bigfrank: Post your Step 1 Strategy Here

[vinoyp]

Thanks and congrats!!

--Vinoy

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[Deuce 007 MD]

Yes please post a detailed one, from when you picked up your first review book to when you stoped studying. If you could throw in some of those pm answers too. Thanks and again congrats.

 

[Idiopathic]

Would be nice if you guys said please.

 

[Jalby]

And he already did. Do a search.

 

[vinoyp]

Good stuff. Here we go.

Hi, I took the real Step I today and have some news to report. This is my breakdown and seems pretty fair in hindsight:

Basically, my exam was very fair and consisted of the following (roughly):
- 10 Gross Anatomy -- with pictures for the most part
- 8+ Neuroanatomy -- know the brainstem lesions (Wallenberg's esp.)
- 8+ Embryology -- trust me, you'd want these questions. Know the differences among deformation/malformation/syndrome/sequence, though.
- 2-3 Histology -- easy
- 5-10 Biochemistry (i.e., Metabolism, Vitamins, etc.) -- it seems to me that these questions are being replaced largely by the Molecular Biology/Genetics questions...
- 20-25 Molecular Biology/Genetics -- some were impossible (Hox genes, etc.) but most were doable if you understood basic genetics and some molecular bio. One block had about 12 of these questions and was obviously brutal.
- 80+ Pathology -- few were as straight-forward as I'd hoped, but they were doable in the end. Most were MUCH LONGER than QBank so be sure to allow plenty of time to read and re-read these.
- 60+ Physiology/Pathophysiology -- I had what seemed like dozens of questions relating to, "if there is ____ disorder, then what are the levels of PTH, PTH-RP, Ca++, Alk. Phos., etc.? Many had 10-12+ options.
- 50 Pharmacology -- all were doable except for a few off-the-wall questions. Tons of Pharmacokinetics but with few calculations (graphs mostly)
- 40+ Behavioral Sciences -- at least 1/4 were of the [ridiculously-hard] patient response questions. In my opinion, the hardest part of the exam. Other topics (psychology, psychiatry, defense mechanisms, biostatistics) were essentially copied from First Aid.
- 20-25 Bacteriology/Virology -- mostly very straight-forward; no questions on worms/fungi/parasites/protozoa
- 20 Immunology -- including basic immunology, inflammation, chemical mediators, etc. Reading the first couple of chapters of BRS Path and *memorizing* them is very high yield.

Take home messages:
-- ***** BUY AND *KNOW* HIGH YIELD MOLECULAR & CELLULAR BIOLOGY---THIS IS AN IMMUTABLE FACT AT THIS POINT FOR ALL TEST-TAKERS. Medical Schools will eventually "catch on" that this point weighs extremely heavy on virtually all exams nowadays, but we have to wing it ourselves.
-- ***** KNOW FIRST AID VERY, VERY WELL; IT'S STILL THE BEST OVERALL SOURCE OUT THERE. IF YOU HAVE THIS BOOK MEMORIZED, ANSWERS WILL SEEM TO "JUMP OUT" AT YOU.
-- DON'T STUDY ANATOMY TOO HARD -- THEY'LL TRIP YOU UP REGARDLESS (AND IT'S LOW-YIELD)
-- DON'T LIVE AND DIE BY Q-BANK; IT'S GOOD BUT NOT GREAT
-- APPLETON & LANGE'S QUESTION BOOK IS PROBABLY JUST AS HIGH YIELD IN THE END.
-- ROBBINS PATHOLOGY QUESTIONS BOOK IS GOOD AND HIGH-YIELD
-- DON'T KNOW "BUZZWORDS;" THEY ARE RARELY TESTED ANYMORE
-- TAKE A BREAK BETWEEN EVERY BLOCK EVEN IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO (YOU WILL BY QUESTION #25 ON THE NEXT BLOCK ANYWAYS)
-- A STEADY DOSE OF CAFFEINE IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING

So much of the exam is stuff that you just can't study for. And I believe the exam is written that way. To basically have the majority of the exam be the application of basic science principles. When you're in the 'hot seat,' you'll be just fine though.

About me, I took QBank and got an 80% first time through (no repeats). I went through it entirely again and got my average up to 90%. I got a 700 and 710 on the 2 x $45 NBME 200-q practice exams and a projected 255 on the Comprehensive Basic Sciences 200-q test offered by the NBME that our school paid for. I got a 81% on the Kaplan full-length test. I don't know if these exams/tests are good predictors or not but I hope they are. Who knows? In any case, starting early is (in my opinion) the best way to prepare for this "fly by the seat of your pants" exam.

 

[bigfrank]

Glad you guys found my old posts. I'm not terribly astute at navigating this forum yet, so thank you. I re-read it and everything I said still stands in my opinion.

I think in terms of my exam, my test was fairly run-of-the-mill. Most people taking the exam will have a similar question breakdown, I feel. I think some people have hard more difficult exams, while other people (Jalby, you lucky knucklehead) claim to have had easier ones (path-weighted). But of course, people's perceptions are very subjective. What I feel may be straight Path, you might feel is Molecular, and vice-versa.

In terms of when did I start studying, I pretty much studied First Aid here and there during the first year. During my first year courses, I went through BRS Physiology, Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, and HY Neuroanatomy specifically and tried to master other respective topics in First Aid. For example, if we were doing Biochemistry, I would annotate and attempt to truly understand the FA Biochem section. I am a PBL student, so I attempted to master relevent drugs in FA as well throughout the first year.

Over the summer between the 1st/2nd year, I did nothing. Hung out with the wife and kid. I am not a non-traditional student (just turned 24 a few months ago), in case you were wondering.

During the second year, STARTING around November/December, I tried to do 200 QBank +/- 150 IV QBank questions a month, mastered BRS Path as we covered the topics, and picked books at random to review (like HY BS, HY Micro, HY Anatomy). I also did relevant chapters during the entire second year in the Robbins Question Book as we went through, and I highly recommend this approach. I also randomly went through and studied FA as much as I could. People knew me by virtually always having either FA or BRS Path in my hands for much of the early part of the 2nd year.

During the last 3 months, which corresponded from around early March - late May, I (in addition to having 10 weeks of class) finished QBank/IV QBank, finished QBook, finished A&L Question Book, went through BRS Path a few more times, went through many other HY books once more, took many WebPath questions, took the NBME online exams, and went through FA a few more times. During the last 2 weeks, I went through QBank once more to get my average up to 90%. The day before I went back over BRS Path (briefly) and FA Pharmacology again.

Hopefully, this will give all that have asked a reasonably good review of my review!

Best,

 

[vinoyp]

Thank you, good sir!

--Vinoy

 

[Jalby]

I think some people have hard more difficult exams, while other people (Jalby, you lucky knucklehead) claim to have had easier ones (path-weighted).

I like to think I made it easy.

 

[inositide]

Dude, frankie's strategy was to be smart as hek. The rest fell into place by itself. Very few people can replicate those kinds of numbers.

 

[DrDre']

I am sure that Big Frank is smart as hek. However, I believe the MLE rewards hard work and diligence.


I began studying 2/14 during my 4th semester. I studied 40 days during the school year (6-8 hrs/d). I then had a short 2 1/2 weeks during summer. This was further shortened by burn out the last week. The only real learning I did during that time was HY biochem and stuff like that.


I finished qbank before school was out, about 84% average but this was with a lot of repeated questions in my strong areas. I used it to study for class tests. I regret this as I didn't know what my "actual cumulative" score was...
It actually lowered to 82% by doing the biostats, biochem and cell bio questions repeatedly.

I did IV Q once with I think 84% avg. I would not recommend this unless you run out of other test sources.

Total ? done about 9000.

I did 2 kaplan full lengths. I did both on bad days when I was tired, hungry and burn out. I did them both straight through in like 4 hours. Very disappointed with myself as I didn't know how I "could" have done. Got 71% and 68%!

Did the 150 NBME? got 79%?

Final score: 251.

If you want a good score, start early. Master the concepts early then hang stupid trivia on them.

The MLE tests real knowledge and understanding far more than pure rote memo, alone. I had 50% conceptual questions.


I was worried about starting early due to memory issues. I actually remembered stuff quite well as I reviewed the reviewed material every month or so during school.

During the semester, I DID NOT try to honor the classes. I put all my energy into the MLE.

Good luck all,
Sorry to hijack.

Congrats to Big Frank!

 

[lotanna]

Wow bigfrank and now DrDre, you all rock!!!!

 

[yaah]

See this thread - many ways to study and do well...don't think you have to try to cram every bit of info into your head. For some people that works,for others they still may not remember.

My suggestion: Practice questions!!! Don't worry so much about too many review books unless there is a certain topic that really befuddles you or you have a hard time grasping.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=108319

 

[azzarah]

Thanks for posting you guys and congrats!!!!

 

[Mystique]

If only all of us were so fortunate...

I can only dream.

Congratulations on your kickass score, bigfrank.

 

[bigfrank]

Mystique,

Thank you very much and best wishes to you.

 

[Iatrogenic]

what are the "IV Q"?

 

[bigfrank]

Iatrogenic,

Kaplan's "IV QBank" stands for "Integrated Vignette Question Bank" and has approximately 1,400 questions in an integrated vignette format. For example, there will be a clinical scenario describing a patient with Down's Syndrome. The first question will ask for the diagnosis, the second will ask for the chromosome involved, the third question will ask for the specific heart defect that is associated with the disorder, the fourth question will ask a question regarding neurological/cognitive sequelae, and the fifth question will ask a question about the level of hCG in amniotic fluid. If you don't know the first question, you are usually screwed for the rest. But sometimes, later questions answer the first question (i.e., diagnosis) for you.

These questions are good in the sense that you have an opportunity to learn another 1,400 facts for the Step I. These are not representative of the Step I question format as of the present, but they do test common diseases and pathophysiological associations, etc.

So, they are not a good simulator of the Step I, as the questions are inherently leading. But, in terms of diseases and topics, I found the resource helpful.

Make no mistake: this is not a first-line study tool and you shouldn't go over the questions more than once. I went through them once and got like an 85% or so. But they DO have diseases and questions that are NOT in QBank.

Hope this helps and best wishes.

 

[Iatrogenic]

thanks bigfrank!

 

[bigfrank]

I am "BUMP"ing this post for a SDN-er who emailed me regarding my test-taking strategy.

 

[OneStrongBro]

Frank, thanks for your help.

 

[bigfrank]

Hey there OneStrongBro, nice to hear from you. I definitely did Book A in your links. It had many challenging questions that were very helpful -- 99% were clinically-oriented and there were NONE of the "except..." questions.

Honestly, I can't comment on any other of the A&L books, as I didn't even see any others. I do think, however, that BRS/HY are excellent for most topics.

Best wishes!

 

[omarsaleh66]

wsap big frank

how early did u start studying, and how many hours were u puttin in a day when ur second year ended? I need a 267, or a wicked jump shot to get off these mean streets, tired of hustlin ya heard??

thanks and congratulations on ur score

holler at yo boy

 

[bigfrank]

Hi there, yes, I know. Those streets are mean.

Anyways, I started studying for the Step I during the entire 2nd year, though I started seriously studying about 6M in advance. I studied, on average, about 3-4 hours/day during the school year and 10-12 hours/day the last 4 weeks.

I viewed the Step I as a marathon rather than a sprint.

 

[bigfrank]

vm26,

Here is the post you were wondering about in the PM.

 

[snapdad]

I studied, on average, about 3-4 hours/day during the school year and 10-12 hours/day the last 4 weeks.

Hi bigfrank,

Just curious...did you study 3-4 hours a day in addition to your regular class studying, or did you consider class studying to be partial prep for the test?

 

[bigfrank]

3-4 hours/day was, to me, considered to be IN ADDITION to normal class studying. On second thought...

Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference, but I would say (realistically) 2-3 hours/day of board studying, ESPECIALLY during the last 4-6 months.

Whenever possible, I would study for class exams with the intent of "is this board relevant?" If the answer was NO, I would NOT study it. It worked out well anyways, and I feel I saved lots and lots and lots of time.

 

[bigfrank]

j121212,

Here is the thread you PM'd me about. Hope it helps.

 

[bigfrank]

andwhat,

Here is the thread you PM'd me about. Hope it helps!

 

[andwhat]

hi BigFrank! thanks so much for youre advice! most appreciated...

 

[bigfrank]

USFOptho,

Here is the link you just wrote me about. Best wishes, hope it helps.

 

[bigfrank]

Maple, here you go.

 

[bigfrank]

docmemi,

Here is post #2, which you PM'd me about. This one may be the most helpful to you.

 

[docmemi]

thanks!

 

[Harrie]

Okay, I just want to provide some perspective for those second years who may be reading this post and freaking out because they haven't start studying for step I yet. I finished up my second year in May and I had not studied for step I at all. Of course, studying for my classes was in theory also studying for step I, but I had not even started any exclusive step I studying. We had six weeks off before starting third year. I studied for about 5 weeks and then took a week vacation to Cancun. I ended up with a 256/99.
Don't worry, not all hope is lost if you haven't started studying yet.

 

[kanyanta]

Great advice bigfrank

 

[policymaker]

I ended up with a 256/99.
Don't worry, not all hope is lost if you haven't started studying yet.

Yeah, but were you one of those people that aced all your classes? Is there hope for someone like me who's in the middle of the pack and haven't started studying yet?

And what was your study schedule like?

 

[Yogi Bear]

how much of the exam (particularly path) has pictures for u to identify?

-any suggestions besides brs? i'm going thorugh brs path and it's just not sticking.

 

[bigfrank]

I had approximately 1 picture per section. This does NOT include the graphs, figures, and tables that seemed to pop up everywhere, however.

As far as Pathology, BRS path is good, but it's not for everyone. If you learn better through reenforcement, you should consider Robbins Review of pathology -- it has 1100 questions (good, high quality) over specific topics. Also, remember to make learning active. I am a "highlighter" and sincerely believe that that helped to cement BRS path in my memory. Also, repetition, repetition, repetition is key in terms of forming long-term memories.

 

[docmemi]

I had approximately 1 picture per section. This does NOT include the graphs, figures, and tables that seemed to pop up everywhere, however.

As far as Pathology, BRS path is good, but it's not for everyone. If you learn better through reenforcement, you should consider Robbins Review of pathology -- it has 1100 questions (good, high quality) over specific topics. Also, remember to make learning active. I am a "highlighter" and sincerely believe that that helped to cement BRS path in my memory. Also, repetition, repetition, repetition is key in terms of forming long-term memories.

are the robbins review questions similar to step 1 questions? thanks.

 

[bigfrank]

Yes, the questions in Robbins are not straightforward and are VERY similar to the pathology/pathophysiology questions I got on the Step I. Many/Most are two-step questions in which you'll have to infer the diagnosis and answer a question about it (pathophysiology, sequelae, etc.).

 

[jamie]

Okay, I just want to provide some perspective for those second years who may be reading this post and freaking out because they haven't start studying for step I yet. I finished up my second year in May and I had not studied for step I at all. Of course, studying for my classes was in theory also studying for step I, but I had not even started any exclusive step I studying. We had six weeks off before starting third year. I studied for about 5 weeks and then took a week vacation to Cancun. I ended up with a 256/99.
Don't worry, not all hope is lost if you haven't started studying yet.

ditto, i studied for 3 weeks, and i got about the same score. you don't need to have superhuman study skills to do well.

 

[bigfrank]

ditto, i studied for 3 weeks, and i got about the same score. you don't need to have superhuman study skills to do well.

This comment sounds good, but does it make sense? C'mon.

The average medical student studies for 3 weeks, usually longer. Therefore, if you study about 3 weeks, you can expect to do average (220), not 260. If you want to distinguish yourself, you need to study for slightly (or much) longer.

Keep in mind that many people will say they studied for "a few weeks, a few hours a day" to appear smarter. It's not a crime to say you studied for 2 months.

If you value the importance of the Step I, it makes sense to study diligently for it. It's just one test, and your score will follow you through the Match.

The bottom line is this: If you study for 3 weeks (and aren't a certifiable genius), expect to do average, because you are putting in an average amount of study time.

 

[tom_jones]

Glad you guys found my old posts. I'm not terribly astute at navigating this forum yet, so thank you. I re-read it and everything I said still stands in my opinion.

I think in terms of my exam, my test was fairly run-of-the-mill. Most people taking the exam will have a similar question breakdown, I feel. I think some people have hard more difficult exams, while other people (Jalby, you lucky knucklehead) claim to have had easier ones (path-weighted). But of course, people's perceptions are very subjective. What I feel may be straight Path, you might feel is Molecular, and vice-versa.

In terms of when did I start studying, I pretty much studied First Aid here and there during the first year. During my first year courses, I went through BRS Physiology, Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, and HY Neuroanatomy specifically and tried to master other respective topics in First Aid. For example, if we were doing Biochemistry, I would annotate and attempt to truly understand the FA Biochem section. I am a PBL student, so I attempted to master relevent drugs in FA as well throughout the first year.

Over the summer between the 1st/2nd year, I did nothing. Hung out with the wife and kid. I am not a non-traditional student (just turned 24 a few months ago), in case you were wondering.

During the second year, STARTING around November/December, I tried to do 200 QBank +/- 150 IV QBank questions a month, mastered BRS Path as we covered the topics, and picked books at random to review (like HY BS, HY Micro, HY Anatomy). I also did relevant chapters during the entire second year in the Robbins Question Book as we went through, and I highly recommend this approach. I also randomly went through and studied FA as much as I could. People knew me by virtually always having either FA or BRS Path in my hands for much of the early part of the 2nd year.

During the last 3 months, which corresponded from around early March - late May, I (in addition to having 10 weeks of class) finished QBank/IV QBank, finished QBook, finished A&L Question Book, went through BRS Path a few more times, went through many other HY books once more, took many WebPath questions, took the NBME online exams, and went through FA a few more times. During the last 2 weeks, I went through QBank once more to get my average up to 90%. The day before I went back over BRS Path (briefly) and FA Pharmacology again.

Hopefully, this will give all that have asked a reasonably good review of my review!

Best,

Most people will find different books they like, but I think a key point that BF mentioned was to start studying review books in 1st and second year. This will get you ahead in preparing for step 1.

 

[Harrie]

Keep in mind that many people will say they studied for "a few weeks, a few hours a day" to appear smarter. It's not a crime to say you studied for 2 months.

Sounds like someone is a little insecure. I don't really care if you believe that I only studied five weeks for step I, I'm just trying to give some advice and hope to the med students who haven't started yet. No, you don't need to study for years for step I to do well. If you study hard for your classes throughout the first two years (which I did do), then you do NOT need to spend months studying for step I. I sure am glad I didn't waste that much time studying.

 

[Harrie]

Yeah, but were you one of those people that aced all your classes? Is there hope for someone like me who's in the middle of the pack and haven't started studying yet?

And what was your study schedule like?

Yes, I did study pretty hard during the first two years and I am near the top end of my class.

Here are the books I used, to varying degrees (ranked 1-5, 1 being the most helpful)

First Aid 1
Kaplan Q-Bank 1
BRS Path 2
BRS Phys 2
High Yield Behavioral Science 3
High Yield Anatomy 3
High Yield Neuro 4-5
Neuro Made Ridiculously Simple 3 (very simple, but sufficient)
High Yield Embryology 5
Lippincott's Pharm Cards 2
Bug Cards 2
Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple 4

Studied for about 5 weeks. Took my test in June 2003 (256/99).
Would suggest focusing on First Aid and Q-Bank.

 

[dr. deez]

Sounds like someone is a little insecure. I don't really care if you believe that I only studied five weeks for step I, I'm just trying to give some advice and hope to the med students who haven't started yet. No, you don't need to study for years for step I to do well. If you study hard for your classes throughout the first two years (which I did do), then you do NOT need to spend months studying for step I. I sure am glad I didn't waste that much time studying.

Bigfrank was nice enough to post his experience with the exam/strategy. he also brings up a good point. study time will vary from person to person... so congrats for doing well and studying for a short amount of time. your input is also welcome. there is no need to get personal here. opinions are fine. good luck to all.

 

[Harrie]

Keep in mind that many people will say they studied for "a few weeks, a few hours a day" to appear smarter.

No need to get personal???

 

[bigfrank]

Here we go again...........

 

[HiddenTruth]

Here we go again...........

that is exactly what i said, when i saw this post at the top again--

 

[souljah1]

For some reason, I have a feeling that this post will be at the top 5 years from now. BigFrank will be dropping knowledge in 2010 as a senior resident somewhere - making sure everyone knows the correct way to study for step1. Rock on Frank.