Ambitious with lots of free time.

[ToxicFugu]

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Suppose you have just finished a post-bac year (having completed Physio, Embryo, Biochem, Molec. Cell. Bio, Neuro, and Genetics and gotten good grades in all of them) and are starting first year of med school with a significantly lighter load than most MS1s and a lot more free time. Suppose also that you are obsessed with acing the Step 1 and can't wait until 2nd year to start studying for it. How would you study? What are some things that you can learn without having taken second year courses? What if you memorized massive amounts of data that do not require a great deal of comprehension but do help when taking the Step 1. What first year material is covered on the Step 1?

Any thoughts? I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks.

 

[Spang]

My .02 would be:
(1) Get Robbins and BRS Patholgy.
(2) Read the Robbins, especially the first few chapters on basics of path, and make notes in the BRS Pathology.
(3) Get First Aid for USMLE and make notes in it as well.


Spang

 

[jennie 21]

My 0.02 would be:
Get a life.

You can't start studying for your boards in Sept. of your first year. There's just no point. Even Sept. of your second year would be too early. Enjoy yourself, make friends with your classmates, and do the best you can in your classes. If you do that, the boards will take care of themselves when the time comes. Even the people who do best on the boards usually only start reviewing a few months beforehand, and a few months is plenty of time. For now, just relax and chill out about the whole thing.

 

[DrDre']

I respect the OP's dedication. I do not believe it is worthwhile or necessary to start during M1, however. I am shocked that they allowed you to test out. They don't let PhDs test out at my school. There is too much new info in med school even in these areas.
Good for you though!
My suggestions:

If you have that much free time, then you have no excuse to not honor every class. So go for junior AOA which is even more powerful than rocking step 1!

2nd, spend time with your dog, loved ones, train for a marathon, sleep. This will be your easiest year for the rest of your life.


Start studying for boards at the earliest in January. Feb or March is better.

Studying "correctly" for classes IS studying for the boards.

I started Feb 14th or so and I burnt out too early. The last week I didn't study. I got a good score but I could have studied less.

Good luck with your "easy" year, OP!

 

[Taurus]

My .02 would be:
(1) Get Robbins and BRS Patholgy.
(2) Read the Robbins, especially the first few chapters on basics of path, and make notes in the BRS Pathology.
(3) Get First Aid for USMLE and make notes in it as well.


Spang

When people say "Robbins", do they mean the huge 7th edition or the smaller one?

 

[Spang]

When people say "Robbins", do they mean the huge 7th edition or the smaller one?

I meant the "huge" one, if you call it that. Compared to Harrison's it's tiny!

Some people in my class swore by the pocket Robbins but I never looked at it. Also Robbin Review is a great question book. Our school has a copy in each of our tutor rooms.

Spang