Indomethacin's Step 1 Experience USMLE Scale 202 to USMLE Scale 251 in 7 months (Passed with a 244)

[indomethacin_]

Hey everyone I took my exam on December 18th, 2014 and received my grades in January four weeks after.

The exam was hard, but balanced amongst disciplines with path being the most frequently tested topic. Had about 5 anatomy, 5 biostats, 20 path, 10 physio, 5 pharm, 5 genetics, 2-3 WTF questions per block.

I distributed my break time like this.

Block 1
5 min break
Block 2
5 min break
Block 3
5 min break
Block 4
15 min lunch break
Block 5
10 min break
Block 6
10 min break
Block 7

The questions were MUCH longer than UW and felt myself completing to the last minute on blocks 3 and 4 which were super difficult. Blocks 1 and 2 felt exactly like UW, so I didn't really get anxious until I saw the super long questions in block 3.


NBMEs overshot me by 5-10 points, but they are very accurate predictors.
So if anyone is wondering if they will fail the USMLE or not? Or if you are looking to JUST pass?
The ONLINE NBMEs will tell you.If your ONLINE NBME score is not AT least a USMLE scale of 205-210, you have a high chance of not passing the exam.

For example if your ONLINE NBME score is a 192 or lower on the USMLE scale. There is a high chance that you will NOT pass this exam. I know this exam is very difficult, but DO NOT SIT this exam unless you take an ONLINE NBME which can tell you your predicted score with some comfortable +10 or - 10 room for error.

DO NOT DO OFFLINE NBMEs to gauge your progress, the answer keys are OFTEN WRONG and have a high chance of being HURTFUL to your goals.

I felt if you can learn and memorize FA and understand all UW explanations inside out you can score 230+ on this exam.

Study plan
Time preparing:
7 months
Sources::
- FA 2014
- KLN
- ALL KLN Videos
- HY Neuro
- HY Behavioral Science for Milestones
- Rx qbank
- Kaplan qbank
- USMLE world
- ALL ONLINE NBMEs
- ALL UWSAs
- KAPLAN SIMULATED EXAMS
- FA Q&A book
- FA Cases book
- DIT
- Kaplan Live 7 week Review Course (HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you have the funds, will help you get around a 10-15 point increase on your NBMEs.)
Method:
-Study consistently everyday.
-Take 4-7 months to study for this exam.
-One day off here and there is okay, but DO NOT TAKE WEEKS OFF AT A TIME.
-I was studying 10-14+ hours a day on MOST days. But I would recommend 4.5-5.5 hours daily MINIMUM. This exam requires sacrifice and you've got to be willing to make the sacrifice. There are NO shortcuts to do well on this exam.

- Do the books subjects wise, it makes life easier. (NOT ORGAN SYSTEM WISE)

FIRST take an NBME to see where you stand. I took NBME 7 since it was the oldest.

Watch KLN videos ONCE (For example Cardio physio videos), Read KLN for that section ONCE (Cardio physio), Read FA for that section (Cardio physio), Do UW questions for that section (Cardio physio). Read ALL explanations and put any notes from the explanations you've found important directly into FA.
This process should take 2-3 months MAX.

Only repeat videos or KLN if you feel you did not grasp the concept at all.

~~~I repeat read ALL explanations, even if you got it RIGHT. There were TONS of questions that were formulated from the EXPLANATIONS of UW on my exam. I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess it needs to be said.~~~

Read FA multiple times including the all UW and qbank notes.

Take practice NBMEs, doing practice questions is the highest yield source for doing well on this exam.

First Aid Q&A question including the mock full length exam at the end of the book is a hidden gem. Closer to my exam I would take an NBME + 3 of the 7 mock blocks from FA Q&A to simulate full length exam

Practice makes perfect, simulate a full length exam AT LEAST 2 times before you sit for the actual exam.

The last 4 weeks leading up to the exam take an NBME every 7 days while repeating weak concepts in between. You should see a gradually improving NBME grades. Save NBME 15 & 16 for the End. This is how I did it:

NBME 7
5/18/14
380/202
(Before Step studying to see where I stood, major let down. Gave me intense strength and motivation to push myself forward.)

NBME Medical School Comprehensive
FINISHED UW 2 times (Timed Subject Wise is how I did it, BUT Tutor Mode Untimed will work just as well, this first and second run of UW was used mostly as learning tool), KLN ONCE, ALL KLN VIDEOS ONCE, FA Q&A, Goljan 2 times, and FA 3times before I took this.
8/29/14
94/260

NBME 11
Did only DIT + a 4th read of FA.
9/30/14
490/226
(30 days after MD 5 spending time mostly at home, Major Freak out! Notice the trend in grades? Don't take breaks/become complacent in between step studying! In my humble opinion.)

NBME 13
A month into the 7 week Live Kaplan Review Course + Now at the 6th Read of FA + Finished Rx qbank (Timed Mixed questions) + Started Kaplan Qbank (Timed Mixed questions)
11/3/14
550/239

NBME 12
11/10/14
580/245

UWSA 1
Finished Kaplan Qbank (Timed Mixed questions)
11/17/14
700/256

UWSA 2
Started UW again third time (Timed Mixed questions)
11/25/14
800/265+

NBME 15
Completed UW third time (Timed Mixed questions)
12/5/14
570/243

NBME 16
12/12/14
610/251

Free 150
12/16/14
Predicted: 244

Real Deal
12/18/14
Pass: 244


Free 150 questions have some repeated concepts on the actual exam. A great source of practice questions a few days out from the exam.
Shame how some people don't know about this.
http://www.usmle.org/practice-materials/index.html

NBMEs 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
Do all NBMEs ONLINE only. Answer keys are WRONG ALOT OF THE TIME.
Shame how some people don't know about this either.
https://nsas.nbme.org/home

If you are failing the NBMEs, you will have a high chance of failing the exam. DO NOT WRITE THE EXAM UNLESS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR ONLINE NBME GRADES.
Use NBMEs to guide you, this exam is hard but NOT impossible. Work hard and it will all pay off.
Don't be demotivated by NBME failures, learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward!

Say when I say UW in down below, I am referring to the question concepts, the pictures, and ALL explanations. It is essential to understand and retain the information.

Behavioral Science
FA+ UW + Kaplan + 100 cases by Conrad Fischer a must for IMGs that don't know the rules of ethics in the U.S.

Biostats
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Biochem
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Micro
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know transmission very every organism and prevention very important!

Immuno
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know how to differentiate all immunologic disorders, hypersensitivities, and graft types and rejections.

Pathology
FA + UW + Goljan Audio + Goljan book OR Kaplan = Enough

Pharm
FA + UW= Enough

CVS
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Endocrine
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

GI
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Hematology
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Musculoskeletal
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
The anatomy questions were vague and difficult, and even reading HY Anatomy was not helpful to me.
Underground Clinical Vignettes for Anatomy seemed like a good book but I was unable to get through it before my exam.

Neurology
FA + UW + Select HY Neuroanatomy chapter + Webpath Gross and MRI anatomy pictures = Enough
library.med.utah.edu/WebPat...TML/NEURANAT/NEURANCA.html

Renal
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Repro
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Pulm
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know very importantly how to differentiate Pneumothorax, Hemothorax, Pleural effusion, TB, Aspiration, and Cardiomegaly on Chest X ray.

Rapid Review Section of FA Step 1 is great also.

Also know the presentation, pathophysiology, and treatment of Stress, Urge, and Overflow incontinence.
Know how to identify cranial nerves on gross brainstem.
Be able to identify the micro bugs just by looking at the picture.

Overall the exam was very tiring and I felt I had failed when I walked out, there were at least 10-15 Step 2 management questions that made me feel like I had the wrong exam. But overall you have to believe in yourself and be confident in your answers.

This is a passable exam, it is important to master few sources, than to be mediocre at a ton of sources.

I started off with an NBME scale of a 202 and still ended up breaking USMLE scale 250 within 7 months.
I read FA 4-7 times before it was committed to memory strongly, 4-7 times!
So I am posting this to give hope that IT IS POSSIBLE.
If I can do it ANYONE can do it.

I sincerely wish everyone here the best of luck, and wish everyone here succeeds in their goals.
Let's work together and beat this exam and improve passing rates for the years to come.

Hope this helps.

This is my entire journal for a daily overview of everything that I did.
http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/119013/

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Wavy Doctor]

some absolute gems in here

thanks for the write up

 

[iki4life]

wow thats a great write up....i haven't taken the exam, nor do i expect to get a great score like you. I'm most focused on FA+UW and a little bit of pathoma. I'm an IMG, born and raised in cali though. just hoping for a 220

 

[indomethacin_]

some absolute gems in here

thanks for the write up

Thanks man, just trying to make a difference.
I just want to post this so maybe someday the statistics can change and so people can STOP failing and say they don't know how they failed.
~~~NBMES predict your grade with a +10 or -10 interval, that's the most important thing to keep in mind!~~~

wow thats a great write up....i haven't taken the exam, nor do i expect to get a great score like you. I'm most focused on FA+UW and a little bit of pathoma. I'm an IMG, born and raised in cali though. just hoping for a 220

I am an IMG too, hope for it and fight for it. Aim really high, work hard, and believe that it can happen because it can.
Either way, I wish you the best, put in the time and you will do just fine.

 

[aspiringmd1015]

thanks for the post, wanted to ask the first aid q and A, did you get the online version and then add those 3 blocks to your nbme's? and whats the mock full length exam book? also you said you only did online nbme's, is nbme 7 available online?

 

[indomethacin_]

thanks for the post, wanted to ask the first aid q and A, did you get the online version and then add those 3 blocks to your nbme's? and whats the mock full length exam book? also you said you only did online nbme's, is nbme 7 available online?

Yes I did 4 blocks of online first. Didn't check the grades, treated it like the actual exam with the granted 45min-1 hr break time, and then did 3 FA Q&A blocks on paper.

Mock full length exam book I meant the FA Q&A book has 7 blocks that is a mock full length exam at the end of the book.

When I took USMLE Step 1, NBME 7 was available ONLINE.

ONLY DO ONLINE NBMES.

 

[nds86]

Thanks for the great description of your experiences throughout, Indomethacin. I see you used RR for path along with KLN and I wonder if you had the time to do Pathoma at all or not? If you did or know about it, would you advise to use Pathoma instead of RR path because I feel like the RR path is so dense that I will forget most of it after reading a chapter? Also, out of the three banks (Uworld, Rx, and Kap), which is better to do with the KLN, I would want to do Uworld towards the end (around 2 months before exam). Thanks again and all the best for future endeavors.

 

[indomethacin_]

I sort of left it out, I read Goljan RR twice from May 2014 to August 2014, so I had some portions of it memorized. It might not work for others, but repetition has been key for me in learning things.

I never did Pathoma, but I know a ton of people that substituted Goljan RR for Pathoma instead and still did really well.

I did UW 1st time with KLN and then UW 2nd time before my Medical School Comprehensive, then I did Rx ONCE in September, then Kaplan qbank ONCE during Kaplan review course from October to November, then UW again 3rd time in December before exam time.

That's the way I did it, and that's what worked for me. It took me a while to master UW, so doing it more than once was essential for me.

If you want to focus on just UW for last two months that can work as well.
Do kaplan qbank with KLN if you do decide to go down that route.
The actual exam will require you to have a though process consistent with UW. The questions and concepts will be most similar to UW and self assessments. So having UW mastered closer to the exam is a good idea.

 

[GomerPyle]

You started 7 months out? How did you do in class? :/

How do you expect those of us in school (and only have a 6-8 week break for the test) to do this?

 

[mcloaf]

You started 7 months out? How did you do in class? :/

How do you expect those of us in school (and only have a 6-8 week break for the test) to do this?

Obviously the approach will have to be less intense than OPs, but there's no reason you can't incorporate step studying into your schedule for the last few months of M2 before dedicated (and I'd argue doing so is the smart approach assuming you can still do ok in classes).

 

[indomethacin_]

You started 7 months out? How did you do in class? :/

How do you expect those of us in school (and only have a 6-8 week break for the test) to do this?

I don't expect anyone to do what I did in 7 months in 6-8 weeks. I started my step prep day 1 in medical school, read all of the big books Robbins, Goljan, Keith L Moore, Lippincott Biochem, did a ton of pretest questions and Robbins questions and webpath questions while I was in school. Never went out to party or anything, did everything I could to study, no tv, no gym, ate quick meals, cooked in bulks to save time. Slept 6 hrs a day mostly, sometimes 5 hrs, and 4 hrs a few times. Always slept 8-10 hrs before exams.

Started out getting 90% In MD 1 courses and 87% in MD 2 courses (Year 1 for me) but towards I was getting 93% in MD 3 courses, 94% in MD 4 courses, and 99%in MD 5 courses and the comprehensive NBME (Year 2).
Before medical school, I graduated with one of the lowest GPAs in my college undergrad and learned very minimal due to my own lack of effort. So I walked into medical school with very average knowledge.
So if I can pull this off, I believe that it's possible for anyone that may have this similar time frame.

My MD 5 counts for 4 months of my prep, I had classes 2 days a week from 9 am -2 pm. But had a daily quiz in the morning at 8:00 that was roughly 1 hour long.
My school gives us 3-6 months to write the exam after MD 5, so I can sympathize with you there. My school gives us plenty of time, but the thing here is that it takes some people longer time to understand things than others for Step 1 (Such as myself).
So I'm just trying to make a difference.

The purpose of this post is for the people who have ever been misinformed about Step 1 or the NBMEs. I expect people who have plan on studying for 6-7 months to be able to do this, this is directed toward them mostly.

~~~If you only have 6-8 weeks, stick to FA + UW + ALL NBMES & ALL UWSAs.
Make notes on ALL explanations from UW even if you got it right directly into FA, and from any mistakes in NBMEs and UWSAs. Read your FA 3 times minimum with all of these notes, and you should see a similar trend in grades.

It's just that I felt KLN and KLN videos and even Goljan were very important for my prep, so I don't know how you will fit that in 6-8 weeks.

Maybe you can try doing them through your semester. But FA + UW + All NBMEs & UWSAs are essential.

Or best advice is to follow someone who has done it before you in that time frame and still scored very well.~~~

Obviously the approach will have to be less intense than OPs, but there's no reason you can't incorporate step studying into your schedule for the last few months of M2 before dedicated (and I'd argue doing so is the smart approach assuming you can still do ok in classes).

I agree here. It's possible to still do well, but it just makes life MUCH easier if you decide to work really hard throughout medical school.

 

[GomerPyle]

I don't expect anyone to do what I did in 7 months in 6-8 weeks. I started my step prep day 1 in medical school, read all of the big books Robbins, Goljan, Keith L Moore, Lippincott Biochem, did a ton of pretest questions and Robbins questions and webpath questions while I was in school. Never went out to party or anything, did everything I could to study, no tv, no gym, ate quick meals, cooked in bulks to save time. Slept 6 hrs a day mostly, sometimes 5 hrs, and 4 hrs a few times. Always slept 8-10 hrs before exams.

Started out getting 90% In MD 1 courses and 87% in MD 2 courses (Year 1 for me) but towards I was getting 93% in MD 3 courses, 94% in MD 4 courses, and 99%in MD 5 courses and the comprehensive NBME (Year 2).
Before medical school, I graduated with one of the lowest GPAs in my college undergrad and learned very minimal due to my own lack of effort.
So if I can pull this off, I believe that it's possible for anyone that may have this similar time frame.

My MD 5 counts for 4 months of my prep, I had classes 2 days a week from 9 am -2 pm. But had a daily quiz in the morning at 8:00 that was roughly 1 hour long.
My school gives us 3-6 months to write the exam after MD 5, so I can sympathize with you there. My school gives us plenty of time, but the thing here is that it takes some people longer time to understand things than others for Step 1 (Such as myself).
So I'm just trying to make a difference.

The purpose of this post is for the people who have ever been misinformed about Step 1 or the NBMEs. I expect people who have plan on studying for 6-7 months to be able to do this, this is directed toward them mostly.

~~~If you only have 6-8 weeks, stick to FA + UW + ALL NBMES & ALL UWSAs.
Make notes on ALL explanations from UW even if you got it right directly into FA, and from any mistakes in NBMEs and UWSAs. Read your FA 3 times minimum with all of these notes, and you should see a similar trend in grades.

It's just that I felt KLN and KLN videos and even Goljan were very important for my prep, so I don't know how you will fit that in 6-8 weeks.

Maybe you can try doing them through your semester. But FA + UW + All NBMEs & UWSAs are essential.

Or best advice is to follow someone who has done it before you in that time frame and still scored very well.~~~



I agree here. It's possible to still do well, but it just makes life MUCH easier if you decide to work really hard throughout medical school.

Thanks for the response. I was told that 6-8 weeks of intense prep can burn you out and hurt your score. How many hours a day would you suggest for a 6 week prep? What would you think about a 5 week prep?

 

[aspiringmd1015]

5 week prep? balls to the wall pal

 

[indomethacin_]

Thanks for the response. I was told that 6-8 weeks of intense prep can burn you out and hurt your score. How many hours a day would you suggest for a 6 week prep? What would you think about a 5 week prep?

I can't comment here, I normally study 10-14+ hours a day during serious step 1 studying throughout the 7 months. Except for september where I was studying around 6-8 hours a day.
When I "burnt out" I just needed 3-4 hours of rest or at most, most of the day off. But I rarely took an entire day off. I never took two consecutive days off, and I am not a believer in taking weeks off from studying.

 

[indomethacin_]

Step 2 CK Passed 249!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/indomethacins-step-2-ck-journal.1120229/page-3

A day by day journal of how I did it. I know this will help, hope more people give this a read. And please share with those who may need this guidance.

 

[Beegaboo]

H

Hey everyone I took my exam on December 18th, 2014 and received my grades in January four weeks after.

The exam was hard, but balanced amongst disciplines with path being the most frequently tested topic. Had about 5 anatomy, 5 biostats, 20 path, 10 physio, 5 pharm, 5 genetics, 2-3 WTF questions per block.

I distributed my break time like this.

Block 1
5 min break
Block 2
5 min break
Block 3
5 min break
Block 4
15 min lunch break
Block 5
10 min break
Block 6
10 min break
Block 7

The questions were MUCH longer than UW and felt myself completing to the last minute on blocks 3 and 4 which were super difficult. Blocks 1 and 2 felt exactly like UW, so I didn't really get anxious until I saw the super long questions in block 3.


NBMEs overshot me by 5-10 points, but they are very accurate predictors.
So if anyone is wondering if they will fail the USMLE or not? Or if you are looking to JUST pass?
The ONLINE NBMEs will tell you.If your ONLINE NBME score is not AT least a USMLE scale of 205-210, you have a high chance of not passing the exam.

For example if your ONLINE NBME score is a 192 or lower on the USMLE scale. There is a high chance that you will NOT pass this exam. I know this exam is very difficult, but DO NOT SIT this exam unless you take an ONLINE NBME which can tell you your predicted score with some comfortable +10 or - 10 room for error.

DO NOT DO OFFLINE NBMEs to gauge your progress, the answer keys are OFTEN WRONG and have a high chance of being HURTFUL to your goals.

I felt if you can learn and memorize FA and understand all UW explanations inside out you can score 230+ on this exam.

Study plan
Time preparing:
7 months
Sources::
- FA 2014
- KLN
- ALL KLN Videos
- HY Neuro
- HY Behavioral Science for Milestones
- Rx qbank
- Kaplan qbank
- USMLE world
- ALL ONLINE NBMEs
- ALL UWSAs
- KAPLAN SIMULATED EXAMS
- FA Q&A book
- FA Cases book
- DIT
- Kaplan Live 7 week Review Course (HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you have the funds, will help you get around a 10-15 point increase on your NBMEs.)
Method:
-Study consistently everyday.
-Take 4-7 months to study for this exam.
-One day off here and there is okay, but DO NOT TAKE WEEKS OFF AT A TIME.
-I was studying 10-14+ hours a day on MOST days. But I would recommend 4.5-5.5 hours daily MINIMUM. This exam requires sacrifice and you've got to be willing to make the sacrifice. There are NO shortcuts to do well on this exam.

- Do the books subjects wise, it makes life easier. (NOT ORGAN SYSTEM WISE)

FIRST take an NBME to see where you stand. I took NBME 7 since it was the oldest.

Watch KLN videos ONCE (For example Cardio physio videos), Read KLN for that section ONCE (Cardio physio), Read FA for that section (Cardio physio), Do UW questions for that section (Cardio physio). Read ALL explanations and put any notes from the explanations you've found important directly into FA.
This process should take 2-3 months MAX.

Only repeat videos or KLN if you feel you did not grasp the concept at all.

~~~I repeat read ALL explanations, even if you got it RIGHT. There were TONS of questions that were formulated from the EXPLANATIONS of UW on my exam. I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess it needs to be said.~~~

Read FA multiple times including the all UW and qbank notes.

Take practice NBMEs, doing practice questions is the highest yield source for doing well on this exam.

First Aid Q&A question including the mock full length exam at the end of the book is a hidden gem. Closer to my exam I would take an NBME + 3 of the 7 mock blocks from FA Q&A to simulate full length exam

Practice makes perfect, simulate a full length exam AT LEAST 2 times before you sit for the actual exam.

The last 4 weeks leading up to the exam take an NBME every 7 days while repeating weak concepts in between. You should see a gradually improving NBME grades. Save NBME 15 & 16 for the End. This is how I did it:

NBME 7
5/18/14
380/202
(Before Step studying to see where I stood, major let down. Gave me intense strength and motivation to push myself forward.)

NBME Medical School Comprehensive
FINISHED UW 2 times (Timed Subject Wise is how I did it, BUT Tutor Mode Untimed will work just as well, this first and second run of UW was used mostly as learning tool), KLN ONCE, ALL KLN VIDEOS ONCE, FA Q&A, Goljan 2 times, and FA 3times before I took this.
8/29/14
94/260

NBME 11
Did only DIT + a 4th read of FA.
9/30/14
490/226
(30 days after MD 5 spending time mostly at home, Major Freak out! Notice the trend in grades? Don't take breaks/become complacent in between step studying! In my humble opinion.)

NBME 13
A month into the 7 week Live Kaplan Review Course + Now at the 6th Read of FA + Finished Rx qbank (Timed Mixed questions) + Started Kaplan Qbank (Timed Mixed questions)
11/3/14
550/239

NBME 12
11/10/14
580/245

UWSA 1
Finished Kaplan Qbank (Timed Mixed questions)
11/17/14
700/256

UWSA 2
Started UW again third time (Timed Mixed questions)
11/25/14
800/265+

NBME 15
Completed UW third time (Timed Mixed questions)
12/5/14
570/243

NBME 16
12/12/14
610/251

Free 150
12/16/14
Predicted: 244

Real Deal
12/18/14
Pass: 244


Free 150 questions have some repeated concepts on the actual exam. A great source of practice questions a few days out from the exam.
Shame how some people don't know about this.
http://www.usmle.org/practice-materials/index.html

NBMEs 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
Do all NBMEs ONLINE only. Answer keys are WRONG ALOT OF THE TIME.
Shame how some people don't know about this either.
https://nsas.nbme.org/home

If you are failing the NBMEs, you will have a high chance of failing the exam. DO NOT WRITE THE EXAM UNLESS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR ONLINE NBME GRADES.
Use NBMEs to guide you, this exam is hard but NOT impossible. Work hard and it will all pay off.
Don't be demotivated by NBME failures, learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward!

Say when I say UW in down below, I am referring to the question concepts, the pictures, and ALL explanations. It is essential to understand and retain the information.

Behavioral Science
FA+ UW + Kaplan + 100 cases by Conrad Fischer a must for IMGs that don't know the rules of ethics in the U.S.

Biostats
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Biochem
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Micro
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know transmission very every organism and prevention very important!

Immuno
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know how to differentiate all immunologic disorders, hypersensitivities, and graft types and rejections.

Pathology
FA + UW + Goljan Audio + Goljan book OR Kaplan = Enough

Pharm
FA + UW= Enough

CVS
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Endocrine
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

GI
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Hematology
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Musculoskeletal
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
The anatomy questions were vague and difficult, and even reading HY Anatomy was not helpful to me.
Underground Clinical Vignettes for Anatomy seemed like a good book but I was unable to get through it before my exam.

Neurology
FA + UW + Select HY Neuroanatomy chapter + Webpath Gross and MRI anatomy pictures = Enough
library.med.utah.edu/WebPat...TML/NEURANAT/NEURANCA.html

Renal
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Repro
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough

Pulm
FA + UW + Kaplan = Enough
Know very importantly how to differentiate Pneumothorax, Hemothorax, Pleural effusion, TB, Aspiration, and Cardiomegaly on Chest X ray.

Rapid Review Section of FA Step 1 is great also.

Also know the presentation, pathophysiology, and treatment of Stress, Urge, and Overflow incontinence.
Know how to identify cranial nerves on gross brainstem.
Be able to identify the micro bugs just by looking at the picture.

Overall the exam was very tiring and I felt I had failed when I walked out, there were at least 10-15 Step 2 management questions that made me feel like I had the wrong exam. But overall you have to believe in yourself and be confident in your answers.

This is a passable exam, it is important to master few sources, than to be mediocre at a ton of sources.

I started off with an NBME scale of a 202 and still ended up breaking USMLE scale 250 within 7 months.
I read FA 4-7 times before it was committed to memory strongly, 4-7 times!
So I am posting this to give hope that IT IS POSSIBLE.
If I can do it ANYONE can do it.

I sincerely wish everyone here the best of luck, and wish everyone here succeeds in their goals.
Let's work together and beat this exam and improve passing rates for the years to come.

Hope this helps.

This is my entire journal for a daily overview of everything that I did.
http://www.prep4usmle.com/forum/thread/119013/

Hi Indomethicin!

Thank for sharing your experience with us. I do have a question actually.
I am currently studying for my step 1 and in 3 months I will be joining my Kaplan Live course (14 weeks). Can you please tell me while I am in my kaplan course, how can I get some time out for myself and do self study. Because my classes start from 8 am in the morning. And end at 4 pm. From 1-4pm we have group discussions. When you were at your kaplan course how did you manage to get some time and self study and also what did you study then?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.