I have finally managed to score two standard deviations above the class mean on a shelf exam! Of course, it would be on a test that was "formative" and did not contribute towards any block grade. The best thing about this little victory was realizing how much I don't care about doing better than my classmates. Doing well on the Behavioral Sciences NBME simply reflects my familiarity with the subject area prior to medical school. It included a smattering of human development (my bachelor's degree), public health (my master's degree), and ethics (let's just call that my mothering degree). I was delighted by my score because of the sense of relief I felt. I chose not to waste away my precious winter break studying for this exam, so I can confidently assert that experience trumps studying any day. The more I see and do, the better I learn.
That is precisely why I am so grateful for being enrolled in the accelerated family medicine program at my school. The clinical experiences I have had during the past semester have been invaluable in putting what I am learning in the classroom into context. Last week, my teammate (another second-year medical student working with the same preceptor) ran up to me with his eyes wide open. "Vieve, you've got to see this! Ms. Smith has a nystagmus!" Two months ago, I would have had no clue what he was talking about, but now that I've seen it, I'll never forget.
Of course, I'll never clinically see most things that are tested on board exams. It's the obscure and uncommon conditions that make for more challenging questions; and challenge is what these exams are all about. Now that January has arrived, I have joined the thousands of other second-year students around the country who are obsessing over just how challenging those questions will be. USMLE Step 1 is a mere season away. It is the first of four tests that I will take to become a licensed physician.
Unlike many second-years, I am a little ambivalent about Step 1. Don't get me wrong! Of course I want to do well on the exam. But I have classmates who are already having anxious dreams about the test they will take in June. They seem to interpret those dreams as signs to begin their in-depth review now. I refuse to let myself go there. Pouring my heart and soul into studying for an exam that is five months away--especially while continuing to have regularly scheduled classes--will only make me to freak out and burn out.
Hopefully, my study strategy will get me the results I want in terms of Step score (shooting for a tad above national average) and sanity (staying connected with my kids and taking care of my physical health). My plan is pretty basic...
My school is offering (technically, requiring) a practice Step exam eight weeks from now. In the next eight weeks I will annotate First Aid 2015 and Pathoma while studying the material my professors are presenting this block (pathology of cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and gastrointestinal systems) and working through the UWorld question bank. I've got plenty of resources to draw upon in order to refresh what I learned last year such as Costanzo's Physiology and SketchyMicro. There are a ton of resources available to medical students prepping for Step 1. It's possible for me to spend thousands of dollars on resources that I will never, ever actually have time to go through. (I've shaken the belief that the more resources at my disposal, the better I will do. Funny--it's kind of like the myth that if you join a gym, you'll work out. The truth is, joining a gym may help, but you'll only work out if you prioritize fitness as part of your day.)
Oh, yes. The first step of this Step prep? It's time for me to kick-start my studying by watching Step Up with my daughters. :-)
