Preparing for USMLE Step 1 Using Only QBanks.

[DOApplicant021592]

I am starting to prepare for Step 1 (July 2018) and I was considering approaching preparation by doing only questions. I am starting with the Kaplan QBank, I am doing the questions random-timed, and making an Anki card for subsequent review for every question. Between Kaplan, Combank, UWorld, and NBMEs, Ill have over 10k questions. Do you think this strategy would cover almost everything? I feel I get 2 in 1 benefit: doing questions and also content review. Thoughts?

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

This has a potential to not work unless you literally take your time and read through all the answers. And even then it's honestly inadequate as many test questions don't review basics which are commonly tested too.

I recommend having a solid background foundation before you really take a bank like UWORLD.

 

[t5Nitro]

Everyone I know that hit the 10-13k question mark did really well on step 1. I think I made it to 10k myself and did well but not as well as my friends that did 12k+ (basically added in Kaplan Qbank that I didn't do). This is the strategy most of us used. Hammer out as many questions as you can while really learning from the stem and you'll be fine.

 

[shadowlightfox]

This has a potential to not work unless you literally take your time and read through all the answers. And even then it's honestly inadequate as many test questions don't review basics which are commonly tested too.

I recommend having a solid background foundation before you really take a bank like UWORLD.

It depends on what school you go to, though. Unfortunately, in my case, we HAVE to learn from QBanks at the very least because our school doesn't prepare us for boards. So we have to find the time outside of classes to prepare for boards on our own, and since UWorld is the most important prep tool for step, doing AT LEAST Uworld each day and learning from question is a must. Using other resources is only if you have extra time.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

It depends on what school you go to, though. Unfortunately, in my case, we HAVE to learn from QBanks at the very least because our school doesn't prepare us for boards. So we have to find the time outside of classes to prepare for boards on our own, and since UWorld is the most important prep tool for step, doing AT LEAST Uworld each day and learning from question is a must. Using other resources is only if you have extra time.

If that's the case then your solution is more time spent in First Aid, Pathoma, Golijan, etc prior to spending time going and wasting Uworld questions that are designed to not only educate you, but prime you for being able to process and attack questions in logical ways.

When I started preparing for the boards, I had about 2.5 weeks of full time review ( basically I started the last week before school ended) before I even began to start world questions. There's just utterly no value to doing questions when you haven't really gotten a solid understanding of the material before hand, ex. it's better to learn the 3 trunks going off of the aorta before getting a question on what artery can get damaged by an anterior or posterior duodenal ulcer.

 

[68PGunner]

If that's the case then your solution is more time spent in First Aid, Pathoma, Golijan, etc prior to spending time going and wasting Uworld questions that are designed to not only educate you, but prime you for being able to process and attack questions in logical ways.

When I started preparing for the boards, I had about 2.5 weeks of full time review ( basically I started the last week before school ended) before I even began to start world questions. There's just utterly no value to doing questions when you haven't really gotten a solid understanding of the material before hand, ex. it's better to learn the 3 trunks going off of the aorta before getting a question on what artery can get damaged by an anterior or posterior duodenal ulcer.

Your thought process is similar to mine. That’s why I have been holding off on Uworld. However, with 70% of all USMLE materials already learned and covered by now for me, I plan to do intensive review for each subject block and then starting 40 Uworld quest blocks everyday with the hope of being done with both Kaplan and Uworld by mid-late April.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Your thought process is similar to mine. That’s why I have been holding off on Uworld. However, with 70% of all USMLE materials already learned and covered by now for me, I plan to do intensive review for each subject block and then starting 40 Uworld quest blocks everyday with the hope of being done with both Kaplan and Uworld by mid-late April.

I think this is smart. I started uworld with like half of first aid read through. I think it helped me get material done and focus in on things i didnt know well. It didnt teach me entire chapters of first aid.


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[shadowlightfox]

If that's the case then your solution is more time spent in First Aid, Pathoma, Golijan, etc prior to spending time going and wasting Uworld questions that are designed to not only educate you, but prime you for being able to process and attack questions in logical ways.

When I started preparing for the boards, I had about 2.5 weeks of full time review ( basically I started the last week before school ended) before I even began to start world questions. There's just utterly no value to doing questions when you haven't really gotten a solid understanding of the material before hand, ex. it's better to learn the 3 trunks going off of the aorta before getting a question on what artery can get damaged by an anterior or posterior duodenal ulcer.

Oh I don't think I made myself completely clear. I didn't start UWorld yet, but I AM going to start on it come January. And of course I have been keeping tabs with First Aid and Pathoma. Didn't I tell you that my school didn't prepare me for boards so I'm teaching myself? How do you think I'm doing it? I'm also caught up on all my zanki decks, too.

However, they way my school is designed, the point I'm trying to make is that you can't save UWorld for last once you start studying for boards, at least at my school. It has to be done at the same time you're reviewing pathoma, First Aid, etc.

 

[clamsauce]

do what it takes to learn the material. you can do 20000 questions and if you don't read explanations you learn nothing. You can do 5k very slowly and carefully and do well. After I hit the 6k mark I started getting repeats so I starting skimming though looking for new questions THEN just read. Reading and reciting back to self is how we really learn. Why be a doctor if we cannot read from a book????

 

[Medin2017]

Everyone I know that hit the 10-13k question mark did really well on step 1. I think I made it to 10k myself and did well but not as well as my friends that did 12k+ (basically added in Kaplan Qbank that I didn't do). This is the strategy most of us used. Hammer out as many questions as you can while really learning from the stem and you'll be fine.

What would you says is doing really well? And how many questions does uworld have? And would you include repeats in this #?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

What would you says is doing really well? And how many questions does uworld have? And would you include repeats in this #?

Each qbank is roughly 2500q. He probably did them multiple times. I don't see much payoff with re-doing ones like Rx or Kaplan. Might be better to do 3x UWorld if you're memorizing it.

 

[Gray Fox]

All the people at my school who crushed STEP used UWorld and only UWorld as a question bank. UWorld, First Aid, and Pathoma, or UFAP for short. It's so easy man. Learn it, it will serve you well.

If you finish it, do it again! Faster! And get 'em all right! You make it sound like going through UW twice (and doing well) before boards is easy to do (it's not).

 

[shadowlightfox]

All the people at my school who crushed STEP used UWorld and only UWorld as a question bank. UWorld, First Aid, and Pathoma, or UFAP for short. It's so easy man. Learn it, it will serve you well.

If you finish it, do it again! Faster! And get 'em all right! You make it sound like going through UW twice (and doing well) before boards is easy to do (it's not).

Not that I don't want to believe you, but what about the curriculum at your school? Was your curriculum consistently faithful for the boards? I feel like UFAP alone is good enough if your lectures also cover board relevant materials intensively. Otherwise what if the school is not teaching by the books, would UWorld alone still be adequate?

 

[Gray Fox]

Not that I don't want to believe you, but what about the curriculum at your school? Was your curriculum consistently faithful for the boards? I feel like UFAP alone is good enough if your lectures also cover board relevant materials intensively. Otherwise what if the school is not teaching by the books, would UWorld alone still be adequate?

My curriculum wasn't overly boards-centric. I thought it was a good balance of boards + relevant clinical management info (remember, Step 1 is always years behind standard practice). We, including myself, used only UW and did very well. I did a few questions on Rx for fun and thought it was crap. Board questions were nearly identical to UW only longer. FYI, I'm MD, but I doubt the material is that different.

You know what helped me most? Stay cool man. Relax. Exercise. Hang out friends. Be mentally and physically healthy. You can't be in BEAST mode all the time. Don't let STEP take over your life, because it will if you let it.

 

[surfguy84]

I am starting to prepare for Step 1 (July 2018) and I was considering approaching preparation by doing only questions. I am starting with the Kaplan QBank, I am doing the questions random-timed, and making an Anki card for subsequent review for every question. Between Kaplan, Combank, UWorld, and NBMEs, Ill have over 10k questions. Do you think this strategy would cover almost everything? I feel I get 2 in 1 benefit: doing questions and also content review. Thoughts?

If you do this, you're gonna have a bad time.

There were numerous questions on my exam that were not found in the qbanks but were found in other resources like FA.

 

[68PGunner]

If you do this, you're gonna have a bad time.

There were numerous questions on my exam that were not found in the qbanks but were found in other resources like FA.

How accurate is UW in term of predicting your Step 1 score? Current scale said that a 63% average means a 230 on Step 1.

 

[surfguy84]

How accurate is UW in term of predicting your Step 1 score? Current scale said that a 63% average means a 230 on Step 1.

At least for me I think I was around 67% and ended up with low 240s

 

[68PGunner]

At least for me I think I was around 67% and ended up with low 240s

Thanks the reassurance. So far, all my metrics are pointing in the right direction.

 

[shadowlightfox]

How accurate is UW in term of predicting your Step 1 score? Current scale said that a 63% average means a 230 on Step 1.

Depends. That's what NBME is more for. Plus, nothing is as good as UWorlda anyway so it's not like you're gonna stop using it.

 

[Gray Fox]

Depends. That's what NBME is more for. Plus, nothing is as good as UWorlda anyway so it's not like you're gonna stop using it.

NBME was very accurate, by 3 points. UW less so.

 

[DOApplicant021592]

So perhaps I should change my study technique to something like this.

1. Read FA section.
2. Do Flash facts (because I have them).
3. Do appropriate qBank section (kaplan).
4. Do UWorld random-timed at end.

Better?

 

[68PGunner]

So perhaps I should change my study technique to something like this.

1. Read FA section.
2. Do Flash facts (because I have them).
3. Do appropriate qBank section (kaplan).
4. Do UWorld random-timed at end.

Better?

I do Zanki, Kaplan, and Uworld. So far, my NBME and Uworld % are predicting around a 245 Step 1. I have FA and Flash card due to a 50% discount that I got at the beginning of first year. However, in my opinion, the Zanki flash cards are superior to the FA Flash cards.

The reason that I like Zanki so much is that it covers the main details in FA, Pathoma, and Costanzos.

 

[shadowlightfox]

So perhaps I should change my study technique to something like this.

1. Read FA section.
2. Do Flash facts (because I have them).
3. Do appropriate qBank section (kaplan).
4. Do UWorld random-timed at end.

Better?

I know everyone is different, but if that list was given to me, I'd take out 3 and spend more time on 1. to understand it. Like Gray Fox said, UWorld is sufficient enough if you spent enough time understanding the concepts instead of throwing in another qbank for the sake of it.

 

[DOApplicant021592]

I know everyone is different, but if that list was given to me, I'd take out 3 and spend more time on 1. to understand it. Like Gray Fox said, UWorld is sufficient enough if you spent enough time understanding the concepts instead of throwing in another qbank for the sake of it.

I will give this a try. I learn best via questions, but I want to make sure I cover everything, and I think the gist of the thread thus far is that qBanks alone are inadequate.

 

[t5Nitro]

What would you says is doing really well? And how many questions does uworld have? And would you include repeats in this #?

Each qbank is roughly 2500q. He probably did them multiple times. I don't see much payoff with re-doing ones like Rx or Kaplan. Might be better to do 3x UWorld if you're memorizing it.

Yeah the group that I know that all studied combank, kaplan, rx, uworld already brings you to 8k questions or more and then you add on the NBMEs and you're at a really high number of questions already without the 2nd round of UW (do this before adding another Qbank if you don't have time).

I think if you get in Rx/Kaplan/UWx2 along with the other known resources (FA, pathoma, sketchy micro) you'll be pretty well set to do well. Just make sure that you are learning from the questions and not just focused on achieving a number like 12000 questions without learning from them otherwise it wasn't worth your invested time.

 

[Giovanotto]

If that's the case then your solution is more time spent in First Aid, Pathoma, Golijan, etc prior to spending time going and wasting Uworld questions that are designed to not only educate you, but prime you for being able to process and attack questions in logical ways.

When I started preparing for the boards, I had about 2.5 weeks of full time review ( basically I started the last week before school ended) before I even began to start world questions. There's just utterly no value to doing questions when you haven't really gotten a solid understanding of the material before hand, ex. it's better to learn the 3 trunks going off of the aorta before getting a question on what artery can get damaged by an anterior or posterior duodenal ulcer.

Aren't the NBME practice exams also useful for that?

 

[Giovanotto]

If that's the case then your solution is more time spent in First Aid, Pathoma, Golijan, etc prior to spending time going and wasting Uworld questions that are designed to not only educate you, but prime you for being able to process and attack questions in logical ways.

When I started preparing for the boards, I had about 2.5 weeks of full time review ( basically I started the last week before school ended) before I even began to start world questions. There's just utterly no value to doing questions when you haven't really gotten a solid understanding of the material before hand, ex. it's better to learn the 3 trunks going off of the aorta before getting a question on what artery can get damaged by an anterior or posterior duodenal ulcer.

Right, but you're sort of missing the point because you wouldn't have known or remembered how relevant knowing the 3 trunks going off of the aorta really are. QBank questions, if they're good, should help guide you/focus you to topics that are more relevante or more commonly tested on boards. Nobody has the time to execute what you're suggesting, even though in theory, you're correct.

 

[Rekt]

How accurate is UW in term of predicting your Step 1 score? Current scale said that a 63% average means a 230 on Step 1.

It can vary. I finished one pass at 80% and ended up ~240

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Right, but you're sort of missing the point because you wouldn't have known or remembered how relevant knowing the 3 trunks going off of the aorta really are. QBank questions, if they're good, should help guide you/focus you to topics that are more relevante or more commonly tested on boards. Nobody has the time to execute what you're suggesting, even though in theory, you're correct.

Hey, you do you. I'm only giving you my advice based on what I did to actually do well on my boards. But I'll tell you right now that reading first aid multiple times and memorizing it is just scratching the surface and that you'll find that going into step 1 with the notion that even high yield material or first aid is enough to do well, you'll be wrong.

Uworld is not for testing basic content knowledge. It's for its application and building up your ability to use basic content knowledge to tackle step 1 questions.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Aren't the NBME practice exams also useful for that?

I honestly used NBMEs to prepare for the stress of step1 and also to measure where I stand in terms of my knowledge base and ability to approach questions.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

It can vary. I finished one pass at 80% and ended up ~240

Same, I had a similar outcome. I think that it's hard to use uworld to predict your average because so many people use it differently. I know people who from the start put it on random and all systems and had their averages horribly deflated by the end of their first pass where I only started doing all systems about half way through dedicated because thats when I had reviewed most of the systems.

I'd argue that being around average on uworld is probably enough to get you a pass. But I wouldn't expect a 230.

 

[Gray Fox]

Hey, you do you. I'm only giving you my advice based on what I did to actually do well on my boards. But I'll tell you right now that reading first aid multiple times and memorizing it is just scratching the surface and that you'll find that going into step 1 with the notion that even high yield material or first aid is enough to do well, you'll be wrong.

Uworld is not for testing basic content knowledge. It's for its application and building up your ability to use basic content knowledge to tackle step 1 questions.

Opinions will differ. I literally have entire classes of different MS2-4 years who will agree that doing UW early is a good idea. You don't waste a UW question unless you literally learn nothing from that question after doing it and/or you go through UW too quickly and not really learn it because you're running out of time (most of you are the latter). Trust me, if you think you're going to breeze through UW quickly, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Most of you will barely finish UW once, if at all, by the time you take Step 1. You're wasting your time if you're doing 2nd tier Q-banks that aren't like Step at all.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

NBMEs are the most accurate assessment tool for step1. For step2, UW is much more accurate.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

NBMEs are the most accurate assessment tool for step1. For step2, UW is much more accurate.

You mean uworld questions or the Uworld assessment tests?

 

[Postictal Raiden]

You mean uworld questions or the Uworld assessment tests?

UWSAs.

Qbank is never accurate because the level of preparedness of users vary tremendously at the beginning. For example, I had 71% for my first pass of Qbank on step1 and got 250s, but I see some of you guys here had 80%+ on the Qbank and got 240s on the test. For step2, I had 67% on Qbank and got mid 240s while my classmate had 50s on the Qbank and scored 250s on the test.

 

[Rekt]

Same, I had a similar outcome. I think that it's hard to use uworld to predict your average because so many people use it differently. I know people who from the start put it on random and all systems and had their averages horribly deflated by the end of their first pass where I only started doing all systems about half way through dedicated because thats when I had reviewed most of the systems.

I'd argue that being around average on uworld is probably enough to get you a pass. But I wouldn't expect a 230.

UWSAs.

Qbank is never accurate because the level of preparedness of users vary tremendously at the beginning. For example, I had 71% for my first pass of Qbank on step1 and got 250s, but I see some of you guys here had 80%+ on the Qbank and got 240s on the test. For step2, I had 67% on Qbank and got mid 240s while my classmate had 50s on the Qbank and scored 250s on the test.

Yeah I started it after dedicated, so I had covered mostly everything before using it. Interestingly, UWorld correlated well with my NBMEs. I started in 240s and ended up with my last NBME at 262 but real deal came out around 240. I was surprised by my NBMEs as I really only wanted to be above average, but was still a little crushed by my score. I don't get test anxiety, I just thought my actual form was pretty inappropriately difficult, but everyone else must have performed well. So it's really hard to know what will predict it best. I didn't do UWSA2, which a few classmates said was very similar, so who knows. Just do your best.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Yeah I started it after dedicated, so I had covered mostly everything before using it. Interestingly, UWorld correlated well with my NBMEs. I started in 240s and ended up with my last NBME at 262 but real deal came out around 240. I was surprised by my NBMEs as I really only wanted to be above average, but was still a little crushed by my score. I don't get test anxiety, I just thought my actual form was pretty inappropriately difficult, but everyone else must have performed well. So it's really hard to know what will predict it best. I didn't do UWSA2, which a few classmates said was very similar, so who knows. Just do your best.

Yeah, man. That sucks. Keep in mind that a significant portion of your score can be attributed to luck. You could get a form that tests material you are weak on and cause your score to plummet. I believe I was fortunate on step1 to receive a test version that was heavy on biochem/pharm, which are my strength.