M2 Study Plan: Former M2 Input Appreciated

[Redpancreas]

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Ok,

So I just finished M1 and when I do a search looking for study strategies for M2, I get a bunch of posts about studying over the summer which I'm not interested in ATM because I know I will burn out.

General Plan:

-Stick to a routine
-Don't go to lecture (after first year, lecture has not helped me...I've noticed its all in the notes/CP) but ANKI all the lectures that were given that day then continually review the ANKI cards. (Obviously the review will take longer each day).
-The weekends will be solely for review and covering difficult concepts.
-My only other activities will be being on a board, attending post exam parties, and working out (I plan to bulk and cut this summer so I won't have to do any kind of goal-chasing during med school so all I'll have to do is work out purely for maintanance). I'm also single and not ready to mingle and am an only child with exceptional parents who will do anything for me on the side (cooking/shopping - I do live by myself) so I feel like I have no excuses to not aim high.

This being said, what about Step 1? I saw a lot of the M2s with their Pathoma/FAs and I saw them doing Qbanks (not sure which ones). When do we get time to do that because I've heard the classes take up a ridiculous amount of time in the first place? Our school gets 5-6 weeks after the end to prep for step. I doubt this is enough on it's own for me to score considerably above average.

What does it take to score considerably above average on step (240+). I'm aiming for IM but I really want to go to places like U of Mich for example and the more knowledgeable faculty at my school tell me they have a cut offs in the 240s for IM!




So in summary:

1. How did you incorporate Step studying into your plan?
2. Does the aforementioned plan look decent? I've been performing anywhere from slightly above to below average and at this point am out of the running for AOA so I'd simply like to stay in the upper half of the class grades-wise?

So yeah...hope I'm not stressing anyone out. I know we've all just gotten done and for the record, at least this isn't a post about summer studying. Help please

 

[joker2400]

Focus on classes. Supplement with FA and pathoma. I suggest working through kaplan or usmlerx as you go through the path portion of the year. I did both QBanks as well as the questions on Webpath throughout the year and I think that helped immensely

 

[stepone2015]

One thing I regret not doing is finishing all of Picmonic (minus like 100-200 stupidly dumb cards). There were many cards through the year that I didn't think I needed ("how the hell could I forget that?"). Guess what? I'm in dedicated now and I just crammed hundreds of Picmonic cards in 3-4 days ~13 hours per day. It sucked, but it is very helpful.

I've also made and wrote/drawn my own cards for the weird drugs and diseases Picmonic doesn't have. Once you do enough cards, they are actually really easy to make. I also add my own imagery to Picmonic's cards to add more details from FA/UW. Retention is about 10 times higher than trying to brute force it with Anki.

 

[cs24]

Focus on classes. Supplement with FA and pathoma. I suggest working through kaplan or usmlerx as you go through the path portion of the year. I did both QBanks as well as the questions on Webpath throughout the year and I think that helped immensely

Do what this guy says, especially since IIRC your school has NBME finals. I didn't do any qbanks throughout the year, but if you do one, make sure it is NOT UWorld. Save that for dedicated/right before dedicated. I would recommend subscribing to sketchymicro and going through it slowly throughout the year with frequent review (and if they have sketchypharm by then, maybe that as well).

Reiterating- focus on classes. Knowing your class material cold sets you up for step one far more than even 8-10 weeks of dedicated prep could.

 

[NickNaylor]

I primarily used FA/Pathoma/Rapid Review as adjuncts to my M2 studying and I thought that worked pretty well. I "saved" the UWorld qbank for my dedicated study time, but in retrospect I'm not sure that this would matter all that much. If you can get through the qbank - or at least your incorrects - twice before your test, then you'll be in a good position.

Short of that, focus on learning the material well. If you learn as much as you can now, studying during your dedicated time won't be as bad.