Need help planning when to take boards?

[deleted1129181]

Hello Everyone! I am a current OMS2 and currently planning a date for both Step 1 and Level 1. I am a fairly average to above average student at my school (my class rank is around 35th percentile) and I have never failed an exam. I have just recently started board prepping using Zanki, FA, Pathoma, Sketchy, and BNB (been using Sketchy and Pathoma all year long). Starting UWorld next week.

Not sure about other DO schools, but at my DO school, our OMM is very cumulative, so whenever we have practicals or MC questions for the didactic exams, anything OMM related is fair game, even if it is from week 1 of first year. Therefore I have retained a lot of the technique protocols.

With that being said - I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take Step 1 and then give myself a 3 week gap between Step 1 and Level 1? And then save all the OPP/OMM board study material for the 3 week gap in between and focus only on Step 1 material up until Step 1 exam date?

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[DrZoidbergDO]

why would you take 3 weeks between step and comlex lol

 

[Hippocrates II]

I wouldn't take 3 days between step and comlex. I took 2 days between step 1/level 1 and thought that was too much. 1 day between step 2/level 2 and that was enough time for me to cram some OME videos and do well enough

 

[Neopolymath]

I wouldn't take 3 days between step and comlex. I took 2 days between step 1/level 1 and thought that was too much. 1 day between step 2/level 2 and that was enough time for me to cram some OME videos and do well enough

The correct answer right here. No reason to put much time between them at all.

 

[deleted1129181]

@DrZoidbergDO
@Hippocrates II
@Neopolymath

Thank you! Should I push Step 1 back by 2 weeks and then give myself 1 week between Step 1 and Level 1? I really need to take a few days off after Step 1 to recharge. Would 3-4 days be enough to cram all the relevant OMM for Level 1? I would really prefer to not touch OMM before Step 1, just so that I can put all of my effort into making sure I pass it.

 

[Neopolymath]

@DrZoidbergDO
@Hippocrates II
@Neopolymath

Thank you! Should I push Step 1 back by 2 weeks and then give myself 1 week between Step 1 and Level 1? I really need to take a few days off after Step 1 to recharge. Would 3-4 days be enough to cram all the relevant OMM for Level 1? I would really prefer to not touch OMM before Step 1, just so that I can put all of my effort into making sure I pass it.

That would work fine.

 

[calivianya]

One week is still way too much time off imo. Will you relax? Sure. You’ll also forget the stuff you crammed in at the last minute for step 1 (everybody has something that just doesn’t stick) and you may actually have to study between the two exams. I took step on Wednesday and level on Friday - did this for both 1 and 2. One day off was the perfect amount of time as it didn’t give me time to forget much.

I didn’t put much effort into OMM and from your curriculum it sounds like you don’t need to either. If your curriculum has been cumulative, odds are you remember the bare bones of what you need to know. I scored in the 730s with this method without studying OMM* between the tests for reference.

*One exception - there is a video series on YouTube about cranial that I watched the morning of both level 1 and 2 right before I went in, but that was it for OMM studying