Dr. USMLE or: How I learned to stop worrying and love Step 1
EDIT: Due to requests. I will be expanding on this post, this afternoon with more details of exactly how I did things.
Hey Guys,
I posted a few weeks ago on the topic of what my USMLE Step 1 Score was and it got a lot of attention and quite a few people have asked me to post up what I did to get a 269 on my Step 1. Proof
Note that this method is how I got a 269. You are going to sit back and ask yourself, do I really want to work this hard? Surprisingly, or not, it takes a lot of work to this score.
I also stole this method from someone who sent it out to their class at a different school and it ended up with me. So all credit goes to him.
Before my method I want to answer some of the most common questions that I have received:
Q: Do I need to study before hand?
A: I did not at all. I didn’t even know how the exam was structured until 6 weeks before hand. I did not use firecracker or any of those other gimmicks.
Q: When did you take the test?
A: I took the test in June of my third year. It worked for me, some people too it earlier, some later. I don’t think it really matters.
Q: What resources did you use?
A: Look below.
Q: All I want is a 230. Is this a good method?
A: NO NO NO NO NO. If you want a 230 you can work significantly less hard. This is a method designed to get the best score possible.
This plan was set up to be a 6 week all inclusive exam. I come from a PBL school that does not teach to the exam so I did not do very well on a practice test I took before starting (<200).
Resources:
First Aid For the USMLE Step 1
Pathoma
USMLE World Step 1 QBank
You got it, thats it. I used 3 resources only. “But don’t I need more? Like where am I going to get neuroanatomy? Don’t I need a special book for biostatistics?” NO NO NO NO NONONONONONON. That’s it. Use these 3 resources and learn them inside and out. I promise you everything you need to get a 260+ is in those 3 resources.
“Can I use Goljans Rapid Review?”
Have you read it? It is just a table and lists of stuff. Pathoma actually takes the time to teach you concepts. These concepts will help you understand more than just the disease at hand. Ie. Why Acne and Cholecystitis are very similar.
The 6 weeks block was broken up into three 2 week blocks:
Weeks 1 and 2: These were the rapid learning phases. This is where I learned that I really didn’t know anything. What is galactosemia? Why was I not taught all of this biochemistry?!?
Schedule for Mon - Sat (Sun was a break):
8am-12pm: Read 1 section in the organ systems part of first aid. Yup I took 4 hours to do this, really learn it this time through. Don’t rush it. Take the time and really understand the physiology. (Plan to finish 1x through first aid by the end of this 2 week section)
12pm - 2pm: Exercise, Shower and Lunch.
2pm - 4pm: USMLE World questions based on what ever topic I was reading about in FA that day. Usually 2 sections of 46 (Tutor untimed). My goal was to learn, not to quiz myself. You know nothing at this point of the test so why even test yourself? Just learn the material.
4pm-whenever: Pathoma (break it up so that at the end of 2 weeks you have finished a pass through it - I think there are 19 sections so somedays do 2 chapters).
Weeks 3 and 4: These were the weeks where the material had time to sink in and you get to go through the material again and fill in any small gaps you missed the first time.
Same planning of the day. AM First Aid. PM Question - I bumped it up to 3 sections of 46/day at this point. Again, go through pathoma with the videos 1 more time.
At this point you have done 2x through all 2 of your resources. You will be feeling pretty good. I think you are roughly 60-70% done with UWorld. I took a practice test, NBME 12 and got a 253. So I would have been happy here with that score anyway.
Weeks 5-6: This is the time to solidify what you have learned. You go through First Aid AGAIN, you go through Pathoma AGAIN, and you finish UWorld for each subject. I also highly recommend going back and re-doing all of your missed questions at this point.
A typical day might be: GI First Aid, GI Pathoma, and GI Questions and finish the Missed questions. Typically around 150-200 questions a day is what you should aim for.
NOW YOU HAVE FINISHED ALL OF YOUR RESOURCES 3X!!! YOU SHOULD BE FEELING AMAZING ABOUT THE TEST. You truly do get to feel that hubris.
General Tips:
Eat good food and exercise. You will see how stressful this time can be if you don’t take care of yourself.
Sleep as much as you can. Never sacrifice sleep for other things. Sleep is paramount to learning.
Don’t get discouraged, these 6 weeks will make the rest of your life much easier. Trust me on this one.
If there is a topic you keep getting wrong, create a flash card. At the end of the day, go through all of your flash cards from all of the days. I couldn’t keep Rotor, Dubin-Johnson, Gilberts, etc straight for the life of me. So I put them on a flashcard and looked at it everyday. Same for Purine synthesis and the drugs that affect it.
Talk to people. Not about the test, but about life, the weather, that crazy thing the cat on the internet did. It will help you stay grounded as a person.
Avoid Caffeine.
I hope this helps guys, feel free to ask any questions. I’ll update with any changes I wanted to make as we go through. This is how I got a 269 working about 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks. Don’t feel like you have to work that hard if you don’t want to.