Hi, I am new to this forum and I hope I have posted this in the correct area.
I am currently in the summer holiday period between 1st and 2nd year at a very nice UK medical school. I am determined to work in the US after I graduate in the future and so I am trying to maximise my chances of getting an IGM residency. I do a very traditional course here in the UK meaning I have 2 years of core sciences (Last year and this upcoming year) and then 3 years of clinically based learning (in hospitals combined with clinical sciences).
My question is am I trying to prepare for STEP too early? Are there any UK or international graduates out there who started preparing when I am planning to start? I am hoping to take the STEP between my year 4 and 5 as I have a long summer and I can get it out of the way, and then take the other exams after I graduate.
I heard it takes on average 9 months to prepare and get a very good score, and so I want to start now as I am not the brightest and want to do well, but I am worried I will be very much out of my depth as I haven't even started learning clinical medicine as I am going into my second year (out of 5) and clinical studies doesn't start until year 3.
Also, on a side note does anyone find any huge differences between the 2017 version and 2016 version of the first aid step book? If I did start now, I would be using the 2017 STEP book for a 2019 exam and don't want to be using a dated book when the 2018 book might be more useful.
Any advice helps! Thank you for reading!
I am currently in the summer holiday period between 1st and 2nd year at a very nice UK medical school. I am determined to work in the US after I graduate in the future and so I am trying to maximise my chances of getting an IGM residency. I do a very traditional course here in the UK meaning I have 2 years of core sciences (Last year and this upcoming year) and then 3 years of clinically based learning (in hospitals combined with clinical sciences).
My question is am I trying to prepare for STEP too early? Are there any UK or international graduates out there who started preparing when I am planning to start? I am hoping to take the STEP between my year 4 and 5 as I have a long summer and I can get it out of the way, and then take the other exams after I graduate.
I heard it takes on average 9 months to prepare and get a very good score, and so I want to start now as I am not the brightest and want to do well, but I am worried I will be very much out of my depth as I haven't even started learning clinical medicine as I am going into my second year (out of 5) and clinical studies doesn't start until year 3.
Also, on a side note does anyone find any huge differences between the 2017 version and 2016 version of the first aid step book? If I did start now, I would be using the 2017 STEP book for a 2019 exam and don't want to be using a dated book when the 2018 book might be more useful.
Any advice helps! Thank you for reading!