Here are my initial thoughts ):
The difficulty level on the actual exam is quite similar to the Qbanks, Kaplan and UWorld. The only thing that is different is that the question stems tend to be a bit longer on the actual test than what we see on the Qbanks. I generally read the question first on a long stem and that really helped because there were a handful of questions that only required you to read the last one or two lines. For example, I had one long stem that ended with a question asking about cytokines and class switching that had nothing to do with the patient. Saved some time and mental energy.
I had maybe 2 or 3 interactive questions, all were cardiac auscultation. Very similar to the ones on the Qbanks. Nothing too difficult. I had 2 CXR's, but I was able to make the diagnosis without really using the x-rays in both questions. Had a couple Had about 4-5 bacterial stains and 5-6 gross images. I also had a 2-3 radiographs of bones.
Surprisingly I had 2 questions on Scabies and one on Lice. Nothing too difficult but I hadn't really paid much attention to those.
I thought the anatomy was pretty doable for the most part, but there were definitely a few that were really tough. Make sure to know neuroanatomy!! I had about 3-4 questions with either CT scans or angiography of cerebral vessels.
Most of the physiology questions had tables with arrows asking what is increased/decreased (15-20 of these questions at least). These questions are tricky because they give you A-H usually so all possible combinations are covered most of the time. They are very comparable to the qbanks though.
I actually had one exact question on my test that was on NBME 7 (I even asked about it on this forum because I had originally gotten it wrong but thanks to this forum I got it right on the real deal!!)
I also had another question from NBME 12 that had the same picture, but different question. (also got that one wrong first time around but got it right this time
Overall, I think the only real advice I can give is to know your concepts!! Be a very curious student when it comes to the material. Dive into the pathogenesis, always be asking "why" rather than simply "what." It really pays off come test day!
The difficulty level on the actual exam is quite similar to the Qbanks, Kaplan and UWorld. The only thing that is different is that the question stems tend to be a bit longer on the actual test than what we see on the Qbanks. I generally read the question first on a long stem and that really helped because there were a handful of questions that only required you to read the last one or two lines. For example, I had one long stem that ended with a question asking about cytokines and class switching that had nothing to do with the patient. Saved some time and mental energy.
I had maybe 2 or 3 interactive questions, all were cardiac auscultation. Very similar to the ones on the Qbanks. Nothing too difficult. I had 2 CXR's, but I was able to make the diagnosis without really using the x-rays in both questions. Had a couple Had about 4-5 bacterial stains and 5-6 gross images. I also had a 2-3 radiographs of bones.
Surprisingly I had 2 questions on Scabies and one on Lice. Nothing too difficult but I hadn't really paid much attention to those.
I thought the anatomy was pretty doable for the most part, but there were definitely a few that were really tough. Make sure to know neuroanatomy!! I had about 3-4 questions with either CT scans or angiography of cerebral vessels.
Most of the physiology questions had tables with arrows asking what is increased/decreased (15-20 of these questions at least). These questions are tricky because they give you A-H usually so all possible combinations are covered most of the time. They are very comparable to the qbanks though.
I actually had one exact question on my test that was on NBME 7 (I even asked about it on this forum because I had originally gotten it wrong but thanks to this forum I got it right on the real deal!!)
I also had another question from NBME 12 that had the same picture, but different question. (also got that one wrong first time around but got it right this time
Overall, I think the only real advice I can give is to know your concepts!! Be a very curious student when it comes to the material. Dive into the pathogenesis, always be asking "why" rather than simply "what." It really pays off come test day!
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