 2 days which I DON'T recommend. Space out your NBMEs over the course of months and review them properly. I was entering the exam sleep deprived, memorizing stuff late into the night and early morning, regretting all the time I wasted for months prior. Powered through it, and got my pass today.
A little advice: Grind out questions, note down which topics come up and how frequently. You'll quickly notice that some topics, like Cystic Fibrosis or drugs that affect CYP in the liver, come up much more frequently than other questions that test very niche topics. Get REALLY good at commonly tested topics, and you can honestly ignore the niche ones since they're so rare that they're not worth the study time nor brain space. Also, if you need fast but fun learning, Dirty Medicine on 2x speed is very efficient for covering a lot of content quickly. Like, imagine learning about all the Lysosomal storage diseases in under 10 mins. Also, Melman is VERY useful, but he made alot of content. While they're all good, I would say his best work is the HY arrows, it'll take you a couple hours to read through it but the content is absolutely gonna score you maybe 5-10% of the exam.
As for my exam experience specifically, I noticed that there were a ton more Ethics questions than in Uworld, so if you're doing the exam anytime soon, get REALLY good at ethics. It felt like 20% of the exam was just ethics alone. Additionally, be good with HIV, it's treatment, and potential immunocompromised infectious causes. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I'll try my best to be helpful. Remember, I'm not telling you to do what I did, I think I fucked up alot and my knowledge was held together by duct tape, but what I am telling you is that even if you're a total fuck up you can still absolutely pass this exam with limited time and knowledge.
Comments:
User:
What did you do to go from 62 to 72 on nbmes
User:
Reviewed each of the NBME questions and understood the question pattern more. They're worded a bit different than Uworld and seem deceptively easy, so I had to adapt to it. Also, reviewing all your NBME concepts by the same pattern of noting down, FA, ChatGPT, and Dirty Medicine. I noticed that there's a lot of concepts that repeat in all the NBMEs I did. Once you get a grasp of it, it becomes pretty clear what's high yield and what's a 1 off question
User:
I totally nuked my first NBME because I thought they try to trick me after doing UWorld and then when I reviewed it I was very confused why I didn’t pick the obvious answer.
User:
Right... also what would you suggest on when to start mehlman pdfs?
User:
Definitely don't do Melman in the beginning, his stuff is just meant as a reinforcement on top of your basic knowledge. You can start Melman PDFs maybe 30 days or less to the exam date, and I think it's worth spending the few hours it takes on each PDF to really catch on to the patterns of the questions.
User:
Congratulations! It sounds like you and I are kind of similar in terms of slacking in med school. What did your practice exam schedule look like? Like how far out from your exam and how far apart did you schedule each one?
User:
Oh I scheduled mine terribly. Originally wanted to do it at like 2 week intervals, but I slacked off so much in January and barely covered anything that I did all 3 NBMEs in the last 7 days, and had to review them in the same day I did them too. I definitely don't recommend that lol, do them months before the exam date
User:
Congrats! 73% on free120 is not the worst prepped student😂
User:
This felt like a total fluke. I did score decently well on the Free 120 but trust me, my knowledge was held together by duct tape haha
User:
Same here ! I did the Exam today I felt the same way actually My confidence was super low But hoping for a miracle
User:
If I’m 4 weeks out Mehlman PDF’s > First aid review? Or better to read First Aid?
User:
Thank you! But I think I’ve ended up in the same boat now lol I’ve got 5 weeks left. 17% uworld done and no nbmes touched yet. Planning on one this weekend tho
User:
5 weeks is PLENTY of time. Here's your game plan: Regular Day: Uworld block in the morning, review questions, keep your notepad open for any concepts you wanna revise, build knowledge from FA, Pathoma, DirtyMedicine, ChatGPT for quick reviews. It'll be really slow and choppy in the beginning, but once you get into the flow of it, you'll notice you do questions faster and get more correct answers. Remember, our brains are built for pattern recognition, and you'll very quickly start seeing patterns. You can even consider ramping up to 2 blocks a day, 2 weeks from ur exam. NBME Day: Set aside 1 day a week, start from NBME 27 and end with NBME 31. Do the questions in the morning time, around 4 hours, and then spend the rest of the day reviewing all the answers Uworld style, notepad open and all. That's all there is to this. It really is just a grind, you get better at this game by playing it more. You can get a very easy pass if you keep up any plan similar enough to this.
User:
I really appreciate this. If you don’t mind answering one more thing for me, how do you recommend reviewing uworld? Like should I do a question + review it before moving on to the next one or just submit the entire block and then review it?
User:
Did u do u world random or system?
User:
Randoms only. When you focus system wise, you get really good at that system initially, but forget everything once you move on to the next system, and in the end you'll feel like you barely know anything. Do everything mixed together, as that's what the actual exam is like, and it helps reinforce repeating concepts again and again, letting your brain recall it better on exam date.
User:
So when u started u world, have u already did 1st pass of FA?
User:
Nope, in all honesty I must have read through maybe 10-20% of FA. Only used FA to review concepts from Uworld
User:
This is totally awesome… thank you for sharing your s1 journey!!!!! Grats🎉🎉
User:
Why did you do those NBME exams specifically?
User:
Did you incorporate anki for any wrote memorization things? If so, what & would you recommend it? For instance, I feel like I need it for sketchy pharm/micro + genes/markers for diseases to name a few important ones. Thanks and congrats!!
User:
No Anki here, I can admit that it's a great tool for memorization, but it's too time intensive and I'm lazy lol. Though if you are going to do Anki, I think the Anking deck is pretty good all things considered. Also, I'd say that pharm and micro, and genes/markers for diseases is lower yield than you'd think. I'd focus on pathology mainly and not spend as much time on other topics.
User:
interesting. thanks for the advice. I just hope I study the right stuff Lol. got to really hone in on the STEP 1 content outline that NBME puts out. congrats again!
Post 19: Passed with 60% free120
12/03/2025, 09:40:00
33 comments
Alhamdulillah, my almighty has rewarded me today for my hard work.
My nbme score was
25-37%
26-49%
27-56%
28-57%
29-63%
30-63%
31-60%
Free120- 60% (6 days before exam)
Just stay calm throughout the exam and take your break wisely.
Comments:
User:
MashaAllah! Please pray for me as well, my result will be out on next Wednesday!
User:
May Alla give both of us the Pass ! 🤲
User:
Ameen
User:
In sha Allah. Keep your faith in Allah
User:
InshaAllah
User:
Bro plis check dm
User:
[deleted]
User:
Wondering the same thing
User:
how do you know you passed?? I got an email saying my score would be out in 3 hours but nothing besides that
User:
Hey I got a mail saying my score available.
User:
congrats! did u do mehlmann pdf’s and if so would you advise for/ against doing them in between nbme’s?
User:
I did . I would say you should go through it at least twice
User:
Did you do all of them? Congrats!
User:
i see, thanks! what’s your take on people saying they inflate nbme scores? do you think that is the case? or do you think the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to the pdf’s?
User:
Tbh I didn’t like memorize the whole thing. I tried to understand the concept and yes it might inflate your score a little bit but I didn’t affect me cause I couldn’t remember when he said it was on this or that nbme
User:
Congratulations, how did you improve your scores? I took my first NBME 20 and got 38% exam in 2 months
User:
What was your exam mostly on?
User:
I will say ethics? Reproductive system
User:
Stupid question, you can see the breakdown of the percentages each system is tested on at the USMLE website. Every test will be different.
User:
Wonderful! What did you do in the 6 days between Free120 and exam ?
User:
I panicked then got myself together again and then read FA
User:
When did u take the test?
User:
Feb 25
User:
congrats op! what else did you do for study?
User:
Hey at the end my study materials was only FA. I stopped doing uworld after November
User:
and then just focused on nbme? also how was it dealing with long question stems or was it a good variety of length?
User:
Congratulations my friend!
User:
Thank a lot
User:
this gives me hope, congratulations!!
User:
This makes me think i shouldn’t have extended my triad
User:
For how many months have you studied for step 1?
User:
congratulations!
User:
Lmao
Post 20: STEP 1 Pass: 1 NBME (form 31), No anki, 28% of Uworld, and the new "Free120" - *MAKE YOUR OWN STANDARDS*
16/03/2025, 19:34:43
25 comments
Hello Reddit just wanted to drop in and give some words of encouragement to those rightfully stressing about USMLE STEP1. Brief background on myself: I attend a US MD school that uses a flipped classroom approach for the first 2 years of didactics. This post applies to those who have a curriculum preparing them specifically for STEP 1 (I don't know if this applies so much to IMGs)
Preparing for STEP 1 begins on the first day of class and you should learn concepts to the point of being to explain and teach to your peers. Generally, this proves that really do understand a concept. Luckily I found out early on that \*\*\*the ONLY required textbook in medical school is FIRST AID\*\*\*! I cant emphasize this enough.
Our school provided us with textbook chapters for all content, but I used 3 MAIN SOURCES (in addition to First Aid) to learn the information:
* Boards and Beyond for physiology and non-pathology topics
* Pathoma for everything pathology
* Sketchy for pharm and micro
* NO anki (I say this kind of proudly, but if you find it useful, use it!)
Thats it. No more, no less. Sometimes I double-dipped with BnB and Pathoma on high yield topics, but preparation for class/lecture usually consisted of 3-5 hours of videos with First Aid open and being marked up with anything that I felt needed to be added. Please don't oversaturate on resources, that is a common pitfall for students. You can swap these out for others (Pixorize, Bootcamp) but try to limit to 3 main resources.
As I mentioned, annotate First Aid like it is your journal. Notes from lecture, little things from peers, etc. This will be your main reference when you are studying for block finals and for STEP 1 and its nice to have everything in once place.
Our school uses NBME-style examinations for our block finals and I always felt prepared for these by using the above resource - consistently scored above 90% without too much cramming. I mention this to testify that these board preparation services (BnB, pathoma, etc.) work.. really well. Trust them.
By the time dedicated came around in February (we are given 6-8 weeks for dedicated STEP 1 study time), I felt ready to take STEP 1 without even using any of dedicated. I started Uworld in the beginning of December and did about 60 questions per day with review. This was the bulk of my "dedicated" study. I tested in late February and stopped Uworld at 28% complete the second week of February to focus on taking a practice NBME. I took NBME 31 and achieved an 83% (for me this really affirmed my readiness), then took the free 120 and achieved a 75%. I felt ready to take STEP, so I took it!
I say all of this to really drive home the main point of \*setting your own standard\*. Take advice (including this post) with a grain of salt. Everyone is different. I was called crazy for only doing 28% of Uworld. I was called crazy for only taking one practice NBME. I was called crazy for only using 1 week of our dedicated study time. But I felt ready, and thats all that mattered. I was stressed out and nervous for the exam but I knew that this is just another box that needs to be checked (albeit a big box) and I trusted my preparation.
Bottom line - don't compare your preparation to others, trust your gut, you will know when you are ready, and you will be just fine :)
https://preview.redd.it/g8hqk7opr4pe1.png?width=2092&format=png&auto=webp&s=997c8cb66febb8083de62f1c4e5fc05f938fc0a9
https://preview.redd.it/i5ujpbxqr4pe1.png?width=2878&format=png&auto=webp&s=5aee368d3847a2f1e2a978954361a867a9633fe8
Comments:
User:
Thanks for stressing the waste of time that is anki. But if you can score an 83 on a cbssa and almost 80% correct on uworld without much studying or uworld then yes - you probably didn’t need to do more studying or more uworld. You started out dedicated at a level that some students never achieve after dedicated or even before they take step.
User:
Agreed completely. This post was more to emphasize that every individual's readiness should be evaluated separately.. I was lucky enough to start on the right track early and maintain that readiness. I definitely "studied" but obviously more longitudinally. (and yes Anki is overrated, overused, and overemphasized and it ends up setting a lot of students up for failure)
User:
How does anki set you up for failure though? Just asking out of curiosity?
User:
I have seen firsthand my classmates relying on anki and trying to “keep up” with their peers and this ultimately takes time away from a different study method that works better for them. Essentially students get peer pressured into needing to keep up with anki and if they don’t; they feel perpetually behind which is not the case
User:
They have no idea. Just chattin shit.
User:
See above response ^
User:
Because you’re just memorizing facts not learning information in the form you’re going to need it on step 1. Not to mention how much time it takes to go through all of those cards.
User:
A non-US img here planning to take step 1 in a year or two. Can you please explain to me why you think Anki would be a waste of time, thanks.
User:
You're just memorizing facts, or worse: memorizing the anki cards and not really knowing anything about what's on the card. Remembering information is of course necessary to do well on Step 1, but you should only use it for content you are struggling to remember. The test requires you to have a deeper understanding of the content and to be able to apply it flexibly. Anki cards don't train you to do that, don't require you to have that ability as you click through them a million times. Per OP's point, yes they "only" did 28% of UWorld, but their scores are pretty decent to be in a likely pass range (76% correct). If they had done more UWorld questions, we can trust the score more, it would also reflect more of the content, and of course they would have had memory and comprehension benefits from doing more questions. Doing Anki only matters if you see more relevant metrics improving: UWorld or AMBOSS or other Q bank performance going up over time, CBSSA or CBSE scores going up over time, etc. Getting Anki cards right is nice but it's not going to be directly relevant for your question performance, especially if you get to the point where you've memorized cards you've seen a bunch of times. Do some brand new cards and get them right the first time - maybe you know something. But testing with Q bank questions would be more useful.
User:
Thanks. This is so enlightening!
User:
Congratulations 👏🏻👏🏻
User:
nice
User:
Did you redo your incorrects on uworld?
User:
No! Just reviewed all blocks I did
User:
I don't do Anki either and this has sort of reassured me 😭😭 I'm sure it's helpful and I'll probably do it for things like pharma but there are just so many cards it's overwhelming with the amount of time it takes. How would you guys approach uworld most efficiently. Subject by subject according to hay you're studying in FA, or random questions? I'm just starting step 1 prep and am a bit lost
User:
It depends on your foundation and how far out you are.. I started with random 20 question blocks for a while. Then when I figured out my weaknesses, I would do more focused blocks on certain topics (repro, renal, cardio, etc.). I also did almost all of the biostats lol
User:
How did you review first aid? Did you review the text with someone or how did you memorize the important stuff ?
User:
Basically had First Aid out in all of my study sessions. I am a big believer in group study so I had my study group and we would go through lecture topics and combine what we learned in class with First Aid to make sure we were covering the high-yield, relevant stuff for whatever topic. For example, blood cancers, we would quiz each other on the translocations, treatments, histo (auer rods, etc.) and use First Aid as our guide.
User:
do not! i repeat do not listen to this guy, he's abnormally smart and quite geeky. hes lowkey a nerd who is always studying. basically hes a loser who studied 24/7 so he aced all of our final block exams. for the regular students like u and i who touch grass i highly advise you to move on to a different page for advice.
User:
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 hi there buddy
User:
Congrats on the pass! Anyway you could share the resources? I need sketchy and BNB! Good luck moving forward
User:
Just head over to their website! They are pricey, but in my opinion worth it.
User:
Don’t have the money to spare but thanks!
User:
ok but how did u feel during the real deal?
User:
I felt good for the most part. Time was a factor for the first 2 sections but then I settled in. There were some questions that I had absolutely no clue, but most of the exam was fair and honestly what I expected based on my studying. I tried not to let the occasional crazy question trip me up too much
Post 21: Passed from 40% CBSE to 76% highest NBME 😭😭😭 ask me anything!!!
12/03/2025, 14:25:37
31 comments
Wanted to give back to this sub which helped me personally so much! I might do a long write up later, but for now, ask me anything :)
* CBSE (2 months out): 40%
* NBME 26 (4 weeks out): 54%
* NBME 25 (3 weeks out): 67%
* NBME 27 (3 weeks out): 66%
* NBME 28 (3 weeks out): 66%
* NBME 29 (2 weeks out): 67%
* NBME 30 (2 weeks out): 76%
* NBME 31 (1 week out): 73%
* Free 120 2021 (1 week out): 72%
* Free 120 2024 (4 days before): 73%
Comments:
User:
Congrats!!!! Any tips for improved my CBSE ? I get 53% and need a 65% so the university allows me to take the step … I would appreciate thanks
User:
Jump from 54 to 74 is the stuff of legend.
User:
Thank you so much! You are so kind!
User:
Congrats! Was the exam reflective of nbme concepts? What systems showed up the most on the exam for you?
User:
I would say yes! Don’t let posts about the exam being absolutely weird concepts scare you. I’m sure a few people get crazy forms like that, but mine was 90% NBMEs, the rest little details from FA and Sketchy. Only maybe 5 questions total were topics I’ve never seen before, not even in UWorld. Overall nothing too surprising if I remember correctly. For me, it felt very repro and GI heavy. The rest were average distribution, maybe 30 q each? Very little neuro and biostats. Much less ethics than I was expecting too, and all the ones I did get were extremely easy so I got lucky!
User:
Nbme topics from which nbme? Are 28-31 enough?? I'm in time a constraint!! Please help.
User:
Did u recommend rapid review files , like buzzwords or goljan pdf Or just go through FA rapid review ?
User:
I only did FA rapid review the day before! I thought that was enough. I also went through my flagged pages in FA that I needed to look over again
User:
Ur strategy looks solid and great Sorry , Congratulations 🍾 🎉 😂
User:
Best of luck, you will get that pass soon!!
User:
Cot tam! Congrats!!
User:
Can I text you?
User:
congratzz OP! what was the biggest game-changer for improvement? how to get through longer stems and time management on exam? snacks/food recs testing day?
User:
Stems on the exam were long for sure, but only a small handful like 25% of each section. I found the longer stem ones to be actually easier bc you only need a few keywords to get the answer. For ex, they would give a long full patient history and "webbed neck" is all you need to get Turner's Syndrome and the answer would be XO. During NBMEs, I took all 25-31 online timed and I never felt rushed really. During the real thing, I barely finished in time for most sections and never got a chance to relook at my flagged. I would try to leave at least 5 minutes spare if you can!
User:
how much time did you have left while taking nbme with 50 qn each block?
User:
thank you!!! This may be unpopular, but I never touched FA throughout preclinical. I started reading it page by page (even tho people say not to do that) during dedicated which shot my score up SO MUCH. Memorize the entirety of FA - it’s my holy grail! Also stop UWorld after you finished the majority of it (70%+ should be fine but good if you do it all) and start NBMEs as soon as possible!!! The question style is totally different and I truly believe if you do UWorld until the last min it may have a negative impact.
User:
I brought crackers and a sandwich during the breaks but didn't end up eating all of it! Sometimes super sweet things and moist foods (lol) make me feel ill so I opted for dry quick chewy things. My adrenaline was so strong so I only took 3 breaks total (after section 2, 4, 6). If I stopped after every section it would've messed up my rhythm haha I felt great to do 2 sections at a time.
User:
nice!! thanx
User:
How long were you specifically studying for it, and what did you do to get drastic improvements. Im currently reading melhman docs, because they conceptually make more sense than just first aid, but I do go back and annotate first aid, while watching pathoma And I use sketchy..
User:
Thank you so much! I studied 10 weeks full-time, pretty heavily 16+ hours a day. I got huge improvements from just reading FA page to page but not sure if that will work for everyone! I had only been doing UWorld prior and was struggling a lot bc my foundations were weak. I don't love Mehlman's pdfs personally, the formatting is too messy for me lol but I did do all of arrows! It was great last-minute but wouldn't say it's a must. It's mainly NBME concepts and I already reviewed every NBME 25-31 twice. I went through all of Pathoma and Sketchy micro/pharm during preclinical and reviewed all of it religiously through Anki during dedicated. My goal was 1000 cards a day minimum (mainly Sketchy) and would definitely recommend it if you can. The max cards I ever did in 1 day was 2700 lol. (I do Anki really really fast though, ~1000 Sketchy cards would take me an hour so do as much as is realistic for you.) I would Anki in bed last thing before going to sleep every night.
User:
You are definitely built different because 1000 cards a day would take an entire day for me and I definitely couldn't do that every day sustainably, much less do everything else you did too. Any tips on how you managed to pull that off? Thank you!!! Congratulations on the pass!!!!
User:
Congratulation!!!! first and formost !
User:
Congratulations! What was your exact timeline and how did you raise your NBME scores exactly? I got a 44% on NBME 20 so i'm trying to work it up to take the exam in 2 months approx. Any help is appreciated!
User:
Thank you!!! I studied 10 weeks from beginning of December to late Feb, tested 2/21. I reviewed my NBMEs very slowly and carefully which raised my score so much, along with reading FA system by system daily. I went through FA fully twice and practically memorized it. Lmk if you need any other help! I would love to share. You got this! My CBSE was 40% 2 months out too and my first NBME 1 month out was 54%.
User:
I'm in similar boat but with 50% CBSE. What do you think pushed you from that 50 to 60 range in what? A week? I'm like 4.5 weeks out but that cbse was a few weeks ago. Also please refer me to another comment if needed. I looked at a few, didn't see up on first glance
User:
Yes I went from 54 to 67 in actually 4 days 😭 I was running out of time so all my NBMEs I did a few days apart in the last month. I think it worked well that way bc it made review easier and NBME concepts were constantly reinforced in my mind. You are at a great starting point! I would really recommend not prioritizing UWorld at this point and only reviewing NBMEs. Once I stopped UWorld my score went up so much. After I took my first NBME 26, I was so scared lol so I decided to stop UWorld and focus on FA. I realized I forgot basically all of biochem and stats since I haven't touched them since school exams 9 months before. I honestly relearned so much from FA which boosted my score the most. Lmk if you need more info I would love to help!
User:
While going through the first pass of FA did you annotate by watching any lectures? People talk about Bootcamp/BNB quite a bit
User:
Where can I get the old free 120 from?
User:
Whenever I do new NBMEs after reviewing old ones, I see a lot of questions that are copied from previous forms. Does this mean my scores are inflated?
User:
What was your strategy?
Post 22: Is the real deal content actually 70-80% nbme concepts?
18/03/2025, 12:35:45
14 comments
As the titile says.
So ive been preparing for this exam for more than 6 months now and recently gave my nbmes 27-31 w scores ranging from 62-68 and it really scared me. After these scores, i decided to hammer down first aid (not nbme) for my weak systems. Until few days ago when people told me 70-80 content of the real deal are nbme concepts just worded differently. Is that true??
If i really REALLYYY hammer down nbme concepts and get to know the science behind every answer, will that be enough to pass?
Comments:
User:
Yea it true. I literally had cranial nerve 12 in my exam which I did in one of those nbme worded differently
User:
serious question- are you being serious or is it sarcasm 😅 Im pretty much in the same situation
User:
I am also debating on continuing doing FA + videos, or just do the topics asked on NBMEs. I'm just getting very frustrated with the amount of info, but I also want to get the basics down a bit better. I have been studying on and off for months as well. I took NBME 27 for the heck of it last year (mind you I hadn't open a book in many months) and I got 37% which I know is bad but also good since I hadn't studied in a while.
User:
Would it be helpful to just use the nbme for final review
User:
can someone tell me if it is still worth doing older NMES? like before 25?
User:
If you have time yes, if not, not really. My exam was similar to 30/31 in difficulty and some concepts.
User:
would you say that it was the topics that were tested were same or the way the questions were framed? I did till NBME 28
User:
Topics were the same…the questions are completely different and longer than NBME. My exam in question style/concepts was like all FREE120s. Concepts like 30/31. When do you take step?
User:
Hey which free 120s did you do
User:
2021-2024
User:
I took the exam on 2/24 and received a pass. I never opened the first aid book.i relied mainly on high yield Q banks such as uworld (completed it twice, once in prep for taking the cbse and then reset to prep for the usmle step 1), Rx, and Amboss . Doing about 160-200 uworld questions a day, and then saved the self assessments on each site for the week before my exam. I do think though if you use the first aid book you will get a benefit bc you will see how the topics are phased on step 1. I find doing as many practice questions the best way to prep for these exams, however, it does require you to have a basic understanding of all the concepts.
User:
160-200 questions a day? That's a lot. How did you manage to finish that? Were you reading only the Education Objective or you read all the explanations
User:
The real deal is NBME concepts.
Post 23: Genuinely felt like I failed STEP1....passed!
12/03/2025, 18:35:35
19 comments
I am writing this post because these posts kept my sanity for the last 2 weeks.
My NBME was 59, 63, 67, 69. Free 120 3 days before the exam was 67, so my cushion wasn't that thick to start with.
I came out of the exam center feeling absolutely terrible.
I felt that the first two blocks were very easy, but things took a turn and I was marking 10-15 questions and blind guessing 3-6 questions per block for the rest of the exam. I remembered about 35 questions that I flagged and from those found out that I missed about 25, including 10 stupid easy questions that I just completely choked on. 10/35 is about 30% and I did not like that. What if I guessed worse on the ones I can't remember? What if those questions weren't experimental? What if I made more mistakes on the ones I didn't flag? I felt like I did way worse than my NBMEs and they weren't that great to begin with anyway.
I tormented myself for 2 weeks making calculations for different scenarios and honestly I was ready to see the fail. In my disbelief I saw the P this morning. If you are in similar situation after taking your exam and browsing through reddit, I hope my post gives you some sort of hope and peace.
Comments:
User:
Any tips for someone with 2.5 weeks left of dedicated?
User:
[deleted]
User:
Sure! But I think 130/165 is an amazing ratio
User:
Sir please check your dm
User:
congrats Op!!
User:
Thank you!
User:
Felt the same. Secured the P today.
User:
[deleted]
User:
You do realize you only need a 60% correct on counted questions to pass. After all the experimental are throw out, that’s only ~42% of the questions you need correct. So please relax.
User:
I’m trying to
User:
Is that truee dint think of it this way!?
User:
Yes, USMLE says that you need \~60% on tested questions to pass. Since \~80 questions per test are experimental, you only need a 60% on the 200 counted test questions (\~42% overall). However, since you don't know what questions are experimental or not, it's best to go into the test aiming for above a 60% overall to be safe. This is just something that I think is comforting to think about after testing. After you take it, it's easy to ruminate on questions you didn't know/got wrong. So it helped me to remember that not all these questions may have been counted and I could miss a lot and still pass.
User:
Dont mull over it. it will drive you crazy. You re in Pass territory.
User:
I really really hope i get it passed 😭😭😭😭😭
User:
Congrats OP! Hoping for the same result in a week. That exam absolutely recked me
User:
Sending you luck!!!!
User:
Remember not all the questions are counted. Some of them are experimental questions.
User:
Marking just 15 q per block is good nowadays
User:
this would make sense just in case the experimental questions are distributed equally in each block. Also remember that not all the questions have the same score. There are questions considered easy, intermediate and difficult. This also impacts.
User:
Are you sure with the scoring thing? Your resources?
User:
Congratulations!!
Post 24: Passed! Update
19/03/2025, 16:47:25
9 comments
If you guys saw my last post, you'll see how my exam had so much OBGYN and the system breakdown is a testament to what i felt. Keep in mind I could barely recall a single endo q which means my exam had more OBGYN than any other system 😭.
Didn't think I would pass despite good scores on NBMEs as outlined on my last post.
Comments:
User:
I feel you! I felt like one of my blocks on March 4 test date was \~entirely\~ ob-gyn. Like back to back to back to back pregnant people, ruptured placenta, pregnancy physiology question. it was super surprising but was not bad!
User:
We're you able to answer the question or was it out of scope of step 1 portions?
User:
The questions were very much in the scope of step 1 material. They were high yield content questions
User:
How are they testing OBGYN though? Isn’t that, like, not in the syllabus?
User:
Female repro
User:
Congratulations:)
User:
BIG BIG CONGRATULATIONS 🥳
User:
Same, took mine in Feb, felt mainly OBGYN
User:
I tested Feb 1 but I also got some weird female repro questions. I had FOUR questions on mastitis in a breast feeding mom.
Post 25: Average med student, Inconsistent prep, Got the P!
12/03/2025, 13:36:35
32 comments
▪️Little background (Feel free to skip)
Average med student , cancers and stroke in family one after other each year , a cherry on the top of toxic medschool and seniors
Started preparing after internship in April 2024
Total prep: 6months on - 2months off - 2months on
Dedicated period : 45 days
I skipped preparing for 50 days in between to keep up my sanity, worked on a research paper meanwhile, took a weeklong trip, brought back the cinephile inside me alive
▪️Resources used:
The OG :
Uworld, Bootcamp, First Aid
Not absolutely mandatory:
Pixorize (immuno, micro, pharm)
Randy Neil biostatistics
Dirty medicine (Biochemistry)
▪️Uworld :
Two passes -75% completed - Average :68%
▪️NBME:
25- 58% (postponed the exam )
26- 63%
27- 68%
28- 73%
30- 75% (10 days to exam)
31- 78% (4 days to exam)
Free 120: 75% ( 2 days to exam)
Gave one NBME every 4 days during the last 24 days, everything offline except NBME 31, Never did a UWSA or Amboss SA
▪️Pre dedicated:
(I was drowning during early days, Bootcamp got me a life saving boat)
Systemwise Bootcamp along with FA- Uworld- Made my own flash cards (Never used Anki)
▪️Dedicated:
Did 3 passes of FA before the real deal
100 UW qns/day in random mode
NBME only after finishing 75% of UW
▪️Last week:
NBME HY images, Last 3 Nbme review
▪️Day of exam:
Skipped tutorial
15 mins break after 2 blocks
Didn’t touch caffeine at all
▪️Post-exam:
Humbled AF surprisingly calm
▪️Day of result:
Grateful (Jai Shri Ram)
▪️Prevalent in Reddit but didn’t happen to me:
Exam was doable; 8 hours disappeared in a flash.
Question stems weren’t all long, only very few.
Ethics was manageable but ,yes ,in great quantity.
NBME 30 wasn’t the most difficult, 27 was.
NBME review takes only 1 day, not 1 week.
❌ Skip this if you were great in medschool❌
You are not alone.. My basics were bullshit.. I read and taught myself things from youtube, bootcamp, chat gpt..
Unlike influencers, I didn’t finish first pass of first aid in 30 days. It took me 8-12 days for completing FA n UW of each system
My Uworld first pass was terrible and the scores made me nauseous.. But I made sure my 2nd pass was great and notes were on point without BS.. Only did 100 questions/day , but did them sincerely
Planned my exam way too early with my overconfident ass the first time, but as a third world country IMG failing wasn’t an option..
So I pulled money from my savings and reapplied for exam and prepared at a comfortable pace but with a more cool head this time..
Turns out being calm at most of the times alleviates half the burden off of your plate!
At the end of the day, I am just happy I got through this exam, no matter what the future holds, this exam experience is incredible 😌
PS: Don’t underestimate the exam, don’t overestimate yourself..
If this lazy sloth can, so can you! Good luck!🤞
Comments:
User:
congrats op!
User:
Congrats! I wish my journey as same as you (also lazy sloth here)
User:
Congrats !!!
User:
Thanks!
User:
Congrats!! Was it harder than nbmes? Free120?
User:
No.. 70% were representative.. 30% were different
User:
Congratulations😊🙌🏼
User:
congratulations!! how to increase average in uworld? there’s alot of new concepts and facts missing in first aid which alter average in blocks, can you please help
User:
Much congrats 🥳 How did u improve ur NBME scores?
User:
Congrats, what do you mean by online for form 32?
User:
I think she/he means she used the offline forms of NBME and took 31 online, like on the actual NBME website.
User:
I don’t get what you’re trying to say
User:
I just didn’t know the terminology. I know now it means through their website and interface rather than a PDF
User:
Congratulations. How did you improve your nbme scores ?
User:
Review - Work on weak areas- Repeat
User:
On UW how did manage to finish it? Did you studied all questions with explanations? I barely able to study 20 q a day i am fucked i know, what should I do?
User:
Bootcamp familiarised me with concepts, I had made a map to diagnosis from the videos like a basic structure.. If I have no idea what UW is talking about I would scan the text and throw them in Chat GPT to present it to me like if it were to explain it to a child
User:
Did you go through all questions and explanations?
User:
Yes.. All questions and explanations
User:
Are you doing systemwise or random?
User:
System
User:
Congratulations friend! I did Nbme27 today got 67%, how did you increase your score from 27 to 28? Any suggestions will be helpful !
User:
If your typical gap between your NBMEs go in these phases , scores will rise Day of exam: NBME and reviewing the corrects to make sure you marked it right for the right reasons Review incorrects and brush up on those concepts the next day, identify any pattern or niche.. For eg; my weak points after 27 was MSK anatomy and Biochem I read upon those, for 2 days or so before giving the next Nbme..
User:
Thank you so much, I appreciate it! I took Nbme26 3weeks ago score was 69%, not sure why my score dropped today. I’ll definitely try to review this way, thanks again!
User:
Did you annotate bootcamp? In thw bootcamp pdf or in FA? Did you annotate UW? Is only wayching bootcamp enough?
User:
Watched Bootcamp, Made notes myself, added it to FA pdf
User:
Did you use bootcamp questuon bank? Was it useful?
User:
Nope.. Only videos
User:
Hey did you do the 9 week bootcamp program ?
User:
Nope.. I didn’t
User:
First, Congratulations on your P!!! .Second, I can totally relate with you, currently in a med school that graduates 2 students " every so often", I have been teaching myself since day one which is very hard. Some of our professors were great but they were not allowed to give us exams, the block exams came from shitty platforms and not NBME or USMLE related. Now we all struggle because we don't know how to study properly or what to even expect. Thankful for this platform , as it has been giving me insight on how to prepare for this beast.
Post 26: Passed step 1!! US img. If i can do it, anybody can!
12/03/2025, 23:43:24
10 comments
US IMG and I PASSED TODAY!! To preface this, i’m the most average student ever. I had the luxury of time which i know US students probably don’t, but here’s my take. This community has helped in many ways and it’s also really stressed me out for no reason as well, so I’m here to set it straight. No BS.
1) PLEASE DO NOT listen to these fear mongering people. No you do not need an 80+ on your nbmes and free 120 to go in. Will it be nice if you did? Yes. But trustttt your nbme scores when they say that a 65% is a 97% chance of passing or something. Truly in the 2 week wait for my result, that’s all that kept me going.
2) THE EXAM IS DOABLE!!! And VERY similar to nbme and free 120 concepts. Dont believe anybody that says otherwise, cuz wtf else are they gonna test you on?! I’m not sure if i’m supposed to say this but i did actually get a few extremely similar repeat questions from previous free 120s. Imagine it’s free 120 style questions but longer stems, testing nbme concepts, +/- easier straightforward questions. Ethics ethics ethics was huge, probably 5-6 questions per block which imo saved me lol, but they were very doable. Extremely similar to amboss ethics, so make sure you do that atleast once.
MEHLMAN WAS MY LIFE SAVER!!! i did all of his documents cuz again, US img with a lot of time. I finished uworld, i finished reading FA and needed a quick conceptual resource to put everything together that i already know, his documents are chefs kiss. I read over them mostly, but did arrows, neuroanatomy, msk, and endo twice since those are my weakest.
ANOTHER THING: The biggest thing to remember is that sometimes, on the real deal, the answer is straight forward. either you know it or you don’t. They’re not trying to trick you like uworld, they’re just trying to test if you know your stuff or not. If you can do uworld, if you can get 60s on your nbmes, and 2 consecutive 65s to be safe, GO IN!!!! Shoot for 70s if you want but i think 2 consecutive 65+ is a golden mark.
Honestly i found the question styles to be alot easier and more doable than Uworld. The only complaint I have for this test was that the stems were extremely long and it felt like i ran out of time/ didn’t have enough time to review my flagged questions here and there, but just trust your gut, that’s ok. The only other hard thing is keeping up your stamina and being able to concentrate for 7 hours, but just keep going. bring coffee, lunch, and hydrate yourself well. Eat a good breakfast that way you aren’t hungry and get sleep the night before. ITS JUST A TEST AND IM SO OVER EVERYONE ON HERE FEAR MONGERING!!!
3) Experimentals were somewhat obvious to me atleast??, i’ve been doing this for so long i could sorttttt of tell which one was like ok wtf, and some others i couldn’t tell, but don’t get too crazy about them. anything i didn’t know, i just trained my brain to say it was experimental and doesn’t count and moved on.
4)i’m leaving my stats below and i can answer questions if anybody needs. but for now, goodbye and good riddance to step 1, and step 2 here i come.
NBME 26 (baseline)- taken in september- 56%
NBME 27- also taken sometime in october- 57%
NBME 28- on 11/12- 49% (this one crushed me cuz i had been studying and doing uworld for so long, but i got up and didnt let this stop me. This was like a knife in my back, it was awful)
NBME 25- on 11/19- 65% (feeling hopeful here, my studying was paying off and maybe nbme 28 just sucks ass)
NBME 29- on 12/6- 60%
NBME 30- on 12/11- 60% (felt sad here cuz i feel like i plateaued even though i didn’t know what more i could do. It’s at this point i took a bit of a 2 week mental health break lol)
Came back, studied hard again and used amboss for new questions and THAT really helped me get comfortable with questions. I also would just speed review all my previous nbmes again to the point where i became an nbme concept MACHINE. I was motivated to just be DONE.
My Uworld avg when i finished it all was 49% lol
NBME 26 (retake)- 69% on 1/31 (i didn’t remember anything from the first time)
NBME 27 (retake)- 74% on 2/4. Felt like i entered a new dimension, but took it with a grain of salt since it was a retake.
NBME 31- on 2/8 ( 3 weeks out)- 67%. Felt amazing.
Just reviewed nbme concepts (i made an nbme concept notebook and it helped me sooo much. made very detailed notes, so that i can learn every angle in which nbme asks different things. This is the golden rule i felt i uncracked for the real deal. I felt like so many real deal concepts were straight from my notes. and kept doing amboss questions just to be in the habit of new questions, since i ran out of uworld questions to do and revised mehlman docs.)
new free 120- 75%, 5 days out. I couldn’t believe my screen. Didn’t think i was capable of having a 7 in front of my score.
old free 120- 72%, 2 days out
took it 2/25 AND I PASSED!!!!!
I am in no way shape or form those people that cry over 70s and ask if i’m ready. getting my 70s took me literal months, and a LOT of blood sweat and tears and uncertainty. but again, i had the luxury of time which i understand a lot of others esp in the US do not. Completely avg student, overprepared myself and walked out of the exam feeling very neutral.
HOPE THIS HELPED AND GOOD LUCK.
DO NOT LISTEN TO FEAR MONGERING, REMMEBER EXAM IS DOABLE!!!!
Comments:
User:
Congratulations!! This gives me hope!! I currently feel like I’ve hit a wall with my scores as you mentioned (also private messaged you btw)
User:
Congrats! Need some advice for the NBME notebook. How did you go about structuring it? By subject or by NBME? And did paraphrase the topic/ question with just the answer or an explanation for why the others were also not correct?
User:
Congratulations! This gives me some hope. I've been getting 65s on the last 3 NBMEs and a 66 on my free 120 and I've been freaking out cuz my test is next week. Do you think there's a decent shot for me? I'm gonna keep reviewing and doing questions of course
User:
You know yourself best. I think so, but another feeling i forgot to mention was towards the end, i had felt like i had done everything i could. There wasn’t anything left for me to study / do that i haven’t already done. i sought comfort in that and just went and did it. If the 65% on ur nbmes are consecutive, and you review them WELL, go take it. go over weaknesses in FA on the last couple days (this helped me) and other nbme concepts. 65% is still a 90 something % chance of passing. Again, you know yourself best. I never got over a 67% on a fresh new nbme form, and i passed. the other ones were retakes.
User:
Congratulations! Best of luck for step 2!!!
User:
You are not average. You are amazing for doing what you did and you earned your laurels. Be proud of yourself because I sure am 🥲🥳
User:
Congratulations! I’m taking step 1 in a few weeks but I’m primarily going through NBMEs. My scores are decent. I’m worried that I might be making a mistake by skipping content review from FA or Mehlman. Do you think the NBME concepts sufficiently cover everything you’re supposed to know?
User:
Great write up! 100% agree with taking detailed notes on NBMEs. Feel like that’s where the money is. I only went up marginally between 27 and 28, but I saw a 13 point jump between 28 and 29 and was shocked. I thought it was simply because 29 was easier, but maybe the thorough notes helped my brain get accustomed to NBME style Qs. Thanks for the advice, test is in a few weeks and hoping that my jump wasn’t a fluke 🤞🏽
User:
good luck!! Yes you’re right that is exactly where the $$ is
User:
Hi, I’m just starting out now, can I pm you with some questions?
Post 27: STEP1
13/03/2025, 08:21:12
17 comments
Allahmdulliah ❤️ I have cleared step1 yesterday and was so happy couldn't understand how it happened I got numbed
My study resources was same
But I did u world 2 times properly
Nbme just did offline
Question solving strategies helped me alot Thanks to reddit community
I did it💖
Start solving questions from backwards-see options(80%) solved see examination part then you will be done with vignette
I did ethics questions like that lol didn't study from start😂😂just studied what she is saying and choose open ended questions??
Comments:
User:
How did you feel post exam ?
User:
Same that I have not cleared and in dilemma it will be there but trust your nbme scores you will clear
User:
Did you feel like you were stuck between two options on most of the questions
User:
Yes in some questions go with your first option (gut feeling)rather than thinking about second
User:
Was there any role of First Aid content ? What were the sources whose content you recalled while answering questions ?
User:
U world incorrect and fa
User:
Conkratz 🔥 🙌🏻
User:
How do u see ur results
User:
Congratulations 🎉
User:
congrats
User:
Congratulations dude Bhai kahan se ho?
User:
Hyderabad India U?
User:
Same India dude. (Ahmedabad). How did you decide between NEET-PG/INICET and USMLE? Also are you an intern or 3rd year? I also want to give USMLE but am considering Indian residency as well. Did you do any research and what are your plans for electives or USCE ???
User:
How did you do offline nbmes? Where to get them
User:
Telegram
User:
Congrats! Which NBMEs did you do?
User:
Nbme 25 to 31 Old free 120>nbme30>nbme31>new free 120 I did like these after completion of nbme from 25 to 29 and scores was in the range of 60-65%
Post 28: Failed step 1
18/03/2025, 05:40:48
45 comments
Hey Guys
Need advice and help regarding this unfortunate event. Heart broken and in shock with despair
I scored 70+ in nbmes and free 120s
Last nbme 31 —74+
Prep wise did a complete x 2 uworld to the point I already knew the answers!
Exam was OK just had some time issue so left 5-7 questions with out answering
Did some silly mistakes
How short of questions was I in the real deal? Was it more than 10 questions?
1-Can someone help me devise a study plan? How long should I take to reappear? Is two months good enough?
2- I am planning to do Amboss hammer 1/2/3 with FA (first aid) as I already know uworld answers.
Can someone please give me some hope? Plan? Advices? Methods?
Please help Ya All,
Thanks
Comments:
User:
The distribution is from 2023, tho. Is this really ur result?
User:
Subscribed for the drama
User:
There isn't any "drama". Every failed graph is compared to the cohort of 2023 test takers for now. From this comment section, nobody seems to know that.
User:
This post is sus !! - First impressions
User:
Ok to all people who saying sus, why would someone put a miserable post and seek for help. Every failed graph has been compared to the cohort of 2023. If you don’t believe me, go check other failed graphs in 2024/2025 If you don’t have any positives to add, kindly refrain from commenting To clarify- nbme 25-31 most of the nbmes were timed averaging between 68-72% Free 120 - 71 %
User:
You just missed it from 2-3 marks. I suggest you apply for a recheck. The recheck fee is just $80.
User:
What are the chances of passing after recheck? Have you heard about someone it work for him?
User:
recheck has never changed someones fail to a pass in the history of USMLE, it’s literally on their website
User:
Bro, I know a person who got his result changed.
User:
really??? in the website says this has never happen
User:
Are you sure about this? Can you dm me?
User:
Yes. Okay
User:
Sent u a DM as well
User:
[deleted]
User:
The distribution is from students who took it in 2023
User:
What do you mean
User:
I took test on Feb 28th
User:
Where did you feel you lacked? Because Falling short of passing marks means either of this 1) Inadequate preparation ( but your nbmes are in 70 so assuming you prepared enough 2) Test day anxiety 3) Poor test taking skills 2nd and 3rd point can literally mess up your application skills especially on the real deal So I assume there is something you might not want to disclose what caused this
User:
I feel 3rd , unable to applicate the knowledge
User:
If you were unable to apply knowledge, you would not have scored good in NBMEs either
User:
Poor test taking skills
User:
Did you do NBME assessments in timed mode, without taking any extra breaks not looking up the answers in between?
User:
Nbme with breaks never looked at the answers
User:
This happened to me too, to everyone saying sus, this is actually possible and can happen to anyone, I scored 65-70 on nbmes and got 72 on free 120, i was more than sure that i would pass but failed my biggest problem was the legnth of the questions , not having enough time to read it well and answer, was choosing anything in most because of time, i was off by 6 points, i will be retaking by next month, according to the graph you were off by 2-3 points but no worries just use bootcamp qbank now and do uwsa and bootcamp for assessments, review nbme and do free 120 again, and go for it again, go get your pass
User:
I was thinking of amboss What is a boot camp qbank?
User:
Did you complete uworld again? Or amboss?
User:
I dmd you
User:
Which country are you from?
User:
Usa
User:
Why is this from 2023?
User:
Hey everyone’s score sheet is same says 2023 not sure why i tested in 2025
User:
this happened to me and I was in shock. I am so so sorry but try again dont give up
User:
I'm so sorry for you . my result it's same as yours' my exam was on 20 February 😭😭
User:
.
User:
If you don't mind what was your nbme scores?
User:
With 70+ scores on the NMBE forms this doesn't make any sense. He took the Step in 2023? I'm confused.
User:
sorry this happened to u, can u share nbmes and how free 120 went?
User:
Keep your chin up!
User:
Sus
User:
Bootcamp questions stems are longer. I would do those to help w time management. Micro and anatomy memorization can help boost those categories. 100nconcepts of anatomy and sketchy micro
User:
Reported
User:
Can I DM you?
User:
Sure
User:
Why every post of people failing from 2023 time frame!
Post 29: Can someone explain this for me
16/03/2025, 18:49:31
6 comments
COPI: Golgi Golgi (retrograde); cis-Golgi
ER.
COPII: ER cis-Golgi (anterograde). “Two
(COPII) steps forward (anterograde); one
(COPI) step back (retrograde).”
Clathrin: trans-Golgi lysosomes; plasma
membrane endosomes (receptor-mediated
endocytosis [eg, LDL receptor activity])
Comments:
User:
What do you want explaining? Pretty sure you just need to remember COP 1 COP2 and Clathrin 2 steps forward, 1 step back is a saying but can be used to remember this COP2 is for going in the forward direction, ER to cis golgi COP 1 is for going backwards (1 step back) cis golgi to ER Cis golgi is the side nearest the ER and trans golgi is the one further from the ER and closer to the endosomes Clathrin is the one which is for going between the trans golgi and the endosomes So you can assemble all these into a sort of line COP 1 and COP 2 are between ER and Golgi Clathrin is to go to and from the trans golgi and endosomes I feel like the diagram in FA is a good visual representation
User:
I think u/UnchartedPro ran through everything important. Here is how I organized things for myself when reviewing it. Abstracting somewhat, proceeding from the cell nucleus towards the cell's plasma membrane, you have: 1. The Endoplasmic Reticulum 2. The *cis* \[same\] side of the Golgi Apparatus 3. The *trans* \[beyond/across from\] side of the Golgi Apparatus 4. Assorted lysosomes hanging out to do things. 5. Incoming endosomes that need to do something / have something done with their contents. 6. The cell membrane. The above direction (1 -> 6) is **anterograde transport.** The reverse direction (6 -> 1) is **retrograde transport**, whether you're starting on the edges or in the middle. What the box that you excerpted is doing is listing the major trafficking proteins that guide vesicles to their intended destinations: * COP 1 (or COP I) is a coatomer protein complex that marks coated vesicles for **retrograde transport**. This could be within a structure (i.e.., from one part of the Golgi Apparatus to another part of the Golgi that is closer to the nucleus, namely *trans* to *cis*), or it could be from one structure to another (i.e.., going from the *cis* side of the Golgi apparatus to the Endoplasmic Reticulum). * COP 2 (or COP II) is a coatomer protein complex that marks coated vesicles for **anterograde transport**. This takes vesicles from the ER to some part of the Golgi. Clathrin gets involved when you have steps 4-6 involved, e.g., taking packaged proteins from the trans-Golgi to a lysosome. But it can also be involved with causing the plasma membrane to pinch off around extracellular substances to form an endosome (receptor-mediated endocytosis).
User:
Yeah this is very well written! Thanks
User:
Perfectly explained
User:
This is very very low yield. Don't waste your time on this
User:
The lowest of yields
Post 30: I passed 😭 ask me anything
12/03/2025, 08:52:41
67 comments
Literally thought I didn't pass and started planning application in my home country
Comments:
User:
I got the P also 😭😭😭😭
User:
How many did you flagged How was the difficulty What were your nbmes
User:
I found it really tough, had no clue what the answer was 50% of qs. I would say the most important skill is being able to accurately guess, even with nbmes I was able to make accurate guesswork and got a few marks that way. I think that is the make or break for the exam because you will not have heard of most of the descriptors half the time.
User:
How many did you flag
User:
My nbme was really really low highest 63 and 60 15 days before on nbme 31 and 120 6 days before 60% too. But I look the exam anyway. I didn’t flagged cause I knew this questions are too lengthy and I won’t have enough time to go through it again read the whole question and guess the answer and everything. So I just went answer and kept going
User:
NBMEs? And exam difficulty?
User:
65-75, way more difficult than nbmes 😭 not sure which were experimental
User:
Congrats! How to do neurology, neuroanatomy? And is sketchy enough for micro or do i have to make time for uw?
User:
Uworld is imp for micro. Do it
User:
Micro low yield i found
User:
What about neuroanatomy neurology? Also is memorizing all parts of brainstem section necessary?
User:
Brain stem there was a guy on youtube who actually have a really good video for the rule of 4’s i think you will be able to answer most of the questions
User:
Any idea what channel?
User:
Do you remember which channel it was?
User:
DirtyMedicine
User:
Micro ! I think if i studied micro well i could have guaranteed 100% pass Micro was very hy Fungus alot of fungal infections Alot of histologies for fungal infections Study antimicrobials questions where literally free points Study each bacteria’s 1st line HIv just revise the drugs trust me Msk renal repro revise briefly anatomy tumors sex diseases etc.
User:
Congratulations I find it very hard to focus and concentrate. I am falling back in my preparation. I get stuck on lengthy and difficult questions and concepts in the U world. I have exam in four months give me some tips, please.
User:
U will be fine :) I started prep 4 months before exam and dedicated 2 weeks before, i believe in you!!
User:
Any tips for CV? in my home country we are taught only to study and study for the rat race as at every step only academic marks are considered Any international conferences, institutions, student organisations
User:
Currently attending a conference as we speak 😂
User:
Please pray i get a P too😭😭😭
User:
When are you expecting your results?
User:
Most probably coming Wednesday
User:
Oh same, when did u give the exam? I gave on 6th march.
User:
Same march6! How was exam for you
User:
Check your dm
User:
What do u mean by descriptors never heard of?
User:
Random facts with no apparent relation
User:
what would u have done differently on your preparation?
User:
Better to re-read First Aid or read Mehlman PDF’s one month out?
User:
My exam is in 2 weeks, my nbmes are 71, 74,75 76,78,74, uwsa was 63, that bummed me . Any advice for me ?? And what sections should I focus more on in these last days
User:
Given that your nbmes are so much higher than my max score im not sure what you want me to say 😂
User:
Brother you passed the beast, so right now you have the wisdom that I don't :) . So would appreciate any advice ! Also I forgot to mention, Congratulations 🎉 Edit: Do you think I should focus more on nbme review (still left with nbme 31 and free 120) or try to complete uworld (80% complete rn with uwsa2 and uwsa3 left. Thanks in advance
User:
Practice practice practice u have the knowledge
User:
Thanks Brother, Appreciate it
User:
How many did you flagged Why were your nbmes
User:
Me too♥️ same thing
User:
So happy for you 💛
User:
I’m so happy for you too♥️
User:
How was the difficulty How many did you flagg What were your nbmes
User:
Nbmes 65-75
User:
What about free120
User:
Still ethics heavy?
User:
When did you give the exam?
User:
Congratulations!! Did u start uworld after completing FA or after every system !?
User:
I did at least 3 rounds of fa, so both
User:
Congrats!
User:
Nbmes?
User:
Congrats 🎈🎊…….Do u have link for sketchy micro and pharm?
User:
Can you study alone or do you need a study partner?
User:
Congratulations! How long were the Question Stems? Were there Questions u have to get answer solely based on Histological Images and other images?
User:
Congratulations! :)
User:
congrats op! how did u keep endurance through exam and how did u manage the longer question stems?
User:
That is so tough ngl. Very strict diet and break plan which was preplanned. I ran out of time for sure
User:
what were your snacks/diet
User:
Was the difficulty equal to or more than uworld? And what were the most tested systems? And what was ur average in uworld?
User:
I did uworld rly early so 50% but i ended with consistently 70% in my incorrect. Harder but some were easier
User:
Can I dm you ?
User:
Deps on for what
User:
Did you use boot camp ?
User:
Congrats! Was the exam reflective of nbme concepts? What systems showed up the most on the exam for you?
User:
When did u give ur exam and when did u get ur result??bdw congrts
User:
Advice for someone with 2.5 weeks left of dedicated?
User:
Congratulations 🎊
User:
congratulations!
Post 31: Did anyone save the Mehlman modules?
17/03/2025, 15:08:34
56 comments
He deleted them from the website :/ Could anyone share them?
SOLVED: [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST)
or just dm if needed; Thank [u/lukaszdadamczyk](https://www.reddit.com/user/lukaszdadamczyk/) 🙏
Comments:
User:
It’s moved from the free stuff tab to … the pricing tab under premium courses. Give the guy a break. The pdfs, assessments and youtube content are free, especially the arrows. He has done so much for students for free.
User:
Yeeep 😂
User:
I’d really rather not give him money given his history
User:
What’s his history? Truly don’t know after I used his videos to carry me haha.
User:
https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschool/comments/111taud/psa_michael_mehlman_from_mehlman_medical_an/
User:
Wtf there is a lot going on there.
User:
[deleted]
User:
This isn’t politics. It’s behavior. He’s reportedly preyed on people that he mentors. People should at least know that.
User:
[deleted]
User:
He’s not my patient
User:
[deleted]
User:
It’s not rumors when it’s literally taken from the videos. He’s taken the most offending ones down but it’s disgusting behavior. He doesn’t get a pass because he’s “in my field” I don’t care
User:
Bro WHAT
User:
Right after his limb extensions too, bill must've come in
User:
Ngl this made me cackle
User:
I just checked his website and all modules are available on it
User:
could you drop the link! all im seeing are the assessments and the pdfs
User:
Sorry I thought you were talking about his PDFs 😅😅
User:
nope, they’re paid as courses now
User:
Wild
User:
Everything is still available, all pdfs in Free tab
User:
yeah, the pdfs are still there, I am talking about the modules. He had a different tab with different modules (pharma, micro)
User:
Oh okay! My bad, you mean his HY Premium courses
User:
Now yes 😂 Yesterday: his free HY Modules
User:
Well, If you have those in pdf, will be grateful, just out of curiosity, what he had hidden
User:
SOLVED: [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST) or just dm if needed; Thank u/lukaszdadamczyk 🙏
User:
Hi can I ask for the file? it seems the link isn't working 😂
User:
Which ones do you need?
User:
Pharm: Anti fungals, Beta n Alpha, Anti-arrhythmics Micro: Viruses (all) - I was ready to start em this week D: It would be nice also to have neuro, psych, and renal pharma, but what I said before would be what I need the most
User:
wait the videos on his website like extra review or the pdfs? can u send the videos to me too if you have please. thanks
User:
Pls me too
User:
Can you send them to me if you have any pls?
User:
Dm
User:
Could you please send them to me as well 🙏🥲🙏🙏🙏 would be so grateful for any of them, ideally all
User:
Dm
User:
Can you send them if you have them please? 🙏
User:
Dm
User:
[deleted]
User:
Dm
User:
Can you please send them to me as well 🤲🙏🏼
User:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST
User:
Hey, I dm'ed you. can i get it too pls?
User:
pls share
User:
Anybody please send them to me if you have them
User:
RemindMe! 9 hours
User:
I will be messaging you in 9 hours on [**2025-03-18 03:47:10 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2025-03-18%2003:47:10%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/comments/1jdjdrr/did_anyone_save_the_mehlman_modules/miazycc/?context=3) [**CLICK THIS LINK**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Fstep1%2Fcomments%2F1jdjdrr%2Fdid_anyone_save_the_mehlman_modules%2Fmiazycc%2F%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%202025-03-18%2003%3A47%3A10%20UTC) to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam. ^(Parent commenter can ) [^(delete this message to hide from others.)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Delete%20Comment&message=Delete%21%201jdjdrr) ***** |[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemindMeBot/comments/e1bko7/remindmebot_info_v21/)|[^(Custom)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5BLink%20or%20message%20inside%20square%20brackets%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%20Time%20period%20here)|[^(Your Reminders)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Reminders&message=MyReminders%21)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=RemindMeBot%20Feedback)| |-|-|-|-|
User:
RemindMe! 12 hours
User:
Dm me please as well
User:
Can someone send me the modules, please
User:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xc5UldRjkWY2emRiOyh48rg1z2BQVHST
User:
Thank you kind sir, god bless you
User:
It says that i don't have access
User:
Try opening it in a browser. It works just fine
User:
Cant open them
User:
I just opened pharm….
User:
!remindme 1 day
User:
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User:
Why did he do that? Probably making it paid content to drive sales.
Post 32: Safe way to print screen - UWorld (IPad)
15/03/2025, 00:58:54
24 comments
Hi there!
I’ve just been back to UWorld after a weeklong ban for using the print screen tool on the IPad with the UWorld app open. Before that, I’ve always studied on the computer (mac) using the browser and never had any problems related to printscreens.
Before I resume my studies, I’d like to enquiry y’all if it’s safe to print screen the Safari browser instead of the UWorld app on the IPad.
Thanks a lot!
Comments:
User:
Don't use the UWorld app, just go to UWorld.com. Personally I like the web interface better than the app anyways. There isn't a function on any web browser to my knowledge that allows it to detect recording
User:
Thank goodness bc I always screenshot and add pics to my notes. I had no idea they had detection software on their app
User:
Guess so! Thank you
User:
download 'enable copy' google chrome extension and voilà
User:
Yeah this is what works for me. Here's link: [https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/absolute-enable-right-cli/jdocbkpgdakpekjlhemmfcncgdjeiika](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/absolute-enable-right-cli/jdocbkpgdakpekjlhemmfcncgdjeiika)
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WTF? I've taken multiple screenshots..
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I screenshoted probably 2k Qs on UW ipad on Browser (chrome and Safari)
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UWorld dev team must sleep well knowing guys like you have the whole website backup on your printscreen files
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😂😂 Na I had ss all my incorrects and pasted in relevant sections in my FA (soft copy) and wrote some notes on why I got wrong so I can revise UW along with FA
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If u add the info to a notebook in uworld u can copy and paste it into a diff doc or ur first aid on iPad
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That’s an ingenious solution. Only problem would be with the imagens then.
User:
Works even better for images hahah u can drag and drop them into another app
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Shift+cmd+3 on the browser version
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Yeah on the computer I already do that. Guess I’ll just try it on the IPad and hope for the best.
User:
Yeah, on the iPad on Safari, you could take screenshots.
User:
Guess I’ll just bareback my way into old habits then. Pray for me fellas!
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Yeah using it on safari works, app no! I might have taken hundreds of screenshots and didnt have a problem
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Thanks foodie
User:
Bro I would stream Uworld on discord for hours💀
User:
Foolproof, low tech: take a picture with your phone. Nowadays, you can search for text on any photo.
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Use Opera browser. Works great with uworld. [https://www.opera.com/](https://www.opera.com/?utm_campaign=%2300%20-%20WW%20-%20Search%20-%20EN%20-%20Branded&utm_content=37670026502&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwytS-BhCKARIsAMGJyzoCBOee9lwWI_hDQvAqE_SUUjNsQ3cOhGGco9kP6f7IFHYB8LCpXN4aAvWSEALw_wcB)
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DM me.
User:
What's the purpose for screenshots?
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They provide context for some of the Aking notes
Post 33: Passed step 1 THANK YOU JESUS CHRIST🙏🙏🙏🙏
12/03/2025, 12:28:37
9 comments
Thank you Jesus Christ, this is all your doing I am just here to encourage everyone and anyone trust Gods promises and trust the process and above all to give Glory to GOD ALMIGHTY IN Heaven 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you Jesus Christ
To all who encouraged me behind the scene here with their write ups THANK YOU
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Comments:
User:
Passed today too, love jesus :)
User:
Amen.
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How ws the real deal share your experience Also what were your nbmes and f120
User:
Congratulations! Could you please share your nbme scores?
User:
Congratulations 🥳 Thank You Jesus❤
User:
How was the real deal share your experience How many did you flagg Post exam thoughts Your nbmes f120s
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How was the real deal How many did you flagg Post exam thoughts What were your nbmes and f120
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[removed]
Post 34: Passed with low NBMEs
13/03/2025, 23:11:03
11 comments
Got my P yesterday. Honestly I got:
NBME FORM 28: 57
NBME FORM 29:63
NBME FORM 30: 57
NBME FORM 31: 67
FREE 120: 61
I took the free 120 two days before but I had no choice but to take it. Flagged so many each block. And after getting my test back it actually showed that my test consisted mostly of my weakest points and less so of my stronger points.
That being said, passed! So there’s hope for anyone out there feeling like you bombed. You probably didn’t. A lot of the very difficult questions are experimental. Good luck !!! You got this
Comments:
User:
Congratulations! What resource would you recommend was the game changer for you?
User:
I think Pathoma for the histology was really good. I feel like step really likes testing this skill. Uworld was core and I definitely used the notebook tool in uworld to organize the explanations which made it easy to review quickly later on.
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Thank you OP and congrats, enjoy it
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Thank you !
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What resources you used and what was your timline
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I started studying January 6 when we got back to school. And then took it February 27th. Resources were uworld, NBME, and pathoma. Pathoma was helpful for the histology
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Did u use Anki with uworld
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I used Anki for the first three weeks which was helpful. There’s an anki tool that you add that lets you type in the code for uworld question and brings up all the cards associated with it. Did that for every question I got wrong but by the end of month had to many cards to review I just stopped and moved to uworld and pathoma.
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Can you please share your breakdown of weak points ? I thought if you pass they don’t give you that breakdown
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How was the time management compared to nbme i hav my exam in 1 week and i took almost 1 hr for 40qns and could you pls tell me what you did for the jump in scoress pls help!
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I think with the timing I bold important things because at some point I simply cannot read the entire thing. And then sometimes that’s enough to give me the answer. If it’s not then I go back to actually read it and then see there’s a detail I missed which gave me the answer A trick a friend told me that helps is to read the question first then go back to read the whole thing because you’ll have the question in mind and will highlight things that’s will support your answer. Good luck!
Post 35: Took the Real Deal Today
18/03/2025, 19:13:16
23 comments
Honestly it’s all a blur.. Missed a ton of easy questions.. flagged like 15 per block, not to mention the ones I had literally no idea about. My last 5 practice exams were all 70+. Though I feel like I got absolutely bodied by this exam, and that I could have easily failed. Anyone feel the same?
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I did too… missing the easy questions is the worst I made a list and cried over them cuz they can be what made an F into a P…. My result might come tomorrow and I just can’t take it anymore Edit: I passed!!
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how do you guys even remembered any questions after you are done. Let alone what you put for the answer? I'm impressed
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Lol questions coming back to me is all I could think of for the first 2 days… I recalled like a 100 questions 😭 a lot of them wrong
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you would be surprised. you will do good. dont let your mind play with you.
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I passed!
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Heck yeah brother. You must be over the roof. Nowpat your self on the back from me
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Same thing, I know I shouldn’t look it up but I already counted 13 easy questions that I knew the answer but still got them wrong earlier today
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How many of total questions you got right till now?
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The ones I remember, 4. But I’m trying really hard to not look everything up so take that with a grain of salt. It’s just, it’s really a shame, all of my NBMEs were 65+ with last three on 72+ range and I still choke really hard today. I just hope that everything is going to be ok in the end
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You will P.
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Also wrote on 18 March. Went home and cried after I wrote because I got all the questions I googled afterwards wrong. Had so many questions on random ethics and biochem (not high yield enzyme deficiencies like I was expecting), lots of pharms and MOAs, question stems were too long and there were only around 3 stats questions in the exam and stats was about the only thing I was confident about. Treated myself to a nice dinner with steak and watched Gilmore girls. It is what it is. I tried my best.
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With 70+ you shouldnt feel insecure at all :) What were the most asked fields in your opinion? Ethics and Neuro again?
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Congratulations!! Expecting the P for you! May i ask about stems? Is it really longer than the nbme 25-31 available? Thanks
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The stem was slightly longer but on average they are not long
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Same here It was vague Marekd more than 15 Q Nbmes 70-80
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Everybody feels that way, I know I did. Remember about 80 of those questions are experimental and untested, just hope you flagged those. You’ll be fine.
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Literally me, I kept reading the questions in the last block and even the simple words wouldn’t register… but we shall be fine, this is a common feeling!
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While walking out of the test center, I thought that I should have prepared more… No worry. We will pass
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How many ginetics question, general pharm, psych. And which one is most
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Me too
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Phsyc are alot
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What did you feel was asked the most in your form
Post 36: I PASSED LFGGGGGGG
12/03/2025, 14:14:57
28 comments
thank fucking god i've finally escaped the hell of dedicated and can now confirm that i get to kill myself on surgery rotations instead!!! i was browsing this subreddit like every day and kept getting scared seeing posts of people with consistent scores in the 70s-80s, and that paired with the fact that i could only remember the questions i got wrong did not bode well for my mental health. i finally understand what people mean when they say that no matter how you felt walking out of that exam, you have to believe in all the work you put in 🙏🏽 you don't need be the top of your class, you just need to pass!!! feel free to ask anything if you feel like you were in a similar boat!
\- tested on 2/25 (originally was supposed to test on 2/18, but i got sick 2 weekends before and got nervy so i pushed back my exam)
\- cbssa scores: nbme 26: 57 (1/11); nbme 28: 55 (1/23); nbme 29: 62 (1/29); nbme 30: 64 (2/8, at this point i thought i was taking step in 10 days so i got crazy scared); nbme 31: 74 (2/14); free 120 (2024): 57.5%/62.5%/77.5% (so 65.8% overall); free 120 (2022): 80% overall (80%/80%/80% lol)
\- uwsa 1: 158 (12/29); uwsa 2: 181 (2/3); uworld was 100% completed but i can't remember what my percent correct was **😭** my guess is somewhere in the mid 50s or so, uworld was not my friend sadly
for everyone still in dedicated or even people not in dedicated who are starting to worry about step 1, you got this!! if you believe in yourself and stick to your schedule, you WILL make it, trust :)
Comments:
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OMG CONGRATS!!!! HOW DID YOU GET THAT BIG OF A JUMP FROM 64 TO 74? THATS INSANE. PROUD OF YOU STRANGER!!!!
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THANK YOU AHHH!!! i am not fully sure myself; i think by nbme 30 i had a strong idea of what my weak points were and had already read through and annotated the first aid sections of those systems (GI, resp, and hem/onc) a bunch. since that wasn't working, i decided to pair the first aid learning with related dirty medicine videos i'd watch on the treadmill as well as 2-3 focused uworld blocks of those topics each day. i would also use the mehlman pdfs if i was still not getting it, and topics i knew i was bad at i either tried to find patterns in wording in questions so that i could get it right even if i didn't understand it or sometimes i would just give up and focus on what i knew i could get right since my brain is kinda small ngl
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Congrats! Was the exam reflective of nbme concepts? What systems showed up the most on the exam for you?
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HOLY FUCK the percentage of questions about each system that’s asked is on the USMLE website. Every test will be different oh my god
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LFG! I got P’d on as well!!!
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congrats!!!!!
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How many questions did you flag
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i'm so sorry i don't remember an exact count, but definitely over half the test. i flag questions i guessed on but think i could get right if i spend more time on as well as questions i'm not 100% on but could still choose an answer for. if i couldn't get a question confidently within the first minute, i flagged it and moved on. that gave me time to go through almost all if not all of my flags before the time was up for all sections except one!
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You should continue to ask this on 100 more posts
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Congrats OP! wondering same how you went from the 64 to the 74 and 80?🙌🏽
User:
the 80 was definitely inflated; there's a good number of shared questions between the 2024 and 2022 free 120's, so i was advised to do 2024 first for a more realistic score. for the 64 to 74, i focused heavy on understanding my shortcomings in subjects i already knew i was doing poorly in (GI, respiratory, heme/onc). i put some details in another response to this thread, but in addition to those methods, i focused my anki on microbio and those organ systems as i got closer to the exam, and i heavily used the insights question details tool. if you hate anki like me but want to feel like you're being productive, you can also use the rapid review deck people have mentioned. good luck!
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How was the difficulty of the exam compared to free120?
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it felt equally difficult to free 120 for me. i felt pretty confident about nbme 31 when i took it since most questions felt more straightforward to me at that point, but free 120 and the real deal felt a bit more vague. definitely not as vague as uworld though, and the answer choices listed usually weren't hard to differentiate between. a lot of people seem to struggle with timing on free 120 and the actual exam; highly recommend the strategy of reading the question first, then going backwards to find whatever is pertinent to answer that in the stem and then looking at answers (e.g. if it asks what the moa of a drug is, you probably just need to read the sentence before that to see the name/class of it vs. if it asks what structure is damaged, you may need to look more at physical exam findings and presentation instead).
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you deserve all the praise stranger, thank you for this positive lighthearted post.
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thank you 😭 not sure if my psych would agree with me based on the first sentence LMFAO but appreciate it nonetheless!
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[removed]
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it didn't feel like it was for me, but i do have a background in neuro so i may not remember those questions...if anything, i think any neuro questions were more related to anatomy than anything else (like which spinal cord tract was injured/what symptoms would that cause or what broad brain area is affected in a certain disease). definitely felt my exam was more heavy on repro, cardio, and resp.
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how far out from rest day was your nbme 28?
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kinda braindead rn so not sure if you mean rest day like when i got sick or test day lol but i tested on 2/25, so nbme 28 was about a month before. it was meant to be 3 weeks before my test though since i did \~1 nbme full length per week and free 120 the weekend/friday before my exam date too.
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I meant test lol sorry about that! thanks so much. hoping it was just a fluke for me. not ideal testing simulation. taking 30 this coming sunday. congrats on the P!!
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all g i assumed so! i think 28 was definitely one of the hardest ones for me too. good luck on 30, hopefully it goes better!! and thank you :)
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scored a 64 on 29 on 3/6 and then took 28 yesterday and scored a 57. freak out ensued. I test 3/28.
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Advice for someone with just under 3 weeks of dedicated?
User:
if there's things you're consistently getting wrong, hone in on understanding why and seeing if you can find patterns in question stems/answer choices that can help you get the right answer. it also helps for questions you really struggle on to see if you can understand what the other answer options would be applicable to, but i don't recommend doing that for all questions you get wrong if you're like me cause it can burn you out. if you're still struggling with those topics by \~1.5 - 2 weeks before your test date, lowkey just take the L and see if there's topics you're good at that you can lock down and improve in to make up for the loss in points there. definitely leave time during the last week for review of all nbme's if you can.
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[removed]
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Recalls are strictly prohibited by the NBME, and are considered cheating, a gross violation of NBME code of conduct This includes discussing specific questions, type of questions, topics/subjects, how many of a type of question, etc. which appear on an exam.
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Are you kidding me what a dumb question, every test is different for most people, you will not have the same questions as this person
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[deleted]
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Look kid, just get the hell out of here
Post 37: High NBME scores but feel like I’m guessing through the whole thing?!
15/03/2025, 14:51:30
15 comments
I’ve been getting around 70’s for my past CBSSA’s but throughout the whole exam I feel like I am basically guessing on 3/4th’s of the questions and I don’t feel confident about my answers at all. Is that a normal feeling? Or does it indicate that I’m just maybe a good guesser and still need to work on content review?
Comments:
User:
If this is reproducible on NBME's I think you're in a great spot! I feel this way too on uworld and apparently it's pretty common.
User:
Felt like this too Apparently it's normal Gut feeling
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Felt the same way with slightly b lower scores and just got a P recently
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how much were your nbmes if you don’t mind me asking? i cant seem to break 60s and i also feel like im guessing everything
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I got between 66-69 on all the nbmes
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how about free 120 both old and new? also congratulations!
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69 on both
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i got 64-68 on all nbmes i’ve done so far and 78 on old 120, do you think im ready to go next week? kind of very burnt out
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Yeah, if ur us MD ur good to go, I think a love of the people that fail with similar scores are usually English second language and get tripped up by long steams or surprised pressure
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i’m an IMG but english is kind of my second “native” language as i’ve been speaking it since i was a kid
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I agree i never feel confident after but u have to remember u know more than you think and u can make a good prediction based on stuff u learned years ago too. and at this step you’ve gotten so much practice with taking exams like this. so u know more than u think!
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Take the exam man. Trust the diagnostics. Stop listening to that voice in your head.
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I feel the same way though I'm getting 65 on nbmes
User:
Its a normal feeling, its okay you are good to go. Almost same will happen in the real deal as well. So its totally okay
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Its completely normal..Even in real deal it feels the same..But actually your subconscious knows otherwise it doesnt root for that answer ..So go with it and you"ll know that you are a pass...Just one piece of advice,dont panic even if you feel like you know nothing.
Post 38: Passed
19/03/2025, 10:28:43
37 comments
To all the fellow redditters.I Passed.Anyone having any queries regarding anything can ask anything...Your contribution has been a lot during all the stressful time.Much thankful to all of you and same wishes to you.
Just beleive in yourself and your assesments..Thankyou.
Comments:
User:
What’s one Nbme that you absolutely have to review? Also, is biochem high yield? And which systems were highly tested? I’ve my exam in a week so sorry about the barrage of questions lol
User:
I believe the best NBMEs are 30-31 because of the stem length and similarity with the real deal.I"ll say we do stress a lot on Biochem in our preps whereas what i saw on the exam were about 3-6 Qs that were easily doable if you had a little knowledge of it.Other than that dont waste too much time on it.I,ll advise to revise the hormone receptors and their mechanism i-e Gq Gs just that.Other than that there's nothing you"ll be missing out.The question might look strange and confuse you but always go with the basic answer,dont try to overdo it.Thats the advise.
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Was micro heavily tested? Is sketchy enough or is uw necessary too
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Sketchy is more than enough.Its pretty basic. If you have acquired great deal of knowledge from sketchy,than regular practice will suffice.
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Also if you have exam day tips + must know topics in your opinion. Thank you so much and congrats!!
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The tip for exam day is dont get stuck on qs trying to answer it the first time.If it takes more than 1.5min to answer just flag it and move on.I usually got done with the block in 55mins and revisited the flag ones and did them in 5 mins.Even if the Q is so easy and you are confused,just flag and move on.By the end of block,you"ll have made the decision about the right answer.Thats it...Chill take a break after every block, a small one of 5-10 mins,attend washroom,drink or eat something and get back on the seat.It"ll literally be over in 2hrs(IYKWIM).It passes that fast.
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Got this. Thank you so much!!
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Welcome.
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Please share ur exam experience and congratulations
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Exam experience is pretty nice.The second i sat on that seat i was calm and relaxed.Dont waste much time on Qs,if you know them well even just flag and pass on.After a complete 40 come back to the flag ones and redo them.Thats it.It was completely doable.Best of luck.
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Was it uworld difficult or nbme difficult
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NBMEs for sure.Uworld will degrade you.I repeat dont do Uworld SA except when you too much time till exam and dont want to sit still.Just practice daily uworld Qs even days prior to exam.20 questions will suffice.Thats it nothing more is needed.
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Do you think uworlds harder?
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Its harder in terms of question asked like a very minute thing but the real deal asks something thats not too deep.One thing i notices is we dive so deep into it that we forget that the answer is simple because uworld trains us so.So its definitely harder to my experience.
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Your nbmes ?
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Pretty high i"ll say. NBME 26-31, 73.5%,87%,79%,79%,85%,86%
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Above 70 constant is an easy pass.
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Congrats man. within what gap did u take the NBMES?
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Thankyou The first three ones with a gap of 10 days,the last 3 with a gap of 6days each.
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Can I dm you
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Yes of course.
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How was it compare to nbmes? Any changes in pool question?? How many ethics questions?
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It was basically different from NBMEs in matter of not the most common Qs asked but much easier than NBME ones.So more of a basic style question. The problem is we go very hard on our answers like we always learn the hardest material in answers,what the exam needed was just basic stuff what we omit by thinking they wont ask that easy.Thats it.
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I never saw the pool cant say.But it was a mixture of NBME and Free120 and the middle ground between them.Some were obviously out of them. Ethics were about 5-6 in my exam.Dont stress out on ethics,it was too easy.The question would always say what is the best initial statement by the physician or an initial step was done what after that.Go easy on them.Just choose the wisest non-judgemental straightforward answer.
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What resources would you suggest for ethics? And what systems were high yield on your exam and how many questions would you say had them?
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I guess Uworld the best in questions.When it comes to book,you are gonna encounter the same scenarios that are listed in First Aid in a tabulated manner.It doesnt require that much,just common knowlwdge.I was overstressd with ethics before exams but on the real deal it was all simple and nothing more.
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I had multiple systems on the exam. Reproductive-Pulmo-Endo-CNS- and Ethics and obviously pathology mostly .Other than that everything had a fair share some more and some less.
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I heard biostats was not like the usual questions. Where should we direct our attention if its not like the basic randy neil video's?
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It was pretty basic and not much was asked. Its simple biostats i-e case fatality rate,Power of study and simple statements.There wasnt that much biostats on my form like hardly 5 qs.
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Congrats How was your post test period? I took it a week ago and I am stressing out For the first couple of days I remembered easy questions I missed during the real deal what do you think about that?
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Its normal to have flashbacks of easy question.I had it the first week.Then when i literally counted it,it was no more than 15Qs.So that made me relaxed thinking you just need a 196 to pass the exam out of 280. I repeat your anxiety will go up once your result gets near.They say watch movies or something but one cant do nothing,this result wait is the longest that it feels.Its an easy pass.We recall Qs that we did wrong and not the right ones.So chill and enjoy.You are a pass.
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Thank you so posting this, read all of your comments and they’re very useful, Although I have one question if you don’t mind. My exam is exactly 3 weeks out and Ive done nome 25,26,27,28 while scoring consistently around 70-72% in all of them, so what would you say is the single best thing to do to increase my score in the next in nbme 29-31 and free 120?
User:
Scoring consistenly above 70 means that your knowledge is great but your application of it might be the thing that is lacking.Dont stress over boosting your score instead focus on achieving the same or higher in the upcoming ones. Note:-Try to figure why you got the answer wrong,cause i remember i was answering questions faster and overthinking about it.As i have said earlier,go with the simplest answer,dont bring that chunk of knowledge that you have stored to overuse it.Its just simple answers and not uworld lile complex ones. Secondly if you can review rapid review section of FA and medstudentsuccess PDF which are very concise and accurate to NBMEs.Definitely your scores will go up.
User:
Thank you so much! This makes so much sense because when I review nbme questions that I got wrong I always feel like I could’ve gotten it right, idk if that makes sense. Oh and regarding medstudentsuccess pdfs, you’re referring to [this](https://www.medstudentsuccess.com/resources) right?
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Yep..You are good to go lad. The usmle step 1 HY ones.
Post 39: What should I do..? (Low NBME scores)
17/03/2025, 10:19:13
7 comments
Took my first NBME (26) and got a 44.
I am an IMG, is a below average med student - do not have a strong base - and have been studying for 1-5 hours a day for about 3-4months. Currently studying 7-8hours a day for about a month and a half.
Completed 58% of Uworld, 46% correct. Until recently studied system-wise. (It's really time consuming for me since I don't know much..lol...)
Did some of sketchy pharm, listened to chap 1-3 of pathoma... watched multiple videos of dirty, read FA when reviewing Uworld questions, did a little bit of Amboss for certain topics.
It feels like nothing really stucks in my brain. Should I spend more time on memorizing stuff? Or repetition is key..? What should I focus on now..? Please help😭😭
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I would say let go of pressure….tick it off, don’t let anything or anybody rush you on. Then, get back to basics, take your time to study and understand topic contents. Begin with subjects you really like/good at and make progress. This journey is a marathon not a sprint and the competition is about being a better version of yourself——a better physician.
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I think I have been in lot of pressure since my peers are passing, and my EP was till this month... I'll try harder for the next 3 months 🥲 or I'll just register again.. I should never rush it. Thanks
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keep doing uworld
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Yep.. I agree.. finishing uworld should be my priority thx 👍
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[deleted]
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Thanks a lot..! I'll try my best.. thx for the advice 😊
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Watch more pathoma. He explains material In a way that sticks in your head and gives you a strong foundation. Correlate with FA and do uworld right after to solidify
Post 40: just passed. And I want to devote my time to help others pass as well so if u have any questions please ask here. Everyone will benefit from it ❤️ pretty girls don’t gate-keep
19/03/2025, 17:59:38
11 comments
I’ve been getting a lot of dms because of my last post and it’s better if people ask over here instead
Comments:
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Hii! congratulations on the P. I have my exam in a month. My nbmes range from 72-82 (haven't done 30,31 yet) UWSA 1 and 2 at 241. I haven't done FA wholeheartedly just used it occasionally as a reference. UW completely done w 71% correct. Planning on doing Mehlman and skimming Fa along w NBME review for the last few days. Please advice. Also on the self assessment scores cuz I'm so anxious (cluster c, yes)
User:
Hello, thank you so much!!!!! Your nbmes are good, trust them!! You have a very high chance of passing, just trust yourself in the time to come now ! You’ll ace it And it’s okay if you’ve skimmed, your scores are good that means u got the key concepts down but I would suggest to give it one thorough revision before sitting in the exam because first aid contains the content that is tested Yes mehelman is really good, it will improve your scores even more And don’t worry around 31 and free 120, they are comparatively hard because they simulate the real deal Just be confident, you’re doing things right The triad is : first aid, NBMEs, Mehelman You’re good to go!
User:
Got it! Thanks for replying. Also What Mehlman pdfs should I aim to do? :D
User:
No problem, here to help 💕 I would suggest you to the systems only in which you’re weak since your exam is in a month If you had more time then all of them but rn you should just focus on ur weak points Good luck !! Let me know how your exam goes
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Gotcha! sure will let you know
User:
Hey congratulation on the massive P Did you do the HY guru HY NBME stuff?? Did it help?? Plz reply anyone if they did and it helped Have inculcated it in my study plan Since I am 1 week apart can’t waste time !!!!
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[deleted]
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Thank you so much !! My dedicated was 4 months I woke up around 9 AM and studied til 9-10 PM give or take So around 10-12 hours I guess, minus the breaks for breakfast, lunch or dinner. After 10 I mostly ran out of battery and would end up hanging out with a friend or watching Netflix because my brain became saturated
User:
I’ve my exam in a week and there’s so much to cover. Can micro be done with sketchy only or is uw necessary too? And biochem, what topics do I need to do if I’m on a time crunch? I don’t think I even have time for nbmes
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If we had 3 weeks to study and low NBME, what topic would you suggest we focus on to maximize score improvements
User:
Congrats 👏. Patho is almost 40 percent in step 1. Is pathoma really necessary? Or fa enough?
User:
Congratulations!!! I need help with like revising, so I finish a system in UW for example then how do I keep it fresh in my head? Ik anki is a great option and I love it, but I’m not consistent with it. My exam is in 4 months and I can’t completely dedicate myself to the step cause I have the uni exams to deal with 😭
Post 41: I can’t read FA anymore
12/03/2025, 02:19:37
26 comments
I’m just sick and tired of doing FA. Have been doing videos from bootcamp but when it comes to read a topic from FA I don‘t feel like doing it. I guess I’m just exhausted of this book. Don’t know what to do :/
Comments:
User:
try anki, anking with FA and HY tags or mnemosyne. some people also like doing Rx qbank since apparently is FA in question format
User:
Hi can you please explain anki like I'm a dummy please. How to get started?
User:
Fayaz Bhai https://youtu.be/WmPx333n5UQ?si=AA8EFrZS33m5BpyO watch this video
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Try Anki! It’s a lot less boring than just reading first aid and probably more effective. It literally saved me a lot of time reviewing.
User:
I dont know how to use anki and im dumber for it...is there any tutorial that I can use
User:
Look up anking on YouTube. If I remember he has some pretty long but extensive guides. If you have specific questions feel free to message me
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I used the Anking deck. You can start from this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dih2D1dwqkw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dih2D1dwqkw) there are plenty of videos in his channel explaining how to install anki and use the deck.
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There is a free playlist on YouTube READ FIRST AID WITH ME. Linking it here. Helps me cover FA. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaJ7xpakKy2K770srDDFjCZj18xtsaSsK&si=k5conuOclFVxrhda
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Fab
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Literally have never opened a page of First aid and never plan to do so and have scored 71 and 75 on nbme 28 and 29. You will be fine.
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If you can’t then just don’t do it anymore. Give yourself a rest. After starting doing Uworld, I stopped reading FA. FA just gives us some basic knowledge, while passing step 1 needs some sort of intuition. Once you have possessed enough basic knowledge, I suggest you move forward, closing the damn book.
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What I did was boot camp and then Ankings first aid cards related to a subject then UWorld (mixed, including that subject
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Which deck of anki did you follow?
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Anking First Aid tagged cards
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Sign up for speechify and have one of the voices read it out loud to you. Much less exhausting to get through denser material- and keeps you engaged by switching voices up once in a while. Can change the speed of the reading too.
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I actually prefer https://exception.network much more than speechify for technical and educational content
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Try TEMPU library, it’s very very simple and easy to read yet has every information in the FA + more high yield info from Other resources https://wry-drill-0b1.notion.site/Our-Library-f87b880f48464a87a72e83ed39b87583
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is there any free version?
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Yup, they offer Musculoskeletal system as a free trial
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Don’t just read it like a novel Just Annotate stuff from other resources in it Make it rich and beautiful And as ull be doing more Qs later on and getting For eg PSC wrong cuz u forgot it got relations with UC Thus u will go back to the text and re read Re reading Re running the action potential thru the same neurons in hippocampus is what will turn it to long term memory And trust me u will loooveee this book later on just have good annotations and keep visiting the pages that’s how Ull learn I started doing anki wayy later in my prep and realised its got real solid points and gave me free 4/5 pointers in Q banks (Not in NBME yet )
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Everyone suggesting anki here, pls pls give me free deck link
User:
Download anking online I have v12, read up on it. Know how to make folders and sub folders and sub sub folders and organize them how you want. Be able to go check out the tags for a specific section (firstaid, boards and beyond, sketchy micro, pathoma etc) and unsuspend and change the cards to a different deck(that you created) that way you can be more organized instead of using a huge fucking massive deck that of which if you don’t do every single day, it will be a fucking headache to get thru. It also helps with card burden and not having to worry about cards you already know you can just focus on learning things you need to work on. But those are my 2cents, you can always move the cards you have matured into a separate folder and keep up with those as you please. Also try to learn how to make your own cards via cloze and using one by one as well as image occlusions. Knowing how to make your own cards is a big advantage, you can always use chatGPT to have it make you cards that are HY for step 1 regarding a topic and just tell it for them to be 1. Fill in the blank 2. HY for usmle step 1 3. Use clozes {{c1:: }}. You can tweak as you go. 4. Make sure to using Anking cloze overlapping when making own cards and click or put a letter where it says one-by-one at the bottom. Hope that helps.
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I used bootcamp and FA before, found redundant sections having used both. Last time I checked bootcamp has finished all their sections (correct me if I'm wrong) if that's the case I think you can drop FA and use it as supplementary and use bootcamp as main if that worked better for you.
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Where can I get anki ?
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Hey! You don't need to even touch FA when you are doing Bootcamp. Just use the Bootcamp PDFs to annotate stuff from the videos. The PDFs are great. I studied FA for 3 years, but could not retain anything. Bootcamp videos and PDFs have changed my whole way of studying. Just open up the PDFs in a tablet or handheld device when you're watching videos. This will surely help. There are people who didn't study FA and passed. I know this might seem risky, but it will work. As long as you're able to get good scores on the Qbanks and NBMEs, this strategy will work. Hope this helps.
Post 42: Prayers for tomorrow’s scores 🙏🏻
18/03/2025, 19:46:33
29 comments
Just wanted to send prayers and wish good luck to all those that will be getting their scores tomorrow (including myself).
I wanted to make this thread in case anyone feels the need to vent whether good or bad so that we can come together and try to lessen the fears of receiving our scores.
I am praying for all of you to pass! Believe in yourself; I believe in you. ❤️
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InshaAllah InshaAllah, All of us will pass!
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InshaAllah ya Rab 🙏🏻🙏🏻
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Can't wait Every min feels like an hour Hearts racing like an F1 formula car
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May we all get the P! Lets spread positivity here
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We will get it!!! 🙏
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Yesss!!! We can do this!
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March 1st here, I can't wait to HOPEFULLY put this test behind me.
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Think I haven’t been able to close my eyes for 24hrs now waiting for this email 🫠
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Im expecting my result tmw i wrote my exam in march 6 wby?
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Same
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At what time it comes?
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Usually around 7:30 am EST
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Hope All of us PASS🥹🥹🤞🤞
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Did you get the result?
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March 4th for me!
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Same
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8th march, do we expect results tomorrow?
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I’m not 100% sure
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Login into iwa and check if your permit has disappeared. If it has disappeared, then you will get your results today.
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What’s iwa
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Login into Iwa ecfmg
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Did anyone receive any email regarding results
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I haven’t gotten anything yet. I’m thinking it’ll be another hour
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[deleted]
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Me too I thought they would be out by now :/
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I hope we all pass inshallah❤️❤️
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InshaAllah InshaAllah InshaAllah 😭
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JUST GOT THE P!!!!!!
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GOT THE P
Post 43: Is dirty medicine enough for biochem?
16/03/2025, 12:30:41
37 comments
For example his glycolysis video is pretty simple, my worry is it is 4 years old and some other videos are even older. Does he cover what is still high yield
Are they still relatively sufficient? Is Uworld and dirty med enough or should I use bootcamp which has much much more depth
Or maybe even Mehlman? I don't need a whole lot of depth to pass my med school exams, and won't take step 1 for around 2 years
Thanks
Comments:
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That and First Aid was enough for me.
User:
Okay thanks FA has quite a lot more detail unfortunately
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I got questions from the remotest corners of fa biochem.
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Does watching DM make it easier to go through FA? FA has a ton of details on biochem 🥲
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From the one video I watched I'm gonna say no 😂 but I think dirty med is enough to probably score enough on biochem to pass FA seems kind of a mess for the pathway stuff. I think a lot of biochem is fine, I just don't wanna learn all the enzymes and names of substrates in glycolysis etc Bootcamp is okay but again just quite confusing. I feel its a heap of rote memorisation Perhaps when I do Uworld I will be able to see what I need to know and of course the NBMEs. I'm tempted to try Mehlmans PDF but don't want to inflate NBME scores
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Yeah FA does have a ton of info on biochem. Hmm I’m open to trying mehlman biochem instead of FA too. Hopefully someone can comment on this
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I am gonna try go through dirty med and FA since I have spare time coming up. I'll try avoid bootcamp to be honest. Then I'll flick through Mehlman and won't touch biochem besides from the anki cards I feel are important. Hopefully nearer the exam I can then get Uworld questions right
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Okay okay, I just asked about Mehlman biochem pdf on this sub. I’ll wait to see what people say. If no, I’ll get my ass to read FA
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Definitely! Helps a ton. That’s how i did it. Some content may not be in dm though.
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I think it does, i cant learn details before understanding the topic a little and dirty med just didnt help with the basics but most of it
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Okay that's helpful to know.
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Plus all the U WOrld Questions yeah?
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I didn't do uworld for biochem. Biochem as a subject itself is pretty low yield. Just learn all the tables like LSDs and Glycogen storage disorders, enzyme deficiencies and enzymes involved in DNA synthesis and repair. In NBMEs and the real deal, I answered the majority of questions from biochem with as much.
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Thank you for taking the time to respond
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Anytime
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Just do dirty medicine and UW. There’s like 3-4 diseases he doesn’t cover that are high yield (eg. Duchenne) but I was getting high scores with that alone and you can fill in gaps on stuff that keeps coming up with FA and anki. I unlocked cards as I watched his video and put the corresponding mnemonic in the “lecture notes” section for long term memory. Biochem just isn’t worth a million hours of videos
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I'm fine with FA biochem for stuff like that, it's more just the complex biochem pathways and stuff which I really can't be bothered with. I think you are right. I'll see when I do questions what I need
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First aid biochem only has tested concepts in my opinion, if you “dont want to learn all the substrates” etc, you’re giving up potentially quick and easy “know it or don’t” points that you will kick yourself about. The questions on biochem on my exam were very rarely rate limiting steps or what enzyme is deficient, they tried to make sure you knew the steps surrounding them too
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If you don’t take step for 2 years just supplementally commit one pathway to memory a week, don’t worry about the pathologies or deficiencies surrounding them because those will be taught in detail later and you can add them in. But don’t skip the details because it’s daunting, that mindset won’t work in medicine.
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True, it's literally just biochem pathways that have me thinking like this but you are right, if its tested worth knowing :) I know step 1 questions are never as easy as just knowing a substrate though, there must be some way to apply it
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You would be surprised, I had questions that asked what would build up if a certain enzyme that wasn’t even pathologically significant was absent in models
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The pathways and the DNA/RNA replication transcription translation questions can be incredibly detailed
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DNA and RNA stuff I don't mind so that's something haha. How much of the exam is biochem on average? I know it can vary test to test
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Mine was about 8%
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Oh okay, and if you had to estimate, how much of that was super hard and specific stuff. And was it in FA even if it was barely mentioned?
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I’d say 95% of the exam was in FA, but it may just be one line mentioned in a table in a random page. I know because I checked a few questions I couldn’t remember seeing afterwards and found them in random seemingly insignificant locations, but that was only maybe 5-10 questions. Most of the exam was high yield stuff, just difficult ways of testing it. In terms of difficulty it depends on what topics you’re strong in. Personally I excel at renal/resp and endo/repro and those were a large percentage of my exam
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Oh okay, so I suppose still can pass without those tiny details but best to maximise chances. Thanks so much for all the help
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The most important thing I can recommend is DON’T PANIC during the exam, even if there is a string of a few questions you are completely unsure of, there will be a string of questions you 100% know later on. On my first block I thought i failed right away because I marked 14/40 questions as unsure, but in the 3rd and 4th I only marked 3 each. So don’t get in your head, think things through, DONT spend too much time on one question (some of the vignettes are SUPER long, but they typically end up being ethics and you can skip to the end) so if it’s a long vignette I might recommend that. Review your first aid and you’ll be fine.
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Wow
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Dirty med or bootcamp you won't go wrong with it though I think you'll have more return for your money with bootcamp just cause they have a well-rounded coverage of all the subjects. A good start to slowly build your basics & foundations too. But if you are just in need of a quick review for biochem, dirty med will do its work.
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You shouldn’t be concerned about this right now. You won’t take step 1 in around two years. But yes dirty medicine is amazing but in my opinion not likely beneficial for you now. I am assuming you are in year one? Right now the most important thing for you is to learn the material well. Whether that is through reading the text book or during your lectures. Learn as much as possible the fundamentals.
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BnB is enough.
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Okay thanks, I really struggle with BnB but will try
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It's a really good tool if you know absolutely nothing about biochem.
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Ride dirty with Dirty. And you shall see the light.
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Melham has an excellent pdf for biochem too! It helped me a lot!
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Thanks!
Post 44: Mehlmann in dedicated
13/03/2025, 13:22:07
14 comments
Keen for any general advice from folk in dedicated or post-dedicated, please.
My exam is in ~8 weeks. Did NBME 25 today; got 60% (albeit offline ofc)
Done most of UW so I’m gna crack on with AMBOSS questions in between NBME’s that I plan do once weekly.
Do people recommend going through Mehlmann PDF’s this early on in dedicated? Or does it make more sense to do a couple more NBMEs before going through them?
Thanks 🙏
Comments:
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Try his Anki instead. Way better retention than the pdfs.
User:
Can you send me the link to his Anki decks? :)
User:
Ok will have a look ty
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Idk if my methods are good enough, but I combine Mehlman PDF + First Aid + ChatGPT (desperate enough, but somehow it works for me) from the beginning of my study. I’ve tried like 1. Just using FA and try UWorld -> sucks. A lot of material from FA doesn’t cover UWorld materials 2. Bootcamp + FA and try UWorld -> somehow better but it takes longer time to learn ((and I am and I’m not that patient to learn (I want to learn quickly))
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UWORLD is supposed to be a learning tool itself .FA is supposed to be a review book.You don’t do FA to solve uworld that’s a rookie mistake
User:
Hmm, i feel like UWorld is for testing myself, whether I already understand and read much about all the materials in 1 system (example : after I read all about renal in FA and MehlmanPDF, I test myself. If I choose wrong answer -> I see the explanation). If I answer it correctly, i just pass the explanation. If I feel like I can answer it correctly by luck, I will read the explanation 😅
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Nothing wrong with this obviously .But testing is done mainly through NBME and free 120s etc —You can do it through uworld too obviously but that’s the general consensus
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I credit Mehlman for my pass. Not sure it’s as helpful for step 2, but for step 1 I give him credit
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Interesting. Did you just read through a couple times each? What about his modules and quizzes they any good?
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No idea, just did the pdfs. I’ve always preferred doing questions systems-wise, and would read the pdf accordingly. Highlighted things in red if I missed it on an NBME but that’s about it.
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Cool thanks
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Yes. With a 60% score you are more than ready for mehlman!!!
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On it!
Post 45: Help, panicking
16/03/2025, 11:23:46
14 comments
I just took my step 1, I had good nbmes (75+) and free 120 with the same score 75+
I feel like I guessed everything throughout the test, I feel devastated and I’m so anxious and nauseous, I feel like it will be a fail, I can’t remember anything but questions I got wrong. Did anyone else go through this? How to manage because I feel like I’m having a meltdown. I feel I rushed through it, even easy questions I think I didn’t answer correctly.
Comments:
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Same NBMEs and same testday experience. Passed. So will you. Take a break and sleep well.
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Alot of focus on taking a break
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Lower NBMEs than you and felt the same way coming out so much so I emailed our career advisor. Passed last week. You got this!
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You’re fine.
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same feeling here... Took my exam at 3/10, feeling panic after the test and repetitively reminding myself of foolish mistakes I made...
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Took my test on 3/3 same scores like you, felt same after the test And still feeling same everyday We will get through this champ Those endless hours in front of screen will pay off Hold yourself
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Felt the same way and had lower NBMEs than you and passed! You will be ok for sure.
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Same here..Took the exam on 04 march...All i remembered were questions that i got wrong on the exam..Took me 3 days to get past the anxiety attacks..Now i am all fine cause my nbme scores were pretty satisfying and a closer look at the exam made me feel it was easy...So now i am all chill and just waiting for the result..Stop proscastinating and start indulging in activities to take your mind off it..You"ll be all fine and a happy pass...
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easy pass
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Took mine on 3/12 and feel exactly the same….
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Took my exam at 3/10. We can expect our score to be released on 3/26, right? I am nervous to die now...
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Took mine on 03/11 lol, feeling exactly the same
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Similar scores and same feeling after the exam. Gave on 06/03.
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3/15 test and same story here, will update once I get my score
Post 46: Feel like i guessed on the entire thing
13/03/2025, 06:43:48
14 comments
I just took step yesterday. I feel like i quite literally guessed on 70% of that test. I flagged so many questions. There were so many where i was stuck between two answers and im worried i fucked them all up. I was so tired by the end i had to force myself to read the questions and not zone out. i swear to god Ive never been that tired in my life. There were so many questions where i was so mad at myself because it came down to a little fact that I just forgot.
My nbmes were borderline. My highest were 63, 65, 65, 68. I somehow got a 76 on the free120 but I think that was a fluke.
I know everyone says that they feel like they failed but i genuinely cant stop thinking about it. it’s actually so shitty of them to make us wait TWO WEEKS!!! for our score. My friend is a nurse and she told me the NCLEX test literally shuts off once you pass and you can leave! Why are we forced to be in purgatory like this.
Has anyone else felt like this and still passed 😭
Comments:
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I felt similar right after my exam. Got the P yesterday. If you have some free time before getting your results, travel and be with your loved ones. Suppress your thoughts, take your mind off of step. When the day comes, it will be a pleasant surprise to see your passing result.
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Yeah ur right I gotta just put it out of my mind for now :(
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you’ll pass just stop checking questions in FA.. NO ONE leaves the testing center not regretting making stupid easy mistakes
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\^ I remember checking answers after the exam and counting the number of questions I'd gotten wrong. It just worsened my anxiety and insomnia for a few weeks till I got the PASS score yesterday. Anxiety, when it serves no purpose, only worsens your peace of mind for no good reason.
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I did mine yesterday, and felt the same way. I was so mad at myself right after I got out of the testing center.
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Yesterday’s exam was brutal! Honestly, only about 10 questions seemed to come from First Aid 2024. Most of the questions were so vague, and a bunch of them felt like they had more than two correct answers.
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Exactly!! I swear so many answers seemed so similar
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You don’t have to swear I was there yesterday and I felt the same way. I just got the survey and I wrote it in the survey.
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What are you talking about bro!!😭😭😭😭
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Same For me. I did mine yesterday
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Was nbme like this??? Because i think i have guessed a lot in nbme
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Yeah i felt like i was guessing too in the nbmes. I think the real one was harder because the question stems were longer and the answers were very similar to each other so it was harder to kinda suss out what made one answer right versus the other. Like the answer choices were worded veryyy similarly
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Sounds like me 2 weeks ago, got the p yesterday. Sending good vibes your way ♥️♥️
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Thank u 🥺
Post 47: TAKING STEP 1 TOMORROW!! ANY LAST MIN ADVICE??
17/03/2025, 20:46:45
83 comments
NBME 28-31: 84%, 78%, 85%, 90%
CBSE: 86%
Free120: 88%
Chat are we chilling?
Comments:
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Why are you even taking it with those scores? Just go practice. 🤣 I’ll entertain your query for posterity fam. Watch some GoT or Walking Dead reruns and veg out. Eat a dope dinner. Pack your snacks and water, get your permit ready. Sleep by 10. Wake up at 6am. Get to your center on time, sign in. Sit. Knock out 7 blocks. Your P is waiting.
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Thank you OG for the message, been playing Black Ops Zombies, boutta gym, eat some good food and chill rest of the night
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I just got the P and was going to buy me and my wife a console as a prize. What should I get? We love zombie games and want to buy a console that has 🔫 attachments. Which console is best for walking dead, zombie ilk games?
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Mate if you are not ready then the rest of us are doomed 😂 But jokes aside, you will be absolutely fine. no need to do anything. Just chill. Go to an arcade or something💯
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Thank you broski, been cranking Black ops zombies all day, taking it easy. We got this in the bag
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Absolutely. ALL THE VERY BEST budddd
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Favorite map? 😂 I feel you bro playing cod was literally my only way to relax while studyin for this test
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Kino all day high rounds running a train lol
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wahaha
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You’re definitely guaranteed to pass but if you want to check out something scroll through NBME images doc. Got 3 repeats on 3/07 when I took it. Also maybe skim mehlmans heme/onc and immune pdf. Very HY
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I'll scroll through some high yield while I gym, thank you
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Don’t forget MEHAN RISK FACTORS
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Read first aid rapid review in the morning, do the Headspace meditation for test anxiety (if you feel anxious). Good luck!
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Rewatch all of bnb, pathoma and sketchy quickly to make sure you didnt forget anything :D
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I'll watch a bnb vid right now just for you :))
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Just remember.
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The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
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This is the highest of high yield
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You are chillin bro. You are guaranteed to pass. Just take a beat and relax, get a great night's sleep. Definitely don't do some stupid shit and stress out like "Rewatch all of bnb, pathoma and sketchy quickly to make sure you didnt forget anything :D" Sincerely just chill, I'm not joking. You're ready. You will pass. Just relax.
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Thank you for the GOAT advice, will do
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Good luck . U got this. How many blocks of UW /Amboss did u practice a day on average?
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I did around 2 per day on average + anki + pathoma + sketchy as my main resources
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We should be asking you for advice
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Thank you bro, I'm always here to help!
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Do not carry feelings of one block to the next,especially if a block does not go as good! Start afresh each block. Some great advice I got one day before my exam!
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I did this today and I think it really helped me out, every new block was a clean slate and a new opportunity
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I am glad! It helped through my step 1 too! How was the exammmmmm
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Definitely felt defeated right after but then I went home and checked my answers should be enough to pass hopefully :) Trying not to overthink it too much lol
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The advice is to go and slay the king...
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Thank you. See you on the other side soldier
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advixe bruh we need the advice
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Uworld and AMBOSS like crazy
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PUSHING P
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Facts. Let's get it
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Bruh….. I got no advice for those scores just don’t panic haha
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Thank you I won't let you down boss
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Man’s smurfing
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Good luck!!
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TY!
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I brought a bottle of Gatorade and a couple of granola bars; didn't feel fatigue until the last block. When taking the test, don't feel compelled to use up all your break time. I locked in for the first three blocks and had to take a break just to pee. If you feel focussed and on top of your game, just push on. Speedrun the tutorial in 5 min, rather than skipping it entirely. Real Deal interface is similar to Free 120.
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Yep did that too today, took short breaks at the beginning and then longer near the end when I needed more time to recharge
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Woahh crazy scoress!!
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Thank you!!
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How was your exam?
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Any suggestions? My exam is on 27th, and my scores aren't great :(
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Bruh! You give first min advice to me bro.
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I'm here bro whatever you need
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How was it bro? Also, maybe I can DM you.
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It was tough but with proper preparation it is manageable I believe, message me any questions I'm glad to help
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Gud luck
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hi good luck ! thats an amazing cbse score. im currently preparing for it. can you kindly share how u studied/resources/time you took pls, i d appreciate any info.
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Thank you, I did all of uworld and almost all of amboss, pathoma 3 times and sketchy pharm and micro 1-2 times
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thanks so much !!! hope your exam went well :) . did you use Anking or BNB at all?
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Yes Anking all throughout MS1+MS2, but slowed down as I did more questions, BNB only a couple videos that's it
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bruh if u went to the center u got ur p probably no need to answer
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I left the center today feeling defeated tbh that exam was tough! But hopefully did enough to pass we'll see lol
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wish u all luck mate u got it dw
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alsoa wanna know smth did u do alot of random blocks on uworld or just stick to the system thing
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All random, I think it's the best way to learn if you are in your dedicated step 1 studying period
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if im strating to take system should i do the random or just stick to system wise until i go for the dedication which will be after i finish the first pass
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A good night’s sleep and a beta blocker
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Had a great sleep last night now I'm overthinking all my answers from today LOL
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Trust your gut and keep moving forward. Don’t sit on a question, flag it and move on. Come back to it if you have time
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Yessir that's what I tried to do today, there was a couple times I had to force myself to click next question instead of overthinking
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just started studying last week and my u world percentages by system per block are sitting anywhere from 35-65% any advice?
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Do more questions and you will gradually improve I promise :) And whenever you get a question wrong make sure you relearn the concept well enough that you never get it wrong again, that was my mentality. Good luck and keep hustling!!
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Ngl you should be giving us advice rather than asking for it hahaha (not joking...drop tips...👁)
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Thank you I just honestly focused on qbanks - did all of usmle rx first as a warmup, then all of uworld and almost all of amboss- on any question that I got wrong I would unlock cards for them on anking and review- just stay focused and determined you have to put in lots of hours to master something so be persistent!
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dang, how long did that take? (I took it recently but I'm just asking out of curiosity.)
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Hey man, I hope you did well. Could you please tell me what your exam was like? Specifically asking you as you seem to uave overprepared like crazy. There's a lot of fear around here that the exam is getting tougher and I'd like hear the opinion of someone with NBMEs in the high 80s haha. How was ethics? Question stem lenghts and any time management issues? Got any patient charts? Thanks in advance!
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I'd say it was the toughest exam I've taken but it was expected. There were lots of new things they asked you about that I've never seen before but you had to logic your way for answering them. The question lengths were mostly long only a couple shorter 2-3 sentence ones. Time management I would have to rush usually the last 5 questions in each block so try not to sit on a question for too long. I didn't get any super long patient charts though. Ethics I felt were very straight forward and easy because I think I've seen the same question but in different words before
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Good luck!!!
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THANK YOU!!
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Tips please :)
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Banged out uworld and amboss qbank, high volume and high quality questions FTW, then NBME's for assessing readiness, you got this!
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Literally don’t do anything besides preparing your break time snacks and so on. You’re far more ready than I was and I passed. Tomorrow will be a breeeeeze for you
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I'm trying to get like you big bro, hopefully we breeeeeezin
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bro, are you trolling
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Can i please dm u for tips, reply when you're done🙏
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same pls
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RemindMe! 24 hours
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Damn that's sad. If it was scored you would have def got 250/260+
Post 48: Passed ……happy to help😁
12/03/2025, 17:45:08
11 comments
4.5 mo prep
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I wanna know if Uworld is better or Amboss Qbank. So confused which one should i buy.
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How was your nbmes scores? How you increased it ?
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I had pretty good NBME scores. I gave 26-31 NBMEs with lowest being 89 and highest being 93
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Congrats! Do you mind sharing your free120 score? I got a 66 on my free 120 and 3 consecutive 65s on my NBMEs so idk if I should still go for it next week. Thanks!
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I got 65 on free120 and passed this same test form
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That's good to hear. Hopefully I'll pass with that score as well. Gotta keep grinding for the next week
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I had 88 on Free 120
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Thanks ! U have a pretty good chance of passing if u can keep yourself calm and collected during the exam.😊
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What resources u used
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Hey can you let me know how you divided that 4.5 months what resources and time for dedicated and Pre dedicated
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1.5 mo - half assed BnB FA Sketchy micro and pharm ......never really completed 100% of anything 2mo - completed 60% UW then gave my UWSA 1 and NBME 25 Decided I was ready last mo- NBMES 26-31 with FA revision
Post 49: Write up of an average student
12/03/2025, 15:19:23
2 comments
Just got the P
US unranked MD, very average student, got average on most inclass NBMEs and mildly kept up with anki. Learned mostly from BNB, sketchy, and pathoma 1-3
Nbme in order 27-56%, 28-63%, 30- 67%, 26- 66%, 31- 68%, 29-65%. Free120-69%
Did 60% UWorld averaging 57% in 9 weeks of dedicated total.
Real exam felt like the same as the free 120 just longer. Ran into stamina issues for sure. Over all felt doable. What I would do differently would be to finish UWorld, and get mental health in check (had some really bad insomnia through out dedicated). Overall you can do it!
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congrats OP!
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Congrats!!!
Post 50: Passed with no dedicated, only did half of Uworld, and only took 1 NBME
19/03/2025, 17:13:55
7 comments
Got the P this morning. Did not take any dedicated. Here's what I did:
Matured 25,000 cards on AnKing
Did Uworld 50% at 80% correct
Scored ~80 on CBSE 1 so I knew I didn't need a dedicated to pass
Scored 83% of form 28, 80% on UWorld 2, and then 80% on free 120.
Ended up taking it 3 weeks before our dedicated began -> got the pass
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How to do micro? Is sketchy enough or is it necessary to do uw
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I did sketchy micro and AnKing and 50% of UWorld
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Was biostats and micro heavily tested?
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Yes it was
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Bro just posted to flex lmao
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so true bestie
Post 51: Got 65 on free 120, should I take the exam?
16/03/2025, 07:49:52
15 comments
Img here, today I took free 120 and not happy with the result (65%). My exam is in 2 days.
Uw 1st p- 40% 2nd p- 60%
Nbme 25 - 63% (1,5 mo ago)
Nbme 26 - 64%
Nbme 28 - 58%
Nbme 29 - 65%
Nbme 30 - 63%
Nbme 31 - 68% (3 days ago)
Free 120 - 65% (today)
Free 120 felt much harder than expected and felt like I was guessing 15 qs each block.
I have already postponed, so the dilemma is showing up to the exam or not. I am very tired at this point, but I also feel very afraid of failing and losing my hopes and dreams in the US as an Img.
Any insight would be appreciated, thanks.
Comments:
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Please don’t. I had people tell me take it and I wish I never listened to them. Why the fuck are they promoting you to take it when all the professionals are telling you to do it with at least a 70% on your nbme, idk. Now, I have to work harder than a lot of people to make up for a fail. And I’m still trying to truly forgive that they would ever tell me to go in so blindly like that. Perhaps they didn’t know better but, I think they should have just kept their mouth shut and realized they may have passed by luck. A lot of those people talk about how they left the test center crying and feeling like they failed. Doesn’t sound like they were too confident. Luck could’ve helped them. If you pass, they don’t tell you by how much you passed. You could’ve passed by a hair. The realist advice I can give is you go in when you’re ready. Ideally a minimum of a 70 on a practice exam. I do know people who passed with low 60s and high 50s on practice exams but, they were exceptions. The majority who are in those positions end up failing. Just look up on Google “failed step 1, here were my scores” you’ll see for yourself the scores that are frequently posted relating to a fail. And yes there are people who fail when they get 70s + on nbmes but those are also exceptions.
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The problem is US MD students on here don't distinguish between us and IMGs. For some reason, I'm guessing probably English related issues, IMGs seem to fail at higher rates with the same NBME practice scores. NBME question stems are shorter than USMLE, so I'm guessing the extra length disproportionately affects IMGs.
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They def made step questions a LOT more wordy. To a US student it probably doesn’t make much of a difference because it’s all in English anyways, but I can see how for an IMG it makes it much more complicated. I think y’all’s knowledge base is great, but then on these new steps it makes it harder to actually apply it when you don’t wtf they’re trying to say here
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Yea when I’m reading the question stems I skip through a lot of words fast. I’m guessing it’s harder for most IMGs to do that.
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i got a 65 2 days before sitting and passed. USMD, my nbme scores were higher than yours (65-75). but n=1
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do u get a lotta test anxiety? if yes then id say maybe a lil more practice would be safer. if you dont then go ahead, i mean u practically passed all ur nbmes and u got a decent score on free120
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Also, do the old free120 maybe that would solidify your decision
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I got a 63 on free 120 but my NBME was a little bit higher than yours (last 3 were scored at 69-76). I would say you’re in a good place but just try to cram high yield images and mehlman
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U can take the exam but no one can guarantee if you pass But very good scores
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Go crush that exam, you have got it Wear your confidence and you ll be fine
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My school has scoring guidelines that give a 99% chance to pass, if your school has the same follow those. Otherwise I wouldn’t until you get above a 69 on atleast 2 (free 120 included).
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I had similar profile and went for it in 2024/4 and I passed
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Yes
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I scored in the mid to upper 60’s on my NBME’s but got a 75% on my free 120 and followed it with 4 timed untutored u world blocks and got like a 70% average on those. That’s what made me confident enough to take it. I did pass and I felt very comfortable during the exam and knew I would pass. But if you don’t feel confident while you take these practice exams, with that score then you will likely sike yourself out during the exam. I think score wise you could be ready, but it depends on how confident you are in yourself.
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Postpone! You need at least 3 weeks from today! Better safe than sorry
Post 52: Is this happening to anyone else?
15/03/2025, 12:56:29
8 comments
For the past several weeks (since I began absolutely hammering uworld), I've been waking myself up because in my REM sleep I'm going over uworld charts in my dreams. It happened every single night. If I fail to remember one part of the table, the stress from that wakes me up. Why I think it's stress is because my heart is pounding when I wake from that dream. Kinda like negative punishment.. Besides simply internalizing the table of every single fucking uworld question, does anyone have any methods to break this cycle? FUCK
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Sorry for hearing this...
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Its anxiety, get some sleeping pills they help.
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Getting on IV melatonin/diphenhydramine tonight 👍🏼
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I failed the step 1 in my dreams like 3 times in the week leading up to the exam 😅 Anxiety is a bitch.
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fuukkkkkk
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i think you are in a good place in my medical board exam same things happened to me as only study was my everything so it's okay don't push yourself too much take care
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Thank you 🙏🏼
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bruh probably normal its just u r sweatin alot on it relax and its still quite normal brain be braining on max
Post 53: Can I replace First Aid Biochem with Mehlman Biochem pdf?
16/03/2025, 13:38:55
6 comments
FA biochem has a ton of information that’s very overwhelming. I’ll be watching dirty medicine videos and I’m thinking of reading mehlman pdf instead of FA. What are your thoughts on this?
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Can you? Sure. Should you? No. First Aid is the gold standard and has everything you need to know, no more, no less.
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Yes I decided to read FA for biochem, thank you
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My advice: don’t skip first aid AND USE PATHOMA especially the first 4 chapters. USE PATHOMA!!!!!!! lol I hope you get the hint. I could recall minimum 4-5 questions on step that I got straight from Pathoma. Mehlman PDF are good but are more like for the last few weeks before the exam for overall review in my opinion. They don’t really “teach” but just for quick fact reminders
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Do you mean the videos or book?
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The video and pdf guy
Post 54: GOT THE P
12/03/2025, 12:52:04
5 comments
I have waited months to post this!
FINALLY GOT THE P!
LETS GOOOO
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Congrats 🎊
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Congratzzz! When was your date?
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congrats OP!
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Congrats! Was the exam reflective of nbme concepts? What systems showed up the most on the exam for you?
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Tbh I felt like it wasn't reflective of the nbmes. But yes free 120 seemed similar to it. When I came out of the exam I thought it wasn't similar to either of them, but I revisited free120 new yesterday and realised the exam did have some questions similar to it. However, the exam was overall tough. Immuno, endo, micro, and ethics were highly tested.
Post 55: What did your bad days during dedicated look like?
13/03/2025, 13:08:56
12 comments
Guys I feel like the thought of this exam is actually making me sick. I feel like I burned myself out so bad, all I do is study. I reached 15 hours a few days ago and I think I might’ve broken my brain yall. I had to take a break and its been 3 days. But Im feeling so guilty about not studying like is it unheard of to take 3 days off during dedicated to recharge a bit?
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[deleted]
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Thank you I’ll try doing that 😩
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I would really challenge you to think of days not as "good" or "bad," but more like days where you prioritized work and ones where you prioritized rest (you can even think of them as "light" and "heavy" days if that's easier to palate too). No need to add the negative moral valence to something that is healthy and may even help you in the long run. I know I'm arguing against the honestly dangerous work ethic that we feel like we need to have as med students, but burning yourself out actually does more harm than taking a day off (or even just incorporating lighter days if taking a full day off gives you too much anxiety) here and there will. And for me, I had days where I didn't study at all. I had days where I only got an hour or two in. Still passed step 1 and did fine on step 2.
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The light days I’ve had were due to the fact that I really couldnt study anymore after a couple of hours. But I’ll start scheduling them in. I just get so scared that I wont do everything in time I freak out and try to push myself more
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TBH as someone in the thick of studying, I think taking 3 days off in a row is too many. Find a more manageable schedule to study more consistently instead of a big block of 15 hours. If you are struggling, review a concept you are super sure about. If you've been doing random blocks of 40 try to do just 10 untimed. Create flash cards or anki for concepts you missed. Watch a dirty medicine video on ethics or something less demanding. I would keep up the studying but try to find something to do that you feel is less energy for now.
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Yes I always tend to stick to a strict schedule focusing on what I need to do which can be a really demanding topic which does also explain the burn out. I’ll try doing lighter studying too Thank you
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Taking a break is a great idea! What did you do with your days off?
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Watched a movie and did some shopping for my little nephew! Got out the house to breathe some fresh air😂
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Three days is a while to take off. But makes sense given what you’ve been doing. I would say 8 hours minimum but ideally and maybe like a half day of 3/4 day if you feel burn out. I would also reccomend a full day off each week, also include breaks in between day My days would usually go 8am-12pm study (40 block and review mostly), 12-2pm workout and lunch, 2-6 pm study (same as morning), 6-7 dinner, 7-9 extra studying (Anki, sketchy, anything at all on to do list, 9-11pm relax (Netflix, read, hangout anything) My Sundays I took completely off and did practice tests on Monday. I also often took rest of the day off after practice test, once or twice I tried to review a section off so you’re really only grinding Tuesday through Saturday Gym mid day was big and Sunday off was crucial. Toward end I did some 60 questions days instead of 80 because I found it really hard to get reviewing material (but remember reviewing questions is your number one and learn the most), but once you hammer questions and are scoring 60+ and there are topic you keep getting wrong (like for me it was HIV drugs and animicrobials), hammer those topics at night and in the extra time you get from only doing 60 Qs Once I finally commuted to learning my weak points I felt so much more confident and in all honestly only took a couple hours total so do NOT ignore those areas
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I had at least 1 day/week where I did nothing. Usually was a Friday. Rest is good. Rest allows you to work more productively during the more stressful days. It's just like training for a sport: when I used to run cross-country, we'd run 5-7 miles/day for 5 days in the week. But the day before the race, we'd take a break from running and do swimming/yoga instead.
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Be more mentally tough
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Its okay to take 3 days off, i did too but later on i felt overburdened again. Consistency is key. Even on ur days off, try and still get something done.
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Was in the same spot a few weeks back. I think is better to study 5-8 hours a day everyday during dedicated… it worked for me. Some days are more productive some not, but consistency is what makes perfection. Cheer up
Post 56: Thoughts?
17/03/2025, 19:16:01
5 comments
It's a little strange how we are encouraged to drink water; however, if we choose to eat the frozen form of water, it is considered pathologic.
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That’s enough reading for you, you need a break 😂
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🤣😵💫
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The pathologic form of this typically stems from a deficiency, usually iron
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Only people with weak ass teeth say that.
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Lmao 😂
Post 57: Pathoma dilemma
15/03/2025, 11:41:15
13 comments
Does anyone feel pathology in Pathoma is far better organized and explained, not only that of heme/onc.
I've been recently going over cardiology for the first time, and in ischemic heart disease, pathoma seems to organize things better as per true and correct definition far way better than first aid and BNB which are classifying things not in an organized way... so what should I do I can either do BnB or pathoma not both because doing 2 resources is time consuming and useless.
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Pathoma. Building strong basis for pathology is more important than remembering numerous "funny" facts. You have to grasp those high-yield ideas and general principles, imprinting this logic way into your mind, and implement this way of thinking to digest the knowledge in FA.
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I’m in dedicated right now and have really liked doing pathoma with first aid to get anything pathoma missed (eg arrhythmias). I started with watching pathoma but realized it was too passive for me so I switched over to doing dukes cards without watching due to time constraints. So far, that’s helped
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Go through Pathoma and FA Ofcourse u will do the Uworld questions, that should cover almost everything
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Man personally hated pathoma....as i studied pathology from Robbins during my med school years....pathoma just feels too precise and not in a good way......did only first 3 chps as the rest i felt were better explained vis bnb and fa
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Do pathoma, especially if you have a weak foundation. I was a poor preclinical student, and after watching all the chapters, everything is clicking. Dr. Sattar will always make you think “why” instead of “what”
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I did just Pathoma and sketchy and it raised my nbme score my so much lol, got the P last week. And I had a dogshit foundation
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Do pathoma from the book only, skip the videos
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Why do u say skip the videos? Im curious
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The information on the book is just sufficient when done with FA pathology of all systems
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As a counterpoint I would say do not skip the videos. They’re quick, you can watch them in a faster speed and going through the book goes a lot faster when you hear him explain it first, so he’s so good at teaching.
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Thank you!
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>Thank you! You're welcome!
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I also agree with the videos, but another tip is to listen to them while you are driving anywhere on 2x speed. I did this during dedicated and made it through all of pathoma 2x and hit several chapters 5-6 times, and it didn’t take away any of my time from other studying materials!
Post 58: So…I failed.
13/03/2025, 04:34:15
10 comments
Just got the results back today. You can go back to my post history for the NBMEs and all that. I'm just absolutely devastated. Felt confident during the exam, felt like I failed afterwards.
Probably going to take a LOA...guess my chances at a competitive specialty are shot now too.
To all the M1s out there. Please please please take this exam seriously. And don't trust anecdotal evidence for encouragement. My experience is n=1, so are all the others that passed. Take it when you feel confident and ready.
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take a little bit of time. It’s not completely over for you. You may still have a chance at your preferred specialty. trust me, there are many folks out there who failed step one and are very successful doctors today. Hang in there!
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Really sorry to hear this…but never lose hope. These failures come to make you strong.Make a better study plan and i’m sure you will succeed! Remember nothing is impossible! You can do it! Be more focused this time. What do you think might have gone wrong?
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Thank you man. I really gave it my all and was pretty focused. I felt like I missed a lot of easy Qs and got in my head…the fact that my score report was so far off what I was scoring was even more concerning. I genuinely don’t know what I would’ve done differently. Really devastated.
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Just try to spent some time for recover yourself, but that you fail one test does not mean that is the end, you now are in better shape that when you start, I really sorry that this happen to you, if you need some help or advice DM, God bless you
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How was your free120?
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There are too many people that come on here saying my highest nbme was in the 50’s but I passed. It gives people false confidence/hope. Just skimmed your history and not sure of timing but your scores were in 40 and low 50’s? I’m sure your school told you to have 3+ nbme 65+ or two 67+. I think for retake just make sure you take unused nbme and score 67+.
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My school says 2 NBMEs 64+ which I actually think is plenty sufficient. The issue is OP had 0 above 65.
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Yeah, they generally did a shitty job of prep and didn’t give us many options in terms of delaying. Got a 61 on 31 and 63 on the free 120 so I just sent it.
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I’m sorry :( but your chances at a competitive specialty aren’t shot! People match in competitive specialties with one step 1 failure and a high step 2 score. It’s definitely possible
Post 59: NBMEs (From 20-24) will benefit me just as much as focusing only on the most recent ones?
13/03/2025, 18:40:06
13 comments
Would you say that doing NBMEs 20-31 is an efficient way to learn effectively? I've already completed UWorld, but tackling all these NBMEs feels like a long and demanding process.
Also, how would you suggest analyzing the offline NBMEs? Is there any format available with explanations, similar to UWorld? And where can i find them?
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yes do all of them, these are extremely important to do. saw many repeats on actual test
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i had on one screen an excel sheet and the other screen the actual test and i would time myself for the test
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and i would just fill in the the answer choice on excel sheet and review after
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ohh ok and how did you go over the mistakes ? Are there any explanations similar to UWorld?
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Yes. And then review the HY images from all the NBME, including 1-25
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u know where can i find them? and btw how would you recommend goin on the explanations?
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I had one q on exam straight out of nbme 24, the only old one I did☠️ retired they say
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and what about the others NBMEs, have you done them?
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I only did 25-31 besides that
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Did you do them in the offline form? And how do you suggest learning from mistakes? I guess the explanations aren’t the same as in UWorld?
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I did them online. I would suggest not only learning from mistakes but really getting into the questions. Review both corrects and incorrects very well. The reason you should do it is real deal actually tests the same things they test in nbme forms, just worded harder lol. Do not get stuck with explanations, really get into the science behind each question. You can use FA, or write your own notes, or do both. What I did was type really short notes on my phone and go over them later, reconstructing science behind them in my head. This really helped me with the final test.
Post 60: Passed 02.24 (US-IMG)
12/03/2025, 09:48:28
10 comments
Hey guys, a little over two weeks ago, I wrote a pretty pessimistic post here after a really tough exam, and honestly, the only reason I had even a little bit of hope was because of the supportive comments people left. I just found out that I passed🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I’m a 26yo OB/GYN resident in Norway (but I’m American), and being able to return home means everything to me. I studied like crazy while working full-time as a resident and balancing my PhD.
I’ll write a longer post later, but I wanted to give back to this community. Feel free to ask me anything (except what I got on my exam). I’m more than happy to help anyone in a similar situation or offer advice if you need it! It’s the least I can do♥️
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User:
Congratulations!
User:
Thank you so much🙏🏻♥️
User:
congratulations
User:
Thanks🙏🏻🙏🏻 really appreciate it🥰
User:
Congrats!
User:
Thank you, means a lot 🥰
User:
Congrats. I got P'ed on today as well! What a feeling!!! Please read my write up if you need words of encouragement of motivation!! Everyone should feel like this!!
User:
Aww, congrats on getting P’ed on too♥️♥️ so happy for you
User:
Congrats! You deserve this❤️❤️
User:
Thank you so much, means the world 🥹♥️
Post 61: Passed
19/03/2025, 16:47:06
4 comments
Found out I passed today. Not sure if anyone will find this helpful, but I figured I’d post my preparations here:
CBSE 1 (after M1 year): 42
CBSE 2 (October of M2 year: 55
NBME form 28 (mid January, 6 weeks pre-dedicated): 54
CBSE 3 (First day of dedicated, 2/12/25): 65
Free 120 (February 22): 69
NBME form 31 (February 26th, 8 days prior to test day): 74
Step 1 (3/6/25): PASS
My school makes us take the CBSEs at specific times during our first 2 years, I believe to essentially show our progress but also show us how to improve for Step. I completed UWorld and had about 42% completed prior to the beginning of dedicated. We had to take the pharm shelf and path shelf just prior to dedicated, so in the two days leading up to both of those, I made a full pass through Sketchy pharm and a full pass through Pathoma, respectively. Then, the first couple days of dedicated a made a full pass through Sketchy micro, as well as all of Dirty Medicine’s Biochem series. Even after that, biochem was still my weak spot but I more or less punted that for the exam. After that, I spent most of my time doing UWorld and looking at various weak spots in First Aid. Cramming so much UWorld into so little time wasn’t fun, but on exam day, I didn’t get as fatigued as I expected to, I think doing UWorld the way I did really helped with that. I’m not saying that finishing it from a content standpoint is entirely necessary, but doing as many questions I did in a short amount of time I think really helped my mental stamina.
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User:
Much congrats. How did u do UW that u think it helped u significantly. How many blocks a day ?
User:
I would do roughly 100 questions per day, usually 2 blocks of 40 and one of 20, but I would be taking notes on the ones I missed and wasn’t sure of, so it would typically take me about 8 hours or so to get through. Having that much time where i was sort of in testing mode I think was a factor in helping my testing stamina
User:
Thank u. 🙏🏼 Did u do the questions in tutored mode or exam setting?
User:
I personally did tutor mode, but I really never had major issues with time in any of my NBMEs so I didn’t worry too much about that. On the real thing, I was a little rushed for time, but never to where I think it affected my score. But if you have time issues on NBMEs then doing UWorld on timed mode would probably be the smarter way to go. You can do both timed and tutored at the same time though, so that can be useful too, obviously just not as similar to the real thing
Post 62: 6 months for step 1 from scratch
18/03/2025, 15:28:41
8 comments
Any advice? I'm an IMG and I know which resources are popular but don't know how to efficiently use them. Is it worth doing Anki or will it be too overwhelming (the amount of cards is scaring me...). I have UWorld but don't know if it's better to do it randomly for practice or to go system by system alongside FA.
Thank you in advance
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User:
I would suggest studying in stages. Stage 1: Boards and Beyond + First pass of FA \- Listen to Dr. Ryan's videos and get the main concept but don't get fixated on understanding and writing down everything (BIG mistake I made) being mentioned. Stage 2: UWorld questions + Second pass of FA + Anki (Anking deck) \- You do not have to do all 41,000 cards of AnKing deck. Suspend all and then only unsuspend those that are relevant as you go through UWorld and First Aid. Btw Anki is not necessary. Some people swear by it while others absolutely hate it. I love it because it helped me do a daily review Stage 3: Old and New NBMEs \- This would be in the last month or two before your exam known as dedicated time period. Use old NBMEs as practice questions and new NBMEs as mock exams to see your progress. I have completed both steps so feel free to DM if you would like 1 to 1 mentoring/ tutoring with topics like Biostatistics, Pathology and Pharmacology. All the best
User:
Hey is it okay if I ask for advice? I’ve currently fallen into the same trap you’ve mentioned about trying to understand/write down all of BnB, and I would like to not write everything but my memory is awful and as someone with 0 baseline I’m really not sure how to gauge what is important/high yield to write down or not. I was hoping you could give me some advice from your past experience.
User:
I remember those days 😭. I wrote down everything I *felt* was important from B&B and about 60% of UWorld—until my intern year, when I was placed in a hospital. There, I had access to a small library with a computer but not enough space to bring my *First Aid* (plus my five pens and three highlighters - not exaggerating). So, during downtime, I solved UWorld questions and typed key points into a Word document. Typing was much faster than handwriting, but in hindsight, even that wasn’t very helpful. What truly matters for the exam will be tested repeatedly in your NBMEs. What really improved my score was solving both old and new NBMEs and making Anki cards for key points and mistakes. **P.S.** Move on to NBMEs after finishing UWorld. UWorld builds your knowledge base, while NBMEs prepare you for the actual exam.
User:
You will start with pathoma. Read the chapter then watch the video. You will choose a question bank (amboss or Uworld) and you will do 40 questions per day. Find a time soon to do an nbme/practice USMLE to find out your strengths and weaknesses. Start like this.
User:
You do not have to do all 41,000 cards of AnKing deck. Suspend all and then only unsuspend those that are relevant as you go through World and First Aid. Btw Anki is not necessary. Some people swear by it while others absolutely hate it. I love it because it helped me do a daily review
User:
Avoid anki. Depend on ur basics like try to solve 1 uworld block and see if ur basics are week then go bnb or boot camp videos but if u think u don’t need videos then just do uworld and fa (mehlman pdf like arrows and risk factor)
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Agreee Anki is overrated
Post 63: Failed
15/03/2025, 20:19:01
19 comments
Failed step 1 decided to retake it my problem is I've done all the NBME so how can I assess my readiness for the second time
Should I retake the assessments and if so I may inflate my score by remembering answers
TIA
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User:
Free120 and uworld forms
User:
Im so sorry. What were your nbmes?
User:
From 69% to 65%
User:
I’m so sorry to hear that. Did you do uworld, if not, try that? What were you scoring on your nbmes?
User:
I've done about 70% of UW my Nbme scores were from 69% to 65%
User:
I dont really know if retaking nbmes does truely inflate your score, i mean if you could get better scores then you have learnt something But to make you comfortable, I would subtract 5% of your results
User:
Thanks a lot
User:
You're welcome
User:
Uworld assessment, bootcamp assessment
User:
Sounds good but I've heard uwsa are not reflecting the real exam how is that??
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Uwsa
User:
How much should I aim for??
User:
I was in the same situation (failed in august, passed in feb) and personally I made my own assessments with the UWorld qbank (after resetting it and just doing random 40 blocks) and aimed for 60/65 before test day. I also retook the UWSA since I did them early in my first dedicated study but I found I performed better on the free 120 than the UWorld blocks so I only took it once shortly before test day. If you want a good review I really recommend listening to the Goljan path review lectures on youtube or Spotify since it really helped reshape my thinking when I was doing questions
User:
Is 60/65 on uworld blocks really good ?im getting that and I always get upset seeing the score ,I thought 70 above is good
User:
Personally me and my advisor w/ my school felt comfortable abt the range I was in but I do know 70+ is amazing but you can be successful in the 60s
User:
Okay Thankyou
User:
Thank you so much for the advice ☺️
User:
good luck!! don't let this one setback define you!!
Post 64: Step 1
14/03/2025, 12:24:10
18 comments
My exam is scheduled on 17th march
My NBME score is 66-72%
I am so scared, I have a some topics revise but still I gave free 120 and I scored 56%. When I checked my answers I realised that the mistakes I made were out of anxiety and stress because I know the concept. I’m still not confident enough to take the test on Monday. I’m planning on postponing my test to 25th March, so that I’ll get enough time to revise and I still have to give nbme 31 so that I can finish that too.Do you think it’s a good idea? I can’t find any other way. I can’t postpone it any further, I’m already burned out.
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Postpone it With extra time U might not gain any much significant knowledge But the help it will do to ur mental health and ur confidence Will be loads Sitting myself on 27th We got this brother !! And since the free 120 was more anxiety damaged Understand that u are ready U are Trust me But don’t give it on Monday ull be very anxious imo Take ur extra week and just mug ur errors and calm ur tits Ur there my guy And knowing that u are better and that uk the shit is the only upside of NBME It makes u feel ready And u urself wrote “it got ruined by anxiety” So even uk ur ready Dw U got this
User:
Mine is on the 29th. How is your prep???
User:
Going steady as of now PDFs FA reads and flashcards kind of stuff Wbu?
User:
Going steady as of now PDFs FA reads and flashcards kind of stuff
User:
Postpone it. I got 75 on free 120 and got demolished on the real deal. 57 is not a passing score. You have ok nbmes, with two more weeks of content review you'll be golden
User:
Exactly ,felt the same with 75 on free 120
User:
How did you do. How much did you mark per block.
User:
Honestly I can’t contemplate this. Also I felt my 1st 2 block were comparatively tough then the rest it was kinda demotivating to begin with such block , but I pushed through and i marked only the question which I felt if I come back I will definitely do it rather than marking many and will not even have time to review them . I was barely left with 3-4 mins .
User:
Now that you've seen what you've seen...how much of a buffer do you think is needed, especially for IMGs. If things go left, that's basically gates closed for IMGs. Should we aim for 75-80%+ on nbmes?
User:
I got 80 on an nbme and I feel like I'm failing the real deal, I think realistically you should have 10 points to buffer. The difficulty of forms may differ, so if you get any easy form you may require, say, 65 percent to pass. So 75 would be a good point to aim for, exactly like you said. Gone are the days when 65 on nbmes was enough. Sure, some people will score as much and end up passing, but taking the test at that level leaves a chance for failure.
User:
Yeah, I wouldn't dare taking the exam with 60s. People on here are saying that the questions seem to go a level deeper than FA. How was your experience? Do you think FA is a safe enough bet?
User:
Read all the tables, like the cancer genes, interleukins, parasites. It's ok, I was able to answer around 45 percent of the exam with absolute certainty. It's the remaining questions that are tough. You'll see some wtf type questions,- I was straight up asked a couple speciality-specific resident level questions.
User:
Thanks for the heads-up! I am sure you'll get the P!! Good luck
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Thanks man
User:
Is anyone else tired of IMG’s giving this ridiculous advice to people? I’m sure for some people suggesting 70+ on assessment make sense especially if your studying ~1 year solely for this exam. Reality is however, USMD students only get 6-8 weeks of dedicated study time
User:
I didn't advise him, i simply told him that his score isn't enough to pass, and shared my personal experience. Show me where in my comment i advocated 70+ on assessments.
User:
Postpone !
User:
Your nbmes are good Dont postpone Do the 31 nbme and anything above 68-70 give it you’ll do great. Anything below that postpone it
Post 65: For the people who passed recently, how much do you think FA cover the content of the exam? Is it still the BIBLE?
13/03/2025, 15:58:02
35 comments
.
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I did it two weeks ago I just got the pass yesterday believe me when I tell you IT IS..you have to read it very very very good tho nearly everything I got tested on is on first aid...the thing is the answers are very tricky the questions itself was clear and on topics you know very well but I didn't feel 100 percent sure on choosing the answers I was like 70 80 percent sure and sometimes 50 50 and rarely had no clue at all 😂 of course there's alot of questions that are very easy with very easy straightforward answers...overall it is very DOABLE and fair just trust yourself trust your guts trust your preparation...good luck
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Thank you so much, congratulations on your pass. Wish u a high score in Step 2 ck also. How was your NBMEs? I use FA as my first resource (of course I study NBME content and do Sketchy for micro and some pdfs) so I want to check if it is still the most reliable source.
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Thank you hope the best for you too..my scores were from 72% to 78% across nbmes 25-31 I did 82 on the old free 120 and 80 on the new..sketchy micro is GOLDEN micro questions were like a break during the block.. I also used mehlman for msk neuroanatomy arrows risk factors...I was actually very comfortable during the exam but after it in the past two weeks I was soooo anxious about the questions I wasn't 100% sure like I told you and they're alot like 15ish per block so I panicked but I listend to people that told me I should trust my self and preparation and just hope for the best.. mainly I feel first aid was my number one source . Of course you will find other people who passed with different approaches but this was my experience.
User:
Relied on FA, tested yesterday and felt absolutely screwed over, tons of little details that weren’t in the book
User:
What do you mean of little details? Like a specific mutation? Pathogenesis? I would be thankful if you can provide an example. Wish u all the best
User:
yeah seemed like it was all one step further than step 1 took it, not just the specific mutation but what part of the pathway does the mutation affect. Was asked a biostats question related to a formula that isn’t listed in first aid which was frustrating.
User:
Trueee
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What % of your exam do you think is covered in FA?
User:
I would say it is hard to determine whether a question is covered by FA. It could be somehow ambiguous. For instance, FA may cover the term and some basic concept for the disease and its pathophysiology. However, the actual test is going to dig deeper compared to those mentioned in FA. The nuance and detail between options is what make lots of people here say there seems to be two correct options for many questions.
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Same for Me! I feel that I failed
User:
Tell the rest of story too bro. The easy qs u encountered and marked them quickly. Maybe u r not recalling them now but will later and will eventually pass.
User:
so fair, I think the issue was that it made me so stressed that I missed a lot of really low hanging fruit. getting a tough form like that and knowing you have big content gaps really puts you in a bad headspace to confidently answer the questions. still hoping for a p at the end of the day just wanted to share my experience!
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In my opinion, AMBOSS articles has the extra details that First Aid lacks. I think it’s worth it to subscribe to the articles, especially bc you can also use them in clinicals for clinical guidelines/recommendations and treatment protocols. One of my most used resources when I prepped for step. Still waiting on my result tho, so we will see if it did the trick haha
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Wish u the best
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I am using them too, It gives a bigger picture on how the pathophysiology, diagnostics fall in. You should give an update after you get your P!!
User:
Exactly!!! And of course will do! Watch for my signal 🦇😂
User:
Yep✨✨✨
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I dont think so Did the exam today I think it covers all the topics but you still need to dig deeper Exam is very detailed Train on doing long confusing vignettes
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Was it heavy in specific topics or evenly distributed?
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Evenly distributed
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[deleted]
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can you please tell how did you get that big of a jump. my score just wouldnt budge 65% and i have my exam in less than 10 days
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[deleted]
User:
but like what were your days like 1 week before the exam? I'm giving nbme 31 in 2 days and new free 120 in the coming week. How were you reviewing content? and how did you divide your days/ like if I'm reviewing nbme 30 these days, my entire day just goes in doing that and even tho that's also making you review content, I'm unable to get the time to go through everything in order and not random and scattered.
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[deleted]
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Yess please. Would really like some help 🥺😔
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Got my pass yesterday. I never revised FA. So you can get by without it. 🤷🏼
User:
Congrats 🎉… What do you used for studying? Im tired of the FA
User:
No, it's not, nor was that the intent. I rarely read intros and prefaces. For this, I did. I read the "how to use this book". FA is an outline/syllabus of HY topics. It is not comprehensive, it is not trying to be, and it can't be. I never used it that way. When I did a system from wherever, I went back to see if it had topics I missed and I liked some of the graphics and mnemonics. It is a huge mistake to think this book (even if you memorized it) could get you the P. If a lucky few did, they probably learned more from other sources than they consciously realize and FA was more of a review for them, or they were very, very lucky. And I do mean very lucky.
User:
Hi, med student from Germany here. Choose the resource that suits you and your learning style best. At first, I wanted to study with the FA, but I quickly realized that the book was too confusing for me. In the end, I used some mnemonics or memory aids from the book that I found helpful. Other than that, I studied mainly with the Mehlmann scripts. For pharmacology and microbiology, I used Sketchy along with Anki. I didn’t use UWorld but instead relied only on the NBMEs. Yesterday, I got my results: I passed! Good luck with your studying and your test!
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hii can i know your nbme scores?
User:
I never calculated my NEMBE scores because I never went through all the questions in one go. That's why I don't know them, unfortunately. While studying, I felt that it was more important for me to memorize the facts rather than answer questions. The most important realization I had when answering questions was that they often mention, for example, only 2 out of 3 symptoms—like in the case of the Cushing reflex, where they might only list high blood pressure and an abnormal breathing pattern. You still have to diagnose Cushing because it's the most likely answer. I hope I could help you a bit. If you have any further questions, feel free to write me!
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thank you so much!
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It's NOT. Just read once. And at the end review once more. Mehlman, NBME, Free120 and UWORLD >>>
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yes.
Post 66: Didn't Pass Step 1? Here's My Experience and What Helped Me Pass the Second Time
13/03/2025, 10:50:08
2 comments
Hey everyone,
I know a lot of Step 1 scores just came out, and if you're here celebrating, congrats! But if you're feeling the weight of not passing, I want to take a moment to talk to *you*—because I’ve been there.
When I found out I didn’t pass Step 1, I was devastated. I had to stop my clerkships, tell my classmates, and face the uncertainty of what this meant for my future. The shame, anxiety, and fear hit hard. I remember endlessly Googling things like “chances of passing Step 1 on the second try” and “will I match if I fail Step 1?” I was worried not just about this one test, but what it meant for my entire career.
What changed for me? I realized that content alone wasn’t the issue—I had severe *test anxiety*. I had put in the effort, but when it came time to take the exam, my brain just wouldn’t cooperate. So, I did something different:
* I started working with a therapist specifically for test anxiety. I treated those sessions as *just as important* as my study blocks.
* We used **cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)** techniques to tackle my self-doubt and help me regain confidence.
* I built a structured plan that addressed both my content gaps *and* my mental game.
The second time I took Step 1, I passed. And now, years later as a psychiatrist, I help other students do the same. If you're feeling stuck, I want you to know—you *can* pass. It’s not just about studying harder; it’s about studying *smarter* and tackling the mental barriers holding you back.
I’m in the process of **building a community** to support students struggling with test anxiety, where I’ll be posting helpful and encouraging content. If this resonates with you, come join us over at **r/TestAnxiety**. I’d love to hear your experiences and create a space where we can support each other.
You’re not alone in this. If you have questions or need support, drop a comment below or join us in the sub. You’ve got this!
Comments:
User:
Congratulations!!
User:
Thank you!
Post 67: Passed with Mid NBMEs and Low Mental
12/03/2025, 17:16:09
2 comments
I was refreshing my inbox and got the mail. Apparently I passed step 1 in 4 months. If I could do it, you sure can. I will be honest and not sugarcoat anything, exam is difficult and I would say be sure you understand the concepts, patophysiology, MoA of drugs. I don't know about the safe zone but I didn't feel comfortable sitting before 75.
NBMEs 24-25-26-27 between 68-72, rest is 72-78. I solved most in the last month.
What I did?
I literally did not have any background knowledge when I made my mind. I studied for 4 months, 1 month is dedicated. I averaged around 7 hours in the last month.
I watched BB 2x speed since I had no background. Then read it once.
UW 2500 Q, untimed tutor with subject specific. I studied the subject and solved the questions. Around 60-65% correct. I reviewed marked and wrong.
Mehlman, I loved the PDFs and gone through most as fast as I could. Then I saw the reddit posts and hate, I questioned myself if I spent 20 days in vain and only inflated my NBME scores. I questioned my scores and postponed 20 days because of the self doubt. I think it was the right thing to do. I don't know about what happened with him but everybody agrees Arrows and a few other PDFs are helpful. I got 5-6 Q from arrows.
High yield NBME images, there was a hydronephrosis question, same image in 5 different nbmes, got the same question in the exam :D
After self doubt about Mehlman PDF inflating the NBME scores, I have gone through FA before the exam. Fingers crossed, took Step 1 and passed it!
Trauma Dumping: I think I deserved this. Just skip if not interested in magazine. If I could start from scratch and build knowledge up to 78 in NBMEs, you sure can. It is all about the strategies, all about studying the weakest subjects. After losing a small fortune, having to look after my family because of my both parents having serious problems, gf of 4 years pulled a magic trick. The ring I bought for proposal payed off my Step 1 :D
Post 68: Passed
12/03/2025, 13:30:13
19 comments
I got the P this morning! I promised myself I’d write about my experience because I spent a lot of time reading others’ stories for motivation. This exam is 100% doable—not easy, but with proper preparation (study hard, trust God, and believe in yourself and your training), it is absolutely possible to pass.
My NBME scores during my dedicated period:
NBME 28 – 65 (Oct 15)
NBME 27 – 70 (Nov 1)
NBME 29 – 72 (Nov 15)
NBME 26 – 70 (Nov 25)
NBME 30 – 67 (Dec 1)
NBME 31 – 69 (Dec 10)
During this period, I was also in school and doing rounds, which left me feeling exhausted by the end of the semester. My original plan was to take the exam in December before a family trip for Christmas, knowing I wouldn’t be able to study much during that time. However, I ended up taking a break because I felt like I needed it. In January, I jumped back into studying, and it took me about three weeks to feel at my peak again.
Self-assessments after my break:
Bootcamp: “High probability of passing” – 63 (Jan 27)
UWSA 1 – 65
UWSA 2 – 70 (At this point, I knew I was ready.
Free 120 – 73 (one week before the exam, taken at Prometric under test conditions)
Taking the Free 120 in a real testing environment was one of the best decisions I made. I highly recommend it—it helps break the mental barrier.
Post 69: Am I Ready? - Testing in 1 Week
17/03/2025, 20:15:08
1 comment
Hey everyone.
I am a US MD just looking for some final advice if I am ready to take my exam as scheduled a week from today (March 24).
Scores:
NBME 29 - 3 weeks ago (60%)
NBME 30 - 2 weeks ago (65%)
NBME 31 - 1 week ago (66%)
Finished 65% of UWorld with a 56% avg.
Scheduled to take the Free120 at prometric this Friday and am hoping for a 70% or above as a final sign to take the exam.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Post 70: Direct inguinal hernia
13/03/2025, 19:33:19
6 comments
There are two types of direct inguinal hernia(lateral and medial) and I am confused about the covering of these two. My doubt is
1)why internal spermatic fascia is not considered to be the part of the convering?
2) why skin is considered to the part of covering in medial direct inguinal hernia but not internal spermatic fascia and cremasteric fascia?(I know this sounds stupid but I can't seem to understand this)
Post 71: Passedddd
12/03/2025, 09:04:51
11 comments
Alhamdulellah I passed .
Post 72: Usmle step 1 should i go for recheck
19/03/2025, 06:45:27
7 comments
I was too close ..Do anyone think rechecking will change my score. Plz hlep if anyone has been successful after rechekcing.
https://preview.redd.it/aelydn88bmpe1.png?width=1042&format=png&auto=webp&s=5527b5a2e5f73abe1e75724c8f25accbef8e0800
Post 73: Passed - Breakdown 2/25 - USMD
12/03/2025, 13:43:35
2 comments
Finally over! If you fit in my score range, you are fine! Took 2/25
**TLDR**: UWORLD, ANKI: Pepper/High-Yield, Pathoma, Practice, Review, Practice, relax.
USMLE 27 - 55; USMLE 28 - 57; USMLE 29 - 58; USMLE 30 - 68; USMLE 31 - 70; Free 120 - 72
USMD school. Dedicated was 12/15/24 --> 3/8. **UWorld** / **NBME** exams helped the most (practice Q's, constant missing of questions to learn/retain information). Reviewing questions is goated. "Why did I miss this question?" --> Make ANKI card. Look through other answers to make sure you know why they are wrong. Reviewing is huge!
I was off and on with **ANKI** until I felt forced (by myself) to use it --> Pepper Pharm/Micro + FA High Yield. I didn't really do the ANKI of my missed questions (it built up way too fast), but making the cards helped it stick a little better.
**FirstAid** wasn't that helpful for me except for Biochem, but to everyone their own. I used the **Rapid Review ANKI deck**, though.
**Sketchy Pharm** saved my life with Pharm. Download the **Pepper deck** for that and **Sketchy Micro** and it cuts out literally thousands of cards.
**Pathoma** is goated. Especially Chapters 1-4 (all the little stuff we all have to learn 600x to memorize).
**DirtyMedicine (Youtube)** and **ChatGPT** helped with topics that were harder to understand for me.
Couple days before exam I reviewed **Free 120** and did **Mehlman PDF Arrows** / others that I wanted to see. Arrows is goated and can help you understand systems much better, especially if you do them with a (smarter) med school classmate that can quiz you more in depth if needed.
Test day bring Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen. I've heard of several students with migraines (it's a freaking long test let's be real). Test feels weird compared to UWorld and Free 120. Just trust that if you have done all the work that you got it. I felt much better than super smart classmates (in their defense their tests seemed way harder than mine according to the questions they were telling me about).
If I were to go back and do it again, I would say **start UWorld ASAP** in your dedicated study period and crank it out (I only did \~65%). **ANKI Pepper decks and FA Rapid Review. Pathoma 1-4.** Then supplement your learning as needed (ChatGPT, Mehlman PDF's, DirtyMed Youtube, etc.). I felt stretched a little thin with all the resources I had (also had bootcamp, AMBOSS, etc.). So sticking to just a couple (UWorld, NBME exams, ANKI decks) can really help cut time and help you get to focusing on what you need.
Be honest with yourself. It is hard to see questions after you missed them and say: "Oh I knew that" and brush them off. Theres a reason you missed it, so figure it out! I lied to myself for quite a while and it killed my confidence.
Hope this helps!
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User:
Where to find Anki decks?
User:
AnkiHub is the easiest spot, but usually is subscription based (I think they are around $60 for the whole year). Other forums have the pepper decks as well if you search for it.
Post 74: Took real deal today
19/03/2025, 11:50:29
7 comments
NBMEs were 63, 68, 70 in NBME31 and 73 in free120. I feel like I knew things but was filled with regrets at the topics I hadn't revised from FA because no time.
Is it a common feeling to feel like you failed. Please help
Post 75: Results
19/03/2025, 08:23:34
46 comments
Did the results come out?
Post 76: Test on friday, haven't finished all content review, what should I do?
17/03/2025, 12:00:04
2 comments
NBME 29: 67%
NBME 30: 63%
NBME 31: 73% (taken last saturday)
Free120: taking tomorrow; edit: 73%
I still need to review Neuro, GI, a little rheum, and Bugs/drugs.
should I still be doing anki? first aid rapid review? practice questions?
Post 77: Pathoma or bnb
17/03/2025, 08:18:08
8 comments
Hey guys I am encountering a confusion. So I have been doing CVS pathology from pathoma, so today when I finished cvs pathology from pathoma and opened first aid for cvs pathology section for revision, I found alot of new topics which weren't discussed in pathoma. What kind of strategy should I use for this gap?
Post 78: Failed ! Non-US IMG
12/03/2025, 19:46:20
6 comments
Got my results today and i failed. Feeling completely devastated.
Need guidance please as i dont know what to do now. I always wanted to match into general surgery but after an attempt i believe my chance is down to 0%.
Should i retake step 1 and continue the journey or should i search for an alternative route possibly the UK ?
Moreover what are my chances of matching into prelim general surgery with an attempt if i try to get a high step 2 score + 2 years of research ?
Should i forget general surgery and opt for IM instead keeping in my mind i would also presume taking a 2 year research fellowship ?
Post 79: Failed step 1..
12/03/2025, 11:19:23
20 comments
US IMG Failed step 1, do i still have a chance at this years match cycle?
Post 80: FIRST AID FOR USMLE STEP 1
18/03/2025, 08:05:24
15 comments
Is there anyone who has expanded *First Aid for USMLE Step 1* in a way that allows studying from it completely from scratch?
There isn’t a single book that organizes USMLE study material from zero, and *First Aid* is very well-structured.
If someone has done this, I’d appreciate a link—especially for the physiology and pathology sections.
Post 81: Test this Friday, how to get out of plateau
17/03/2025, 00:54:29
3 comments
NBME 25 (2/26) - 61%
CBSE (2/28) - 69%
NBME 30 (3/8) - 70%
NBME 31 (3/12) - 72%
Free 120 (3/15) - 72%
I’ve been doing 80 UWorld Qs a day with thorough review, continuing Anking, and watching some content review. I thoroughly review my NBMEs and it’s always random stuff I get wrong.
What am I doing wrong? Why am I stuck around 70%? Any way to make progress in my last few days? Should I postpone?
Post 82: Chances of passing in a week?
16/03/2025, 22:41:55
3 comments
I've been studying for this exam for several months. I am planning to take it in 7 days.
What do you think are the chances of passing the exam? I can delay if I have to.
My exam scores are:
NBME 26 (01/05/2025): 59
NBME 27 (01/23/2025): 61
NBME 28 (02/01/2025): 62
NBME 29 (02/15/2025): 66
NBME 30 (03/02/2025): 69
NBME 31(03/08/2025): 65
UWSA1 (03/16/2025): 63% raw (EPC 65, 3-digit 228) -- I read online that UWSA1 might over predict exam performance
Post 83: I failed one class of the first year of med school and got my graduation 6 months delayed. Do I have any chances?
16/03/2025, 00:27:33
5 comments
Hello everyone! In my first year of med school I failed a pre-clinical class because my dad died (he was a great surgeon and my inspiration to study medicine) and because of it my graduation got 6 months delayed (I should’ve graduated in November, but I’ll graduate in May). I would like to know if this is seen as red flag and will lower my chances to get matched or if I explain it in my PS they will be fine with it. (I’m a non US IMG hoping to get a match in IM) Thanks!
Post 84: What was your pre-dedicated CBSE score?
14/03/2025, 17:52:56
9 comments
Just trying to gauge where I’m at and I don’t see a lot of posts that specifically talk about pre-dedicated scores.
Our school gives us 6 weeks dedicated and we have 2 more months of pre-clinical.
We have the option to take early or even extend dedicated if needed. So wanted to estimate my needed study time based on other peoples pre-dedicated CBSE scores.
(I scored a 55)
Post 85: please.. anyone.. anything.. i need help
14/03/2025, 16:48:59
3 comments
scheduled for 3/21. just took free120 and got a non passing score in the 50s.
im devastated. I had gotten a 66 on nbme 26 and a 65 on nbme 31 the week before so i thought i was ready. but this free120 just crushed me. i know i cant go in there with this uncertainty. I think im going to move my exam back 2 weeks. I've been going at this exam for the past couple months and this is my 5th week of dedicated. I've tried mehlman docs, have been doing better on uworld too. i feel like i always crash at the most important exams.. it's like im always missing that one thing when im answering questions. i dont even know if that makes any sense.
I decided not to review the free120 bc i figured i'd like to take it again closer to my new date.
what more should i do? the only nbme i have left is 25. please any advice would be helpful.
Post 86: 50% on NMBE 29 and Exam 3 weeks away
14/03/2025, 15:17:45
1 comment
I scored a 47 on my CBSE and barely went up in points. I have only done 3 days of dedicated so far since taking the exam today. I was planning to do a research presentation so I decided to take STEP in 3 weeks. I am feeling worried and if I will most likely have to push it back.
Post 87: Taking Step 1 in 2 Days
14/03/2025, 00:02:04
12 comments
Can someone tell me if I'm likely to pass step1 based on these practice exam scores (in order of when I did them). I just took NBME 30 today and got a 65.5% but I was really hoping for at least 2 practice exams with a score of 70%+... Lots of mixed info on the internet so if anyone has advice please help.
https://preview.redd.it/oys1205cmkoe1.png?width=2284&format=png&auto=webp&s=111e3c99d91c83fec366443059660c0780c36c21
Post 88: How to use mehlman and when?!
18/03/2025, 22:22:23
3 comments
Can someone please explain how to use his resources and when someone should start looking at them? Like how far before their test
Post 89: Need advice on how to proceed with prep. Exam in 3 months (hopefully)
18/03/2025, 03:28:34
8 comments
Hello. I’ve been preparing for step 1 from a very long time. I’ve been delaying giving the exam, procrastinating a lot. Also been a little busy with internship and other things
I’m almost done with my first reading of FA, along with a big chunk of uWorld of whatever systems I’ve covered so far. My uWorld percentage isn’t great though - 47%
I’ve been using either Pathoma/BnB/Bootcamp videos
I have immunology, biochemistry and microbiology left, and I understand that these are very big. How long would I take to finish them?
I’ve set a deadline for myself as June to give exam. What would you guys advice me to do once I’ve finished my first reading of FA along with maybe about 70% of uWorld (I did it all system wise)
How many days/weeks in total does it take to give NBME’s? I want to give 24-31 along with Free120. I’m assuming that should be enough. Would a month be enough time to give all of the practice tests? And how many days after my last NBME should I ideally give my exam?
Would really appreciate if anybody could help me out! Thank you!
Post 90: step 1
17/03/2025, 22:18:23
9 comments
I wrote 03/06 and have a feeling I will be getting my results on Wednesday - very nervous reading these posts. Our school makes us take proctored NBMEs until we got higher than a 64%. In Sept 61%, Dec 61% and Jan 68%. I took NBME 25-31 many many times and completed UWorld but I am very,very nervous. Keep thinking about questions I could have got wrong!
Post 91: NBME 31
16/03/2025, 18:42:14
5 comments
Does everyone’s score inflate on this form? I can’t tell if I genuinely did well or if there was repeating concepts. I got a 76 and previously I was around mid-high 60s.
Post 92: I dont know what to do
15/03/2025, 18:09:19
29 comments
I feel lost… just postponed my exam… u world subscription ended, have no hay to renew it and tbh it did not do that much for me… still have bootcamp subscription. My las NBME (28) was 53%. I studied like crazy for 2 weeks and i feel i still dont know anything… im afraid to take 29 and waste it. I already have covered most of the content (biostats missing)… pls help. I need a game plan, i want to take the exam in a month but honestly i really feel lost. I would appreciate any help at this point 🥺
Post 93: Read the First Aid 2025 together, now posting videos on my Youtube Channel!
15/03/2025, 17:10:59
2 comments
Hey guys,
I decided to read First Aid 2025 and end each topic with USMLE-Style questions because I understand how easy that will be if someone is looking to do a second pass of reading First Aid or even just starting to read it. I just uploaded my first video on Youtube! Here is a link to the first video I made and I welcome any suggestions!
Here is a link:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwAhNMZ9cEY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwAhNMZ9cEY)
Post 94: How bad is a fail mark for step 1
15/03/2025, 04:48:39
7 comments
What happens if you fail? Is it end game.for usmd dreams?
Post 95: Dirty medicine
15/03/2025, 04:31:39
2 comments
Is dirty medicine biochemistry enough for pass step 1 (biochemistry questions?) .. im trying bootcamp but us draining me.. my attention span with all the details is draining me and can’t focus enough.. and I read FA already..
Also Im in my 53% CBSE
Trying to get 65% in 2 months!! Is double or is unrealistic?
Post 96: passed step 1!
12/03/2025, 20:22:01
5 comments
found out I passed today :)
run of the mill US MD student
7 weeks of dedicated, during 3rd year after both pre-clinical and clinical phases
Completed 70% of UWorld, 63% Correct, did not do incorrect's or restart UWorld
didn't do anki until the last week of dedicated - did First Aid Rapid Review deck which was the only time I touched First Aid in order to reference (beware ankihub deck is outdated)
watched all of pathoma and sketchy micro and pharm (wish I had done anki on it)
Form 30,29,31 - 65,71,71
UWSA1 - 61%, UWSA2 - 69%
Old Free 120 - 75, New Free 120 - 75 done on the Thursday and Friday before my Saturday exam
feel free to ask me any questions happy to help, I think your mental state really matters. I walked in very confident and tried to maintain that feeling as I tired out and marked q's throughout the exam, recommend caffeine halfway it helped me jolt up and finish the final three sections
Post 97: Trump travel ban on Pakistan?
12/03/2025, 13:48:22
2 comments
hello everyone! I just got my report card this morning and I passed my step 1! so grateful!
but it is shadowed by heavy uncertainty whether or not this journey is even worth pursuing anymore, considering how difficult this journey is, I'm now hearing a lot of programs in the US have stopped taking J1 visa immigrants, it's super hard to get matched and now on top of all this, a very probable travel ban?
i was planning on going for observerships etc but it's all suddenly really bleak and I don't know whether it should be pursued anymore now?
help!
Post 98: Mehlman decks for pharm micro biochem
18/03/2025, 13:57:39
9 comments
Hi!! I would really appreciate if someone can share these decks with me. It is so HY for step and my biggest weaknesses (yay me). Insanely crunched for time
Post 99: Sketchy MICRO & PHARM
17/03/2025, 18:21:45
9 comments
I do sketchy by taking a screenshot of the image, filling it out with the video, and then doing ANKI. But, it takes a long time since I pause and rewind at times.
Do you think just watching the videos without annotation and doing ANKI after is fine? How do you all do it?
Post 100: i think i need to push my exam back :(
16/03/2025, 14:52:19
8 comments
hi guys,
i'm taking my exam april 7th but I just feel so stupid :( I've always barely passed my in class exams and i've already studied for 5 weeks
cbse - 33% (1/31)
25 - 55% (3/9)
26 - 56% (3/16)
uworld 61% done, 50% correct
other: finished pathoma, sketchy micro (need to finish viruses), didn't do sketchy pharm yet, planning to do dirty med biochem
i can't focus when I have to read stuff, so first aid and mehlman are really ineffective for me since I have no idea what i'm reading
my other option is to push my exam to the end of 3rd year but that would mean taking step 1 and 2 back to back. if anyone has some advice on what to do, that would be great!!
edit: well i pushed it back 2 weeks, hopefully things will be better
Post 101: Should I postpone?
16/03/2025, 11:38:10
4 comments
I currently will take the exam on march 26th. My scores for the NBME are:
02/24 - Form 27 - 59%
03/05 - Form 29 - 67%
03/12 - Form 30 - 62%
03/15 - Form 28 - 64%
Uworld 89% done with 58% correct
Post 102: Do i postpone?
16/03/2025, 00:46:23
10 comments
Exam date is April 5th.
UWorld 60% done. 60% correct average.
Done 3 nbmes already (in order):
Nbme 27: 58% (a month ago)
Nbme 29: 70%
Nbme 28: 68%
Do i postpone my exam?
Any suggestions?
Post 103: I’m shaking exam in 10 days
15/03/2025, 19:28:25
17 comments
My nbmes
27=68%
28=63% ( i was tired during it)
29 = 71%
30= 65%💔 it was today
I was really confident after 29 but now Iam really shaking
Iam planning to take 31 on Wednesday
And free120 on Saturday
Any thoughts?
Post 104: Advice for gameplan
14/03/2025, 08:18:44
4 comments
Step exam booked for beginning of June, 15% uworld used currently, I am honestly not doing 40 a day even though that's minimum I know, but I've been pushing myself for the past few days to continue to do 40 everyday. Any idea how to make review a little faster, I was doing bootcamp a lot and plan to continue doing that because I've found it super helpful but videos do take a little more time and my attention span away which I think hinders my ability to do 40 a day so I'm thinking of maybe just doing 40 a day in the beginning of my study day. Can you please tell me what else I should do from now until the exam and how to divide the work and when to start what, like nbmes, pathoma, free 120s, etc.
Post 105: How are you building up your study tolerance during dedicated?
13/03/2025, 15:35:42
4 comments
How are you building up how long you can study per day and actually retain it and be productive during dedicated? I'm having such a hard time being consistent. Its like one day I can do a full productive day no problem then after a few days I can only do like 3 hours. And I need to do this for like 6 more weeks!! I feel like I'm taking breaks but at the moment too many!! Tell me what your day looks like
Post 106: PASSED within 3 months
12/03/2025, 12:29:18
6 comments
Non-visa requiring IMG here. Tested on 2/28.
You can ask anything below.
My Exam Experience :
My form had pretty long stems (nearly all of them) and a lot of ethics (at least 10 per block). Was heavily tested on Microbiology, Reproduction, Ethics, and a fair share of all others.
The first block ripped me apart. I felt cooked fr. I couldn’t manage time, I had to mark 8 completely unseen because I ran out of time. It made me reconsider my life choices😂. The next block went good (my only goal was to complete that block in time) and the last 5 blocks felt like I knew everything although they did have long vignettes and I hardly finished on the last second of every block (couldn’t find time to review any flagged, I flagged pretty low 4-5 in last 5 blocks and nearly 10-12 in the first block). Left the exam center in a state of mania , believing I had passed. However 3 days later, the experience with my first block started haunting me. The anxiety kicked in but thank God it didn’t last long and I felt pretty relaxed until the result showed up, which is today. Alhumdulillah, I had passed.
Resources:
First Aid (gold)
UWorld (completed 32% with 80% corrects)
BnB slides
Bootcamp for HY systems (like CVS)
Sketchy Micro
Pixorize
NBMEs:
I already knew the exam was nothing like the NBMEs. Never gave much attention to them. Gave 2 NBMEs (heavily sleep deprived) at 40% and 60% prep respectively, had 70% in both so decided to take the exam. Did not attempt Free-120. (ran out of time)
Prep Duration:
A total of 60 to 75 days with big breaks in between (they drastically affected my prep, breaks are not recommended at all, as for me, I was drained by certain issues in life)
Post 107: Considering being a no show for step 1 ,
19/03/2025, 14:20:43
13 comments
can't reschedule, exam in 7 days
free 120 54 percent
Nbme 31 - 54 percent
Nbme 30 47 percent
Does anyone know if there will be any consequences to this? I know I'll lose the fee
Post 108: Passed Step 1
19/03/2025, 14:16:00
9 comments
My scores
Nbme
25-58%, 26-62%, 27-70%, 28-80%, 29-76%, 30- 76%
31- 78%
Old Free 120-81%
Uwsa 1- 232
Uwsa 2 -226
New free 120 - 72%
Ask me anything
Post 109: Help interpreting where I am at
18/03/2025, 16:05:50
3 comments
Haven't found definitive information on this (and school hasn't been helpful) so would appreciate opinions on where I'm at: cuz I'm having a hard time interpreting uworld results
Uworld Qbank: 17% used, 67% correct
UWSA1: Taken 2/20, EPC Score=70, Assessment score = 540
UWSA2: Taken 3/18, EPC Score=74, Assessment score = 510
Testing: April 14
Would appreciate any tips, advice, or recs
Post 110: CONFUSED
18/03/2025, 07:52:09
4 comments
Hey guys, I’m in my 4th year of medschool and I’m thinking of taking step one. I have been an average student all my life and just passed my exams on average. Should i go down this path? I’m not sure if I’m capable. What made you think you’re when you started w this path?
Post 111: Devastated after uwsa1
17/03/2025, 23:27:21
10 comments
As the title says ,I just took my first online self assessment as uwsa1 and got 56%.I have been preparing for long and I was pretty confident by now but I’m shocked to see this.I don’t even know what’s wrong any more.Please advise me
Post 112: What should I do?
17/03/2025, 23:08:39
6 comments
My exam is scheduled for march 27th. Should I reschedule?
Scores:
Nbme 29: 54
Nbme 28: 56
Nbme 26: 60
Nbme 27: 60
UWSA1: 65
Nbme 30: 63
UWSA2: 66
Nbme 31: 68
I haven’t done free120 yet. Please help.
(I’m an IMG)
Post 113: LOW NBME and Scared. Please HELP
17/03/2025, 20:40:48
13 comments
I got a 47 on the initial CBSE exam ( baseline). So I started dedicated by doing tons of content review with some mixed blocks. BnB videos with FA and UW-68%. Which I thought was decent.
I just took 27 and got a 52. I'm seriously devastated. How is did amonth of work only get me 5 points!
I only have a month left of dedicated and my exam is scheduled for exactly 1 month from now. I don't know what to do because the timing and, I guess, content is lacking with such a low score. Everyone keeps saying how much longer the real deal is compared to NBMEs.
Content that hates me: Hematology, Repro and Neuro, Pharm and biostats.
I need real advice from people who may have struggled and have a hard time remembering and getting through the material. I'm a slow learner. I can't push my exam, and I need to figure this out and implement a real plan fast so I'm in the passing zone by 4/15.
Pushing is not an option for various reasons I cannot get into.
Thank you
Post 114: Non-reassuring NBME scores.
17/03/2025, 19:10:33
6 comments
Hi guys,
I am a USMD taking step 1 after my clinical rotations (yes, this is strange but is the way my school does things apparently). I am required to take step 1 by the end of this month, and am currently scheduled for 3/23 (6 days from now). Here are my NBME EPCs taken in order, just finished 31 today.
26: 55%
27: 51%
28: 67%
29: 64%
30: 73% (last week)
31: 64% (today)
I was feeling somewhat confident after my 73 on form 30 last week, but now I’ve dropped nearly 10 points to a not so comfortable score only 6 days before my test. What do you think I should do? Should I take it as scheduled or try pushing it to the last day I can take it (1 extra week)? I’m at a loss.
Thanks!
Post 115: STEP Studying help: Overwhelmed and Desperate for advice
17/03/2025, 13:30:54
1 comment
Hey all. I desperately need advice on what to do moving forward with regards to STEP 1 studying. I am a pretty average Med student(mid 80s on exam with occasional low 90s) so I didn't think dedicated would be this difficult for me. I just started week 6/8 of dedicated and I am very flustered and overwhelmed.
I took my CBSE first week of Feb and received **a 40%**. I wasnt too disappointed by this grade because I expected my baseline to be low since I hadn't reviewed anything/studied for it .
I took my first NMBE exam March 4(around a month later) and received **a 51%**. *:At this time I hadn't looked over or covered GI, Neuro/Psych, Biochem, Immunology, Biostasts, MSK+ I didnt finish pharm and micro*
I am going to take my next practice test tomorrow and I have covered GI, Neuro/Pscyh, and more pharm and micro. A little of biochem and Immuno but haven't finished completely.
Where the frustration is for me is that I feel like **I am forgetting everything I am learning**. I am trying to keep up with my anki reviews because that is how I was successful for exams periclinal years however I get very behind and it seems like I am relearning each system for the first time even though I spent so much time on content review and questions. Im even forgetting basic information. I feel like I know alot of facts but now having trouble seeing the forest for the trees and loosing information as I learn new things. I have completed 44% of Uworld with a 52% correct.
My current study methods involve Anki , writing in first aid, watching videos on topics I dont understand and Uworld. When I do a focused block on first aid after doing my morning anki for that system, I am usually getting in the 55-70 range however mixed blocks I am getting in the 30%-40%s :(. I find that I also talk myself out of the right answer or stuck between two answers choices.
I am trying to follow upperclassmen advice and focus more on Uworld (80 blocks a day starting today) and tailoring my day through that. After taking my next practice exam I plan to take an nmbe every 4 days. I wanted to see if anyone had any other advice . Right now I have my exam scheduled in two weeks which I know is not even possible for me since I barely have taken any NMBES. So I am pushing it to April 14 which would give me 4 more weeks. My advisor is pretty upset to hear that I am pushing my step exam back and has been trying to tell me to just focus on passing and not learning everything. However I have anxiety and would prefer to comfortably pass than to just be at the threshold and choke while taking the STEP exam.
Post 116: Looking for advice
16/03/2025, 22:44:30
3 comments
Right now I am scheduled for end of march, and I will change my date, but I am not sure how to make improvements to my score. I want to ideally take it mid April to avoid issues with rotations.
NBME 26 - 41% (school given 2 months ago)
NBME 28 - 50%
NBME 29 - 52% (march 10)
Uworld 47% complete, 55% overall score, 32nd percentile.
Amboss 43% correct, around 1k questions done
On the NBME breakdown, there is no single subject I am better or worse at. I am forgetting stuff I learned early during dedicated and need to work on microbio and biochem. Not sure how to make improvements.
What I have been doing: I was going through amboss on tutor mode for the corresponding material after reading a FA chapter, followed by a mixed uworld block based on the sections I had covered so far.
I didn't use anki at all and I have an aversion to it, so I imagine I would be overwhelmed with cards if I started now or it wouldn't be effective. I am guessing I am deficient in the core material, but how do I make improvements in the next 3 weeks? Is it even possible?
Post 117: exam in 2 weeks. PLEASE HELP
14/03/2025, 14:32:41
1 comment
Hello.
So I gave old free 120 yesterday to gauze myself and where I stand. I was constantly told that its quite easy compared to the new one but to my surprise, I actually didn't score well. 66% to be precise. Exam is in 2 weeks. Going to give nbme 31 in 2 days and free 120 next week and I'm freaking out, what if my score falls. No matter how much I review and try hard, my score just wouldn't budge. Nbme 30 that I gave last week, I scored around 67-68%.
After a lot of delay and spending sm on this exam, I finally have a date and this is the only time i can give it as this is my last month of the triad extension. What will someone who has passed with low nbme scores suggest me to do? I'll be devastated if I don't score well on nbme 31. Pls help me in what should I review and most importantly, THE WAY I SHOULD REVIEW CONTENT?? pls help me out. I'm super stressed and with Ramadan going, my sleep cycle is all over the place too.
Post 118: Is it okay to extend Step 1 triad 4-5 days before it ends?
14/03/2025, 09:34:15
4 comments
I’m asking for my friend. His exam is scheduled for March 27th, and his eligibility period ends on March 31st. His current scores are in the 58-62% range.
If his NBME 31 score isn’t 65+ just a few days before the triad ends, can he still extend the eligibility period 4-5 days before it expires? Or does he need to apply earlier to account for ECFMG’s processing time?
Post 119: Mehlman microbiology modules
14/03/2025, 03:04:03
22 comments
Hi, somebody have the microbiology modules of Mehlman in pdf or screenshot? Is not free anymore...
Thanks.
Post 120: Not sure if I’m moving in the right direction
13/03/2025, 19:53:17
1 comment
My school requires us to take a CBSE with a score of 65% to allow us to take Step (we can only take 5 CBSEs).
1st CBSE (diagnostic): 53%
2nd CBSE: 62%
I’m taking my 3rd CBSE in 2 weeks and I all did after my second CBSE was 4 NBME forms and reviewed them pretty well.
NBME 20: 70%
NBME 21: 59%
NBME 23: 66%
NBME 25: 77%
I feel like NBME 25 was super inflated because I saw at least 11 repeats, so I’m not sure if I should continue doing NBMEs regardless of the repeats or go to back to Uworld and redo my mistakes.
I’m taking the free 120 in a few days, but I’m not sure what I should do to guarantee that I get a 65 on the next CBSE otherwise I have to reschedule my STEP which is in 4 weeks.
Post 121: Failed step 1 attempt Help please
13/03/2025, 02:00:25
24 comments
Hello Everyone I need Help please
I am just kind of desparate because I took my score Result today and it was a fail .. since it is so close what should I do to pass by May
I finished 60% of UW
my NBMEs scores were aroud 60%
Free 120 63
Note: In the exam I had tension headache on my 3rd block and ran through it quickly without concetrating well
What should I do for these next 56 days to pass
and how will I asses Myself as NBmes from 26-31 may not be accurate because I've done it before ?
Post 122: Please help
19/03/2025, 19:56:49
3 comments
I graduated in 2015 as an IMG and took Step 1 in 2016, but I didn't do well (around 198). I passed Step 2 CS, but out of shame, I decided to pursue residency in my home country instead. Today, I am a psychiatrist, have completed a master's degree, and I am currently working on my PhD. I got married, but the dream of doing a residency in the U.S. never left me.
I have nightmares about it once a month, so I finally decided that I would at least try for the Match once and for all. Since I have been involved in some research, already completed my master's, and am now in a PhD program, I thought I could apply through the Research Pathway (Research Tracker), and maybe my experience as a specialist could be an asset.
Time has passed, and now I have to start over from scratch, retaking **Step 1**. I'm currently 33 years old, and I don’t want to live frustrated for never having tried until the end. What do you think? Is it possible? Does my experience help in any way? Would I be too old for the Match at 34 or 35 years old?
Sorry for the long message, but this has affected me for many years, and I need to free myself from this burden.
Post 123: Failed twice
17/03/2025, 21:01:21
20 comments
Hi guys . I am an img who immigrated to US .
I failed step 1 twice and my yog is 2020.
Should i still continue my usmle journey or just give up?
Post 124: Let’s see if you can Name it
17/03/2025, 16:54:19
7 comments
What’s one drug interaction whose adverse effect actually treats another disease
Post 125: how to memorise things already u had gone through before
17/03/2025, 15:52:31
1 comment
Can anyone let me know the ways u have practiced to memorise and revise the topics u already did
sometimes it feels hard to remember things u already did and feels like entirely new… that’s really heartbreaking especially when u had already did it before
pls drop suggestions and methods u practiced
Post 126: How can I study for Step 1 now to make it easier during my M2 year? We have in-house lectures :(
16/03/2025, 17:47:00
1 comment
For reference, my school has in house lectures, but I have a second year friend who is stressed out for Step 1 and recommended I start doing AMBOSS/Uworld question banks now as we just started our system courses. I am kind of confused on how to utilize this resource considering we have in house lectures.
Do i just do a set number of questions on AMBOSS or UWORLD for the specific system I am on? I heard these resources have Anki as well? I don't really use Anki so if anyone has some youtube links or insight into using these resources with Anki please lmk!
Post 127: Scored 66% on old free 120, test in 10 days- Am I screwed?
16/03/2025, 14:34:54
8 comments
Kind freaking out bc I just took the old free 120 (2021) and scored a 66%. My most recent nbme was 29-- 64%, before that I took NBME 26: 62%, and before that I took form 31---> 69%. And then we took a CBSE in beginning of Feb and I got a 58 on that.
How predictive is the old free 120, and basically am i screwed or should i push my test further? (I lowkey cant cus of personal reasons and my eligibility period ending) Anyways kinda crashing out! Thanks for the advice in advance
Post 128: Genetics resources (nothing that's overkill)
16/03/2025, 04:42:32
6 comments
I'm completely lost when it comes to this super cool subject. I need a resource to help me learn this like as if I've never learnt it before. But nothing that goes beyond Step 1. Especially transcription, CGGC stuff that is super necessary in real life application as a doctor. Please don't say just do Mehlman Genetics, it's like reading a Chinese Menu and asking to order from it. Thank you
Post 129: scheduled in two weeks, should i push it back?
15/03/2025, 21:09:43
13 comments
nbme 27: 50
nbme 28: 57
nbme 29: 63
nbme 30: 65
nbme 31: 63
all nbmes taken a week apart.
supposed to take free 120 next week. should i see what i get on free 120 and decide?
Post 130: Practice correlation vs real deal
15/03/2025, 20:54:08
3 comments
Something ive been worried about is the real step1 is 8 blocks whereas the practice exams are 4.. anyone have any experiences they can share as to how the real deal felt when they only practiced with 4 blocks? Also, can we really trust nbme practice scores when they are only based on 4 blocks? Very worried.
Post 131: Do any Muslims sit the usmle during Ramadan
14/03/2025, 16:48:06
5 comments
Like just curious if ur fasting like how does that work do u just delay and plan around Ramadan or do u make sure to sit it in the weeks before
Post 132: FIRST AID
14/03/2025, 12:47:29
4 comments
Hello all. I need a serious suggestion regarding firstaid . i have 2022 first aid and iam trying to do exam by june 2025.will 2022 firstaid enough or should i buy new one??
kindly do suggest.
Post 133: Step 1 Experience Today
12/03/2025, 19:51:22
4 comments
Just got out of the testing center. The exam was heavily focused on pathogenesis. Honestly, almost every question was on it. A lot of immunology, biochemistry, ethics, and psychiatry too. It felt nothing like NBME practice tests or Free 120 - totally different, like something new. Honestly, I feel like I failed it.
Post 134: Passed!
12/03/2025, 19:46:56
2 comments
Passed!! Tested on 2/24! CBSSA score before completing gastro and heme onc was 42% This scared me but this was in October and I decided to not worry much since I had scheduled for end of March and hadn't completed my units at this point. In December I took my pathology shelf exam I only read through pathoma once to prepare I recieved a 53. On and off over the holidays I studied my weakest systems from these two tests. On January 4th I took NBME 26 and received a 54. I reviewed both right and wrong answers and explanations the next day. This guided my step studying of where to focus. I was very weak in cardio and respiratory so I started by reading that section in first aid then I would read the corresponding organ system mehlman pdf that same day and complete a uworld block in that section after. I did this for each organ system and eventually for all of his step one relevant pdfs. Everyday I did 1-2 random blocks and various system based targeted blocks. I then took form 27 January 14th an recieved a 59. I reviewed the entire exam the next day. I started noticing patterns in the repetition of concepts. I continued reviewing all of mehlman. At this point I went a little crazy and started doing 6 uworld blocks a day. I wasn't strict to this but I found I was learning best from uworld and started doing random blocks, incorrect and unused blocks, targeted system blocks and random path/ physio/ pathophysio blocks. I started to notice I was still experiencing gaps in knowledge. I spent a couple days taking a break from my block method and read crush step 1 text book per organ system then did targeted blocks after each chapter. Once finished I continued to do 6 blocks a day. I took form 28 January 22nd and got a 67. I kept up my uworld blocks but then decided to learn stats as I had been putting it off and used randy neil and mehlman. I continued the blocks and took form 29 February 2nd and got a 68. I started to get a bit burnt out from here but decided to just do as much targeted review of my weaknesses while trying to complete Uworld (I ended up completing 94 %) . I took form 31 February 12th and got a 76. I took free 120 February 19th and got a 76.
Day before the exam I did not study. Day of the exam I felt low on sleep and anxious but concentrated. Leaving the exam I had no idea how to feel. I flagged 20+ questions a block. I took a break every section to get up and walk. I had random anxiety pop up from when I took the exam and until today when the results came out that I failed. I also felt like leading up to the exam I was forgetting everything but trust yourself. You have not forgotten everything. It is pretest nerves! I recommend bringing medication incase you get a headache during the exam I saw someone post this recommendation and I ended up needing it!
My advice is do what works for you and be willing to adapt as you go! Don't feel like you have to do something because other people are telling you it's the only way to pass. You know yourself best. Have faith in yourself and stay strong during the exam basically a third of it is experimental questions. You will pass if you believe in yourself and put the effort in. Good luck!
Post 135: Graduated in 2019, thinking of giving the test
12/03/2025, 14:37:07
3 comments
I am an American citizen and I graduated from a Pakistani medical college back in 2019. I’ll be honest I wasn’t the brightest back then and now it’s been several years since I opened up the books and my knowledge is very hazy. Im very much set on giving the test. Any advice you good people here can give will be greatly appreciated.
Post 136: Can I retake step 1 after failed as an IMG plz help me what to do next I think my prep was good and my score was Plz any details can help me NBME25 72 NBME26 73 NBME27 72 NBME 28 70 NBME29 72 NBME 30\31 72 FRee120 78. My exam question was so long but I’m doing good and I’m surprised I’m not pass
19/03/2025, 20:58:37
2 comments
retak and chance for match in IM
Post 137: Low uwsa1 score
18/03/2025, 11:58:25
2 comments
Hey everyone. I’ve been preparing for my step 1. It’s my second attempt and it’s really scary this time bcoz of the ptsd.
My nbme scores in the past weeks were ranging from 71%-78%.
Old free 120: 72%
Gave my uwsa1 today: scored 190🥲. I was sick and extremely anxious while giving the exam too. Whatever the situation, I was atleast expecting to pass but this score definitely crushed me.
I was planning on giving the exam next month. Now I don’t know if I’m ready.🥲
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Post 138: Advice for starting neurology ?
17/03/2025, 19:50:28
2 comments
Hello guys
How can I start neurology as a newbie for step-1
Which class/video/PDF should I follow with ?
Please enlightened with your advices 🤲🏼🩵
Post 139: Reach out for guidance
17/03/2025, 17:41:59
10 comments
I'm an ecfmg certified IMG, planning on sitting for MATCH 2026. I have been helping applicants with step 1 related prep for a year now. If you're in need of professional help (content review, timeline, test taking strategies), feel free to reach out.
If you're someone who's just needs advice regarding USMLE related queries, I can help with that as well.
Post 140: NBME question on epidemiology
17/03/2025, 11:19:30
1 comment
Can anyone explain the answer please?
https://preview.redd.it/6rcrq6tzd9pe1.png?width=1842&format=png&auto=webp&s=41d94fdb2320f73f42c94f952cd2cac3d5b02ba6
Post 141: Step 1
16/03/2025, 14:14:08
2 comments
Hi all,
I am studying for USMLE Step 1, and since I’m working, it has been frustrating. I finished my first pass, but for review, I don’t know what would help me best.
Do you know of any Anki deck that includes all the important points from UWorld?
I’d appreciate any suggestions!
Post 142: nbme improvement
16/03/2025, 12:38:16
1 comment
so I’m taking the step 1 on the 31st and just did an nbme and got 67% and my last one that I took a week and a half ago was also 66%. I really want to improve to feel more confident before I take it in two weeks - any tips would be much appreciated. Starting to feel a bit more stressed and nervous now. How similar is the real thing to nbmes vs uworld as well?
Post 143: CBSE helpppp
16/03/2025, 03:10:57
7 comments
Hey guys! My school requires us to take a CBSE and score a minimum of 67% before we’re allowed to take Step 1. I’m taking it on April 11th. If I do all the NBME forms (1-31) and know the questions, will that help me pass? So far I’ve done 7 of them
Post 144: Amboss 200 questions heme section?
15/03/2025, 19:44:20
2 comments
Did anyone else find the heme section on the Amboss 200 questions set to be very tough? I never found uWorld or the NBMEs to be too unreasonable but these mere 13 questions are making me rethink how much I even know heme 😭
Post 145: Should I take the exam on consecutive days?
15/03/2025, 05:00:20
9 comments
Hi guys! So I got accomodations for the exam and **I will be taking it over 2 days** (around 5 hours each). I'm trying to choose a test center but I'm indecisive, my main options are the chicago one (LaSalle) which **does provide the option for consecutive days** but I've heard it's **not the best** test center (noise, bathrooms aren't great, long waits, etc), I have a couple other options that are **better rated** (friendly staff, quiet environment, short waits, etc) but I would have a **gap of about 2-3 days in between** the exam blocks. I wanted to ask your opinion on whether I should take the exam on consecutive days or if it might be better to have a few days in between? Also, how important do you think the test center is and do you have any recommendations or any experiences around the Illinois are (I'm willing to travel up to 3 hrs for a better test center). **Thank you so much in advance and happy studying 🩷**
Post 146: Need for advice
14/03/2025, 22:23:13
2 comments
I’m a non-US IMG who graduated in 2023. I took Step 2 before Step 1, and I’m currently preparing for Step 1. My biggest concern is that last year, without studying any Step 1 material, I went through almost all the NBME forms over several months, just because I was being stupid. I didn’t review or correct the exams; I only checked whether my answers were right or wrong.
I started dedicated prep three weeks ago with bootcamp(amazing material btw) and I’m scoring above 60% on UWorld. I have 55 days until my exam and just took my first serious NBME—Form 28—with a score of 64%.
My first concern is whether this score counts as a second time since I had already gone through the NBMEs before, even though I didn’t study the nbmes at all. Second, the 64% feels uncertain. Is it realistic to aim for above 70% in the time I have left? And if I do score above 70%, is it still safe considering my previous exposure to the NBMEs?
Post 147: Recent Test Takers: Any last minute advice on what I should do the day before?
13/03/2025, 17:22:39
6 comments
Hey, my exam is this Saturday and just trying gauge what I can do the last days to push me over the edge. So far planning:
1. Pathoma 1-3 rewatch
2. HY Images
3. Practice some ethics but idk how exactly
Post 148: How to learn peripheral nerves from MSK First Aid?
13/03/2025, 10:46:04
1 comment
Honestly, I hate this section 😭
Post 149: UWorld devastatingly slow Pace
13/03/2025, 00:50:55
1 comment
Hi folks, Non- US IMG, i am slow as fuck with UW i have only finished 15% and my subscription is going to end by July i do 20q a day tutored untimed inconsistently.
I have moderate background of info used FA & BNB and some chatgpt along.
Doing questions drains me quickly and i lose my concentration even more quickly.
Any advice from those who passed would be appreciated. Thanks
Post 150: can’t tell if I’m ready + last 2 week prep advice
12/03/2025, 23:05:43
2 comments
Should I push my test back? Testing in two weeks.
NBME 26 - 61 (2/9)
NBME 27 - 68 (3/3)
NBME 29 - 67 (3/8)
NBME 30 - 65 (3/12)
Still planning on taking 31 soon & have my free 120 scheduled. My school said to only take to after multiple 68+ so I’ve been on the fence and feeling anxious. Also seeing a lot of high scores here so I just was looking for feedback. My NBME 30 might be deflated a bit because I accidentally clicked multiple wrong answers (I know…) crossing stuff when I was double checking in my last block or maybe I’m taking my NBMEs too close together right now. I’m 87% done with uworld and ~250 incorrects (idk if this matters lol).
My plan for the last 2 weeks was to go over the mehlman PDFs + review uworld incorrects + high yield pics. Is there anything else anyone would recommend?
Post 151: First Aid or Mehlman
12/03/2025, 20:30:59
1 comment
Hello friends,
I need your help with something that has been on my mind for a while.
I’m starting my Step 1 prep now, and my exam is in 5 months. I’m planning to work through Mehlman’s PDFs on cardio, pulm, gastro, renal, high-yield arrows, hem/onc, and neuroanatomy. Do you think this is a good approach, or would it be better to focus only directly on FA?
Of course, I’ll also be doing UWorld and NBME anyway.
I’d appreciate responses specifically from those who have studied using Mehlman and First Aid . What are your thoughts
If u think extra mehlman pdf which u think most helpful please add it
Post 152: What to do for the last day and a half before Step 1?
12/03/2025, 15:52:51
4 comments
Taking Step 1 on Saturday and spending my last two days reviewing a few more concepts via First Aid and Pathoma. What did you all do in those last few days leading up to the exam? For context I am feeling okay but also just the usual stress of this massive exam looming over me. I had planned on studying until about 1-2pm the day before and then going to workout to tire myself out. Normally this is what I did before most exams for med school but it just feels weird with how big of an exam Step 1 is. For context as well, we entered dedicated basically a week and a half after my second CBSE so I'll have had 2 weeks worth of dedicated.
|Exam|Days Before|Score|
|:-|:-|:-|
|School CBSE 1|89|59%|
|UWSA1|64|61%|
|CBSSA 28|50|68%|
|CBSSA 26|36|67%|
|CBSSA 29|28|68%|
|School CBSE 2|23|70%|
|Old Free 120|21|71%|
|CBSSA 31|15|65%|
|CBSSA 30|11|64%|
|CBSSA 27|8|70%|
|New Free 120|5|70%|
\*Edited because my table screwed up\*
Post 153: Biochem
12/03/2025, 06:17:55
12 comments
I've done pixorize and dirty med for biochem. And DAMN UW biochem is still hard af, plz don't tell me step asks that level of biochem?
Post 154: Low NBMEs - help pls
12/03/2025, 03:26:48
6 comments
Hello!
I’m currently scheduled to take my exam April 5th but so far I have taken 2 NBMEs and I’m defeated.
NBME 26 ( diagnostic 2/24) - scored 44.5%
NBME 27 ( after two weeks of studying pathoma chapters 1-3 and immuno) - scored 43%
My immuno section improved but everything else took a hit. I really don’t know what to do. Should I consider pushing my exam, or is there a way to turn things around in the next few weeks? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Post 155: Low content retention - feeling like Uworld is kinda just random facts but don't know what else to do
12/03/2025, 02:11:05
7 comments
HELP hitting a mid-dedicated slump and don't know what's working and not working. 2 weeks into 4 weeks of dedicated (probably going to push back a week though so more like 5 weeks)
Diagnostic was pretty low in all organ systems.
Focused first week on endo repro and neuro: Did days of all 80 focused questions, and some with 40 focused and 40 mixed. Reviewed questions and filled in gaps with FA, Bootcamp if I was really lost, Pathoma, Dirty Medicine. This would take a while, 3-4 hours for one 40 question block. Typed little blurbs on a google sheet for missed questions. Unsuspended Uworld incorrect anki cards but really would only do an hour or so at night and wasn't getting to all the cards.
Then did NBME 30: 53% - Got endo repro up to 69%, neuro up some but still only 49%.
Second week focused on CV and heme onc but honestly a little distracted. Same UWorld schedule as the first week but I would do 3-4 hours of just content review - mostly Dirty Medicine and sketchy heme onc and cardio drugs. Did not type up missed question blurbs, did no anki, and kinda skimmed through reviewing the last 40 q block I would do each day.
NBME 28: 50% - CV went down by 3% and heme onc went up by literally 1%. AND endo repro and neuro went back down, neuro significantly so.
At kind of a loss now as to where to go from here. Micro was very low on both, so I have spent the last two days doing sketchy micro (+ doing some mixed UWorld) but don't know if I can get through them all and the anki cards. My brain loves sketchy and it was a gift for ID but then I suspended the cards and haven't touched them in a year so I have forgotten a lot...
Any thoughts appreciated! Trying not to be too discouraged but feeling lost and needing something to stick
Post 156: medschoolbro
19/03/2025, 14:16:46
2 comments
hello, hello, does anyone has medschoolbro pdfs?
Post 157: How to improve scores
19/03/2025, 11:37:52
3 comments
I recently started prepping for step 1. i completed pulm, micro, immuno, now im doing endocrine, while doing Uworld im getting im getting 40-50% (sometimes30)in blocks. im doing B&B and FA before doing the questions. is it alright or do i have conceptual deficit. how to study better.
Post 158: When will I get my result if I took my exam last Wednesday?
19/03/2025, 09:55:34
1 comment
Took my exam on 03/12, will I get my results next Wednesday? Or the following Wednesday?
Post 159: step 1 soon
19/03/2025, 09:25:01
2 comments
i’ve been studying for a while and my goal was to take nbmes every 1 week in the last 2 months before taking the exam. i did hit upto 60% on the new online nbme forms. haven’t touched 30 or 31 yet. while this is still not good, i just wanted to mention my best mark so far because i really thought id see it going up after doing a lot more studying.
after this i started doing nbmes 20-25 and those have been staying at a consistent 54-56%. im not really sure what to do. i have barely a month left and moving the exam is not really an option:(
to prep-
i have done 2ish blocks on uworld everyday. i use anking with that. i also do content review with sketchy, pathoma and dirty med.
i’d really appreciate some tips and tricks bc i would like an 11% jump on nbme atleast🥲
Post 160: Step 1 exam date
19/03/2025, 06:07:21
5 comments
Guys I'm wondering if I wanna take my step 1 in late August or beginning of September, then when should I start registration in the ECFMG website and also select that date before it gets full
Post 161: Done with the beast today
19/03/2025, 01:04:01
1 comment
It was hard and vague
I marked around 15 Q each block
My nbmes was 70s to early 80s
Feel so devastated,
Am not sure if i will pass or not
I found till now around 7 silly mistakes
Post 162: Best way to study biochemistry step1
18/03/2025, 20:09:42
4 comments
I heard Dirty medicine biochem is great. But how can i study biochem following first aid book?
Post 163: So like… do I keep studying?
18/03/2025, 17:14:19
2 comments
Literally just walked out of the exam… not feeling good about it, should I keep studying in case I fail and have to retake it? What do people do?
Post 164: URGENT/Mehlman PDF query
18/03/2025, 15:58:34
2 comments
Doing tables in the first half of PDFs is enough? Or points at the end of PDF are to be done as well?
Post 165: Form 26 Section 1 Q32
18/03/2025, 15:10:00
1 comment
>!Can someone explain to me how the bone marrow smear with prussian blue staining show increased iron stores? I thought increased stroes would be intracellularly, but only see blue staining outside of cells. !<
https://preview.redd.it/ea15wjsxnhpe1.png?width=904&format=png&auto=webp&s=12a6fa6c57375e95a23818a0980298bddedb7808
Post 166: HOW DO I START MY PREP?
18/03/2025, 10:41:34
8 comments
Where do i start from? I know things but at the same time I don’t. I need to build a better base like my pharma is strong, my micro is fine but physiology not so much. I need a suggestion on how to build a strong foundation of concepts so i could correlate everything and have a better approach. If I start from physiology, suggest me the resources please and a rough time limit to get done w it. I want to take the test by the end of this year or by the beginning of next.
Post 167: Date selection
18/03/2025, 07:25:00
2 comments
I've just selected the triad and now dates are unavailable for june-august do I need to periodically check to see if dates are available or do they become available in a month or two
Post 168: International Student, weak foundations, need help/have a few doubts
17/03/2025, 19:59:52
3 comments
Hello, I'm a 21 year old medical student from South America, in my university I'm in my 4th year out of 6 total years. I feel my foundations are relatively weak, so I need to know a few things...
Well first of all, I have an average of around 4 hours a day to study solely for Step1 due to my classes and hospital practices. Therefore I think I'd be ready in 11-12 months of study.
I'm using Google Calendar to determine when I have Step 1 "Blocks" as in study times (usually 1 hour or 1h30 max for max concentration). However my actual planning comes from the website CRAMFIGHTER or Blueprint Prep which I think will greatly help me know what and when to study a certain subject.
I have access to a lot of resources OFFLINE. So I believe I have an advantage in resource variety. The resources I want to use are:
First Aid 2025/4
UWORLD offline
Sketchy Pharma/Micro
Pathoma
Randy Nei'ls videos for Biostats
Pixorize for Biochem/ Genetics
Physeo for Anatomy and Physiology
Bootcamp OR BnB
1) My first question is.... should I start learning System Wise, Subject Wise or Resource Wise? Due to relatively weak foundations, I was thinking of working Resource wise in order to be ready to later do UWORLD/ First Aid and trully understand it.
For example I want to Start in this order
Physeo
Pixorize
Sketchy
Pathoma
Bootcamp or BnB
Randy Neil
THEN
Tackle UWORLD/ First Aid.
2) My second question would be, if I'm already using Pixorize/Physeo for example dedicated to certain subjects, should I review ALL of Bootcamp or BnB? What I mean is that I'm not sure if I should overlap topics in different resources...
3) And my third question would be, Anking seems a bit hard for me but I do want to use Anki for long-term review. Perhaps instead of using Anking I could use different decks? For example:
Mnemosyne (heard it's great for First Aid)
Lightyear (for Boards and Beyond; maybe a deck for bootcamp would be cool toi)
Sketchy pharma pepper
Sketchy micro pepper
Duke's pathoma
100 concepts for Anatomy
Any tips or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!
Post 169: Need advice
17/03/2025, 18:36:14
1 comment
Hello everyone
I am a Non US IMG (Green Card holder) who graduated in 2017, and I'm planning to start my Step 1 journey. However, I find myself feeling a bit lost, especially considering the long gap since graduation. I am not sure where to start. Any help is appreciated
Post 170: 40 days left until end of extended triad!
17/03/2025, 14:26:17
2 comments
My Step 1 exam is scheduled for the end of April, which is also when my extended eligibility period expires. So far, I’ve taken two offline NBMEs (20 and 21), scoring around in the mid 50%s, though I felt like I guessed on most of the questions. I’ve completed one and a half passes of UWorld with about 60% correct and have also gone through the Mehlmann PDFs for Step 1. I still struggle to remember a lot of the content when solving questions though.
With around 40 days of dedicated prep left, do you have any advice on how to maximize my prep? And if I don’t feel ready as the exam approaches, would it be better to cancel and reapply (taking the financial hit) rather than risk failing?
Post 171: Need help
17/03/2025, 11:24:41
4 comments
I will be writing exam in the first wk of june.I completed first pass FA( can't remember most)and started dng questions from uworld now (like started now).I am getting average of between 25-35 percent.
Post 172: when to take?
16/03/2025, 23:35:00
1 comment
form 26: 76,
form 27: 75,
uworld 61% done, 66% correct
currently scheduled to take step1 the third week of april. should i move my date up sooner? or take a few more practice forms to be sure? i know the scores are telling me im in a good place and i wanna get it over with but i literally finish each exam thinking that i failed 😭
Post 173: Nbme 29: 71% Uworld SA 3: 56% huh?!?!
16/03/2025, 21:52:17
5 comments
I don’t know if I should be concerned???? I was feeling confident in taking step 1 in 3 weeks but I took the uworld self assessment and scored so low???????? Anyone have any experience with this? Should I worry?
I honestly felt so confused by the way uworld formulated the self assessment, it was so vague in terms of both questions and answers, is the uworld self assessment similar to step 1??
Post 174: Is Pixorize enough for biochem, immuno, neuroanatomy?
16/03/2025, 20:58:39
1 comment
I'm also going to review the Anking Higher yield cards, but how comprehensive is the Pixorize Anki deck by VerifiedSmoothBrain?
I finished the Pixorize neuroanatomy deck but felt it didn't cover some cord syndromes and visual field defects.
Post 175: Advice and Motivation pls
16/03/2025, 17:04:43
5 comments
Planning to give the exam about 10 days from now. I've been reviewing and doing NBMEs and UWSAs since end of Jan now and want to be sure I'm on the right track and don't have to consider getting a later date. I've frankly delayed it plenty as is so I'm hoping I can give it this time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
For some context, these r my scores from oldest till now
NBME 31 = 67.5
NBME 30 = 68.5
UWSA 1 = 68
Old free 120 = 70+ I'm forgetting
UWSA 2 = 56 (This really hurt me but I've heard it's usually a pain for others so I'm conflicted)
NBME 29 = 71.5
I plan to give UWSA 3 and the new free 120 in this coming week.
Post 176: Whats happening?
16/03/2025, 15:00:19
4 comments
exam booked on 10th of April
My nbme scores (given in the same sequence) are as follows:
Nbme 27: 66%
Nbme 30: 73%
Nbme 31: 69%
Nbme 28: 67%
(Dropping score with dropping confidence)
My question is
Is it good? Is it bad? Is it ok?
What should i do and how?
Post 177: Put on a year leave of absence: need advice/ a study method/ system to tackle this exam completely from scratch
15/03/2025, 21:09:13
2 comments
welp, the worst thing that could happen happened: I have officially been put on academic leave for a year to study for STEP 1 due to not performing on practice exams. My in school CBSE was around 47 and over the course of several months of studying went down to a 40 then a 39 on the recent forms. Based on this I was given a year off to study for this exam fresh and rejoin clinicals with the class below me. Based on this I am looking to completely tackle the process all over again, fresh and with hopefully a new schedule/ strategy. I really dont want to give up, this is all I want to do with my life but its starting to feel like I should leave medicine because of this exam.
Here is what I tried durring my time previously studying:
\- U world questions daily with review of wrong questions, ranging from 20-40q a day
\- First aid reading, typically associated with wrong questions on U world
\- Pathoma: only really touched the first 3 chapters
\- Melman arrow PDF
\- sketchy pharm and micro
\-anki: probably the killer issue to be honest, but i stayed away from it durring dedicated because in all honesty it wasnt helping, instead of reinforcing infomration I would catch myself just remembering the sentence for the sake of completing the card for the day. My adhd even with treatment struggles to push through more than 200 cards a day without wasting incredible amounts of time on it.
\- tried a systems based approach as I felt my foundational information was poor
there is a previous post in my post history on this subreddit detailing a bit more about my study method/ tools. I am open to chat both here in the thread or DMs are also welcomed. Thank you to anyone who reads this and to those who reply. I am giving myself these last 6 months before I decide to throw in the towel for good.... I want to give this one more real shot.
Post 178: Anatomy & Embryology
15/03/2025, 19:26:53
1 comment
Whatsup y’all.
Looking for some tips on what resources I could head to to get some solid content review on these 2 topics.
Appreciate any input!
Post 179: Can I book step 1 practice exam at the prometric before booking an eligibility period for step 1? Thanks in advance
14/03/2025, 02:53:36
2 comments
.....
Post 180: Amboss difficulty hammer for step 1
14/03/2025, 01:48:43
3 comments
Hi All, looking for advice from people who have used amboss for step 1 preparation.
What hammer difficulty should I use to prepare for step 1.
I am done with UW and I feel hammer 5 is v difficult and unrealistic of real exam.
Should I include hammer 4 or just stick to 1-3 as every one say?
Please help
Thanks you
Post 181: How should I continue with my study?
13/03/2025, 20:15:14
2 comments
Hey guys! I am almost done with my first pass(only microbiology and antimicrobials remaining) and I just took free 120s and I got 76 out 120(63%). I haven’t taken any Nbme exam and I also haven’t done any revision of first aid. Is the score any good? How should I proceed with studying now, I mean any tips for revision. I am so confused right now😭
Post 182: No seats available
13/03/2025, 20:13:22
4 comments
My eligibility period is 1st of March till 31st of May. When locating, it shows that there are many seats available. But when trying to actually schedule, it says no appointments available even to the end of May. Could this be a glitch?
Post 183: Should I take it/what should I do leading up to my exam
13/03/2025, 17:38:42
2 comments
Hi all, US MD student here.
My exam is on **3/18** and I don't feel quite ready. I've been doing Uworld and the NBME's and school provided CBSE's but I feel like I still have giant concept holes. I don't feel confident in immunology, ethics, hem/onc, neuro, psych, or GI. From sketchy micro I have only covered bacteria. From sketchy pharm I have only covered autonomic and cardio/renal. Despite all of this gap in content, I have been doing well in my NBME's. I guess my med school has trained me well/good test taking strategies? My fear is that the real deal is just going to nail these gaps in my knowledge really hard.
**My stats**:
**Uworld**: 52% completed, 74% accuracy. I have mostly been **doing them by system**, and not really mixed sections. This is one of the main reasons why I feel scared about the above-mentioned units, because I haven't seen my weaknesses much in Uworld.
**CBSE's**:
2/10 - 76%
3/10 - still waiting to get back our results, but I felt very confident and think it will be +70%
(update i got a 71% on this CBSE)
**NBMEs**:
Form 26 - 76%
Form 29 - 79%
Planning to take Form 31 tomorrow, and the free 120 on Sunday.
(update Form 31 - 79%)
I have no vacation planned and am in no rush to take this exam. I am just tired of studying, everyone keeps telling me that I should just take it, and I really want to believe in the stats.
Thanks in advance!
Post 184: NEED SERIOUS ADVICE ABOUT RESCHEDUALIG PLZ .
13/03/2025, 05:51:58
2 comments
I have my exam on 29th April. Im currently PG in my home country and have a job routine. Im almost done with uw (80%). I have done FA twice. planing to complete sketchy Vids in 2 day and pharma in next 2 days (NO UW done for Micro). As of today i have left 48 days to test. i havent done any nbme or mahlhman.
considering tha fact that I am doing a job already (and Ihave two weeks of hectic routine from now on), Should i delay my exam right now??
i have heard delaying your exam before 45 days would be free of cost.
and second if i days my exam before 45 days, will i be able to delay it further in future with payment?
3rd If you people suggest i shouldnt than what should i do from today to get PASS in my result. Thanks
Post 185: Guidance on how to proceed? Decided to postpone
12/03/2025, 20:23:04
4 comments
Hey everyone
I made a post previously about getting all 65s on my NBMEs. Today I took new free120 and got a 66. I'm really frustrated and I decided to push my exam back by a week or so (originally was supposed to take on 3/17). Does anyone have any advice on how I should approach studying in this remaining time? I'm honestly frustrated because despite doing Anki, Uworld etc. my scores have been the same for like 3 weeks and it feels like nothing I do makes a difference. It's starting to feel hopeless. Thanks
Post 186: nbme cbse?
12/03/2025, 16:37:33
1 comment
hi,
anyone who took it? any advice? tips?
Post 187: usmle step 1
12/03/2025, 10:19:17
6 comments
i have given my nbme 25 and 26 .,got a percentage of 55 and 60 respectively ...completed first aid once except for biostats and behavioural science ...yet to start u world...can anyone pls comment on my status ??like where i stand
Post 188: NBME or USWA ?
12/03/2025, 01:58:08
6 comments
I have taken 3 nbmes: 27, 30 & 31
I have time to take 3 more tests
Should i go for nbme 29, 28 & free 120 or skip 28 and take USWA 2 in its place.
Or should i force myself to take 4 tests?
Post 189: I’m about to lose my shit
19/03/2025, 19:52:18
1 comment
Title a little bit baity but I’m genuinely confused on what to do.
I’m not grad yet, still preclinical, so assume my baseline is ~0. I’ve been doing the tried and tested method of BnB and FA (then anking) and I don’t mind the method but annotating everything takes WAY too long. Like 5 minutes of annotating per 1 minute of BnB. BnB is 110hr long.
I think this isn’t feasible, it takes me weeks to get through systems bc my med school life is busy too. But my problem is because I’ve never learnt any of this stuff before I have little idea what is high yield enough to write down or not.
I haven’t started UWorld yet but am planning to after I finish this system (GI) and so the workload is going to get even higher. If anyone has been in this situation I would really appreciate any advice because I kind of feel soft-locked and it’s lowkey fucking wit me.
Thank you all :))
Post 190: Results for test takers today
19/03/2025, 18:40:35
1 comment
Title
Post 191: Do I need to tell the college ?
19/03/2025, 08:16:55
4 comments
Hey guys I was planning on starting my prep for usmle step 1 . Currently am a student of fourth year and plan to give it in 5th year. I don't want anyone at my college knowing I'm going to give my mle part 1 because I know peer pressure will be to much for me . I haven't applied yet . But I need to know do I have to inform the college authorities or get their approval for step 1?
Also can someone please guide me and give me a few tips on how I should start my prep?
Post 192: Amboss vs Boot camp for repeat Step 1 prep(finished UWORLD)
19/03/2025, 04:08:11
1 comment
Looking for recommendation/advice. I’ve done you UWORLD x 2, I remember UW answeres now.
Wanted to supplement my preparation with another Q bank. What do you guys think about Amboss vs Bootcamp?
Which one is more high-yield and can be done in two months ?
Thank you
Post 193: Need help wrt Boards and beyond
19/03/2025, 03:09:47
5 comments
Hi everyone!
My strategy for step 1 has been to complete bnb videos for a subject while annotating it and then read it from FA. After that I complete uworld for that particular subject. Amidst all this I solve anking deck for that particular subject as well. My uworld scores do improve as I keep revising my bnb notes and fa but the process is very time consuming and burns me out. How can I watch bnb and retain it without annotating it. One of my medschool seniors who I am close to annotated all the bnb videos so I can use them but idk if that'll help me retain. Pls help
Post 194: Step scheduled for March 25th, AM I READY?
19/03/2025, 02:18:57
3 comments
I took the free 120 yesterday (3/18/2025) at the testing center where I will be taking my real step 1 as a practice exam that usmle offers and got a 75%
Nbme 29 (took it 2/10/2025) 68%
Nbme 30 (3/12/2025) 67%
Nbme 31 (3/15/2025) 73%
I have heard multiple classmates recently take it and say it's harder than any NBME or 120. It could be due to several reasons, either stamina or content; I'm not sure.
I'm thinking about maybe rescheduling my exam for a later date. Would love any advice or opinions or even just a confidence boost
Post 195: advice for moving forward 5 weeks out
19/03/2025, 00:20:06
1 comment
Hello! I took a CBSE today (03/18) and I'm feeling a bit panicked. I probably won't get my score for a few days, but my step 1 day is 04/23. I was aiming for at least a 60, but I don't feel confident about hitting that. My school requires a 64 to clear the CBSE, and I'm almost certain I'll need to take another CBSE on 04/15, which adds more pressure.
Here are my current scores:
* 02/18 CBSE -> 55
* 03/04 NBME 28 -> 60
* 24% done with UWorld, average score -> 61%
My current study plan involves doing 40 UWorld questions a day by organ block, unlocking the corresponding Anki cards, and also reviewing cards from my missed deck for NBME 28 along with the Very High Yield deck on Anking. But today made me realize this approach isn't as effective as I thought.
Here's my new plan for the next 5 weeks:
1. Do at least 40 randomized UWorld questions per day without the tutor mode.
2. Watch Pathoma videos using a 4 week schedule I found online and then review the corresponding Anki cards
3. Rewatch SketchyMicro (I watched most of it in Fall 2023 but need a refresher) and review the related anki cards
4. Consider using FirstAid for pharmacology, though I'm unsure how to incorporate it. Reading it feels passive, but maybe combining it with anki cards would help
I was an above-average student during pre-clinicals, so I thought I wouldn't struggle as much with dedicated study. But now I feel like I've lost a lot of what I learned, and my short-term memory might be the only thing that helped me retain information.
Does this plan seem like a good balance of content review and practice questions for the next 5 weeks? I'd appreciate any suggestions!
Post 196: Pathoma/Mehlmann Anki Decks?
18/03/2025, 23:22:02
2 comments
Hi guys
I'm tired of watching all the videos and passively reading the PDFs. Do any of you guys mind sharing a comprehensive Anki Deck of Pathoma and Mehlmann content?
Thank you so much.
Post 197: Step 1
18/03/2025, 22:41:02
2 comments
Hello! My exam step 1 exam is in 1 week. If you could only review 1 nbme before the March step 1 exam, what would it be?!?! PLEASE
Post 198: Prioritize Uworld close to step1?
18/03/2025, 19:55:36
1 comment
I’ve only done 30% of the uworld qbank at 70% correct.
2/23 = form 26, 68%
3/2 = form 27, 75%
3/9 = form 28, 78%
3/16 = form 29, 80%
Taking step 1 in less than 2 weeks. Planning to take NBME form 30 and 31 and free 120 as well. Is it bad that I only have done 30% uworld? Should I try to do as much uworld as I can leading up to my exam?
Thanks for all the help
Post 199: Am I ready?
18/03/2025, 18:46:27
3 comments
I’ve scheduled my exam for next week and I’m scoring very well on NBMEs, though I’m terrified because I feel like there’s so much I don’t know or have forgotten. For the last few weeks, my entire prep has consisted of doing the NBMEs followed by reviewing them. Based on my scores, I feel ready to take the exam right now, but based on how much I feel like there’s left to do, I am not so sure. Is it truly okay to trust your NBME scores, even if there’s a lot left to cover/review?
If I take the exam and pass, hindsight will be 20/20 and I’ll know it was a great idea to trust my scores. But if I fail, I’ll be kicking myself in the ass wondering why I didn’t content review when I knew that’s all I had to do.
Post 200: Mehlman Pharm & micro modules
18/03/2025, 12:47:32
1 comment
Hi guys!
So I just decided to study mehlman pharm & micro modules that were on his website but I think he deleted them. Can you please share them?
Post 201: Nbme 25 score
18/03/2025, 11:32:48
1 comment
Hi! I have given nbme 25 two days ago and I got 50%. I have never taken nbme before that was my first one and I’m very anxious. I’ll be writing my step 1 on 27th of April which is 1.5 months away. I could really use some good advice on how to improve my nbme scores. Please do let me know cause I’m not knowing where to start and what to start. Kindly help.
Post 202: Question About Rescheduling Step 1 Exam
17/03/2025, 15:53:39
8 comments
Hi everyone,
I have a question regarding rescheduling the Step 1 exam. I heard that it's possible to reschedule the exam up to 6 days before the original date by paying a $100 fee. Is this accurate? If so, what is the process to change the exam date, and are there any additional fees or issues that I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Post 203: 2 weeks out need advice!
16/03/2025, 19:01:00
3 comments
Which mehlman playlist on yt should I watch and which files are a must please help me!
Post 204: Exam on 10/4
16/03/2025, 07:48:50
2 comments
Uwrold 91% done with 80% correct
Uwsa 2 - 77%
Nbme 27 - 161 correct
I am Weak in biostat and ethics. And arrow questions too.
I have not done wrong questions of uworld which I’m planning to do.
Still have to review flashcards made out of uworld around 900..
How do I go from now till exam?
And how do I improve biostat and ethics?
Post 205: What to write for an application for externship you send to programs help!
16/03/2025, 05:01:23
1 comment
Hey i want to know what to write in the cv you send to for externship any help would be appreciated!
Post 206: Is it possible to PASS step 1 within 2 months of preparation?
16/03/2025, 03:57:40
3 comments
Hey guys I am recently graduated non US IMG. I did study during my internship and bec of a setback or idk what i stopped my preparation during the month of Jan and I was unable to restart.
I feel like I am back on track but I need to be done by June for my own sake and for observership that I had applied prior.
I feel like I’m stuck in an endless loop but I’m not able to get myself to get going with preparation.
Post 207: Is it better to study the reproductive system before musculoskeletal?
15/03/2025, 17:33:12
2 comments
Will the embryology section in reproductive be useful in musculoskeletal?
Post 208: Sketchy Medical 30% Group Discount- March 2025
15/03/2025, 16:54:04
1 comment
Hey Everyone! I created a sketchy medical group discount for those interested for purchasing Sketchy Medical, either the 12 or 24 month plan. We need at least 25 people to sign up with their email to receive 30% off discount code. No commitment required!! Just need to fill out the form if you are interested. SketchyMedical will email you directly with the link to purchase with the 30% off discounted . Please share this to as many people that you can, so we can get to that number!!! This will close soon, so just submit your name and email to at least receive the discount, and you can decide if you actually want to purchase.
Share this to anyone you know interested !
[https://forms.gle/eRktsXyz72k7oDLm9](https://forms.gle/eRktsXyz72k7oDLm9)
Post 209: Reviewing resources
14/03/2025, 21:19:53
1 comment
Hey guys! Exam next 27th. I am wondering which resources would best help me to review HY points (first-aid? Mehlman free? Both? Another?). Still have NBME 31 and Free 120 undone
Uwsa1(january) - 59%
Uwsa2(february) - 62%
Last weeks:
Nbme 26 - 72
Nbme 27 - 71
Nbme 28 - 77
Nbme 29 - 82
Nbme 30 - 77
Uwsa3 (yesterday) - 69%
What would you recommend to put all my last energy?
Thanks!
Post 210: Please help, im really struggling
14/03/2025, 06:15:17
3 comments
I've been preparing for almost a year now along with college (ends at 4pm) and now am coming to finishing the syllabus (uworld almost done alongside bnb). I really want to give the exam in 2-3 months but I'm so shit scared. I gave a predicted couple of months back with 3-4 systems left and got 45%. How do I go about revision? Is it possible to revise and pass in a 2 months?
Post 211: HELP! i bought the CBSSA BUNDLE
13/03/2025, 18:06:42
1 comment
Hi, so i bought the bundle.. but i cant seem to find a way to access the forms? can someone teach me or show me how and where can i find the three exams and how to start one
Post 212: petechiae rash on upper chest
13/03/2025, 11:24:50
2 comments
i dont remember
it was a classical finding in something
and i feel frustrated not able to remember what it was 🤣🤣
Post 213: Sketchy micro
13/03/2025, 11:23:22
1 comment
Hello
Does anyone have a working link for sketchy videos?
Post 214: NMBE 27 Section 2 Question 10
13/03/2025, 10:49:45
4 comments
https://preview.redd.it/0qg8lqkwogoe1.png?width=1418&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a3500d41c1e18ea0f12f7359dc6737cc5ae3dde
Why this cant be Klebsiella? It is a multidrug resistant bug and it also plays a role in staghorn calculi.>!&#x200B;!<
Post 215: Which NBME to take first?
13/03/2025, 09:53:04
2 comments
About to take my first in two weeks. Which to take first and what’s order to take the rest?
Post 216: Anyone tested today ?
13/03/2025, 09:34:02
19 comments
How was it
Post 217: Advices for 2nd read
13/03/2025, 06:40:42
4 comments
I just finished my first read and don't know what to do now .. start solving NBMEs ? or revising FA .. how much time should I take ? pls answer my questions and related stuff Thanks
Post 218: Limited Budget and NBMEs?
13/03/2025, 00:22:39
8 comments
Hi everyone,
I’m a Canadian MS2 preparing to write step1. Given the conversion rates to CAD and a limited budget, I was wondering which NBME exams folks thought were helpful to have taken? I plan on purchasing 3 NBMEs and using the free120 (once I find it lol).
I already have uworld and plan on continuing to use that for my studies by creating mixed blocks of 40 Qs. Is there anything else I can be doing to maximize my studying?
Thanks in advance 🤍
Post 219: Hey step1 people , I wanna start studying, where can I find BnB videos?
12/03/2025, 14:31:00
1 comment
Can u please put a link for it, thank y’all💗💗💗
Post 220: D-18 NBME 30 52%
12/03/2025, 13:18:31
5 comments
Will I make it...?
Post 221: Much watch units of Bootcamp and BnB
12/03/2025, 12:21:28
5 comments
What are the high yield units of Bootcamp and Bnb??
Should i do all units from bootcamp or should i do some from bootcamp and some from Bnb
Please help
Post 222: Sketchy
12/03/2025, 09:55:19
1 comment
Does anyone have sketchy login? I just need it for one month and am willing to pay please PM me thanks
Post 223: Need uworld discount code valid for march 2025
12/03/2025, 09:33:13
4 comments
Need u world discount code or any group to avail the discount
Post 224: practice test at prometric center
12/03/2025, 09:14:33
1 comment
hello guys.
Is the practice test at prometric center same as free 120 ??
thanks
Post 225: Exam in 2 weeks
12/03/2025, 07:30:37
1 comment
Sitting for the Usmle step 1 in exactly 2 weeks.
Nbme 26=71%
Nbme 27= 74%
Nbme 28= 75%
Nbme 29= 76%
Nbme 30= 74%
Uwsa 1= 64% lol
Uworld 80% complete
Nbme 31 and free 120 left and uwsa2 and 3 left Would really appreciate some kind words and advice on how to go through these last few days.
Thank You !
Post 226: Need help in making a schedule
12/03/2025, 05:07:02
1 comment
I’m feeling lost regarding my preparation for this exam. I’ve been studying for years—yes, literally years—on and off. Time has passed, and I still haven’t cleared the exam. I’m not burnt out; I still have faith I can do it. However, I’ve studied all the systems many times and forgotten them many times as well. This is the vicious cycle I’m in right now. I took NBME 25 and scored 50%. I want to get it done in 3 weeks. Please help
Post 227: Advice
12/03/2025, 03:42:05
1 comment
I m doing uw second pass and i did random block but i scored only 45 percent .. i wanna appear in may for exam havent taken nbmes what to do uworld makes my confidence zero
Post 228: Bootcamp ankihub
12/03/2025, 02:45:18
4 comments
I’m new to Anki and planning to start using it with Bootcamp. I saw they have decks on AnkiHub— is that a separate platform? And, the site requires a subscription (Core or Premium). Which one do I need for Bootcamp’s Step 1 decks?
Also, I’d like to study by focusing on a system or even subtopics within a subject using Anki. For example, could I specifically go through Anki cards on Bacilli for microbiology?
Sorry if this sounds messy—just looking for some guidance. Thanks!
Post 229: am i ready?
11/03/2025, 23:46:12
11 comments
NBME 29–> 64%
NBME 30–> 66.5%
NBME 26–> 67%
old free 120–> 77.5%
can I send next week? or do i need more time? and what can i do to increase my scores (i want to try and hit 70s in NBME)
please help and thank u
Post 230: NBMEs
19/03/2025, 20:21:41
8 comments
so this might sound really dumb to some of you but please understand Im an IMG and where im from there’s no preparation whatsoever for the US pathways, thus im doing the steps alone with no one to guide me at all
Ive been on this subreddit for a little while and ive gathered enough info on what resources to use and how to use them to pass and so on, but one thing i dont understand is what are the nbmes? how do i do them? what is the order recommended of doing them? and so on
basically I know nothing except for the fact that they are some sort of practice tests for the step 1 exam that you can take.
Ill be eternally grateful if someone can help fill me in
Post 231: Does anyone have a link/google drive for boards and beyond videos ?
19/03/2025, 19:20:25
1 comment
I have found the videos on telegram but it's so annoying to manually download each video individually. Is there some link to download them all in one bulk ?
Post 232: I have not recieved my diploma due to logostical delay with my university. But plan to give step 1 before that . Is it possible? If so can someone help me with the process.
19/03/2025, 06:35:29
1 comment
Please need help!!
Post 233: Step 1 on Monday- can I take Sat and Sun off
18/03/2025, 17:57:44
3 comments
1st pass u world-68% score
1/3 of incorrrects done
Nbme 30- 86%
Nbme 31- 81%
Can I take sat and Sunday completely off before my exam?
Post 234: does anyone have sketchy micro videos please? appreciate it
17/03/2025, 12:18:31
4 comments
does anyone have sketchy micro videos please? appreciate it
Post 235: What's the best AI chat bot for Comp/Step 1 prep?
17/03/2025, 11:31:50
6 comments
I've been using ChatGPT and upgraded to pro because I was constantly hitting advance voice mode limits - but it's so $$$. Anyone have good things to say about Gemini, Grok3 or Perplexity?
Post 236: How do I start? Is it too late to start?
17/03/2025, 05:35:25
3 comments
I’m an Indian medical UG student currently in my 3rd year.I really want to clear my USMLE step 1 in my first attempt. But honestly speaking, I haven’t studied much the last two years and I have been a below average student in academics. I do not know where to start, how to start and I’m even starting to wonder if it’s too late to start. Really need some guidance .
Post 237: What I did for step 1 (IMG)
13/03/2025, 10:14:10
2 comments
Hello, I passed my step one exam last year in the month of September. I was in year a medical student studying in India. I am dictating this by audio so forgive me first any mistakes.
I am going to share my whole period from study. I completed my secondary universities in February and started properly studying for step one around mid March. The resources are used were first aid, bnb, u world, pathoma and sketchy in my prededicated.
So this is what my schedule look well like I got a three month schedule somewhere. I’ll share it with you so it focused around 5 to 10 days per system depending on the subject. So I want to use the videos then read the first aid and then I’ll solve the World questions for a day. It typically look like to do three hours of videos, then reading the same part and first aid and whatever system I have done previously I would do one block of that and then review it. This whole took around 3 1/half months so from mid March to June.
I completed my qbank by end of June and I reset it from first July.
I had my internals in July, so half of it was wasted, and I gave an nbme around mid July. I I barely passed, B5 after 15 days in July end I gave My next NBME And I failed. So, I did a reread of a first aid. for the month of August I gave an NBME every and in the time between I would do uworld and review the topics I was getting wrong.
So I gave an nbme at around 20 August And decided to schedule my exam. I took a block and I got it verified by by around 10 days and I scheduled my date to 26th September. So for the month of September, which was my actual dedicated period I had two nbmes so i did that, also i did all three uwsa and both free 120. I like the free 120 best as an indicator for the exam. WS good about the question length, but not exactly about the type of as in the exam. I did a final of first aid. I reviewed all of my NBE and I read some the ones I where the arrow one and the ethics one. I made a list of the things which were very volatile and I needed to read the day before the and what I on the 25th.
On the 26th, I gave my exam for food. I took energy bars, protein bars, actually cooked rice ( pulav ) and a coffee, The exam took more time, then I usually did so prepare for that at home. I was doing around 45 but it took me up to 55 minutes in the real deal so because the long, but the questions are I thought they were very standard longer but not very confusing. I marked around 15 questions per block. I think this was because it was a real exam and I was a little anxious, but after I got home, I saw that most of them were right, so don’t panic because of the nervousness and all the best to anyone giving it. If you have any questions, just ask me and should I share my NBMe scores?
just some numbers, saying this on the top of my head because I don’t have the actual numbers right now,. If you want the actual percentages, just tell me, I have them written in a book somewhere. by the end of my first world, my average was 60%. I started around 40, but I got the hang pf it by the time I completed it. I bought my block when my NBME scores crossed 70, my UWS course, where in the 60 to 65 range and my final score around five days before the exam in free on 20 was 78%.
Post 238: Freaking out
12/03/2025, 17:06:00
4 comments
How hard is usmle step 1( seriously) and what’s are good resources used ?