How much study time needed for P/F Step 1?

[Kirby Smart]

I know this is a very subjective topic, but I’m curious what you all think would be a minimum amount of time to spend studying for Step 1 during dedicated now that it is P/F. My school allows 7 weeks of dedicated prior to a break-less transition to pre-clerkship training and then clerkships. I’m wondering right now if it would be worthwhile to try to take Step after 5-6 weeks of studying in order to leave myself some time off before 3rd year. Obviously I’m not going to book any plane tickets today but I’m just wondering what you all are thinking about this also. Thoughts?

(Also: please don’t perceive this question as me overzealously assuming that I can pass Step without putting in a normal amount of effort, because I know it still won’t be a breeze)

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[Lucca]

I think scheduling for 5-6 weeks to have at least 1 week of time for “break” is very reasonable. Dedicated will still be a grind, but you can be much more comfortable once you are 15-20 points above the pass mark than before. I would try to have that as the buffer as the RNG of whats tested on your exam form is real and the “less” you have seen overall the more that RNG will matter. So getting through all of UWorld once should probably still be the gold standard, the good news is that it’s probably all you need to do.

 

[AzBasRad]

No, its not overzealous at all! 5 weeks is completely reasonable. Just make sure to cover UWorld X1, FA, sketchy micro+pharm (+pixorize biochem). Take NBMEs to track your progress. If you are scoring at least 215+, you should be gucci for the exam.

 

[KirksvilleKrunk]

I get the same amount of dedicated and a pre-clinical 'bootcamp' thing. I know I'll need a lot of time recharge after 2nd year so I'm going hard on questions and studying early throughout M2. Hoping to take it early in dedicated so I can get a decent 3-4 week vacation. Maybe take an NBME over winter break to see where you're at. Honestly you can just take the damn thing early if you study a little each day through the school year and finish UWorld/pass some NBMEs comfortably.

 

[Kirby Smart]

I get the same amount of dedicated and a pre-clinical 'bootcamp' thing. I know I'll need a lot of time recharge after 2nd year so I'm going hard on questions and studying early throughout M2. Hoping to take it early in dedicated so I can get a decent 3-4 week vacation. Maybe take an NBME over winter break to see where you're at. Honestly you can just take the damn thing early if you study a little each day through the school year and finish UWorld/pass some NBMEs comfortably.

I like that idea but knowing myself I doubt I’d be able to juggle much step studying on top normal classes. But I’m hoping if I just crank out 5 or 6 good weeks of dedicated Step studying I’ll be able to take it early and still have a week or two.

 

[heartsink]

I think scheduling for 5-6 weeks to have at least 1 week of time for “break” is very reasonable. Dedicated will still be a grind, but you can be much more comfortable once you are 15-20 points above the pass mark than before. I would try to have that as the buffer as the RNG of whats tested on your exam form is real and the “less” you have seen overall the more that RNG will matter. So getting through all of UWorld once should probably still be the gold standard, the good news is that it’s probably all you need to do.

This is reassuring. Our school crunched down our dedicated time so that clerkships would happen earlier so we would later have a longer Step 2 dedicated, but it all feels like next Spring is going to be a hellish transition and I really will need at least a week off before 3rd year...

 

[wondervisions]

You don’t need to mature anking or anything but if you study reasonably well during preclinical and get through sketchy micro/pharm (with associated anki) and a pass of pathoma before dedicated you will be in a very comfortable spot to pass step 1 in 4-6 weeks.

 

[goatmed]

Only you can know how much time you need based on how your school preps you + your preclinical performance. But I think the most accurate answer might come from taking a diagnostic practice test and figuring where you're currently at.

 

[jambro]

I really dont want longer than a 4 week dedicated with p/f... 3 would be ideal i think. Would love 5 weeks of vacation before M3!

 

[Ole_Toe]

I'm curious if any people who did UFAPS before Step1 can chime in.

For anyone who matured most of anking/zanki and finished first pass of Uworld (and maybe another question bank as well) before dedicated, how long did it take you in dedicated to get to a passing score, say above 200.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

I'm curious if any people who did UFAPS before Step1 can chime in.

For anyone who matured most of anking/zanki and finished first pass of Uworld (and maybe another question bank as well) before dedicated, how long did it take you in dedicated to get to a passing score, say above 200.

took me till a week before my exam.

 

[Schwifty]

I'm curious if any people who did UFAPS before Step1 can chime in.

For anyone who matured most of anking/zanki and finished first pass of Uworld (and maybe another question bank as well) before dedicated, how long did it take you in dedicated to get to a passing score, say above 200.

I was passed the Amboss self assessment week a couple months before I started dedicated / UW and passed my first NBME about a month before dedicated / UW. Once I started dedicated I had been through all pathoma, 90% sketchy micro/pharm, 75% AnKing matured. Only Q bank I really used was UW during dedicated

 

[Welshman]

Most people I know were above the passing mark on their first CBSA before dedicated. If you’re above this at the start of dedicated why would you need to keep studying for weeks just to get the same passing mark?

I would have taken step 1 within the first week of dedicated if mine was pass fail.

 

[Welshman]

Also keep in mind that the UW Q bank has doubled in size in the past 1.5-2 years. Much of the advise on doing a full pass of UW is based on threads and people who did it before it exploded. So doing a full pass now is equivalent to 2 passes back then.

 

[bGMx]

Most people I know were above the passing mark on their first CBSA before dedicated. If you’re above this at the start of dedicated why would you need to keep studying for weeks just to get the same passing mark?

I would have taken step 1 within the first week of dedicated if mine was pass fail.

To be a better doctor /s

 

[mrbreakfast]

No one can tell you how much time you need to study in order to feel confident for the test. It all depends on you.

I will say that a large number of med students could pass Step 1 with zero dedicated studying. You'll see this if/when your school makes you take a pre-dedicated NBME and a large percentage of your class passes.

If you are nervous, I would probably estimate how long you think it'll take you to go through Uworld completely, then add a few days. Though Uworld seems to have a lot more questions than when I took Step 1 several years ago.

 

[whorobbedthewoods]

IMO about a month is probably okay. Improved from ~170s (late May) to ~210 (mid June) on NBMEs in 3.5 weeks. Mediocre student--usually below average in coursework. I did not study for Step at all until dedicated started (no UFAPs until mid May) & never did anki. Don't recommend this but I was overwhelmed w just trying to pass classes and other life stuff.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Most people I know were above the passing mark on their first CBSA before dedicated. If you’re above this at the start of dedicated why would you need to keep studying for weeks just to get the same passing mark?

I would have taken step 1 within the first week of dedicated if mine was pass fail.

Because that’s one test and may not accurately reflect your ability to pass if the actual exam is different material.

 

[NeighborChip3]

I know this is a very subjective topic, but I’m curious what you all think would be a minimum amount of time to spend studying for Step 1 during dedicated now that it is P/F. My school allows 7 weeks of dedicated prior to a break-less transition to pre-clerkship training and then clerkships. I’m wondering right now if it would be worthwhile to try to take Step after 5-6 weeks of studying in order to leave myself some time off before 3rd year. Obviously I’m not going to book any plane tickets today but I’m just wondering what you all are thinking about this also. Thoughts?

(Also: please don’t perceive this question as me overzealously assuming that I can pass Step without putting in a normal amount of effort, because I know it still won’t be a breeze)

Kirby you have a big game against Arkansas tomorrow what are you doing on SDN rn?

 

[Firestar1181]

Imo it really depends on how much prep you put into Step 1 during M2 before you hit dedicated. If you’re solidly into an Anki deck and a question bank or two, then the time you need would be very different from someone who hasn’t done a lot of prep for the standardized test.

 

[operaman]

All of this depends on what sort of student you are beforehand. Regardless, it’s worth spending some time just to ensure you don’t fail given how detrimental a step failure can be to any sort of match. There is also some value to a good solid preclinical review before M3 since many shelf questions can be worked through with basic knowledge if you don’t remember the clinical aspects. Even on my written specialty boards I had some questions that dredged up things I remember studying back during my dedicated step 1 time.

OP’s plan of allowing a week or so off afterwards is very reasonable. 4-5 weeks of good dedicated study is enough for most people to hit saturation anyhow.

I would caution most people against blowing off dedicated entirely. At minimum I’d give it a couple weeks of questions and another nbme or two just to make sure that first score wasn’t a fluke. Again, the consequences of a failure are simply too high to warrant taking any risks.

 

[Kirby Smart]

Kirby you have a big game against Arkansas tomorrow what are you doing on SDN rn?

Just prepping by back-up career for when my team breaks their fans hearts again this year 😪

 

[aldol16]

Minimal time. Step 1 is not difficult to pass as long as you've been keeping up with med school work. Which is important even in a P/F Step 1 world because you will use a lot of the stuff during your rotations, especially IM. You need to focus on learning the next level of things on rotations for Step 2 so you should have the basics mastered by that point. Step 2 will obviously become the new Step 1 in terms of the arms race.

 

[Styrene]

I took the scored version with 5-6 weeks studying and "passed" by a very large margin. Plenty of time. And I only used UWorld.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I'm curious if any people who did UFAPS before Step1 can chime in.

For anyone who matured most of anking/zanki and finished first pass of Uworld (and maybe another question bank as well) before dedicated, how long did it take you in dedicated to get to a passing score, say above 200.

I was a diehard Zanki zealot. I probably could’ve passed in January of second year, before starting uworld. Although I wouldn’t have believed it at the time.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

I was a diehard Zanki zealot. I probably could’ve passed in January of second year, before starting uworld. Although I wouldn’t have believed it at the time.

Same here. If I had my same study schedule but was taking it pass/fail I would've passed 6 months before my actual date. Now, I was super strict for m1/m2 and never took a full day off (always kept up with at least the Anki reviews I had that day) so this wouldn't fly for most other students

 

[spottedpothos]

I took the scored version with 5-6 weeks studying and "passed" by a very large margin. Plenty of time. And I only used UWorld.

Did you use Anking? If so, to what extent?

 

[Styrene]

I created my own Anki cards while studying, converting pertinent facts from the uworld question answer explanations. Did around 4k cards. Would wake up, review cards per the algorithm, do 80-120 questions a day, then learn new cards at end of day per the algorithm. Rinse and repeat. Scored a 255. I've never opened First Aid in my life.

 

[spottedpothos]

I created my own Anki cards while studying, converting pertinent facts from the uworld question answer explanations. Did around 4k cards. Would wake up, review cards per the algorithm, do 80-120 questions a day, then learn new cards at end of day per the algorithm. Rinse and repeat. Scored a 255. I've never opened First Aid in my life.

Awesome, thanks. Congrats on the score.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Same here. If I had my same study schedule but was taking it pass/fail I would've passed 6 months before my actual date. Now, I was super strict for m1/m2 and never took a full day off (always kept up with at least the Anki reviews I had that day) so this wouldn't fly for most other students

Agree. I’m not sure being ready 6 months out would be the norm for the folks that do Zanki for a block and don’t keep up with reviews.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Agree. I’m not sure being ready 6 months out would be the norm for the folks that do Zanki for a block and don’t keep up with reviews.

100%

 

[Deecee2DO]

P/F shouldnt change how much you study if you are shooting for a strong Step 2. Statistically Step 1 performance has a pretty strong correlation with Step 2 performance and M3 shelf performance. The amount of time invested in Step 1 can pay off dividends and carry you through the rest of med school if you put in the time. some of you may think all you have to do is just pass Step 1 and think youre going to blow CK out of the water (probs wont happen if you approach Step 1 with all i have to do is pass approach). just my 2 cents

 

[wondervisions]

P/F shouldnt change how much you study if you are shooting for a strong Step 2. Statistically Step 1 performance has a pretty strong correlation with Step 2 performance and M3 shelf performance. The amount of time invested in Step 1 can pay off dividends and carry you through the rest of med school if you put in the time. some of you may think all you have to do is just pass Step 1 and think youre going to blow CK out of the water (probs wont happen if you approach Step 1 with all i have to do is pass approach). just my 2 cents

I would argue that step 1 correlates with step 2 mainly because studious people are studious.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I would argue that step 1 correlates with step 2 mainly because studious people are studious.

Its part that and the knowledge you gain. Step 2 is like mostly step 1 knowledge. My step 1 knowledge has easily carried me through the rest of med school

 

[Welshman]

Its part that and the knowledge you gain. Step 2 is like mostly step 1 knowledge. My step 1 knowledge has easily carried me through the rest of med school

It’s like saying preclinical grades correlate best with step 1 and then step 2. Just learn it the first time and don’t forget it years later….

For those wondering about how long to make your dedicated take a CBSA now and see how you do, you’ll probably be very surprised at the result. We took one at the end of our first year with a 2 year systems based curriculum and most of us passed (our final exams are NMBE and we took form 13 which is on the easier side but still). If you’re still worried take another one and average it until you feel comfortable passing… The vast majority of med students do not need a significant dedicated studying time to pass. If your argument is that step 1 correlates with step 2 then you might as well just study harder all 3 years because those grades also correlate strongly with both scores and might get you AOA or a top rank.

The content for step 2 can be very similar to step 1 but it’s not all the same, there is much much less nitty gritty details to learn and questions are asked in a very different way, so if you want to knock step 2 out of the park I would just focus on step 2 material