Realistic assessment needed, goal just to pass

[coastal]

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Need a little help here kids. Canadian ortho resident considering writing USMLE Step 1. Two reasons to write it, first, to open up a few more options fellowship-wise (although I would prefer to stay in Canada for fellowship), and second because my wife and I hate the cold and think it would be great to live in Hawaii or California one day.

Problem is, I've looked at the USMLE material the last couple days, and it is basically everything I hated about medical school-the pointless minutae and clinically irrelevant details. I learned as little of this stuff as possible during pre-clerkship, so my base is somewhat weak. Add to this the fact that I haven't looked at this junk in about 4 yeas.

The question: if I just read First Aid 2-3 times, do the First Aid question book, and maybe tap into an online question bank a bit, is it reasonable to pass? I know that I cannot motivate myself to thoroughly review each section (ie reading a path book, a pharma book, a micro book....vomit). My plan would be to study for about 4 weeks. I go back onto ortho in a month and would prefer to be done with this by then. I'm a decent test-taker-did well on NMBE's in clerkship with one read through Pre-test and no other studying, and did quite well on the MCAT with minimal prep and after taking a year + off school.

Again the goal is Pass. But, if this seems unrealistic, let me know, I don't want to throw away my money and, more importantly my time.

 

[silas2642]

Need a little help here kids. Canadian ortho resident considering writing USMLE Step 1. Two reasons to write it, first, to open up a few more options fellowship-wise (although I would prefer to stay in Canada for fellowship), and second because my wife and I hate the cold and think it would be great to live in Hawaii or California one day.

Problem is, I've looked at the USMLE material the last couple days, and it is basically everything I hated about medical school-the pointless minutae and clinically irrelevant details. I learned as little of this stuff as possible during pre-clerkship, so my base is somewhat weak. Add to this the fact that I haven't looked at this junk in about 4 yeas.

The question: if I just read First Aid 2-3 times, do the First Aid question book, and maybe tap into an online question bank a bit, is it reasonable to pass? I know that I cannot motivate myself to thoroughly review each section (ie reading a path book, a pharma book, a micro book....vomit). My plan would be to study for about 4 weeks. I go back onto ortho in a month and would prefer to be done with this by then. I'm a decent test-taker-did well on NMBE's in clerkship with one read through Pre-test and no other studying, and did quite well on the MCAT with minimal prep and after taking a year + off school.

Again the goal is Pass. But, if this seems unrealistic, let me know, I don't want to throw away my money and, more importantly my time.

Well, if you want a serious assessment of how much work you're going to need to do, you could always take an NBME practice test and see exactly where you are-- those things are notoriously predictive of how you're going to score on the real thing. They're $45 but worth every penny from what I've heard.

What I don't understand is why you need to take USMLE and "just pass" if you're considering trying to match into ortho here in the US-- or did I misunderstand you? Because if you're trying to get an ortho spot here, you're going to need to crush step I because ortho is highly competitive.

 

[HansHolbein]

Well, if you want a serious assessment of how much work you're going to need to do, you could always take an NBME practice test and see exactly where you are-- those things are notoriously predictive of how you're going to score on the real thing. They're $45 but worth every penny from what I've heard.

What I don't understand is why you need to take USMLE and "just pass" if you're considering trying to match into ortho here in the US-- or did I misunderstand you? Because if you're trying to get an ortho spot here, you're going to need to crush step I because ortho is highly competitive.

He's already a ortho resident in Canada. He just needs to have a passing step 1 score so he qualifies for fellowships in the US. It is a formality.

To the OP, do an usmleworld practice test and buy the online bank for a month (along with FA) and you should be in a good position.

 

[Instatewaiter]

He's already a ortho resident in Canada. He just needs to have a passing step 1 score so he qualifies for fellowships in the US. It is a formality.

To the OP, do an usmleworld practice test and buy the online bank for a month (along with FA) and you should be in a good position.

I completely agree with this guy- get FA, do Uworld.

Passing step 1 is not exactly hard. You should be fine with a month or so of studying. I'd recommend taking a practice NBME toward the middle of your studying to see how you are doing. They're 45 bucks and worth the money to see how you are doing. Might as well just take one now and see where you stand. NBME 1 or 2 is a good starting point. If you are anywhere near passing with a bit of studying you'll pass with flying colors.

 

[coastal]

Thanks for the advice. A practice test makes alot of sense.

cheers