Guys as someone who took the step 1 exam in 2015, let me offer some words of advice. I see a lot of students asking one another about topics that are over-represented and/or under-represented on the step 1. Let me tell you that this type of discussion is a waste of time, and will do nothing but cause you stress. You really need to have a good understanding of all topics in the standard MS1-2 curriculum to ensure a strong performance on step 1. As you know there are several resources and question banks that are available, so just prepare thoroughly using them and you will be fine. Yes, you should probably know about incontinence... but not just for step 1, but also for life as a doctor...you should expect to see this problem quite often in patients (especially the elderly).
The step 1 exam that each students receives is generated totally at random, and is generally going to have well-distributed content. In other words, no step 1 exam is going to contain 100 microbiology questions. If any of you read the nbme handbook on how to write a multiple choice test (
http://www.nbme.org/pdf/itemwriting_2003/2003iwgwhole.pdf), a big theme they emphasize is that an assessment has to sample the testable knowledge base broadly to be considered good. This is because an exam that is over-represented with certain topics is one that is biased. The objective of the step 1 is to generate a score that is representative of your knowledge, so that if you were to take it multiple times, your performance would be similar. A biased exam with certain topics over-represented would not meet this criteria, and so it would NOT be given to a student on the step 1. Therefore, I am quite certain that every step 1 exam, while it will have some variation in the content presented, will be reasonably broad and comprehensive in its coverage. This was definitely my experience.
That being said, you may hear people say the following:
"dude i had so much anatomy on my test"
"wow they asked me about toxoplasmosis like 100 times"
"i didn't think they could ask so many micro questions in one exam!!!"
"i must have had 10 questions on urinary incontinence"
This is a hypothesis, but what I think happens is that students tend to unintentionally over-represent topics that they get on the exam which they are not 100% confident in. A person who is weak in biochemistry, and then gets 10 biochemistry questions on the exam (which, is only like 3% of a 300+ item test) will think that they got really "slammed" with a bunch of biochemistry. On the other hand, a person who knows their biochemistry cold, would have probably not even noticed these questions.....
In any case, my point is, be wary of people who spout nonsense on what to study and what not to study. You should just know all of the MS1-2 curriculum well (or as much as you can possibly master). Use your review books (first aid, goljan, pathoma etc.) and question banks. Always target your weaknesses and try to minimize them as much as possible. If you learn your medicine well during MS1-2, and prepare diligently for step 1, you will be pleased with your score.
