I took the exam last week. My rotation was a pretty solid and enjoyable experience and I definitely learned a lot from the wards. The shelf was fairly straight forward if you do all the uWISE and uWorld questions with the several obligatory "Da F?" questions that show up on every single shelf exam. I had several images that I had to identify so i'd be a good idea to look up what these lesions look like before the test. Ended up at the 98th percentile.
Study Materials:
- Casefiles x1 + read important topics again - I don't particularly enjoy reading case file books but I believe that they help me learn in the end. I slowly plugged through case files but the important chapters are spread out throughout the book so I didn't get to them til the end. May want to consider going in order of what's most commonly asked about on the wards like diagnostic criteria and management of preeclampsia vs w/severe features early on. Best advice - read fast!
- uWISE x1 + incorrects - Do this EARLY and quickly in the clerkship and you'll do well on the wards, knowledge-wise. I saved it for the end and looking back, I saw how many pimping questions I got wrong that were essentially straight from uWISE.
- uWorld x2 - I thought these were pretty good for the Shelf
- 2 NBME's - in the high 80's and high 90's for each right before the shelf - not really a learning tool but good to track progress. I'd suggest at least doing one.
- Onlinemeded - didn't use this but I keep hear great things about it so if you have the time, why not?
- Blueprints - never used this
Overall, just power through as many questions as you can and you should be pretty set. Also make sure you know your risk factors for various conditions (e.g preeclampsia, placental abruption) because those questions are on there, unfortunately - case files is pretty good regarding this.