TL;DR: B&B is the best thing that ever happened to me, do well in school, buy a second monitor for dedicated, & it's ok if you hate flashcards too.
I am a student who struggled to find my footing in M1 year. Got straight B's (anatomy is, and will always be, the bane of my existence). Started M2 determined to hit the ground running. One of the best things I ever did was buying Boards & Beyond. I truly feel like I owe most of my success during M2 and on Step to Dr. Ryan. Before B&B, I struggled to tie concepts together. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels like they are missing the big picture at times. /end quick plug for the most valuable resource there is, IMO
You'll find a lot of opinions on SDN, but I am a big believer that doing well in class---> doing well on Step 1. My primary focus during M2 was to do well in my classes and learn the material as well as possible. I bought USMLE Rx in August and tried to complete 10-20 questions every day, but didn't devote more than that towards Step prep until 3 months out from my test date. For whatever we were doing in school, I followed along in First Aid and read the associated Pathoma chapters. I did Sketchy Pharm and Micro along with classes. Didn't touch UWorld until about 3 months out. Only did ~200 before dedicated in order to get used to the question style and didn't finish the qbank until two days before my exam.
Things I would do again:
- Keep track of your UWorld progress in an Excel document (HIGHLY recommend a second monitor so you can see UW as you are taking notes). When I got a question wrong/didn't understand why I got it right, I made notes in Excel and made sure to include the question # in case I wanted to look it up later. At the end of each week I sorted the notes by organ system and printed them out. I went system by system, highlighting and taking additional notes on the paper/going back to the associated pages in FA as needed. This helped me to solidify concepts because I felt like I had seen the questions a second time, without actually having to do the Qbank over again.
- ALWAYS do your questions timed. During my last week of dedicated, I also practiced finishing UW blocks with 15-20 mins to spare. I highly recommend doing this, since I felt pressed for time on the real deal.
- Book a vacation so you aren't tempted to move your test date back. You will never feel ready. Unless you are legitimately in danger of failing, don't even give yourself the option.
Things I wouldn't do again:
- During the first few weeks I was determined to stay off social media, not talk to my friends, and only watch Netflix on off days. THIS WAS STUPID. Give yourself breaks, and don't deprive yourself of things you enjoy doing. I spent at least 30 mins a day on Instagram and watched TV whenever I wanted. This helped me stay sane and focused.
- I waited until M2 to get FA. As someone who struggled to understand the "clinically relevant" aspects of M1 year, I wish that I had followed along in FA from the beginning. At least some of those concepts would have been familiar to me come dedicated.
Something you'll find missing from my study plan is Zanki. On SDN, it can sometimes feel like everyone and their mother swears that anki is the best thing since sliced bread. I have always hated flashcards, but drank the koolaid at first. I downloaded the deck, tried it for a week or so, and promptly deleted it. Moral of the story: trust what works for you. I have multiple friends with 250+ scores who never touched a flashcard either.
CBSE (14 weeks out): 205
NBME 16: 219
NBME 19: 211
NBME 17: 242
NBME 18: 250
UW2: 247
UW% (1st and only pass): 70
STEP 1: 245
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Congratulations! Thank you so much for the post. I am a M1. I bought boards & beyond for two years. I love ❤️ it. Just want to know if I should get Usmlerx/ qmax. I am worried about may not have time to do Qbanks. Is it worth it? Please advise! Thank you!
