It's crazy to think that i'm finally writing this here. before I tested (27/04), I usually come on reddit to read about other people's experiences. I guess its my turn now haha ; )
I'll get right into it!
I thought the exam was kind of tough tbh. the questions weren't that straightforward. you could know the diagnosis but that's not the answer they're looking for. you need to know the nitty gritty down to the cellular mechanism.
i'd say one of the things I wish I did more of was nbmes. they were totally helpful and I'd advice anyone I know to do as much as they can.
another thing that helped was the free 120 (I also watched Dr Ryan's explanation of the answers on YouTube, I was able to understand some questions I saw in my exam because I understood his explanations properly).
step 1 is one of those exams you write and don't know how to feel after. you're not sure if you did enough to pass but also not sure if you flopped and are going to fail, you just have to wait for the results I guess.
to be honest, I just went into my exam trusting God because my practice scores weren't all that great (was stuck at 40s/50s)
I was tired of reading allll the time and just wanted to get it over and done with.
Writing it felt like the general knowledge of everything I knew in medicine was being tested. it was more than just first aid or uworld or whatever, it was also the little details you learned in med school or saw during a rotation that you thought wasn't that important.
let's not even get into how long the exam was 😂 I was almost dozing off at my 6th block. I made sure to use all the breaks I could get.
all in all, I think it was a good exam, I'm happy i've finally taken it and I'm honestly hoping for the best.
I wish everyone that hasn't written, is writing again or still waiting for the results goodluck we will all be fine at the end of the day.