2nd year UK - STEP prep too early?

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soLit

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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!

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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!

You aren't preparing too early, the UK curriculum doesn't really teach you that much towards the Step 1, so it is important to study on your own and the earlier you study the more you are prepared. You'll probably find that most of the Step 1 material goes over your head at this point, but try to grasp concepts that require memorization that you won't encounter much in a UK medical curriculum like microbiology, antibiotics etc.
 
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I heard it takes on average 9 months to prepare and get a very good score
9 months full-time? IMO, that's excessive even for FMG/IMGs. You would forget some material at the end of this period.

I suggest study for USMLE along their coursework, then set aside 6-8 weeks before test date to review intensively.
 
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