The exam was fairly easy. Ranking curve is harsh as usual. I got 80% correct. (Expected 85% correct, but really can’t complain).
Disclaimer: I prepared for USMLE step 1 in my internship.
Virtually all cases were small and simple cases.
There were not many “useless-to-know” questions. Like I always find cramming IPCs useless. Did not cram them at all, and luckily none were asked.
A good number of image based Qs were there. No need to practice specifically for them. They were all easy.
How to prepare scary subjects ?
- PSM: No longer scary. Half Qs are always epidemiology and biostats so even if you don’t study, you’ll get them right. As far as public health programs are concerned, whatever your college hammers down your brain in four years of mbbs is enough. For example, my college expects us to know vaccinations inside out so I got Qs right despite not studying PSM for even a single day in entire internship year. I did study psm in my final year for upsc cms.
- Microbiology: Ok, this requires core knowledge but options can be ruled out fairly easily. As in, the Q per se is always easy so I think it’s a high scoring subject. Your competitors get these wrong a lot.
- Biochemistry: Lots to learn but they ask extremely basic stuff. They literally asked G6PD is an enzyme of HMP Pathway. No need to study biochemistry in too many details. Just important stuff. Qs here were also cases so again, you need to study only clinically relevant stuff.
- Forensic: Well, the MCQs were logical. But again, required core knowledge.
- Anesthesia and Psychiatry: Not high yield subjects. You can get them right even if you never do them again after final year.
- Medicine: Internship experience/previous knowledge proved enough.
- Surgery and OBG: For these two I recommend notes of Marrow/Dams etc. They can be prepared and that too without much effort. Just give them 2 to 5 days of revision. Also, they have a lot of stuff you would want to cram days before the exam. Internship experience helped me in surgery as well but not in a cool way. 😝 In surgery, I was asked to type a lot of discharges, and I happened to acquire random knowledge like normal volume of prostate and this Q popped in my INI exam. It’s factual but hey, every Q counts. Surgery internship sucks otherwise.