I have read many posts and have a general idea on what materials to use. UFAPS including boards and beyond seems to be the general consensus. My questions is about the Q banks used, does anyone have experience with AMBOSS? I am debating if it is worth doing Uworld once and AMBOSS once, or just doing Uworld twice.
Do people have experience with multiple question banks? I have heard AMBOSS is significantly more difficult, even more so than step 1. Is it worth doing very difficult questions that may not be similar to CBSE questions?
Amboss is becoming a very popular Qbank to use for STEP1. Amboss is the hardest Qbank out there because they describe buzzwords rather than outright saying them, give weird presentations for some diseases, and ask about specific details. So to do well you really need to know your stuff. I think it’s a really good Qbank and will prepare you well for CBSE. However, I wouldn’t use this as your primary Qbank/the first bank you use because their explanations are on the shorter side (primarily explain why this question is right). Content in Amboss Qbank is essentially the same as Uworld. As CBSE tends to be on the “fact-ier” side, it’s a really good bank to use.
What makes Uworld great is the way they write questions AND their explanations. I would do Uworld first and really learn the explanations (write down and make your own notes from Uworld explanations), then do AMBOSS Qbank.
If you look how people do well on STEP1, it’s doing a LOT of questions. People do 2-3+ Qbanks. Imo this is the best way of learning so you should definitely spend a lot of time doing questions.
if you have the time (not sure if you are taking august), do USMLE RX Qbank while doing content review (USMLE rx questions ask about first aid content so it will reinforce first aid) -> then do uworld -> then do amboss. Go slow, learn the differential diagnosis and facts in the answer explanations. If you have any more questions feel free to message me.
