First year Med Student with Tons of Time, How Should I Study for Boards?

[DearScience]

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Hello all,

I'm an M1 at Rosalind Franklin University, but I finished half of the medical school classes last year with an associated Masters degree program. Hence, I have tons of time this year to study for boards concurrently with my classes.

I was just wondering how would you go about studying for boards 18 months before the actual test date? I was planning on studying the classes I took last year (Biochem, Physio, Neuro, molecular genetics) and classes I'm taking now (Anatomy, Histo, Embryo)

Books I have for review: FA 2012, Lippincott's Biochem, and BRS Physio

Too early to start usmlerx, Qbank questions, etc?


Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AndyRSC]

I wouldn't say it's early for question banks. Questions certainly reinforce the concepts you learn, so, if you don't mind the costs of long-term subscription plans, do them as you go through your courses. Follow along in First Aid also, and familiarize yourself with all the high-yield concepts and mnemonics in the given discipline. These are the best things you can do for boards.

If you're going to freshen up on the courses you've taken, the review books you have are a fine place to start. Remember that med school physio and biochem may have a stronger clinical inclination than the grad courses you've taken, so give clinical correlates special focus. For neuro, HY Neuro by James Fix is a popular choice.

Starting to pre-read cumbersome subjects like pathology is also a good idea. Lastly, if you have plenty of time, you might consider Kaplan video lectures. They are very lengthy and detailed, and much better for learning a subject from scratch than for review.

 

[bbaggins]

use the program at gunnertraining.com. An awesome resource, especially if you use it longer term

 

[ijn]

Is there really any point? I keep hearing about diminishing returns for studying on the boards if it's more than 8 weeks - what's the value on something you studied 18 months ago. It seems like the best thing you can do is perform as well as you possibly can in your current classes. Maybe use your extra time to find the holes in your school's lectures when it comes to STEP1 material for the 1st year classes and make sure you learn that.

 

[da8s0859q]

Do well in class. At this point, that's the most sane thing you can be doing to "prep" for Step 1.

I know of people who started studying the summer between M1/M2 and destroyed Step, and I know of people who started studying a couple of months out and similarly destroyed Step. I did question banks with M2 blocks and started lightly studying for Step about ten weeks out, and then buckled down for the last five weeks or so, and I landed just shy of the 250 mark.

My Christmas and summer vacations during M1 and between M1/M2 were spent staying as far from medicine as possible.

Chill and enjoy the free time. It won't be there forever.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I was just wondering how would you go about studying for boards 18 months before the actual test date?

18 months out, I would study like this:

...and like this:

Seriously, pure M1 questions account for such a small part of Step 1 that you don't really need to spend much time on anything other than biochem. Maybe go over it some during M2 to refresh your memory closer to crunch time, but studying for Step right now is a waste. Go enjoy your free time.

 

[da8s0859q]

18 months out, I would study like this:

...and like this:

👍👍

But come on, PBR?

 

[MilkmanAl]

It's cheap, dude! Leave me alone.

 

[DearScience]

Well obviously I'm not going to give up MW3 or my Amstel light.

Just wanted to know what else I can do with my time

 

[235009]

Is there really any point? I keep hearing about diminishing returns for studying on the boards if it's more than 8 weeks - what's the value on something you studied 18 months ago.

be careful you are conflating two very different things. the "diminishing returns" comment is about dedicated step 1 study time after the school year. however to get a good score on step 1 you're going to need a long-term study strategy. I would suggest, from my experience starting to study step 1 material 5-6 months before your dedicated 4-8 weeks of only step 1 studying.

OP: my advice to you is to use your free time to get ahead ...take the things you learned in physio and try to expand on them by looking at some of the pathophys so you're ahead of the game next year. In that sense you'll be reviewing physio (which is relatively low yield) and getting a head start on pathophys (which is very high yield).

EDIT: another useful thing you might want to do with your time that I wish I had done was to explore the different specialties by shadowing and getting to know the faculty. Will make your specialty decision much easier during 3rd year and could net you some useful contacts for the future. if you're already dead set on a specialty then getting involved in some research in that specialty wouldn't hurt. generally getting involved in research even if you are undecided is also a good plan.