USMLE Step 1 Experience By Dr.Thang Nguyen Ngoc
I’ ve been thinking about this for a couple of days then finally decide to do a short write up. Hopefully, it would be beneficial to some test takers.
I was a final year med student from Vietnam when I gave usmle step 1. My very first preparation for step 1 started at the beginning of the 5th year and it was on and off due to school exams every 3-4 weeks.so total time was almost 2 years.
My initial goal was a 240 plus because my dream specialty is Internal medicine which requires a competitive step 1 score for a non-US IMG. But when I reach the final phases of preparation, I know that I do have the ability to crush the 250 milestones.
Here are my materials:
Uworld
Uw biostat
FA
Pathoma and Goljan for pathology
Katzung for pharmacology
Brs physiology
Sketchy micro
Amboss
Kaplan Qbank
Medbullet: they have a really good bank with 90 days of free access
I didn’t use Kaplan or BnB lectures because I consider myself not a good visual learner.
You can download all of these materials from our website >> click here
Self-assessment: taken in order
Kaplan SIM 1: 79%
Kaplan Sim 2: 81% (both are 7 months out )
Nbme 19: 242 (4 months out)
Nbme 18: 250 (4 weeks)
All other nbmes were offline and range between 15-25 mistakes
Amboss SA: 264 (3 weeks)
Uwsa 2: 256 (3 days)
Uw 1st pass: 82%
Real deal: 239
Download Goljan RAPID REVIEW PATHOLOGY FIFTH EDITION (2019) PDF
I walked out Prometric test center feeling ok, marked 7-8 questions in each block on average. The difficulty is just slightly above UWSA 2 but it was really heavy in biostat and epidemiology and yeah, unfortunately, those are my weakness. Maybe I’m unlucky or maybe those self assessments gave me the illusion of scoring a 250 plus
And yes, of course, I’m disappointed and demotivated by the result given the expectations I had. But I will definitely give myself a second chance on CK then consider to continue this journey.
Dont hesitate to ask me any questions in comments. I’d be happy to answer.
