Reduced pre-clinical curriculum and late Step-1 - when do I study?

[anonymoose1640]

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Hi everyone!

Apologies if something like this thread has been asked before, I looked and couldn't find something similar but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I'll be attending a school next year with a 1 yr pre-clinical education. We do our rotations during M2 and then we are expected to take Step 1 in the beginning of M3. I read through the thread about study tips for Step 1, but most of the advice seems to be geared towards a 2 yr pre-clinical curriculum. All the other threads I found discuss 18-month pre-clinical curriculums.

For those students who have similar pre-clinical curriculums - what did you do that was successful? Did you start with Qbanks on day 1 or did you save studying with materials until M2?

Should I even be concerned about Step 1 right now? It's so far off I feel a bit neurotic getting nervous about it already. I'm just looking for some advice about what things I should be doing to make sure I understand and retain all the information I learn next year so I can accurately use it for Step 1 way down the line.

Thanks everyone for your help 🙂

 

[username456789]

I'll be attending a school next year with a 1 yr pre-clinical education.

Congrats on getting into PA school.

Seriously though, what medical school only has a one year preclinical curriculum? I am going to assume it's a very new one, they seem to be the ones eager to try something ridiculous and if it backfires just blame it on being new/blame the students.

Do you have a 4th year?

 

[anonymoose1640]

Congrats on getting into PA school.

Seriously though, what medical school only has a one year preclinical curriculum? I am going to assume it's a very new one, they seem to be the ones eager to try something ridiculous and if it backfires just blame it on being new/blame the students.

Do you have a 4th year?

lol uh I'm going to HMS... the Pathways curriculum is 12 months, then a 2 month transition to clerkships, then clerkships for a year, then a scholarly project/advanced electives for a year, then fourth year is sub-Is, elective clerkships, and other advanced electives. It's very similar to Duke's curriculum.

Hopefully it won't backfire on me, I guess that's why I'm seeking advice about how to do well on Step 1 since it's so important for my future.

 

[Psai]

Congrats on getting into PA school.

Seriously though, what medical school only has a one year preclinical curriculum? I am going to assume it's a very new one, they seem to be the ones eager to try something ridiculous and if it backfires just blame it on being new/blame the students.

Do you have a 4th year?

Duke has had a 1 year preclinical curriculum for a while but you're right, when I think crappy schools, Duke is one of the first names that come to mind.

I used to think that 2 year preclinical years were good but the med students I'm with now have done 1.5 years and they are pretty sharp. I don't know about 1 year, that sounds rough.

 

[anonymoose1640]

Duke has had a 1 year preclinical curriculum for a while but you're right, when I think crappy schools, Duke is one of the first names that come to mind.

Can you explain why you feel this way? I was under the impression that Duke had a good reputation for educating their students, but if you feel that's not accurate I'd like to understand why.

 

[Psai]

Can you explain why you feel this way? I was under the impression that Duke had a good reputation for educating their students, but if you feel that's not accurate I'd like to understand why.

Sarcasm, duke is actually a great school and their hospital is gorgeous

 

[anonymoose1640]

Sarcasm, duke is actually a great school and their hospital is gorgeous

ahh haha okay sorry! I thought so but wanted to make sure 🙂

 

[username456789]

lol uh I'm going to HMS

Never heard of it.

 

[Psai]

Never heard of it.

Howard Medical School, you probably heard some people talking about attending Har-ard well there it is.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/pronouncing-howard-as-har-ard-acceptable.821733/

 

[hurtem&healem]

My understanding was that between nepotism and the power of that crimson H on your diploma you don't have to worry about your step scores anyway. Just break 200 and you're all set for derm, ortho, etc.

 

[Señor Científico]

Hi everyone!

Apologies if something like this thread has been asked before, I looked and couldn't find something similar but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I'll be attending a school next year with a 1 yr pre-clinical education. We do our rotations during M2 and then we are expected to take Step 1 in the beginning of M3. I read through the thread about study tips for Step 1, but most of the advice seems to be geared towards a 2 yr pre-clinical curriculum. All the other threads I found discuss 18-month pre-clinical curriculums.

For those students who have similar pre-clinical curriculums - what did you do that was successful? Did you start with Qbanks on day 1 or did you save studying with materials until M2?

Should I even be concerned about Step 1 right now? It's so far off I feel a bit neurotic getting nervous about it already. I'm just looking for some advice about what things I should be doing to make sure I understand and retain all the information I learn next year so I can accurately use it for Step 1 way down the line.

Thanks everyone for your help 🙂

Hey bud, congrats on getting into school and a great one at that. This thread seems to be plagued by delusional individuals so I thought I'd provide some advice. I'm on a 1.5yr curriculum at an Ivy and have had similar interest in fine-tuning my studying to accommodate the shortened curriculum.

General consensus:
1. Your number 1 focus should be to learn. In M1 pay attention and learn the material as you go through it. If you want extra practice with applying the knowledge maybe buy a Kaplan or USMLE Rx qbank, but that's probably overkill. Just work on learning.
2. Pathoma, FirstAid, and UWorld are the gold standards of Step Prep. Use UWorld's qbank starting a few months out/during dedicated studying period. Annotate FirstAid with any questions you do. Pathoma can absolutely help during the pre-clinical curriculum as a way to help supplement your classes.

You have the advantage of doing clinical rotations before Step, so you should be comfortable in approaching the clinical vignette style of question that is the biggest learning curve while studying for Step. Good luck and ignore the haters.

Again, for now just focus on being a med student, learning, and getting good exposure.

 

[mcloaf]

My understanding was that between nepotism and the power of that crimson H on your diploma you don't have to worry about your step scores anyway. Just break 200 and you're all set for derm, ortho, etc.

Goddamn where were these clutch step 1 posts by premeds back when I was a preclinical student?

 

[anonymoose1640]

Hey bud, congrats on getting into school and a great one at that. This thread seems to be plagued by delusional individuals so I thought I'd provide some advice. I'm on a 1.5yr curriculum at an Ivy and have had similar interest in fine-tuning my studying to accommodate the shortened curriculum.

General consensus:
1. Your number 1 focus should be to learn. In M1 pay attention and learn the material as you go through it. If you want extra practice with applying the knowledge maybe buy a Kaplan or USMLE Rx qbank, but that's probably overkill. Just work on learning.
2. Pathoma, FirstAid, and UWorld are the gold standards of Step Prep. Use UWorld's qbank starting a few months out/during dedicated studying period. Annotate FirstAid with any questions you do. Pathoma can absolutely help during the pre-clinical curriculum as a way to help supplement your classes.

You have the advantage of doing clinical rotations before Step, so you should be comfortable in approaching the clinical vignette style of question that is the biggest learning curve while studying for Step. Good luck and ignore the haters.

Again, for now just focus on being a med student, learning, and getting good exposure.

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate you taking the time to post your advice. I'm glad to hear I should focus more on being an M1 than studying for Step 1. This was really helpful, thank you again!