The most important studying sources:
First aid book (most recent edition) +
Notes from answering USMLE World questions +
Notes from answering NBME self-assessment examinations from NBME 1
to NBME 19
General advice:
First aid is not a book that you can study directly from, so you need to listen to
boards and beyond to understand what is going on (Dont waste time on Kaplan). You can make some exceptions for example in: Pathology of (every system + general pathology) you can review it from Pathoma videos Kaplan behavior and statistics Sketchy in Micro (very nice videos to memorize microbiology), some people like it in Pharma too Zanki flashcards on Anki application (It is a nice way to review things rapidly in a short time) and you can use it on your mobile phone May be immunology in Kaplan is nice Acid-base balance video from DIT was nice too Some people advice seeing Dr. White (Kaplan neuroanatomy) & Dr Turco (Kaplan biochemistry) both in Kaplan class room 2014. Regardless of the source that you see its videos, Dont forget first aid is the
book that you should study from, so finish the video and study it from FA,
if you found a nice picture or something that makes FA easier to understand
you can take it as a screenshot but dont waste a lot of time doing that especially in small sophistic A proposed timeline to prepare for USMLE step 1 run (4 Months): st 1 FA book + USMLE World offline questions in every subject and system Take notes from answering UW offline questions in an outside notebook and some people like to write in First aid book directly in an organized way (it is up to you) run (1 Month): nd 2 aid book + notes taken from answering UW offline Rapid reading for 1st questions Take offline NBME exams and you can start with NBME 11 and 7 (to see how it goes in the real exam questions). Dont take it as evaluation, you want to learn how to review FA in a way that suits
those questions in the next run.
run (2-3 months):
rd 3
Make online subscription in USMLE World Question bank. I advise you to take
the 6 months subscription (not much higher price than the 3 months ), but you will
need that time to review those questions more than once and it will provide you with
information about which subjects and systems you are good or bad at.
It is better to answer those questions in the Random timed mode (similar to what is in
the real exam). You can start with reviewing a 40 Q block in the beginning and
increase the number of questions gradually
Take NBME exam every 2 weeks and add notes from those questions.
run (repeat it as much as possible) th 4
Review first Aid with notes + answering NBME exams and taking notes from
them + UW online questions (marked & incorrect) in the subject or system you are
reviewing, you can do all of the questions again in your weak subjects and systems
You will keep discovering new information in FA in every time you read it, that is
normal
Most predictive NBME forums are 18, 19 (Take them online 1-2 months before
your scheduled exam)
Answering UW self-assessment examinations forum 1, 2 (You will take them for free
with the 6 months subscription)
My mistakes in preparing for USMLE step 1:
Taking a lot of notes from Kaplan videos. It was just a waste of time and
effort
Trying to make every run in a perfect way but believe me there is no
perfection in USMLE and the more you can review FA and notes from
UW and NBMEs the better the score you will get. I believe they should be
reviewed at least 6-8 times (I reviewed it only 4 times, the last one was in 4
days)
Feeling bad when I make a lot of incorrect answers in UW and NBME
questions. It is better to make wrong answers to learn, you will eventually
get better with every run for FA+ notes from UW and NBMEs
Reviewing UW online questions without a rapid reading for FA and the
notes taken from answering UW offline. This reading shouldnt take more than (1 month). You are not looking in to details; you want to rapidly see the first Aid book as a whole. I believe it will make reviewing UW Random questions easier 3 Months subscription on USMLE World (6 months subscription is much better and doesnt cost much more than the 3 months subscription(
In answering UW questions take a look at the explanation of wrong
answers it will help you to differentiate between similar things but dont get lost in the details Not answering UW self assessments and some NBMEs. I did answer and review NBME (4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 and part of 16), I answered NBME (7, 11, part of 16, 17) but did not review them which makes answering them meaningless indeed. It is important to know that NBME self-assessment exams are bigger than UW question bank so dont go crazy about
estimating your score with some equations and so on. You need to review the
ideas in those questions as many times as you can. Dont deal with NBME self-assessment questions as something really special Not using Sketchy in all microbiology (I used it in most of bacteriology and some virology and fungal infections) Not using Zanki flashcards (I believe it can make a difference. I used to know another version of flashcards questions on Anki application but it wasnt
that much good and when I saw Zanki flashcards which is really good and
well organized it was too late)
I stopped studying for 2 months. It is really hard to get back to studying,
even if you are busy with something else urgent try to answer and review 10
questions from UW or NBME everyday
Finding a dedicated cooperative study partner will help a lot in finishing
faster and more efficient. I lost my study partner because I stopped studying
for 2 months.
Not increasing the time dedicated to studying in the 3 months before my
scheduled exam