How is my study strategy for STEP 1? What are common mistakes people make?

[CuriousMDStudent]

Title sums it up. I'm planning on just outlining my study strategy for STEP 1 and I want feedback. Also if people have thoughts on common mistake people make, please let me know. I am a MS2 who is taking STEP 1 around March or April.

I know that STEP 1 is P/F for me but I aim to take STEP 1 seriously for 2 reasons: 1. I genuinely want to learn and know this material as well as possible because I want to have a strong foundation for clerkships and STEP 2. I hear that stuff really builds off of STEP 1. 2. I plan to use my practice exams as a gauge of how well I will do on STEP 2. I hear from a lot of people that STEP 1 grades correlate with STEP 2 grades so I aim to use my STEP 1 practice scores as a gauge of what my potential will be for STEP 2.

I began taking STEP 1 a lot more seriously now that MS2 has begun so here's my strategy.

• My school has started systems so for every system I study I aim to complete the relevant Pathoma, Sketchy, and BnB videos that cover what is taught in my classes. I do the tagged Anking cards and continue to keep up with my reviews. I also read my school's lectures or watch them to supplement my learning with extra detailst aht tmy school's curriculum covers.
• After I study all this material, I supplement this material with qbanks USMLE-Rx, AMBOSS, and Kaplan.
• During my holiday breaks like winter break or thanksgiving breaks, I will aim to complete sketchy micro and old topics from first year like biochem and etc.
• By dedicated, I hope to complete or close to unsuspending the entire ankign deck and having gone through all the pathoma and sketchy videos at least once. I also hope to have done a decent # of usmle rx questions.

Let me know what you think or any input on what I can do better. Also, let me know of any common mistakes you might feel students make.

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[deleted1079620]

Any reason why you’re doing this with the AnKing deck, instead of something lighter but also very thorough like lightyear? AnKing seems really heavy for a P/F step 1, but I’m also an OMS-2 just trying to figure this out too.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

Any reason why you’re doing this with the AnKing deck, instead of something lighter but also very thorough like lightyear? AnKing seems really heavy for a P/F step 1, but I’m also an OMS-2 just trying to figure this out too.

I just feel anking is more recent hence why I like it and trust it more than something like lightyear.

 

[Schwifty]

Any reason why you’re doing this with the AnKing deck, instead of something lighter but also very thorough like lightyear? AnKing seems really heavy for a P/F step 1, but I’m also an OMS-2 just trying to figure this out too.

Using AnKing for step 1 is still good cause they also have a step 2 deck, and a decent number of the cards will carry over from 1 to 2.

 

[Schwifty]

I just feel anking is more recent hence why I like it and trust it more than something like lightyear.

I think you have a good plan, but don’t kill you self s trying to finish the entire AnKing deck for step 1. There is a lot of small details in there that aren’t very relevant. For reference I matured ~80% and got a 250 on step 1. Defiantly get through all the sketchy micro/pharm cards and everything for pathoma, that all super high yield

 

[djiboutiman]

I'd skip those other question banks and instead just use UWorld. Other than that, your plan looks great.

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

I think you have a great thorough plan and you’re using all the highest yield resources. For QBanks, I’d suggest only UWorld and AMBOSS. Rx and Kaplan have both fallen out of favor in recent years. Getting through the entire Anking deck is a lot, but if you can achieve that leading up to your dedicated you will be very prepared. Make sure you don’t go overboard, the last thing you want is to burn yourself out before dedicated. Take breaks often - this is just as important as your study plan itself. Good luck!