MD & DO Taking Step 1 during an orientation week? Does the last week really make or break it?

[Kaarage]

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US-IMG here.

Currently in dedicated but due to some circumstances (school/scheduling issues), I have to delay step by a few weeks. I was originally planning to take it late December but now have to push it back by 3 weeks. Ideally, I would push it back only one week - but I can't. Step 1 is not offered at Prometric during the first two weeks of January, so the earliest I can take it is mid-January. I also can't delay it any longer unless I want to take step in the middle of rotations (my school is IMG so it doesn't offer a lot of options).

This unfortunately means I will have to sit step during an orientation week for rotations, which is scheduled for around 8-5 almost everyday that week. That means I will have 5 weeks from now as dedicated study time, but I'll be busy during the last week.

I'm thinking of just going ham the next five weeks, maybe to the point where I even burn out right before the orientation week and use it as a "rest week". Maybe also do a UWSA/free 120 the weekend prior and review that + light review over the orientation week. Will my knowledge really atrophy over one week?

 

[efle]

Absolutely do not do this to yourself. You'll regret it forever if you get back a disappointing score. You 100% want to save the last week for glancing over memorization-heavy high yield tables/topics a couple more times. I literally got multiple questions I could only answer because of what I glanced at the day before, easily more than a dozen questions I was only confident about because of my final week blitzkrieg review of anatomy/embryo/bugs/drugs/rare inherited disorders/interleukins/other First Aid tables

 

[GoSpursGo]

This seems like a really bad idea, as the user above said you'll gain several points just based on reviewing a few high-yield tables in the days leading up to the test, which will almost certainly fade within a couple of days of not studying. A rest day immediately before your test is fine, but I wouldn’t do a full rest “week.”

If you’re already basically backed into this schedule, there’s not much you can do about it (ie if you’re just now starting dedicated studying, you can’t take it in December). But I wouldn’t recommend it if it can be avoided, and wouldn’t recommend anyone else do it.