List your Step 1 Study materials

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Sun Dog

Sun Dog

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Hey all, just want to get everybody to list all of the study materials and programs that you are going to use/have used for Step 1..BRS, rapid review, goljan, pathoma, Kaplan, DIT, First aid, Uworld, etc.....

My plan so far (not 100% decided)...
First Aid
Uworld
Goljan Path
BRS Phys
Lippincott Biochem
 
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I've been using GT, FA, pathoma and listening to Goljan during classes this semester, then doing some board questions that are system-specific as I go along (if I have the time). I think next semester I'm looking at...

FA
GT
Goljan/Pathoma
DIT
BRS phys
Probably something for Pharm, maybe roadmap? I'm weak on pharm.

Probably going to get more serious about the board questions. I already have Kaplan Q's through my school and a bunch of the Pretest book series, and I know I should do UWorld. Not sure when I should buy it or how long I should use it.

Note: I'm taking the COMLEX as well as the USMLE, so Savarese = OMM.
 
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Im on the 6 week study schedule, I'd like to hit 240-250 since Im interested in academic radiology .. here are the resources Im using..

FA

USMLERx - daily, 48 Qs
-- I think this is good b/c its pretty efficient ... it shows you where in first aid theyre referring too - and gives you information that is not already in FA. Some question explanations are lacking but overall a good resource. I know some people dont like it but I think its useful since FA's index kinda sucks.

UWorld - daily, 46 Qs
-- Using this to track progress and learn from excellent explanations of questions

Filler: Lippincotts Biochem, BRS neuroanatomy, old doctors in training workbook

--
So far this has been working pretty well for me.. started out getting ~55% / day in U world and after 2 weeks I'm at about 70%'s daily (with an 84% thrown in there one day... big outlier but made me happy, haha)

Im not using Kaplan because I purchased a subscription 1 year ago at a special event at my university and ran out of time to use the Q bank before my insanely late board study period. erg. at least I got to do the 300 Q diagnostic ... (58% if I remember right..)



Tips would be appreciated.
 
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Sun Dog said:
Hey all, just want to get everybody to list all of the study materials and programs that you are going to use/have used for Step 1..BRS, rapid review, goljan, pathoma, Kaplan, DIT, First aid, Uworld, etc.....

My plan so far (not 100% decided)...
First Aid
Uworld
Goljan Path
BRS Phys
Lippincott Biochem
Click to expand...

And Im smarter. He's a better test taker. Obvi.

Me (248 and 8 weeks)
+ First Aid
+ Kaplan Videos
.......- Physio sucked, so I used BRS
.......- MIcro sucked, so I used First Aid Only
+ Kaplan Qbank
+ Uworld qbank

My friend (264 and 8 weeks)
+ First Aid
+ Kaplan Videos
+ Kaplan Qbank
+ UWorld qbank
+ Goljan Audio (pirated, the thief)
 
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OveractiveBrain said:
And Im smarter. He's a better test taker. Obvi.

Me (248 and 8 weeks)
+ First Aid
+ Kaplan Videos
.......- Physio sucked, so I used BRS
.......- MIcro sucked, so I used First Aid Only
+ Kaplan Qbank
+ Uworld qbank

My friend (264 and 8 weeks)
+ First Aid
+ Kaplan Videos
+ Kaplan Qbank
+ UWorld qbank
+ Goljan Audio (pirated, the thief)
Click to expand...



Did you annotate from the Kaplan videos into FA? And also for brs did u annotate?
 
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-FA
-Goljan RR Path/ Audio ... Pathoma book
-BRS Phys
-UW (maybe another one also? I have time..)
 
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I very highly recommend Goljan's RR biochem over Lippincott's. I had both and found RR to be a much better text for board studying.
 
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Tig2575 said:
I very highly recommend Goljan's RR biochem over Lippincott's. I had both and found RR to be a much better text for board studying.
Click to expand...

I have Lippincott's and I find it a really easy and concise read. I also have RR Path, which is easy to read and offers a nice global connection between various subjects. Would you mind elaborating on the similarities of RR Path and RR Biochem and why you thought RR was better than Lippincott's? I'm somewhat weak in biochem and I really want to nail that section on Step 1. Thanks!
 
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IMG had too much material however hoping to finish my first round of reviews by December- might have to take a break during exam time and family obligations during the holidays.

- Kaplan Videos (except Pathology- might watch some in weak areas)
- BRS Physiology
- HY Embryology
- HY Anatomy
- HY Neuroanatomy
- BRS Cell Biology- Only for weaker areas.
- Goljan Rapid Review and Audio
- USMLERx-(plan hitting most of it during Christmas break)
- GunnerTraining- Only 25% banked used 🙁
- CMMRS
- FA

Hoping to add in Next Semester
- Pathoma
- DIT (No idea if I should wait until the new one comes out in March)
- Kaplan Qbank
- BRS Behavioral Science
- UW
 
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Does anyone have a recommendation of how long to purchase UWorld? It's quite expensive and I'm not sure what length of time I would realistically need it for.
 
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GT--a whopping 3.5% mastery so far.
DIT--starts in January
First Aid--haven't cracked it.
Goljan audio lectures throughout the year.
 
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Took it last June..

FA
USMLERx
World
Kaplan
NBME practice tests 6,7,11,12

score >265
preferred Rx and world over kaplan
 
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I plan on using:

-FIRST AID, FIRST AID, FIRST AID!
I plan on going through FA 4 times.

I don't plan on re-reading any other HY books besides RR Goljan and BRS Pathology; I'll only refer to other HY books if I get really stumped on a question. I feel like the explanations on the question banks I'll be using should suffice.

U World: I plan on going through this twice.

Kaplan QBank: I plan on going through this once.

USMLERx QBank: I plan on going through this once.

Goljan Audio: I listen to this along with my courses and then once more when we take our NBME shelf exams.

Other than the above I'm pretty much set ... I think.
 
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Materials:
First Aid
BRS Physio
BRS Path
RR Biochem
Gojan (only got though about the first 10, but I thought it was still helpful)
CMMRS (just the bacteria sections)

Uworld (got though about 1200 question (68% correct) and did both assessment exams)
NBME 7 and 11.

Study time: 5.5 weeks with a couple days off and some random days of slacking (i.e. < 4 hours)

Score: 254

I definitely don't have any regrets, but if I had to change one thing I would have increased my time for UWorld questions and gotten through them all. In exchange, I would have cut out CMMRS since First Aid seems to have all the important info albeit in a much less memorization friendly way. I read pretty slowly so a full set of questions on UWorld in tutor mode would take me like 3-4 hours. I think that I absorb the material really well so I'm generally alright with my slow pace.
 
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I'm a Panamanian IMG planning to take Step 1 between July-September 2012

Since med school has a completely different academic structure in Panama, I took basic sciences classes 3-4 years ago, so I needed to relearn essentially everything that wasn't constantly used during my clinical years, but I still tried to limit myself to a few select sources and memorize/re-learn the hell out of them.

First Aid 2011
RR Biochem
BRS Pathology
BRS Physiology
BRS Behavioral Science
CMMRS
Lange Pharmacology (the Board Review edition)
A Neuroanatomy review book by Elsevier

I also bought Kaplan's Qbook and Review of Pathology (the question book) for practice. I'm also planning on buying a year-long UWorld suscription in the coming weeks and the DiT course once I'm close enough to the exam date.
 
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My wife asked me to research what students are using to study for Step 1 and after doing my research I realized one thing. The majority of people publishing all their study material is unrealistic while taking classes (unless your medical school is easy, you're an international student done with school or a gunner studying over 60 hours a week). I think its important that people publishing what their using to study should also mention if they are a full time U.S medical school student.

That being said. My wife is taking her Step 1 on June 1, 2012. I advised her to use Pathoma, read FA three times, complete UWorld Qbank twice, take 3 practice exams and DIT for 2 weeks in May. This comes out to about 15 hours of studying every week. In May she will be doing a lot more than 15 hours a week...
 
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FA and UWorld qbank (didn't even finish the whole thing). Got me a 232. 🙂
Like all IMGs, I was fixated on the 2 digit score of 99. I didn't really think the 3 digit score mattered. I just hope my 232 won't get me filtered out of too many programs. Everyone here seems to get 250+. 😀
 
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IMG - Kaplan CentrePrep (The new Patho lecturers are crap, so watching the 2006 videos by Dr.Barone, Physio is so topic -specific hence I added BRS Physio, which has almost the whole Physio covered. Micro - lacks detail, Biochem, Pharma - superb Anat - average. Yet to watch Behav. Science)
HY Histology (an unnecessary waste of time, too much info)
HY Embryology
HY NeuroAnatomy
HY Cell & Molecular Biology ( difficult to read !!! But is'nt the USMLE philosophy - The hard way or The Highway, so you have to rack your brains & study it )
USMLE Road Map Genetics (too much content !!! Better off with re-reads of Kaplan Biochem Genetic section)
BRS Physio
BRS Path (since I used it during med school)
Katzung & Trevor Review of Pharm ( since I used it in med school)
Review of Micro & Immuno - Levinson (only for a few portions, did'nt use the book much as it requires extensive time commitment & I found it hampering my schedule)
CMMRS (used it during Med School & because Kaplan lectures lack the detail)
HY Behavioural Science ( already read prior to starting Step 1 PREP)
Kaplan MedEssentials (not helpful at all)
FA 2011
Kaplan QB
Hope to add
Goljan audios + an older version of RR (bought in 2007.Guys please tell me if it is essential to have the latest version)
DIT (hopefully !!, time permitting)
Pathoma
Conrad Fischer Medical Ethics Book
UWorld (1 month prior to test)
 
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the god said:
IMG - Kaplan CentrePrep (The new Patho lecturers are crap, so watching the 2006 videos by Dr.Barone, Physio is so topic -specific hence I added BRS Physio, which has almost the whole Physio covered. Micro - lacks detail, Biochem, Pharma - superb Anat - average. Yet to watch Behav. Science)
HY Histology (an unnecessary waste of time, too much info)
HY Embryology
HY NeuroAnatomy
HY Cell & Molecular Biology ( difficult to read !!! But is'nt the USMLE philosophy - The hard way or The Highway, so you have to rack your brains & study it )
USMLE Road Map Genetics (too much content !!! Better off with re-reads of Kaplan Biochem Genetic section)
BRS Physio
BRS Path (since I used it during med school)
Katzung & Trevor Review of Pharm ( since I used it in med school)
Review of Micro & Immuno - Levinson (only for a few portions, did'nt use the book much as it requires extensive time commitment & I found it hampering my schedule)
CMMRS (used it during Med School & because Kaplan lectures lack the detail)
HY Behavioural Science ( already read prior to starting Step 1 PREP)
Kaplan MedEssentials (not helpful at all)
FA 2011
Kaplan QB
Hope to add
Goljan audios + an older version of RR (bought in 2007.Guys please tell me if it is essential to have the latest version)
DIT (hopefully !!, time permitting)
Pathoma
Conrad Fischer Medical Ethics Book
UWorld (1 month prior to test)
Click to expand...


Too much, even for a "GOD"
 
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alternatego said:
I'm a Panamanian IMG planning to take Step 1 between July-September 2012

Since med school has a completely different academic structure in Panama, I took basic sciences classes 3-4 years ago, so I needed to relearn essentially everything that wasn't constantly used during my clinical years, but I still tried to limit myself to a few select sources and memorize/re-learn the hell out of them.

First Aid 2011
RR Biochem
BRS Pathology
BRS Physiology
BRS Behavioral Science
CMMRS
Lange Pharmacology (the Board Review edition)
A Neuroanatomy review book by Elsevier

I also bought Kaplan's Qbook and Review of Pathology (the question book) for practice. I'm also planning on buying a year-long UWorld suscription in the coming weeks and the DiT course once I'm close enough to the exam date.
Click to expand...

I going to be replacing BRS Path with RR Path by Goljan, I'd welcome any opinions you guys might have about it 👍
 
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alternatego said:
I going to be replacing BRS Path with RR Path by Goljan, I'd welcome any opinions you guys might have about it 👍
Click to expand...

which you prefer is a matter of personal preference. ideally you'd go to a bookstore and check them both out, the styles are markedly different. I'm a RR person, the only BRS title i have is Physio
 
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mtwop said:
Too much, even for a "GOD"
Click to expand...

Well I skipped out on
HY Histology
Kaplan MedEssentials
USMLE Road Map Genetics
HY Embryo
Review Micro & Immuno Levinson (read a small portion alone)

Just listed the material I had ..............
Some material are just texts I read during med school

The other stuff are essentials .. which almost all IMGs use ......
 
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Sun Dog said:
Hey all, just want to get everybody to list all of the study materials and programs that you are going to use/have used for Step 1..BRS, rapid review, goljan, pathoma, Kaplan, DIT, First aid, Uworld, etc.....

My plan so far (not 100% decided)...
First Aid
Uworld
Goljan Path
BRS Phys
Lippincott Biochem
Click to expand...

My plan was study hard during 2nd year. I read Golgian throughout 2nd year as well as BRS path. For shelf exams at the end of 2nd year I did Pre-test, BRS, and UWORLD. We had 1 month after Shelf exams to take step1. I did DIT for that and found it very helpful to really solidify high yield topics. (Also, doing it for step1 has helped me during 3rd year.)

Did all of UWORLD and about 300 Kaplan Qbank. Liked UWORLD better, but they both predicted my score accurately +/- 2pts 1 week before taking the exam.

I shunned reading lippincott and BRS phys except for renal phys. DIT taught/reviewed all I needed to know on those subjects. I didn't use any review books during DIT (which you are supposed to do) except for FA. Pharmacology in FA is adequate, but I supplemented it with UWORLD.

Scored 249 with this plan. DIT at my school has mixed reviews, but I'm a big advocate for it if you do it right. its not for everyone, but it worked for me and i'm doing it again for step 2.
 
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musom2013 said:
My plan was study hard during 2nd year. I read Golgian throughout 2nd year as well as BRS path. For shelf exams at the end of 2nd year I did Pre-test, BRS, and UWORLD. We had 1 month after Shelf exams to take step1. I did DIT for that and found it very helpful to really solidify high yield topics. (Also, doing it for step1 has helped me during 3rd year.)

Did all of UWORLD and about 300 Kaplan Qbank. Liked UWORLD better, but they both predicted my score accurately +/- 2pts 1 week before taking the exam.

I shunned reading lippincott and BRS phys except for renal phys. DIT taught/reviewed all I needed to know on those subjects. I didn't use any review books during DIT (which you are supposed to do) except for FA. Pharmacology in FA is adequate, but I supplemented it with UWORLD.

Scored 249 with this plan. DIT at my school has mixed reviews, but I'm a big advocate for it if you do it right. its not for everyone, but it worked for me and i'm doing it again for step 2.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on how you feel one could get everything they can out of this program?
 
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I just started studying for step 1 yesterday and my plan is getting through FA and all of usmlerx in about 2.5 weeks then switching over to world for the last 3 weeks.

I agree rx'r is easier and more straightforward - but it really is helpful for me in that it forces me to learn first aid and not just glance over things and say 'oh, i know that'.

I'm basically using FA, RR (reading through applicable sections) and Rx'r the first pass (first 2.5 weeks). Last 3 weeks and change will be FA again, RR audio lectures at 1.75x speed while following along in respectve chapters and random blocks of 46 in world. Also, I plan on doing forms 7, 11 and 12 during an 'off day' each week after my first pass..

I take the exam on march 2nd.

Comments?

p.s. - have done about half of Qbank throughout MS1/2
 
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chet said:
Could you elaborate on how you feel one could get everything they can out of this program?
Click to expand...

1. Wake up, exercise
2. Do the beginning of the day quiz
3. Listen to the lectures, taking notes and filling out the study guide along the way (3 lectures/day)
4. Do the end of session quiz
5. Do the number of Uworld questions they recommend either between lectures or right after
6. Review material covered that day or that you missed on the quiz/Uworld
7. Read extra material if you have time left at the end of the day
8. Exercise again
9. Go to bed

Try to eat at some point as well....food helps
 
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Do you guys still consider Kaplan's Qbook as relevant these days? I have the 2008 edition and I'm planning to use it to review before I start UWorld.

I also have that Review of Pathology book by Robbins, what do you think about it?
 
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WIth all the resources I will be using and it seems many of you have a stack of them as well, I recommend getting a scheduling iphone app called Cram Fighter.

If you arent doing DIT or the KAPLAN full course and need some sort of study schedule then this app is great.

You select the books you have, the qbanks, how many hours a week you want to study per day (2 hrs on mon, 4 on tues, 0 on wed etc..), set up off days, organize the study schedule by system or by book, add you own books if you cant find it in the list of 180+ books.

You enter a start date to studying and your exam date. It will setup a study schedule for you which will compensate for missed study, give you catch up days and so on.

Check it out
 
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DrDJShik said:
WIth all the resources I will be using and it seems many of you have a stack of them as well, I recommend getting a scheduling iphone app called Cram Fighter.

If you arent doing DIT or the KAPLAN full course and need some sort of study schedule then this app is great.

You select the books you have, the qbanks, how many hours a week you want to study per day (2 hrs on mon, 4 on tues, 0 on wed etc..), set up off days, organize the study schedule by system or by book, add you own books if you cant find it in the list of 180+ books.

You enter a start date to studying and your exam date. It will setup a study schedule for you which will compensate for missed study, give you catch up days and so on.

Check it out
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
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DrDJShik said:
WIth all the resources I will be using and it seems many of you have a stack of them as well, I recommend getting a scheduling iphone app called Cram Fighter.

If you arent doing DIT or the KAPLAN full course and need some sort of study schedule then this app is great.

You select the books you have, the qbanks, how many hours a week you want to study per day (2 hrs on mon, 4 on tues, 0 on wed etc..), set up off days, organize the study schedule by system or by book, add you own books if you cant find it in the list of 180+ books.

You enter a start date to studying and your exam date. It will setup a study schedule for you which will compensate for missed study, give you catch up days and so on.

Check it out
Click to expand...

does anyone know of a similar app for android?
 
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First Aid -> Bank Firecracker questions
UWorld
Goljan Audio & Book
Pathoma
BRS books for reference

Most people at my school start studying early during the spring semester.
 
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I have RR Path too, which is easy to read and offers a nice global connection between various subjects. Would you mind elaborating on the similarities of RR Path and RR Biochem and why you thought RR was better than Lippincott's
BcF6ID
 
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