MD & DO How much to allocate for resources for Step 1?

[nicewater]

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Hi all,

I'm an incoming 1st year and am wondering how much I should plan to allocate towards resources for Step 1 and maybe some other notes or books and such for the first 2 years. It seems that everyone has different recommendations as to what sources are worth it and what aren't so I made a poll and was hoping to let the numbers do the talking so that I can budget accordingly. It seems that my school's financial proposal isn't really helpful and probably a little skewed lol.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[ndafife]

Figure out what kind of allowance your school gives you for study materials and whether they pay for the exam for you.

Just a quick picture of some of the potential costs:
The exam itself costs $605.
UWorld is $299 for 90 days (costs more for more days, less for fewer)
USMLE Rx is $99 for their question bank for 3 months.
Kaplan's Qbank is $99 a month or $199 per year (and there are review courses from Kaplan as well)
Doctors in Training Review Course is $825.
NBME exams cost like $50/60 each
Fist Aid/Pathoma/Goljan Books/Videos cost money.

 

[essoulhunter]

Figure out what kind of allowance your school gives you for study materials and whether they pay for the exam for you.

Just a quick picture of some of the potential costs:
The exam itself costs $605.
UWorld is $299 for 90 days (costs more for more days, less for fewer)
USMLE Rx is $99 for their question bank for 3 months.
Kaplan's Qbank is $99 a month or $199 per year (and there are review courses from Kaplan as well)
Doctors in Training Review Course is $825.
NBME exams cost like $50/60 each
Fist Aid/Pathoma/Goljan Books/Videos cost money.

Thanks so much for that breakdown! Some of this stuff is mind-bogglingly expensive.... I know First Aid, Pathoma, and Uworld (UFAP?) are basically musts. Any other resources from that list that you recommend? I think my school likes the Doctors in Training because I read about it somewhere but holy hell $825....

 

[Jabbed]

Ha you forgot the 6 NBMEs at $60 a pop

 

[Scrubs101]

21months of pathoma 120$
Sketchy medical is 250$/year
Firecracker is 450$ for 4 years
24months of usmle rx 360 is 350$


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[raiderette]

There are often discounts for RX, Firecracker and others. Bros deck for Anki is free, and many people will have free resources at your school. We get discounts at my school for joining AMA, Etc.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Uworld+pathoma+fa+3 nbmes+exam fee

Whatever that equals

 

[ortnakas]

Thanks so much for that breakdown! Some of this stuff is mind-bogglingly expensive.... I know First Aid, Pathoma, and Uworld (UFAP?) are basically musts. Any other resources from that list that you recommend? I think my school likes the Doctors in Training because I read about it somewhere but holy hell $825....

If you're a first year, I'd budget for needing DIT or something similar (USMLERx, Kaplan, etc). I was personally a fan of DIT, although I know I'm in the minority on SDN. Maybe you won't need it and that's great, but if you turn out to be somebody who will benefit from a little more guidance, better to have planned on it and have the funds than to scrounge for $700-$800 out of thin air.

Most of the major companies will do school-wide discounts so you should be able to find DIT and its competitors for 10-20% off.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Your classmates will likely have copies of most of these resources. The only things you need to buy are UWorld, Rx and some NBME.

 

[CharlieBillings]

Is it worth it to print First Aid into physical book form from the pdf for $35?

 

[751866]

Is it worth it to print First Aid into physical book form from the pdf for $35?

You may as well buy the book. Although, that defeats the purpose of stealing it with a torrent or whatever you kids use these days, doesn't it?

 

[LucidSplash]

Cost of doing poorly on Step 1: Far higher than any of the study aids. But yes. It's all very expensive. Step 1: $605. Step 2CK:$605. Step 2CS: $1280. Step 3: $845.

The mind-boggling expense doesn't stop. Application Fee for Surgery boards $400. Registering for QE: $1200. Registering for CE:$1200. Current cost of recertification in 10 years: $1600.

 

[ortnakas]

Is it worth it to print First Aid into physical book form from the pdf for $35?

You can save yourself the hassle and get it in paperback for $37. Less if you buy the year prior's.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Cost of doing poorly on Step 1: Far higher than any of the study aids. But yes. It's all very expensive. Step 1: $605. Step 2CK:$605. Step 2CS: $1280. Step 3: $845.

The mind-boggling expense doesn't stop. Application Fee for Surgery boards $400. Registering for QE: $1200. Registering for CE:$1200. Current cost of recertification in 10 years: $1600.

Pretty sure I paid more for CS than that

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

Thanks so much for that breakdown! Some of this stuff is mind-bogglingly expensive.... I know First Aid, Pathoma, and Uworld (UFAP?) are basically musts. Any other resources from that list that you recommend? I think my school likes the Doctors in Training because I read about it somewhere but holy hell $825....

I've heard very mixed reviews about doctors in training and will not be using it. I think it's more for people who really don't get the material.

 

[LucidSplash]

Pretty sure I paid more for CS than that

Currently quoted fees on the NBME/USMLE website. Of course, for CS, doesn't include travel/lodging to one of the 5 places it is offered.

 

[751866]

You can save yourself the hassle and get it in paperback for $37. Less if you buy the year prior's.

You're missing the point that these kids don't want to "give more money to those big rich corporations!!!"

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi all,

I'm an incoming 1st year and am wondering how much I should plan to allocate towards resources for Step 1 and maybe some other notes or books and such for the first 2 years. It seems that everyone has different recommendations as to what sources are worth it and what aren't so I made a poll and was hoping to let the numbers do the talking so that I can budget accordingly. It seems that my school's financial proposal isn't really helpful and probably a little skewed lol.

Thanks in advance!!

UFAP alone will cost $550. Then, come the auxiliaries like Sketchy/NBMEs which will be $350 or so more. Then, lots of people including myself will purchase things like Costanzo (best used during physio) Microcards, Lange Pharmacology Cards, USMLERx/Lectures/FlashFacts, Picmonic, Kaplan Banks, Secrets, DIT (quite a price) which probably help a bit but are mainly retail therapy which gets most people easily over $1000. All of the above are what I consider decent resources. Things like HY Embryo/Anatomy, Biochem Flashcards, Kaplan books (unless you're F/IMG), Step 1 Q&A, and Goljian (unless you have a solid plan to use it daily) are all traps in my opinion.

 

[Redpancreas]

I've heard very mixed reviews about doctors in training and will not be using it. I think it's more for people who really don't get the material.

I'm not affiliated with USMLERx but I really liked their Videos. They went along with FA like DIT for 1/8th the cost.

 

[Redpancreas]

If you're a first year, I'd budget for needing DIT or something similar (USMLERx, Kaplan, etc). I was personally a fan of DIT, although I know I'm in the minority on SDN. Maybe you won't need it and that's great, but if you turn out to be somebody who will benefit from a little more guidance, better to have planned on it and have the funds than to scrounge for $700-$800 out of thin air.

Most of the major companies will do school-wide discounts so you should be able to find DIT and its competitors for 10-20% off.

I googled DIT promo code (albeit for Step 2) and found a 20% code which would have deducted $160 if I checked out which I was admittedly very close to.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Ha you forgot the 6 NBMEs at $60 a pop

You underestimate how easy it is to get access to all of them offline for free......

 

[Jabbed]

.

 

[751866]

You underestimate how easy it is to get access to all of them offline for free......

It's possible the poster knew exactly how easy it was but doesn't live his or her life selectively disregarding the rights and rules they don't agree with at the moment.

How do you justify theft? I've heard some pretty lame reasons, so I'm just curious how you tricked yourself into thinking you're acting in an honorable manner...of course, this doesn't apply if you haven't been stealing.

 

[Jabbed]

It's possible the poster knew exactly how easy it was but doesn't live his or her life selectively disregarding the rights and rules they don't agree with at the moment.

How do you justify theft? I've heard some pretty lame reasons, so I'm just curious how you tricked yourself into thinking you're acting in an honorable manner...of course, this doesn't apply if you haven't been stealing.

Would you pay taxes if you lived in Nazi Germany?

 

[LucidSplash]

Godwin's law even in a thread about studying for the USMLE. Human psychology is really amazing.

 

[Jabbed]

Godwin's law even in a thread about studying for the USMLE. Human psychology is really amazing.

= 1 - .95^(thread page count)

 

[751866]

Would you pay taxes if you lived in Nazi Germany?

That's odd, that doesn't seem to have the slightest connection to someone living in the United States who is faced with stealing practice exams and materials in order to prepare for tests that are a necessary component of they path they voluntarily chose. Feel free to make the connection. I know it's there, but it's quite a stretch to compare that with the situation discussed in the thread.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

How do you justify theft?

Lol theft? The link was out there in the open on a public forum (not this one) that is accessible to thousands of med students. All I did was check it out when a friend told me. Sounds like someone needs to get off their high horse and just let people do their thing.

 

[751866]

Lol theft? The link was out there in the open on a public forum (not this one) that is accessible to thousands of med students. All I did was check it out when a friend told me. Sounds like someone needs to get off their high horse and just let people do their thing.

This doesn't apply to you if you didn't use the pirated materials...

It's totally irrelevant how you came across it and who else has access to it. "Mr. officer, you don't understand. I didn't rob the bank, I merely took the money off the ground that I saw they dropped. Besides, all these other people did it too!" That's pretty poor logic to try and defend what's obviously stealing.

If all you did was "check it out" as in just look and say, "Oh, these are the NBMEs. Cool. I'll go pay for the ones I want to use..." then you shouldn't feel the need to defend yourself. If you went and used the pirated material then yeah, that's theft. You can chuckle to yourself and attempt to mock me, but it doesn't change the fact that you're stealing and that anyone with half a brain stem could tell you that. If you're going to do something that's wrong at least have the balls to admit that it's wrong and that you don't give a crap, but don't try to pull a deflection technique when someone calls you out on it.

 

[zerox117]

This thread went from 0 to 100, real quick.

 

[libertyyne]

Should budgeting >2000 be sufficient for the prep provided we are planing on getting everything above board? Are there cheaper ways to buy some of this stuff, I am assuming for the subscriptions there are no real second hand alternatives.