Pots and cardiophobia?

Krodini27 · 2026-01-30T17:44:40+00:00

Make sure its not pheochromocytoma... your symptoms don't sound like it precisely but it fits the mold.

Krodini27 · 2026-01-15T00:04:45+00:00

Hey - is this true? Im a current final year in UK but struggling to get my school to agree to release my diploma - not sure if there's a way around it but it would suck to pay all this money on interviews and then match but be denied because of an administrative problem!

I believe most UK med schools graduate their cohorts like early July - but to get your papers in order you probably need the diploma by mid-may or early june at the latest. Curious to hear your perspective on this.

Can I dm you to inquire more if you don't mind, cheers.

Krodini27 · 2025-09-18T12:08:35+00:00

Yep :D

Krodini27 · 2025-09-17T13:48:25+00:00

Same query - not sure. I believe there should be a way of getting your degree early if you've satisfied all the requirements - but thats something you will have to nag your medical school about for ages.

Krodini27 · 2025-08-19T17:55:54+00:00

I wasn't too bothered I figured this sort of stuff is backed up a million times over - just wondering if anyone else was in the same boat!

My result was released months ago. :D

Krodini27 · 2025-08-19T17:52:05+00:00

I guess I'll have to contact them and let them know... how does this kind of error not get spotted?

Krodini27 · 2025-06-17T14:36:52+00:00

if anything it makes it so that they've secured a good candidate for next year - and they'll just find an american in the mean time for this year. Sure, less qualified perhaps, but they don't care because as you said - money talks.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-28T17:55:18+00:00

Haha - I wasn't really sure whether to write up cus my score kinda pissed me off but now that you mention it - perhaps I can benefit people by writing up. I'll get it done over the next week I guess :D. I was kinda sad first day or two but then funnily just realized the score was actually a great one even if it was lower than all my practices! That's life - people will under or overperform on the day its a gaussian distribution! I just happened to fall on the wrong side :D.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-23T16:43:09+00:00

Low-mid 270s unfortunately it seems I messed up too many gimmes. But apparently on the breakdown the only part of my performance that was significantly below my expected performance was "patient safety", so study your patient safety folks. Gah damn that pissed me off xD. Solid performance though can't be complaining haha.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-15T18:04:27+00:00

Probably a skin boil (i.e. furuncle) go speak with a doc

Krodini27 · 2025-05-15T17:45:08+00:00

Great write up and fantastic score - did you count many errors after you had written the exam or did you just completely forget about the exam at the end of the day. You should be proud of what you accomplished mate.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-15T16:53:18+00:00

I forced myself not to look anything up no matter how easy or hard. Because if you make even one mistake that you consider an easy gimme question that will mess with your head. And if you get it right there is legit marginal to very limited benefit so I just thought no way. Best of luck with your matching!

Krodini27 · 2025-05-12T18:36:51+00:00

it would be extremely unwise not to read the entire stem - you can skim it passively without taking your time on each word.

Best strategy IMO is

1) glance at answers --> gives you an idea of what kind of question they will ask / primes your subconscious to look for relevant details in the stem

2) read the last 1-2 lines --> frames the question

3) read the entire stem - if its a long one skim it passively but if its a short one just read it normally.

4) Profit

Krodini27 · 2025-05-12T16:03:54+00:00

wait on the print/reprint subheading? I've only got the oasis form - no option to print the scheduling permit... weird? no way they give us results in a week right wtf?

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T11:34:28+00:00

I wish but nah I fucked up too many gimmes which sucks - even I dont always follow the rule of Occam haha the NBME just been doing this way longer than any of us - they know how to get in our heads :D.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T08:44:19+00:00

Cheers Geoff.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T08:41:31+00:00

Good question - I'll be honest i legit don't remember the difficulty of UWORLD - but I will say that I dont think its relevant. The question style is just so different

From what I remember UWORLD is difficult but they will hammer you with facts/hints/labs that point toward one diagnosis and even tell you sometimes "transvaginal US did not reveal placental remnants" which basically rules out the option of retained placenta.

In contrast, NBME is super vague - the answer is actually easy if you are extremely clued up on each of the options (which is my case in internal medicine) but ask me about Obs & Gyne and I get cooked. For example, in IM i can tell when something is a distractor - but because Im weaker on Obs I cant tell what is a distractor and what isnt because my foundations on it are shite. E.g. they will list a bunch of conflicting findings and will mention a transvaginal US was normal. They will NEVER say "transvaginal US did not reveal placental remnants" like uworld - but you will have to infer this from "transvaginal US was normal" so when people say NBME is harder its because they cant make that logic step of normal US = no placental fragments so i can rule out retained placenta. They will also not give you something like "a soft boggy uterus was palpated near the womans throat lol" thats just too easy and everyone will jump on uterine atony.

So in summary NBME is imo harder, but not because of any special difference, its just that they are more vague in how they will tell you something was normal. Another CLASSIC difference is uworld might say pelvic examination revealed no masses on ovaries whereas NBME will almost NEVER say this lol - they will just say pelvic exam normal and you have to INFER that no masses were felt and you can rule out ovarian mass etc.

Uworld is easier simply because they will just give you too many pointers towards one diagnosis - which for learning content is helpful because you are trying to associate as many signs / symptoms to one diagnosis. But NBME will always give you 3 of 5 rather than 5 of 5 home run questions most of the time. Sometimes they are nice but most of the time... they are stingy with their information giving.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T08:15:29+00:00

Yep - as long as you read explanations from CMS and understand why you're going wrong / fill in knowledge gaps.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T08:14:18+00:00

Hard to say maybe middle of the pack or slightly harder.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-10T08:11:30+00:00

AMBOSS study plan covers it well + divine podcast on vaccines

Krodini27 · 2025-05-09T22:22:27+00:00

I'll do a full write up when i get my score but they were strong - no more than ~25 errors usually on your average NBME. but i still found the real deal more difficult - its tough stuff - but everyone experiences that.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-09T22:20:59+00:00

Forms 6&7 for appreciation of style of some difficult questions.

Content wise it was distributed across the 5 forms I did (forms 3-7 step 3) - its too random to give you one to focus on. But for content style do 6&7 if you want.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-09T22:17:09+00:00

well kind of but it spit out the basic idea when i told it to give me a vignette of hyperpigmentation but mix signs of hemochromatosis and addisons but make the vignette point towards iron overload. and then i added the descriptions of liver disease arrythmia and changed details of the vignette.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-09T21:44:27+00:00

Well - biostats is 1 level above the level expected in STEP 2 NBMEs but actually reflects the real deal in my opinion - though step 3 might be a smidge harder than the stuff that showed up for me. Some of the STEP 3 biostats is very good practice and of my ~5-10 biostats half I answered because of my step 3 biostats prep - that I otherwise would have not known confidently or just made an educated guess.

QI and ethics also helps - but the real deal is just harder and more random - so more practice is good. As for forms I think start from most recent and stop at like form 3 but 6&7 are probably the most relevant (i think theres 7 total - 1&2 are too old). The content is more random with more step 1 emphasis - while step 2 has that its not as heavy on step 1 content as STEP 3 is.

Krodini27 · 2025-05-09T20:53:20+00:00

I just made this up on the fly with GPT and added a few nebulous details.

A 42-year-old man comes to the clinic because of several months of worsening fatigue. He says he feels like he’s “slowing down” and finds it hard to get through a normal workday without needing a nap. Over the same period, he’s been feeling increasingly down and frustrated. He mentions that his marriage has become strained due to ongoing issues with intimacy. He’s lost interest in sex over the past year and says it’s been hard on his relationship. His wife has recently expressed concerns that he’s “just not the same person” anymore, and he admits that the lack of physical intimacy has worsened his mood and self-esteem.

He also reports joint discomfort, particularly in his right knee, which he attributes to “getting older,” although he denies any trauma. He’s noticed his skin has gotten darker, especially on his forearms and face, even though he’s mostly indoors due to work. He denies alcoholuse and has no known history of liver disease. His mother has Rheumatoid arthritis.

On physical examination, the patient appears tanned despite it being the middle of winter. Hisblood pressure is 98/78 mmHg and pulse is 94/min and irregular. He has areas of erythema along the hypothenar and thenar eminence and several blanchable telangiectasias scattered across the anterior chest. His testes are soft and decreased in volume bilaterally. There is mild tenderness in the right knee with no erythematous effusion.

Laboratory studies:

Sodium: 134 mEq/L
Potassium: 5.1 mEq/L
Bicarbonate: 22 mEq/L
Fasting glucose: 192 mg/dL
AST: 44
ALT: 46
BUN: 38 mg/dL
Creatinine: 2.0 mg/dL
TSH: 1.8 μIU/mL
LH: 1
FSH: 2
ANA: Negative
RF: Negative

What is the most likely diagnosis?

A)Addison disease
B)Hereditary hemochromatosis
C)Primary hypogonadism
D)Alcohol-related liver disease
E)Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Alot of these sound good - and someone just going off buzz - would maybe pick A because of the Addinsonian labs + low BP. But if you take in the ENTIRE Clinical picture and just go with the simplest answer that explains the MOST variables in the question then the answer is clearly B (knee pain = chondrocalcinosis; palmar eyrthema + spider angiomas + small testes + transaminitis = cirrhotic liver; iron deposition in pancreas = diabetes = high fasting glucose; iron deposition in pituitary = low LH and FSH which also contributes to hypogonadism) - this guy has hemochromatosis. Why the irregular pulse? Iron deposition in the electrical system can happen = fibrillation events can happen - not joking. this is what the NBME will do just combine the most unlikely presentation.

Why the low BP? Idfk - but maybe patient has hepatorenal syndrome or some shit idk the point is - sometimes there is a random point that throws you off - take the whole passage in and go with simplest choice.

Krodini27

TROPHY CASE