4-5 months out. Should I start uworld?

[GomerPyle]

Hi all. I've been doing RX questions to learn first aid, and I'm like 15% done with RX. Some people have told me to just start doing uworld and try go to through uworld as many times as I can. Would like to hear an opinion from you guys.

I just plan on doing UFAP for my preparation.

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[Entadus]

I'm 5 months out and have no immediate plans to start UWorld. Personally I was going to buy UWorld around 3 months out.

It's really up to you, but I don't think multiple passes is going to be very efficient or effective. I would rather cover UWorld one time at a reasonably fast pace and not too early. The majority will be during my dedicated time (~5weeks?)

 

[Qester]

I will be doing Uworld 2-3 months out

 

[mcloaf]

Personally I found it much more informative to go through as many unique questions as possible. Re-doing all of uworld is just going to cover the same ground again and falsely inflate your sense of how well you know the material.

 

[Qester]

Personally I found it much more informative to go through as many unique questions as possible. Re-doing all of uworld is just going to cover the same ground again and falsely inflate your sense of how well you know the material.

That's my belief, I am going through Kaplan and Rx during my last semester as we speak, and will be doing Uworld during dedicated. I want to do around 6k-8k Unique questions before the beast

 

[mxmd]

I had a 5 month study plan, coinciding with my school's path/pathophys module based course. Got a 6 month USMLE subscription, did not regret it.

I believe using UWorld as a teaching tool, and incorporating even 10 qs a day into your daily study plan can go a long way. I think I finished ~60% of the entire Qbank after 4 months, and used my dedicated 5 week study period to finish the rest. It may be a little more expensive, but well worth the investment!

Worked out well for me (scored 250).

shameless self plug: I wrote about this on my blog that I recently started on med school, and I'm writing a series of guides re USMLE. Check it out and let me know if I can help with anything else 🙂

 

[GomerPyle]

Personally I found it much more informative to go through as many unique questions as possible. Re-doing all of uworld is just going to cover the same ground again and falsely inflate your sense of how well you know the material.

Yeah but do you really expect to know all of the uworld questions after one pass? I feel like there's so much to cover because not only do you have to cover why the right answer is correct, but also why the wrong answers are wrong. From what I've heard, you can gain a lot from doing it a second pass by really mastering that material...Quality over quantity...

 

[worldbeater]

Yeah but do you really expect to know all of the uworld questions after one pass? I feel like there's so much to cover because not only do you have to cover why the right answer is correct, but also why the wrong answers are wrong. From what I've heard, you can gain a lot from doing it a second pass by really mastering that material...Quality over quantity...

I am all about this strategy, do UWorld multiple rounds to get to that 75% overall correct. But I am in the minority on the forum. You could do UWorld, then a couple other banks, and come back to UWorld again and get the best of both worlds if you have the time (and discipline).

 

[ninjaman22]

I have started doing Uworld and I am taking the step in June. I feel like it is a great learning tool, and I don't want to cram 2000 questions in the last month or something. I want to be able to absorb all the information Uworld has to offer in the next 3-4 months and then redo all the marked and incorrect questions. If I have more time, I will redo the whole qbank because it's that good.

 

[Lunzio]

I have started doing Uworld and I am taking the step in June. I feel like it is a great learning tool, and I don't want to cram 2000 questions in the last month or something. I want to be able to absorb all the information Uworld has to offer in the next 3-4 months and then redo all the marked and incorrect questions. If I have more time, I will redo the whole qbank because it's that good.

This is actually my current strategy as well! I'm also using my 1st run as a real eye opener to see where my weaknesses lie so I can hit them harder during dedicated.

 

[mcloaf]

Yeah but do you really expect to know all of the uworld questions after one pass? I feel like there's so much to cover because not only do you have to cover why the right answer is correct, but also why the wrong answers are wrong. From what I've heard, you can gain a lot from doing it a second pass by really mastering that material...Quality over quantity...

I can only speak for myself but yes when redoing my incorrects in uworld I got a significant number right simply because I recognized and remembered the question and answer. Personally I think I would have gained less redoing a qbank vs using fresh ones. That being said you know what works best for you and if can get a good amount of benefit out of redoing questions then by all means do.

 

[Phloston]

No don't start UW 4-5 months out. Most people should start around 3 months out. That gives you two months to get through it. Then consolidate on other things (eg FA and NBMEs) during your red zone of one month out. I'm generalizing as everyone's situation is unique in terms of prep but that's my two cents. Before the 3 month mark you should be focusing on a different qbank such as Kaplan or qmax.

 

[worldbeater]

I can only speak for myself but yes when redoing my incorrects in uworld I got a significant number right simply because I recognized and remembered the question and answer.

A lot of people do that and that's a poor strategy. I use to do it too. Your not learning anything, your just doing physical labor.

The idea if you decide to multiple rounds of UWorld is you are thinking the sequence out. You should be covering up the answers and THEN proceed to dissect the question. Once you get to end of the vignette, you should come up with your differential (ideally 2), uncover the answers, and then match the answer you had in your head to what is listed as options. If you get the question wrong, you should figure out where in the sequence you got your thought process wrong, correct it, and apply the the proper logic to the next type of question you see.

No don't start UW 4-5 months out. Most people should start around 3 months out. That gives you two months to get through it. Then consolidate on other things (eg FA and NBMEs) during your red zone of one month out. I'm generalizing as everyone's situation is unique in terms of prep but that's my two cents. Before the 3 month mark you should be focusing on a different qbank such as Kaplan or qmax.

I agree with you if your hitting around the weighted average listed on UWorld on your first round (60%ish). That is the case for most of the people on SDN because their foundation is pretty good.

But if your getting awful averages on your first round, the students foundation is not good, and they need to do multiple rounds to move upwards. I feel like every full round of UWorld you do, you gain about 5-8% more if done with the proper methodology. So you can imagine how many rounds a student would have to do if they have a lower percentage to get to >75%, they have to start early and keep grinding. But I do agree with you multiple banks are a great option, so if your in a really bad situation, I liked the order of UWorld(2x)->UWorld(all incorrects)->Kaplan(1x)->Kaplan(all incorrects)->Weapon(1x)->Weapon(all incorrects)->UWorld(as many rounds as you need to get to >75%). This got me from a really poor average and not knowing what people were even talking about on SDN at the beginning to an average now I am pretty happy about at this point in my prep and more important the ability to understand and explain the clues and concepts of medicine. I am not perfect by any means, you may notice I make mistakes on the forum sometimes (and it's great when other posters correct me and help me organize my knowledge), but I am 100x better now then from when I started. Question Banks are all about testing your application of knowledge, the content of your knowledge is obtained through whatever reading sources you choose. Both items work together in harmony when you understand something in an explanation of UWorld question, missed it in your reading, and you are able to make the connection WHY you missed the question.

 

[mcloaf]

A lot of people do that and that's a poor strategy. I use to do it too. Your not learning anything, your just doing physical labor.

The idea if you decide to multiple rounds of UWorld is you are thinking the sequence out. You should be covering up the answers and THEN proceed to dissect the question. Once you get to end of the vignette, you should come up with your differential (ideally 2), uncover the answers, and then match the answer you had in your head to what is listed as options. If you get the question wrong, you should figure out where in the sequence you got your thought process wrong, correct it, and apply the the proper logic to the next type of question you see.

I'd much rather do a fresh qbank then spend a bunch of time covering up answers on a computer screen and redoing questions I've already seen.

 

[worldbeater]

I'd much rather do a fresh qbank then spend a bunch of time covering up answers on a computer screen and redoing questions I've already seen.

That's fine, but your missing the point. A student would be better off covering up the answers even on a fresh bank, the differential you would come up with by yourself without looking at the answers is a more precise method; once you have your differential, then you go through the answers and pick the one that's closest.

It's also better prep for when your actually practicing medicine, your looking at a patient and figuring out a differential. There won't be any A-E choices in real life.

 

[mcloaf]

That's fine, but your missing the point. A student would be better off covering up the answers even on a fresh bank, the differential you would come up with by yourself without looking at the answers is a more precise method; once you have your differential, then you go through the answers and pick the one that's closest.

It's also better prep for when your actually practicing medicine, your looking at a patient and figuring out a differential. There won't be any A-E choices in real life.

This is a really, really slow way to go through a question bank and I doubt whatever marginal benefits you'd gain from covering the answers would make up for the lost time. The idea that how you approach step 1 qbanks is going to have any impact on how you eventually practice medicine isn't realistic. I did step 1 prep with goal of scoring as high as possible on step 1, not trying to recreate the experience of seeing patients in real life.

 

[worldbeater]

This is a really, really slow way to go through a question bank and I doubt whatever marginal benefits you'd gain from covering the answers would make up for the lost time. The idea that how you approach step 1 qbanks is going to have any impact on how you eventually practice medicine isn't realistic. I did step 1 prep with goal of scoring as high as possible on step 1, not trying to recreate the experience of seeing patients in real life.

I am just saying its an added bonus. To each his own, that's fine how you did it, and I am glad it worked out well for you. But it takes like 1/2 a second to cover the answer with the calculator and then start processing the question. It doesn't take much more time at all in my experience, there still time left on timed mode when I do a block.

 

[Phloston]

I would definitely not recommend doing UWorld more than once. Going through incorrects is fine. But time should be spent on Qmax or Kaplan first to gain foundation then going to UW for reinforcement. People somehow get this idea that you should do UWorld multiple times but it's not a good strategy.

 

[Phloston]

And I definitely would recommend glancing at the answer choices for 0.5 seconds at the start of the question before reading it. This is about doing well on a test and that's the best strategy. You can spend all of this time reading a question trying to diagnose and then at the end they're like 'oh and btw, there's bihilar lymphadenopathy; what's the first-line pharmacologic therapy?'

 

[worldbeater]

You can spend all of this time reading a question trying to diagnose and then at the end they're like 'oh and btw, there's bihilar lymphadenopathy; what's the first-line pharmacologic therapy?'

That's why a person should read the last line first, and then start go though the question. It's easier this way to get the correct answer in my opinion. I also know the posters above have scored well and I respect their thoughts.

 

[worldbeater]

But time should be spent on Qmax or Kaplan first to gain foundation then going to UW for reinforcement.

At least we agree in order for a person to build their foundation, some practice needs to be done with questions. Qmax and Kaplan at the end of the day are Step 1 practice questions that will help a student make progress towards their goal, so this is a great idea too.