USMLE Accepted yesterday...want to start STEP1 prep now. Am I nuts?

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Jumb0

Jumb0

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So, I just got into medical school yesterday, and I will be matriculating in 2016. Is it absolutely insane to start studying for STEP 1 now? I know it's almost 3 years from now , but I have extra time on my hands, and I would love to start cranking away at it. I just want to start making and memorizing flash cards, so by the time studying starts in earnest, I'll be way ahead of the curve. I realize that the test is likely to change at least a little bit by the time Im taking it, but I think I can still cover a lot of ground by learning fundamental, bread-and-butter topics that will never be taken away.

Thoughts? Any suggestions? Where do I start?

I should mention that I'm sort of an autodidact. For better or for worse, Ive always preferred to pass on optional lecture and simply teach myself...that's why I think this makes sense.
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Jumb0 said:
So, I just got into medical school yesterday, and I will be matriculating in 2016. Is it absolutely insane to start studying for STEP 1 now? I know it's almost 3 years from now , but I have extra time on my hands, and I would love to start cranking away at it. I just want to start making and memorizing flash cards, so by the time studying starts in earnest, I'll be way ahead of the curve. I realize that the test is likely to change at least a little bit by the time Im taking it, but I think I can still cover a lot of ground by learning fundamental, bread-and-butter topics that will never be taken away.

Thoughts? Any suggestions? Where do I start?

I should mention that I'm sort of an autodidact. For better or for worse, Ive always preferred to pass on optional lecture and simply teach myself...that's why I think this makes sense.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one that had to google autodidact?

Anyway this was fun OP. 10/10.
 
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For any pre-med that does come across this thread later, most people don't start serious Step 1 studying until sometime during 2nd year of med school. It's just important to learn the information really well when you learn it in med school.

Go book a plane ticket to Europe w/ a backpack and a buddy and travel and see the world.
 
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as far as starting early is concerned, if possible get lecture notes from a student presently in school, but professors change and so do the lecture notes, and
lecture notes usually are the basis of the professor's tests.
no matter what, just read the best book or kaplan lecture notes along with watching kaplan videos, and try to understand, chances are very high you may not remember what you do study if you choose to start early, but always try to understand before attempting to memorize. wikipedia is great for understanding a lot of stuff.

med school can be very challenging, first go through lecture notes, then go through brs and/ or lippincott illustrated for that subject or other book suggested below or kaplan videos along with kaplan lecture notes, then go through topic based usmle question banks' questions, then go through first aid for the usmle step 1, for every fact in usmle step 1- type in a word doc, with explanations from your preferred sources, including wikipedia.
best resources/books for med school/usmle according to most med students,
uworld qbank, first aid for usmle step 1, usmlerx videos 2015 version,
brs for physiology, (some phd possessing prof may say brs physiology is crap, don't listen to that person)
pathoma or goljan for pathology or robbins pathology review- robbins can be a good source of path qs for tests,
lippincott's illustrated for pharmacology and biochemistry, some also like katzung pharmacology review for pharm,
lippincott's illustrated q and a for anatomy and embryology-also recommended for usmle step 1,
brs for histology-especially for class,
clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple for microbiology,
levinson for immunology,
high yield for neuroanatomy,
for other subjects please ask your seniors,

(some professor may advice you otherwise on best resources or resources to avoid, don't listen to some PHD possessing non-md person on which are the best books/resources or ones to avoid unless that phd possessing person is your senior, professors who have not studied for usmle usually don't have a clue as PHD students have different needs than MD students, giving a lecture to med students is very different from actually being a medical student)

this is the advice I wish someone had given me.

all the best
 
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Jumb0 said:
So, I just got into medical school yesterday, and I will be matriculating in 2016. Is it absolutely insane to start studying for STEP 1 now? I know it's almost 3 years from now , but I have extra time on my hands, and I would love to start cranking away at it. I just want to start making and memorizing flash cards, so by the time studying starts in earnest, I'll be way ahead of the curve. I realize that the test is likely to change at least a little bit by the time Im taking it, but I think I can still cover a lot of ground by learning fundamental, bread-and-butter topics that will never be taken away.

Thoughts? Any suggestions? Where do I start?

I should mention that I'm sort of an autodidact. For better or for worse, Ive always preferred to pass on optional lecture and simply teach myself...that's why I think this makes sense.
Click to expand...

this is the most ridiculous thing ive ever seen on this forum.
 
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Early studying won't increase one's score. But if the guy is keen on studying then power to him. It will just make the crunch-time closer to the real deal a lot easier to swallow. One of the hardest lessons is that getting a good score is only partially about actual knowledge; a lot is strategy and timing resources the right away so that momentum peaks at exactly the right time. Any early studying is always good if one wants to go that path, but it will go toward potential rather than kinetic energy. It's complicated, but that's the gist of it.
 
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Are you nuts? simple answer yes.

No foundation, it's like I just bought a basketball, might as well start watching game tape on the golden state warriors who ill be facing in next years NBA Finals.
 
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doctorknownothing said:
Are you nuts? simple answer yes.

No foundation, it's like I just bought a basketball, might as well start watching game tape on the golden state warriors who ill be facing in next years NBA Finals.
Click to expand...

How is it like that at all? Given that I just finished 4 years of pre-med plus 1 year of postbac in which I took only upper level science electives, it's more like I've been killing it in minor leagues for years and now I'm thinking about the NBA...I didn't JUST buy a basketball. I'm not Kobe, but I've been balling to some extent for years...

Moreover, let's be real...I just flipped through First Aid (Yes, I bought FA), and I am already familiar with tons of the basic science. The biochemistry is fresh in my mind, for example.
You don't need to be a medical student to master basic sciences. You just need a decent IQ, books, and spare time...


luvall said:
as far as starting early is concerned, if possible get lecture notes from a student presently in school, but professors change and so do the lecture notes, and
lecture notes usually are the basis of the professor's tests.
no matter what, just read the best book or kaplan lecture notes along with watching kaplan videos, and try to understand, chances are very high you may not remember what you do study if you choose to start early, but always try to understand before attempting to memorize. wikipedia is great for understanding a lot of stuff.

med school can be very challenging, first go through lecture notes, then go through brs and/ or lippincott illustrated for that subject or other book suggested below or kaplan videos along with kaplan lecture notes, then go through topic based usmle question banks' questions, then go through first aid for the usmle step 1, for every fact in usmle step 1- type in a word doc, with explanations from your preferred sources, including wikipedia.
best resources/books for med school/usmle according to most med students,
uworld qbank, first aid for usmle step 1, usmlerx videos 2015 version,
brs for physiology, (some phd possessing prof may say brs physiology is crap, don't listen to that person)
pathoma or goljan for pathology or robbins pathology review- robbins can be a good source of path qs for tests,
lippincott's illustrated for pharmacology and biochemistry, some also like katzung pharmacology review for pharm,
lippincott's illustrated q and a for anatomy and embryology-also recommended for usmle step 1,
brs for histology-especially for class,
clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple for microbiology,
levinson for immunology,
high yield for neuroanatomy,
for other subjects please ask your seniors,

(some professor may advice you otherwise on best resources or resources to avoid, don't listen to some PHD possessing non-md person on which are the best books/resources or ones to avoid unless that phd possessing person is your senior, professors who have not studied for usmle usually don't have a clue as PHD students have different needs than MD students, giving a lecture to med students is very different from actually being a medical student)

this is the advice I wish someone had given me.

all the best
Click to expand...

Thanks, mate. I really appreciate it! Everyone is being so discouraging, but you at least recognize that it's not totally insane to start this early. People make it out to be forbidden territory for anyone who is not MS2, but common sense says that the earlier your start, the more potential you have.
 
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Jumb0 said:
How is it like that at all? Given that I just finished 4 years of pre-med plus 1 year of postbac in which I took only upper level science electives, it's more like I've been killing it in minor leagues for years and now I'm thinking about the NBA...I didn't JUST buy a basketball. I'm not Kobe, but I've been balling to some extent for years...

Moreover, let's be real...I just flipped through First Aid (Yes, I bought FA), and I am already familiar with tons of the basic science. The biochemistry is fresh in my mind, for example.
You don't need to be a medical student to master basic sciences. You just need a decent IQ, books, and spare time...




Thanks, mate. I really appreciate it! Everyone is being so discouraging, but you at least recognize that it's not totally insane to start this early. People make it out to be forbidden territory for anyone who is not MS2, but common sense says that the earlier your start, the more potential you have.
Click to expand...

When's the last time a D-league player made a difference in the NBA? I watch enough NBA that I'd be familiar with game tape of several teams. Doesn't mean I have any idea how to apply that knowledge. In this analogy game tape is FA and applying knowledge is step 1, but you're a baller so you probably already knew that.
 
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seminoma said:
When's the last time a D-league player made a difference in the NBA? I watch enough NBA that I'd be familiar with game tape of several teams. Doesn't mean I have any idea how to apply that knowledge. In this analogy game tape is FA and applying knowledge is step 1, but you're a baller so you probably already knew that.
Click to expand...

Lol, I concede that my D-league analogy was somewhat erroneous. A more precise analogy would be to equate premed toNCAA Basketball. Anyway, yeah, I've started to make flashcards of First Aid. I'm literally gonna memorize it.
 
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Jumb0 said:
Lol, I concede that my D-league analogy was somewhat erroneous. A more precise analogy would be to equate premed toNCAA Basketball. Anyway, yeah, I've started to make flashcards of First Aid. I'm literally gonna memorize it.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend looking into either Firecracker or the Brosencephalon Anki deck. Firecracker is something you have to pay for, but is basically flashcards of First Aid. There's a thread in this forum on it. You'll hear different things about it, but it's pretty good.

Brosencephalon is a deck of First Aid. For Brosencephalon, that's something you have to google to download, and then you need to download a software called Anki, but both are FREE. It's a flashcard software based on the idea of spaced repitition (whatever you get wrong, it gives you those cards more often; whatever you get right, it gives you those cards less often).

I don't have time to cover the software and decks in detail, but I would highly consider those decks b/c all the cards are already made, and you don't have to spend the time making the cards (and rather spend your valuable time just learning from them). Just as an anecdote (and I emphasis, anecdote), I used the Brosencephalon deck to ingrain a good bit of First Aid into myself and it was pretty helpful in me scoring 250+ (but again take it with a grain of salt; you'll hear some people say it's maybe not worth it).
 
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Jumb0 said:
Lol, I concede that my D-league analogy was somewhat erroneous. A more precise analogy would be to equate premed toNCAA Basketball. Anyway, yeah, I've started to make flashcards of First Aid. I'm literally gonna memorize it.
Click to expand...

Honestly if I thought making FA flashcards for yourself before starting med school would make one iota of difference in your step 1 score I'd say go for it. I truly don't think it will matter at all. First aid is a skeleton review book to pound on during your dedicated study period. I'm someone who started using firecracker at the beginning of M1 and wouldn't speak ill of anyone else doing the same, but starting before med school even begins is highly unlikely to make any difference whatsoever and is squandering some of the last real responsibility-free time you're going to have for a very long while.

All that being said, it's seems like you're just going to listen to people who tell you what you want to hear in here.
 
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I can definitely see why you would think it's a good idea to start studying now, since Step 1 is given such a huge emphasis on this forum and everyone freaks out about it. But honestly, I really wouldn't recommend spending your senior year/last year off studying for an exam that's 3 years away. Yeah you might memorize and retain some information, but you're most likely to forget whatever you spent your year memorizing once you start your MS1/MS2 classes. There's no way you can spend all of MS1 studying for classes on top of keeping up with your FA flashcards. I'm not sure how it is at other schools, but memorizing FA will not help you ace course exams in any way since most course exams cover a LOT more information than FA provides.

Plus, med school is GRUELING, and it's way way way more important to relax and refresh your mind before beginning MS1 year than try to memorize the entire medical school coursework. The last thing you want to do is spend your year off studying and memorizing flash cards, and then spend another 4 years nonstop studying for course exams, board exams, and shelf exams. Medical school is no joke, so enjoy your year off. Just my thoughts, but do whatever you wish. Good luck and congrats on the acceptance! 🙂
 
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p1ggy said:
I can definitely see why you would think it's a good idea to start studying now, since Step 1 is given such a huge emphasis on this forum and everyone freaks out about it. But honestly, I really wouldn't recommend spending your senior year/last year off studying for an exam that's 3 years away. Yeah you might memorize and retain some information, but you're most likely to forget whatever you spent your year memorizing once you start your MS1/MS2 classes. There's no way you can spend all of MS1 studying for classes on top of keeping up with your FA flashcards. I'm not sure how it is at other schools, but memorizing FA will not help you ace course exams in any way since most course exams cover a LOT more information than FA provides.

Plus, med school is GRUELING, and it's way way way more important to relax and refresh your mind before beginning MS1 year than try to memorize the entire medical school coursework. The last thing you want to do is spend your year off studying and memorizing flash cards, and then spend another 4 years nonstop studying for course exams, board exams, and shelf exams. Medical school is no joke, so enjoy your year off. Just my thoughts, but do whatever you wish. Good luck and congrats on the acceptance! 🙂
Click to expand...

This is sound advice. Seriously, if you have no major formal obligations, just book a plane ticket to somewhere like Europe (or South America for this time of year) and just travel and see the world. No one I know in med school scored 250+ by starting studying before med school; they just studied really hard when it most counted.
 
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Why even bother asking the question when 99% are gonna say it's a bad idea and you're gonna do it anyway?

I hear "I wish I spent time doing *insert fun thing here*" 100x more than I hear "I wish I would have pre-studied". Actually, I have never heard anyone say the latter.

But hey, go for it.
 
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I agree with the above poster - do well in med school and learn the material really well the first time around so that when you prepare for Step 1, everything will be very familiar to you.

If you really want to start studying now, then FA would be pointless since it's very bare-bones and you need to understand the reason behind things not just memorize random stuff. So I would recommend doing videos or reading books that actually teach you things if you really want to pre-learn everything now.. but you can understand how that would be very tedious once med school starts and you already have so much stuff to learn.
 
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If someone is going to study early for med school and no one can stop them, then maybe it's not a bad idea to start learning pathology b/c it's more relevant for clinical medicine. Most of Step 1 is Pathology (greater than 50%, especially when you add the pathology that deals with immunology and microbiology). It's a 2nd year subject at many med schools, and subjects like biochem, embryo, and anatomy are first year subjects. And while those pop up on Step 1, you won't see as much of them as will pathology. When you go into your clinical clerkships, what will be more important is how well you learned your pathology and pharmacology.
 
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The poster is just going to do the complete opposite of what's posted here. Honestly, who cares, if he/she wants to study, let them. It's not like it's going to directly affect anybody else posting on this thread.
 
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Whoops12 said:
To the original poster...you will find medicine very disappointing...
Click to expand...

Actually, I currently work full time as a medical scribe in a primary care clinic, and I love it. I can't wait to be a doctor. I've already seen more patients than most medical students.
 
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How many people from the NCAA can actually succeed in the NBA? hint: theres more the 4000 D1 athletes playing basketball... lol

If you forced me to come up with a plan though for a pre-med to study for Step 1, your best bet would be The kaplan classroom anywhere series with lecture notes... its recorded lectures of the actual prep course, but since its kaplan it goes a little more in to the minutia of high yield concepts, plus Half the teachers are really good. Follow a classic disciplined style like, anatomy/histo/embryo... then biochem or physio, then immuno and micro, path, pharm... its taught in 7 weeks live lecture or 14 weeks online. Then you'll have a better grasp of FA and can maybe start USMLE Rx

I can definitely see that you have some enthusiasm, and I really don't want to make you feel bad for being excited for medical school. But as you can see from the above posts that unanimously agree, It's not a good idea to start prepping for the step. Just try to appreciate the process that is Medical School, and put that enthusiasm and drive towards the tasks at hand... not the mythical final boss at the end of the story.
 
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I felt like this as an M1 and with hindsight my best advice is -- learn how to med school first, then proceed to focus on boards. You should learn how to get A's in your courses before thinking about anything else, because that will mean you have mastered how to deal with the volume of information. If I had to do it again, I wish I would have found the brosencephalon Anki deck earlier and followed it concurrently with my course material. I think just keeping up with that during first year would have put me in a much better position going into board prep. Even saying that, I am glad I did well in my classes, because I remember a lot more than I thought I would as I try to go through the deck now and bank the stuff I have already seen.
 
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Jumb0 said:
Everyone is being so discouraging, but you at least recognize that it's not totally insane to start this early. People make it out to be forbidden territory for anyone who is not MS2, but common sense says that the earlier your start, the more potential you have.
Click to expand...

You are not insane to start early, but I would not recommend it.

I had your mindset going into medical school. But I learned something after 2 years of medical school and prepping for Step 1.

Step 1 is a moving target.
Every year it changes, and test prep materials do their very best to shoot at the moving target. UWORLD is the closest Step 1 prep to the real deal, but personally I found Step 1 to be harder. Step 1 is a thinking exam, not a memorization exam. During second year I read First-Aid 3 times, Pathoma 3 times, did both Goljan Audio and UWORLD twice and only had THREE slam dunk questions throughout the whole exam. The other 300+ questions required a good amount of thinking and reflection.

If you start memorizing stuff now, you will more than likely forget the material throughout the minutia of first year, or worse, you may create a false sense of security for yourself like I did. I studied Behavioral Sciences and Biostatistics the summer before second year, and through out the entire rest of the year told myself "Nah, I don't need to review biostat, I did it all already." It ended up being my lowest section on Step.

DO NOTHING the summer before medical school. Spend first year learning for the sake of learning (or else anatomy will bite you during 3rd year when you are getting pimped by your surgeon). Then, use second year to focus on Step 1.

Best of luck!
 
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Jumb0 said:
How is it like that at all? Given that I just finished 4 years of pre-med plus 1 year of postbac in which I took only upper level science electives, it's more like I've been killing it in minor leagues for years and now I'm thinking about the NBA...I didn't JUST buy a basketball. I'm not Kobe, but I've been balling to some extent for years...

Moreover, let's be real...I just flipped through First Aid (Yes, I bought FA), and I am already familiar with tons of the basic science. The biochemistry is fresh in my mind, for example.
You don't need to be a medical student to master basic sciences. You just need a decent IQ, books, and spare time...




Thanks, mate. I really appreciate it! Everyone is being so discouraging, but you at least recognize that it's not totally insane to start this early. People make it out to be forbidden territory for anyone who is not MS2, but common sense says that the earlier your start, the more potential you have.
Click to expand...

you may have the basic sciences down, which a lot of pre-meds do and is important for first year, but second year material is way out of your league, you're not even in minor league, D-league, or whatever league (maybe waterboy or batboy but that's it). don't even try. you can't just pick up FA and expect to learn 2nd year material which is what the majority of FA is and what step 1 primarily consists of. FA is much to brief to even help you begin to understand the pathology behind diseases. you haven't even been taught to think about this kind of stuff in a clinical manner yet so just settle down. if anything pick up an anatomy book and start learning that or maybe read through some physiology that you're not really good at just to have somewhat of a background in that material. i had just as much if not more preparation in the sciences than you before medical school started and i thought it was going to translate very well and was i ever wrong. you'll come to see how little you actually know and how different medical school teaching is compared to everything else you've ever learned or gone through. so take everyone's advice and don't even try to learn FA, relax, and enjoy the time before medical school starts.
 
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This bro/gal can go read some Guyton Physiology if they are interested. I think an undergrad would be able to pick it up and start building their foundation before starting school..
 
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junojpeg said:
You are not insane to start early, but I would not recommend it.

I had your mindset going into medical school. But I learned something after 2 years of medical school and prepping for Step 1.

Step 1 is a moving target.
Every year it changes, and test prep materials do their very best to shoot at the moving target. UWORLD is the closest Step 1 prep to the real deal, but personally I found Step 1 to be harder. Step 1 is a thinking exam, not a memorization exam. During second year I read First-Aid 3 times, Pathoma 3 times, did both Goljan Audio and UWORLD twice and only had THREE slam dunk questions throughout the whole exam. The other 300+ questions required a good amount of thinking and reflection.

If you start memorizing stuff now, you will more than likely forget the material throughout the minutia of first year, or worse, you may create a false sense of security for yourself like I did. I studied Behavioral Sciences and Biostatistics the summer before second year, and through out the entire rest of the year told myself "Nah, I don't need to review biostat, I did it all already." It ended up being my lowest section on Step.

DO NOTHING the summer before medical school. Spend first year learning for the sake of learning (or else anatomy will bite you during 3rd year when you are getting pimped by your surgeon). Then, use second year to focus on Step 1.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...

I generally agree with this sentiment that studying for the actual Step isn't a good idea early on. But studying in general is always good at any stage. Junojpeg is 100% right though that before med school you need to enjoy life in some capacity. Because your life just becomes medicine after that. It's a momentum thing once you start.
 
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Transposony said:
You cannot review what you never knew - Conrad Fischer
Click to expand...

Hah idk about that. Eg when you encounter a detail in a question and say 'wow, I've never heard of that before. I better write it down.' Then you go to annotate it into your FA only to realize you had already written it there. I'd say that's reviewing without knowing. Happened to me quite a few times. I think it's pretty normal to forget some details one or two times before they're down.
 
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