How long to study - Step 1?

[rachana]

hi everyone,

How long did you/are you planning to study for Step 1 after classes end? I am thinking somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks, but not sure how long. Our administration and some 3rd/4th years at our school say to take 4 weeks. I am someone who did pretty well on class exams, but does NOT retain the material (not to say that I cram a ton, but for whatever reason, stuff doesn't stick with me). How much time should I take to study for the test? Thanks for your help.

rachana

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[AlexRusso]

4 to 6 weeks is PERFECT. I would lean more towards four weeks. I took my test after about 5. Week four I was wishing nothing else but that the test would come sooner. I was jealous of all my friends that scheduled only 4 weeks of study time. I called the test site to see if I could move my date up. After 4 weeks you just stop learning and start forgetting. I kept looking at the same pages over and over again and it just wasn't sinking in anymore. Started to resemble art more than diagrams and written text. Serously, 4 weeks is plenty. 5 if you think you are a slow learner. 6 is already too much in my oppinion. Going over 6 is INSANE. I don't know how some of these super-SDNers can go for 8-10 weeks. I'd shoot myself.

 

[DrIng]

I took about 8 weeks combined to study for both Step 1 and Step II and that was 2 years after i finished the preclincial stuff and a heap of the USMLE stylecrap that I'd never learned in the first place. And I passed. So you can certainly get by on very little if all you want to do is pass.

 

[bigfrank]

This is a good question that can only be answered by YOU. If you are pursuing a competitive specialty, it would behoove you to study as long as possible (12+ weeks). You will find that many Programs look at your Step I score and (unfairly or not) judge you based on that.

If you are pursuing a less competitive specialty, then 0-4 weeks should be perfect. It's really up to you.

 

[TommyGunn04]

This is a good question that can only be answered by YOU. If you are pursuing a competitive specialty, it would behoove you to study as long as possible (12+ weeks). You will find that many Programs look at your Step I score and (unfairly or not) judge you based on that.

If you are pursuing a less competitive specialty, then 0-4 weeks should be perfect. It's really up to you.

I realize this is a bit unrelated, but since you brought up this difference between specialties I was wondering if some of you could comment on what is generally thought to be a good enough score to keep an applicant competitive at even the best internal medicine programs. Are we talking 230's here, or like 260 (eek!)? Based on what I've read in other posts here, it sounds like rotation performance, AI/Sub-I performance, and LOR's are probably much more important to univeristy-based IM programs.

 

[Vince]

Attention everyone! You need to score as high as possible on USMLE Step 1. You may plan on going into a less competitive specialty, but once you start out on rotations you might not like it, and want to do something else, and you are going to wish you had a higher score if you decide to go into a competitive specialty. Even with IM programs, you should shoot for high board scores. Residency programs get hundreds of applicants and many screen with board scores, so give yourself a shot of at least being looked at further. You might have great extra-curriculars, and are a great all-around applicant, but without a good board score, the PD's might never find out.

Trust me, do the best you can.

I would say try to have First Aid/StepUp read (at least once) about 6 weeks before the boards, then just do 4-5 weeks of just questions, i.e. Q bank, A&L's, or NMS. Questions are going to be the biggest help to you so try to plan accordingly. Give yourself about 3 days before the test to relax. I truly feel that if you do this you will be very pleased with your score.

 

[souljah1]

I think studying for 12 weeks is too long. Frank will disagree b/c he got some insanely high board score, but I also don't think you need an insanely high board score. You need a competitive one. Program directors don't decide who to rank based on board scores, they just help to get you an interview. From what our administration has told us, board scores are used more as a cutoff in the initial evaluation of a residency applicant. So, for example, if you want to apply to ENT at UCSF and the cutoff is 235, then whether or not you scored a 245 or 260 doesn't mean that much. Once you make that initial cutoff, then components of your application such as clerkship grades, letters, AOA, etc matter much more.

I studied about 4-5 weeks, with the last three weeks about 8-10 hrs/day split between reading and doing questions. My the end I was sick and tired of studying and was dying to take the damn thing. Gave myself a nice little vacation before starting clerkships. It all worked out nicely.

 

[bigfrank]

I realize this is a bit unrelated, but since you brought up this difference between specialties I was wondering if some of you could comment on what is generally thought to be a good enough score to keep an applicant competitive at even the best internal medicine programs. Are we talking 230's here, or like 260 (eek!)? Based on what I've read in other posts here, it sounds like rotation performance, AI/Sub-I performance, and LOR's are probably much more important to univeristy-based IM programs.

Don't let others fool you, your Step I score is very important, ranking roughly equal to your 3rd year performance, IMO.

For the BEST IM programs, definitely shoot for >240 -- why not?

And in regards to another poster, I know for a fact that in [competitive] fields where "all applicants look the same," having a stand-out Step I score can only help. Case in point, there is an ERAS feature that allows PDs to sort applicants by Step I score. When it comes time to rank applicants, it stands to reason that a PD might click on the button. Again, your specialty is the most important *medical* decision you'll probably make, so stack the deck in your favor wherever possible.

 

[azzarah]

Don't let others fool you, your Step I score is very important, ranking roughly equal to your 3rd year performance, IMO.

For the BEST IM programs, definitely shoot for >240 -- why not?

And in regards to another poster, I know for a fact that in [competitive] fields where "all applicants look the same," having a stand-out Step I score can only help. Case in point, there is an ERAS feature that allows PDs to sort applicants by Step I score. When it comes time to rank applicants, it stands to reason that a PD might click on the button. Again, your specialty is the most important *medical* decision you'll probably make, so stack the deck in your favor wherever possible.

Big Frank, I plan to start studying for Step I in April...a few weeks after starting my first rotation. I plan to hopefully do emergency medicine first, then surgery, then internal medicine and review for the boards and then take 4-6 weeks off for hard core studying. Is that what you mean by 12 weeks of studying or do you mean taking 12 weeks off?

 

[bigfrank]

I wouldn't take any time off, unless your school is run by real psychos. I just meant in terms of "weeks studying."

 

[azzarah]

I wouldn't take any time off, unless your school is run by real psychos. I just meant in terms of "weeks studying."

You didn't take any weeks off at all? I thought almost everyone takes 3-4 wks off, no?