

If you are spending more than a few minutes on every answer, then find the most appropriate option in your answer choices first or mark the answer for later when you have time left towards the end of the USMLE test. For instance, you may have thought of Vitamin C, but the answer choices may have ascorbic acid. This approach will keep you from getting confused or distracted and help you find the best answer.

Then look for the option in the answer choices. Once you’ve read the question, try not to look for the answer options and come up with an answer in your head. Don’t Scan Your Answer Options Immediately For instance, you may get a long patient case which ends with the question, “Which is the most common cause of hypertension?” for which you don’t really need all the information of the patient’s case. Most USMLE Step 1 questions are complicated and lengthy and you cannot always rely on the information provided to you in the stem. These review books have Step 1 style questions so you can familiarize yourself with the questions and use the resources for daily practice during your study time. Ideally, you should start your USMLE Step 1 prep with review books during your M1 and M2. They are the best way to ace your Step 1. The importance of practice tests simply cannot be overstated. Kostyantine Pankin/ Perfect Your USMLE Step 1 Prep with Practice Tests Here are 9 tips to help you finish your USMLE test on time, if not early, and get maximum answers right. Then select the answer that best matches not some but all of the facts presented.The USMLE Step 1 has multiple questions, each requiring a unique strategy to arrive at the best answer. This will help you remember them when formulating your answer. Paraphrase the question and note key factors and symptoms as they are presented. When reading through the case, choose what is important. You need to focus on the meaning of the case as a whole, not any one piece of it. Because of this, single pieces of information may lead you away from the right answer to one of the incorrect distractors. They know that some test takers are scanning for that one critical piece of information. Question writers know that because of the length of the questions, candidates do not want to read the whole question if they can help it. The total gestalt of the case is what is crucial, not any one individual fact. To answer these questions correctly, you must read the whole case and treat all the information given as a whole. These details, by themselves, may suggest one or the other of the given answer options. Generally, this is not the best strategy.Ĭlinical case questions are often constructed by first writing a classic case, and then including one or two extra details. Many students are tempted to simply skip to this last line, and then skim the case looking for necessary information to formulate an answer. Until this point, you cannot be sure exactly what you will be asked. This is the sentence that actually poses the question. The most important part of the clinical case question is the last sentence. Your task is to read through this detailed information and arrive at the best answer to the question being asked. Clinical case questions are distinguished by a fairly lengthy presentation of a patient’s history, physical exam findings, and maybe even lab results.
