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deleted880488
Hey everyone,
I used SDN a lot during the time I studied for Step 1 and thought I would pay it forward. I have listed my resources, a detailed study plan, and Q Bank averages, practice test, and official Step 1 score. My test day was early-mid April.
Resources used:
First Aid
Sketchy Micro and Pharm
Pathoma
Kaplan Q Bank
USMLE Rx Q Bank
UWorld Q Bank
Study Schedule:
Late September--Mid January:
During second year my school taught us each organ system, one at a time. We were tested on 3 major organ systems at a time, and each subsequent test was cumulative from the beginning of the year. For example, if the first three organ systems were Cardio, Resp, and Renal, the first test only tested those 3 systems. If the the next 3 were GI, Repro, and Endo, then the 2nd test focused most of its energies on GI, Repro, and Endo with questions also covering Cardio, Resp, and Renal. So it was in my best interest to keep reviewing old organ systems while learning new ones at the same time. Also keep in mind that all my tests were official NBME exams, so studying for exams was much like studying for Step and I didn't need to focus too much on the nitty gritty details taught in class.
FA, Pathoma, Sketchy
I did not go to class during 2nd year at all (except required ones), so initially I would quickly watch the recorded lectures at home and then go through the corresponding section in First Aid. However, I quickly realized that even watching was a waste of time because half the time I would space out and just read the slides. So I started just scrolling through lecture slides to make sure I didn't miss anything big that was not in First Aid. I would take about a week to get through one organ system in First Aid and then a few days to get through Pathoma. I took notes in Pathoma but not really in First Aid except for some underlining or definitions of words or abbreviations I did not know. I also watched the Cardio drug videos in Sketchy Pharm as I learned them through FA and made a goal to watch a few sketchy videos per day, mixing the relevant Pharm drugs and just doing the micro ones in order. I had done Micro during first year so this was for review. I remember I counted the number of total micro+pharm videos and decided I wanted to get through all of them once by mid February and then just did a certain number per day to reach that goal.
Kaplan Q Bank
Once I had gotten through the chapter in FA and Pathoma, I started doing questions in Kaplan Q Bank. I did it by organ system, so again if Cardio was my first one, I only did Cardio questions. I tried to finish all the Cardio questions by the time the next organ system came around. I made a journal of wrong answers and tried to periodically review it if I had some time (though realistically I did not have too much time and the process of writing down the key points seemed to be enough to solidify it). The journal would make a question out of the point that I missed: "Why does a VSD murmur not present until a few days after birth?" and then I would write the answer. The actual question in the Q bank was much longer and was a 3rd order question, but in my journal I boiled it down to the key fact that I did not know.
USMLE Rx Q Bank
If the next organ system was Resp, I did the same thing and did the FA and Pathoma chapters in Resp. I then did the Resp questions in Kaplan Q bank. However, by the time the test came around, I had finished all 3 organ systems in Kaplan Q Bank and needed another one to review all 3 in a mixed question format. I bought USMLE Rx, and would do them timed and mixed with the 3 organ systems so get practice for the upcoming NBME exam. I made a journal for these questions too. I did the combination of Kaplan and Rx for all my exams. Before each exam, I was also able to quickly read each FA chapter and watch the Pathoma video on 2 speed for the organ systems that were being tested.
Mid January--Mid February
My school was giving an official CBSE practice test in Mid February. We were still learning some organ systems all the way up until that point, but because I had gotten a system down and was essentially not even reviewing slides anymore, I had time to mix in the Pathoma and FA chapters I had not learned yet. I did all the chapters at the beginning of FA, in conjunction with the non organ system chapters of Pathoma, skipping only the Micro chapter along the way. I also worked in the Kaplan and RX questions. I honestly did not have too much time to really learn these chapters in super detail like I had with the organ systems, but I wanted to at least see the stuff once before my practice test. With all of this, I was in good shape
Mid February--April
During this time, I bought UWorld, and made a schedule to get through one FA chapter or pathoma chapter per day, as well as do 3 blocks of UWorld per day. I ended up having to take half days off to get some breaks, but then just had to modify my schedule later to maybe pair an easy pathoma chapter with an easy FA chapter so I could catch up. On some days I only did 2 blocks of UWorld if I was feeling too tired. The UWorld questions were all mixed and timed and I again made a journal of wrong answers as I had done for Kaplan and Rx. The plan was to get through Pathoma once and FA twice before the exam and finish UWorld a week before the exam. In this time I learned all the tiny tiny details, as I had gone through FA and pathoma numerous times during the school year as I was studying for my tests. I also was able to watch all of Sketchy Pharm and Micro one more time, by doing about 5 videos per day. I also took both UWorld Practice Tests and did all 6 NBME exams (4 timed, 2 offline). On practice test days, I did not do any studying.
Test Scores:
Kaplan Average: 67
USMLE Rx Average: 77
UWorld Average: 81
CBSE (2 month before test): 230
UWorld Form 1 (1.5 months before test): 256
NBME 16 (1 month before test): 230 (freaked out but I also had messed up timing during the test and lost 15 min from one of the sections)
UWorld Form 2 (3.5 weeks before test): 247
NBME 13 (3 weeks before test): 250
NBME 15 (2.5 weeks before test): 259
USMLE Free (2 weeks before test): 90%
NBME 19 (1.5 weeks before test): 252
NBME 17 (1 week before test)--offline/self timed to see questions and time management
NBME 18 (4 days before test)--offline/self timed to see questions and time management
USMLE Step 1 Official Score: 261
I used SDN a lot during the time I studied for Step 1 and thought I would pay it forward. I have listed my resources, a detailed study plan, and Q Bank averages, practice test, and official Step 1 score. My test day was early-mid April.
Resources used:
First Aid
Sketchy Micro and Pharm
Pathoma
Kaplan Q Bank
USMLE Rx Q Bank
UWorld Q Bank
Study Schedule:
Late September--Mid January:
During second year my school taught us each organ system, one at a time. We were tested on 3 major organ systems at a time, and each subsequent test was cumulative from the beginning of the year. For example, if the first three organ systems were Cardio, Resp, and Renal, the first test only tested those 3 systems. If the the next 3 were GI, Repro, and Endo, then the 2nd test focused most of its energies on GI, Repro, and Endo with questions also covering Cardio, Resp, and Renal. So it was in my best interest to keep reviewing old organ systems while learning new ones at the same time. Also keep in mind that all my tests were official NBME exams, so studying for exams was much like studying for Step and I didn't need to focus too much on the nitty gritty details taught in class.
FA, Pathoma, Sketchy
I did not go to class during 2nd year at all (except required ones), so initially I would quickly watch the recorded lectures at home and then go through the corresponding section in First Aid. However, I quickly realized that even watching was a waste of time because half the time I would space out and just read the slides. So I started just scrolling through lecture slides to make sure I didn't miss anything big that was not in First Aid. I would take about a week to get through one organ system in First Aid and then a few days to get through Pathoma. I took notes in Pathoma but not really in First Aid except for some underlining or definitions of words or abbreviations I did not know. I also watched the Cardio drug videos in Sketchy Pharm as I learned them through FA and made a goal to watch a few sketchy videos per day, mixing the relevant Pharm drugs and just doing the micro ones in order. I had done Micro during first year so this was for review. I remember I counted the number of total micro+pharm videos and decided I wanted to get through all of them once by mid February and then just did a certain number per day to reach that goal.
Kaplan Q Bank
Once I had gotten through the chapter in FA and Pathoma, I started doing questions in Kaplan Q Bank. I did it by organ system, so again if Cardio was my first one, I only did Cardio questions. I tried to finish all the Cardio questions by the time the next organ system came around. I made a journal of wrong answers and tried to periodically review it if I had some time (though realistically I did not have too much time and the process of writing down the key points seemed to be enough to solidify it). The journal would make a question out of the point that I missed: "Why does a VSD murmur not present until a few days after birth?" and then I would write the answer. The actual question in the Q bank was much longer and was a 3rd order question, but in my journal I boiled it down to the key fact that I did not know.
USMLE Rx Q Bank
If the next organ system was Resp, I did the same thing and did the FA and Pathoma chapters in Resp. I then did the Resp questions in Kaplan Q bank. However, by the time the test came around, I had finished all 3 organ systems in Kaplan Q Bank and needed another one to review all 3 in a mixed question format. I bought USMLE Rx, and would do them timed and mixed with the 3 organ systems so get practice for the upcoming NBME exam. I made a journal for these questions too. I did the combination of Kaplan and Rx for all my exams. Before each exam, I was also able to quickly read each FA chapter and watch the Pathoma video on 2 speed for the organ systems that were being tested.
Mid January--Mid February
My school was giving an official CBSE practice test in Mid February. We were still learning some organ systems all the way up until that point, but because I had gotten a system down and was essentially not even reviewing slides anymore, I had time to mix in the Pathoma and FA chapters I had not learned yet. I did all the chapters at the beginning of FA, in conjunction with the non organ system chapters of Pathoma, skipping only the Micro chapter along the way. I also worked in the Kaplan and RX questions. I honestly did not have too much time to really learn these chapters in super detail like I had with the organ systems, but I wanted to at least see the stuff once before my practice test. With all of this, I was in good shape
Mid February--April
During this time, I bought UWorld, and made a schedule to get through one FA chapter or pathoma chapter per day, as well as do 3 blocks of UWorld per day. I ended up having to take half days off to get some breaks, but then just had to modify my schedule later to maybe pair an easy pathoma chapter with an easy FA chapter so I could catch up. On some days I only did 2 blocks of UWorld if I was feeling too tired. The UWorld questions were all mixed and timed and I again made a journal of wrong answers as I had done for Kaplan and Rx. The plan was to get through Pathoma once and FA twice before the exam and finish UWorld a week before the exam. In this time I learned all the tiny tiny details, as I had gone through FA and pathoma numerous times during the school year as I was studying for my tests. I also was able to watch all of Sketchy Pharm and Micro one more time, by doing about 5 videos per day. I also took both UWorld Practice Tests and did all 6 NBME exams (4 timed, 2 offline). On practice test days, I did not do any studying.
Test Scores:
Kaplan Average: 67
USMLE Rx Average: 77
UWorld Average: 81
CBSE (2 month before test): 230
UWorld Form 1 (1.5 months before test): 256
NBME 16 (1 month before test): 230 (freaked out but I also had messed up timing during the test and lost 15 min from one of the sections)
UWorld Form 2 (3.5 weeks before test): 247
NBME 13 (3 weeks before test): 250
NBME 15 (2.5 weeks before test): 259
USMLE Free (2 weeks before test): 90%
NBME 19 (1.5 weeks before test): 252
NBME 17 (1 week before test)--offline/self timed to see questions and time management
NBME 18 (4 days before test)--offline/self timed to see questions and time management
USMLE Step 1 Official Score: 261
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