advice for an incoming 2nd year on Step 1 prep materials?

[turtle2011]

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I'll be a second year this fall and as we all know this is the year of the boards. I would like anyone's advice as to what materials to purchase to prepare for the boards and when is it a good time to start preparing? I know I am the type that needs much more time to prepare than the average person. For any other slow preparers out there, did you have a regimen that worked for you? I plan to take Step I sometime in the month of May, and our school does not leave a lot of time off between classes and boards. I appreciate any input. 🙂

 

[BrisketAttack]

Kaplan came to my school and gave a shpeel about how the 'prepared student' will start prep for step 1 six-nine months ahead of time. this put the fear of god into me and i always felt guilty when i was putting more time in on my classes and not studying for boards. turns out, this was the best imaginable thing I could have done. The true prep for step 1 comes from excelling in 2nd year. you must learn pathology inside and out, and also pay good attention in micro. The key books for step 1 are (in no particular order):

First Aid
RR path by Goljan
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple
Robbins question book
BRS phys

Qbanks in order of usefulness: UW>kaplan=usmleRx

Useful supplementary texts are:

lippencott biochem
lippencott or lange pharm
HY neuro
HY behavioral science

To reiterate, the absolute key to doing well on step 1 is to kill second year and learn path like your life depends on it.

I am the sort of person that learns slowly and must reread things many times in order for them to sink in. That said, I felt that 4 dedicated weeks at the end of second year was enough to prepare for step 1. anything more was overkill and burnout sets in. I was told this same thing a year ago and didn't believe it. I felt i'd need 6+ weeks to study and i was dead wrong. Just don't buy into the kaplan hype machine that says you need to start studying for this thing 9 months ahead of time. Spend your time learning path!!

 

[GMDMD]

Download Goljan and listen to him during your commutes. Listen to the appropriate audio when you go through those modules. You don't have to do it every day but by the time you take the test it's great if you've gone through him 3 times and you can anticipate the teaching points and jokes he's going to make and answer them before he does.

 

[hsans23]

i would listen to goljan like the above poster said.

i didn't study at all for the step during the school year and am NOT a naturally smart person, had 5 weeks to study after school got out and got a 246/99. i studied my butt off the entire second year though; i wound up ascending the class rankings, plus got a step score i was happy with. so i will vouch for many's opinion that you do not need to study thru-out the year to do well. that said, the students in my class who got >250 DID study thru-out, with question banks (if u do that i would do kaplan or bss thru the year and save UW for real deal boards study time). just my 2 cents!! 🙂 🙂

 

[UditNarayan]

i did not do any board studying during the year, well, that is until the last part of my path/pharm course. i would read thru the relevant chapter in goljan and FA during the last few modules of this course (which was at the end of my 2nd year). i thought it was helpful to do this and kinda wished (at that point) that i had done this all year long. in the end, it certainly didnt make a difference because i knew that i had studied well during the first two years of med school. i ended up with 266/99. i really think that studying for classes is studying for the boards...dont get so caught up in the craze that you lose focus of this!

 

[JeffLebowski]

Read the "2008 USMLE Step I Experiences" thread, that'll give you a good idea.

But real briefly - study hard M2 year, do well in your coursework. Start reviewing & doing practice questions (UW) after you get back from winter break. Set up a schedule and try your absolute best to stick to it. Make checklists to track your progress. Be honest with yourself - if there's a book or resource that you don't like or isn't working for you (after giving it a real try) then abandon it without feeling guilty. I'm sure everyone's got a "man, I started out trying to use that book but it sucked and I couldn't get through it" and a 1/4 highlighted HY book somewhere. Don't be cheap. If you think something is going to help, buy it. It's all worth it if you get the score you want. Be efficient. Continually monitor your efficiency and schedule. Work hard. Your score on Step I is directly related to your mastery of M2 material, your work ethic in reviewing, and your ability to go through practice questions well.

 

[turtle2011]

thanks so much for all of your input, i greatly appreciate it!

 

[willow18]

The key books for step 1 are (in no particular order):

First Aid
RR path by Goljan
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple
Robbins question book
BRS phys

Qbanks in order of usefulness: UW>kaplan=usmleRx

Useful supplementary texts are:

lippencott biochem
lippencott or lange pharm
HY neuro
HY behavioral science

Having just taken the beast, this is the exact same advice I would offer.

About studying 9 months vs 4-8 weeks: I would just say that the 7 weeks I put in ended with fine results, hoooowever, it would have been much easier and much less anxiety-provoking for me, had I been casually skimming through FA, Goljan and Robbins path throughout 2nd year.

 

[DocOfDocs]

Destroy the shelf exams. Find out if your school offers them. As everyone here has said, studying hard second year is key but focusing on the high yield board material toward the end of a course (prepping for a shelf) helps the most in my opinion.

 

[UditNarayan]

shelfs in terms of their questions are ok, but being forced to read thru a review source to study for each one was good practice. unfortunately, my school only gives 1st shelfs...

 

[sendwich]

does it matter whether you use FA 2008 or 2009? it seems like it'd be more helpful to just get 2008 and start jotting down notes.

 

[TUMED2010]

Kaplan came to my school and gave a shpeel about how the 'prepared student' will start prep for step 1 six-nine months ahead of time. this put the fear of god into me and i always felt guilty when i was putting more time in on my classes and not studying for boards. turns out, this was the best imaginable thing I could have done. The true prep for step 1 comes from excelling in 2nd year. you must learn pathology inside and out, and also pay good attention in micro. The key books for step 1 are (in no particular order):

First Aid
RR path by Goljan
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple
Robbins question book
BRS phys

Qbanks in order of usefulness: UW>kaplan=usmleRx

Useful supplementary texts are:

lippencott biochem
lippencott or lange pharm
HY neuro
HY behavioral science

To reiterate, the absolute key to doing well on step 1 is to kill second year and learn path like your life depends on it.

I am the sort of person that learns slowly and must reread things many times in order for them to sink in. That said, I felt that 4 dedicated weeks at the end of second year was enough to prepare for step 1. anything more was overkill and burnout sets in. I was told this same thing a year ago and didn't believe it. I felt i'd need 6+ weeks to study and i was dead wrong. Just don't buy into the kaplan hype machine that says you need to start studying for this thing 9 months ahead of time. Spend your time learning path!!

Agreed. I would add goljan audio, kaplan videos for pharmacology with Lionel , tough to find but better learning tool (relatively) than goljan path in my opinion. I would add Webpath into the mix for learning purposes and shoot for 15-20 questions (any source) per day throughout the year