How much of Kaplan Step1 review series do I need to memorize? (4 vol. series)

[chef]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I've been out of medschool for a few years, and will be returning to M3 year in August. I've just started studying for my Step I, which I'll take sometime in June/July.

I'm a big believer in doing practice problems, and for review books I'm limiting myself to the 4 volume Kaplan review series, First Aid, and Step Up. Then I'm starting USMLEworld, Kaplan Qbank, Qbook, and all the NBME practice materials (later).

I'm reading the Kaplan books now, and I wonder how much of it I need to memorize? For example, in vol. I biochem, do I need to get all the enzymes & pathways down cold??

 

[lankysudanese]

I read the entire 4 volume series (in detail, over 4wks) once, and then did Qbank + Qbook + UW + Robbins Review of Pathology + NBMEs. Then I went back and re-read the entire 4 volumes, making sure that I fully-understood and memorized everything that was tested on any of the question banks that I used (I just skimmed over stuff that wasn't tested). As a result, I felt very confident and prepared for the test.
The Kaplan Home Study series books are excellent, and the information is very well organized and detailed. I think that your resources and study plan is excellent, and should guarantee optimal returns.

Note: I did not use Step Up, but several members of this forum seem to think that FA is a much better book when it comes to general outlines/review.

Good Luck

 

[chef]

Hi! Thanks for your kind words. Yes I'm planning to do just about the same thing you did, I'm glad to hear that my gameplan isn't completely out of whack!!🙂 Since I'm working now, I'm putting in about 3 hrs a day and about 5-8 hours ea. on Sat/Sun. Hopefully 7 months will be sufficient to completely absorb & re-learn this material.

You boldfaced Robbins Path, I'll check it out as well.

BTW, did you do Qbank first then UW? Does it matter do you think? I'm thinking about doing UW first.

Thanks again!

 

[lankysudanese]

Most people do Qbank first and UW second (which is what I did), mainly because Qbank is a great learning tool (it nicely complements both FA and Kaplan Review books) and UW is very representative/similar to the real test. But in all honesty, the order doesn't matter.

Robbins Review of Pathology has a strong allegiance in SDN, and has helped many students crush Step 1.