Step 1 prep - how early should I start?

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Stressedoutpre-med

Stressedoutpre-med

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  1. Medical Student (Accepted)
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incoming medical student, and Im trying to find things to do to fill all this free time I have now that apps are over.

is it a good idea to buy a First aid step 1 book and look it over for early exposure before ms1?
 
Stressedoutpre-med said:
incoming medical student, and Im trying to find things to do to fill all this free time I have now that apps are over.

is it a good idea to buy a First aid step 1 book and look it over for early exposure before ms1?
Click to expand...

No to first-aid. It's too digested already, and you don't have the background knowledge to make sense of most of the information. People will say not to pre-study, and I don't disagree with them. If you aren't convinced then do something that will actually teach you the material, like reading costanzo phys. Don't worry about any details or values, just how things work in general.
 
Not Step 1 specifically, but if you are not already comfortable with Anki I would take the time to know the ins and outs of that program. There are a lot of good tutorials on youtube and a lot of different Step 1 decks you can get from reddit. I highly recommend starting zanki on day 1 when you start school and keeping up with it until you take Step.
 
1. Sustainable exercise routine
2. Learn how to cook cheap healthy tasty foods
3. Sleep discipline
4. Managing personal finances
5. Spend time with friends/family/hobbies
6. Learn basic Spanish

These will set you up for success far more than studying will
 
For the first block at least, I'm assuming you have an "intro to science" where you're taking the very basic of the basic science classes before systems. In that block, master the material as best as you can and learn everything you can. Having a strong basic science background helped make studying for Step 1 a whole lot easier later for me personally. You shouldn't be actively using First Aid right now because it's filled with so many things you haven't learned yet, so I would wait until when you start school and the next one comes out in December before buying it.
 
Yes. A NBME will be administered at the start of Yr 1 to measure your baseline for USMLE Step 1. If you don't get at least a 220 on that test, you will be put on the Administrator Failure Notice List.

Hit the book hard right now. I don't want to see you on sdn or facebook until board time around June 2 years from now.
 
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I'm a first year medical student and I don't plan to even start studying until september of next year.....chill...Go travel to the mideast or south america or something. Get yourself into a bit of trouble for a change lol (not too much).
 
Don't study before medical school starts, enjoy your time off.

On Day 1 of medical school, start Zanki and keep up with your reviews. Focus on doing well in your classes. The best way you can prep for Step in the first two years is to build a strong foundation with your classes.
 
WedgeDawg said:
1. Sustainable exercise routine
2. Learn how to cook cheap healthy tasty foods
3. Sleep discipline
4. Managing personal finances
5. Spend time with friends/family/hobbies
6. Learn basic Spanish

These will set you up for success far more than studying will
Click to expand...

Damn, is that it? I feel like I'm overthinking things, already got all 6 of these checked out.
 
Stressedoutpre-med said:
incoming medical student, and Im trying to find things to do to fill all this free time I have now that apps are over.

is it a good idea to buy a First aid step 1 book and look it over for early exposure before ms1?
Click to expand...
Xmas of M2
 
Black Coffee 24/7 said:
Yes. A NBME will be administered at the start of Yr 1 to measure your baseline for USMLE Step 1. If you don't get at least a 220 on that test, you will be put on the Administrator Failure Notice List.

Hit the book hard right now. I don't want to see you on sdn or facebook until board time around June 2 years from now.
Click to expand...
Start of M1? or M2 you mean?
 
Stressedoutpre-med said:
incoming medical student, and Im trying to find things to do to fill all this free time I have now that apps are over.

is it a good idea to buy a First aid step 1 book and look it over for early exposure before ms1?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't fruitlessly prestudy anything without structure. The only thing that I'd suggest doing is:

1) Get familiar with Anki. Use it for your undergraduate classes if you're still there. It's an incredible resourse, but it has a hard learning curve to it. Most people who were only exposed to it while in medical school ended up not liking it.

2) Maybe seeing if you could take a gross anatomy course over the summer. Might be a lot of work, but would help you a ton if you're school makes you take it. The people at my school who took it before were able to fly right through it.
 
fantasticman221 said:
I wouldn't fruitlessly prestudy anything without structure. The only thing that I'd suggest doing is:

1) Get familiar with Anki. Use it for your undergraduate classes if you're still there. It's an incredible resourse, but it has a hard learning curve to it. Most people who were only exposed to it while in medical school ended up not liking it.

2) Maybe seeing if you could take a gross anatomy course over the summer. Might be a lot of work, but would help you a ton if you're school makes you take it. The people at my school who took it before were able to fly right through it.
Click to expand...

This is the same old tired “I know everyone says not to pre study but I’m neurotic and anxious so how can I pre-study because I just KNOW I’m different” thread.

OP, just relax and let time pass. The demand for work and study will arrive, and it will hit hard. There’s no reason to bring it on early and you’ll see essentially no benefit to doing so.
 
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fantasticman221 said:
I wouldn't fruitlessly prestudy anything without structure. The only thing that I'd suggest doing is:

1) Get familiar with Anki. Use it for your undergraduate classes if you're still there. It's an incredible resourse, but it has a hard learning curve to it. Most people who were only exposed to it while in medical school ended up not liking it.

2) Maybe seeing if you could take a gross anatomy course over the summer. Might be a lot of work, but would help you a ton if you're school makes you take it. The people at my school who took it before were able to fly right through it.
Click to expand...
No don't put yourself through the torture of gross anatomy before medical school. go travel. drink some beers. watch netflix. Gross anatomy? I'd rather eat a pile of glass than do that twice
 
Part of medical school is learning to learn in a short amount of time and dealing with being assaulted by large amounts of information.
Most of the people who had taken anatomy before didnt do much better compared to those who didnt, also you can easily pick up anki during school .

This is the last time where you are not going to feel guilty for taking some time off, or feeling behind. Enjoy it , take it easy and have fun , because you need to be ready when school starts.
 
libertyyne said:
Part of medical school is learning to learn in a short amount of time and dealing with being assaulted by large amounts of information.
Most of the people who had taken anatomy before didnt do much better compared to those who didnt, also you can easily pick up anki during school .

This is the last time where you are not going to feel guilty for taking some time off, or feeling behind. Enjoy it , take it easy and have fun , because you need to be ready when school starts.
Click to expand...

I totally get why people might disagree with me here, and that's okay. But if I could go back, I would absolutely have taken the one offered by my school, even it took up much of my summer. It's a lot easier to learn something the 2nd time around rather than the 1st time around, especially with the cadavers. There was never any help in my school for identifying structures. Even if you don't remember a ton, having a vague idea of where some nerve might be is a huge benefit. Might not be right for everyone, but in the end of the day you have to do what's right for you. That being said, I wouldn't do that for any other course.

I don't agree with the bold though. For me, if you could easily integrate it into your senior year schedule, that would be a plus. I guess for me, I get bored with huge chunks of time off, and would rather have more short breaks along the way. Just some food for thought.
 
fantasticman221 said:
I totally get why people might disagree with me here, and that's okay. But if I could go back, I would absolutely have taken the one offered by my school, even it took up much of my summer. It's a lot easier to learn something the 2nd time around rather than the 1st time around, especially with the cadavers. There was never any help in my school for identifying structures. Even if you don't remember a ton, having a vague idea of where some nerve might be is a huge benefit. Might not be right for everyone, but in the end of the day you have to do what's right for you. That being said, I wouldn't do that for any other course.

I don't agree with the bold though. For me, if you could easily integrate it into your senior year schedule, that would be a plus. I guess for me, I get bored with huge chunks of time off, and would rather have more short breaks along the way. Just some food for thought.
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If you really wanna be top of the class or something because you've wanted to be a dermatologist since you were 2 then I could maybe recommend that for an incoming medical student to try to be in the top quartile or whatever.....otherwise, doing gross anatomy twice is the lowest yield thing you can do. It's a rite of passage, but beyond that I don't think it has much value for those of us not trying to be surgeons.
 
NicMouse64 said:
If you really wanna be top of the class or something because you've wanted to be a dermatologist since you were 2 then I could maybe recommend that for an incoming medical student to try to be in the top quartile or whatever.....otherwise, doing gross anatomy twice is the lowest yield thing you can do. It's a rite of passage, but beyond that I don't think it has much value for those of us not trying to be surgeons.
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Oh I totally agree it's not truly important in retrospect. But that being said, it's the primary source of stress for many, primarily because most of us don't know how to study cadavers very well or effectively.
 
fantasticman221 said:
Oh I totally agree it's not truly important in retrospect. But that being said, it's the primary source of stress for many, primarily because most of us don't know how to study cadavers very well or effectively.
Click to expand...
yeah I came in and look liked a "scared rat" as one of my classmates would put it. Still, I never wanna be a surgeon and I passed and that is really all I care about. I will probably never look at a cadaver ever again nor will I care to memorize the retroperitoneal and perineum structures or vasculature ever again. BYE FELICIA!
 
Off-topic but I love your profile pic! Kim Chi has the best mug.
 
Don't waste the summer before your first year studying. It's a total waste.

Go on a trip somewhere you've never been
Binge some Netflix
Hang out with friends
Do whatever makes you happy

Come August you will have plenty of time to study and little time for those things. Enjoy the next few months. You'll regret it if you don't.
 
Get in the best possible shape you can. It will help you socially and when school gets hard.
 
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