How influential was your school in preparing you for step 1?

[coyfish]

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Just curious to those who have taken the step 1. There are schools which focus mainly on board preparation and others which don't. How much of an impact does a school which focuses on USMLE preparation have on step 1 performance? I realize it is mainly on the individual but putting that aside do you think these board focusing schools offer a significant advantage? From what I gather board scores are really the most important thing that matches you to a residency. I ask because I can go to a better school that doesn't emphasize board prep or another school which focuses entirely on them.

Thanks for any help

 

[ipizzy]

First, don't pick a school based on any thought that includes the word "boards." How you do on the boards is entirely up to you, and not your curriculum.

That said, I go to a top 10 school that does not teach to the boards. Instead, we are taught how to think, how to approach a problem and deconstruct it, and how to apply facts to new situations. Most of our exams in years 1 and 2 were not straight-recall type exam; instead we got mostly short answer/written exams that (for example) involved an experimental set up we hadn't seen before, complex case presentations we hadn't directly seen (but you could figure out if you applied your knowledge and drew conclusions), etc. I think this type of teaching prepared me extremely well for the boards, but more importantly, for the wards as well. The questions on step 1 that many people say are the most difficult are the questions for which you can't rely on memorization.

 

[3dee]

I would consider it when applying. I felt like it was super stressful to be studying for 2 exams at once: the school test vs the material that is important for boards.

 

[24thGrade]

my school doesn't teach to the boards ( NO school should) but that doesn't mean that the professors are not mindful about what is important on the boards for us.

We spend a decent amount of time in the clinic during our 2nd year and all I can say is you could ace the boards and still be a total failure in clinic. If there is a school teaching out of first aid (which I thought only caribbean schools did) then they're doing a pretty great disservice to their students and you will NOT be prepared to do actual clinical work. One big difference I've noticed between my classes and the boards is that our professors have always stressed what the best diagnostic tests are for different diseases and what the "standard of care" is for the major diseases.- step 1 seems to like to quiz you on diagnostics that, while interesting, are simply not used today. There is also very little emphasis on standard treatments on step 1 while that has been a big part of my classes. In short, while I was frustrated during my classes that someone wasn't just reading out of first aid to me, I'm really glad they didn't.

 

[ijn]

I mean, those kind of things are in First Aid as well. It's just the STEP 2 CK version. They were teaching to a different board exam. 😉

 

[coyfish]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I spoke with a resident and he mentioned something similar. That schools which did emphasize the boards significantly (like carib schools / but there are US schools which do the same) tended to sacrifice clinical training. In a perfect world we would all go to the better school but unfortunately #'s tend to be more important than anything. It would just kill me to be the better student / doctor but miss an opportunity because someone got a slightly better step 1 score.

 

[san2]

ive said this before, and i will say it again.

my gf go into a us med school and failed out of it, because she was studying from the kaplan lecture series books since her primary goal was to do well on step 1. she just found her in class exams to not cover what the kaplan lecture series books covered, and failed.

so she failed out of the us med school, and then went to Polish med school and is currently a 4th year there applying to different pediatric residencies.

she again there studied only from kaplan lecture series books, but in poland passed with that. she got a 240+ on step 1. for clinicals, she got the kaplan clinical lecture series books, and got a 260+ on step 2.

so my point is that some schools you can get away with just studying for the boards, and for other schools you cant.

 

[Gunneria]

san2, what medical school do YOU go to because you keep putting kaplan on a pedestal to a ridiculous extent but its probably because ur an IMG who has like unlimited step 1 prep time

 

[san2]

san2, what medical school do YOU go to because you keep putting kaplan on a pedestal to a ridiculous extent but its probably because ur an IMG who has like unlimited step 1 prep time

My gf went to an allopathic medical school in Virginia before going to Poland, and I go to DO school.

I didnt have unlimited step 1 prep time. I technically had only 6 weeks. But I was studying for step 1 from the first day I got into med school using kaplan. the only reason i say kaplan is because med students do not realize how beneficial kaplan is, but the key is to start in it early.

 

[LUCPM]

My gf went to an allopathic medical school in Virginia before going to Poland, and I go to DO school.

I didnt have unlimited step 1 prep time. I technically had only 6 weeks. But I was studying for step 1 from the first day I got into med school using kaplan. the only reason i say kaplan is because med students do not realize how beneficial kaplan is, but the key is to start in it early.

Can you elaborate a little more how you started studying for STEP 1 from the first day?