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[aslkfdj]

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[Hollow Knight]

So yes, your approach is reasonable. No, doing the whole deck is not necessary.

However, if you’re trying to match a competitive specialty and want a crazy high step 2 score- yes, maturing AnKing will make a noticeable difference in your score. My classmates who matured AnKing run circles around the rest of us with their medical knowledge.

 

[aslkfdj]

So yes, your approach is reasonable. No, doing the whole deck is not necessary.

However, if you’re trying to match a competitive specialty and want a crazy high step 2 score- yes, maturing AnKing will make a noticeable difference in your score. My classmates who matured AnKing run circles around the rest of us with their medical knowledge.

Thanks! I guess I will just need to plan accordingly then.

 

[aslkfdj]

So yes, your approach is reasonable. No, doing the whole deck is not necessary.

However, if you’re trying to match a competitive specialty and want a crazy high step 2 score- yes, maturing AnKing will make a noticeable difference in your score. My classmates who matured AnKing run circles around the rest of us with their medical knowledge.

If you don't mind me following up with a question --

Aren't most of the AnKing cards not associated with Path, Micro, or Pharm considered pretty low-yield for year 3? How are your classmates able to gain such a performance boost by doing the other (presumably lower-yield) parts of the deck?

Not disagreeing at all—just trying to understand your perspective better. I would really appreciate any thoughts you have on this!

 

[Hollow Knight]

If you don't mind me following up with a question --

Aren't most of the AnKing cards not associated with Path, Micro, or Pharm considered pretty low-yield for year 3? How are your classmates able to gain such a performance boost by doing the other (presumably lower-yield) parts of the deck?

Not disagreeing at all—just trying to understand your perspective better. I would really appreciate any thoughts you have on this!

When people say "low yield" they're talking about how to maximize your chances of passing step 1 with minimal effort. They're not talking about learning to be a doctor.

All that nitty-gritty anatomy, neurology, biochemistry, etc that's relatively low-yield for passing step will be on your shelf exams and on step 2. It'll be on step 1 as well, but passing that test just really isn't as hard as people make it seem. You only need like a 60 something on the thing to pass.

When I say a "boost" in performance, it's not like the rest of us are failing our shelf exams, but the people who matured AnKing are getting like 95+ percentile on their shelves because those nitty gritty details separate you from the average medical students.

Also keep in mind that the whole AnKing deck is high-yield in the sense that it's a limited amount of information you're more likely to see on exams. Most med schools (at least my med school) teaches above and beyond AnKing, and you'll see stuff on your standardized exams that aren't in any of the anki cards or 3rd party stuff.

I found myself saying pretty much daily as an M3 "Dang, I wish I would have memorized that low-yield stuff my professors taught" because I was pimped on it or it was on a test. That's not the right advice for passing step 1 as quickly as possible, but the more you learn the better off you'll be in general

 

[Choсolate]

There are over 30000 cards in the Anking deck. Is this really reasonable to complete when your classes teach and test on material not on Anking?. I can't do both as I already have difficulty keeping up with the classes in themselves.

 

[Hollow Knight]

There are over 30000 cards in the Anking deck. Is this really reasonable to complete when your classes teach and test on material not on Anking?. I can't do both as I already have difficulty keeping up with the classes in themselves.

I would at least do the cards for pathoma and sketchy so you don’t fail step 1. You don’t have to do all 30,000 though.

If your school is like most American medical schools, your curriculum will not prepare you for board exams. Many of my classmates found this out the hard way

 

[Choсolate]

What about focusing primarily on Boards and Beyond along with Sketchy since I already have these resources on hand?

 

[Hollow Knight]

What about focusing primarily on Boards and Beyond along with Sketchy since I already have these resources on hand?

Boards and Beyond is great, but it’s not required. Pathoma covers like 60% of the questions you’ll see on your test. You have to do it.

It’s like $100 for a year. Or if you’re desperate you can probably sail the high seas. But I’d pay the man, Sattar is amazing.

I would put Sketchy micro and pharm in a similar category to pathoma.

Boards and beyond covers everything else. it’s awesome, but lots of med students don’t get through all of B and B.

 

[JuicedToTheSocks]

That deck is mostly useless now

 

[aslkfdj]

Boards and Beyond is great, but it’s not required. Pathoma covers like 60% of the questions you’ll see on your test. You have to do it.

It’s like $100 for a year. Or if you’re desperate you can probably sail the high seas. But I’d pay the man, Sattar is amazing.

I would put Sketchy micro and pharm in a similar category to pathoma.

Boards and beyond covers everything else. it’s awesome, but lots of med students don’t get through all of B and B.

Hey, just another quick question, which resources would you recommend beyond Pathoma, Sketchy Micro, and Sketchy Pharm to do with Anking? Thanks.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Hey, just another quick question, which resources would you recommend beyond Pathoma, Sketchy Micro, and Sketchy Pharm to do with Anking? Thanks.

If I had to do medical school by myself over again I’d do boards and beyond in addition to those three. And read through Costanzo. But that’s basically it. That certainly covered everything on step

I never did them but people talk highly of Goljan and Emma Holliday lectures

 

[aslkfdj]

If I had to do medical school by myself over again I’d do boards and beyond in addition to those three. And read through Costanzo. But that’s basically it. That certainly covered everything on step

I never did them but people talk highly of Goljan and Emma Holliday lectures

Thank you so much! Do you mean Costanzo BRS or the longer one?

Really appreciate everything and good luck for Step 2.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Thank you so much! Do you mean Costanzo BRS or the longer one?

Really appreciate everything and good luck for Step 2.

The longer one. But again, that’s if I had infinite free time. M1 abd M2 felt like that dog meme where the room is on fire. I’d get up every day and look at what my professors were covering the next day and try to hit the highest yield resources possible.

 

[aslkfdj]

The longer one. But again, that’s if I had infinite free time. M1 abd M2 felt like that dog meme where the room is on fire. I’d get up every day and look at what my professors were covering the next day and try to hit the highest yield resources possible.

Thank you! I truly appreciate all your advice beyond words.

I have one more question and would greatly appreciate your advice. I am in an integrated BS/MD program where we take undergrad classes alongside medical classes. I will finish all my medical school preclinical courses this summer and will be taking undergraduate classes exclusively in the fall. My goal is to use the hopefully lighter courseload during fall semester to study for and take Step 1 in December 2025, halfway through my second year.

I hope to mature AnKing Pathoma and Sketchy Micro/Pharm before the fall semester begins and focus primarily on question banks in the fall. I could theoretically work on the rest of the AnKing deck during the fall as well, but I feel like that would be hard to do if I'm trying to finish all of UWorld, Amboss, NBME, and possibly the Bootcamp QBank as well. I feel like if I was to try to complete the AnKing deck as well in the fall, I would need some extra time and probably couldn't take Step 1 in December 2025.

Do you think it's a better idea (when it comes to maximizing clerkship year and Step 2 performance) to take the extra time to finish the rest of the AnKing deck, or take Step early, giving me a head start on Step 2 and shelf exam studying? What would you do, and do you have any general advice/thoughts on how to plan this?

Happy New Year!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Dang man you’re gonna do really well.

So I personally would take the extra time to mature AnKing for step 1. And the reason is that it’s all the same material anyway. Those basic science step 1 questions still come up on shelf exams, they’re just less common.

If you study really, really well for step 1, you’ll be able to breeze through your shelf studying and your studying for step 2. Step 2 is just UWorld and Anki but there’s a lot less material. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve said “Crap, I wish I remembered ___ from first year” when taking a shelf.

I will caveat though- maybe don’t do all the cards in the deck just for the sake of it. But knowing the stuff tagged in first aid or Boards and Beyond (just pick one of the two and do the resource, don’t just raw dog the cards) will help you.

And make sure to at least give yourself like 8 months or a year to study for step 2. But maybe if you aren’t in clinicals you won’t need all that time

 

[aslkfdj]

Dang man you’re gonna do really well.

So I personally would take the extra time to mature AnKing for step 1. And the reason is that it’s all the same material anyway. Those basic science step 1 questions still come up on shelf exams, they’re just less common.

If you study really, really well for step 1, you’ll be able to breeze through your shelf studying and your studying for step 2. Step 2 is just UWorld and Anki but there’s a lot less material. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve said “Crap, I wish I remembered ___ from first year” when taking a shelf.

I will caveat though- maybe don’t do all the cards in the deck just for the sake of it. But knowing the stuff tagged in first aid or Boards and Beyond (just pick one of the two and do the resource, don’t just raw dog the cards) will help you.

And make sure to at least give yourself like 8 months or a year to study for step 2. But maybe if you aren’t in clinicals you won’t need all that time

Got it -- thank you so much, and good luck on Step 2 and match!