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- Jul 13, 2014
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Hi there, SDN Firecrackers!
Last week, I received my USMLE Step 1 score report and I was ecstatic to learn I had passed!!! Like many medical students, I did not feel confident about my performance on the exam. In fact, I have spent most of my recent nights planning a career in medical sales. So imagine how great it felt to see that beautiful 1-9-5 on my score report. Not only did I pass, but I passed by 3 full points!!! I was so excited! I immediately saved my report and emailed it to my parents. For years, they had been telling me I was too lazy and stupid to pass. If felt great to rub it in their faces.
My Experience:
I would like to preface this post by stating that the lovely people at Firecracker did NOT ask me to share my story. They probably would prefer I not reference their product, especially since I did NOT use their program. Regardless, I have decided to share my USMLE experience in hopes of helping other students take charge of the test in the way I did. Below I will walk you through my test preparation.
Year 1:
Like most medical students, I showed up to class the first day, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that class was a waste of time. I found that I could wake up around 12:30PM and double speed most of the day’s lectures before dinner time. Then I would brush my teeth, hit the gym, and play a few games of COD before retiring around 1:00 AM.
On weekends I had strict no study rule (unless there was a test on Monday). I knew that my second year I would be working fairly hard studying for boards so I wanted live first year to the fullest. Friday and Saturday, I spent most of my time with old frat bros hitting up the local watering holes. I’d toss around the whole med school thing and that was usually enough to snag an undergrad honey for the night.
To sum things up, my first year was mostly fun and games. It worked for me though. I rolled into second year with a 76% average and solid knowledge of infectious disease.
Year 2:
The summer before my second year, I decided it would be best to get of my childish ways out of my system. So I did, mostly. By the first day of classes I was ready to start studying for boards. Unfortunately, second year was more intense than first year and my plans for board studying were pushed to the back burner. It was April before I finally started studying for real.
I was in a bit of a crunch so I had to be very selective about my study materials. After considerable deliberation, I decided to use First Aid. I had heard great things about the book from some classmates who had been studying from it for a while. So I went online, and purchased myself a used 2009 edition of First Aid for $2.99 + S/H. This ended up working out pretty well, because the person who had owned the book before me had highlighted all of the most important points. This helped to focus my studies even more. Additionally,
I used the Test Weapon qbank, provided by my school, to supplement my book studies.
Study Schedule:
From April until mid May, it was difficult to find time for boards studying while trying to finish up classes. As a result, I decided to implement what I called the "5 and 5" study plan. This plan consisted of reading 5 pages of First Aid and doing 5 qbank questions daily. Usually I would read everything on those 5 pages, but on busy days I was sometimes be forced to focus my attention on previously highlighted portions of the book.
By the time classes ended in May, I was amazed to find I had already read 150 pages of FA. Unfortunately, I knew that I would have to pick up my pace so I revamped my plan. The final result was the "10 and 10" study plan. Using this plan, I read 10 pages of FA and did 10 qbank questions daily. During this period of dedicated studying, my daily routine resembled the following:
12:00 PM - Wake up
12:30 PM - breakfast
01:00 PM - 5 warm-up qbank questions (untimed, random, tutor mode)
02:00 PM - lunch and 5 pages of FA
04:00 PM - gym
06:00 PM - Dinner
07:00 PM - 5 pages of FA
09:00 PM - 5 qbank questions (timed, random)
10:00 PM - COD
01:00 AM - Bed
By late June, I had finished reading FA and was feeling pretty good about the test. My qbank average was 41%, but I attributed the low score mostly to that fact that I had only recently finished going through all the material. The night before test day, I ate a nice steak dinner, cut my normal 4 beers down to a single glass of red wine and I got to bed by 11 PM.
Test Day:
Don’t remember much, but I left with my rear-end feeling bruised and abused.
Final thoughts:
The USMLE is a hard exam, but anyone can pass. It just takes some hard work and solid study plan. I would encourage anyone who is interested to use my "5 and 5" or "10 and 10" study strategies. They are a great way to guide your preparation and ensure that you obtain your best score. Please feel free to post any questions or comments in the forum and I will try to answer them all as honestly as possible.
Best of luck,
Sam
edit: unbolded
Last week, I received my USMLE Step 1 score report and I was ecstatic to learn I had passed!!! Like many medical students, I did not feel confident about my performance on the exam. In fact, I have spent most of my recent nights planning a career in medical sales. So imagine how great it felt to see that beautiful 1-9-5 on my score report. Not only did I pass, but I passed by 3 full points!!! I was so excited! I immediately saved my report and emailed it to my parents. For years, they had been telling me I was too lazy and stupid to pass. If felt great to rub it in their faces.
My Experience:
I would like to preface this post by stating that the lovely people at Firecracker did NOT ask me to share my story. They probably would prefer I not reference their product, especially since I did NOT use their program. Regardless, I have decided to share my USMLE experience in hopes of helping other students take charge of the test in the way I did. Below I will walk you through my test preparation.
Year 1:
Like most medical students, I showed up to class the first day, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that class was a waste of time. I found that I could wake up around 12:30PM and double speed most of the day’s lectures before dinner time. Then I would brush my teeth, hit the gym, and play a few games of COD before retiring around 1:00 AM.
On weekends I had strict no study rule (unless there was a test on Monday). I knew that my second year I would be working fairly hard studying for boards so I wanted live first year to the fullest. Friday and Saturday, I spent most of my time with old frat bros hitting up the local watering holes. I’d toss around the whole med school thing and that was usually enough to snag an undergrad honey for the night.
To sum things up, my first year was mostly fun and games. It worked for me though. I rolled into second year with a 76% average and solid knowledge of infectious disease.
Year 2:
The summer before my second year, I decided it would be best to get of my childish ways out of my system. So I did, mostly. By the first day of classes I was ready to start studying for boards. Unfortunately, second year was more intense than first year and my plans for board studying were pushed to the back burner. It was April before I finally started studying for real.
I was in a bit of a crunch so I had to be very selective about my study materials. After considerable deliberation, I decided to use First Aid. I had heard great things about the book from some classmates who had been studying from it for a while. So I went online, and purchased myself a used 2009 edition of First Aid for $2.99 + S/H. This ended up working out pretty well, because the person who had owned the book before me had highlighted all of the most important points. This helped to focus my studies even more. Additionally,
I used the Test Weapon qbank, provided by my school, to supplement my book studies.
Study Schedule:
From April until mid May, it was difficult to find time for boards studying while trying to finish up classes. As a result, I decided to implement what I called the "5 and 5" study plan. This plan consisted of reading 5 pages of First Aid and doing 5 qbank questions daily. Usually I would read everything on those 5 pages, but on busy days I was sometimes be forced to focus my attention on previously highlighted portions of the book.
By the time classes ended in May, I was amazed to find I had already read 150 pages of FA. Unfortunately, I knew that I would have to pick up my pace so I revamped my plan. The final result was the "10 and 10" study plan. Using this plan, I read 10 pages of FA and did 10 qbank questions daily. During this period of dedicated studying, my daily routine resembled the following:
12:00 PM - Wake up
12:30 PM - breakfast
01:00 PM - 5 warm-up qbank questions (untimed, random, tutor mode)
02:00 PM - lunch and 5 pages of FA
04:00 PM - gym
06:00 PM - Dinner
07:00 PM - 5 pages of FA
09:00 PM - 5 qbank questions (timed, random)
10:00 PM - COD
01:00 AM - Bed
By late June, I had finished reading FA and was feeling pretty good about the test. My qbank average was 41%, but I attributed the low score mostly to that fact that I had only recently finished going through all the material. The night before test day, I ate a nice steak dinner, cut my normal 4 beers down to a single glass of red wine and I got to bed by 11 PM.
Test Day:
Don’t remember much, but I left with my rear-end feeling bruised and abused.
Final thoughts:
The USMLE is a hard exam, but anyone can pass. It just takes some hard work and solid study plan. I would encourage anyone who is interested to use my "5 and 5" or "10 and 10" study strategies. They are a great way to guide your preparation and ensure that you obtain your best score. Please feel free to post any questions or comments in the forum and I will try to answer them all as honestly as possible.
Best of luck,
Sam
edit: unbolded
Last edited:
Funny, you took Step 1, but your status is Medical Student (accepted) and you just signed up today. 2/10 on trolling effort.
