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Step 1 form guide Medium
Step 1 NBME 20: what's on it and how hard it is
NBME 20 has 158 questions in our copy. The average question is 64 words long and 83% take two or more steps to answer. It leans most on blood and immune system, heart and vessels and brain and nerves.
- Difficulty (0–100)
- 63
- Average question
- 64 words
- Take 2+ steps
- 83%
- Have an image
- 8%
When to take it
Extra practice early on. It is an older form: shorter questions and more straight recall than today's exam, so don't read much into the score.
Students say it feels harder than the questions really are.
Our original practice examsSystems it tests most
Share of the questions in each system.
- Blood and immune system14%
- Heart and vessels12%
- Brain and nerves12%
- GI and liver10%
The full breakdown
Every system and subject, what the questions ask, and what changed from older forms.