Into the trenches

The Boards. A.k.a. the United States Medical Licensing Exam, Step 1. The test that will determine your entire future as a physician (by determining what residencies you get in to).

7 hours. 45 minutes of break time TOTAL (lunch and bathroom breaks, which you must allocate yourself). No retests unless you fail.

Anyway, things have started to heat up in preparation for Boards — we’re starting to get presentations from various prep courses, hearing about the exam format and studying strategies. And I’ve started browsing web sites for study tips. The result is that I feel like crap when I read what other people write on the forums and blogs (such as, “I just want people to know not *everyone* studies for 12 hours a day! I average 8-10 hours a day.”).

But this crap feeling, I’m going to get used to it. Because that’s the life of a medical student.

Anyway, I took the advice of one of our speakers and wrote my target score on a sheet of paper, and put it up in my room. Looking at average scores for neurology (one of the specialties I’m considering most strongly), I’m shooting for a 240 (a little over one standard deviation above the mean).

And the studying starts now.

Tags: boards, freaking out, medical school