Hey just popping in here to share my QE1 prep story & resources because it seems that my method of preparing was different than what most people on here have suggested or recommended. I took the exam in Feb & passed with a 265. tl;dr at bottom.
In November I graduated off-cycle from a Caribbean med school so decided to start studying for Step 3 & the QE1 at the same time (full time). Given that I planned to match in the US, Step 3 was priority #1, although the QE1 was scheduled first. I took Step 2CK (and finished UW CK) last year in Feb 2019. Originally I planned to take QE1 after CK, but in all honesty I didn’t feel prepared enough after CK (I used Master the Boards, OME & UW CK). I was also in the middle of clerkships & didn’t feel like continuing to study.
My primary resources were UW Step 3 and the MCC practice exams. I did a couple hundred of the Canada Qbank MCQ & CDMs, but to be honest was extremely unimpressed with their product. The questions and answers were riddled with typos, poor explanations, and I even had 1 question that had a completely wrong answer (and also had no explanation). Because of this I decided just to focus on UW Step 3 MCQ and the MCC CDM practice tests. I did a few of the UW CCS cases but didn’t put my focus there. I referred to Master the Boards CK when I needed a supplemental resource, and used Toronto Notes minimally.
I read the Ethics, Legal & Organizational Medicine chapter & the screening guidelines in the FM chapter of TN which was completely adequate. As someone studying in the US system for so long, those are really the only 2 sections of TN that I needed. I figured, medicine is medicine, whether you learn it from TN, MTB or Step Up. TN is great but super dense and so there’s no way I could’ve read it page by page.
I took the QE1 full practice test early January (real test was scheduled for Feb 6) & scored a 206/285 & had no idea how that correlated on a 400 scale.
I wanted to share for others who’ve already taken CK & don’t want to re-purchase that Qbank or who want to take QE1 in line with Step 3. I was worried about it, because everyone seems to recommend UW CK & TN as an absolute. I didn’t go that route & it worked just fine for me.
tl;dr
I used UW Step 3 MCQ, MCC practice CDM tests, and the $$$ MCC practice test, all worth it. IMO, MCC practice tests & UW > Canada Qbank. If you know your medicine or prefer other resources, TN isn’t absolutely necessary with the exception of the Ethics, Legal & Organizational Medicine chapter & the screening guidelines in the FM chapter.