Support for Step 1

[PsychNole]

Are your med schools providing any type of supplementary support (groups, information, materials, etc) to help prepare you for Step1? I am working with medical students this year and am attempting to develop some type of support for students preparing for the exam. If your school did not provide any additional information or support, is there anything that you would have liked for them to offer?
Thanks!

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[whereintheworld]

My school doesn't really provide anything, but they think they do, because there's a Kaplan center on campus. It would be nice to have someone to go through exam scheduling, time planning, and selecting the order of subjects to study. Also, I think students can benefit from having the option to come back at two or three junctures in their study process to talk about how it's going, so that they have support and feedback on how to further tailor their preparation.

 

[michigator04]

My school has offered:
-Electronic access to a few USMLE review books via the school library (First Aid, FA Q+A, Lange Reviews)
-1 hour session on how to sign up/logistics
-2 hour student panel of 3rd year students who just got their scores back
-Informal review sessions as part of the IM interest group

I am pretty happy with this as a starting point for board review. I plan on asking a lot of questions of the current 3rd years to pick their brains about what worked and what didn't for them.

 

[DrDrToBe]

We had a panel of faculty, students and administrative persons talk with us about how to register for the exam and things we can start doing now to prepare. in January we're also going to have a student panel with 3rd years who did well, and they'll give us study strategies. We also have lots of USMLE resources online and at the library, such as FA, Pretest series, Exam-masters qbank etc. The best recommended resource we have is a learning specialist who helps each individual student plan study schedules and also assess strengths and weaknesses. He is also there for students to meet with throughout the entire study process, so if they're having plateaus or moments of anxiety he helps them. I haven't met with him as yet so I don't know, but other students said he is very helpful.

 

[1stGenrationDoc]

My I suggest Kaplan Live-Online...

It's a new program that they started (although I'm not sure if they have it for Step 1 yet), but people can sign up and be ANYWHERE there is a high-speed internet connection. The classes are usually at night and/or on the weekends so it wouldn't conflict with work and/or class schedules.

This system is better for Kaplan students as they don't have to 'move' somewhere for a month or two...you can stay in the convenience of your own home.

Good luck!

 

[PsychNole]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We are already incorporating some of the suggestions you have made, which is encouraging. One thing that I think we may want to add to our program is the session to help students actually schedule the exam. A more systematic way to examine personal strengths and weaknesses is a good idea as well.

Again, thanks so much for your input!

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We are already incorporating some of the suggestions you have made, which is encouraging. One thing that I think we may want to add to our program is the session to help students actually schedule the exam. A more systematic way to examine personal strengths and weaknesses is a good idea as well.

Again, thanks so much for your input!

- Hold some sort of class meeting telling students how to sign up, what the best strategies are, etc.

- Try to assist students in getting the best scores possible - not merely getting them to pass (the latter is really frustrating if you're aiming for something higher).

- Offer a school-administered NBME in February or March so students know where they stand.

- If you're going to offer "free" material to students, provide (or at least advise them to use) the most well-regarded materials (FA, Goljan RR, UWorld subscriptions, etc.) Don't just push Kaplan's stuff at them (I'm not overly impressed with their materials), and don't charge them for a mandatory Kaplan class and then say it's "free".

 

[riceman04]

yup...
- just had MSIII panel on studying for step I
- given instructions on how to register for step 1 (back in Sept)
- Step 1 review sessions being led by professional tutors (PhD's who have been in the med school subject tutoring game for a really long time and know EVERYTHING COLD) from our office of educational services (OESS) beginning winter quarter

- visit by Kaplan
- upcoming visit by DIT