MCCQE1 - How much to study? New format?

[beamscientist]

Hey guys I just booked my MCCQE1. I know there are previous threads on this but would like an updated opinion from anyone who recently wrote it.

- what resources did you use (UWorld? TNotes?)

- how long you took to study (full time like MCAT?)

- how the exam feels to write (breaks? can I bring water and snacks in? how many people were in the prometric center? any tricks?)

- was there any format change as was previously rumored? (i.e. questions don't change hardness based on if you get previous questions right, more weighting of IM topics, more complex patient presentations, etc.)

Thank you! 

[Shenz]

Congrats on getting to the last sprint!

For resources, I mostly used TNotes + Essentials for the Canadian Medical Licensing Exam (for peds) and my own notes for internal med (way too long in TNotes). Some of my classmates used TNotes, some used essentials, some did a lot of QBanks. QBanks is nice (I actually did a bunch) because it's interactive but tbh most of the questions weren't representative of what we ended up getting.

I downloaded all the objectives and went over them during my studies to make sure I covered them.

I studied 1-1.5 months I don't really remember. I was doing that full-time for sure but I didn't do the MCAT so I can't compare. My school also had a "final exam" that we needed to pass and that basically served as a pre-MCCQE practice exam. I found that harder than the actual licensing exam.

The exam is split into 2 parts: morning and afternoon. The morning section is a barrage of multiple choice questions. I ran out of time near the end and I heard similar stories from my friends so manage your time well and don't spend too much time ruminating. The afternoon section is much shorter and can be done within an hour (you have 3 if I'm remembering right) and featured some more open-ended questions. 

I'm not too sure about water or snacks but they used a metal detector on us à la airport. We were maybe 20 in the room and the mouse clicking of the other students was kind of annoying so if that bothers you I'd recommend bringing ear plugs if you're allowed.

I don't think the difficulty changed based on what you get right anymore (unlike in the past) but there were some really bizarre ethics questions. The questions' scenarios are much shorter than on let's say QBanks.

 

It seems like a massive mountain due to the sheer volume of material but at the end of the day most people pass. I'd recommend guiding your studies with the objectives so you don't feel lost and waste time on irrelevant material. Do what you can for internal med and use maybe a more abridged reference than the TNotes for that section if you're low on time. You did 4 years of MD so you have accumulated a lot of knowledge and insight that you can "surf" on.

Also, the CanadaQBank youtube channel has tons of videos that can help you study. I used to watch them on the bus to the library.

[Aetherus]

22 hours ago, beamscientist said:

Hey guys I just booked my MCCQE1. I know there are previous threads on this but would like an updated opinion from anyone who recently wrote it.

- what resources did you use (UWorld? TNotes?)

- how long you took to study (full time like MCAT?)

- how the exam feels to write (breaks? can I bring water and snacks in? how many people were in the prometric center? any tricks?)

- was there any format change as was previously rumored? (i.e. questions don't change hardness based on if you get previous questions right, more weighting of IM topics, more complex patient presentations, etc.)

Thank you! 

- Toronto Notes + Class notes + UWorld. Honestly if you got through medical school in Canada, you will have the necessary knowledge to pass. 

- I studied for 1 week total, 12-15 hours per day. I felt like this was overkill ( I ended up with 93 percentile).

- Exam is long and is annoying to get through. 

- The MCC website will have this information. Questions don’t change based on your responses in the new format.

[Zaz]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:36 AM, Shenz said:

Congrats on getting to the last sprint!

For resources, I mostly used TNotes + Essentials for the Canadian Medical Licensing Exam (for peds) and my own notes for internal med (way too long in TNotes). Some of my classmates used TNotes, some used essentials, some did a lot of QBanks. QBanks is nice (I actually did a bunch) because it's interactive but tbh most of the questions weren't representative of what we ended up getting.

I downloaded all the objectives and went over them during my studies to make sure I covered them.

I studied 1-1.5 months I don't really remember. I was doing that full-time for sure but I didn't do the MCAT so I can't compare. My school also had a "final exam" that we needed to pass and that basically served as a pre-MCCQE practice exam. I found that harder than the actual licensing exam.

The exam is split into 2 parts: morning and afternoon. The morning section is a barrage of multiple choice questions. I ran out of time near the end and I heard similar stories from my friends so manage your time well and don't spend too much time ruminating. The afternoon section is much shorter and can be done within an hour (you have 3 if I'm remembering right) and featured some more open-ended questions. 

I'm not too sure about water or snacks but they used a metal detector on us à la airport. We were maybe 20 in the room and the mouse clicking of the other students was kind of annoying so if that bothers you I'd recommend bringing ear plugs if you're allowed.

I don't think the difficulty changed based on what you get right anymore (unlike in the past) but there were some really bizarre ethics questions. The questions' scenarios are much shorter than on let's say QBanks.

 

It seems like a massive mountain due to the sheer volume of material but at the end of the day most people pass. I'd recommend guiding your studies with the objectives so you don't feel lost and waste time on irrelevant material. Do what you can for internal med and use maybe a more abridged reference than the TNotes for that section if you're low on time. You did 4 years of MD so you have accumulated a lot of knowledge and insight that you can "surf" on.

Also, the CanadaQBank youtube channel has tons of videos that can help you study. I used to watch them on the bus to the library.

Hi there,

Did you use Essentials or peds only? My school has a final exam (perhaps we go the same school ) and I am worried Essentials would not be enough. I thought I'd use it along with the Uworld bank (and TN whenever I feel there is not enough info in Essentials). I'm just worried I won't have enough time with all these resources.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[beamscientist]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:36 AM, Shenz said:

Congrats on getting to the last sprint!

For resources, I mostly used TNotes + Essentials for the Canadian Medical Licensing Exam (for peds) and my own notes for internal med (way too long in TNotes). Some of my classmates used TNotes, some used essentials, some did a lot of QBanks. QBanks is nice (I actually did a bunch) because it's interactive but tbh most of the questions weren't representative of what we ended up getting.

I downloaded all the objectives and went over them during my studies to make sure I covered them.

I studied 1-1.5 months I don't really remember. I was doing that full-time for sure but I didn't do the MCAT so I can't compare. My school also had a "final exam" that we needed to pass and that basically served as a pre-MCCQE practice exam. I found that harder than the actual licensing exam.

The exam is split into 2 parts: morning and afternoon. The morning section is a barrage of multiple choice questions. I ran out of time near the end and I heard similar stories from my friends so manage your time well and don't spend too much time ruminating. The afternoon section is much shorter and can be done within an hour (you have 3 if I'm remembering right) and featured some more open-ended questions. 

I'm not too sure about water or snacks but they used a metal detector on us à la airport. We were maybe 20 in the room and the mouse clicking of the other students was kind of annoying so if that bothers you I'd recommend bringing ear plugs if you're allowed.

I don't think the difficulty changed based on what you get right anymore (unlike in the past) but there were some really bizarre ethics questions. The questions' scenarios are much shorter than on let's say QBanks.

 

It seems like a massive mountain due to the sheer volume of material but at the end of the day most people pass. I'd recommend guiding your studies with the objectives so you don't feel lost and waste time on irrelevant material. Do what you can for internal med and use maybe a more abridged reference than the TNotes for that section if you're low on time. You did 4 years of MD so you have accumulated a lot of knowledge and insight that you can "surf" on.

Also, the CanadaQBank youtube channel has tons of videos that can help you study. I used to watch them on the bus to the library.

Thank you so much! :-) 

[Shenz]

On 2/22/2020 at 9:30 AM, Zaz said:

Hi there,

Did you use Essentials or peds only? My school has a final exam (perhaps we go the same school ) and I am worried Essentials would not be enough. I thought I'd use it along with the Uworld bank (and TN whenever I feel there is not enough info in Essentials). I'm just worried I won't have enough time with all these resources.

Thanks in advance for your input!

I didn't use Uworld so I can't tell you about it. I used the Essentials only for peds because the TNotes seemed too arduous for peds and internal. A somewhat arbitrary choice tbh but I think it did the job for me.

There are a lot of resources and they're probably quite interchangeable. At the end of the day it's up to you to choose. Some people I know read the entire TN and some people did thousands of Qbanks. I'd still recommend guiding your studies with the objectives to avoid wasting time.

Also, I went to UdeM what about you?

[Zaz]

On 2/25/2020 at 12:15 AM, Shenz said:

I didn't use Uworld so I can't tell you about it. I used the Essentials only for peds because the TNotes seemed too arduous for peds and internal. A somewhat arbitrary choice tbh but I think it did the job for me.

There are a lot of resources and they're probably quite interchangeable. At the end of the day it's up to you to choose. Some people I know read the entire TN and some people did thousands of Qbanks. I'd still recommend guiding your studies with the objectives to avoid wasting time.

Also, I went to UdeM what about you?

Hi there,

Thanks for your answer. I am at UdeM  

I started off with TN which is a good and detailed ressource, except I feel more and more pressed for time as days go by. I find Essentials superficial for the faculty exam but regardless, I am trying to use it alongside the TN and the knowledge I have gained so far hoping it will be enough! And as you advised, Essentials is good in the sense that it guides the study with the objectives.

 

[Shenz]

On 2/27/2020 at 7:10 PM, Zaz said:

Hi there,

Thanks for your answer. I am at UdeM  

I started off with TN which is a good and detailed ressource, except I feel more and more pressed for time as days go by. I find Essentials superficial for the faculty exam but regardless, I am trying to use it alongside the TN and the knowledge I have gained so far hoping it will be enough! And as you advised, Essentials is good in the sense that it guides the study with the objectives.

 

I was talking more about the objectives as outlined by the MCC website.

https://www.mcc.ca/objectives/expert/

 

[Ritesh]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:36 AM, Shenz said:

Congrats on getting to the last sprint!

For resources, I mostly used TNotes + Essentials for the Canadian Medical Licensing Exam (for peds) and my own notes for internal med (way too long in TNotes). Some of my classmates used TNotes, some used essentials, some did a lot of QBanks. QBanks is nice (I actually did a bunch) because it's interactive but tbh most of the questions weren't representative of what we ended up getting.

I downloaded all the objectives and went over them during my studies to make sure I covered them.

I studied 1-1.5 months I don't really remember. I was doing that full-time for sure but I didn't do the MCAT so I can't compare. My school also had a "final exam" that we needed to pass and that basically served as a pre-MCCQE practice exam. I found that harder than the actual licensing exam.

The exam is split into 2 parts: morning and afternoon. The morning section is a barrage of multiple choice questions. I ran out of time near the end and I heard similar stories from my friends so manage your time well and don't spend too much time ruminating. The afternoon section is much shorter and can be done within an hour (you have 3 if I'm remembering right) and featured some more open-ended questions. 

I'm not too sure about water or snacks but they used a metal detector on us à la airport. We were maybe 20 in the room and the mouse clicking of the other students was kind of annoying so if that bothers you I'd recommend bringing ear plugs if you're allowed.

I don't think the difficulty changed based on what you get right anymore (unlike in the past) but there were some really bizarre ethics questions. The questions' scenarios are much shorter than on let's say QBanks.

 

It seems like a massive mountain due to the sheer volume of material but at the end of the day most people pass. I'd recommend guiding your studies with the objectives so you don't feel lost and waste time on irrelevant material. Do what you can for internal med and use maybe a more abridged reference than the TNotes for that section if you're low on time. You did 4 years of MD so you have accumulated a lot of knowledge and insight that you can "surf" on.

Also, the CanadaQBank youtube channel has tons of videos that can help you study. I used to watch them on the bus to the library.

Thank you so much for your response!

I just have a quick question, i find Toronto notes to be too intense to read in a short time, could you please tell me if "step up to medicine" is good for internal medicine ? For mccqe1 preparation.

I find step up to medicine more precise and to the point.

But I would like to get an informed opinion on this.

 

Thank you.

 

[Shenz]

19 hours ago, Ritesh said:

Thank you so much for your response!

I just have a quick question, i find Toronto notes to be too intense to read in a short time, could you please tell me if "step up to medicine" is good for internal medicine ? For mccqe1 preparation.

I find step up to medicine more precise and to the point.

But I would like to get an informed opinion on this.

 

Thank you.

 

I'm sorry but I didn't use step up at all so I can't really say. But if you feel that it covers the objectives as listed by MCC then you should be good.