7 weeks to study/cram= end result: kicked butt on exam! = *relief* *wipe beads off sweat*
1) beginning attitude = i wanted really learn the material for the material's sake... to consolidate the first 2 years of med school and feel a sense of resolution for the basic science years. after revisiting the material, i found a bunch of stuff on step 1 is actually kinda useful after the test on the wards/beyond = this "knowlege for my own education's sake" got me over the hump initially....
later phase attitude = MEMORIZE MEMORIZE MEMORIZE the freakin' FA, the first few chapters of BRS Path, key mechanisms in BRS Physio, to score high-yield points. this got me over the bloody last 3.5 weeks bf the exam.
2) went thru FA once in first 3-4 weeks; using other texts to "bone up" on topics present in FA but which i had forgotten or never learned (Fabry Dz is a good example)
3) made lots and lots of mnemonics for pharm/micro/path/anatomy etc =some of the best advice from graduating 4th year = very helpful for the many stupid nit-picky details which do in fact turn up one way or another on exam. 🙁
<good thing is these mnemonics still stay with me during 3rd year... still!)
YOU WILL FIND, INVARIABLY, THAT A LOT OF THE STUFF YOU READ/LEARNED IN FA WILL BE FORGOTTEN AFTER 2 days- 2 WEEKS time !!! = MUCH FRUSTRATION bf exam = you must come up with a way to really get the facts in FA INTERNALIZED in your mind = for me it was lots of repitition and lots of mnemonics and creating mini charts and self-test questions.
4) after 3 week initial basic workup; piled thru FA (3+ more times depending on suject matter i had friggin' forgotten) AND very importantly, q-bank for the last four weeks of school. made sure i understood high yield subject/questions/explanations such as physio, micro, pharm, path (i focussed less so on neuro and anatomy, for good reason: it's not really tested in depth). also did the q-bank questions over a 2nd or 3rd time to make sure previous errors/misunderstandings were clarified.
finally, in week before test, did the official released USMLE practice tests to see how i faired (3 blocks; 150 questions total)
5) in summary:
First, i tried to cover the core step 1 knowlege in 3-3.5 weeks.
Next I did a) lots and lots of USMLE style questions AND b) worked hard to drill the basic FA facts into quick-reflex memory (not slow-reflex memory!!!).
ok, that's it for now.
good luck!
