Starting to take STEP 1 studying seriously as I begin my second year of medical school but intimidated by classmates who have studied since day 1

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CuriousMDStudent

CuriousMDStudent

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Title sums it up. I've been studying for my classes and such and I'll use anking to study for each class but due to covid and feeling isolated I hit bumps in the road and unfortunately had to restart my anking deck and etc. I have classmates who boast about their streaks and how they've been doing anking since day 1. If I stay consistent through my second year and grind hard, will I be able to master the step 1 material at a high enough level (250-260+)?

My STEP 1 is P/F but the reason I aim to master the material is because STEP 1 is correlated with STEP 2. I also have been told by people here and mentors that a strong STEP 1 foundation leads to success in rotations and STEP 2 as it lays down the necessary foundation as I move forward.

In essence, I'm not too "late" to succeed right? I know it sounds ridiculous and I've passed all my classes. I just wonder if I can still do well on STEP 2 and clerkships if I work hard and consistently during this next year.

Any anecdotes would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Everyone is different, and everyone's journey is different. If every single person were doing the same exact thing, the world would be boring. Just do you, do what is best for you, and ignore everything else.
 
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CuriousMDStudent said:
Title sums it up. I've been studying for my classes and such and I'll use anking to study for each class but due to covid and feeling isolated I hit bumps in the road and unfortunately had to restart my anking deck and etc. I have classmates who boast about their streaks and how they've been doing anking since day 1. If I stay consistent through my second year and grind hard, will I be able to master the step 1 material at a high enough level (250-260+)?

My STEP 1 is P/F but the reason I aim to master the material is because STEP 1 is correlated with STEP 2. I also have been told by people here and mentors that a strong STEP 1 foundation leads to success in rotations and STEP 2 as it lays down the necessary foundation as I move forward.

In essence, I'm not too "late" to succeed right? I know it sounds ridiculous and I've passed all my classes. I just wonder if I can still do well on STEP 2 and clerkships if I work hard and consistently during this next year.

Any anecdotes would be appreciated. Thank you.
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You do you, and ignore them
 
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I took mine in March of second year and started studying around January of second year. I got around a 250.

I made it through medical school and made it into a derm residency.
 
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I got made fun of for studying for 10 months for step 1.

I thought I was earning a 250 (didn't happen), but in reality I think if I hadn't studied that much I would have failed, so I'm glad I did.

Everyone has their own path and you'll get sick if you compare yourself to others in this game.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Doing well on rotations has far less to do with how much you remember from M1/2 than you think it does.
Click to expand...

Could you speak more to this? I imagine how much info from M1-M2 that is retained will help with Step 2 which of course is not the same thing as doing well on rotations, but I imagine they are somewhat related.

Beyond this if you dont mind sharing, what are the 3-5 factors that make a difference in doing well on rotations in your opinion?
 
Some people just like to brag, don’t pay any attention to them. It’s definitely not too late to succeed on Step 1 or Step 2. Even if you did all of Pathoma, Sketchy Micro and Pharm, and Boards and Beyond starting now, you would still have less than an hour of board review material a day.

Also man, you just need to chill for a second. From your previous posts, you go to one of the elite medical schools and have productive research. Just believe in yourself, you will do great and will be able to match into a great program in a competitive specialty. I’m sure you’re smart enough to do killer on both Step exams.
 
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Chromium Surfer said:
Could you speak more to this? I imagine how much info from M1-M2 that is retained will help with Step 2 which of course is not the same thing as doing well on rotations, but I imagine they are somewhat related.

Beyond this if you dont mind sharing, what are the 3-5 factors that make a difference in doing well on rotations in your opinion?
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at this point as a post-step 2 MS4 I have probably forgotten a solid 70% of the step 1 material and i do quite well on rotations

it's a lot more about being a nice person and hard worker, knowing what questions to ask, knowing when you need to look things up, and having a process for thinking things through than it is about having a deep pool of random factoids. on any given rotation you'll want to brush up on the facts related to that field, but you won't need to pull out obscure neuroanatomy facts on a nephrology rotation, for example.

A lot of step 2 is about clinical decision making - having step 1 knowledge will help for sure, but honestly you can get a lot of questions right for step 2 even if you don't know the exact ultimate diagnosis, but know what step you would take next to figure one out (imaging? labs? etc)
 
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Chromium Surfer said:
Could you speak more to this? I imagine how much info from M1-M2 that is retained will help with Step 2 which of course is not the same thing as doing well on rotations, but I imagine they are somewhat related.

Beyond this if you dont mind sharing, what are the 3-5 factors that make a difference in doing well on rotations in your opinion?
Click to expand...
1. Are you pleasant/easy to work with?
2. Are you trustworthy?
3. Are you reliable?
4. Do you work hard?
5. Do you know a lot about the subject?

Like in that order almost. How much you know doesn’t mean much if everyone thinks you’re an ass.
 
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TelemarketingEnigma said:
at this point as a post-step 2 MS4 I have probably forgotten a solid 70% of the step 1 material and i do quite well on rotations

it's a lot more about being a nice person and hard worker, knowing what questions to ask, knowing when you need to look things up, and having a process for thinking things through than it is about having a deep pool of random factoids. on any given rotation you'll want to brush up on the facts related to that field, but you won't need to pull out obscure neuroanatomy facts on a nephrology rotation, for example.

A lot of step 2 is about clinical decision making - having step 1 knowledge will help for sure, but honestly you can get a lot of questions right for step 2 even if you don't know the exact ultimate diagnosis, but know what step you would take next to figure one out (imaging? labs? etc)
Click to expand...

Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
1. Are you pleasant/easy to work with?
2. Are you trustworthy?
3. Are you reliable?
4. Do you work hard?
5. Do you know a lot about the subject?

Like in that order almost. How much you know doesn’t mean much if everyone thinks you’re an ass.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for your feedback I appreciate it and will keep it in mind as I move into third year! :)
 
If we told you it was too late, would you stop studying? Seriously, a lot of these people just like to hear themselves talk. They’re stressed out and get off on their own sense of superiority that they derive from trying to convince everyone they know the most. In my anecdotal experience, maybe 1/4 of these people are actually awesome. The others are just average and puffing their chests out.

Just do you.
 
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You don't need to have started from Day 1. In fact, it's probably better for you mentally to not have started from day 1. It's totally okay to start during second year or even closer to your Step 1 date because in the end, you're just reinforcing material that you theoretically should already have learned. The bigger problem is if you didn't pay attention during your pre-clinical years - then neither cramming now nor doing Anki from day 1 is a good strategy.

Focus on the important concepts and really try to learn the physiology.
 
With it being P/F, I don't see why you should be worried much. Regarding any correlation to Step 2, people use entirely different resources for each exam so studying 2+ years out for a P/F exam seems like a waste of time if your curriculum is not also strict NBME-based.
 
I did well on step 2 and well on my rotations and i tanked step 1. You’ll be fine.
 
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Too easy to compare yourself against others, avoid that at all costs. People learn at different rates and via different methods, someone else may have studied intensely from day one because they needed to do that to do well. Others leave it until the last minute because they can (not that that's ever recommended though). I personally didn't start seriously studying for Step 1 until halfway through year 2 and I ended up doing pretty well, and I can name so many others who did the same. Work hard and focus on yourself, everything else will follow!
 
No ones taking it lightly- but one doesn’t need to worry about going HAM on step 1 studying 2 weeks into M2 in my opinion
 
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