Too Early for Board Prep?

[jammin06]

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MS-1 here and wondering when is too early to study for step 1? I go to a school that has a traditional cirriculum (anatomy, biochem, genetics in fall; physiology, cell/histo, neuro, etc in spring).

I have realized that repetition is one of the best ways for me to study something, so does anyone have any advice on what to do over the summer after first year? Obviously I will be relaxing and recovering from all the exams, but could anyone shed some light on studying for boards after first year?

 

[MadameLULU]

If you are really worried, just review the subjects that you are covered in first aid. You're going to have to review the topics again much closer to the exam, but as you said repetition is the key. You may want to annotate first aid as you go along during the remainder of first year and next year as well.

 

[typhoonegator]

I wouldn't get too fired up about Step I just yet. You will spend much of your M2 year thinking about nothing else, and you don't want to burn out by starting too early. If you want to buy First Aid and look over it just to take away the mystery and anxiety, by all means go ahead. But if people really got better scores by starting to study for step I in their M1 year, then everyone would be doing it, right?

Besides, Step I is just another hoop to jump through. Medical school curricula are designed to teach you how to be a doctor, not how to pass Step I. Focus on your education, and compartmentalize your Step I game into the second half of your M2 year.

 

[stoic]

use first aid and other board review books in your studying. it's a win-win situation. the info in review books (especially first aid) is very, very high yield for basic sciences tests (at least for me it has been) and you get a leg up because you're pounding the material that's important for the boards.

 

[tomatoattack]

😴 Don't study for boards during first year. Really. Just try to learn your material. Believe in the system, it works, you dont have to do a bunch of extra junk. You can worry about your step 1 during the second semester of your MS2 year. Any more than that is totally not nesseccary, you may feel like you are forgetting things but thats okay, everyone is forgetting things as they learn them, they will come back when you review later.

 

[Law2Doc]

MS-1 here and wondering when is too early to study for step 1? I go to a school that has a traditional cirriculum (anatomy, biochem, genetics in fall; physiology, cell/histo, neuro, etc in spring).

I have realized that repetition is one of the best ways for me to study something, so does anyone have any advice on what to do over the summer after first year? Obviously I will be relaxing and recovering from all the exams, but could anyone shed some light on studying for boards after first year?

If you are doing well in your classes you ARE studying for the boards. Just keep doing that. If you learn it reasonably well the first time, some of it will stick and that will be less to reteach yourself later.
Over the summer after first year, if you want to be productive (not mandatory unless you have a specific competitive path in mind) do some sort of research, shadowing or something that will help the CV or generate a recommendation letter.

 

[stoic]

alright, i'm gonna address this issue again. for the record i am one of the most lazy med students ever. i don't go to class, i'm always behind, and i still cram before test like they told us wouldn't work (they lied). i am a slacker.

so when i say that i find studyinig from First Aid or whatever other review book to be an intregal part of test prep, it has nothing to do with the USMLE. i honestly would have failed out by now (i'm a second year) if there weren't a bunch of really good review books out there. they are soooo high yield. compared to notes from class, there isn't even a question. if you're short on time and need to learn some stuff so you can pass, the smart money is on the review book(s) everytime.

the added bonus is they in this case studying like a lazy bum ends up helping on shelfs and the USMLE. at least at my school, we cover a lot of information that isn't on the boards 🙂rolleyes🙂 and shelfs. and since i've been using review books since day one, i've been doing awesome on the shelfs.

so to be clear, i don't think MS1 ones need to set aside separate study activities for review board material. i also think that using review books to check your knowledge before regular test is a win-win situation because you will effectively be getting an early start.

honestly, i think people who don't use review books in every class are nuts.

and i'm sure that there are many med students on SDN who do not reguarly prepare for tests using review books. and they probably get better grades than me. I get a lot of B's and some C's and A's. If you want to a 4.0, board review books will not have all the answers. If you want to get B's and C's, they will work very well.

 

[Tired]

If you are doing well in your classes you ARE studying for the boards. Just keep doing that. If you learn it reasonably well the first time, some of it will stick and that will be less to reteach yourself later.
Over the summer after first year, if you want to be productive (not mandatory unless you have a specific competitive path in mind) do some sort of research, shadowing or something that will help the CV or generate a recommendation letter.

Truer words have never been spoken on SDN. 👍 👍 👍