How do you pick which resources to use during medical school for STEP 1 before dedicated period? Should I even prep for STEP 1 before dedicated?

[CuriousMDStudent]

---

Members do not see this ad.

All I know right now is that for STEP 1 I should use UFAP for dedicated.

However, a lot of people have different beliefs on what to do before dedicated:

1) People say don't study before dedicated. Just focus on learning the class material effectively and passing your classes. That strong foundation will help with STEP 1 dedicated studying.

2) People say to follow along your curriculum with Zanki and First Aid. If you do this, you're apparently guaranteed a 250+ if you are able to stick with it.

3) People say to follow along your curriculum with Firecracker. If you do this, you're also guaranteed a high score.

There are a bunch more other options out there too but these 3 stick out to me the most.

Honestly, how do I choose what to do before STEP 1 dedicated period. It feels like I need to start each option from the get go and stick with it and I can't change mid way.

Personally, I like option 1 the most. I think it makes the most sense to me. I will already be so stressed with school and keeping up with it. I don't feel the need to supplement it with extra flashcards or questions. My current friends in schools are already overwhelmed as is. I hear with Zanki and Firecracker they may make you learn extra details that might help with STEP 1 but not classes and I personally feel I might get bogged down by those details and then do poorly on exams and then freak out.

In conclusion, does anyone have any advice on how to choose a method that will work for me? How will I know if it works for me? I am afraid to try one method (i.e option 2) for a month for it to then fail and then not be able to try another method (i.e option 3) since I needed to start from the get go.

Tl;dr: I have found 3 main options on how to use my time before the dedicated period for STEP 1. I don't know what is the best option or how to choose the best option.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Choose any 2 of these Qbanks (Kaplan, USMLE Rx, Amboss) in addition to UFAPS + BnB. You can do the free trials to see which Qbank you like the most. You should have started doing questions already, so yes you need to prep before dedicated. If you wait till dedicated you're gonna have a really bad time IMO. People that do really well on Step 1 usually do over 8000 questions.

 

[Ho0v-man]

You don’t start until next year. Chill. SDN is not representative of the real world. Just survive first semester. When you get some semblance of comfort with your curriculum, incorporate board prep stuff however it works best for you.

For some it’s anki, others more questions, etc. It’s very individualized. Someone told me before I started about how they crushed boards with firecracker. I couldn’t stand it. There is no one size fits all solution.

 

[longhaul3]

If you haven't started med school yet you should hold off on this. It's hard to know how you will settle into the grind. Some people sink, some float—there's a spectrum of buoyancy in med school, as it were. For some people everything just sticks, and others will spend 15 hours a day doing flashcards and don't break 230 on Step 1. Some people thrive on questions, some on videos, some on flashcards, and some on old-fashioned paper, pencil, book, lecture, etc. Anki is not the be all and end all.

The only hard-and-fast rule in my mind is to save UWorld for your dedicated period. The rest I think you need to feel out on your own once you start and learn more about how you learn the best.

 

[differentiating]

Imo, 2 months before dedicated is plenty early to start, assuming you’ve otherwise been studying for and doing well in classes. Starting much earlier than that can risk burnout- definitely don’t consider step 1-specific studying until MS2.

What materials you use depends on what works best for you - I used uworld, first aid (got more out of usmlerx than the book, personally), pathoma, and occasional anki questions from the Bros deck. Everyone learns differently and finds what they like. Don’t stress about it now.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

Depends on your curriculum and how its structured. Starting from day 1 is the best bet. Use BnB and Zanki to follow along with your curriculum and you should be good. Some curriculum/blocks are garbage. We never even learned about osteoporosis in ours.

 

[slowthai]

he only hard-and-fast rule in my mind is to save UWorld for your dedicated period. The rest I think you need to feel out on your own once you start and learn more about how you learn the best.

I've seen plenty 250+ run UWorld before dedicated, anywhere from a month before to the beginning of M2 along with classes. I think it's more about how well you use it.

 

[aldol16]

Do well in your classes. Really learn the physiology and pathophysiology. Step 1 is about those two things with some pharm and other stuff sprinkled in. There are students who do well by simply memorizing everything and "buzzwords" and specific patterns. That is extremely time-consuming. But I would argue that if you learn the physio and pathophys really well, you have the framework and you just have to fill in minor details. That way, it sticks better in your brain too and you don't have to rely on rote memorization.

For instance, instead of rote memorizing all the biochem pathways, you should think about the intermediates - it's not important that you know the actual structures although if you have a background in chemistry it could help you remember in general what goes where - and why certain diseases have the manifestations they do. For instance, think about how ketone bodies are made (i.e. from acetyl-CoA) and why acetyl-CoA gets shunted into that pathway in DKA. And think about why you get fruity breath. It's all related in terms of pathophys.

Really if you have a good foundation, all you need is UFAP. And specifically, use UFAP with an Anki deck. Bros works quite well. It's shorter than Zanki and tests on less rote material. It's a great way to reinforce concepts from class, actually.

 

[Hawkenthesky]

I'm an MS1 and I haven't started studying yet. in my school (v academic/competitive med school), the general wisdom is that it's not necessary to start studying until MS2 at least, although some people do use various STEP 1 resources instead of our Course syllabi to study during various classes/organ blocks. Our classes are pass/fail, and you can def learn enough to pass by following along with an organ block using Boards and Beyond as your primary study resource.

We do have some hardcore people who have already started Zanki, but they make up a very small (and generally annoying) contingent of our class. Whatever you decide, I would say absolutely don't worry about it until you get to school and take some time to settle in to your coursework. worst case, if you find that you would rather start studying during MS1, you can use some time during your Summer or during dedicated to go back and cover the Step 1 material for the units that you weren't studying for it during the beginning of M1.