Best Resources Specifically for Step 1?

[OMSWeebHours]

I hear that the Zanki deck is the best Anki deck, and UWorld + FA are good for high yield content and review. But using 3 separate resources seems like it might be verging on resource fatigue (4+ is definitely a no for me). Are these actually the best resources, can I thin it down even more (like using only Zanki and UWorld outside lectures for instance), or should I use something else entirely? Especially helpful if anyone can list something they have had success with!

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[RocuROMANium]

Similar to you I like to use as little resources as possible but unfortunately I found that I had to use several resources for Step preparation. Resources are always subjective so you need to figure out what you like best. This is what I did.

1. For Neuro, Psych and Biostats I listened to Boards and Beyond, reviewed FA and then did a 40 question UW assessment with the goal of achieving at least a 65%.
2. For Biochem I listened to Dirty Medicine, reviewed FA and did the UW assessment
3. For Pharm and Micro I did Anking and reviewed FA continuously
4. For all other systems I did BRS physio, then BRS path, reviewed FA and then did my UW assessment

I scored over 70% on all of my NBME's and the Free 120. Hopefully this gives you some ideas of what resources are available and how to utilize them.

 

[kirtar]

Similar to you I like to use as little resources as possible but unfortunately I found that I had to use several resources for Step preparation. Resources are always subjective so you need to figure out what you like best. This is what I did.

1. For Neuro, Psych and Biostats I listened to Boards and Beyond, reviewed FA and then did a 40 question UW assessment with the goal of achieving at least a 65%.
2. For Biochem I listened to Dirty Medicine, reviewed FA and did the UW assessment
3. For Pharm and Micro I did Anking and reviewed FA continuously
4. For all other systems I did BRS physio, then BRS path, reviewed FA and then did my UW assessment

I scored over 70% on all of my NBME's and the Free 120. Hopefully this gives you some ideas of what resources are available and how to utilize them.

I feel like especially on Step 1 the problem is mostly that there isn't a single content review resource that is the truly superior across the full scope. While it's easy to say that UWorld and Anki are pretty much the best across the board for the role they play in study, I can't really say that FA is the best for every aspect of content review when things like Pathoma exist. In some ways it's not just a total resource count that matters, but how you're using them. That said, is Zanki even being updated outside of how it's part of Anking?

 

[Hollow Knight]

The best are:

Pathoma for pathology, sketchy for micro and pharm.

Everything else- probably Boards and Beyond. I liked bootcamp, but it's not tagged in AnKing yet, is it?

The biggest thing is doing AnKing through it all.

My classmates who matured AnKing for step 1 are much better than me clinically as a third year. My professors love me because I really paid attention in class, etc, but I truly would have been better off ignoring my school's curriculum and doing the flashcards.

Edit: also of course UWorld. Studying for step hasn't changed in 10 years really. the above resources are still the way. Yes, it's P/F, but a lot of your shelf exams in third year will rely on step 1 knowledge. I'm finding this out now the hard way

 

[OMSWeebHours]

The best are:

Pathoma for pathology, sketchy for micro and pharm.

Everything else- probably Boards and Beyond. I liked bootcamp, but it's not tagged in AnKing yet, is it?

The biggest thing is doing AnKing through it all.

My classmates who matured AnKing for step 1 are much better than me clinically as a third year. My professors love me because I really paid attention in class, etc, but I truly would have been better off ignoring my school's curriculum and doing the flashcards.

Edit: also of course UWorld. Studying for step hasn't changed in 10 years really. the above resources are still the way. Yes, it's P/F, but a lot of your shelf exams in third year will rely on step 1 knowledge. I'm finding this out now the hard way

I definitely have considered going through Anking. And my main priority is doing boards, but is there a risk that focusing just on that could hurt my class performance? I'm worried that I might end up doing well on boards but then not be competitive because of being unable to balance board specific studying with classes.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I definitely have considered going through Anking. And my main priority is doing boards, but is there a risk that focusing just on that could hurt my class performance? I'm worried that I might end up doing well on boards but then not be competitive because of being unable to balance board specific studying with classes.

If we're talking about matching competitive specialties- you're thinking of this all wrong. People care about step 2 WAY more than class rank. If you have to prioritize, pick step studying over memorizing low-yield in house stuff. Besides, most of that stuff is useless to being a doctor anyway if your school is like mine.

Now, if you have the energy to mature AnKing and still study your professors' powerpoints in addition, OK, do that. Obviously having a high class rank will help you. But if your step 2 or shelf scores are mediocre, having good preclinical grades won't save you. If that makes sense.

Class rank is way down the list of things that matter for specialty competitiveness. Above class rank is step scores, research, letters, etc. If you're going for plastics/ortho/derm, you kind of have to be the perfect student who has all of the above and AOA, which is why it's so brutally hard to match into those specialties.

 

[kirtar]

The best are:

Pathoma for pathology, sketchy for micro and pharm.

Everything else- probably Boards and Beyond. I liked bootcamp, but it's not tagged in AnKing yet, is it?

The biggest thing is doing AnKing through it all.

My classmates who matured AnKing for step 1 are much better than me clinically as a third year. My professors love me because I really paid attention in class, etc, but I truly would have been better off ignoring my school's curriculum and doing the flashcards.

Edit: also of course UWorld. Studying for step hasn't changed in 10 years really. the above resources are still the way. Yes, it's P/F, but a lot of your shelf exams in third year will rely on step 1 knowledge. I'm finding this out now the hard way

My understanding is Bootcamp has tags in V12 and that they had a separately tagged version of V11, but that might have been taken down after integration into V12.

 

[Hollow Knight]

My understanding is Bootcamp has tags in V12 and that they had a separately tagged version of V11, but that might have been taken down after integration into V12.

I really liked Bootcamp when I was an M1. It just wasn't tagged yet so it wasn't worth it.

I think it's the same cards either way, so it probably doesn't matter which one you use

 

[kirtar]

I really liked Bootcamp when I was an M1. It just wasn't tagged yet so it wasn't worth it.

I think it's the same cards either way, so it probably doesn't matter which one you use

It will matter more when hitting step 2 since iirc V11 would not include guideline updates including but not limited to (i.e. just ones I can name off the top of my head) developmental milestones, statins for primary prevention, breast cancer screening, and colon cancer screening. The basic stuff like x enzyme deficiency results in y syndrome/disease or is involved in z pathway doesn't change as much as the clinical side.

 

[Hollow Knight]

It will matter more when hitting step 2 since iirc V11 would not include guideline updates including but not limited to (i.e. just ones I can name off the top of my head) developmental milestones, statins for primary prevention, breast cancer screening, and colon cancer screening. The basic stuff like x enzyme deficiency results in y syndrome/disease or is involved in z pathway doesn't change as much as the clinical side.

Sorry, I thought we were talking Bootcamp vs BnB.

Yeah, I definitely think people should be paying for V12 at this point.

 

[kirtar]

Sorry, I thought we were talking Bootcamp vs BnB.

Yeah, I definitely think people should be paying for V12 at this point.

Ah that makes more sense. Yeah either one should work, though from what I remember the organization of BnB corresponded better to FA if also using that.

 

[OMSWeebHours]

If we're talking about matching competitive specialties- you're thinking of this all wrong. People care about step 2 WAY more than class rank. If you have to prioritize, pick step studying over memorizing low-yield in house stuff. Besides, most of that stuff is useless to being a doctor anyway if your school is like mine.

Now, if you have the energy to mature AnKing and still study your professors' powerpoints in addition, OK, do that. Obviously having a high class rank will help you. But if your step 2 or shelf scores are mediocre, having good preclinical grades won't save you. If that makes sense.

Class rank is way down the list of things that matter for specialty competitiveness. Above class rank is step scores, research, letters, etc. If you're going for plastics/ortho/derm, you kind of have to be the perfect student who has all of the above and AOA, which is why it's so brutally hard to match into those specialties.

Really? I was wondering about that, so it's a lot better to know enough in house to pass and to focus primarily on STEP studying instead of focusing on in-house primarily and then focusing on STEPs in dedicated?

 

[Hollow Knight]

Really? I was wondering about that, so it's a lot better to know enough in house to pass and to focus primarily on STEP studying instead of focusing on in-house primarily and then focusing on STEPs in dedicated?

Yes, by a longshot. if you wait till dedicated you're basically screwed.

The superstars who match derm or ortho will have both. But a good step score is a requirement to even consider competitive specialties. People definitely still match without AOA

You should probably check out these links from the NRMP. One is data about applicants who matched their preferred specialty. The other is a survey of program directors. It will show you the average board score for different specialties and what PDs say they care about basically, in rank order.

I know I sound pretty neurotic here. For the record, I'm a big Family Medicine guy, and therefore I don't have to worry about hardly any of this stuff. I just think you should at least be aware of how the game is played in case you're considering competitive specialties. It's a bloodbath these days.

Match Data

Core to the NRMP’s mission is the development and distribution of data reports and publications that inform national conversations about the transition to residency and advance understanding of the…

www.nrmp.org

Match Data

Core to the NRMP’s mission is the development and distribution of data reports and publications that inform national conversations about the transition to residency and advance understanding of the…

www.nrmp.org

 

[OMSWeebHours]

Yes, by a longshot. if you wait till dedicated you're basically screwed.

The superstars who match derm or ortho will have both. But a good step score is a requirement to even consider competitive specialties. People definitely still match without AOA

You should probably check out these links from the NRMP. One is data about applicants who matched their preferred specialty. The other is a survey of program directors. It will show you the average board score for different specialties and what PDs say they care about basically, in rank order.

I know I sound pretty neurotic here. For the record, I'm a big Family Medicine guy, and therefore I don't have to worry about hardly any of this stuff. I just think you should at least be aware of how the game is played in case you're considering competitive specialties. It's a bloodbath these days.

Match Data

Core to the NRMP’s mission is the development and distribution of data reports and publications that inform national conversations about the transition to residency and advance understanding of the…

www.nrmp.org

Match Data

Core to the NRMP’s mission is the development and distribution of data reports and publications that inform national conversations about the transition to residency and advance understanding of the…

www.nrmp.org

But say I were to be on the low end of the class ranks, just passing without any course fails... I was wondering if that would still be a major red flag.

I've basically waved off Derm because even if I did my absolute best I think the chance is low even if I became a killer applicant. So if I got a stellar STEP score it would be enough for moderate specialties even if I were like bottom 10-20%?

 

[Hollow Knight]

But say I were to be on the low end of the class ranks, just passing without any course fails... I was wondering if that would still be a major red flag.

I've basically waved off Derm because even if I did my absolute best I think the chance is low even if I became a killer applicant. So if I got a stellar STEP score it would be enough for moderate specialties even if I were like bottom 10-20%?

Most schools don't even report grades. Many don't even rank at all. I don't think it would be a red flag.

We're being super general and vague here though. If you're thinking of a certain specialty, you'd probably be better off asking attendings in that specialty or looking at the actual numbers.

To answer your question, for moderately competitive specialties, people match all the time with decent scores and not a great class rank. The vast majority of schools don't report a rank now unless you're in the top 10% or whatever their cutoff is for the overachievers.

 

[kirtar]

But say I were to be on the low end of the class ranks, just passing without any course fails... I was wondering if that would still be a major red flag.

I've basically waved off Derm because even if I did my absolute best I think the chance is low even if I became a killer applicant. So if I got a stellar STEP score it would be enough for moderate specialties even if I were like bottom 10-20%?

Oh interesting the Tableau thing lets us look at the years between the biennial reports.

E: I also realized that this visualization lets me do something on analysis that I didn't think would be available, but it's an enormous PITA if I were to replicate that, and there's no point in doing it now when 2024's report is around the corner.