Step 1 Plan

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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underoverachevr

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Hello. I'm just another neurotic future med student, and I was wondering if anyone had comments, suggestions, and/or reality checks regarding my plans for Step 1. I am starting at a mid tier med school in the fall. I am currently unsure what I want to specialize in, so I want to rock Step 1 to keep my options open.

M1: GT/FC throughout the whole year while doing research in something. GT/FC will be mostly done on weekends.

Post M1 summer: Finish research. First pass of FA in the first month and do all USMLE RX during the 2nd month. If there is time, I will start Pathoma, but I'm guessing that won't happen.

M2 Fall: No more research. Kaplan Qbanks and videos. During the 2-3 week Christmas break, I will do a pass of Pathoma.

M2 Spring: Do first pass of UWorld. During spring break, I will skim through random HY/BRS books in whatever I feel weak in.

Dedicated studying (6 weeks): Do one NBME per week finishing on the most recent the week prior to the exam. I'll also be doing UW randomly throughout the period when I get tired of reading.

Week 1: 2nd Pathoma pass.
Week 2: 3rd FA pass.
Week 3: Microcards, HY Neuroanatomy, pharm cards, and whatever else I feel weak in.
Week 4: Work on finishing 2nd pass of UW
Week 5: Review Kaplan/finish last bits of 2nd pass UW
Week 6: Endurance training. Do 10 hours worth of QBanks with breaks in between similar to actual Step 1. Will relax days prior.
 
As long as you have all that finished up before M1 starts, you won't be too far behind.
 
there's some time before med school starts so you can read through brs path and phys to get a head start on your classmates.
read through mosby's guide to the physical exam and practice all the techniques so you can smoke the competition
clinical microbio made ridiculously easy and netter's atlas of anatomy are also high yield
 
yehhhboiii said:
there's some time before med school starts so you can read through brs path and pharm to get a head start on your classmates.
read through mosby's guide to the physical exam and practice all the techniques so you can smoke the competition
clinical microbio made ridiculously easy and netter's atlas of anatomy are also high yield
Click to expand...

If you plan on trolling, you'll have to do better than that. Until then, you can suck my balls.


VisionaryTics said:
As long as you have all that finished up before M1 starts, you won't be too far behind.
Click to expand...

Phloston makes it look easy, I know. I don't plan on finishing or sticking to it perfectly. I posted this partly as a reality check, to see how feasible it is.
 
it sounds like you just spent a couple hours reading the step1 forums and threw up a bunch of the most commonly used resources in some random order without actually knowing what they're good for/what they entail.

doing srs like firecracker mostly on weekends? and (it sounds like) only during m1? reading first aid and answering Rx questions before actually learning the details of pathology which makes up 80% of the test? then watching kaplan videos after? then watching pathoma? making up a week-by-week dedicated plan 2 years in advance? wtf is this

my advice: build a strong foundation. learn medicine. not just the medicine that will be on the boards but the medicine you'll use the rest of your life. be inquisitive. go all out and try and get as high as possible on school exams. use one (1) review book per subject (brs physio, high yield neuro, etc.) as you're learning the material in class. if you're going to want to do srs like firecracker or anki then you pretty much have to do it every day until well into your 2nd year for it to be effective. learn the fundamentals before doing a pass of first aid. and definitely before wasting qbank questions. i could go on and on but i think you get the point.
 
Leonidis I said:
it sounds like you just spent a couple hours reading the step1 forums and threw up a bunch of the most commonly used resources in some random order without actually knowing what they're good for/what they entail.

doing srs like firecracker mostly on weekends? and (it sounds like) only during m1? reading first aid and answering Rx questions before actually learning the details of pathology which makes up 80% of the test? then watching kaplan videos after? then watching pathoma? making up a week-by-week dedicated plan 2 years in advance? wtf is this

my advice: build a strong foundation. learn medicine. not just the medicine that will be on the boards but the medicine you'll use the rest of your life. be inquisitive. go all out and try and get as high as possible on school exams. use one (1) review book per subject (brs physio, high yield neuro, etc.) as you're learning the material in class. if you're going to want to do srs like firecracker or anki then you pretty much have to do it every day until well into your 2nd year for it to be effective. learn the fundamentals before doing a pass of first aid. and definitely before wasting qbank questions. i could go on and on but i think you get the point.
Click to expand...

There is logic in it. GT/FC is supposedly time consuming and best done during classes. A pass through FA after first year means a lot of it will be review. The big topics that aren't, pharm/path, are huge and difficult, no question. Going through it through the summer would be prep for M2. It's why I reserve a full month for one pass of FA. The M1 topics will disappear quickly. Doing USMLE RX afterwards is due to it being basically FA in qbank form. It's supposedly much easier than UW and just reinforces FA. And I'm not just doing Kaplan videos in 2 days. It's spread out through a whole semester. A pass through UW before dedicated step studying has been recommended many times, especially during spring M2.

I'm a meticulous planner when it comes to studying. I need to know what I am doing and when. If I don't have a set plan, I tend to get lazy and not push myself as much. I realize med school classes will fill a lot of time, and I will happily cut out time from other things to make sure I do well.

If you have a better plan, please share. I'm willing to change/cut/move whatever to improve.
 
Plan - Focus on school and just school for your first block of tests. If you rock it with ease, consider the whole step thing that early on if you feel the need
 
Leonidis I said:
be inquisitive. go all out and try and get as high as possible
Click to expand...

This is probably the best advice in this thread, because you need to relax in a major way broseph.

I'm just gonna point out a few random things because I'm bored. Using firecracker is suppose d to be a comprehensive flashcard system. So you use it every day for like a year leading up to the exam. Doing it on weekends only of M1 makes zero sense. Same thing for microcards/pharmcards. Doing them all in 1 week defeats the purpose - you wanna add cards from the micro/pharm cards to your "personal deck" as you learn them in school, then consistently review over the course of the year.

I'm in M1 summer right now, and let me tell you this usmlerx/FA business is pretty goddamn hilarious. Have you even seen a FA? Its all lists and tables of **** you will not have even heard of! I did damn well in school my first year and I probably could only *recognize* 20% of the stuff in FA, let alone actually be able to use it to study effectively. Using a Q-bank M1 summer? I'd probably score higher on a qbank for the CPA exam than a step 1 bank.

Also the kaplan videos are really only for stuff you've already studied. If you *really* wanna be ridiculous, the pathoma videos are presented in a way where you could learn things from them even if you have not seen the material before (as per the rising 3rd years at my school).

Finally, you don't just walk in to the registrar in august and say "sign me up for 12 months of research!" You gotta meet people and see what projects are around, you don't just decide how it works. You offer to be someone's bitch for as long as they need.
 
underoverachevr said:
If you plan on trolling, you'll have to do better than that. Until then, you can suck my balls.




Phloston makes it look easy, I know. I don't plan on finishing or sticking to it perfectly. I posted this partly as a reality check, to see how feasible it is.
Click to expand...

Visionary Tics was trolling as well. No one responds well to these posts. Focusing on your first 2 years of classes/material is the most efficient way to get a good score on the real deal. Your foundation and baseline must be solid. Pre-studying to this extent may hurt you more than it helps you.
 
Honestly, as a student who just finished MS1, the first year of medical school covers very little of what is actually on Step 1. Having made a cursory overview of FA, I would estimate that 70-75% of the material is not covered in 1st year, depending on what your school calls first year (ours actually included neuro, psych and derm 2nd year blocks). If you want to do FC during MS1, i think that is a good idea, but not if it is going to cut into your weekends. Honestly the first year of med school was a trip, it went by faster than any other year of my life, and you should really focus on getting everything you can out of it, academically, socially, research, etc.
 
underoverachevr said:
If you plan on trolling, you'll have to do better than that. Until then, you can suck my balls.




Phloston makes it look easy, I know. I don't plan on finishing or sticking to it perfectly. I posted this partly as a reality check, to see how feasible it is.
Click to expand...

That's going to make people want to give you honest feedback. Good luck, champ.
 
underoverachevr said:
Hello. I'm just another neurotic future med student, and I was wondering if anyone had comments, suggestions, and/or reality checks regarding my plans for Step 1. I am starting at a mid tier med school in the fall. I am currently unsure what I want to specialize in, so I want to rock Step 1 to keep my options open.

M1: GT/FC throughout the whole year while doing research in something. GT/FC will be mostly done on weekends.

Post M1 summer: Finish research. First pass of FA in the first month and do all USMLE RX during the 2nd month. If there is time, I will start Pathoma, but I'm guessing that won't happen.

M2 Fall: No more research. Kaplan Qbanks and videos. During the 2-3 week Christmas break, I will do a pass of Pathoma.

M2 Spring: Do first pass of UWorld. During spring break, I will skim through random HY/BRS books in whatever I feel weak in.

Dedicated studying (6 weeks): Do one NBME per week finishing on the most recent the week prior to the exam. I'll also be doing UW randomly throughout the period when I get tired of reading.

Week 1: 2nd Pathoma pass.
Week 2: 3rd FA pass.
Week 3: Microcards, HY Neuroanatomy, pharm cards, and whatever else I feel weak in.
Week 4: Work on finishing 2nd pass of UW
Week 5: Review Kaplan/finish last bits of 2nd pass UW
Week 6: Endurance training. Do 10 hours worth of QBanks with breaks in between similar to actual Step 1. Will relax days prior.
Click to expand...

It's really a path based test. As many have said, I would just focus on doing well in your courses. The highest scorers on the boards are usually the ones who learned every course extremely well. If you wanted to be crazy and overstudy, I guess you could do all of Pathoma during M1 multiple times. In the end though, you're score will have more to do with your mastery of courses and test taking skills.

Good luck. 👍
 
Nothing is more important than doing your absolute best in your classes the first two years. Sources like first aid and firecracker are review resources, if you don't have a good baseline you might "limit" your ultimate ceiling on step so to speak.

firecracker might not be a bad thing to start on early. In retrospect I would have started it about a year out, just make sure you realize what you're getting into because using it then dropping out halfway is probably worse than not using it at all. Going through the respective pathoma chapters once or twice during your classes that have pathology might not hurt either. Seriously, over two years doing that will not take up much of your time at all.

I would avoid doing UWorld until dedicated time. It's the best recourse by far and you will likely "peak" right as you are about 90% done with it. Going through it more than once doesn't seem that advisable imho. It's the golden amulet you have to unleash at the right time.
 
underoverachevr said:
Phloston makes it look easy, I know. I don't plan on finishing or sticking to it perfectly. I posted this partly as a reality check, to see how feasible it is.
Click to expand...

Phloston's plan should also underline that you can study only Step 1 for only a year straight after finishing M1/M2, and still end up with a score that could be obtained by a couple of years of smart, hard studying and 1 month of focused Step 1 prep.
 
underoverachevr said:
M1: GT/FC throughout the whole year while doing research in something. GT/FC will be mostly done on weekends.

Post M1 summer: Finish research. First pass of FA in the first month and do all USMLE RX during the 2nd month. If there is time, I will start Pathoma, but I'm guessing that won't happen.

M2 Fall: No more research. Kaplan Qbanks and videos. During the 2-3 week Christmas break, I will do a pass of Pathoma.

M2 Spring: Do first pass of UWorld. During spring break, I will skim through random HY/BRS books in whatever I feel weak in.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a great plan if you're trying to push yourself to the verge of suicide by MSIII.
 
Dude, if you don't do all of at least Pathoma before M1 starts you're gonna be way behind the ball. If you can pre-read BRS physio as well, that'll put you on equal footing with the top 10% of your class.

I'd get FA M1 spring and teach yourself everything you're going to learn as an M2 using Kaplan. That way, you'll have all that time during M2 to go back through FA and Uworld. I mean, after all, all you need to know is in FA for Step 1 and Pathoma. Everything else ia a waste of time.
 
kautionwirez said:
Anki all day err day
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Don't you make your own cards in Anki? Or are there pre made cards for step 1? I'm assuming FC is much more organized and provides the content, and thus costs money?
 
Dr Dazzle said:
Don't you make your own cards in Anki? Or are there pre made cards for step 1? I'm assuming FC is much more organized and provides the content, and thus costs money?
Click to expand...

FC costs money, the cards are premade. Anki is free, you make your own cards (or use someone else's who chooses to share them - there is a deck out that is probably more or less comprehensive for step). FC is better organized, but the cards you can make in Anki are of much higher quality than what's in FC (a large portion of their cards aren't optimized for spaced repetition)
 
loveoforganic2 said:
FC 7 days a week? You're still gonna have a bad time. Unless you're the 1%
Click to expand...

You likely have more experience with it (I'm guessing).

Wouldn't spreading it out over all 7 days a week, on average, make for more manageable questions sets per day? Granted it would prob get annoying to sit down and do everyday.

From the pace of it, if you delay and let review questions build up, one would have hundreds and hundreds of questions to make up if only doing in 2-3 days a week, no? [That is unless you're 4-5'ing the majority of Q's right off the bat.]

That'll take up the bulk of the entire weekend.
 
Frazier said:
You likely have more experience with it (I'm guessing).

Wouldn't spreading it out over all 7 days a week, on average, make for more manageable questions sets per day? Granted it would prob get annoying to sit down and do everyday.

From the pace of it, if you delay and let review questions build up, one would have hundreds and hundreds of questions to make up if only doing in 2-3 days a week, no? [That is unless you're 4-5'ing the majority of Q's right off the bat.]

That'll take up the bulk of the entire weekend.
Click to expand...

Oh, the weekend only idea is terrible. I was just commenting that even used correctly, FC is a heavy burden for the vast majority of people. A very small % have managed to stick with it to 100% completion. I thought you were commenting from experience, so I was just making an aside, but my actual opinion - I used FC from early spring semester of first year to mid fall semester of second year and got to a little over 70% banked. Now prepping for step, and the program works in the sense it'll get most people to put more time into step than they would otherwise. Spaced repetition is also the best way to learn things long term. However, a large portion of the cards are poorly designed for spaced repetition (clinical vignettes, multiple choice Q's, long lists, non-uniform question structure so you can recall based on the structure of the question rather than the fact itself, etc.). The amount of info they include in the cards is also extremely gunnerish (lots of minutiae), and the combo of these things is why I decided to call it quits. They offer a lite mode, but it kind of sucks (just kind of randomly omits cards - does not isolate the HY stuff). These issues were brought up in the GT thread, and one of the staff (bchandler) was responsive to the feedback, but it would appear they yanked him from the thread, and all feedback related to those problems has pretty much ceased to exist while FC focused instead on implementing a (terrible) qbank to try to appeal to new subscribers (rather than refining their product for the niche it filled).

It has the potential to be a great program, but I think the FC people are taking it in the wrong direction
 
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loveoforganic2 said:
Oh, the weekend only idea is terrible. I was just commenting that even used correctly, FC is a heavy burden for the vast majority of people. A very small % have managed to stick with it to 100% completion. I thought you were commenting from experience, so I was just making an aside, but my actual opinion - I used FC from early spring semester of first year to mid fall semester of second year and got to a little over 70% banked. Now prepping for step, and the program works in the sense it'll get most people to put more time into step than they would otherwise. Spaced repetition is also the best way to learn things long term. However, a large portion of the cards are poorly designed for spaced repetition (clinical vignettes, multiple choice Q's, long lists, etc.). The amount of info they include in the cards is also extremely gunnerish (lots of minutiae), and the combo of these things is why I decided to call it quits. They offer a lite mode, but it kind of sucks (just kind of randomly omits cards - does not isolate the HY stuff). These issues were brought up in the GT thread, and one of the staff (bchandler) was responsive to the feedback, but it would appear they yanked him from the thread, and all feedback related to those problems has pretty much ceased to exist while FC focused instead on implementing a (terrible) qbank to try to appeal to new subscribers (rather than refining their product for the niche it filled).

It has the potential to be a great program, but I think the FC people are taking it in the wrong direction
Click to expand...

Ah, I got ya. Thanks for the insight! 👍
 
ostrich love said:
Any good decks you recomend?
Click to expand...

I'm actually really confused on how to get started with Anki. Do most of you guys make your own cards? That seems very time consuming. Is it a better idea to use pre made cards? How do you guys go about using Anki effectively.
 
There's step 1 decks but i think the general consensus is that actually making your own cards, and organizing the material into flashcard-ready format is where the REAL learning takes place. Using the cards is just to reinforce the facts. You are losing part of the flashcard experience by using other peoples'.
 
pre-meds providing Step 1 study advice - check
gunner pre-med OP - check
unrealistic study schedule to be ultimate gunnAR - check

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