Trying to keep a level head: a fairly straightforward approach to dedicated.

[bigfootisreal]

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Hi all!

Pre-dedicated M2 here trying to wrestle with the ensuing stress of Step 1, which I am taking in February. I am writing this to see if anyone thinks my approach is off-key more or less and to just have a general discussion that may quell some uneasiness for me and others in the same boat.

I am approaching dedicated from the standpoint that 5 weeks of hard work, using the right resources will allow me to achieve a score that maximizes my capabilities. I am trying to be reasonable with my expectations of myself (never been a 99th percentile test taker so no reason to assume I'll become one now). I am not pigeon holing myself into a single specialty or score range. I'd like to score 240+ because I think it is in range but if that doesn't work out, such is life. I am currently middle to top 1/3 of my class and am what I would call a solid student but by no means the top student. I took a baseline NBME using form 20 and scored a 211. That was 2 weeks after scoring a 196 on a school administered CBSE.

My approach to dedicated is fairly straightforward. 80-100 Uworld questions a day, followed by in depth review and content review. I have been using lightyear longitudinally, as well as sketchy micro and pharm. I will have finished pathoma and the duke deck prior to starting dedicated so that my days can consist of Anki, UW, and then a few hours of watching Bnb, Pathoma, sketchy etc in the afternoon for subjects that I want to sharpen up. I plan on doing this 5 days a week, taking a practice test on the 6th, and resetting myself on the 7th with some golf. I am hoping that over 5 weeks I progress to my personal ceiling and then I want to take this beast and move on with my life.

Is my approach to this valid and reasonable? This test does not define us but so often people ascribe their test scores to their personal lives. I want to avoid this and slay the beast and move on so I can progress towards my dream of becoming a physician.

Sorry if this is a lot but I just wanted to lay it out there and see what you guys have to think. Thank you in advance!

 

[FalconSlice]

You seem to have a reasonable plan. I'll say your goal also seems doable, but try to rid yourself of the mindset that because you've "never been a 99th percentile test taker" you can't to amazingly well. Systematically going through a few resources and mastering them can net you an ungodly score. You already scoring in the low 200s before dedicated is great (not that there's any correlation between pre-dedicated scores and the real thing). I'd suggest taking some practice NBMEs closer (but not too close) to the real thing.

Also, you're taking Step I in February?! That's ridiculously early (assuming you're a US allopathic med student), but I guess it depends on your specific situation.

One more thing which is 80-100 UW questions is A LOT. YMMV, but I remember doing two blocks and it took me a total of 6 hours to do them and then review each question. Again, everyone is different.

 

[bigfootisreal]

You seem to have a reasonable plan. I'll say your goal also seems doable, but try to rid yourself of the mindset that because you've "never been a 99th percentile test taker" you can't to amazingly well. Systematically going through a few resources and mastering them can net you an ungodly score. You already scoring in the low 200s before dedicated is great (not that there's any correlation between pre-dedicated scores and the real thing). I'd suggest taking some practice NBMEs closer (but not too close) to the real thing.

Also, you're taking Step I in February?! That's ridiculously early (assuming you're a US allopathic med student), but I guess it depends on your specific situation.

One more thing which is 80-100 UW questions is A LOT. YMMV, but I remember doing two blocks and it took me a total of 6 hours to do them and then review each question. Again, everyone is different.

Yes my school is on an 18 month pre-clinical curriculum so we do take it in February. I really appreciate you reaching out and sharing your advice!

Merry Christmas!

 

[aldol16]

There's no one strategy for everybody just as there's no one-size-fits-all approach to med school. The most important thing is trusting your preclinical training. You don't have to be the top student in your class but you better have mastered all of the physiology and pathophysiology principles. If you haven't, spend extra time during dedicated to really iron out the topics you didn't master. If you've done a good job during your preclinical years, you'll find that most of it will be review and many of the pieces will fall into place. If you haven't, then it will be an uphill battle.

Don't underestimate how long it takes to do UWorld blocks. To do it well, you should be reading the explanations for every question, whether you got it right or wrong. As you progress through dedicated, you'll find that many of the explanations repeat themselves and you may already have the concept down cold. At that point, it's okay to skip those parts but you shouldn't just be reviewing your incorrects. At the very least (near the end of dedicated), you might transition to a strategy where you mark all the questions where you're not >90% sure of the answer and review just those plus incorrects if you're pressed for time.

 

[Fatalis]

Few things:
Why in February, that’s really early?
You are started at 211, 30 point jump is reasonable if you target your weak areas and get a little luck on the exam
80-100 UW; wouldn’t agree with that. That’s far too much! 1/2 of that would be pushing it. However if it was your second pass than I could see it.

 

[bigfootisreal]

Few things:
Why in February, that’s really early?
You are started at 211, 30 point jump is reasonable if you target your weak areas and get a little luck on the exam
80-100 UW; wouldn’t agree with that. That’s far too much! 1/2 of that would be pushing it. However if it was your second pass than I could see it.

We are on a 18 month pre clinical curriculum. That’s why we take it in feb. I know the 80-100 UW is aggressive. However, I fear that I won’t finish UW in time if I were to only do 40 a day. Plus I value active learning over passive recall hence my reasoning for UW being the bulk of my schedule. As the above poster mentioned, my hope is to emphasize every aspect of UW rather than just my incorrects to get the maximum benefit out of it.
As an aside, do you feel that a 240-245 is a good and reasonable goal for myself?
Thanks!

 

[hannahrenee]

I did 80+ questions per day during my dedicated and had time to go through every answer without trouble, I spent ~80% of my scheduled study time on Uworld. The people I studied with that couldn't do that many questions liked to spend hours on passive learning every day (first aid + videos). If you're like me and feel like you learn best through questions I think that's a very reasonable plan. Keep taking practice tests - if you're improving you'll know your plan is working and if not you can consider if you need to make a change.

Also don't focus too much on if you're plan differs from those around you. My friends and I all had very different study plans but still scored very similarly, just find what works for you.

 

[Fatalis]

We are on a 18 month pre clinical curriculum. That’s why we take it in feb. I know the 80-100 UW is aggressive. However, I fear that I won’t finish UW in time if I were to only do 40 a day. Plus I value active learning over passive recall hence my reasoning for UW being the bulk of my schedule. As the above poster mentioned, my hope is to emphasize every aspect of UW rather than just my incorrects to get the maximum benefit out of it.
As an aside, do you feel that a 240-245 is a good and reasonable goal for myself?
Thanks!

I get what you mean however active learning does have a limit per day... ie. How much can you retain of 100 UW questions which are quite dense. You are crunched for time so there’s not much you can do.
240-245 is a good score, but it depends on what you are wanting to do.

 

[bigfootisreal]

Your approach was very similar to mine.
How will you structure your days? It is really important you have a rough idea of how your day will go. I had a set wake up time and a set quit time every study day to keep me on track. I also switched up my study locations and took breaks When I needed to. It is extremely important that you are using your time efficiently. It’s better to get 8 hours of quality in with lot of breaks than 14 hours of half ass struggle. The 1 day off a week is great too. Do not feel guilty about not studying that day.

I think if your base was 211, you definitely have a great shot at 240+. My step score was 40 point higher than my baseline score (ended with a 260+) at the beginning of 5 weeks of dedicated.

Another thing that was vital for me was to make sure to do a ton of questions. 80-100 a day is a good amount, but maybe start a little lower and work your way up to that in a few days. One of the big mistakes I see people making is spending 30min on each question going through every painful detail of each answer choice. That is a waste of time and you won’t retain all those details. It is better to really grasp the big message and concepts from each question rather than trying to hold onto little details you’ll forget by the next day. More questions is better (as long as you don’t rush) and you can always flag things to go back to at the end if you finish Uworld early. You won’t learn as much from videos and highlighting first aid so that was on the first 1-2 hours of my study day.

FYI there were 2-3 questions that were exact copies from my NBME practice exams and more that were similar. Take value in the NBME exams as a learning tool as well as an assessment tool.

Hey, thanks for the great insight. That is very encouraging and reassuring. As far as my day setup, I am planning on starting questions at 8am sharp in order to mimick test day starting times. I will do questions back to back and then spend time reviewing them. My school's learning advisor helped me to create a schedule based on weak points in terms of content study so my plan was to use bnb, Pathoma, and Sketchy in the afternoons to tackle my content review according to schedule. I have 1 "flex" day a week that allows me to fill in content that I want. My content review is also shortened to 3 weeks so I can spend the last 2 weeks re-going over content that I am weak in or just focusing more on questions. I plan on ending the day with some anki before cutting off hard at 7pm. I am also taking one day off/week.

 

[bigfootisreal]

One more thing! After your study cut off time, do fun things! I started at 7am and hard stop at 6pm (with small breaks mixed in the day). After 6 I would go on a run almost every day. I’m also originally from DC and the Caps were playing in the Stanley Cup that year so I found myself at the bar with my friends enjoying a cold Miller Lite some evenings (I’d be sure to get home at a reasonable hour). I also went to a friends wedding out of town during dedicated. Have some fun!

That sounds perfect! I am a morning workout person but I totally agree. I am also a west coast person so we prefer Coor's to Miller but who's keeping score lol. Thanks again for your insight and encouragement. I like your mindset of moderation and balance!

 

[mistafab]

Solid plan. But I would reconsider your “followed by in depth review” strategy. Better to put uworld in study mode and learn question by question rather than putting off the “learning moment” until after 80-100 questions.