1 year removed from school, anxious about Step 1 / general Q's

[DrAK18]

Hey all,

So I had to take a leave of absence from med school for a year right after the end of 2nd year due to my family imploding. I haven't had a chance to study / brush up on anything at all, and I'm scheduled to take Step 1 in 3 months. I'm feeling pretty anxious about it; I was aiming for a score on the high end before I had to take a sudden leave of absence, but at this point I feel like I've forgotten everything but the basics.

Is 3 months enough time to both catch up on what I've forgotten and learn everything new I need to know? I don't have anything else on my plate now, so I can dedicate the time almost completely to studying. But I'm definitely feeling pretty anxious about it and am struggling to regain my studying focus.

Also, I've started taking a look at First Aid, but I'm having trouble "studying" it. For those of you who used it as a resource (pretty much everyone I assume), did you just straight up memorize the book? It's pretty dense and disjointed, but I haven't yet come up with a better way to study it.

Any advice y'all have would be much appreciated in terms of resources, things to help me catch up, whether or not I'm screwed, ways to get my focus back, whatever...thanks!

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[TheBoneDoctah]

Use Boards and Beyond. Use FA as a reference. Don’t read it.

Do UW and RX if possible.

 

[USMLE_Pro]

I agree with using FA as a reference and not reading it. Reading FA is one of the least efficient ways you can study, as simply reading you will forget about 95% of the material you just read after 2 weeks.

I do not recommend Boards and Beyond. The only resources you need are UW + Pathoma + First Aid + NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Self Assessments (CBSSA). I recommend making your own Anki cards based on your UW and NBME incorrects, and cross-referencing FA as you make this cards (this is how I used FA, I never sat down and tried to really read it).

UWorld is not "if possible", it is a must. Do these as random, timed blocks. You will probably need two passes in your situation. Most of the material you need to know is in the UW explanations, so consider this your text book. I think USMLE Rx is very poor quality compared to UW and not a good use of time. I know there are a lot of resources out there, but so long as your test-taking skills are up to par you will be fine by sticking with the gold standard resources and not wasting your time on something less effective. Good luck!

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I agree with using FA as a reference and not reading it. Reading FA is one of the least efficient ways you can study, as simply reading you will forget about 95% of the material you just read after 2 weeks.

I do not recommend Boards and Beyond. The only resources you need are UW + Pathoma + First Aid + NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Self Assessments (CBSSA). I recommend making your own Anki cards based on your UW and NBME incorrects, and cross-referencing FA as you make this cards (this is how I used FA, I never sat down and tried to really read it).

UWorld is not "if possible", it is a must. Do these as random, timed blocks. You will probably need two passes in your situation. Most of the material you need to know is in the UW explanations, so consider this your text book. I think USMLE Rx is very poor quality compared to UW and not a good use of time. I know there are a lot of resources out there, but so long as your test-taking skills are up to par you will be fine by sticking with the gold standard resources and not wasting your time on something less effective. Good luck!

I meant Rx was “if possible”. Not UW.

 

[DrAK18]

Thanks for the input. Using UWorld questions and First Aid for now...

Achieved a 30% on my first 40-question block in UWorld. Yikes, not fun.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thanks for the input. Using UWorld questions and First Aid for now...

Achieved a 30% on my first 40-question block in UWorld. Yikes, not fun.

Hence why I said use Boards and Beyond.

 

[USMLE_Pro]

I meant Rx was “if possible”. Not UW.

Gotcha, makes sense, sorry for the misinterpretation

 

[USMLE_Pro]

Thanks for the input. Using UWorld questions and First Aid for now...

Achieved a 30% on my first 40-question block in UWorld. Yikes, not fun.

I was scoring 40-50% on my first UW blocks. I never did BnB or any other qbank, ended up with a 262. It's okay to score low on UW, the point is to learn from the questions you get wrong.