You should do UW.
It blows my mind that people "put off" doing UW because they are afraid of having a low percentage. You realize you can have a 50% and this means nothing for the actual exam if you are LEARNING?
exactly!
I started UW very low and was doing well below the average until I got the gist of it. Using it alongside my primary learning has been the biggest bump for me. No one should worry about your UW scores initially so long as you really are learning from the questions, if you really spend time to use it as a learning tool and not a testing tool then you will see your avgs slowly rise
I agree that UWorld should be used as a learning, rather than a testing tool, but I think it should be used as a
late learning tool, not as an early one. Questions yield the greatest benefit when they produce "shock value" because you've already felt you've mastered the material and were "proven wrong." For example, if you've just read a lot on respiratory and then do questions, the questions are worth more than if you had done them alongside the reading or beforehand. That being said, I feel UWorld should be attempted only after FA has been finished and Rx and Kaplan QBanks have been first-passed.
Convalaria, you seem to be at that stage where you're still trying to figure out how to consolidate resources. Yes, there are
lots of books and study tools out there for Step1, and people will inevitably recommend different things, but cutting to the chase: if you are within one year of the exam, your primary reading should be BRS Pathology and First Aid, and your interactive work should be USMLE Rx QBank, followed by Kaplan QBank, then UWorld. Don't start UWorld until you've finished the other two QBanks and have at least done a first-pass on FA (at the minimum). You can use other resources as helpful adjuncts to supplement your weaker areas, but those five resources are mandatory. The most important bank, however, is UWorld, so if you are strained for time, then just give it a go.
Hope the helps,
~Phloston