Taking Step 1 Pregnant--Making a Calendar

[ab76yu90]

Perhaps perfectly timed this baby to use my entire "independent study" time for USMLE Step 1 as my maternity leave, yay. Well, that and I will probably take the "oh, I failed step one" additional time off (borrowed from fourth year). However, I need to make a plan (calendar/etc) for my Step 1 study program that will overlap with my coursework.

What do you recommend? I have 6 months to go. I have Kaplan and Firecracker, and a Q bank from school. I have options for more banks and resources. I don't know if I should plan weekly goals by book chapter or organ system, in addition to a number of questions or a time block of questions.

What should I focus on? What kind of daily time commitment do you think would be good for me since I won't have much (if any) dedicated study time. Well, spring break and winter break.

I am going to talk with someone in student affairs next week and want to have a solid plan to discuss at that point.

Also, when would you take step 1? My dedicated study time starts at 36 weeks. M3 starts at the equivalent of 43 weeks (obviously going to borrow some M4 time here and start a little late if possible). I'm thinking 36 1/2 or 37 weeks.

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[ab76yu90]

How about I take out the baby part.

If you had to take step 1 early, and have no dedicated study time, only study time on top of classes, how would you arrange topics for reading, review, and practice questions?

Thank you!

 

[ACSurgeon]

How about I take out the baby part.

If you had to take step 1 early, and have no dedicated study time, only study time on top of classes, how would you arrange topics for reading, review, and practice questions?

Thank you!

Why not give yourself 2-3 weeks? I understand you run the risk of having the kid a little early the closer you get to your due date...

You should not plan to take step 1 with planned time for retaking after failing it. You need a plan that ensures you won't fail step 1. Obviously there are no guarantees but your OP makes it sound like you're planning to rush into step 1 realizing there's a decent chance you might fail and have to retake it later.

Again, 2-3 weeks of dedicated studying can make a huge difference, and allow you to take the test once and be done. If you have the kid early, then you can use that "just in case time" to reschedule without having a failure on record.

 

[SoSimplyKari]

Try checking out the MomMD website. There have been so many conversations about the "best" way to manage taking step while pregnant/with a newborn. The ladies there are amazing!

 

[ab76yu90]

Try checking out the MomMD website. There have been so many conversations about the "best" way to manage taking step while pregnant/with a newborn. The ladies there are amazing!

Thank you.
I'm more a fan of this site than MomMD, usually. I should probably repost under my regular name and just pretend to be a super gunner who wants to do Step 1 before everyone else.

 

[SoSimplyKari]

Thank you.
I'm more a fan of this site than MomMD, usually. I should probably repost under my regular name and just pretend to be a super gunner who wants to do Step 1 before everyone else.

That's so funny. I find SDN absolutely terrifying 95% of the time.

 

[glow worm]

If it were me, I would prioritize doing Qbank questions and review every night, on top of your regular studying for classes. For me this was effective because it's relatively portable and you can do small blocks of questions during your commute, in between classes, etc. It will also help you figure out where your gaps are so you can prioritize further study in those topics. (And the "study when you can" skills you pick up will be your new reality with a baby!)
Congrats on your pregnancy. I took Step 1 with a 5 month old who was still up every 2 hours to nurse, so I like your plan!

 

[DokterMom]

Plan also for someone to help you with the baby. They take far more time than you think they will...

 

[Gambler 101]

I used cram fighter to plan my step 1 schedule (I'm not a mom, just an M3). There's a free trial. You should plan on passing your first time. Residency applications with a failure on record is an uphill battle. 6 months is plenty of time to pass and probably even do well if you select the right resources (Uworld, first aid, pathoma) and stay focused. Good luck!

 

[ab76yu90]

Update.

I took step 1 at 38 weeks. I had 13 days of dedicated (in May), and started seriously studying in November.
I did almost 6000 q bank questions and used a lot of non-first aid sources as my background, including school text books and online sites like uptodate. I used first aid during blocks for school and reviewed it lightly through the year but it wasn't amazing. I really don't love first aid. I didn't do a billion passes of first aid. I read slowly.

I do recommend taking step 1 as early as possible. By 38 weeks, even using the mouse made my hand go painfully numb, and I stressed out about time because I had to pee and eat at every single break. Maybe I should have asked for extended break time but I didn't think of it until way too late.

My final month of study was great, I studied hard and I felt like I learned a lot. Even still, pregnancy brain is real. I am not proud of my step 1 score. I wish I had taken it sooner. During that final month, when I had so much family help with getting quiet time, my practice scores were almost where I wanted and I thought I could reach my goal based on my trajectory. My real test was a bit below those. I'm going to blame being immense and housing a parasitic human. I'm not sure how I will spin that on residency applications, but there is my two cents.

If you end up pregnancy during your school's step 1 season, I recommend: definitely don't wait until after baby, and definitely do take it as early as you reasonably can. For 6 months, study 6 days a week with some reading for step 1. 7 days a week do Q banks (with one "easy" day, preferably the same day you don't read so you have time to study for your regular classes).

And good luck.