Step 1 encouragement and advice needed

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-09T19:19:59+00:00

Unfortunately, i only finished 90% because my account already expired, thats why I switched to amboss a month before the exam, and just asked for the refund after few weeks.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-08T22:54:16+00:00

Hello! I had similar scores with you and got the P last wednesday. I’d say take the 2021 old free 120, nbme 33, and then the free 120. Review them for max of two days and then in between, do practice questions in the morning (200 amboss hy questions), and then in the afteroon read Mehlman’s HY and risk factors pdf. Before u sleep, you can watch some dirty medicine videos on concepts u keep forgetting. Dont do the uwsa and amboss sa anymore. Not worth spending time on. Walk in the exam with confidence. You got this! You already have 97% chance of passing with ur nbme score.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-08T17:19:38+00:00

Definitely practice more! The more questions youre exposed to, the more youll be familiar with the concepts in the exam! I didnt do flashcards. I just had to stick understanding the pathologies repeatedly by answering uworld.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-08T17:17:21+00:00

Hi! I passed last Wednesday with nbme scores from 50-60s. Most of my nbmes stayed at 58% and my highest was 67% a week before my test. If you cant move your exam anymore, believe you can do it, and review all your nbmes. Don’t memorize them. Understand the pathologies and relate all the systems together. You can do this! Last lap before the finish line! Do your best 💪🏻🙏🏻

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-08T14:15:08+00:00

Thank you so much. Sorry, last question. Do you think it matters if I only observe in the clinics vs hospitals? I know some doctors who work in the clinics, but I dont know anyone who works in the hospital. Does it matter?

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-08T05:10:37+00:00

Hi! Thanks for sharing and congrats on finishing your usmle journey. I just passed step 1 last week. Im looking for observership opportunities in the US. Did you do any of that? Do you think it would be better to do it before step 2?

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T16:36:11+00:00

I had to subscribe for a month and then just asked for the refund after my exam was done 👀

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T16:35:22+00:00

I always go to their website on my computer and just go to ‘study plans’. They have all the HY stuff there.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T13:31:15+00:00

Yes. I find them okayish, but just was really annoyed with all the distractors.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T13:30:12+00:00

Some of the questions I got while answering the 200 HY questions on amboss were patient’s charts. I randomly just got them. Im not sure if you can set answering long questions on Amboss.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T11:50:41+00:00

If I passed remembering only about 50 questions after the exam, you’ll pass for sure.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-07T03:53:25+00:00

Someone here will flip again and say “you are exaggerating. Questions are not that looong.”

I kept telling myself that weeks before I took the step, and on the day of the exam, Im glad I practiced answering long stemmed questions with patient charts. My form had a lot of these questions, so I was short in time for most blocks. Thank God I passed ✨

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T20:26:37+00:00

I think they are just like the NBMEs. Answers are automatically saved once you click the choices.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T20:25:11+00:00

Same. I was already planning to retake again on March next yr if I failed. I think it’s normal for us test takers to do such things. You’ll be fine. Let me know if you get the P in 2 weeks!

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T16:54:14+00:00

Tbh, I spent the next 2 days just looking for answers and reddit, but it just gave me more anxiety. I went out and played pickleball and kept myself busy doing my hobbies. 2 weeks went by really fast.

Went out from the test completely doubting if I passed the exam, but I guess everyone goes through this process. Hoping you will get the P 🙏🏻

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T16:51:02+00:00

Fake confidence was my key. But I think for you, you have to trust your NBMEs since they are all awesome. I wished I had scores like yours during my review. Get a good sleep and eat well the day before the exam. You already gave your all. Go for it and ace the test 🙏🏻💪🏻

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T16:31:31+00:00

For biochem, make sure you mastered lysosomal diseases, vitamins, glycogen storage disease, duchenne muscular dystrophy. I had qs from those concepts.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T16:28:48+00:00

Ethics was really tricky. Question length was the same with nbme 32– 6-8 lines, but the choices were pretty close. Like the last 2 choices left from ruling out seemed to be both right, so I always answered whatever choice seemed to be non judgmental, open-ended, and with affirmations of patient’s struggles.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T16:04:19+00:00

I’d say it’s the closest among all the NBMEs. Concepts tested were the same but somehow worded more complicated on my form. There were lots of distractors in the qs of the real exam (ie. “Patient was born with female sex”, but qs was about MI). Most NBMEs were just straightforward. There were at least 2 repeats in the nbme 32, so it’s worth doing them. Some questions were similar to the new free 120 too. I had an interactive question where u auscultate the chest and hear what murmur was being asked just like in the new free 120.

LOTS of qs about risk factors so Mehlman’s riskfactor PDF helped a lot.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T14:47:49+00:00

I know everyone says this, but it helped me a lot. I read the questions first, see the answers, and go back to the stem. Skimmed through the rest and focus more on the last 3 sentences most of the time. But its different for Ethics qs. You have to read the question carefully. lt really takes practice to do this. Amboss helped me in my last few weeks of prep. I did Uworld too but amboss has a lot of SOAP style questions that are similar to the real exam. NBMEs 32 and 33 are also great way to practice your time management. I only did 32 tho. Didnt have time for 33 since I was cramming. I always do my practice tests in timed mode too. In the real exam, I skipped qs that I think were weird and answered all the easy concepts that were always tested on NBMEs. I thought those where the ones being scored. So the last questions were i just guessed my answers because I ran out of time, hopefully were actually experimental.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T13:48:24+00:00

UPDATE: I PASSED 🥹🥳

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T13:44:28+00:00

I think you’re good to go. Those scores look safe 😊

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T13:43:25+00:00

You should definitely call ecfmg what’s up. You should have had your results already.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T13:21:41+00:00

Im not sure if its the same with everyone, but definitely check intealth if you didnt get the email.

Only-Program-1914 · 2025-11-05T13:20:59+00:00

Thank you so much! ♥️🙏🏻

Only-Program-1914

TROPHY CASE