USMLE Post Step 1 exam experience

[msfuturedoctor20]

Hi guys!
So, I've been a silent member of SDN for quiet a while. I read posts consistently throughout my journey in studying for Step 1 so I wanted to give back.

I’ll briefly summarize my background. I am an average IMG. I took step on January 18th 2017 and received my score on February 8th 2017. Currently, I am working on my applications for clinical rotations and hoping to start soon!

To start off, Step 1 really is a big deal. When I read posts about people passing their exam I always wished I was in their shoes. Let’s be honest though and since I passed step I think I can say this; nothing can beat the satisfaction in knowing that you put in the hard work and the hours to kill the hardest of all exams. I can’t even describe how content I am with life (step 1 was my only priority).

If you have just started studying for step 1, let me give you my 2 cents

1. People will tell you THEIR best way of studying, not THE best way. This means that what resource or method worked for one person may not work for the other.
2. NEVER NEVER PROCRASTINATE! I promise you the day you will sit for your exam and you come across something you don’t know… you will regret the procrastination. This is something you can easily avoid, right?
3. GYM! For me personally, as my exam date approached I felt guilty doing anything but studying. No, I wasn’t a book worm. I only studied 8-9 hours a day. I just didn’t find pleasure in doing other activities like shopping or hanging out with friends. In the back of my head a voice would tell me that I should be studying. Gym was the only thing that helped me keep my sanity. I looked forward to it every day. I mean all we do is sit, study and eat, right? So a little gym time wouldn’t hurt. Then again, I guess you can divide that time with shopping or chillin.
4. It’s okay if it takes you a week or so to figure out a schedule that works for you.
5. STUDY!!!

I want to go into the resources I used for step but this post will become very very long. If you want me to tell you just let me know and I wouldn’t mind sharing. As of now I’ll just post my exam experience.

I had a rough start to my exam because I had to change my testing station TWICE! I was worried that maybe this isn’t my day and just those superstitious thoughts were running through my head.

Block 1 – now I have this idea and I’m sure many people can relate that if your first question is easy, you gain that confidence to kill the rest of the exam. In contrast, if your first question is hard, the entire exam will be hard because you are fixated on that first difficult question you probably got wrong. Thankfully, my block 1 was a breeze. It was micro heavy.
Block 2 - Breeze. Now I say breeze because the question stems weren’t as long as I expected. I had no issue with time. HOWEVER, there were still questions I marked and had to come back too. Some I knew I may have answered wrong but that’s normal.
BREAK – I remember sitting outside having my snacks and thinking “Is this really step 1? Is this the exam people were saying was hard?” I prayed the entire exam would go like this.
Block 3 – I felt it getting a bit harder but still completely doable. This is the block where I thanked myself for putting in the extra hours the last few weeks. Finished the block early but still went back and reviewed my answers (changing some)…
Block 4 – Still went smooth but obviously some questions I was stuck on.
BREAK – still felt good. Now this is where I had a good lunch, ate my energy bar and drank a lot of water. I’ve had friends tell me that the end of the exam is hard, questions are long, you will run out of time etc etc. So, I prepared myself for just that. Prayed that everything will go smooth.
Block 5- Wasn’t as hard as I expected. Definitely a bit more lengthy questions. Completely doable
BREAK – okay, not bad. Lets hope the next one is good.
Block 6- HOLY CRAP!! This block was the most difficult for me. I fought with time. I marked about 20. I was rushing… Probably missed the most questions in this block. Thought that I had another block to pick up points so I would give it my all in the next block.
BREAK – got myself together to kill the last one
Block 7- 36 questions. Was not too hard but not too easy either. Completely doable.
DONE!!!

Ill just give a disclaimer here- My experience sounds like I may have scored a 240, but I didn’t. I was just happy that my exam wasn’t as hard as I anticipated.

On my car ride home, I couldn’t help but think damn I may have just passed that. Probably 10 mins into the drive, certain questions started popping up in my head and I was eager to go home and check my answers.

Got home, opened FA and marked about 15 that I got wrong FOR SURE!

The next 1.5 weeks I probably went into depression. Almost every day I came across a question I got wrong. My list grew to about 25 PLUS the questions I couldn’t remember. I refused a Las Vegas trip offer because I couldn’t help but think I failed. This is when I turned to SDN. Reading posts about people who shared similar experiences made me feel better. The week I was supposed to get my results, I was fully convinced that I failed. This is when I said that even if I get a 200, I’ll be happy… or who am I kidding… if I just pass I’ll be happy. Result day was Wednesday February 8th and I had a sleepless night. Got my result in at 7:08 am, checked and I PASSED!! I scored a 220+ and I couldn’t be happier. My step score was higher than any NBME and my school pre-qualifying CBSE.

I hated NBMES. I always felt prepared but my NBME scores told me otherwise. I did not take NBME 17 or 18. I took NBME 16 2 weeks before and scored a freaking 206.

For those who awaiting their scores, its normal to fee like you blew it. I felt that way sooo many times even though after the exam I thought I may have passed. Just remember that you recall questions you were stuck on not the easy ones you knew. If we did, I’m sure our correct : incorrect questions answered ratio would be much higher and we wouldn’t be afraid of failing.

With all that, I hope this post helped some of you if not all. I don’t mind sharing my resources for Step 1.

Good luck to all of you studying for step 1…. Its completely doable if you are sincere, dedicated and hard working. There will be maybe a few questions that will throw you off but remember everything on that exam is something that you have studied throughout your preparation. Its only hard because people say its hard. Avoid all the talk, just study hard, master your resources and you will be just fine.

Best wishes for those who passed and now are studying for step 2!

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[presto@lacarte]

Awesome Post!! Congratulations...and thanks for sharing.
If you wouldn't mind posting what resources you used that would be great.

 

[msfuturedoctor20]

Awesome Post!! Congratulations...and thanks for sharing.
If you wouldn't mind posting what resources you used that would be great.

Thank you! Sure no problem, I'd love to share.

 

[msfuturedoctor20]

Resources used - Becker, UWorld, DIT, FA.

When I first started, I felt that I had to study everything there was or else I’d miss something. Believe me, that’s not the case lol


I used Becker to begin the studying process. After leaving the islands (where I went to school), I knew that A LOT of studying had to be done. I wanted to build a strong foundation so that it wouldn’t be hard to build difficult concepts on. It took me a while to finish Becker because I took my time to learn material that I needed more time with. If you are using a review course, its very important to study attentively because if you don’t, you are leaving gaps in your knowledge that you will only have to pay for later. We all know FA is probably the highest yield resource. I used FA along with Becker. Anything that was not in FA but explained well in Becker, I took notes in FA for that. This was just to have all resources in one book rather than opening different books. (Yes my FA was a mess but I understood what belonged where lol)


After Becker I started UWORLD. I did my blocks untimed, tutor mode and divided it by systems. This was to make sure I understood the material. I didn’t use UWORLD as an assessment of my knowledge, I used it as a learning tool. I think this is the mistake most people make. They want to score high on their blocks but miss the main point. UWORLD explanations are gold. Study them after taking a block.

I did system blocks in the beginning during my learning process. As I began to become more confident, I timed my blocks. This time I went by concepts. I did a block over physiology, immunology, path etc etc. Once I felt that ‘I knew my stuff’, I did my blocks timed and mixed. I would wake up and do 3 blocks with a 10 minute break in between and then go over the answers. I reviewed explanations for all the questions, not just the ones I got wrong. Even if you have a day occupied with plans other than studying, try doing at least a block. Once you stop for consecutive days, its sort of hard to get on track again.


I used DIT at the end of my preparation to solidify everything. I’m more of an audio learner than visual or reading. Mainly for physiology, I watched you tube videos to understand it better.


I went through UW almost 3 times.

I just want to point out that later in your prep if you study FA by systems, make sure that you are doing UWORLD questions mixed. You don’t want to read Biochem, which is in the beginning of the book, and then when you get to Repro, which is in the end, you forget all the Biochem you learned. Keep your mind everywhere and try to relate concepts.


Hope this helps!

 

[presto@lacarte]

That's great!
Thank you

 

[Conquer Everest]

Hi guys!
So, I've been a silent member of SDN for quiet a while. I read posts consistently throughout my journey in studying for Step 1 and I wanted to give back to this community.

I’ll briefly summarize my background. I am an average IMG. I took step on January 18th 2017 and received my score on February 8th 2017. Currently, I am working on my applications for clinical rotations and hoping to start soon!

To start off, Step 1 really is a big deal. When I read posts about people passing their exam I always wished I was in their shoes. Let’s be honest though and since I passed step I think I can say this; nothing can beat the satisfaction in knowing that you put in the hard work and the hours to kill the hardest of all exams. I can’t even describe how content I am with life (step 1 was my only priority).

If you have just started studying for step 1, let me give you my 2 cents

1. People will tell you THEIR best way of studying, not THE best way. This means that what resource or method worked for one person may not work for the other.
2. NEVER NEVER PROCRASTINATE! I promise you the day you will sit for your exam and you come across something you don’t know… you will regret the procrastination. This is something you can easily avoid, right?
3. GYM! For me personally, as my exam date approached I felt guilty doing anything but studying. No, I wasn’t a book worm. I only studied 8-9 hours a day. I just didn’t find pleasure in doing other activities like shopping or hanging out with friends. In the back of my head a voice would tell me that I should be studying. Gym was the only thing that helped me keep my sanity. I looked forward to it every day. I mean all we do is sit, study and eat, right? So a little gym time wouldn’t hurt. Then again, I guess you can divide that time with shopping or chillin.
4. It’s okay if it takes you a week or so to figure out a schedule that works for you.
5. STUDY!!!

I want to go into the resources I used for step but this post will become very very long. If you want me to tell you just let me know and I wouldn’t mind sharing. As of now I’ll just post my exam experience.

I had a rough start to my exam because I had to change my testing station TWICE! I was worried that maybe this isn’t my day and just those superstitious thoughts were running through my head.

Block 1 – now I have this idea and I’m sure many people can relate that if your first question of an exam is easy, you gain that confidence to kill the rest of the exam. In contrast, if your first question is hard, the entire exam will be hard because you are fixated on that first difficult question you probably got wrong. Thankfully, my block 1 was a breeze. It was micro heavy.
Block 2 - Breeze. Now I say breeze because the question stems weren’t as long as I expected. I had no issue with time. HOWEVER, there were still questions I marked and had to come back too. Some I knew I may have answered wrong but that’s normal.
BREAK – I remember sitting outside having my snacks and thinking “Is this really step 1? Is this the exam people were saying was hard?” I prayed the entire exam would go like this.
Block 3 – I felt it getting a bit harder but still completely doable. This is the block where I thanked myself for putting in the extra hours the last few weeks. Finished the block early but still went back and reviewed my answers (changing some)…
Block 4 – Still went smooth but obviously still some questions I was stuck on.
BREAK – still felt good. Now this is where I had a good lunch, ate my energy bar and drank a lot of water. I’ve had friends tell me that the end of the exam is hard, questions are long, you will run out of time etc etc. So, I prepared myself for just that. Prayed that everything will go smooth.
Block 5- Wasn’t as hard as I expected. Definitely a bit more lengthy questions. Completely doable
BREAK – okay, not bad. Lets hope the next one is good.
Block 6- HOLY CRAP!! This block was the most difficult for me. I fought with time. I marked about 20. I was rushing… Probably missed the most questions in this block. Thought that I had another block to pick up points so I will give it my all in the next block.
BREAK – got myself together to kill the last one
Block 7- 36 questions. Was not too hard but not too easy either. Completely doable.
DONE!!!

Ill just give a disclaimer here- My experience sounds like I may have scored a 240, but I didn’t. I was just happy that my exam wasn’t as hard as I anticipated.

On my car ride home, I couldn’t help but think damn I may have just passed that. Probably 10 mins into the drive, certain questions started popping up in my head and I was eager to go home and check my answers.

Got home, opened FA and marked about 15 that I got wrong FOR SURE!

The next 1.5 weeks I probably went into depression. Almost every day I came across a question I got wrong. My list grew to about 25 PLUS the questions I couldn’t remember. I refused a Las Vegas trip offer because I couldn’t help but think I failed. This is when I turned to SDN. Reading posts about people who shared similar experiences made me feel better. The week I was supposed to get my results, I was fully convinced that I failed. This is when I said that even if I get a 200, I’ll be happy… or who am I kidding… if I just pass I’ll be happy. Result day was Wednesday February 8th and I had a sleepless night. Got my result in at 7:08 am, checked and I PASSED!! I scored a 220+ and I couldn’t be happier. My step score was higher than any NBME, my school pre-qualifying CBSE.

I hated NBMES. I always felt prepared but my NBME scores told me otherwise. I did not take NBME 17 or 18. I took NBME 16 2 weeks before and scored a freaking 206.

For those who awaiting their scores, its normal to feel (I’ll be blunt) like you blew it. I felt that way sooo many times even though after the exam I thought I may have passed. Just remember that you recall questions you were stuck on not the easy ones you knew. If we did, I’m sure our correct : incorrect questions answered ratio would be much higher and we wouldn’t be afraid of failing.

With all that, I hope this post helped some of you if not all. I don’t mind sharing my resources for Step 1.

Good luck to all of you studying for step 1…. Its completely doable if you are sincere, dedicated and hard working. There will be maybe a few questions that will throw you off but remember everything on that exam is something that you have studied throughout your preparation. Its only hard because people say its hard. Avoid all the talk, just study hard, master your resources and you will be just fine.

Best wishes for those who passed and now are studying for step 2!

Great post! Congrats on your score! How long was your prep time? Did you do an Online review course? Did you also use Kaplan? Thanks.

 

[A$AP]

Great post! Congrats on your score! How long was your prep time? Did you do an Online review course? Did you also use Kaplan? Thanks.

check out post #4 here a couple messages above. he/she answered these questions there

 

[msfuturedoctor20]

Great post! Congrats on your score! How long was your prep time? Did you do an Online review course? Did you also use Kaplan? Thanks.

Woops.. Forgot to mention my prep time lol and thank you!
I studied for a year.
I did not use Kaplan as a review course, I used Becker. My friend used Kaplan. I probably watched 2 or 3 videos for Cardio Phys because i struggled with it the most. Besides that, it was all Becker.

 

[kb0275]

Do you believe first aid covers all the information(all facts) necessary to do well on Step1? Why didn't you use nbme exams, because these exams are made by the same people who make the usmle exams?

 

[msfuturedoctor20]

Do you believe first aid covers all the information(all facts) necessary to do well on Step1? Why didn't you use nbme exams, because these exams are made by the same people who make the usmle exams?

FA to me is like a check list. It does cover majority of the information/facts that you need to know for step but you definitely need to study other resources. I think that FA just highlights the important points. It doesn't give you explanations. For example, Graves disease... FA mentions exophthalmos. If someone were to ask you the pathology behind it, thats not something you would find in FA. Like i mentioned in a previous post, i learned the pathology from Becker and wrote it in my FA just to understand diseases better.

2 weeks prior to my exam I felt prepared. I took NBME 16 hoping to score high but that wasn't the case. There could have been many factors to why i scored low but my main thing was i was discouraged and ready to change my exam date. I was satisfied with my UWORLD averages. After NBME 16 I just decided that id continue studying the way i do and not take another NBME. Thankfully that worked for me. To answer your question, I just didn't want to be discouraged AND I had confidence in my preparation. Its funny, i know lol

 

[Conquer Everest]

Woops.. Forgot to mention my prep time lol and thank you!
I studied for a year.
I did not use Kaplan as a review course, I used Becker. My friend used Kaplan. I probably watched 2 or 3 videos for Cardio Phys because i struggled with it the most. Besides that, it was all Becker.

Thanks! That's good to know. Good luck on your next steps