Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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yeah, i have had some ppl who said they had a lotta anat on d exam...i was like c'mon , ANAT?😱 ,,We brag bout anat being low yield n all...i agree wid u when u say that its kinda skewed on pharm.

on another note, does anyone knw what's d best way to optimize RR Goljan reading? I have trouble retaining stuff n d nitty gritty details n feel i won't retain much few weeks down...what is d best way to go about it with studying and reviewing it? like did u focus more on d tables/charts. diags/pics? did u review d whole book or just the margins?

Any feeds on this ?
 
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metalrex said:
yeah, i have has some ppl who said they had a lotta anat on d exam...i was like c'mon , ANAT?😱 ,,We brag botu anat being low yield n all...i agree wid u when u say that its kinda skewed on pharm.

on another note, does anyone what's d best way to optimize RR Goljan reading? I have trouble retaining stuff n d nitty gritty details n feel i won't retain much few weeks down...what is d best to go about it with studying and reviewing it? like did u focus more on d tables/charts. diags/pics? did u review d whole book or just the margins?

Any feeds on this ?
Click to expand...

I also had a surprising amount of anatomy on my exam , most of which was not answerable based on the anatomy in FA alone.
 
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NC Doc said:
I also had a surprising amount of anatomy on my exam , most of which was not answerable based on the anatomy in FA alone.
Click to expand...

Would reading the summary sections at end of each chapter from BRS ANAT prove uselful to tackle these questions?
 
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Personally, I think HY Anatomy is really overrated. Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent tables and pictures in it that are extremely high-yield, but I found the BRS summaries to be much better overall. The BRS is beyond terrible for pictures, however, so if you're trying to get a concrete image of the brachial plexus or skull foramina or whatever, you'll need something else. The bottom line is that HY should work just fine, but you'll have to go spelunking for the stuff that you should really be focusing on. The BRS, on the other hand, has it all in red boxes at the ends of chapters.
 
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i disagree with the above poster. I had a good amount of anatomy on my exam (3-4q/ block) and atleast 4 neuroanatomy questions --but using high yield anatomy and browsing thru the netter atlas really helped. I looked at the BRS anatomy summaries and they basically just tell you what stuff is--you already know what it is. The high yield anatomy content is clinically based which is where most all of my questions came from (aside from the relationship questions which Netter was good for)

So basically I used high yield Anatomy and the Netter atlas while reading the corresponding high yield chapter--> i feel i got >95% of the anatomy questions right (I know I missed one but it was some very very strange picture using an endoscope asking me to identify which structure a tumor is invading--I had no freaking clue wtf I was even looking at lol)
 
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Cooolguy said:
i disagree with the above poster. I had a good amount of anatomy on my exam (3-4q/ block) and atleast 4 neuroanatomy questions (3 of which were angiograms)--but using high yield anatomy and browsing thru the netter atlas really helped. I looked at the BRS anatomy summaries and they basically just tell you what stuff is--you already know what it is. The high yield anatomy content is clinically based which is where most all of my questions came from (aside from the relationship questions which Netter was good for)
Click to expand...

So to put it short:
HY ANAT - for images/CT's
BRS ANAT- for content summary.

Is this what everyone's consensus is on? I think it makes a gr8 combo to ace anat.

I also heard about Keith Moore Anat being good for radio images and CT's...whaddya think of em?
 
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NWS said:
Completely agree. Goljan RR is a tedious book to read. I took the Kaplan retreat in Chicago and felt Dr. Barone was a better lecturer than Goljan overall - he hit on a lot of HY stuff that was on my Step 1 test. The best resource by far was UW (I read through every question twice along w/the explanations) + annotated FA. The Kaplan physiology books were also quite helpful (though obviously derived from UW itself) as was the Kaplan Biochem book. The rest of the Kaplan retreat books were not very useful. I did use Kaplan's Med Essentials for the Neurology portion and it was very useful, a lot of the Step 1 questions for Neuro I encountered were straight forward and similar to what Med Essentials teaches.

I took my exam a while back and already passed. I never did any of the NBME exams or even UW assessments so I may be unique here. I think a lot of the "gunners" here overdo it and probably show off a bit to be honest. Stick to 2-3 sources max and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

I am hearing a lot of great things about Dr. Barone. Anyone else have any input on Him or the Kaplan DVDs for that matter?
 
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DrVanNostran said:
I am hearing a lot of great things about Dr. Barone. Anyone else have any input on Him or the Kaplan DVDs for that matter?
Click to expand...

After having gone through 2/3 of Kaplan's stuff, I decided to stop. He's a nice supplement to Goljan, but I think time is better spent listening to Goljan. Barone doesn't do much as far as integrations go. I'd rather listen to Goljan twice vs. listening to each of them once. I think the total lecture time is about the same for both.
 
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his live lectures are way different than his dvds...hes amazing..he integrates a lot in class and add more notes and makes the path book full of high yield info. He also has those high yield sheets that he gives out..those are amazing!!
 
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This thread so far (approximate #'s):

Total posts = 265

Posts of actual 'Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores' = 21

  • reported by members with post count < 10 = 11

  • reported by members with post count 11-50 = 2

  • reported by members with post count > 50 = 8
% usefulness of this thread ~ 0.08%
 
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ar2388 said:
what about rapid rreview gross and development anatomy? any thoughts?
Click to expand...

From all that I've been hearing so far, I would plunge into the BRS ANAT end of chapter summaries and FA, keith moore for CT/Radios

I would leave out all the rest.These should cover more than enough.

Good luck!
 
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Rabbit Hole said:
This thread so far (approximate #'s):

Total posts = 265

Posts of actual 'Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores' = 21

  • reported by members with post count < 10 = 11

  • reported by members with post count 11-50 = 2

  • reported by members with post count > 50 = 8
% usefulness of this thread ~ 0.08%
Click to expand...

What does this mean / how do you come up with it? 😕
 
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Rabbit Hole said:
This thread so far (approximate #'s):

Total posts = 265

Posts of actual 'Official 2010 USMLE Step 1 Experiences and Scores' = 21

  • reported by members with post count < 10 = 11
  • reported by members with post count 11-50 = 2
  • reported by members with post count > 50 = 8
% usefulness of this thread ~ 0.08%
Click to expand...


The usefulness percentage may go up late july...............otherwise the other 99.92% is keeping this thread alive. 😀
 
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I heard that the results are released at 11 AM EST on Wednesdays. Having taken the test in early April, I hope to have news on the 28th.

Good luck to everyone else expecting results! If I end up doing decently, I will feel qualified to share my study plan and post more detailed information.
 
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thanks for the replies so far guys.. I'm 7 weeks out from the exam doing FA/world/BRS path/BRS phys/pharm/micro cards at the moment.. I'm still debating using goljan audio.. I just can't stand sitting there for 36 hours but hope I'm not doomed without it lol.
 
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coldweatherblue said:
thanks for the replies so far guys.. I'm 7 weeks out from the exam doing FA/world/BRS path/BRS phys/pharm/micro cards at the moment.. I'm still debating using goljan audio.. I just can't stand sitting there for 36 hours but hope I'm not doomed without it lol.
Click to expand...

Dont worry. Everything in Goljan audio is in his RR book, and presumably BRS path has it too. For me, the best part about it isn't necessarily the material, but just that it's portable
 
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I really really recommend you guys at least give audio a shot. What worked for me was to listen to them all on my computer at 2x using GOM(many players have this function though). On computer you can choose your speed very easily so use whatever works for you(at some points i'd be at 1.5x at others i'd be at 2.5x). I just followed along in the transcript that's floating around, I made it through the 36 hours in 3-4 full study days, and that was taking breaks to skim alot of the book with that correlator file someone made(tells what chapters are on each audio). Goljan knows this stuff inside and out, listening to him talk you learn so much. If you've listened to at least 3 hours of his audio and don't think it's working for you, then ok but at least give it a shot, you only take step 1 once. He does an extremely intuitive pass of the material on it which you don't get by reading the book.
 
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illixir said:
I really really recommend you guys at least give audio a shot. What worked for me was to listen to them all on my computer at 2x using GOM(many players have this function though). On computer you can choose your speed very easily so use whatever works for you(at some points i'd be at 1.5x at others i'd be at 2.5x). I just followed along in the transcript that's floating around, I made it through the 36 hours in 3-4 full study days, and that was taking breaks to skim alot of the book with that correlator file someone made(tells what chapters are on each audio). Goljan knows this stuff inside and out, listening to him talk you learn so much. If you've listened to at least 3 hours of his audio and don't think it's working for you, then ok but at least give it a shot, you only take step 1 once. He does an extremely intuitive pass of the material on it which you don't get by reading the book.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with illixir 👍
 
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for people who took their exam on a monday, did you get your score on the third or fourth Wednesday after the exam?? (2 1/2 or 3 1/2 weeks)...i know its a crazy question but im just getting anxious
 
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Cooolguy said:
for people who took their exam on a monday, did you get your score on the third or fourth Wednesday after the exam?? (2 1/2 or 3 1/2 weeks)...i know its a crazy question but im just getting anxious
Click to expand...

Don't count that first wednsday. So if u took it on Monday ur first wednsday is that following one. Anyone who takes the exam mon-thurs has 3 wends following. Get it? Or did I confuse u more? Haha
 
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FeedTheHippo said:
Don't count that first wednsday. So if u took it on Monday ur first wednsday is that following one. Anyone who takes the exam mon-thurs has 3 wends following. Get it? Or did I confuse u more? Haha
Click to expand...

I thought that was the case--darn that means i have to wait another entire week! this is driving me nuts
 
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Result is out. Very dissapointed. I thought the exam went real well. I was shocked.
I dunno why it is a 99 but it is a shameful one.

Score - Anyways the score is 230/99.
 
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Articuate said:
Hi everyone,
I am sorry if this do not go well with this forum, i could not find the advice forum. Please advice. I will make sure to post more details to help others when i am done with the exam and when i get my result.

I have my exam next Tuesday - April 6
I used the Taus method and DIT

USMLE WORLD AVG (random timed unused ) = 72
Qbook average - High 70s
NBME 3 before my school
exit NBME Dec 2009 = 500/220
School exit NBME Dec =500/220
NBME 5 after 1st run thru =660/250
NBME 4 after 2nd run thru = 660/250
NBME 1 a wk after = 236/580 - had hip surgery and this was after surgery. dunno what happened
NBME 6 in Feb = 620/244
UWSA 1 beginning of March =650/248
FRED 144 free Last week = 87.3% , wiki predicts 254
UWSA 2 today = 750/261


As you guys can see, my progress is very wierd. I guess alot during the NBMEs and am usually surprised at my score. What do you guys suggest i do for the next three days? My aim is 250.
Click to expand...

That is why llol. plus just got the reslt, still devastated. But i have reprgrammed myself to internal medicine. Byebye to Orthopedic surgery.
In retrospect though. i don't know what i could have done better to prepare for the exam. its just how life is. stuff happens
 
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Articuate said:
That is why llol. plus just got the reslt, still devastated. But i have reprgrammed myself to internal medicine. Byebye to Orthopedic surgery.
In retrospect though. i don't know what i could have done better to prepare for the exam. its just how life is. stuff happens
Click to expand...
Does anybody have a river that this man can cry in?
Anybody at all?
 
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I understand being disappointed that you didn't hit your averages, but being ashamed is another issue entirely. Ortho isn't out of the question with a 230, by the way. You might not get into Harvard or UCSF, but you can find a program, if that's really what you want to do.

edit:

Also, this:
Does anybody have a river that this man can cry in?
Anybody at all?
Click to expand...
 
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Articuate said:
That is why llol. plus just got the reslt, still devastated. But i have reprgrammed myself to internal medicine. Byebye to Orthopedic surgery.
In retrospect though. i don't know what i could have done better to prepare for the exam. its just how life is. stuff happens
Click to expand...

Hey sorry to hear you aren't happy. And it looks like you were doing better than that on your practice tests. So that sucks. But as far as totally ditching ortho, I wouldn't. I just looked at the 2009 charting the match and a 230 has an 80% chance of matching in ortho. So that's pretty darn good, still.
 
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Articuate said:
That is why llol. plus just got the reslt, still devastated. But i have reprgrammed myself to internal medicine. Byebye to Orthopedic surgery.
In retrospect though. i don't know what i could have done better to prepare for the exam. its just how life is. stuff happens
Click to expand...

C'mon buddy cheeeeeers! That's a great score neverthless..and look at u wid surgery and all! Lots of ppl are praying to be in yr positon and score that well.Maybe the difficulty level was high on yr exam or something..230 INDEED can be a 99 ,I know a lotta frndz who have got that and they swore the exam wasn't all that rosy.

You beat the exam.This phase of yr life is now over.We are still here slogging it out, do a chicken dance and enjoy yr party👍

at the same time don't forget to help us out who are getting there as well!😉 CONGRATS!
 
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metalrex said:
C'mon buddy cheeeeeers! That's a great score neverthless..and look at u wid surgery and all! Lots of ppl are praying to be in yr positon and score that well.Maybe the difficulty level was high on yr exam or something..230 INDEED can be a 99 ,I know a lotta frndz who have got that and they swore the exam wasn't all that rosy.

You beat the exam.This phase of yr life is now over.We are still here slogging it out, do a chicken dance and enjoy yr party👍

at the same time don't forget to help us out who are getting there as well!😉 CONGRATS!
Click to expand...
y r u tlking lik dis?

Please stop.
 
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Yeah man. A 230 is solid. You definitely are not out of the running for ortho. In fact, as stated above, charting the outcomes shows a 80% match rate for those with a 230 into ortho. Just rock 3rd year clinicals and smash step 2. You definitely have a good shot. 👍
 
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Rabbit Hole said:
Yes, I find your aversion towards the usage of vowels disturbing.

Also, you will not be taken seriously or properly understood using "txt talk" on this forum.
Click to expand...

oops.... thanks for YOUR advice,kinda got into that habit,will be careful about it then.Apologies😎
 
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I worked hard in the curriculum at my "highly ranked" med school over the first two years, and did well but not exceptional. My school doesn't give grades but I would usually do above average on exams, and occasionally a standard deviation above the class average.


In preparing for STEP1, I used 5 resources:

1) First Aid 2009
2) BRS Physio
3) Goljan Rapid Review
4) USMLE World qbank, plus simulated exam 1
5) the orange pharm flashcard set

NO other books, qbanks, or simulated exams. And no Goljan audio. Do yourself some favors:

Please do not start annotating First Aid during your 1st year of med school. Please do not go out and buy a second First Aid when a new edition comes out. Please do not listen to Goljan if you hate him, or don't want him to ruin your workout time. Please do not buy a shelf's worth of review books. I didn't crack open a STEP1 book until 3 months before my exam.


During my last two months of school, when I wasn't in class or studying for class, I did the following, sequentially:

-read First Aid
-read BRS Physio
-read Goljan
-re-read BRS Physio and annotated First Aid along the way
-re-read Goljan and annotated First Aid along the way


After school was out I devoted 3.5 weeks to studying. I studied about 12hrs/day. I took two days off in those 25 days. What I did, sequentially:

-re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-UWorld, the entire qbank, all unused/random/timed/closed-book blocks. I did 4 to 6 blocks per day. It took 10 days to get through the qbank. I averaged 63% which I think was somewhat low because doing 4-6 exams, day after day, was utterly exhausting. I was all over the map: some tests I got in the 50s and other tests in the high 70s. By the end I was averaging upper 60s, but not 70s. As I reviewed the UWorld answers, I wrote one or two sentences down about the take-home point(s) from that question. By the end I had 58 2-sided pages of high-yield notes.
-after finishing UWorld qbank, and one week before the exam, I took the UWorld simulated exam 1: 247 (averaged 73.5% on the 4 blocks; by the way, this was much easier than the qbank in my estimation)
-then I re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-then I read through my 58pp of UWorld notes and highlighted anything which made me uncomfortable

-three days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-quickly read my entire annotated First Aid again and compiled any
mnemonics or really high-yield stuff that I felt I didn't know by heart
(e.g., CYP450 inducers/inhibitors, which Abx inhibit 30S vs. 50S, etc.)

-two days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-reviewed starred parts of UWorld notes
-quick run-through of entire First Aid
-studied my high-yield compilation

-one day before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards x2
-studied my high-yield compilation
-relaxed, watched the NCAA Championship


Thoughts on the actual exam:

I was shocked at how ridiculously easy STEP1 was compared to UWorld. It was no contest. Usually on UWorld I would flag 15-20 per block (I am a liberal flagger); on the actual exam it was never more than 10 per block. Many of the questions were testing the exact same concepts, but the answer choices were much more clearly worded and there were many fewer difficult deliberations about two choices that seemed equally valid. Perhaps that was because I had spent the previous week doing hard-core review (which I had NOT been doing concomitantly with UWorld exams), but I still feel that the actual STEP1 is way easier than UWorld&#8212;much less nitpicky, and fewer questions where 2+ answers all seem legitimate. With that said, the preparation from UWorld was perfect for me. The format was exactly the same, I mean EXACTLY the same, just easier. I felt totally comfortable during the exam because of my UWorld prep.

I was also shocked at how little ground the exam covered. I doubt it covered even 10% of the material that I had studied. It's not that it was a poorly written exam, it's just that I had prepared for everything and it necessarily can only cover a small fraction.

The exam was not grueling for me. I had basically done 11 mini STEP1's in a row, for 11 straight days. I was used to the grind, and had taken a week of "lighter" review so my batteries were recharged. I took a 3 minute bathroom break after the 3rd block, and a half hour lunch break after block 5. Didn't use the other half of my break time.


My study regimen will work for you if:
-you worked hard during the first two years of med school (i.e., you'd already seen everything once in class, and studied it outside of class)
-you are a good test-taker (e.g. I got a 40 on the MCAT) (CAVEAT: I have no idea if this really matters but am including it for full disclosure because some people think it does matter)
-you are disciplined enough to sit in one place for hours on end, day after day, and actually FOCUS while reviewing or taking UWorld practice blocks
-you are very linear in your study habits. I do not like to skip around&#8212;I just banged through one book, then moved on to the next one; pounded out an entire reading of First Aid in one or two days; etc. It's all about efficiency.
-you don't want to spend more than 3.5 weeks of dedicated study time 🙂. My strategy was to isolate the pain to as short an interval as possible and just make it my life for that time. With that said, I made my workout time sacrosanct, slept 7-8hrs/night, and took an hour or two each night for myself, because I think these activities add balance that is crucial to effective studying.


SCORE ON STEP1: 248/99

Good luck. It's really not impossible if you just buckle down and get **** done. Don't waste your time getting caught up in all the different resources, study methods, NBME exams, score chart conversions, etc.&#8212;just do the damn thing and do it right.

I hope this helps people and let me know if there are any questions about my prep, the test itself, etc.
 
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solitude said:
I worked hard in the curriculum at my "highly ranked" med school over the first two years, and did well but not exceptional. My school doesn’t give grades but I would usually do above average on exams, and occasionally a standard deviation above the class average.


In preparing for STEP1, I used 5 resources:

1) First Aid 2009
2) BRS Physio
3) Goljan Rapid Review
4) USMLE World qbank, plus simulated exam 1
5) the orange pharm flashcard set

NO other books, qbanks, or simulated exams. And no Goljan audio. Do yourself some favors:

Please do not start annotating First Aid during your 1st year of med school. Please do not go out and buy a second First Aid when a new edition comes out. Please do not listen to Goljan if you hate him, or don’t want him to ruin your workout time. Please do not buy a shelf’s worth of review books. I didn’t crack open a STEP1 book until 3 months before my exam.


During my last two months of school, when I wasn’t in class or studying for class, I did the following, sequentially:

-read First Aid
-read BRS Physio
-read Goljan
-re-read BRS Physio and annotated First Aid along the way
-re-read Goljan and annotated First Aid along the way


After school was out I devoted 3.5 weeks to studying. I studied about 12hrs/day. I took two days off in those 25 days. What I did, sequentially:

-re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-UWorld, the entire qbank, all unused/random/timed/closed-book blocks. I did 4 to 6 blocks per day. It took 10 days to get through the qbank. I averaged 63% which I think was somewhat low because doing 4-6 exams, day after day, was utterly exhausting. I was all over the map: some tests I got in the 50s and other tests in the high 70s. By the end I was averaging upper 60s, but not 70s. As I reviewed the UWorld answers, I wrote one or two sentences down about the take-home point(s) from that question. By the end I had 58 2-sided pages of high-yield notes.
-after finishing UWorld qbank, and one week before the exam, I took the UWorld simulated exam 1: 247 (averaged 73.5% on the 4 blocks; by the way, this was much easier than the qbank in my estimation)
-then I re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-then I read through my 58pp of UWorld notes and highlighted anything which made me uncomfortable

-three days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-quickly read my entire annotated First Aid again and compiled any
mnemonics or really high-yield stuff that I felt I didn’t know by heart
(e.g., CYP450 inducers/inhibitors, which Abx inhibit 30S vs. 50S, etc.)

-two days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-reviewed starred parts of UWorld notes
-quick run-through of entire First Aid
-studied my high-yield compilation

-one day before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards x2
-studied my high-yield compilation
-relaxed, watched the NCAA Championship


Thoughts on the actual exam:

I was shocked at how ridiculously easy STEP1 was compared to UWorld. It was no contest. Usually on UWorld I would flag 15-20 per block (I am a liberal flagger); on the actual exam it was never more than 10 per block. Many of the questions were testing the exact same concepts, but the answer choices were much more clearly worded and there were many fewer difficult deliberations about two choices that seemed equally valid. Perhaps that was because I had spent the previous week doing hard-core review (which I had NOT been doing concomitantly with UWorld exams), but I still feel that the actual STEP1 is way easier than UWorld—much less nitpicky, and fewer questions where 2+ answers all seem legitimate. With that said, the preparation from UWorld was perfect for me. The format was exactly the same, I mean EXACTLY the same, just easier. I felt totally comfortable during the exam because of my UWorld prep.

I was also shocked at how little ground the exam covered. I doubt it covered even 10% of the material that I had studied. It’s not that it was a poorly written exam, it’s just that I had prepared for everything and it necessarily can only cover a small fraction.

The exam was not grueling for me. I had basically done 11 mini STEP1’s in a row, for 11 straight days. I was used to the grind, and had taken a week of “lighter” review so my batteries were recharged. I took a 3 minute bathroom break after the 3rd block, and a half hour lunch break after block 5. Didn’t use the other half of my break time.


My study regimen will work for you if:
-you worked hard during the first two years of med school (i.e., you’d already seen everything once in class, and studied it outside of class)
-you are a good test-taker (e.g. I got a 40 on the MCAT) (CAVEAT: I have no idea if this really matters but am including it for full disclosure because some people think it does matter)
-you are disciplined enough to sit in one place for hours on end, day after day, and actually FOCUS while reviewing or taking UWorld practice blocks
-you are very linear in your study habits. I do not like to skip around—I just banged through one book, then moved on to the next one; pounded out an entire reading of First Aid in one or two days; etc. It’s all about efficiency.
-you don’t want to spend more than 3.5 weeks of dedicated study time 🙂. My strategy was to isolate the pain to as short an interval as possible and just make it my life for that time. With that said, I made my workout time sacrosanct, slept 7-8hrs/night, and took an hour or two each night for myself, because I think these activities add balance that is crucial to effective studying.


SCORE ON STEP1: 248/99

Good luck. It’s really not impossible if you just buckle down and get **** done. Don’t waste your time getting caught up in all the different resources, study methods, NBME exams, score chart conversions, etc.—just do the damn thing and do it right.

I hope this helps people and let me know if there are any questions about my prep, the test itself, etc.
Click to expand...

Orange flashcards?

You mean BRENNERs ? box is orange in color.
thanks
 
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solitude said:
I worked hard in the curriculum at my "highly ranked" med school over the first two years, and did well but not exceptional. My school doesn’t give grades but I would usually do above average on exams, and occasionally a standard deviation above the class average.


In preparing for STEP1, I used 5 resources:

1) First Aid 2009
2) BRS Physio
3) Goljan Rapid Review
4) USMLE World qbank, plus simulated exam 1
5) the orange pharm flashcard set

NO other books, qbanks, or simulated exams. And no Goljan audio. Do yourself some favors:

Please do not start annotating First Aid during your 1st year of med school. Please do not go out and buy a second First Aid when a new edition comes out. Please do not listen to Goljan if you hate him, or don’t want him to ruin your workout time. Please do not buy a shelf’s worth of review books. I didn’t crack open a STEP1 book until 3 months before my exam.


During my last two months of school, when I wasn’t in class or studying for class, I did the following, sequentially:

-read First Aid
-read BRS Physio
-read Goljan
-re-read BRS Physio and annotated First Aid along the way
-re-read Goljan and annotated First Aid along the way


After school was out I devoted 3.5 weeks to studying. I studied about 12hrs/day. I took two days off in those 25 days. What I did, sequentially:

-re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-UWorld, the entire qbank, all unused/random/timed/closed-book blocks. I did 4 to 6 blocks per day. It took 10 days to get through the qbank. I averaged 63% which I think was somewhat low because doing 4-6 exams, day after day, was utterly exhausting. I was all over the map: some tests I got in the 50s and other tests in the high 70s. By the end I was averaging upper 60s, but not 70s. As I reviewed the UWorld answers, I wrote one or two sentences down about the take-home point(s) from that question. By the end I had 58 2-sided pages of high-yield notes.
-after finishing UWorld qbank, and one week before the exam, I took the UWorld simulated exam 1: 247 (averaged 73.5% on the 4 blocks; by the way, this was much easier than the qbank in my estimation)
-then I re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-then I read through my 58pp of UWorld notes and highlighted anything which made me uncomfortable

-three days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-quickly read my entire annotated First Aid again and compiled any
mnemonics or really high-yield stuff that I felt I didn’t know by heart
(e.g., CYP450 inducers/inhibitors, which Abx inhibit 30S vs. 50S, etc.)

-two days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-reviewed starred parts of UWorld notes
-quick run-through of entire First Aid
-studied my high-yield compilation

-one day before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards x2
-studied my high-yield compilation
-relaxed, watched the NCAA Championship


Thoughts on the actual exam:

I was shocked at how ridiculously easy STEP1 was compared to UWorld. It was no contest. Usually on UWorld I would flag 15-20 per block (I am a liberal flagger); on the actual exam it was never more than 10 per block. Many of the questions were testing the exact same concepts, but the answer choices were much more clearly worded and there were many fewer difficult deliberations about two choices that seemed equally valid. Perhaps that was because I had spent the previous week doing hard-core review (which I had NOT been doing concomitantly with UWorld exams), but I still feel that the actual STEP1 is way easier than UWorld—much less nitpicky, and fewer questions where 2+ answers all seem legitimate. With that said, the preparation from UWorld was perfect for me. The format was exactly the same, I mean EXACTLY the same, just easier. I felt totally comfortable during the exam because of my UWorld prep.

I was also shocked at how little ground the exam covered. I doubt it covered even 10% of the material that I had studied. It’s not that it was a poorly written exam, it’s just that I had prepared for everything and it necessarily can only cover a small fraction.

The exam was not grueling for me. I had basically done 11 mini STEP1’s in a row, for 11 straight days. I was used to the grind, and had taken a week of “lighter” review so my batteries were recharged. I took a 3 minute bathroom break after the 3rd block, and a half hour lunch break after block 5. Didn’t use the other half of my break time.


My study regimen will work for you if:
-you worked hard during the first two years of med school (i.e., you’d already seen everything once in class, and studied it outside of class)
-you are a good test-taker (e.g. I got a 40 on the MCAT) (CAVEAT: I have no idea if this really matters but am including it for full disclosure because some people think it does matter)
-you are disciplined enough to sit in one place for hours on end, day after day, and actually FOCUS while reviewing or taking UWorld practice blocks
-you are very linear in your study habits. I do not like to skip around—I just banged through one book, then moved on to the next one; pounded out an entire reading of First Aid in one or two days; etc. It’s all about efficiency.
-you don’t want to spend more than 3.5 weeks of dedicated study time 🙂. My strategy was to isolate the pain to as short an interval as possible and just make it my life for that time. With that said, I made my workout time sacrosanct, slept 7-8hrs/night, and took an hour or two each night for myself, because I think these activities add balance that is crucial to effective studying.


SCORE ON STEP1: 248/99

Good luck. It’s really not impossible if you just buckle down and get **** done. Don’t waste your time getting caught up in all the different resources, study methods, NBME exams, score chart conversions, etc.—just do the damn thing and do it right.

I hope this helps people and let me know if there are any questions about my prep, the test itself, etc.
Click to expand...

Congrats and thanks so much for posting your experience and "what-to-do's" for all of the posters on this forum currently walking down the path you conquered.

I'm so anxious right now for my score release (probably next week) I get freaked out evrey time I see a new email even though I know that the scores aren't released until wednesdays. It's not a good feeling. I took it roughly a week later than everyone else and it makes me incredibly happy to see everyone else performing well but it's hard to celebrate with them when your in limbo. Good luck to everyone still waiting and for those taking it in the near future :luck::luck::xf::xf:
 
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solitude said:
I worked hard in the curriculum at my "highly ranked" med school over the first two years, and did well but not exceptional. My school doesn’t give grades but I would usually do above average on exams, and occasionally a standard deviation above the class average.


In preparing for STEP1, I used 5 resources:

1) First Aid 2009
2) BRS Physio
3) Goljan Rapid Review
4) USMLE World qbank, plus simulated exam 1
5) the orange pharm flashcard set

NO other books, qbanks, or simulated exams. And no Goljan audio. Do yourself some favors:

Please do not start annotating First Aid during your 1st year of med school. Please do not go out and buy a second First Aid when a new edition comes out. Please do not listen to Goljan if you hate him, or don’t want him to ruin your workout time. Please do not buy a shelf’s worth of review books. I didn’t crack open a STEP1 book until 3 months before my exam.


During my last two months of school, when I wasn’t in class or studying for class, I did the following, sequentially:

-read First Aid
-read BRS Physio
-read Goljan
-re-read BRS Physio and annotated First Aid along the way
-re-read Goljan and annotated First Aid along the way


After school was out I devoted 3.5 weeks to studying. I studied about 12hrs/day. I took two days off in those 25 days. What I did, sequentially:

-re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-UWorld, the entire qbank, all unused/random/timed/closed-book blocks. I did 4 to 6 blocks per day. It took 10 days to get through the qbank. I averaged 63% which I think was somewhat low because doing 4-6 exams, day after day, was utterly exhausting. I was all over the map: some tests I got in the 50s and other tests in the high 70s. By the end I was averaging upper 60s, but not 70s. As I reviewed the UWorld answers, I wrote one or two sentences down about the take-home point(s) from that question. By the end I had 58 2-sided pages of high-yield notes.
-after finishing UWorld qbank, and one week before the exam, I took the UWorld simulated exam 1: 247 (averaged 73.5% on the 4 blocks; by the way, this was much easier than the qbank in my estimation)
-then I re-read my entire annotated First Aid once
-then I read through my 58pp of UWorld notes and highlighted anything which made me uncomfortable

-three days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-quickly read my entire annotated First Aid again and compiled any
mnemonics or really high-yield stuff that I felt I didn’t know by heart
(e.g., CYP450 inducers/inhibitors, which Abx inhibit 30S vs. 50S, etc.)

-two days before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards
-reviewed starred parts of UWorld notes
-quick run-through of entire First Aid
-studied my high-yield compilation

-one day before the exam:
-orange pharm flash cards x2
-studied my high-yield compilation
-relaxed, watched the NCAA Championship


Thoughts on the actual exam:

I was shocked at how ridiculously easy STEP1 was compared to UWorld. It was no contest. Usually on UWorld I would flag 15-20 per block (I am a liberal flagger); on the actual exam it was never more than 10 per block. Many of the questions were testing the exact same concepts, but the answer choices were much more clearly worded and there were many fewer difficult deliberations about two choices that seemed equally valid. Perhaps that was because I had spent the previous week doing hard-core review (which I had NOT been doing concomitantly with UWorld exams), but I still feel that the actual STEP1 is way easier than UWorld—much less nitpicky, and fewer questions where 2+ answers all seem legitimate. With that said, the preparation from UWorld was perfect for me. The format was exactly the same, I mean EXACTLY the same, just easier. I felt totally comfortable during the exam because of my UWorld prep.

I was also shocked at how little ground the exam covered. I doubt it covered even 10% of the material that I had studied. It’s not that it was a poorly written exam, it’s just that I had prepared for everything and it necessarily can only cover a small fraction.

The exam was not grueling for me. I had basically done 11 mini STEP1’s in a row, for 11 straight days. I was used to the grind, and had taken a week of “lighter” review so my batteries were recharged. I took a 3 minute bathroom break after the 3rd block, and a half hour lunch break after block 5. Didn’t use the other half of my break time.


My study regimen will work for you if:
-you worked hard during the first two years of med school (i.e., you’d already seen everything once in class, and studied it outside of class)
-you are a good test-taker (e.g. I got a 40 on the MCAT) (CAVEAT: I have no idea if this really matters but am including it for full disclosure because some people think it does matter)
-you are disciplined enough to sit in one place for hours on end, day after day, and actually FOCUS while reviewing or taking UWorld practice blocks
-you are very linear in your study habits. I do not like to skip around—I just banged through one book, then moved on to the next one; pounded out an entire reading of First Aid in one or two days; etc. It’s all about efficiency.
-you don’t want to spend more than 3.5 weeks of dedicated study time 🙂. My strategy was to isolate the pain to as short an interval as possible and just make it my life for that time. With that said, I made my workout time sacrosanct, slept 7-8hrs/night, and took an hour or two each night for myself, because I think these activities add balance that is crucial to effective studying.


SCORE ON STEP1: 248/99

Good luck. It’s really not impossible if you just buckle down and get **** done. Don’t waste your time getting caught up in all the different resources, study methods, NBME exams, score chart conversions, etc.—just do the damn thing and do it right.

I hope this helps people and let me know if there are any questions about my prep, the test itself, etc.
Click to expand...

CONGRATS! Party time eh?!

I was curious to know more about your HY UW notes, did you annotate your FA whilst doing UW or did you jot them down separately? I started off with making a separate book exclusively for UW, in which I would add in the objectives ,any ideas i wasn't familiar with,diags or anything...but I came down to doing just 2 blocks with this method and for speed's sake ,I now just chip it all into my FA-very concise points.

What worked for ya?

Did you read the whole explanation or just the take home points? 4 blocks each day is some ton of UW!👍

Thanks!
 
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