I have
officially passed Step 1! I took the exam October 27, 2014. As the date rapidly
approached I was becoming increasingly more nervous each day. I felt confident
but can you ever be 100% confident for exams like this?! I had thought about
pushing my date back multiple times but knew that this was the date God has
specifically chosen for me, two more weeks or so was not going to prepare me
anymore than I already was. It was also not an accident, the day before my exam
the sermon at church was the story of David and Goliath. We all have
"Goliaths" in our lives, things that seem daunting and things we
believe we can never overcome. My Goliath was my exam and I knew I was unable
to succeed without God's help, just like little David, a small shepherd, felt
when he approached Goliath. The morning of my exam, I got in my car to find a
slingshot, one probably similar to the one David would have used to defeat
Goliath. The slingshot gave me the encouragement I needed that morning to
defeat the exam and that I did!
Many have
asked me how the exam was and it’s very hard to answer. Not to scare anybody
but I thought it was very hard, harder than the uworld or Kaplan qbank. I would
say it was most like the NBMEs. Surprisingly I thought the most difficult
questions were in the category of Cell Biology. You must remember that the exam
also has about 50 trial questions that do not count which is equivalent to a
whole block. For my mental sanity during the exam and to not get myself down, I
told myself that each question I didn’t know just wasn’t counted ;) That wasn’t
the truth but 50% of the exam is a mental game as well. I had heard before that the questions were
longer and time may be an issue but I didn’t have a problem with time, the
questions were about the same as uworld and since I had practiced so much I
didn’t have problems. Overall, I believe UMHS prepared us well!
Test results come on the 3rd or 4th Wednesday after your exams depending on what day you took it. If you took it on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday you will get it on the 3rd Wednesday after. If you take it on a Saturday, Monday or Tuesday then you will get it on the 4th Wednesday after. Both my friend and I received the email around 9 am on that Wednesday and then you have to login to ECFMG's site to view your score.
Waiting
for the test results was the worst part but you have a long list of things that
needs to be completed before you can schedule your clinicals so that will keep
you busy. I requested the list from the clinical department when I finished
Maine so I would have a good idea on what needed to be done (I’m a planner if
you can’t tell ;)
Here is the list that must be scanned and emailed to
clinicaldocs@umhs-sk.net:
USMLE Step 1 Score Report (Email a copy when you receive it)
Proof of OSHA/HIPAA, Infection Control (Carol should give you a
copy at the end of Maine)
Student Information Form (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7aP9Ft3g9drQ2lJTy15LWVkQ0lHS0taWXZyX29BbzZZOWdj/view?usp=sharing)
Clinical Handbook Receipt (We did this in Maine but I did it
again to make sure it got there https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7aP9Ft3g9drLTZ3bVJkNzhGbzROSUJocDRJVHM5cVpNWG5J/view?usp=sharing)
Student Curriculum Vitae
Health Assessment form (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7aP9Ft3g9drRmRLMHB1TjdfUTQxODZ0SFBqTDU0OXRFNW9V/view?usp=sharing)
MMR Vaccination Titer (All titers should have been done for
Maine just re-email them)
Varicella Titer
Proof of Tetanus Vaccination
Hepatitis B surface antibody Titer
PPD Skin Test Results/Chest X-Ray if positive
National
Background Check (Use 24/7 service http://www.24-7dat.com/UMHS.html)
10 Panel Drug screen (Use 24/7 service)
Copy of UMHS Student ID
Passport Sized Photo 2x2 (Can just scan a passport photo)
Personal Health Insurance card
Proof of ACLS certification (Can use 24/7 Service or find a local class near you)
Flu Vaccination
24/7 Drug and Alcohol testing center: I used it for both
the drug screen and the background check. You can also do your ACLS through
there but I did mine through the American Heart Association and found it to be
a little bit cheaper but I know there was only one course offered near me for the rest of the year. You can do a live class or online. I chose to do a live course because I thought it would be more beneficial.
What you do is you go to the 24/7 website http://www.24-7dat.com/UMHS.html and
order whichever ones you want. For the drug screen, you have to pay first
(which scared me a little because I didn't know where they were going to send
me but they send you to the closest testing center to your address, which is
within 20 miles), they then will send you an email within 48 hrs telling you
where you need to go within the next week or so to complete it. It’s that
simple and results are sent directly to the school.
If anyone has any other questions regarding the process of completing these documents please don't hesitate to email me at lellson@umhs-sk.net. I would be happy to answer any questions or the clinical department at UMHS is great at answering questions as well!
Until next time,
Laura
