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Thursday, December 08, 2005
Pay to Play
The U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) is a series of exams required for practicing medicine that is divided into three steps. Step 1 is generally taken after the 2nd year of medical school and covers a plethora of basic science topics including anatomy, behavioral sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology, genetics, aging, immunology, nutrition, and molecular and cell biology. The test consists of approximately 350 multiple-choice test items, divided into seven 60-minute blocks. Some people think multiple choice is cool (I don't particularly), but keep in mind that this is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill multiple choice. In these questions, there are up to ELEVEN potential choices.
Anyways, even though I won't be sitting for Step 1 until next June, registration starts now for the bargain price of just $455. While some people pay to play, others like me pay to pay (paying monetarily now and then paying through suffering the rigors of test taking later).
Here's a sample question.. see if you can figure out the answer:
Example Question 1
A 32-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus has had progressive renal failure over the past 2 years. She has not yet started dialysis. Examination shows no abnormalities. Her hemoglobin concentration is 9 g/dL, hematocrit is 28%, and mean corpuscular volume is 94 µm3. A blood smear shows normochromic, normocytic cells. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
A. Acute blood loss
B. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
C. Erythrocyte enzyme deficiency
D. Erythropoietin deficiency
E. Immunohemolysis
F. Microangiopathic hemolysis
G. Polycythemia vera
H. Sickle cell disease
I. Sideroblastic anemia
J. b-Thalassemia trait Now imagine answering questions like this 349 more times in a single day..
10:19 PM Albert
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..a life in DUO