Is this a good plan to study for part 1 boards? Recommendations/criticisms/advice all are welcome!

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xoxo111

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Hi y'all so my boards are coming up this July and I don't know where to start. I dug into some of the forums on here and came up with this plan. Please let me know your thoughts! I am kinda nervous and really just wanna pass.

1) Micro/Pharm-Sketchy.
2) Path- view class capture of board reviews from school (3x)-->if time permits then do first aid (3x).
3) Physio-BRS (MAYBE class notes if I cannot understand something from BRS).
4) General Anatomy-100 concepts PPT
5) Biochemistry-First Aid
6) Lower extremity anatomy- class captures plus powerpoints (4x). If there is time then move on to Ohio notes. (This was my weakest subject as I generally just suck at anatomy).
7) Immuno-First Aid

Question Banks
8) Board Vitals-50 Qs a day (repeat 3x).
9) APMLE full length (do one now to get a baseline, take the second one in June).
10) Uworld questions- 25 a day
11) Step1daily questions-25 a day

I don't really have a set schedule yet because we start clinics next month and our school still has not provided us the schedule for that yet. I am going to aim to study about 8 hours a day and do one subject a day. For instance, study lower extremity during the day then do the question banks in the evening on Sunday, then Monday I do micro, etc.
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xoxo111 said:
Hi y'all so my boards are coming up this July and I don't know where to start. I dug into some of the forums on here and came up with this plan. Please let me know your thoughts! I am kinda nervous and really just wanna pass.

1) Micro/Pharm-Sketchy.
2) Path- view class capture of board reviews from school (3x)-->if time permits then do first aid (3x).
3) Physio-BRS (MAYBE class notes if I cannot understand something from BRS).
4) General Anatomy-100 concepts PPT
5) Biochemistry-First Aid
6) Lower extremity anatomy- class captures plus powerpoints (4x). If there is time then move on to Ohio notes. (This was my weakest subject as I generally just suck at anatomy).
7) Immuno-First Aid

Question Banks
8) Board Vitals-50 Qs a day (repeat 3x).
9) APMLE full length (do one now to get a baseline, take the second one in June).
10) Uworld questions- 25 a day
11) Step1daily questions-25 a day

I don't really have a set schedule yet because we start clinics next month and our school still has not provided us the schedule for that yet. I am going to aim to study about 8 hours a day and do one subject a day. For instance, study lower extremity during the day then do the question banks in the evening on Sunday, then Monday I do micro, etc.
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I think the list of materials is good. I wouldn't overemphasize immuno part. If you look at the topics outline, it kinda gives you what u need to study for each subject. It kinda gives specific areas for immuno. It will be more about Micro than Immuno.

Also, I don't want to give wrong advice. You know yourself, but I wouldn't start studying 8hrs a day right now. You will get burnout. Also, I don't remember if anyone used Uworld or Step1 questions. I am not sure how helpful that would be. U don't want to do something not necessary. I am not sure what these questions include, but if they are for Step takers, it will be too much. I wouldn't do it.
Also, if you haven't started Sketchy, keep in mind that it will take some time to watch through all the videos, especially Pharm section. There are associated Anki decks for Sketchy studying you definitely should use. Doing Sketchy Pharm/Micro and LE anatomy is like 50% of the test, if I am correct. So, I would make these 3 parts my top focus to make sure you get like 95%+ on them. Then go down from your strongest to weakest. My weakest was Biochem. I spent less than 1 day studying FA and got at least 2/3 of the questions correct.

You have to use strategy to study for this test and not to get burnout.
 
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de Ribas said:
I think the list of materials is good. I wouldn't overemphasize immuno part. If you look at the topics outline, it kinda gives you what u need to study for each subject. It kinda gives specific areas for immuno. It will be more about Micro than Immuno.

Also, I don't want to give wrong advice. You know yourself, but I wouldn't start studying 8hrs a day right now. You will get burnout. Also, I don't remember if anyone used Uworld or Step1 questions. I am not sure how helpful that would be. U don't want to do something not necessary. I am not sure what these questions include, but if they are for Step takers, it will be too much. I wouldn't do it.
Also, if you haven't started Sketchy, keep in mind that it will take some time to watch through all the videos, especially Pharm section. There are associated Anki decks for Sketchy studying you definitely should use. Doing Sketchy Pharm/Micro and LE anatomy is like 50% of the test, if I am correct. So, I would make these 3 parts my top focus to make sure you get like 95%+ on them. Then go down from your strongest to weakest. My weakest was Biochem. I spent less than 1 day studying FA and got at least 2/3 of the questions correct.

You have to use strategy to study for this test and not to get burnout.
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Thank you! I am definitely not going to do step 1 questions then but do you think BV is enough for practice questions? The only reason I was thinking about doing step 1 questions was that I was looking for more practice questions but I agree with you that they are much denser. Also, thanks for the sketchy Anki deck reminder!
 
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xoxo111 said:
Thank you! I am definitely not going to do step 1 questions then but do you think BV is enough for practice questions? The only reason I was thinking about doing step 1 questions was that I was looking for more practice questions but I agree with you that they are much denser. Also, thanks for the sketchy Anki deck reminder!
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I did BV set and I think most people do. I didn't go through the whole thing, but I did go through LE anatomy, Pharm and Micro about 2 times.
 
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This looks fine. You may find you add some resources or cut out some resources as you get into your studying. Personally, I would cut out the Uworld and Step1daily questions and just stick to BV and the 60 question practice tests. If you go to Kent I thought the Rossi practice exams were some of the closest to the actual exam of any practice question material.
 
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Quick question: are there any radiographic images/any images on the actual exam?
 
Another question: When did you guys start watching sketchy? Did you watch both micro and pharm? I am halfway thru micro but haven't started pharm yet, so I just wanted to see and make sure I'll have time to watch them all for pharm cuz I saw it's much more condensed than micro.
 
AdrenalineJockie said:
When did you guys start watching sketchy? Did you watch both micro and pharm?
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Started watching them when I was taking the courses itself ; this made the recollection of the videos a bit easier come dedicated board studying time. Sketchy Pharm videos are long and very dense - felt like they were a bit too detailed overall for the APMLE however if you felt strong with the micro, there were so many recurrent themes/images that made studying for it easier. I loved Sketchy Mico, felt like all of it was relevant and high yield.

Around Feb/March of 2nd year, I would start rewatching Sketchy Micro (4-5 a day or so). We took micro 1st year so it helped starting a refresh on it. And then during our blocked out study time after finals, i would watch more videos.

We took Pharm 1 and 2 during 2nd year, so watched Sketchy Pharm along with that. Those videos were very long for some sections so you may need to give yourself more time. Sketchy for me only works with repetition so if you commit to that resource, you have to be able to watch them multiple times.
 
I also have this book called First Aid Cases for Usmle step 1, do you all think I should make time to view those cases, or are they too daunting and unnecessary for our boards? I quickly glanced over the book and it seems to be clinical vignette-style questions for each subject and the authors break each of the answers down.
 
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xoxo111 said:
I also have this book called First Aid Cases for Usmle step 1, do you all think I should make time to view those cases, or are they too daunting and unnecessary for our boards? I quickly glanced over the book and it seems to be clinical vignette-style questions for each subject and the authors break each of the answers down.
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Don't waste time.
 
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Are BRS books also good for practice questions for Path and Biochem? Are those questions reflective for our boards?
 
Did sketchy micro and some pharm. studied my anatomy notes and lower anatomy notes and then spent a day reviewing phys. Didn’t look at anything else. Thought the exam was easy. Most of my time spent was going they sketchy which I highly recommend at least for micro. Only studied for 3 weeks for the exam.
 
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How much do you think one should be scoring on those APMLE practice tests to be considered comfortable for the real exam? Also, how much should I be aiming for each section on board vitals? (Ngl I’m not doing too hot on boardvitals).
 
xoxo111 said:
How much do you think one should be scoring on those APMLE practice tests to be considered comfortable for the real exam? Also, how much should I be aiming for each section on board vitals? (Ngl I’m not doing too hot on boardvitals).
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I think about 80% at least.
 
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xoxo111 said:
How much do you think one should be scoring on those APMLE practice tests to be considered comfortable for the real exam? Also, how much should I be aiming for each section on board vitals? (Ngl I’m not doing too hot on boardvitals).
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I averaged 84% on the practice exams and 80% (first pass) on BV and passed. I know a couple of my friends averaged 75-78% and passed. I really did not think either were all that similar to my actual exam though.
 
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Podstar said:
I averaged 84% on the practice exams and 80% (first pass) on BV and passed. I know a couple of my friends averaged 75-78% and passed. I really did not think either were all that similar to my actual exam though.
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Was your actual exam easier/harder than the practice tests or board vitals?
 
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BV are harder, practice exams were pretty close.

There will be some hard questions you might not even heard before. Keep in mind that certain amount of questions on that exam will be thrown away so when u see some crazy questions don't panic, keep your calm, pick best answer and keep going forward. Make sure you stay cool throughout your exam. Worst thing if one starts to panic or waste time on hard questions. It only hurts tour ability to answer questions that you may know the answer to.

Like I have mentioned before, if you know your LE anatomy, know Micro and Pharm you should do fine. I found easiest to study for these 3 sections. You know what to expect and you have great studying materials..

How are you doing so far in your studying?
 
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de Ribas said:
How are you doing so far in your studying?
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I’m not doing well at all. My scores are definitely not in the 80s, more like 58-63 on board vitals which is embarrassing. I will say though that my scores are improving each week but at a snail pace which is starting to worry me a bit. I have forgotten most of physio, biochem and general anatomy so they have been an uphill battle. Indi and pharm are ok, I just gotta look over all the sketches again. LEA is getting to ok. Path is good.
 
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xoxo111 said:
I’m not doing well at all. My scores are definitely not in the 80s, more like 58-63 on board vitals which is embarrassing. I will say though that my scores are improving each week but at a snail pace which is starting to worry me a bit. I have forgotten most of physio, biochem and general anatomy so they have been an uphill battle. Indi and pharm are ok, I just gotta look over all the sketches again. LEA is getting to ok. Path is good.
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When you are doing BV question do you do a mixed questions or go by subject. What are your scores for each subject?

Have you watched all Sketchy Micro and Pharm videos? How do you study for these sections?

As I have mentioned before, you need to approach this test with a strategy. You can't expect yourself to get 80-90% on every subject nor should you. Focus on LEA, Micro/Immuno and Pharm and then go from easiest to hardest subjects for you. You don't need to spend even half as much time on Biochem as you spend on LEA, for example.
 
xoxo111 said:
I’m not doing well at all. My scores are definitely not in the 80s, more like 58-63 on board vitals which is embarrassing. I will say though that my scores are improving each week but at a snail pace which is starting to worry me a bit. I have forgotten most of physio, biochem and general anatomy so they have been an uphill battle. Indi and pharm are ok, I just gotta look over all the sketches again. LEA is getting to ok. Path is good.
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I would suggest focusing on those big topics. Anatomy, Lower, and Biochem alone are a big chunk of the test. Personally I wouldnt stress biochem too too much. As long as you're improving you will be ok. I'de suggest going back through the questions and read the explanations.
 
ConsciousCalc said:
I would suggest focusing on those big topics. Anatomy, Lower, and Biochem alone a big chunk of the test. Personally I wouldnt stress biochem too too much. As long as you're improving you will be ok. I'de suggest going back through the questions and read the explanations.
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Biochem is least tested subject on this test.
 
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de Ribas said:
When you are doing BV question do you do a mixed questions or go by subject. What are your scores for each subject?
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de Ribas said:
Have you watched all Sketchy Micro and Pharm videos? How do you study for these sections?
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Yep I do subject by subject. Except for path, my scores have been 58-63%.
I have watched all micro but some left for pharm. I feel like I get micro and pharm questions wrong simply because I just need to go back to the sketches and reread those (which I’m doing now). I’m confident that once I finish the sketches, I definitely should be scoring better.
 
xoxo111 said:
Yep I do subject by subject. Except for path, my scores have been 58-63%.
I have watched all micro but some left for pharm. I feel like I get micro and pharm questions wrong simply because I just need to go back to the sketches and reread those (which I’m doing now). I’m confident that once I finish the sketches, I definitely should be scoring better.
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Have you done sketchy quizzes? After I watched sketchy video, I would do a quiz they have and then return to it until I could get all questions right quickly multiple times. Also. Make sure you do Sketchy Anki decks. It will help retain all Sketchy information. I am not sure how well you did at school's LEA class, but there should be no reason to be getting 50-60% on LEA. You still have enough time. But your main focus should be LEA. You need to be getting at least 80% on LEA questions. There are only so much on Micro. Don't forget to review some topics on Immuno.
 
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For pharm, sketchy videos are getting overwhelmed for me. Any other resources recommended?

And @xoxo111 for BV, make sure to go over explanations when you're doing the questions!! They explain it really well
 
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AdrenalineJockie said:
For pharm, sketchy videos are getting overwhelmed for me. Any other resources recommended?

And @xoxo111 for BV, make sure to go over explanations when you're doing the questions!! They explain it really well
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Since I didn't use Sketchy for classes, I only had time to watch Micro Videos. For Pharm, I used my school slides. They were well organized and I did well in class using slides only so I was comfortable studying from them and did some Sketchy Anki. Pharm section is overwhelming, but for those who already watched videos earlier in the year during their Pharm course, I think it is the best material.
 
Get Kent's LEA notes if you can... I agree with de Ribas, you shouldn't be scoring that low on LEA.
 
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How representative are BV questions to the actual exam? What about APMLE practice exams?
 
AdrenalineJockie said:
How representative are BV questions to the actual exam? What about APMLE practice exams?
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Check out most recent board prep thread. You will get most of your questions answered.

APMLE were very close, BV are more detailed but useful anyways for learning and preparing.
 
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Quick question: how much neuro did everyone find in their exam? (Questions like if there is a lesion in occulomotor nerve, is the pathology ipsi/contralateral; patient presents with right sided weakness, which artery is lesioned, etc.)
 
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xoxo111 said:
Quick question: how much neuro did everyone find in their exam? (Questions like if there is a lesion in occulomotor nerve, is the pathology ipsi/contralateral; patient presents with right sided weakness, which artery is lesioned, etc.)
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We can't talk about the specific topics or questions, but yes, I had many neuro questions on my exam.
 
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xoxo111 said:
Quick question: how much neuro did everyone find in their exam? (Questions like if there is a lesion in occulomotor nerve, is the pathology ipsi/contralateral; patient presents with right sided weakness, which artery is lesioned, etc.)
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What Dexter said.

Whatever high yield topics your school taught you...brush up on them.....you will understand what neuro topics they like to ask.
 
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My quick way of easily passing this exam:

1. know lower anatomy extremely well you’re going to be a podiatrist after all. (25% of test)
2. sketchy micro and pharm will get you almost all questions for these topics correct (25% of test) sketchy pharm even gives you physio information
3. General anatomy 100 topics whatever temple PowerPoint that exists
4. First aid for physio and path but I’d study these last as they are extremely random.
5. Biochem - rate limiting enzymes why study anything else?

good luck. Just be minimally competent and know lower anatomy, micro, pharmacology extremely well. Use boardvitals obviously
 
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toes701 said:
My quick way of easily passing this exam:

1. know lower anatomy extremely well you’re going to be a podiatrist after all. (25% of test)
2. sketchy micro and pharm will get you almost all questions for these topics correct (25% of test) sketchy pharm even gives you physio information
3. General anatomy 100 topics whatever temple PowerPoint that exists
4. First aid for physio and path but I’d study these last as they are extremely random.
5. Biochem - rate limiting enzymes why study anything else?

good luck. Just be minimally competent and know lower anatomy, micro, pharmacology extremely well. Use boardvitals obviously
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For lower extremity would you say there are more anatomy questions pertaining to the foot or would you say they were equally dispersed among hips, thighs and legs? Ngl but i still suck at the foot nerves for some reason lol
 
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xoxo111 said:
For lower extremity would you say there are more anatomy questions pertaining to the foot or would you say they were equally dispersed among hips, thighs and legs? Ngl but i still suck at the foot nerves for some reason lol
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Use Kent's Ruben if you have it.
 
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AdrenalineJockie said:
It's the ligaments for me :(
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I mostly relied on those Temple lower ANAT flashcards in my last weeks, the best 30 bucks I spent for part 1 prep.
Those along with the BV questions are a good way to keep the material fresh until exam day.

Don't forget to go over the practice exams on the NBPME website.
 
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DexterMorganSK said:
I mostly relied on those Temple lower ANAT flashcards in my last weeks, the best 30 bucks I spent for part 1 prep.
Those along with the BV questions are a good way to keep the material fresh until exam day.

Don't forget to go over the practice exams on the NBPME website.
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Yes, I have those flashcards. They're really good!!! I know you can't talk about the exam but did you feel like those cards were high yields?
 
AdrenalineJockie said:
Yes, I have those flashcards. They're really good!!! I know you can't talk about the exam but did you feel like those cards were high yields?
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My exam feels like a decade ago, so maybe someone that took it last year can comment more, but yeah, those flashcards did help me. Going over your BV notes also helps in the last few weeks. And, you can probably do all of sketchy micro in 2-3 days (the week before the exam).
 
This may be a dumb question but I was wondering, does the 'peer rank' mean anything on BoardVitals? Does it reflect anything in regards to passing the actual boards?
 
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