Step 1 Study Schedule in a P/F World

[JeremiahJohnson]

So we're approaching the dedicated time for the first folks taking a P/F Step 1. I'm curious how everyone plans to approach dedicated. The way I see it, Step 1 translates to Step 2 but obviously the small minutiae from Step 1 studying people needed to cram into their brains to get 250+ isn't necessarily going to help carry over to Step 2.

So - which resources are you going to focus on, how do you plan to break down dedicated?

For me personally, I'm thinking Sketchy Micro/Pharm + Pathoma + Qbanks over 6-8 weeks. Continue Anking which I started as an M1 that has an infinite max interval. Maybe I'll throw BRS Physio & First Aid into the mix as well, and Pixorize for Biochem if I find myself struggling with BC questions.

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[Type2Fiber]

6 weeks to dominate sketchy, pathoma, uworld. then 2 weeks on a beach somewhere. easy

 

[efle]

6 weeks to dominate sketchy, pathoma, uworld. then 2 weeks on a beach somewhere. easy

I'd reverse that ratio if practice scores are already well above Pass after a couple weeks of high yield rapid review. Back in the olden days of the 90s and early 2000s when nobody gave a crap about Step 1 people only used a couple weeks to review, if they got any dedicated review at all. That should go back to being the norm I think

 

[Ole_Toe]

I'd reverse that ratio if practice scores are already well above Pass after a couple weeks of high yield rapid review. Back in the olden days of the 90s and early 2000s when nobody gave a crap about Step 1 people only used a couple weeks to review, if they got any dedicated review at all. That should go back to being the norm I think

In this case, when would you recommend people start UWorld if they plan to only take 2 weeks for dedicated

 

[Phloston]

So we're approaching the dedicated time for the first folks taking a P/F Step 1. I'm curious how everyone plans to approach dedicated. The way I see it, Step 1 translates to Step 2 but obviously the small minutiae from Step 1 studying people needed to cram into their brains to get 250+ isn't necessarily going to help carry over to Step 2.

So - which resources are you going to focus on, how do you plan to break down dedicated?

For me personally, I'm thinking Sketchy Micro/Pharm + Pathoma + Qbanks over 6-8 weeks. Continue Anking which I started as an M1 that has an infinite max interval. Maybe I'll throw BRS Physio & First Aid into the mix as well, and Pixorize for Biochem if I find myself struggling with BC questions.

Dedicated needs to be a hardcore focus on the NBME exams. UW during this time bears a much lower priority. Students will get emotional over the latter point, mostly because they haven't heard it before / no one else is preaching it. But if you want the highest numerical Step 1 possible, memorize all of the NBME Qs during dedicated - i.e., forms 20-30 (even though, yes, 25-30 are the online ones).

Resources like Sketchy, Pathoma, etc. carry essentially no relevance during dedicated. You're talking right before the Step, not months out. Consolidate around the NBME exams.

And the fact that you're even mentioning a resource like Pixorize during dedicated sounds like a parody and shows your post here inquiring for advice was necessary in fact.

 

[Phloston]

In this case, when would you recommend people start UWorld if they plan to only take 2 weeks for dedicated

UW should be the focus until around 8 weeks out from the exam. Within 8 weeks of Step, the focus needs to be on the NBME exams and memorizing those questions. The real USMLE and the NBME are the same questions, and repeats are everywhere. The real deal is not UWorld. Students get emotional about the notion of stopping UW during dedicated. It can by all means be maintained at a lower, baseline level in the evenings for the sake of maintaining equanimity (i.e., after you review/memorize NBME Qs for 8+ hours during the day, you can do UW Qs at night if you must).

 

[Phloston]

I'd reverse that ratio if practice scores are already well above Pass after a couple weeks of high yield rapid review. Back in the olden days of the 90s and early 2000s when nobody gave a crap about Step 1 people only used a couple weeks to review, if they got any dedicated review at all. That should go back to being the norm I think

This isn't the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

[efle]

This isn't the 1990s and early 2000s.

You've heard it's going pass fail right? Were not going to see people taking 8 weeks of all day every day studying anymore when a 200 and 250 are the same Pass.

Also not sure if you've taken the practice forms recently, and I'd wager a great deal of money you havent sat for the actual Step 1 recently. Uworld feels much closer to the real thing than old retired forms do.

 

[efle]

In this case, when would you recommend people start UWorld if they plan to only take 2 weeks for dedicated

Depends on your starting point. My class took a CBSE at the end of preclinicals and people were ranging anywhere from failing to 250s depending how much they'd done anki and other qbanks before reaching dedicated. Take a baseline NBME a bit before dedicated and use that to guide how much time/prep you'll need.

Qbanks are generally diminishing returns, high yield topics get asked about repeatedly so you can do half the questions and get a lot more than half the value. The esoteric stuff that is 1 question out of 3000 is great for aiming at the top few percentile but not worth sweating for a P/F exam at all. Even with a pretty low baseline (like borderline passing) youd make great gains in 14 days doing 3 blocks/day which is very doable.

 

[Phloston]

You've heard it's going pass fail right? Were not going to see people taking 8 weeks of all day every day studying anymore when a 200 and 250 are the same Pass.

Also not sure if you've taken the practice forms recently, and I'd wager a great deal of money you havent sat for the actual Step 1 recently. Uworld feels much closer to the real thing than old retired forms do.

UWorld isn't the real deal. The NBMEs are. It's not about what you "feel." The questions from NBME are repeated on USMLE. And I go through NBME Qs every day with students.

 

[Melchizedek]

A slow first pass through sketchy micro+pharm (I didn't like sketchy for pathology) and some pathoma was enough to walk into dedicated with a passing score. I didn't start practice questions until dedicated which helped me find my gaps in knowledge.

If I had to take it now, this is how I'd approach it. Regardless of knowledge base walking into dedicated, I think the following would be enough to hit the passing score:

Week 1/2 - Pathoma (35 hours of content). Daily: 2-3 hours of videos/note-taking + 2-3 hours of anki reviewing the videos/sketches you watched that day + 1 or 2 blocks Uworld, review your incorrects and memorize the concepts in the answer explanations. UWSA 1 at the end of week 2 (don't do Uworld blocks the days you take practice exams).

Week 3/4 - Sketchy Micro (27 hours) Sketchy Pharm (27 hours). Daily: 4 hours videos/note-taking + 2-3 hours anki review + 2 blocks Uworld. NBME Practice tests at the end of each week.

Week 4/5 - Finish up any left over sketchy. 2nd pass Pathoma, focus on chapters 1-3, tune down the anki, ramp up Uworld. NBME practice tests at the end of week 4. Free 120 at the end of Week 5

Week 6 - UWSA 2 at the beginning of the week. Brush up on any weak areas, look over the 100 most tested NBME concepts list. Flip through first aid. Finish up Uworld, review incorrects from the beginning of dedicated.

Differences between my actual study plan and the one above:
Content review on an online platform (i.e. Firecracker, Amboss) - I didn't like First Aid. Some of the tables were good for quick reference, but online platforms are basically first aid on the computer in a interactive/searchable format. I think they're good substitutes for First Aid. However not necessary for P/F.

Boards and Beyond - 1.5 passes. BnB is really good at in-depth explanation from the building blocks up. If there's a subject/concept that particularly challenging, supplement with BnB.

12 hour days - Using more resources meant having longer days. Definitely paid off in my final score, but not necessary for P/F.

Its a front-loaded schedule for sure. My motivation was high at the beginning of dedicated so I was able to consistently do more work the first couple of weeks. I got tired around week 5, so I scaled back to doing just 2 - 3 Uworld blocks a day and reviewing the incorrect concepts.

If you're scoring well or the more the material you've covered/mastered walking into dedicated, the less hours a day/days per week you can make the schedule.

 

[Ole_Toe]

Thank you both. I’ve been using other Qbanks (scholar Rx AMBOSS) during my preclinical blocks, but it sounds like maybe I should start doing uworld questions now and then hit the nbme exams for a couple weeks during dedicated

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

A slow first pass through sketchy micro+pharm (I didn't like sketchy for pathology) and some pathoma was enough to walk into dedicated with a passing score. I didn't start practice questions until dedicated which helped me find my gaps in knowledge.

If I had to take it now, this is how I'd approach it. Regardless of knowledge base walking into dedicated, I think the following would be enough to hit the passing score:

Week 1/2 - Pathoma (35 hours of content). Daily: 2-3 hours of videos/note-taking + 2-3 hours of anki reviewing the videos/sketches you watched that day + 1 or 2 blocks Uworld, review your incorrects and memorize the concepts in the answer explanations. UWSA 1 at the end of week 2 (don't do Uworld blocks the days you take practice exams).

Week 3/4 - Sketchy Micro (27 hours) Sketchy Pharm (27 hours). Daily: 4 hours videos/note-taking + 2-3 hours anki review + 2 blocks Uworld. NBME Practice tests at the end of each week.

Week 4/5 - Finish up any left over sketchy. 2nd pass Pathoma, focus on chapters 1-3, tune down the anki, ramp up Uworld. NBME practice tests at the end of week 4. Free 120 at the end of Week 5

Week 6 - UWSA 2 at the beginning of the week. Brush up on any weak areas, look over the 100 most tested NBME concepts list. Flip through first aid. Finish up Uworld, review incorrects from the beginning of dedicated.

Differences between my actual study plan and the one above:
Content review on an online platform (i.e. Firecracker, Amboss) - I didn't like First Aid. Some of the tables were good for quick reference, but online platforms are basically first aid on the computer in a interactive/searchable format. I think they're good substitutes for First Aid. However not necessary for P/F.

Boards and Beyond - 1.5 passes. BnB is really good at in-depth explanation from the building blocks up. If there's a subject/concept that particularly challenging, supplement with BnB.

12 hour days - Using more resources meant having longer days. Definitely paid off in my final score, but not necessary for P/F.

Its a front-loaded schedule for sure. My motivation was high at the beginning of dedicated so I was able to consistently do more work the first couple of weeks. I got tired around week 5, so I scaled back to doing just 2 - 3 Uworld blocks a day and reviewing the incorrect concepts.

If you're scoring well or the more the material you've covered/mastered walking into dedicated, the less hours a day/days per week you can make the schedule.

Thanks for the input! Will definitely work with this, though my brain can only focus on stuff like this for ~4hrs a day max so would have to adjust (fortunately I watch those videos at 2x+ and don't take notes so that may help).

 

[efle]

UWorld isn't the real deal. The NBMEs are. It's not about what you "feel." The questions from NBME are repeated on USMLE. And I go through NBME Qs every day with students.

When did you take the real Step 1? What year?

 

[Phloston]

When did you take the real Step 1? What year?

2012. But that's irrelevant. My job is to go through NBME exams with students on a daily basis. So I know the exam better than anyone else does.

 

[notretired]

In this case, when would you recommend people start UWorld if they plan to only take 2 weeks for dedicated

I'll chime in since I'm also an M2. I went ahead and got UW and am doing it alongside classes. In the days before p/f, I can see why folks would want to wait to not "spoil" UW, but I don't really want/plan to use a dedicated, and it is a learning tool after all. As long as my scores are comfortably above passing by mid feb-march I'm sending it.

 

[efle]

2012. But that's irrelevant. My job is to go through NBME exams with students on a daily basis. So I know the exam better than anyone else does.

I've taken modern step 1 and old forms. You havent. This is so out of touch I'm surprised anyone pays you.

 

[KirksvilleKrunk]

What are good practice scores for the NBMEs/UWSAs to comfortably pass? Would like to frontload my studying because my garbage school gives no dedicated time at all.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Doing Pathoma vids/anki, BnB vids, lolnotacop drugs/micro deck, and Zanki Pharm + going to some classes. My M2 tests are NBMEs, so gonna use USMLE Rx b4 exams, hoping with this I can roll throughout the year, use UWorld in dedicated, and pass with relative ease.