USMLE exams may seem hard but it is not about what you study, it is
about how you study. On the other hand, luck may play a huge role
during the exam. The exam process including registration, payment
and preparation need some good time before hand in addition to
thorough thinking and planning.
Reserving an appointment for the exam day is by itself an important
part, it puts you in a time frame and this should be the first thing to do
even before you start studying for the exam. Your scores do not
correlate with the amount of time you spent studying, but it does
correlate the amount of time you spent analyzing how the exam will
be like.
Tips for Step 1:
Reading Kaplan books for Step 1 should be done while you are still
in med school doing your basic years. If you are sitting for the
exam after you graduate, you might want to skip this and save time
by doing sth else.
Kaplan videos are helpful, I have done them all for step1 but on fast
forward speed X2.5. I took a general idea of everything and noticed
that all the content is mentioned in First Aid step 1 book. It took me
about 6 weeks to do it on this high speed.
The only Kaplan videos that I found significantly helpful were
behavioral sciences, ethics and biostatistics. Perhaps due to the fact
that these subjects are not taken very seriously and thoroughly
during your basic years. I recommend watching these videos.
Pharmacology videos talking about sympathomimetics and
parasympathomimetics, drugs and receptors are quite good and I
recommend watching since they give you an idea about how to
think when this kind of question shows up.
First Aid Step1 book should be studied well, it took me 4 weeks of
reading.
The most appropriate step to do after you read step one book for 4
weeks is to start solving Qbanks directly. Yes, after 4 weeks, do not
spend more than that because you will be seeing that questions are
different than the way you think.
I did uworld Qbank and Kaplan for 2 months and you learn from
your mistakes. It is actually the best way to study for USMLE
exams as the explanations they give would stick in your mind and
is far better than reading core material. I also re-read the notes I
have written just before going to the exam.
Question ideas are very important so the more you solve, the better.
I did a couple of NBME exams but didn’t have much time. If time
goes back, I would have done other Qbanks in addition to uworld
that will definitely give more new ideas.
By the time you finish Qbanks, give about 4 weeks to revise your
weaknesses in questions and do a fast revision to first aid and then
go for the exam.
I have assembled by notes for whoever wants to use them as they
contain high yield information and can be found on the website
To summarize:
My advice is to give yourself good time to prepare using first aid book
which is concise. Before starting the Qbank, read my notes and make
sure you understand the points well. Do USMLE World Qbank at least
once, better if twice. Just before the exam, read the notes as fast review
and go to the exam. You can find my notes on www.drjamalusmle.com
Good Luck to you All