How helpful is USMLE studying for clerkship?

[canadagirl]

I'm in Canada, so I don't have to take the USMLE's, but I'm thinking that it would be useful as a focussed way of preparing for the clerkship years. Have you found that your USMLE preparation translated to better performance / better confidence / etc in clerkship?

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[kito]

If you know your stuff from Step 1 cold, then no one can mess with you on the wards. The increasingly clinical nature of Step 1 is making students better clinicians faster.

 

[Catalyst]

usmle prep helps up to the point when I'm asked, "so what tests would you order to diagnose and how would you treat/manage this patient?"... for that I just have to study on my own

 

[ddmo]

It seems like everything I know I learned studying for Step I. There is very little that I get pimped on that I don't know, or at least have an idea about. Another bonus is that studying for clerkships is easier since most of it is just a repeat of what was covered on the boards.

 

[enanareina]

I'm in Canada, so I don't have to take the USMLE's, but I'm thinking that it would be useful as a focussed way of preparing for the clerkship years. Have you found that your USMLE preparation translated to better performance / better confidence / etc in clerkship?

I did very well on the step and feel like I know absolutely nothing in clerkship. Maybe I'm just not good at applying the knowledge, or I'm just not getting pimped on the stuff I learned for the step, but it seems that the important stuff in clerkship is completely separate from the important 1st and 2nd year stuff.