USMLE Official 2018 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[Foot Fetish]

I've always wanted to start one of these...So here we go!

My stats:

M2
Test time: June 2018
Goal score: 270

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[QueenJames]

Why are people so butthurt that dude is shooting for an astronomical score?

IF he does it.... kudos. If he doesn't, I'm sure he will atleast "land on the clouds".

This is the problem with med students. His success is his success. If he wants to study 24/7... let him.

Get over yourselves.

Answer the thread, put your goals down, and do what you gotta do and keep it pusin'.

I hate SDN at times. Jeez.

 

[Henry101]

Thanks. I actually enjoy reading it more than any other resource which tells me I should keep doing it! But like you said its a TON of facts...I'm not gonna stress trying to pick up extraneous details, but use it more to solidify and conceptualize the core material. I don't really need to crush step for what I'm going into, so I don't feel the pressure to nail down all the facts. I'm more interested in reviewing what I've learned and building a super strong foundation for M3 and beyond. Good luck to you as well

I actually love using goljan as well, much more than FA.

 

[Terence McKenna]

People tend to laugh when you tell them you want to be Hokage

 

[QueenJames]

People tend to laugh when you tell them you want to be Hokage

Dude. Screw everybody talking down on you.

I get it. You're a first year. Some people are getting butthurt that you are shooting for the stars and have the plan to back it up. Maybe they are taking offense because of the fact that you are or are going to be a first year and don't really have a grip of how hard school will/is and maybe it's coming off cocky or whatever.

OR.... they are just insecure themselves and are a competitive bunch and can't stand when others talk up a big game.

I'm all for it though.

I honestly HOPE you get it brotha.

I've NEVER met a second year med student who says that they had MORE than enough time to study for step 1.

Screw everybody and do your thing.

 

[Newyawk]

Dude. Screw everybody talking down on you.

I get it. You're a first year. Some people are getting butthurt that you are shooting for the stars and have the plan to back it up. Maybe they are taking offense because of the fact that you are or are going to be a first year and don't really have a grip of how hard school will/is and maybe it's coming off cocky or whatever.

OR.... they are just insecure themselves and are a competitive bunch and can't stand when others talk up a big game.

I'm all for it though.

I honestly HOPE you get it brotha.

I've NEVER met a second year med student who says that they had MORE than enough time to study for step 1.

Screw everybody and do your thing.

Edit: had a response but decided to delete it in favor of moving the conversation towards useful advice.

 

[AshNiffler]

Youre posting on a forum where people help each other based on personal experience. Im 2 years ahead of you in school and I am offering my advice to you.

Youre arrogant enough to shoot down all of my advice when i was being very courteous AND your goal score is achieved by less than .01% of people taking the exam and im the one with the hubris?
If you do score a 275 itll finally prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one doesnt have to be intelligent to score well on Step I.

When I was in MS1 I thought I would get a 270 easy, nothing or no one could have dissuaded me so I understand how OP feels.

 

[tunicaexterna]

M2
May 2018
Goal score: 225

 

[Newyawk]

When I was in MS1 I thought I would get a 270 easy, nothing or no one could have dissuaded me so I understand how OP feels.

When I was in MS1 I thought I would get a 270 easy, nothing or no one could have dissuaded me so I understand how OP feels.

270 imo is a much more reasonable goal than a 275. Thats irrelevant tho bc i wasnt telling him he CANT score that, i was just telling him not to spend the next two years in pursuit of a score that wont do much more for him than a 260 would (idk this for a fact but this is what ive heard).
He can spend that time doing other, more meaningful and even productive things if he wants to (research,etc.)

 

[Reperfused]

Did anyone notice that the passing score just went up 2 points?
From 192 to 194 (starting from Jan 1st, 2018)

 

[QueenJames]

270 imo is a much more reasonable goal than a 275. Thats irrelevant tho bc i wasnt telling him he CANT score that, i was just telling him not to spend the next two years in pursuit of a score that wont do much more for him than a 260 would (idk this for a fact but this is what ive heard).
He can spend that time doing other, more meaningful and even productive things if he wants to (research,etc.)

Welcome to SDN.

Where advice is administered based on hearsay... not experience.

Look... no offense my man... but the dude is gonna do what he wants to do.

I doubt any one of us can say something to stop that and we shouldn't.

Though untraditional on SDN... I'ma break the mold here and offer support instead of hating.

 

[doct0r]

Hi all,
Taking the test in about 7 weeks, I am in dedicated. School is on new curriculum with preclinical --> clerkships--> step 1. Did not have any time to study for Step 1 during very hectic clinical year. Studied for my classes well during pleclinical, did OK but not great (~88% cumulative average). Followed along with FA and pathoma for those courses. Studied hard for clerkships, finished UWorld Step 2 qbank, did all the shelves etc which I hope will help.

Would appreciate any and all advice for the test as I am beginning to really feel the pressure. Have spent about 2 weeks so far really re-learning basic sciences (biochem, path, immuno, micro, pharm) and trying to shore up weaknesses (neuro!!!) and now moving into organ blocks. I am using UWorld as a learning source (first pass) as I did during clerkships. % sitting at around 57% which has me pretty sick to my stomach early on! I have about 30% of the bank completed. I know that it was going to be low but I was hoping it would at least be in the 60s. Doing deep dive with FA and Pathoma in the reviews and making quick anki cards, hope to do about 100/100 a night (haven't been able to yet).

I am starting to wonder if the clerkships were not helpful, and I am a bit scared that I am entering dedicated without having finished a bank + a few passes of FA like everyone else on SDN! Would appreciate any and all insight and help. Thinking of ordering kaplan to have more questions for basic sciences, is this excessive? Whats the current thought process on Rapid Review Path? High Yield Neuroanatomy?
Hoping for a good score but would be happy with 240+.

 

[spartan25]

What practice NBMEs are available? Both online and old, offline copies.

 

[eagleslionsandbears123]

Hi all,
Taking the test in about 7 weeks, I am in dedicated. School is on new curriculum with preclinical --> clerkships--> step 1. Did not have any time to study for Step 1 during very hectic clinical year. Studied for my classes well during pleclinical, did OK but not great (~88% cumulative average). Followed along with FA and pathoma for those courses. Studied hard for clerkships, finished UWorld Step 2 qbank, did all the shelves etc which I hope will help.

Would appreciate any and all advice for the test as I am beginning to really feel the pressure. Have spent about 2 weeks so far really re-learning basic sciences (biochem, path, immuno, micro, pharm) and trying to shore up weaknesses (neuro!!!) and now moving into organ blocks. I am using UWorld as a learning source (first pass) as I did during clerkships. % sitting at around 57% which has me pretty sick to my stomach early on! I have about 30% of the bank completed. I know that it was going to be low but I was hoping it would at least be in the 60s. Doing deep dive with FA and Pathoma in the reviews and making quick anki cards, hope to do about 100/100 a night (haven't been able to yet).

I am starting to wonder if the clerkships were not helpful, and I am a bit scared that I am entering dedicated without having finished a bank + a few passes of FA like everyone else on SDN! Would appreciate any and all insight and help. Thinking of ordering kaplan to have more questions for basic sciences, is this excessive? Whats the current thought process on Rapid Review Path? High Yield Neuroanatomy?
Hoping for a good score but would be happy with 240+.

My advice to you would be not to touch a thing until you finish Uworld

 

[Newyawk]

Hi all,
Taking the test in about 7 weeks, I am in dedicated. School is on new curriculum with preclinical --> clerkships--> step 1. Did not have any time to study for Step 1 during very hectic clinical year. Studied for my classes well during pleclinical, did OK but not great (~88% cumulative average). Followed along with FA and pathoma for those courses. Studied hard for clerkships, finished UWorld Step 2 qbank, did all the shelves etc which I hope will help.

Would appreciate any and all advice for the test as I am beginning to really feel the pressure. Have spent about 2 weeks so far really re-learning basic sciences (biochem, path, immuno, micro, pharm) and trying to shore up weaknesses (neuro!!!) and now moving into organ blocks. I am using UWorld as a learning source (first pass) as I did during clerkships. % sitting at around 57% which has me pretty sick to my stomach early on! I have about 30% of the bank completed. I know that it was going to be low but I was hoping it would at least be in the 60s. Doing deep dive with FA and Pathoma in the reviews and making quick anki cards, hope to do about 100/100 a night (haven't been able to yet).

I am starting to wonder if the clerkships were not helpful, and I am a bit scared that I am entering dedicated without having finished a bank + a few passes of FA like everyone else on SDN! Would appreciate any and all insight and help. Thinking of ordering kaplan to have more questions for basic sciences, is this excessive? Whats the current thought process on Rapid Review Path? High Yield Neuroanatomy?
Hoping for a good score but would be happy with 240+.

Have you tried an nbme or uwsa to see where you stand? Perhaps you should start there and then advice can be more helpful. For example, if you score a 220 or above the general consensus would probably be, i think, that you dont have any "glaring" gaps in knowledge and can reasonably continue on the same track of UFAP, etc. if you score below a 210 you might need to try something else (although i doubt you will, tbh).

Also i didnt use anki so im definitely biased, but i think anki at this point is a waste of time bc you may not have enough time for it to be worth it other than for pharm perhaps. Just my opinion

 

[doct0r]

My advice to you would be not to touch a thing until you finish Uworld

Have you tried an nbme or uwsa to see where you stand? Perhaps you should start there and then advice can be more helpful. For example, if you score a 220 or above the general consensus would probably be, i think, that you dont have any "glaring" gaps in knowledge and can reasonably continue on the same track of UFAP, etc. if you score below a 210 you might need to try something else (although i doubt you will, tbh).

Also i didnt use anki so im definitely biased, but i think anki at this point is a waste of time bc you may not have enough time for it to be worth it other than for pharm perhaps. Just my opinion

Thanks for the input, much appreciated

a bit of an update. Moving along nicely in UW now. Cumulative average is in the 60s now, hitting 80s in the organ system sections. 3rd year seems to have really helped for pathology, but definitely need to strengthen up physio and pathophys basics moving forward. About 40% done with the bank.

Any thoughts as to what to do once I am done with UW? I hope to finish 1 pass in about a week to 10 days. I think in that time I will take my first practice test (I will be 6 weeks away from test day). I want the confidence of having at least seen all the material once before giving it a shot and finding out where I am really weak. My goal is to do UW at least twice. Any idea if I should do incorrects --> reset or reset first?

 

[bonemann]

2nd year, attending a "brand name" in the midwest.
I'm shooting for a ~265 (want to do ortho on the west coast).
Will be taking 8 weeks for dedicated study time with a test date of end of May.
I plan to finish all of USMLERx qbank before dedicated (a lofty goal).
Boards and Beyond to supplement lectures moving forward, then Uworld during dedicated time (1 pass) and Robbins student question book.
Some Zanki+Sketchy for micro and pharm.

I'm still trying to figure out how to best use my dedicated time.
8 weeks is more than enough for 1 pass of Uworld. How long do you guys think that should normally take?
Of course, I'll shoot for a pracitice exam at least once a week during dedicated.

Do people do some content review of each block before doing all the Uworld for that section and then moving on to another bock and rinse/repeat?

 

[Newyawk]

2nd year, attending a "brand name" in the midwest.
I'm shooting for a ~265 (want to do ortho on the west coast).
Will be taking 8 weeks for dedicated study time with a test date of end of May.
I plan to finish all of USMLERx qbank before dedicated (a lofty goal).
Boards and Beyond to supplement lectures moving forward, then Uworld during dedicated time (1 pass) and Robbins student question book.
Some Zanki+Sketchy for micro and pharm.

I'm still trying to figure out how to best use my dedicated time.
8 weeks is more than enough for 1 pass of Uworld. How long do you guys think that should normally take?
Of course, I'll shoot for a pracitice exam at least once a week during dedicated.

Do people do some content review of each block before doing all the Uworld for that section and then moving on to another bock and rinse/repeat?

Idk many people who used robbins Qs during dedicated, but it is certainly a thorough review of path. Perhaps doing these Qs before entering dedicated could be something to consider.

8 weeks is enough time to complete uworld. You will also want to go through pathoma and first aid for each block youre doing. Unless you have glaring gaps in your pharm/micro knowledge, i think you can skip sketchy (just my personal take). Anecdotally, most people i know who used sketchy didnt do super well. A confounding factor was that these people felt they had glaring gaps in their knowledge of these subjects, so they started off as weaker candidates.

There are arguments to be made for doing Qs randomly or doing them by module. I think its more of a personal decision with respect to how you feel youll absorb the material best. If you feel like you have a good grasp by dedicated, perhaps random blocks would be best (especially since youd have gone thru Rx entirely by then). Keep in mind that doing Qs by module removes the element of test-like conditions. For example, if i make a GI test, im completely in the GI mode and can think one dimensionally. Additionally, when you do a GI module and have a Q on chest pain, you know its not a heart problem but most likely an esophageal condition.

Many people who scored that high (including myself and a friend) used more than just uworld. I used kaplan and rx (didnt finish kaplan completely) through all of M2 but also during dedicated after finishing uworld. I also did robbins review throughout path.

Lmk if you have any more Qs

 

[Prince090]

Idk many people who used robbins Qs during dedicated, but it is certainly a thorough review of path. Perhaps doing these Qs before entering dedicated could be something to consider.

8 weeks is enough time to complete uworld. You will also want to go through pathoma and first aid for each block youre doing. Unless you have glaring gaps in your pharm/micro knowledge, i think you can skip sketchy (just my personal take). Anecdotally, most people i know who used sketchy didnt do super well. A confounding factor was that these people felt they had glaring gaps in their knowledge of these subjects, so they started off as weaker candidates.

There are arguments to be made for doing Qs randomly or doing them by module. I think its more of a personal decision with respect to how you feel youll absorb the material best. If you feel like you have a good grasp by dedicated, perhaps random blocks would be best (especially since youd have gone thru Rx entirely by then). Keep in mind that doing Qs by module removes the element of test-like conditions. For example, if i make a GI test, im completely in the GI mode and can think one dimensionally. Additionally, when you do a GI module and have a Q on chest pain, you know its not a heart problem but most likely an esophageal condition.

Many people who scored that high (including myself and a friend) used more than just uworld. I used kaplan and rx (didnt finish kaplan completely) through all of M2 but also during dedicated after finishing uworld. I also did robbins review throughout path.

Lmk if you have any more Qs

Thank you for taking out time and helping people who are going to take step 1 in near future.

Besides using KaplanQbank , UW and Rx, do you think I need to utilize any other resource to shoot for 255+ ? If it helps, my exam is in May/June.

 

[Newyawk]

Thank you for taking out time and helping people who are going to take step 1 in near future.

Besides using KaplanQbank , UW and Rx, do you think I need to utilize any other resource to shoot for 255+ ? If it helps, my exam is in May/June.

Np.

It depends on what your time frame is. Doing all 3 q banks during dedicated study time is usually not feasible. The earlier you start doing Qs the better off youll be. You should definitely use pathoma and first aid IMO. Im not sure how to answer your Q exactly - maybe you can be more specific?

 

[Prince090]

Np.

It depends on what your time frame is. Doing all 3 q banks during dedicated study time is usually not feasible. The earlier you start doing Qs the better off youll be. You should definitely use pathoma and first aid IMO. Im not sure how to answer your Q exactly - maybe you can be more specific?

I intend to finish Rx and Kaplan till march of next year and then start uworld and then take step 1 in June,2018. I am already using pathoma and first aid along with course work. Do you think I need any other resource or method to cross 255+ mark or would that be sufficient ?

 

[Newyawk]

I intend to finish Rx and Kaplan till march of next year and then start uworld and then take step 1 in June,2018. I am already using pathoma and first aid along with course work. Do you think I need any other resource or method to cross 255+ mark or would that be sufficient ?

Assuming you have a strong foundation (you studied hard and did well throughout med school) you should be more than fine. Of course make sure to do the NBMEs. Test taking ability will play a large factor as well.

Make sure to focus on your current coursework as well. As ive said before, youll never have as much time to learn neuro as your schools neuro module. Dont slack on coursework in lieu of step 1 prep.

 

[Foot Fetish]

Can someone articulate why exactly Pathoma is so commonly recommended? I have not been using it at all and still have been managing to average around 85% on Q-banks. I tried to watch the videos, but it felt like he was just regurgitating First Aid with a bit of extra explanation. Nothing mind-blowing. I feel like I can learn it faster by just studying First Aid directly. Does he actually include any information that is NOT in FA? If so, then it might be worth it for me to go through the Pathoma book to collect the miscellaneous pearls. Otherwise, I'm not sure how useful it is.

I'm not trying to hate on Pathoma. I'm genuinely trying to understand what the appeal is / whether I am missing out on a valuable resource.

Thoughts?

 

[68PGunner]

Np.

It depends on what your time frame is. Doing all 3 q banks during dedicated study time is usually not feasible. The earlier you start doing Qs the better off youll be. You should definitely use pathoma and first aid IMO. Im not sure how to answer your Q exactly - maybe you can be more specific?

Give me a timeline of when I should finish the majority of Kaplan, USMLERx, and Uworld assuming that I’m planning to take the test first week of June w/ about 5 weeks of dedicated.

 

[ERDOC555]

Can someone articulate why exactly Pathoma is so commonly recommended? I have not been using it at all and still have been managing to average around 85% on Q-banks. I tried to watch the videos, but it felt like he was just regurgitating First Aid with a bit of extra explanation. Nothing mind-blowing. I feel like I can learn it faster by just studying First Aid directly. Does he actually include any information that is NOT in FA? If so, then it might be worth it for me to go through the Pathoma book to collect the miscellaneous pearls. Otherwise, I'm not sure how useful it is.

I'm not trying to hate on Pathoma. I'm genuinely trying to understand what the appeal is / whether I am missing out on a valuable resource.

Thoughts?

I find his videos useful the first time I need to learn the material, after that I feel like FA covers exactly what he taught me and often more.

 

[Newyawk]

Give me a timeline of when I should finish the majority of Kaplan, USMLERx, and Uworld assuming that I’m planning to take the test first week of June w/ about 5 weeks of dedicated.

It depends on how quickly you can get thru the banks, of course. I cant give you a specific timeline because i dont know you. All i can say is, at the least, do the qbanks along with your coursework (do all subjects [including micro, etc] in GI with your GI module - whether thats M2 path or modern systems based) and with only 5 weeks of dedicated focus only on uworld at that point. If you want to PM me to discuss this further id be happy to help you sort out details

 

[Newyawk]

Can someone articulate why exactly Pathoma is so commonly recommended? I have not been using it at all and still have been managing to average around 85% on Q-banks. I tried to watch the videos, but it felt like he was just regurgitating First Aid with a bit of extra explanation. Nothing mind-blowing. I feel like I can learn it faster by just studying First Aid directly. Does he actually include any information that is NOT in FA? If so, then it might be worth it for me to go through the Pathoma book to collect the miscellaneous pearls. Otherwise, I'm not sure how useful it is.

I'm not trying to hate on Pathoma. I'm genuinely trying to understand what the appeal is / whether I am missing out on a valuable resource.

Thoughts?

The major difference is that pathoma teaches the material while FA just tells you what details are high yield.
For example (and im making this up): pathoma teaches you that cerebral aneurysms are associated with ADPKD because of hypertension. First aid will usually merely make a list of things associated with ADPKD - berry aneurysms being a major one. So theres an element missing there that helps people actually understand and remember the material.

So if you want to learn the material for the first time or relearn it well, pathoma is your best option.
If youre in dedicated and just need a reminder, FA is much better.

 

[sharkbyte]

I'm an M2, shooting for a 245+. Taking the test in June 2018. So far Pathoma is the only board prep I've really done. I've watched the videos and annotated the notebook. Have looked at some Boards and Beyond videos and done some Kaplan questions but only sporadically (probably should have been on top of that during the first semester but oh well lol).

My plan is to watch Sketchy Micro/Pharm over break since it's pretty easy to do and I mostly want to take time off after a grueling first semester. Going to start in January by reading First Aid, watching Pathoma/B&B and doing USMLE Rx questions. Going to start UWorld in March, and then during dedicated hit UFAP hard along with the NBMEs. My goal is to do as many practice questions as I can.

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

Welcome to SDN.

Where advice is administered based on hearsay... not experience.

Look... no offense my man... but the dude is gonna do what he wants to do.

I doubt any one of us can say something to stop that and we shouldn't.

Though untraditional on SDN... I'ma break the mold here and offer support instead of hating.

I think the reason people are going off on this guy is that he's touting something that's essentially impossible and doesn't set a good example. It's anxiety inducing for M1s and laughable for M2s. The fact is, everyone plans to do 100 things and ends up doing 50. That's standard. Pretty much everyone plans to do UFAP at least 2x and a ton of people don't even manage to get through it once. The people who do really well plan for 200 and end up hitting around there. He's planning to do 1000.

From someone who is in the thick of it right now, trust me the plan is impossible, poorly thought out, and a recipe for burnout, exhaustion, and a very bland resume (and life, but that's not for me to judge). I could go into the specifics of why the plan isn't even good for USMLE, but it boils down to reviewing before any real learning has been done. He's going to ignore his classes and end up with a very surface level understanding of everything. He'll be trying to do so much in terms of quantity that he won't give himself the time to slow down and think about the things he makes mistakes on. Meanwhile, he'll be completely ignoring M1 material, which, even if it's not step 1 relevant, forms the basis of your knowledge for understanding path/pathophys/pharm.

I went down this same road, trying to do sketchy, UWorld, RX, Kaplan, Goljan, B&B, Zanki, and Robbins Review for every block. Tons of resources, and still not half of what he's proposing. I was beating my head against a wall. I would come across something I didn't understand, but I'd have to brush over it because time didn't permit me to just calm down and think through the concept. I kept telling myself it would all sink in later. I'd have time over break. That time never came. There was too much material to cover all the time, and I was only trying to keep up with this stuff alongside classes, nevermind trying to finish preclinicals in a single year. I've since slowed down. I do UWorld blocks timed and random for all the things I've covered so far + the stuff I'm currently covering. Despite not having even covered all the topics I'm getting questions on, I'm sitting at 82% with 20% of it done. It's because I'm taking the time to understand the underlying concepts, which you simply don't have time for while "covering" tons and tons of review resources.

That plan is a recipe for waking up in March, 3 months out, and realizing that despite giving up your life and sanity thinking you were miles ahead of your classmates and competition, you never really learned any of it. Despite being able to rattle off high-yield step 1 facts after M1 summer, your classmates eventually caught up, and they actually understood the underlying concepts because they didn't just watch pathoma, do some flashcards, and call it a day for each section. The most successful people I know learned things right the first time around. He'll be spinning his wheels with this plan. Trust me.

 

[QueenJames]

I think the reason people are going off on this guy is that he's touting something that's essentially impossible and doesn't set a good example. It's anxiety inducing for M1s and laughable for M2s. The fact is, everyone plans to do 100 things and ends up doing 50. That's standard. Pretty much everyone plans to do UFAP at least 2x and a ton of people don't even manage to get through it once. The people who do really well plan for 200 and end up hitting around there. He's planning to do 1000.

From someone who is in the thick of it right now, trust me the plan is impossible, poorly thought out, and a recipe for burnout, exhaustion, and a very bland resume (and life, but that's not for me to judge). I could go into the specifics of why the plan isn't even good for USMLE, but it boils down to reviewing before any real learning has been done. He's going to ignore his classes and end up with a very surface level understanding of everything. He'll be trying to do so much in terms of quantity that he won't give himself the time to slow down and think about the things he makes mistakes on. Meanwhile, he'll be completely ignoring M1 material, which, even if it's not step 1 relevant, forms the basis of your knowledge for understanding path/pathophys/pharm.

I went down this same road, trying to do sketchy, UWorld, RX, Kaplan, Goljan, B&B, Zanki, and Robbins Review for every block. Tons of resources, and still not half of what he's proposing. I was beating my head against a wall. I would come across something I didn't understand, but I'd have to brush over it because time didn't permit me to just calm down and think through the concept. I kept telling myself it would all sink in later. I'd have time over break. That time never came. There was too much material to cover all the time, and I was only trying to keep up with this stuff alongside classes, nevermind trying to finish preclinicals in a single year. I've since slowed down. I do UWorld blocks timed and random for all the things I've covered so far + the stuff I'm currently covering. Despite not having even covered all the topics I'm getting questions on, I'm sitting at 82% with 20% of it done. It's because I'm taking the time to understand the underlying concepts, which you simply don't have time for while "covering" tons and tons of review resources.

That plan is a recipe for waking up in March, 3 months out, and realizing that despite giving up your life and sanity thinking you were miles ahead of your classmates and competition, you never really learned any of it. Despite being able to rattle off high-yield step 1 facts after M1 summer, your classmates eventually caught up, and they actually understood the underlying concepts because they didn't just watch pathoma, do some flashcards, and call it a day for each section. The most successful people I know learned things right the first time around. He'll be spinning his wheels with this plan. Trust me.

Totally get where you are coming from.

But his school may suck at lectures and have a bunch of useless crap in the lecture exams that isn't in FA or Pathoma or RX or Uworld.

That's how it is at my program atleast. I'm sure many others can attest to this on SDN.

Boards prep is ALL up to you in my humble opinion.

It is almost 2 am where I am at rn... and am pulling all all-nighter for a final exam I have in 6 hours.

Lately... I have been running through all lectures quick in 1-2 days. Study for boards the remaining 2-3 days. Sprinkle in cramming for OPP and lecture exams 2-3 days before the exam and repeat. These past few weeks have been hell though.

IDK bro.

Wish I had the OP's attitude in first year but I was too busy trying to find my rhythm and deal with the garbage science us DOs have to learn referred to as OMM.

People are gonna do what they are gonna do. I salute the kid tbh.

Like I said in a previous post.

Friends and partying and "enjoying" med school are all temporary....

Board scores are forever.

 

[68PGunner]

Totally get where you are coming from.

But his school may suck at lectures and have a bunch of useless crap in the lecture exams that isn't in FA or Pathoma or RX or Uworld.

That's how it is at my program atleast. I'm sure many others can attest to this on SDN.

Boards prep is ALL up to you in my humble opinion.

It is almost 2 am where I am at rn... and am pulling all all-nighter for a final exam I have in 6 hours.

Lately... I have been running through all lectures quick in 1-2 days. Study for boards the remaining 2-3 days. Sprinkle in cramming for OPP and lecture exams 2-3 days before the exam and repeat. These past few weeks have been hell though.

IDK bro.

Wish I had the OP's attitude in first year but I was too busy trying to find my rhythm and deal with the garbage science us DOs have to learn referred to as OMM.

People are gonna do what they are gonna do. I salute the kid tbh.

Like I said in a previous post.

Friends and partying and "enjoying" med school are all temporary....

Board scores are forever.

Let me know when you are done w/ Uworld, Kaplan, and USMLERx.

 

[Terence McKenna]

I think the reason people are going off on this guy is that he's touting something that's essentially impossible and doesn't set a good example. It's anxiety inducing for M1s and laughable for M2s. The fact is, everyone plans to do 100 things and ends up doing 50. That's standard. Pretty much everyone plans to do UFAP at least 2x and a ton of people don't even manage to get through it once. The people who do really well plan for 200 and end up hitting around there. He's planning to do 1000.

From someone who is in the thick of it right now, trust me the plan is impossible, poorly thought out, and a recipe for burnout, exhaustion, and a very bland resume (and life, but that's not for me to judge). I could go into the specifics of why the plan isn't even good for USMLE, but it boils down to reviewing before any real learning has been done. He's going to ignore his classes and end up with a very surface level understanding of everything. He'll be trying to do so much in terms of quantity that he won't give himself the time to slow down and think about the things he makes mistakes on. Meanwhile, he'll be completely ignoring M1 material, which, even if it's not step 1 relevant, forms the basis of your knowledge for understanding path/pathophys/pharm.

I went down this same road, trying to do sketchy, UWorld, RX, Kaplan, Goljan, B&B, Zanki, and Robbins Review for every block. Tons of resources, and still not half of what he's proposing. I was beating my head against a wall. I would come across something I didn't understand, but I'd have to brush over it because time didn't permit me to just calm down and think through the concept. I kept telling myself it would all sink in later. I'd have time over break. That time never came. There was too much material to cover all the time, and I was only trying to keep up with this stuff alongside classes, nevermind trying to finish preclinicals in a single year. I've since slowed down. I do UWorld blocks timed and random for all the things I've covered so far + the stuff I'm currently covering. Despite not having even covered all the topics I'm getting questions on, I'm sitting at 82% with 20% of it done. It's because I'm taking the time to understand the underlying concepts, which you simply don't have time for while "covering" tons and tons of review resources.

That plan is a recipe for waking up in March, 3 months out, and realizing that despite giving up your life and sanity thinking you were miles ahead of your classmates and competition, you never really learned any of it. Despite being able to rattle off high-yield step 1 facts after M1 summer, your classmates eventually caught up, and they actually understood the underlying concepts because they didn't just watch pathoma, do some flashcards, and call it a day for each section. The most successful people I know learned things right the first time around. He'll be spinning his wheels with this plan. Trust me.

There is a threshold on how much intuition and getting the bigger picture will help you on the exam. There is a vast amount of knowledge that you have to actually commit to memory just to play the game. You can't play the game until you know the rules.

No amount of intuition is going to tell you to pick pipercillin when all you're given is gram negative rod infection in CF patient with lung failure.

Don't get me wrong, I actually love the conceptual aspects of medicine in pathophys for example a lot more than the almost chimp-like memorization required for stuff like gross anatomy and micro, but I'd rather commit the rules to my long term memory via Anki earlier rather than later. I've noticed that I'm doing a lot better in my classes because of this additional reviewing as well.

To each their own, good luck. You'll probably do fine considering your uworld averages but there's more than one way to win the game, and my way is more effort based than yours.

 

[QueenJames]

Let me know when you are done w/ Uworld, Kaplan, and USMLERx.

I'm planning on finishing kaplan and rx over winter break. Hope ur doing well Gunner. Your energy has been much inspiration for me dude. *high five emoji*

 

[Newyawk]

I admire your dedication guys (i used to wake up in the 5's myself many mornings) but seriously make sure to get some sleep on a regular basis. The timestamps on your posts are crazy

 

[bobjonesbob]

How many uworld questions per day / per hour is a reasonable goal during dedicated? This would include time for throughly reviewing the answers and taking notes / making anki cards. For example right now I can do about 15-20 kaplan qs and make anki cards on any unknown information in about an hour or a little over. Just trying to figure out how long it'll take me to complete uworld and whether or not I should start my first pass before dedicated.

 

[Fewa Fibroblast]

Goal: 270
Test date: May 2018

 

[Newyawk]

How many uworld questions per day / per hour is a reasonable goal during dedicated? This would include time for throughly reviewing the answers and taking notes / making anki cards. For example right now I can do about 15-20 kaplan qs and make anki cards on any unknown information in about an hour or a little over. Just trying to figure out how long it'll take me to complete uworld and whether or not I should start my first pass before dedicated.

I took me about 3 hours to complete and take notes (timed tutor/random mode) for each 40 Q block. And i had seen 90% of the Qs already at that point (was my second pass)

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

There is a threshold on how much intuition and getting the bigger picture will help you on the exam. There is a vast amount of knowledge that you have to actually commit to memory just to play the game. You can't play the game until you know the rules.

No amount of intuition is going to tell you to pick pipercillin when all you're given is gram negative rod infection in CF patient with lung failure.

Don't get me wrong, I actually love the conceptual aspects of medicine in pathophys for example a lot more than the almost chimp-like memorization required for stuff like gross anatomy and micro, but I'd rather commit the rules to my long term memory via Anki earlier rather than later. I've noticed that I'm doing a lot better in my classes because of this additional reviewing as well.

To each their own, good luck. You'll probably do fine considering your uworld averages but there's more than one way to win the game, and my way is more effort based than yours.

We'll agree to disagree. There probably isn't a study method in the world that is so bad that 14-16 hours/day of consistent work won't yield results. You're very early in this process. Don't be afraid to ditch a resource if you need to slow your brain down and just spend a day on absorbing even a single page in FA if it's giving you trouble.

Everyone gets most of the brute memorization stuff is the stuff. If it's in UFAPS directly, it's a 65%+ question on UWorld, which means 85%+ people will know that fact come test day. Literally every M2 in the country sitting for step 1 is aware of the association of CF with pseudomonas infection, and they all know how to treat it (and there's more to it than pipercillin, lots of options and different scenarios where certain ones are better).

When you start UWorld you'll see that there are two things that get you a high score. The first is never getting gimme questions wrong. Your approach is great for this. The second is getting those tough 30% questions right. A lot of the time getting those 30%ers is more about sitting down and really understanding a concept instead of memorizing every scenario.

More than any of that, don't lose the forest for the single tree that is step 1. It's a single part of your application, and 10 extra points is not worth giving up 2 full years of your life. Not to mention, you need to get into the hospital and start making connections. Having a big name endorse your application is far more effective for securing your dream spot than trying to brute force your way in with insane step scores (which actually does turn some PDs off, as weird as that is). It's a lot like dating. If you just set up a lazy online profile you'll send tons of messages with variable results. If you go talk to people in person at random (e.g. a bar) you'll have more success. If you meet someone through mutual friends or a hobby you're pretty much guaranteed at least a first date.

Good luck with everything, and make sure to take some time for yourself. Don't hang your ego and pride on breaking 270 on step 1. If you're gonna go ham on something, try to make it something that will look really unique on your app. Do something that adds to the medical community. Step 1 isn't like the SAT. They already know you're smart enough to be a doctor. They just want to make sure they're not getting someone who is gonna fail the boards, and they want someone reasonably motivated. Score 250+ and then stand out in other ways. It'll serve you much better.

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

Totally get where you are coming from.

But his school may suck at lectures and have a bunch of useless crap in the lecture exams that isn't in FA or Pathoma or RX or Uworld.

That's how it is at my program atleast. I'm sure many others can attest to this on SDN.

Boards prep is ALL up to you in my humble opinion.

It is almost 2 am where I am at rn... and am pulling all all-nighter for a final exam I have in 6 hours.

Lately... I have been running through all lectures quick in 1-2 days. Study for boards the remaining 2-3 days. Sprinkle in cramming for OPP and lecture exams 2-3 days before the exam and repeat. These past few weeks have been hell though.

IDK bro.

Wish I had the OP's attitude in first year but I was too busy trying to find my rhythm and deal with the garbage science us DOs have to learn referred to as OMM.

People are gonna do what they are gonna do. I salute the kid tbh.

Like I said in a previous post.

Friends and partying and "enjoying" med school are all temporary....

Board scores are forever.

FWIW, having terrible lectures actually makes it harder to ignore them in favor of step 1 material. It means you have to pick through them and figure out what non-step stuff you need to study for the exam.

 

[Terence McKenna]

We'll agree to disagree. There probably isn't a study method in the world that is so bad that 14-16 hours/day of consistent work won't yield results. You're very early in this process. Don't be afraid to ditch a resource if you need to slow your brain down and just spend a day on absorbing even a single page in FA if it's giving you trouble.

Everyone gets most of the brute memorization stuff is the stuff. If it's in UFAPS directly, it's a 65%+ question on UWorld, which means 85%+ people will know that fact come test day. Literally every M2 in the country sitting for step 1 is aware of the association of CF with pseudomonas infection, and they all know how to treat it (and there's more to it than pipercillin, lots of options and different scenarios where certain ones are better).

When you start UWorld you'll see that there are two things that get you a high score. The first is never getting gimme questions wrong. Your approach is great for this. The second is getting those tough 30% questions right. A lot of the time getting those 30%ers is more about sitting down and really understanding a concept instead of memorizing every scenario.

More than any of that, don't lose the forest for the single tree that is step 1. It's a single part of your application, and 10 extra points is not worth giving up 2 full years of your life. Not to mention, you need to get into the hospital and start making connections. Having a big name endorse your application is far more effective for securing your dream spot than trying to brute force your way in with insane step scores (which actually does turn some PDs off, as weird as that is). It's a lot like dating. If you just set up a lazy online profile you'll send tons of messages with variable results. If you go talk to people in person at random (e.g. a bar) you'll have more success. If you meet someone through mutual friends or a hobby you're pretty much guaranteed at least a first date.

Good luck with everything, and make sure to take some time for yourself. Don't hang your ego and pride on breaking 270 on step 1. If you're gonna go ham on something, try to make it something that will look really unique on your app. Do something that adds to the medical community. Step 1 isn't like the SAT. They already know you're smart enough to be a doctor. They just want to make sure they're not getting someone who is gonna fail the boards, and they want someone reasonably motivated. Score 250+ and then stand out in other ways. It'll serve you much better.

I appreciate the insight, and I don’t mean that in a smarmy non-commital way. I feel like a lot of assumptions are being made about my personal life, interests and priorities. I still have a life, I still do research and I don’t spend anywhere close to 8-10 hours a day doing step (close to 3-4). I am a big proponent of incrementalism and making proactive decisions early. I am also extremely skeptical of traditional modes of education and trust myself to teach myself something a lot more than the hackneyed teaching styles still being employed by medical schools. I do understand that different people learn differently though. Some people need to be told what to do before they decide to do it, this isn’t the case with me. I understand the value of making personal connections and having a well-rounded application. That point isn’t lost to me because I am aiming for a high step score. Finally, in regard with my ego being hurt by not scoring as high as I’d like: That is so far off base from the type of person I am that it makes me smile trying to imagine such a situation. Your ego gets hurt when you put your value as a person into something other than yourself. My ego would get hurt if I decided that I am valuable as a person only if I do well on step 1. The truth is, we are all valuable as humans regardless of our scores, jobs or prospects. Unfortunately most of the world is too judgemental and snooty to see that. It’s a constant d*ck measuring contest, and it doesn’t stop at medical school. I am aiming for a high score because its a lot easier to live with tired eyes than with regrets.

 

[Henry101]

Any way we can get another thread for us normal folk who are actually taking the exam within the next year to share advice/motivation/help?!?!

 

[QueenJames]

I appreciate the insight, and I don’t mean that in a smarmy non-commital way. I feel like a lot of assumptions are being made about my personal life, interests and priorities. I still have a life, I still do research and I don’t spend anywhere close to 8-10 hours a day doing step (close to 3-4). I am a big proponent of incrementalism and making proactive decisions early. I am also extremely skeptical of traditional modes of education and trust myself to teach myself something a lot more than the hackneyed teaching styles still being employed by medical schools. I do understand that different people learn differently though. Some people need to be told what to do before they decide to do it, this isn’t the case with me. I understand the value of making personal connections and having a well-rounded application. That point isn’t lost to me because I am aiming for a high step score. Finally, in regard with my ego being hurt by not scoring as high as I’d like: That is so far off base from the type of person I am that it makes me smile trying to imagine such a situation. Your ego gets hurt when you put your value as a person into something other than yourself. My ego would get hurt if I decided that I am valuable as a person only if I do well on step 1. The truth is, we are all valuable as humans regardless of our scores, jobs or prospects. Unfortunately most of the world is too judgemental and snooty to see that. It’s a constant d*ck measuring contest, and it doesn’t stop at medical school. I am aiming for a high score because its a lot easier to live with tired eyes than with regrets.

You hit it right on the head man. I love it!

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

I appreciate the insight, and I don’t mean that in a smarmy non-commital way. I feel like a lot of assumptions are being made about my personal life, interests and priorities. I still have a life, I still do research and I don’t spend anywhere close to 8-10 hours a day doing step (close to 3-4). I am a big proponent of incrementalism and making proactive decisions early. I am also extremely skeptical of traditional modes of education and trust myself to teach myself something a lot more than the hackneyed teaching styles still being employed by medical schools. I do understand that different people learn differently though. Some people need to be told what to do before they decide to do it, this isn’t the case with me. I understand the value of making personal connections and having a well-rounded application. That point isn’t lost to me because I am aiming for a high step score. Finally, in regard with my ego being hurt by not scoring as high as I’d like: That is so far off base from the type of person I am that it makes me smile trying to imagine such a situation. Your ego gets hurt when you put your value as a person into something other than yourself. My ego would get hurt if I decided that I am valuable as a person only if I do well on step 1. The truth is, we are all valuable as humans regardless of our scores, jobs or prospects. Unfortunately most of the world is too judgemental and snooty to see that. It’s a constant d*ck measuring contest, and it doesn’t stop at medical school. I am aiming for a high score because its a lot easier to live with tired eyes than with regrets.

Fair enough. I think the misinterpretation comes from the plan you laid out. Doing sketchy + anki is totally doable in 3-4 hours/day. Don't plan to finish the rest of what you laid out in 3-4 hours/day though. I can tell you as an M2 I am doing about half of what you laid out and I spend 2.5-3 hours doing 700-800 Zanki cards every day alone. Granted, if you start anki earlier you could cut that down to 2-2.5 hours/day, but that only leaves 2 hours for the rest of it. Just ballparking it for the Winter, Goljan is an hour/day, getting through Pathoma once in 3-4 months or so is 25 minutes/day, Sketchy Path is 30 minutes/day. Converting flash facts is honestly a massive waste of time (and error-filled from what I hear). Do Zanki instead. Any Qbank will take you 3 minutes/question at the absolute least, much longer doing it your style where you won't have truly learned the material. So be aware that finishing a Qbank is a much, much bigger time commitment than simply watching sketchy/pathoma. You don't just "finish Kaplan Qbank" from September through December without committing a massive amount of time to it. It's a 2 hour/day commitment at least. From my experience, you simply will never get that much done in the time you allotted, not without robbing yourself of a social life and other opportunities. That's why people are giving you a hard time. If you use the resources you mentioned the way most people do, you will literally not have time for anything but step.

I actually am giving this advice to be generally helpful. You will see how insane it is to do what you've written on top of everything your school will expect you to juggle and everything your mentors will ask of you. I also think you'll see the value in "finishing" fewer resources to give yourself time to slow down and absorb the material you need to internalize, but you might not. I'd love for you to prove me wrong and still end up with a 270 though. Sounds like you've got the rest of it figured out. Best of luck to you.

 

[Terence McKenna]

Fair enough. I think the misinterpretation comes from the plan you laid out. Doing sketchy + anki is totally doable in 3-4 hours/day. Don't plan to finish the rest of what you laid out in 3-4 hours/day though. I can tell you as an M2 I am doing about half of what you laid out and I spend 2.5-3 hours doing 700-800 Zanki cards every day alone. Granted, if you start anki earlier you could cut that down to 2-2.5 hours/day, but that only leaves 2 hours for the rest of it. Just ballparking it for the Winter, Goljan is an hour/day, getting through Pathoma once in 3-4 months or so is 25 minutes/day, Sketchy Path is 30 minutes/day. Converting flash facts is honestly a massive waste of time (and error-filled from what I hear). Do Zanki instead. Any Qbank will take you 3 minutes/question at the absolute least, much longer doing it your style where you won't have truly learned the material. So be aware that finishing a Qbank is a much, much bigger time commitment than simply watching sketchy/pathoma. You don't just "finish Kaplan Qbank" from September through December without committing a massive amount of time to it. It's a 2 hour/day commitment at least. From my experience, you simply will never get that much done in the time you allotted, not without robbing yourself of a social life and other opportunities. That's why people are giving you a hard time. If you use the resources you mentioned the way most people do, you will literally not have time for anything but step.

I actually am giving this advice to be generally helpful. You will see how insane it is to do what you've written on top of everything your school will expect you to juggle and everything your mentors will ask of you. I also think you'll see the value in "finishing" fewer resources to give yourself time to slow down and absorb the material you need to internalize, but you might not. I'd love for you to prove me wrong and still end up with a 270 though. Sounds like you've got the rest of it figured out. Best of luck to you.

If it’s my study plan that is confusing/annoying I can explain that as well. You brought up my winter semester for example, I’m only doing 4 things and they don’t take anywhere near 8 hours to complete. I listen to Goljan on 2x while I walk or run. Pathoma has a total run time of 35 hours and I also watch that on 2x while annotating the book. I’ve had some extra time over the winter break and I’m already through the first 6 chapters. You are right about Zanki and I have switched over to it now. The Anki cards for the corresponding Pathoma chapters are already made so I literally just watch, annotate and go through the deck in Zanki. This is the same for Sketchy. I found a premade deck for Flash Facts on Reddit and its decent but not as good as Zanki so I might forego Flashfacts.

Even my M2 schedule is extremely doable. To get through Kaplan in four months I would have to do 20 questions or half a block’s worth of questions a day. I can understand how doing everything on my study plan may be hard for you specifically, since you have to take the test in 6 months, but for me it really doesn’t take that long to do as I have essentially 3x as much time as you do from today to take the test.

How many of the 700-800 cards that you do a day are new cards? I highly recommend capping reviews and using an addon like load balancer. Obviously if you start Zanki late its going to be impossible to finish in time for the exam. There’s over 20k cards and the size of the deck has gotten to the point where if you haven’t started as an M1 you are seriously playing catch up if you are trying to mature the entire deck.

 

[WanderingGuitarist]

How are you gonna watch all of Pathoma as an M1 if you haven't even started organ systems yet? Seems like a waste of time as you'll be memorizing things you don't even understand yet.

 

[bonemann]

Idk many people who used robbins Qs during dedicated, but it is certainly a thorough review of path. Perhaps doing these Qs before entering dedicated could be something to consider.

8 weeks is enough time to complete uworld. You will also want to go through pathoma and first aid for each block youre doing. Unless you have glaring gaps in your pharm/micro knowledge, i think you can skip sketchy (just my personal take). Anecdotally, most people i know who used sketchy didnt do super well. A confounding factor was that these people felt they had glaring gaps in their knowledge of these subjects, so they started off as weaker candidates.

There are arguments to be made for doing Qs randomly or doing them by module. I think its more of a personal decision with respect to how you feel youll absorb the material best. If you feel like you have a good grasp by dedicated, perhaps random blocks would be best (especially since youd have gone thru Rx entirely by then). Keep in mind that doing Qs by module removes the element of test-like conditions. For example, if i make a GI test, im completely in the GI mode and can think one dimensionally. Additionally, when you do a GI module and have a Q on chest pain, you know its not a heart problem but most likely an esophageal condition.

Many people who scored that high (including myself and a friend) used more than just uworld. I used kaplan and rx (didnt finish kaplan completely) through all of M2 but also during dedicated after finishing uworld. I also did robbins review throughout path.

Lmk if you have any more Qs

Thanks friend.

Do you recommend doing UWorld once or twice? I'm of the opinion that doing it a second time would be too easy because the questions would be memorable (i noticed that I remember even old questions)

 

[Newyawk]

Thanks friend.

Do you recommend doing UWorld once or twice? I'm of the opinion that doing it a second time would be too easy because the questions would be memorable (i noticed that I remember even old questions)

Np. I did it twice and the consensus is, i think, to repeat it once during dedicated after using it throughout the year. I personally dont believe in repeating it twice in a 6 week period (im not even sure how people do this).
That being said, if you feel like you can gain more from doing other things (a different Qbank), perhaps allocate less time to uworld

 

[pbrocks15]

Np. I did it twice and the consensus is, i think, to repeat it once during dedicated after using it throughout the year. I personally dont believe in repeating it twice in a 6 week period (im not even sure how people do this).
That being said, if you feel like you can gain more from doing other things (a different Qbank), perhaps allocate less time to uworld

Edit: Saw that you mentioned you used Kaplan and Rx...would you prefer one over the other?

 

[Newyawk]

Edit: Saw that you mentioned you used Kaplan and Rx...would you prefer one over the other?

Rx is nice because it allows you to stratify by difficulty. So you can choose to ignore the easy Qs (and trust me, these are extremely easy). The downside of that is of course that you may just not have known a high yield "easy" detail.
Overall, i like kaplans explanations better. Kaplan also tests minutiae and tough physio Qs which forces you to answer Qs from a place of no previous insight. This is an important skill to develop before the real exam (which will likely have several of these Qs). But, much of kaplan is easy spitback.
Rx has some nice Qs as well but majority are spitback.
I think most people would say rx but i think for whatever reason students are biased against kaplan. Whereas first aid (rx makers) are considered gods.

 

[bararaboi]

Joining (and bookmarking) this thread. Will be taking my exam end of June!

 

[68PGunner]

Edit: Saw that you mentioned you used Kaplan and Rx...would you prefer one over the other?

Kaplan is harder than USMLERX. My percentage on Kaplan is usually 7-10% lower than USMLERx. But, if you have been using Uworld, these Qbanks should be mere child plays.