Best Anki Deck and M1 Study Resources in Light of P/F Step 1?

[G'rish24]

I'm starting M1 in a few weeks and was wondering what resources would still be worthwhile to invest time into given the P/F nature of Step 1? To give context, going to a top 5 school with 1.5 year systems based pre-clinical with no AOA and P/F for first 3 years. Taking Step after 3rd year clerkships so will definitely benefit from P/F grading.

I know Pathoma, B&B, and First Aid are what most people use, but what Anki deck do you all suggest to use? Zanki, Cheesy LY, and AnKing seem to be the gold standard, but not sure if it is still worthwhile to go through such a dense deck. Any suggestions for other decks that would maximize the cost (time) to benefit (background for step 2 CK knowledge/score) ratio?

Also what qbanks do students tend to use (heard of USMLE Rx and Amboss) and are you supposed to do those practice questions while going through school during M1 year or save them for dedicated?

TIA for the help!

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[slowthai]

Read this thread: Are AnKing/Zanki pre-made decks still worth it with P/F Step 1/curriculum for incoming M1s

People use Rx, Kaplan, Amboss, and UWorld. Most save them for M2. There's serious debate about when to start UWorld during M2, but the traditional advice of waiting until dedicated may not necessarily be the best because the bank is getting larger and larger (3100+ qs) and rushing through UWorld is a mistake. UWorld is the gold standard.

 

[G'rish24]

@slowthai Thanks! I read through that thread, and it's why I am leaning towards doing Anki still since it appears to be a good way to reinforce material, but do you have any advice on other decks that are still relatively comprehensive enough but not as intensive as Zanki?

 

[slowthai]

@slowthai Thanks! I read through that thread, and it's why I am leaning towards doing Anki still since it appears to be a good way to reinforce material, but do you have any advice on other decks that are still relatively comprehensive enough but not as intensive as Zanki?

I mean, there's Cheesy Lightyear, but it's still ~27K cards. The closest thing to what you're looking for might be OG Bros, with about 13K. It covers FA and some of Pathoma.

 

[ValeRx]

Are these Magic: The Gathering decks we're talking about? oorr... asking for a friend.

 

[slowthai]

Are these Magic: The Gathering decks we're talking about? oorr... asking for a friend.

Better. Anki: Med School Domination

 

[ValeRx]

Better. Anki: Med School Domination

Sounds cool!

 

[G'rish24]

@slowthai do you suggest going for the Step 1 Zanki/Anking deck or just starting right off the bat with the Step 2 Anki deck since Step 2 CK will be weighted more?

 

[slowthai]

@slowthai do you suggest going for the Step 1 Zanki/Anking deck or just starting right off the bat with the Step 2 Anki deck since Step 2 CK will be weighted more?

Personally, I am extremely risk averse in general, so I would follow the tried and true approach of preparing for step 1 as if you're aiming for 250+ and then repeating the process with step 2, but aiming for 265+. You have to remember that step 2 builds directly on step 1 knowledge; you're just transitioning to more clinical stuff.

We'll have to wait and see what the new approach will be over the next few years. It might remain the same one that everyone's been doing, or people might start running step 1 and step 2 decks concurrently. Of course, the step 1 deck would have to be a much more abbreviated one, like maybe half the size of Zanki, which would be like 15K. Throw in Dorian (step 2 deck), and you're back to 25K+ cards.

 

[Osminog]

Zanki and LY aren't made for P/F Step 1. Don't be a masochist. Use the Soze deck (~3500 cards, I believe).

 

[Vulf]

Current MS4 here, wanted some advice to help out some incoming MS1s in the light of p/f. Given that you're incoming to a mid-tier MD school that does 1.5 preclinical years and wanted to do a very competitive specialty (e.g. derm/surgical sub) vs be moderately competitive (e.g. end up in IM at a t30 program), what's the optimal strategy for distributing your time? My assumptions are that step 2CK and research will be the difference makers in apps, preclinical p/f, AOA is not dependent on preclinicals.

My strategy would be to use a lighter pre-made Anki deck (e.g. not Zanking or w/e the kids are using these days) and use UFAP as primary resources +/- school lectures throughout MS1/MS2. Do an amount of review and learning a day (3-5hrs including classes?) that would leave a substantial amount of time for research/other ECs (way more time more than if Step 1 were still scored). If I were doing average/above average on block exams , I think I would shift to studying for MS3/CK about 0.5-0.75 of the way through MS2 and forego a true dedicated for Step 1 (do only some partial studying and monitoring with NBME tests) in order to prep for MS3/CK. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Zanki and LY aren't made for P/F Step 1. Don't be a masochist. Use the Soze deck (~3500 cards, I believe).

You can easily use zanki or LY without being a masochist. You just don’t keep up the reviews after the block. Doing cheesy LY for my endo/repro block is like 46 new cards a day. When the block is over, I just stop doing those cards.

 

[G'rish24]

You can easily use zanki or LY without being a masochist. You just don’t keep up the reviews after the block. Doing cheesy LY for my endo/repro block is like 46 new cards a day. When the block is over, I just stop doing those cards.

Doing it this way, do you feel that you'll still retain all the info 1+ years from now when taking Step? Also, if you're not using pre-made decks and making your own cards (for anatomy or lecture) how do you know how many new cards to do per day or how many reviews to do since we won't know the total amount of cards there will be in the deck total before the exam?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Doing it this way, do you feel that you'll still retain all the info 1+ years from now when taking Step? Also, if you're not using pre-made decks and making your own cards (for anatomy or lecture) how do you know how many new cards to do per day or how many reviews to do since we won't know the total amount of cards there will be in the deck total before the exam?

I use cheesy lightyear so I use a premade deck. And I have a whole year of clerkships between the end of preclerkship and step 1. I’m sure I’ll get the material plenty of times between now and step, and the stuff I don’t I’ll refresh during dedicated.

 

[G'rish24]

@Matthew9Thirtyfive Got it. Do Zanki and Cheesy LY have anatomy decks or did you use a separate deck for that

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

@Matthew9Thirtyfive Got it. Do Zanki and Cheesy LY have anatomy decks or did you use a separate deck for that

Cheesy lightyear has a Dorian anatomy deck, but my school has an approved cadaver deck that I use.

 

[Qscwdv]

@G'rish24 I'm curious what kind of plan (and what deck) you've ended up going with.

Are you really going to prepare as if Step 1 is still scored, then pivot to Step 2 later? If so, that's some impressive dedication.

If you trust the good people on /r/medicine, going to a top-5 institution already places you at a massive advantage.

Also, do you guys know of any comments made (on SDN or elsewhere) about the consequences of Step-1 P/F by actual "residency ADCOMs" (I'm not sure if that's the right term, but you know what I mean)?