Adeleke T. Adesina - How to Prepare for the Medical Boards: Secrets for Success on USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

How to Prepare for the Medical Boards

Secrets for Success on USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1

Copyright 2011 Adeleke T. Adesina and Farook W. Taha

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

NOTICE: The authors and publisher disclaim any personal liability, either directly or indirectly, for advice or information presented within this book. All the information presented in this book is not based on any scientific observation or research, but rather from the personal experiences of the authors of this book and ideas from other medical students who have taken the COMLEX/USMLE examinations. The recommendations in this book are not universally accepted and do not apply to every medical student studying for the USMLE and COMLEX; neither are the suggestions and advice regarding surviving medical school. Every students approach to studying for these exams is different; this book serves as a guide for medical students who do not understand the approach to standardized examinations. We assume no responsibilities for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any false or misleading information that may arise in this edition. Information about the USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 examination is publicly available on the NBME and NBOME websites.

Please note the material in this book is not based on recall or memorized contents or materials from the actual examination. This information is based solely on our experiences doing thousands of practice questions and studying several Board review books.

Editorial Notes: Plural pronoun we is used throughout for simplicity. The guide First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 is referred to as First Aid for convenience.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4502-9813-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-9814-8 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-9815-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011903335

iUniverse rev. date: 8/17/2011

Contents

Adeleke T. Adesina

University of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Osteopathic Medicine, New Jersey.

Class of 2012

Farook Wael Taha

University of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Osteopathic Medicine, New Jersey.

Class of 2012

In preparing for this book, we used extreme caution to completely avoid violation of the terms and condition of the National Boards of Osteopathic Examiners (NBOME) and National Boards of Medical Examiners (NBME).

We contacted the NBOME office to review our book to make sure we did not violate their terms and conditions. We abided by the terms and conditions (V) in the NBOME Bulletin of Information, Candidate Confidentiality Agreement,published July 1, 2010.

We attempted to collaborate with the NBME office and requested they review the book in order to ensure no illegal content was revealed to the public,but they simply notified us about their terms and conditions, which we made every effort to adhere to.

This book is dedicated to Almighty God, the author and finisher of our faith.

We would like to thank our loving families for their unending encouragement and support.

To me the ideal doctor would be a man endowed with profound knowledge of life and of the soul, intuitively divining any suffering or disorder of whatever kind, and restoring peace by his mere presence.

~ Henri Amiel

We would like to thank the following people for their advice and contributions to the completion of this project.

Paul Krueger, DO

Associate Dean of Student Affairs and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology,

University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine

Jacqueline Giacobbe, MS. Ed

University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Center for Teaching and Learning Academic Center

James White, PhD

UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine, Neuroscience professor, author of USMLE Road Map Neuroscience and Gross Anatomy

John Barone, MD

Kaplan Pathology Instructor

Olufunmilayo Johnson, Pharm. D

Steven Agabeji, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center, Assistant Professor at University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.

Author, Step-Up to Medicine

Dear Reader,

This book was written as a guide for medical students who are preparing for the USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 Board exams. Our goal was to give you a step-wise approach to preparing for these two exams. USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 (for osteopathic students) are two different examinations, and preparing for these exams is different.

If you are an allopathic or international medical graduate, you only need to focus on the USMLE section. Osteopathic students need to also understand how to study for the COMLEX Level 1, so a chapter is dedicated to that exam.

We first describe what the USMLE and COMLEX examinations are and what score ranges students can achieve on these two tests. The book includes a chapter on First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 , which should be one of the primary sources for your Board preparation. We then discuss the importance of using questions; we highly recommend two of the best question banks on the market: USMLEWorld and Kaplan Question Bank.

Chapter 5, the integration chapter, is the key to using this book. This chapter demonstrates how students should prepare for the USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 exams. You should read this chapter to fully understand this process; refer back to it as you proceed with your Board preparation.

We provided a sample Board schedule to serve as guide during your preparation; use it if it works for you. We offer a system-based learning method to cover the major topics tested on the Boards, according to First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 . The book also offers a chapter for osteopathic students who are considering whether or not to take the USMLE Step 1 exam.

The book ends with a chapter focused primarily on how to survive medical schools rigorous education and on planning the most efficient way to maximize your medical education while still enjoying life during medical school.

We have been through the same situation you are in right now, and we are aware of your confusion and anxiety. We have written this book to improve your preparation.We hope this book sheds some light on how to survive the last few months of your Board preparation and helps you achieve the Board score you so wish for.

Confucius once said, The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, and your journey is just about to begin.

We wrote this book during our third year of medical school, after taking the USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 exams. We experienced the dread every medical student feels before and after taking these licensing exams. Most of us often feel lost or confused. We realized that most students do not know how to utilize the resources and information available to do very well on these standardized exams. Most students have no systematic approach to preparing for these exams and end up developing anxiety issues over Boards.