Actually my initial preparation was for neet pg, my country entrance examination, but then I developed interest in USMLE

Hi everyone,
My step 1 experience-
Score- 266
Total prep time-- 6 months, 4 months with internship and 2 months dedicated prep time.
Actually my initial preparation was for neet pg, my country entrance examination, but then I developed interest in USMLE.
Materials used–
FA+UWORLD
100 cases for ethics.
Goljan audio lectures
Uworld notes posted on FB by others, used them during free time just to glance
Amboss questions every now and then
Kaplan pathology notes

I had done Kaplan pathology notes and biochem dr. Turco videos and microbiology and immunology Kaplan videos in my second year.

I started directly with FA for a fast read which took me three months to complete during internship.
Simultaneously I had started uworld offline but couldn’t cover much.
After a single read of FA, I started with uworld questions trying to solve atleast a block a day.
Did second round of FA after completing half of uworld.
Then continued to finish uworld and did 2 more rounds of FA.
Last 2 weeks I revised FA and read whatever I had noted down in FA from uworld.

Things that helped me–

  1. Multiple revisions of FA
  2. Noting down things from uworld which I didn’t know in FA
  3. Solving amboss every now and then during free time
  4. Discussing with my study partner
  5. Support from parents, brother and friends.

Feelings after exam–
Almost 80% of questions are from FA+uworld. Be good with them.
Be good at time management and practice guessing.
Be ready to sit for 8 hours in the exam
Strengthen your weak topics rather than rereading things you know well
Hard work always pays off. Believe in yourself

Things I did wrong–
Hadn’t given any online NBME. Didn’t know where I stood. I used to get 10-12 wrongs in nbmes offline.

Current situation- I’m aiming for diagnostic radiology residency in USA. I have no electives/USCE/ research in radiology. I’m having an opportunity to join MD radiodiagnosis at home country. Not sure if I should take the risk to leave the seat and try for something (diagnostic radiology residency in USA) that I might not get, USMLE is very unpredictable is what everyone says. If you have any suggestions regarding this, please do share :slight_smile:
Hoping to meet you all in USA during our journey. Good luck.