Recommendation for 8 week schedule?

[SoulinNeed]

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I've got 8 weeks to study for Step 1, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Thus far, the books that I have are FA, Step 1 Secrets, and Pathoma. I also have Uworld access. Do I need any other books? What about a timeline? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Pasmal]

Questions: Did you do any step studying during the year or are you just starting now? Have you watched pathoma already, read any of FA or done qbank questions yet? What's your target score?

 

[SoulinNeed]

I've read some Pathoma, but that was so long ago that I've forgotten a lot of it. I would occasionally glance at FA throughout the year, but not much retention, honestly.

 

[Pasmal]

The best generic advice based on everything I've read online (I've read quite a bit) is to go through pathoma 1-2x with at least one pass through the videos, annotating your book as needed if you plan to go over it again. Go through first aid at least 2 times cover to cover. I'd break it up into days like this: go over one chapter of pathoma, then go over that chapter (or part of it depending on how fast you can go) in first aid, then do that subject in uworld (hopefully at least 1 block) and read the answers. That's an 8-10 hour day, but you should be able to get through the material with plenty of time. You can go slower or take break days since you have 2 weeks more than most people do.

Another popular method I would recommend is getting usmlerx to start, and using that as you're going through first aid instead of uworld. Once you've gone through FA/pathoma a couple times, stop and just do uworld all day. 2-3 blocks/day plus reading answers. That's what I'm doing, but either method should be fine

 

[Pasmal]

The reason people use usmlerx first btw is because it isn't as hard, it is written by the first aid authors and it reinforces first aid really well. I've tried it and love it, it helps you learn all the details in every chapter and make sure you know them cold before you start uworld. Depends on what kind of studier you are though

 

[SoulinNeed]

Thanks for your advice. Any recommendations from anyone for materials?

 

[Pasmal]

The most common advice I've seen online is not to use too many, because it will just bog you down. I'm just doing uworld, FA, pathoma + whatever I can get done with Kaplan qbank and usmlerx, and as someone who is still studying for it that's what I recommend.

 

[pathologyDO]

You should be sure to at least do a block of questions early on UWorld just to see what it's like - it's very different. One of the worst advices people give is starting UWorld late so that you can do an easier qbank... You should calculate out how many days it will take to finish UWorld one time through - which is usually quite a lot. Make sure to budget enough time to get through it at least once (many people like to even go through the wrongs once again).

UWorld is your penultimate Qbank for Step I so make it a top priority !! I will be taking this advice myself and urge you to do the same

 

[SoulinNeed]

I guess asking for a specific 8 week schedule is silly, because it probably doesn't exist for my specific course materials. But I'm not sure how to plan out my day. One chapter of Pathoma+one chapter (or close to it) of FA+Uworld section for that topic? What about USMLE Rx, where does that fit in? All this seems like it'll be tough for only 8-10 hours a day, but I guess with 8 weeks, I can make it happen. My point is, do you guys think the schedule I just described is enough?

 

[Pasmal]

As pathologyDO said it depends on how much UWorld you can handle a day really, because you need to get through all of it at least 1x which is widely regarded as the #1 resource.

1 block (44-46 ?s) of UWorld takes people anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on how fast you read the answers (you need to read and understand everything, it's gold), so nobody else can really give you your schedule... but if I had to try:

Assuming you can get through UWorld 4 weeks (average 70 questions/day, so if you did 1 block one day and 2 the next it would work out), then I'd start with Rx for the first 2 weeks or so, do:

Week 1-3
1 chapter pathoma/day (with videos) - 1-4 hrs
20 pages FA/day (same path as in pathoma + pharm, physio, etc) - 2-4 hrs
1 or more Rx blocks (they're quicker than UWorld) on same subject you studied in FA/pathoma - 1+ hrs
Average time/day: ~7+ hrs (feel free to do more if this is slow for you)

That method will get you through pathoma 1x, FA 1x and most if not all of Rx in 3 weeks. If you don't finish Rx just ditch it, UWorld is more important.

Week 4-5
Review 2 chapters pathoma/day (without videos) - 1-2 hrs
Review 30-40 pages of FA/day - 2-4 hrs
One block of UWorld/day (cross-reference answers with First Aid explanations, annotate as necessary) - 2-4 hrs
Average time/day: ~8 hrs

Your 2nd pass through FA/pathoma should be much faster. You will have finished 30% of UWorld at this point.

Week 6-7
2-3 blocks of UWorld/day (this will only take you ~10 days to finish at 3 blocks/day)

Week 7-8
Go through incorrect UWorld answers
Make a final pass through any content you need to go over again in FA/pathoma

I'd recommend doing at least 2 NBME practice exams as well, preferably 16 & 17 if you're only doing 2 as they're the newest.

 

[Pasmal]

PS - If you'd rather go over UWorld twice then start UWorld from week 1 and restructure accordingly. I don't like that idea vs. more questions and I think it's wasting a great resource too early in the game, but some like doing it 2x because it's that good and if it works for them then all the better.