If you could do it all over again...

[borissimo]

First off, congrats to all those who worked so hard to do well who are receiving great news today.

I am a student who will be taking Step 1 late, and have 4 weeks left to prepare.

Seeking advice from those who have taken the exam already:
What would you do differently?

So far, my approach has been to push through Doctors in Training videos alongside First Aid. I am also listening to the Goljan lectures, alongside his review books, images, and audio transcripts. PathCards, MicroCards, and PharmCards are also coming back into play. I am debating whether the NMBE practice tests are worth the $45, considering that you don't get to review the test with answers to see how you did, just a score report that would likely tell me I have a long ways to go.

Any advice for making this last month most productive would be much appreciated. I've been utilizing First Aid Q&A and Lange Q&A for practice questions, and have a bunch of Goljan questions as well. Is it worth signing up for USMLEWorld for a month? I know I'm late getting on the ball compared to most of you, but I've unfortunately been dealing with some health issues that have prevented me from fully applying myself to this exam. I've been studying hard, don't get me wrong, but not in a boards-focused way until 2 weeks ago.

Would love to hear from you, either by private message or by a reply to this thread...

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[Entgegen]

To answer your question, I don't think I'd do anything different.

However, I would suggest USMLEWorld questions. All of them. Other than that, my prep was almost identical to yours...I used DIT, FA, UW, Goljan audio (only in my car, but was the only thing I listened to in my car from mid-March through mid-June), and I attended Kaplan lectures my school set up for us.

Didn't focus TOO much on Kaplan, mainly just listened and took notes in the books during lecture, went home and annotated those lecture notes into FA. But really, DIT+FA+UW was by far my biggest commitment, and it paid off big-time.

I should also say that the biggest help in board prep was learning this stuff well the first time around during the first 2 years of med school, so all this material truly was "review" and not "re-learning".

 

[fergustsi]

First off, congrats to all those who worked so hard to do well who are receiving great news today.

I am a student who will be taking Step 1 late, and have 4 weeks left to prepare.

Seeking advice from those who have taken the exam already:
What would you do differently?

So far, my approach has been to push through Doctors in Training videos alongside First Aid. I am also listening to the Goljan lectures, alongside his review books, images, and audio transcripts. PathCards, MicroCards, and PharmCards are also coming back into play. I am debating whether the NMBE practice tests are worth the $45, considering that you don't get to review the test with answers to see how you did, just a score report that would likely tell me I have a long ways to go.

Any advice for making this last month most productive would be much appreciated. I've been utilizing First Aid Q&A and Lange Q&A for practice questions, and have a bunch of Goljan questions as well. Is it worth signing up for USMLEWorld for a month? I know I'm late getting on the ball compared to most of you, but I've unfortunately been dealing with some health issues that have prevented me from fully applying myself to this exam. I've been studying hard, don't get me wrong, but not in a boards-focused way until 2 weeks ago.

Would love to hear from you, either by private message or by a reply to this thread...

I would finish DIT and Uworld

i only got halfway through DIT and 35% of UWORLD.
i did all of kaplan live and 90% of qbank

I also did FA, Lange path cards, Elsevier micro/immuno cards, some brs path review. I would do all of those again as well as the live lectures. i would cut out more qbank qs and substitute for uworld.

 

[doogoshly]

do all of uworld, that's the only thing i'd change. i was really slow during the first 2 weeks bc i couldn't motivate myself. i ended up only doing like 65% of all the uworld qs.

 

[borissimo]

Thanks for the feedback so far... anyone else, keep the thoughts coming... I value your opinions and input!

 

[Nagels]

I hate to sound like I'm parroting everyone else, but I would definitely say UWorld qubank. I did all the questions in tutor mode and took notes, then reviewed those notes the last two days before the test. I would swear I had 4-5 questions on the test that were almost verbatim from UWorld. All the other study aids you have are the same I used, my final score was 236/99

 

[Argatroban]

I hate to sound like I'm parroting everyone else, but I would definitely say UWorld qubank. I did all the questions in tutor mode and took notes, then reviewed those notes the last two days before the test. I would swear I had 4-5 questions on the test that were almost verbatim from UWorld. All the other study aids you have are the same I used, my final score was 236/99

Yes, I completely agree with going over Uworld again. I was unable to fully review UWorld due to time constraints but there was a question I got right in UWorld due to a guess but got wrong on the real thing. Figures.

Final Score:256/99

 

[igottaquestion]

I have no big regrets, but if I were to do it over I would definitely get the most recent FA. I had a drug question that was in FA 2009 but not FA 2008 (I know this because it was also a USMLERx question that referred me to the section in FA 2009. Read through/refer to the appropriate FA section along with courses.

Absolutely zero regret about reading Robbins path (after first studying the subject during the course so that you can appreciate the details in the Robbins section) and doing Robbins QBook and Webpath during the year. But I wished I had found time to do a once-through with Goljan for each course, too.

Basically it's nice to not be seeing FA or Goljan for the first time during your +/- month of studying.

If you still have time during the year, maybe (maybe) do USMLERx during the school year. Focus on UWorld during your +/- month of studying, read it to understand it, annotate FA from it, and don't stress about not having time for another QBank.

 

[msundi83]

I would have skipped Kaplan's bank, did Uworld during second year, and again during my actual board study. I studied about 5 weeks, I wish started some lighter studying earlier or at least used my board review books more during classes. Our tests were right out of the syllabus most of the time so it was easy to just focus on that reading. It would have made things easier though, if i was more familiar with Goljan prior to my actual studying. Other than that, Goljan, First Aid, BRS Phys, and UW are pretty solid.

 

[Abilene85]

In my 6 weeks prep, I used:
- DIT once through
- First Aid about 4 times through
- Goljan audio once through
- Skimmed BRS phys and bits and pieces of BRS path
- About 45% of UWorld qbank
- Took 2 practice NBMEs (one NBME at the start and one part-way through...but since my subject performance was nearly the same for all areas the second time around, it didn't help guide my studying and I decided taking another would be a waste of time) + 150Qs one week before the exam

My final performance was > 240. If I could have done something to boost my score a few more points, I strongly believe it would have been finishing UWorld, and trying to get through a second time. I hated my UWorld time more than anything else in my studying, but it seems to be a powerful tool used in its entirety by those who scored very well.

 

[Noeljan]

try to have a set schedule written down. I never did, and it really stressed me out. I am not a very organized person, so I would just wake up and think hmm what haven't I done yet? It was kind of random whatever I felt like doing that day. Learn from me and don't make my mistakes Also, I wish I had maned (or woman up and just taken the test after 4 weeks. I was ready I think. Taking longer probably hurt my score. I am serious when I tell you I think 4-5 weeks of good hard studying is about right. Again learn from me! This comes with a caveat though, don't try to study from day 1 in your 4 week review. I would reccommend starting review as early as possible (maybe every saturday a few hours) start with meds, micro, etc. There is too much info to cram in that 4-5 weeks but then you want to just drill everything in your head.

 

[iheartcheerios]

I would get through UW 100%. Like another poster said, I had at least 3 questions straight from UW. And at least one of them was one of those nitpicky questions that you would never expect to be on the real thing. Slow down and actually read and learn from the answers. I know that was hard for me as I get antsy spending a lot of time on 1 question.

Also knowing pharm like the back of your hand makes the real test much easier. Make sure to spend enough time on it! Pharm is the most straightforward subject to study for and on the real exam, those are the questions that you can through quickly - leaving you more time to think through the harder conceptual problems. Not to mention there were TONS of pharm questions on my exam. Good luck!

 

[Proverbs31]

In my 6 weeks prep, I used:
- DIT once through
- First Aid about 4 times through
- Goljan audio once through
- Skimmed BRS phys and bits and pieces of BRS path
- About 45% of UWorld qbank
- Took 2 practice NBMEs (one NBME at the start and one part-way through...but since my subject performance was nearly the same for all areas the second time around, it didn't help guide my studying and I decided taking another would be a waste of time) + 150Qs one week before the exam

My final performance was > 240. If I could have done something to boost my score a few more points, I strongly believe it would have been finishing UWorld, and trying to get through a second time. I hated my UWorld time more than anything else in my studying, but it seems to be a powerful tool used in its entirety by those who scored very well.

Just curious...which FA year did you use? And did you annotate too? Thats a GREAT score for pretty much soley FA!! Way to go!

 

[Abilene85]

Just curious...which FA year did you use? And did you annotate too? Thats a GREAT score for pretty much soley FA!! Way to go!

Thanks

I used the 2009 edition of First Aid. I didn't use the book during classes, so my only annotations came from Goljan audio, DIT course, UWorld answer explanations, and some sections of BRS physio that I found to be lacking in First Aid.

 

[scube]

I would have spent one week less studying. I began in feb. took the thing in june. I didn't do a ton of work until may but I got tired of doing questions and the last week of study probably cost me a few points actually. I am very happy with my score, but would have done better if I wasn't so annoyed with the exam at that point.

 

[scube]

I would get through UW 100%. Like another poster said, I had at least 3 questions straight from UW. And at least one of them was one of those nitpicky questions that you would never expect to be on the real thing. Slow down and actually read and learn from the answers. I know that was hard for me as I get antsy spending a lot of time on 1 question.

Also knowing pharm like the back of your hand makes the real test much easier. Make sure to spend enough time on it! Pharm is the most straightforward subject to study for and on the real exam, those are the questions that you can through quickly - leaving you more time to think through the harder conceptual problems. Not to mention there were TONS of pharm questions on my exam. Good luck!

it was weird but I saw several questions on mine too. however I was in the last week when I saw them so it was worthless. the other oddity was I had very little pharm which is shocking and can't be the norm.

 

[Whats_up_doc]

I would have spent one week less studying. I began in feb. took the thing in june. I didn't do a ton of work until may but I got tired of doing questions and the last week of study probably cost me a few points actually. I am very happy with my score, but would have done better if I wasn't so annoyed with the exam at that point.

What did you do specifically in your last week that makes you think you lost points? How many times did you go through FA? I am on my last week so any tips will be appreciated.

 

[scube]

Its not what I did, but what I couldn't do. I was very frustrated and just sick of it. My 6 hours or so broken up thru the day became 3-4(maybe). It took me forever to read anything so that time was just unproductive. If I had scheduled my exam a week earlier I might(just maybe) have had an ultra productive last week or if I had planned on doing very little that week. If you still feel like you are improving keep on keeping on. Good luck. I made it thru FA 3-5x depending on topic.

 

[a winner is you]

I would have skipped anything Goljan-related, what a waste of time.

FA + UW + NBME + Micro MRS + BRS Phys = success (heck, probably don't even need the last 2 if you're lazy)

 

[NucleusAccumben]

I would have taken my test a little bit earlier. Once, I finshed FA and majority of World.