Early Step 1 Prep

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FireTop

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I know many say take the summer in between MI and MII off (and I am) but I have learned the hard way during MI that I am not very good at procrastinating. I know that a majority of my time during MII will be dedicated towards class and thus I won't have much time to study for boards.

So, I spoke a friend who just matched in EM, and he said if he could go back he would have just read RR Goljian during his summer before MII and do a few questions a day (maybe from UWorld?) to just get my mind in the Step I mode.

What I'm asking is what do you guys think if I purchased UWorld now (approximately 1 year from when I take Step I) and just do like a few hours a week this summer along with some questions each day?

--Are there any other sources for Questions?
--Any other pieces of advice from those who studied a little early? (materials, methods, study techniques)
--For what it's worth, I didn't do stellar or anything during MI, so I'm just doing my best to compensate for lost ground.
--And yes, I am definitely making time to relax this summer :)


Thanks everyone!

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I would save UW for later, even though you'll likely forget the questions you do now.

If you want to start studying/reviewing now, I'd strongly recommend looking into gunner training (I know, kind of a lame name). It will allow you to review thing from MS-I and then through spaced review make sure you keep seeing them frequently enough that you don't forget them (nothing would be worse than studying during your last summer ever only to forget everything you reviewed!). Especially when you're just starting out, this program only takes a couple hours out of your day. I haven't taken the real thing yet, but my practice NBMEs and qbank scores have been higher than I would've ever imagined myself scoring, and I attribute a lot of that to gunner training (that and the work ethic to stick with GT). They offer a free trial, so you can check it out for a month at no cost (this is the best way to learn about it) or you can check out the gunner training thread on this forum (there are a few other MS-I's who have already been doing GT during first year).

Oh and since some one is going to say it sooner rather than later, I'll go ahead and do it: "naw man, don't study over this summer broseph; get paid, get laid, and straight chilax for a bit mang. You'll forget everything anyways." At least that's how those people always sounded to me...:p
 
I know many say take the summer in between MI and MII off (and I am) but I have learned the hard way during MI that I am not very good at procrastinating. I know that a majority of my time during MII will be dedicated towards class and thus I won't have much time to study for boards.

So, I spoke a friend who just matched in EM, and he said if he could go back he would have just read RR Goljian during his summer before MII and do a few questions a day (maybe from UWorld?) to just get my mind in the Step I mode.

What I'm asking is what do you guys think if I purchased UWorld now (approximately 1 year from when I take Step I) and just do like a few hours a week this summer along with some questions each day?

--Are there any other sources for Questions?
--Any other pieces of advice from those who studied a little early? (materials, methods, study techniques)
--For what it's worth, I didn't do stellar or anything during MI, so I'm just doing my best to compensate for lost ground.
--And yes, I am definitely making time to relax this summer :)


Thanks everyone!

I don't know how you would remember what you studied over M1/M2 summer by the end of M2. I wouldn't waste your time studying for Step 1 yet. you haven't even had Pathology yet! Are you doing research this summer? Because that's what I would suggest doing instead. Maybe develop a releationship with a PI or mentor who can help you begin to start thinking about your future career options, and potentially write a favorable letter of recommendation.

If you are not very good at procrastinating, perhaps you could pick up a hobby. You could get into pipe smoking, for instance. Try out various types of tobaccos and write a blog about your experience. It is important to have some "fun" things in the interests section of your CV. You could include "Pipe Smoking and Tobacco Blogger" as a hobby. That way if your interviewers for residency smoke pipe tobacco, you would have something in common to talk about!
 
I don't know how you would remember what you studied over M1/M2 summer by the end of M2. I wouldn't waste your time studying for Step 1 yet. you haven't even had Pathology yet! Are you doing research this summer? Because that's what I would suggest doing instead. Maybe develop a releationship with a PI or mentor who can help you begin to start thinking about your future career options, and potentially write a favorable letter of recommendation.

If you are not very good at procrastinating, perhaps you could pick up a hobby. You could get into pipe smoking, for instance. Try out various types of tobaccos and write a blog about your experience. It is important to have some "fun" things in the interests section of your CV. You could include "Pipe Smoking and Tobacco Blogger" as a hobby. That way if your interviewers for residency smoke pipe tobacco, you would have something in common to talk about!

The research thing over the summer is definitely a good idea, especially if you can find a gig only requiring like 6 hours a day.

The plus side to starting smoking is that you can smoke in the Step-I testing centers (supposedly), the downside is all the premeds will judge you...:rolleyes:
 
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The research thing over the summer is definitely a good idea, especially if you can find a gig only requiring like 6 hours a day.

The plus side to starting smoking is that you can smoke in the Step-I testing centers (supposedly), the downside is all the premeds will judge you...:rolleyes:

Agreed. Try to find a project that you can get a manuscript sent out on. Clinical research works nicely for this. You could do a chart review. Often you can do this work from home. Or the beach :cool:
 
If you are not very good at procrastinating, perhaps you could pick up a hobby. You could get into pipe smoking, for instance. Try out various types of tobaccos and write a blog about your experience. It is important to have some "fun" things in the interests section of your CV. You could include "Pipe Smoking and Tobacco Blogger" as a hobby. That way if your interviewers for residency smoke pipe tobacco, you would have something in common to talk about!

You're probably one of the more creative trolls on this forum. How is reading Harrison's and Robbin's in preparation for Step 1 working out for ya?
 
Im telling this to everyone as it worked great for me. the summer between ms1 and ms2 I reviewed biochemistry, and had done immunology/microbio and hematology to prepare for ms2. Also i did Kaplan qbank in the summer for these subjects

My primary sources were Kaplan MedEssentials and First Aid. If you dont have these books by now, I would ASAP. These two provided the framework of what I should study, and I annotated into Kaplan ME.

During MS II, I looked at these sources while doing class notes.

When it came time to take the boards, while others were beginning to look at first aid (didnt even get time to look at kaplan me), I all ready recognized everything, so memorizing was much easier. And then I had time to finish the Kaplan Qbank that I started in the summer, as well as UWORLD. I didnt do DIT, as Kaplan ME is in many ways a DIT itself.

I got above a 240 by doing this method. So I highly recommend that students between ms1 and ms2 review biochem, and look at immuno/microbio and hematology. There is no point looking at physio, as physio will be drilled again in ms2 during pathophys
 
if you are not planning to take a year off to do research and/or do not have a PhD, the most important thing you can do between your first and second year is to connect with a mentor and try to put together a research project.

You will have plenty of time to study during your second year. The higher yield stuff - except for physio - are second year classes anyway.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses--I am taking them all into consideration.

So, it looks like I'm going to review biochem/immuno, and possibly get the kaplan qbank, or UWorld and just start to review the respective questions.

I am also thinking of starting path, and ordering Pathoma for 1 year while annotating the book. I figured I can just do a quick preview of it since the lectures are only for 35 hrs total.

1) What do you guys think of me going through a quick pass of pathoma since I havent started path yet (we start path in MS2)

2) Should I start with Kaplan Qbank or UWorld Qbank? I am thinking of doing the biochem/immuno/path questions in kaplan qbank since I heard the UWorld is higher yield. What would you guys recommend?


Thanks again everyone!:thumbup:
 
All that reviewing is great until you forget it all...that's why I stand by my recommendation of gunner training or some other similar spaced review system to help you keep reviewing topics frequently enough that you actually keep them in long-term memory, instead of losing most of it.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses--I am taking them all into consideration.

So, it looks like I'm going to review biochem/immuno, and possibly get the kaplan qbank, or UWorld and just start to review the respective questions.

I am also thinking of starting path, and ordering Pathoma for 1 year while annotating the book. I figured I can just do a quick preview of it since the lectures are only for 35 hrs total.

1) What do you guys think of me going through a quick pass of pathoma since I havent started path yet (we start path in MS2)

2) Should I start with Kaplan Qbank or UWorld Qbank? I am thinking of doing the biochem/immuno/path questions in kaplan qbank since I heard the UWorld is higher yield. What would you guys recommend?


Thanks again everyone!:thumbup:

1) Don't. Save it for your review period. It is a review - you need to learn the material first.

2) Don't do either. Save them for your review period. Do 46 questions of UWorld in the morning on random. Review the answers. Read from FA. Use Qbank on tutor mode at night to do questions specifically from the FA you read earlier in the day.
 
I know many say take the summer in between MI and MII off (and I am) but I have learned the hard way during MI that I am not very good at procrastinating. I know that a majority of my time during MII will be dedicated towards class and thus I won't have much time to study for boards.

So, I spoke a friend who just matched in EM, and he said if he could go back he would have just read RR Goljian during his summer before MII and do a few questions a day (maybe from UWorld?) to just get my mind in the Step I mode.

What I'm asking is what do you guys think if I purchased UWorld now (approximately 1 year from when I take Step I) and just do like a few hours a week this summer along with some questions each day?

--Are there any other sources for Questions?
--Any other pieces of advice from those who studied a little early? (materials, methods, study techniques)
--For what it's worth, I didn't do stellar or anything during MI, so I'm just doing my best to compensate for lost ground.
--And yes, I am definitely making time to relax this summer :)


Thanks everyone!

Try' usmle consult pathology qbank, apparently dr.goljan approves that lol. RR path and usmle consult pathology qbank would be nice addition to qbank if you looking to do a lot of questions.
 
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