Best source for step 1 practice questions prior to dedicated studying?

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MadScientist95

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Hey guys. So I am currently a rising OMS II and have decided that I am going to begin prepping for step 1 and COMLEX this summer. I have purchased a subscription to Boards and Beyond, Pathoma, and Sketchy. I plan to use Boards and Beyond and Pathoma for mostly everything except pharm and micro (which I will use Sketchy for). I plan to purchase Uworld during the last couple of months for dedicated studying. However, I am really hoping to fit in 1-2 hours of BB and Pathoma lectures/practice questions each day this upcoming year. What would you guys say is the best resource for questions at this time in my studying? I have heard AMBOSS is very thorough yet too in-depth. I have also heard good things about USMLErx. Would you recommend either of these or something else? I am up for any suggestions (including any for my current studying plan) as I want to do the best that I possibly can. Thanks!

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Multiple threads on this matter.

But really quick - Rx is a good tool for getting FA down. Kaplan and AMBOSS are better questions, albeit maybe overload early on in studying.

I did the former and found it really efficient to do questions, then watch BnB on the concept, path, physio etc. and fully annotate in my FA copy. I did this during blocks 6 and 7 and got thru majority of the qbank + finished all BnB/Pathoma vids, so by the time dedicated came around I was done with content review and could spend 7 hours a day on UW, and have enough time to go thru it a second time.

Note - Sketchy is not enough for micro and pharm. Watch the vids but do more complete anki decks through out the entire year (Zanki for pharm, Lolnotacop for Micro). You can enough do this/start in the summer as I did. Made me feel less anxious starting second year.
 
Multiple threads on this matter.

But really quick - Rx is a good tool for getting FA down. Kaplan and AMBOSS are better questions, albeit maybe overload early on in studying.

I did the former and found it really efficient to do questions, then watch BnB on the concept, path, physio etc. and fully annotate in my FA copy. I did this during blocks 6 and 7 and got thru majority of the qbank + finished all BnB/Pathoma vids, so by the time dedicated came around I was done with content review and could spend 7 hours a day on UW, and have enough time to go thru it a second time.

Note - Sketchy is not enough for micro and pharm. Watch the vids but do more complete anki decks through out the entire year (Zanki for pharm, Lolnotacop for Micro). You can enough do this/start in the summer as I did. Made me feel less anxious starting second year.
Sorry for my ignorance but what is “FA?”
 
Sorry for my ignorance but what is “FA?”
First Aid textbook
To clarify, Rx is a solid bank to get a first pass of first aid - and to know what is and isn't in FA (very minimal info is needed outside of FA)

I think First Aid is the single best resource, if used along Boards and Beyond video content. Dr Ryan follows it very closely.
Everything else can be Anki'd (even Pathoma via Duke's anki deck, but still highly rec watching those vids and annotating in Pathoma text as well).
 
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Multiple threads on this matter.

But really quick - Rx is a good tool for getting FA down. Kaplan and AMBOSS are better questions, albeit maybe overload early on in studying.

I did the former and found it really efficient to do questions, then watch BnB on the concept, path, physio etc. and fully annotate in my FA copy. I did this during blocks 6 and 7 and got thru majority of the qbank + finished all BnB/Pathoma vids, so by the time dedicated came around I was done with content review and could spend 7 hours a day on UW, and have enough time to go thru it a second time.

Note - Sketchy is not enough for micro and pharm. Watch the vids but do more complete anki decks through out the entire year (Zanki for pharm, Lolnotacop for Micro). You can enough do this/start in the summer as I did. Made me feel less anxious starting second year.

Love this idea! Looking to do this for my boards studying. How long would you say it took you to do all organ systems? I'm about 6 months out and looking to start studying for STEP alongside my classes but I'm just worried about time management.
 
Love this idea! Looking to do this for my boards studying. How long would you say it took you to do all organ systems? I'm about 6 months out and looking to start studying for STEP alongside my classes but I'm just worried about time management.
Hard to say. Depends on if you're just hitting straight vids, or doing vids + questions, and depends on how heavy your anki load is.

I was doing multiple anki decks at this time + 10-20 questions in Rx + BnB vids for content review. It took a few months at least.
First block I only did Pepper decks for pharm and micro, then upgraded to better decks when I finished those. I also was doing Duke's pathoma anki deck, Zanki bchem, Zanki MSK, and Dorain's anatomy deck. Basically did all this leading up to block 8, and did UW in it's entirety twice thru.

If you use anki, do your cards every day, otherwise it's a useless resource. It sucks, but it's worth it.

Yeah, it's been a grind. Took the exam less than a wk ago. COMLEX 1 on Tuesday.
 
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Multiple threads on this matter.

But really quick - Rx is a good tool for getting FA down. Kaplan and AMBOSS are better questions, albeit maybe overload early on in studying.

I did the former and found it really efficient to do questions, then watch BnB on the concept, path, physio etc. and fully annotate in my FA copy. I did this during blocks 6 and 7 and got thru majority of the qbank + finished all BnB/Pathoma vids, so by the time dedicated came around I was done with content review and could spend 7 hours a day on UW, and have enough time to go thru it a second time.

Note - Sketchy is not enough for micro and pharm. Watch the vids but do more complete anki decks through out the entire year (Zanki for pharm, Lolnotacop for Micro). You can enough do this/start in the summer as I did. Made me feel less anxious starting second year.
good advice :thumbup:
point is keep doing something for the next year to prepare instead of trying to do it right before the Steps - slow IV instead of bolus
 
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