Summer Step 1 studying??

[supergirl7561]

Just finishing up my first year of medical school, and I will be doing research this summer. Should I be doing some Step 1 review/studying? While I would love to just take the summer off and not think about school, I don't want to fall behind. Any experienced Step 1 takers have advice?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Elevencents]

I've seen enough of these threads to say no studying should be done.

 

[MedWonk]

 

[TwinsFan]

Not an experienced step taker yet: but other than maybe solidifying some major concepts you either blew off or didn't understand, or maybe doing a little review of concepts (not facts) don't spend any time memorizing crap summer after MS1. It won't just be low yield, you simply won't remember random details crammed one year prior to your boards. Refreshing before another year of preclinical studying will probably have a higher net yield anyway. If you want to be productive try and make connections and learn as much as you can while researching.

 

[seminoma]

I did the first 5 or 6 pathoma chapters the week before MS2 started. It made the first 2 weeks or so of MS2 more enjoyable, but that's about it. Just relax and enjoy the time off.

In about 3 months you'll be asking if you should study over Thanksgiving. The answer is no.
In about 6 months you'll be asking if you should study over Christmas. The answer is no.
In about 9 months you'll be asking if you should study over spring break. The answer is no.

I planned to study during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break, but for a variety of reasons never ended up getting any work done. I was always upset about it when school started up again, but here I am during dedicated prep and I really don't think a few extra days of work during vacation would have helped.

 

[charmiedermie]

 

[Psai]

Enjoy your summer

 

[BearAttack]

Don't start Step 1 studying (other than possibly following along in Pathoma throughout the year) until after winter break. Focus on making your summer research experience top-notch, and then focus on your classes and grades during the first half of M2 year.

DO NOT study for Step 1 before Christmas of M2 year!!!

(255+ on step 1 with this plan)

 

[operaman]

I think the answer, like everything else in medicine, is very individualized. As a rule, I think step 1 study over the summer neither helps nor hurts, and you may increase the length of your Ms2 burnout period.

If you have any major weaknesses that are larger and conceptual in nature, it may be worth getting it hammered down before your start getting pounded with new stuff. I would probably save any "study" until 2-3 weeks before classes start back. Depending on your school, it might be worth going through the basics of pathology with the Pathoma videos.

I'm actually a fan of doing practice boards questions throughout MS2. I used Kaplan's qbank for this and just kinda did it by system along with classes. It was a nice way to reinforce the material and maybe helped with getting more accustomed to boards questions. UWorld questions tend to be more integrated so may not be as helpful early on in the year, but some people like them.

 

[MedSchoolSurvivor]

I wouldn't study during the M1 summer... the last summer. But, it might not be a bad idea to form your study strategy for the later months. My strategy was based heavily in spaced repetition learning through a computerized deck of flash cards. Most people use Anki I believe. This is a highly efficient way to study for step 1. But if you want a more personalized strategy, just find someone a year ahead of you with similar intelligence who did well on step 1 and use their plan as the basis for your study plan.

 

[wtr24]

As you can see, the consensus is that you definitely do not need to study during vacations to do well on step 1. The best thing you can do is come into MS2 with a fresh mind.

I took step earlier this spring, did well (250+), had never picked up FA/UW until my 5 week dedicated study period--didnt do any step 1 related studying until that time. I did pathoma throughout the year during my pathology course.

 

[supergirl7561]

Awesome, thanks everyone! I'm so excited for this summer!! 🙂

 

[spicysoup55]

If your school has an integrated curriculum (classes structured as cardiovascular, pulmonary, GI) instead of a traditional curriculum (classes structured as anatomy, physiology, microbiology), it may be suitable to start studying in the summer.

Reasons to review:
1) Each time you review, you remember more, so the more times you review, the more you remember at the end. In the integrated curriculum, you've already learned both the normal and abnormal processes for at least half of the systems, so there are plenty of high-yield topics that you can review.
2) Students in the traditional curriculum learn a lot of concepts twice (esp the ones related to physiology), the first time during the first year when learning about normal processes and another time during the second year when learning abnormal process. Students in the integrated curriculum don't have this "built in review" so it may be good to review in the summer.

Reasons not to review:
1) Takes time. Who wouldn't rather just relax by the pool or travel abroad instead?

 

[LilKangaroo]

You will be absolutely fine if you don't. Do it if you want to, but it doesn't sound like you do.