Game plan for step 1?

[dgu334]

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I'm currently in the summer after firsts year and I am worried about my first year performance. On most exams, I have scored anywhere from 75-80%, which put me in the bottom quartile of my class. Many people say that the best indicator of step 1 performance is how well you perform during the first 2 years. What should I do in terms of step 1 prep as a second year? I am thinking of doing Kaplan qbank and usmlerx with my second year courses and then pathoma/DIT/Uworld during my 6weeks dedicated time. Is this a solid plan? Also, should I be concerned about my subpar performances on class exams? I definitely feel like I had a good grasp of the material but I don't know why it never showed on exam day.

 

[Psai]

just study the material and try to get through it the best you can

 

[xffan624]

Do pathoma along with your school's 2nd year material. There's definitely no need to wait to do that during your dedicated period.

 

[Kaustikos]

Man...
I'll just say your performance in pre clinical classes doesn't necessarily dictate how you do on step 1. You need to relax and set a strategy/plan for step 1 and forget your grades.
My class had zero people get honors for anatomy. And yet four people got 250+ step 1 scores.
Pathoma, qbank and hopefully your second year finals have the nbme shelf which really helps with step 1

 

[operaman]

Ditto on above - would do pathoma during the year too. His videos are gold and will help you learn and retain the concepts.

Yes, you should be concerned that your below average class performance is predictive of below average step 1 performance. Thankfully, M1 material is a smaller percentage of step 1, but still substantial. If you continue your current level of performance during second year, you are going to have a hard time come step 1 time, depending on your personal goals.

There is a persistent myth that you can magically do well on step 1 despite subpar class performance. Yes, there are a small subset of people who manage to do this, but the vast majority of students continue to perform at the same level they had been. You'll hear people justify their poor class performance by saying it's all "low yield" anyhow and they just plan to focus on the high yield stuff; these are almost always people who haven't actually taken Step 1 yet and have no idea what high or low yield actually means other than whether or not it's in FA.

The best advice I can give is to step up your game in M2 overall. No step 1 resource is a panacea. There is no magic recipe of UFAP that will guarantee you the score you want. You have another year, so give it all you've got this year in your classes AND add in some qbanks and pathoma like you're planning and you should be in good shape.

 

[dgu334]

Thank you for all the inputs. I know I have to step up my class performance. However, what bothers me is that I do put in a lot of studying and effort. I can't say I put in more than most of my classmates but I can definitely say with confidence that I put in more studying that >50% of my classmates and yet score in the 25th percentile. Also my school does not allow us to review our exams after we get our scores so there is no way we can see what we got wrong which is very frustrating. This really bothers me because I put in a ton of effort, I feel like I have a great grasp of the concepts, but I end up performing subpar and I can't see what I got wrong on exams. Also, we have covered some pathology in our first year classes and our school taught way more in depth than what pathoma goes into, which also worries me

 

[Kaustikos]

Welcome to shelf exams. You never know why you got the grade or how.

 

[pathologyDO]

Ditto on above - would do pathoma during the year too. His videos are gold and will help you learn and retain the concepts.

Yes, you should be concerned that your below average class performance is predictive of below average step 1 performance. Thankfully, M1 material is a smaller percentage of step 1, but still substantial. If you continue your current level of performance during second year, you are going to have a hard time come step 1 time, depending on your personal goals.

There is a persistent myth that you can magically do well on step 1 despite subpar class performance. Yes, there are a small subset of people who manage to do this, but the vast majority of students continue to perform at the same level they had been. You'll hear people justify their poor class performance by saying it's all "low yield" anyhow and they just plan to focus on the high yield stuff; these are almost always people who haven't actually taken Step 1 yet and have no idea what high or low yield actually means other than whether or not it's in FA.

The best advice I can give is to step up your game in M2 overall. No step 1 resource is a panacea. There is no magic recipe of UFAP that will guarantee you the score you want. You have another year, so give it all you've got this year in your classes AND add in some qbanks and pathoma like you're planning and you should be in good shape.

This is great advice. I echo this. If you can get ahold of a Qbank like USMLERx or Kaplan, start to go through FA and do questions in those Qbanks, add in a dash of Pathoma, you will have a supreme study plan right there. The real studying begins the first day you step into class. You will be reviewing the material during your dedicated, you don't want to be learning it for the first time then. So the best suggestion is to focus hard on classes and supplement with a Qbank and Pathoma, plus get familiar with FA.

Don't let your class rank get you down. Realize that even the lower 50% of the class are hard-working, smart, dedicated students like yourself -> that's why they are in medical school. You could probably move up in rank once you get more efficient at studying and figure out what works and what is a waste of your time. If you work hard, study smart, and believe in yourself then be happy with what progress you make, even if that means not moving up in place in your class. But there is hope, i'm not saying you cannot pull up out of your rank... but still, don't be too harsh on yourself... medical school isn't easy.

 

[TheRobin]

I'm in the same spot, OP. I was consistently in the 3rd quartile for much of the year, but found a groove towards the end. Heading into second year, I plan on just chugging away, i.e. learning class material well the first time it is presented and doing some Step studying on the side.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Read FA along with your class material, watch pathoma along with your class material, and do usmlerx along with class material. My friend did this and got a 264 2 weeks into his dedicated study time...

 

[Sea Otter]

Read FA along with your class material, watch pathoma along with your class material, and do usmlerx along with class material. My friend did this and got a 264 2 weeks into his dedicated study time...

I second this advice! That is what I did during the year and I thought it was very helpful come dedicated study time.

 

[Fatalis]

I'm currently in the summer after firsts year and I am worried about my first year performance. On most exams, I have scored anywhere from 75-80%, which put me in the bottom quartile of my class. Many people say that the best indicator of step 1 performance is how well you perform during the first 2 years. What should I do in terms of step 1 prep as a second year? I am thinking of doing Kaplan qbank and usmlerx with my second year courses and then pathoma/DIT/Uworld during my 6weeks dedicated time. Is this a solid plan? Also, should I be concerned about my subpar performances on class exams? I definitely feel like I had a good grasp of the material but I don't know why it never showed on exam day.

I get you may be a little stressed that you are at the bottom quartile of your class but look at your grades. If you are scoring in the 80s it is a good sign you are well on you way of mastering the material so that when you sit down and study for step 1 most of it will be a review and not learning! As other suggested, start supplementing uworld, pathoma and first aid and you will be well on your way to doing very well!

 

[masaraksh]

I get you may be a little stressed that you are at the bottom quartile of your class but look at your grades. If you are scoring in the 80s it is a good sign you are well on you way of mastering the material so that when you sit down and study for step 1 most of it will be a review and not learning! As other suggested, start supplementing uworld, pathoma and first aid and you will be well on your way to doing very well!

Well of course he is learning the material to a decent extent, otherwise he would not have made it though first year. The concern is that he is scoring lower on the tests than the class average.. This can be for a multitude of reasons, such as not being as good at taking multiple choice tests or whatever.

The thing is though, that the kids who are at 'the top of the class' are also probably thinking about studying for boards during M2 and etc, etc. Thus, it seems a little crazy to believe that you can go from 70-80s to 90s in the next year, no? I guess that is unless you locate a weakness in your studying.

 

[Shjanzey]

Dude you have a summer to study. If you feel this passionate work out a daily study plan to catch up or pass your colleagues. Many are taking it easy, while I am sure a few are already preparing for the year ahead. With hard work you can catch up, but only if you are willing to make sacrifices other people aren't.

 

[Jabbed]

I found this plan worked well for me, and I would highly recommend it:

(1) Go to med school

(2) Register for Step 1

(3) Crush Step 1

(4) Go get beers

(5) Match to Ortho

(6) Lifetime of happiness

There is an conspicuous absence of Muscle Milk in your game plan.

 

[dgu334]

I did see an improvement in my performance towards the end of the year, especially with pharmacology where I scored in the 90s and was in the top quartile. Again, I am very confident that I spend more time and effort studying than at least 50% of my class. Plus I feel like I have gained a good grasp of the content. I think the main problem is that I am not good at taking multiple choice tests, especially clinical vignette scenarios. This wasn't the case for pharmacology bc it was all memorization and regurgitation at my school and probably why I scored in the 90s rather than my usual 75-80.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Also be sure to work on your test taking skills. Read the question one time then read it again and highlight the important parts. Go through each answer choice and come up with a valid reason to cross each one out, which will usually get you down to atleast 2 or 3 choices. Mark the ones that you aren't entirely sure about so you can go back and check them at the end. Pretty basic stuff that can really give your scores a big boost

 

[Anicetus]

"I'll do much better next year" said every medical student ever.

 

[masaraksh]

"I'll do much better next year" said every medical student ever.

Yup,

I'm sure even the people scoring at the top ~15% or so are thinking the same thing... be more efficient, do better, do more, etc.

 

[Jabbed]

Yup,

I'm sure even the people scoring at the top ~15% or so are thinking the same thing... be more efficient, do better, do more, etc.

To a fault.

 

[jw3600]

To a fault.

Agreed. Top quarter? No modifications necessary. Maintain speed.

 

[gleevec1945]

I did see an improvement in my performance towards the end of the year, especially with pharmacology where I scored in the 90s and was in the top quartile. Again, I am very confident that I spend more time and effort studying than at least 50% of my class. Plus I feel like I have gained a good grasp of the content. I think the main problem is that I am not good at taking multiple choice tests, especially clinical vignette scenarios. This wasn't the case for pharmacology bc it was all memorization and regurgitation at my school and probably why I scored in the 90s rather than my usual 75-80.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Read FA along with your class material, watch pathoma along with your class material, and do usmlerx along with class material. My friend did this and got a 264 2 weeks into his dedicated study time...

just wondering, would any of you recommend doing anything extra like this during first year? or just focus on doing well in classes first year, then start to think about tackling step 1 second year?

 

[Dave89]

They say renal path is the best indicator of how you'll do on Step 1.

I've never heard this before, and I thought that all of the renal Qs on my Step 1 were pretty hard, but... I just looked back at my performance in 2nd-year renal pathology, and your post holds up.

 

[sliceofbread136]

just wondering, would any of you recommend doing anything extra like this during first year? or just focus on doing well in classes first year, then start to think about tackling step 1 second year?

Uh depends on your curriculum. If you cover organ blocks with pathology and pharm during your first year then I would say yes. If your school is like mine where we did anatomy physio histology imminology first year then it is probably better to wait until ms2

 

[NickNaylor]

They say renal path is the best indicator of how you'll do on Step 1.

Why? Because identifying where little black dots on an EM micrograph is a useful correlate for all of your pre-clinical knowledge?

 

[Wildcat73]

Anki, anki, anki, anki.

Went from passing all classes first year (H/HP/P) to High passing all classes 2nd year. Haven't gotten the score back yet but my last NBME was 240+. There are plenty of posts/resources on how to use it well. I would personally use some of your summer time playing around with it and see if its for you.

 

[Psai]

"I'll do much better next year" said every medical student ever.

Yup and somehow my performance seems to be deteriorating year after year

 

[sinombre]

They say renal path is the best indicator of how you'll do on Step 1.

Who says this?

 

[Kaustikos]

I'll also add glancing at brs pathology is a good review. Especially if you used it for the shelf exam.
Microbiology made easy (or whatever it's called) is also clutch.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

On a similar note, for the medical student who is looking to do some review over the summer but nothing too intense, maybe like 30mins-1hour (maximum) a day? (I will be busy with research and other things this summer, plus I want a VACATION too. 🙂 ) What would be recocmmend? I feel like everything I learned is going to be a distant memory or forgotten by second year if I don't try to do some sort of review and I don't want 2nd year/step 1 prep to be anymore stressful than it needs to be. Although, I heard 1st year is not that important in terms of step 1. I just thought that I would ask you all on your thoughts.

PS. What is the timing situation on Step 1 like? Do you feel that you have time to answer all the questions? Or is it similar to the MCAT where you can really run out of time if you are not answering the questions fast enough?