Hello Guys. thankyou very much for your wishes. I feel very happy and blessed to write this. Step1 is a one year journey for almost everyone. I was a 2.2 gpa person and I found step1 really difficult. I am from pakistan and graduated in 2017. completed my internship in 2018 and then started preparing for step 1.
I did kaplan pharmacology and biochemistry and without going through kaplan books I moved to first aid ( I read kaplan books during my medschool). First aid is a pathetic. Everytime you read it, you find something new.
after 2 months of first aid I bought my six months uworld subscription (BIG MISTAKE). I SHOULD HAVE BOUGH ONE YEAR UWORLD SUBSCRIPTION. SOLVING UWORLD DAILY IS SO IMPORTANT.
my uworld first pass was around 57%. I did another round. then started doing nbmes.
This was the toughest phase of my preparation. I wasnt scoring in nbmes. The sequenc of my assesments were:
uwsa 1 in february: 194
nbme 13 in march: 198
nbme 11,16,15,17: 40-45 wrong
nbme 18: MY ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE WAS DOING NBME 18 OFFLIKE. I GOT 50 WRONG. This is a good predictor. Make sure you do it online.
uwsa 2 in june: 220
nbme 22 online: 209.
REAL SCORE: 231
When I got 220 in uwsa 2 I cancelled my exam. Extended my triplet. My target was atleast 220+. I studies and revised everything. I then gave nbme 22 onlone and I again shattered because I got 209. This time comes in everyone’s preparation. At this time your support system comes into play. There were two of my friends who motivated me alot. my family motivated me. My mother and my mother in law both prayed for me. The guy behind @usmle 360 on instagram is a gem. He motivated me in my deepest times. His instragram page is filled with gems. I must say he is alot behind my score. Any of you going through difficult phases of usmle must follow his page.
EXAM DAY:
I had good 6 hour sleep though it was difficult to sleep. My exam was easier than nbmes and of my assessments but still I was worried that I wont be able to score 220+ because of the curve.I took break after every block. Ate dates, cold coffee, water, dark chocolate and went to washroom in every break I spent 3 weeks praying and pondering If I will pass or not.
I am very thankful to everyone who contributed to my journey. If I can do it anyone can do it.