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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
USMLE War Jounral: 23 Days After Test Day
First of all, it is ridiculous how long they make you wait for Step 1 scores, not to mention how hard it is to find out when your release date will be.
That being said, I cannot believe it took 23 days to find out. For 23 days, I have held my breath. The test left me feeling really crappy and I imagined some below-predicted performance. Last week at 16 days post-test, all results for tests up until June 22 were released. Some of my friends found out they had passed and I was happy for them. I also gave up on being apprehensive. My time off was only winding down and I was not going to let anxiety get in the way of enjoying my time off. I went out more frequently with friends, got through more of the book I am currently reading (Genius on the Edge by Dr. Gerald Imber on the life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted, the father of modern surgery). Still, it felt awkward trying to do things toward my career and I even shied away from writing more on the subject.
I found out that my score would come Wednesday, July 18. This morning, I rolled out of my futon to my computer. My school was going to have my results posted before the NMBE posted my score report. I clicked through the menus to the appropriate screen to find the three-digit number that would matter more to me than any other three-digit number in my life.
238
I had passed. And comfortably, too. For those who do not know, the cutoff is 188 and the average usually hovers around 220 year to year. The standard deviation usually hovers around 20. I was satisfied. I knew this score would be fine for my intended field (internal medicine).
I spent the rest of the day in unremarkable celebration. I went to the comic book shop, treated myself to a beer with dinner, and watched the second part of Che which I had started the night before. I texted all my friends from high school who had been supportive throughout the last couple weeks and called my family and medical school friends. For now, its too early for complete reflection on all my methods and the advice I recieved. There likely be another post on that in the future.
Elsewhere in the world, things were getting crazy. The hottest summer in a long time was having what was likely to be a low point at 85. On the radio, the crisis in Syria was escalating. Later I read an article on how Rush Limbaugh tried to argue that the new Batman movie was an anti-Romney film because of the similarity in sounds of the name Bain and Bane. Little did he know, Bane was created in the 90s, well before anyone really gave a damn about R-Money.
That being said, I cannot believe it took 23 days to find out. For 23 days, I have held my breath. The test left me feeling really crappy and I imagined some below-predicted performance. Last week at 16 days post-test, all results for tests up until June 22 were released. Some of my friends found out they had passed and I was happy for them. I also gave up on being apprehensive. My time off was only winding down and I was not going to let anxiety get in the way of enjoying my time off. I went out more frequently with friends, got through more of the book I am currently reading (Genius on the Edge by Dr. Gerald Imber on the life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted, the father of modern surgery). Still, it felt awkward trying to do things toward my career and I even shied away from writing more on the subject.
I found out that my score would come Wednesday, July 18. This morning, I rolled out of my futon to my computer. My school was going to have my results posted before the NMBE posted my score report. I clicked through the menus to the appropriate screen to find the three-digit number that would matter more to me than any other three-digit number in my life.
238
I had passed. And comfortably, too. For those who do not know, the cutoff is 188 and the average usually hovers around 220 year to year. The standard deviation usually hovers around 20. I was satisfied. I knew this score would be fine for my intended field (internal medicine).
I spent the rest of the day in unremarkable celebration. I went to the comic book shop, treated myself to a beer with dinner, and watched the second part of Che which I had started the night before. I texted all my friends from high school who had been supportive throughout the last couple weeks and called my family and medical school friends. For now, its too early for complete reflection on all my methods and the advice I recieved. There likely be another post on that in the future.
Elsewhere in the world, things were getting crazy. The hottest summer in a long time was having what was likely to be a low point at 85. On the radio, the crisis in Syria was escalating. Later I read an article on how Rush Limbaugh tried to argue that the new Batman movie was an anti-Romney film because of the similarity in sounds of the name Bain and Bane. Little did he know, Bane was created in the 90s, well before anyone really gave a damn about R-Money.
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