usmle step 1

[amikhchi]

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Been a while since i've been on these forums, but now that i'm finally a med-student i have a little question. I remember seeing people post about getting accepted and how they want to buy the books and start studying over the summer and how everyone suggested that as being a bad idea... I get that, but my school just gave a presentation on residency matching and how your step 1 scores are the most important factor in getting a residency (next to clinical grades). I know some part of the presentation is the school trying to make sure their pass rate is high (by trying to get us to start studying early). My question is, how much truth is there to this? I know step 1 matters A LOT. I was just fine with starting to study maybe half-way through 2nd year and then focusing hard-core in that little gap b/w 2nd year and the exam, but now i'm having second thoughts that maybe i should start earlier... When do you guys think is a *good time* to start looking over material, i mean i'm just starting medical school so it's not like i can review anything anyway, i just want to get a general consensus...

Thanks

 

[Bugatti]

Been a while since i've been on these forums, but now that i'm finally a med-student i have a little question. I remember seeing people post about getting accepted and how they want to buy the books and start studying over the summer and how everyone suggested that as being a bad idea... I get that, but my school just gave a presentation on residency matching and how your step 1 scores are the most important factor in getting a residency (next to clinical grades). I know some part of the presentation is the school trying to make sure their pass rate is high (by trying to get us to start studying early). My question is, how much truth is there to this? I know step 1 matters A LOT. I was just fine with starting to study maybe half-way through 2nd year and then focusing hard-core in that little gap b/w 2nd year and the exam, but now i'm having second thoughts that maybe i should start earlier... When do you guys think is a *good time* to start looking over material, i mean i'm just starting medical school so it's not like i can review anything anyway, i just want to get a general consensus...

Thanks

Hey man, a book that is useful to have even during 1st year is either First Aid or Kaplan USMLE review. It may not make much sense initially just cause it's pretty much just highyield material but it helps you focus on what's important during 1st and 2nd year not to mention they may have good mnemonics to remember things. Now, that being said, I would feel that you wouldn't be able to get much out of studying for STEP 1 now. Here's why.

1. STEP 1 is mostly going to be 2nd year material (70-80?)
2. you need a good foundation of 1st year physiology to understand 2nd year material especially pharm/path.
3. A lot of the material IS memorization and chances are you're probably going to forget a great majority of it by the time you're about to take STEP1 anyway and must rememorize.
4. 1st year is going to be a load anyway without you worrying already about STEP1

What I do recommend and I think will carry you much farther down for STEP and 2nd year success is to study your 1st year stuff as hard as possible and UNDERSTAND really well the physiology. That will make 2nd year easier and also when you understand something you don't need to memorize. So yeah, that's my 2cents on it but maybe others may have a different take on it.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Do poorly on Step 1 and you WILL hate your life when applying to residency. Residencies mostly only care about your Step 1 score, your 3rd year grades, and letters of Rec. Score below 220 and kiss your arse goodbye.

 

[Forthegood]

You can't start early when you haven't learned the material yet. Just wait then cram for it like everybody else. Most people dedicate b/w 4-6 weeks to study for it, and I have never talked to anyone who said they wanted more time after that. It is enough material, you could study forever for it. That would drive you insane.

6 weeks of studying 12hrs a day will take the life out of you and then some.

Concentrate on your classes and learn the material as best you can. If you are so worried about boards, buy the BRS books and supplement that with your course work. You're going to be fine.

 

[Kfire326]

Been a while since i've been on these forums, but now that i'm finally a med-student i have a little question. I remember seeing people post about getting accepted and how they want to buy the books and start studying over the summer and how everyone suggested that as being a bad idea... I get that, but my school just gave a presentation on residency matching and how your step 1 scores are the most important factor in getting a residency (next to clinical grades). I know some part of the presentation is the school trying to make sure their pass rate is high (by trying to get us to start studying early). My question is, how much truth is there to this? I know step 1 matters A LOT. I was just fine with starting to study maybe half-way through 2nd year and then focusing hard-core in that little gap b/w 2nd year and the exam, but now i'm having second thoughts that maybe i should start earlier... When do you guys think is a *good time* to start looking over material, i mean i'm just starting medical school so it's not like i can review anything anyway, i just want to get a general consensus...

Thanks

Dude, DO NOT start studying for step 1 now or in your first year. That will be useless. A) you won't understand any of it because it's mostly MS2 material, B) you will forget whatever you "learn" by studying for it early, C) your MS1 studying and grades will falter because of it. I was doing a shadow-a-student program in my second year and had two prospective students shadow me for a day in like Novemberish (they were friends who asked to be together). They asked me about step 1, what book I was using and what I thought of First Aid. I told them I didn't start studying for it and had no idea about what book to use... they were shocked at me and told me they had each already bought First Aid and started studying it. Needless to say my opinion of them plummeted (but I have nothing to do with the adcom, obviously, and they had already been accepted anyway) and I had/have no qualms about using them as an example of what NOBODY should be doing.

Study hard in MS1 and MS2 to understand as well as you can. I did that (tried to minimize my memorizing, but sometimes you can't avoid it), and it helped a LOT when i went back to study for step 1. Material came back to me faster than I thought it would.

I'm applying for residency now, and yes, Step 1 seems to be the most important factor. At the very least it serves as a filter for programs. They can filter applications based on anything they want, but they usually use step 1 score because that puts all their applicants on an equal playing field. Again though, there's no point in stressing about it so early. My school ends classes first week of May and mandates that we take Step 1 by June 30th. You know when I started studying for Step 1? Second week of May, and I did fine.

 

[a winner is you]

You mean you didn't start studying for step 1 in senior year of college? You're already boned, dude. Sorry to break the bad news to you like this.

 

[littlealex]

What ultimately determines your score ceiling is going to be the amount of work you put in in the first two years. Start studying by memorizing First Aid won't get you above 250. You have to realize that on actual boards studying you typically have like 1-5 days per subject and you don't have time to go into details.

Start early, buy some boards review books and read them along side your course work. When learning about neuroscience, read the neurology book in detail, etc. Use quality review books to supplement your study and read. Reading is the most important thing you can do.

 

[superwillis]

What ultimately determines your score ceiling is going to be the amount of work you put in in the first two years. Start studying by memorizing First Aid won't get you above 250. You have to realize that on actual boards studying you typically have like 1-5 days per subject and you don't have time to go into details.

Start early, buy some boards review books and read them along side your course work. When learning about neuroscience, read the neurology book in detail, etc. Use quality review books to supplement your study and read. Reading is the most important thing you can do.

I agree with this. First-Aid is not a textbook, and so the sections of FA won't be very helpful on their own, at least not until you have covered that particular subject in more detail in your curriculum. When you do actually start boards studying in 2nd year, however, FA should one of your primary resources (or at least a guide to determine what you need to work on).

As for when to start studying -- apart from casual use of board review books alongside your normal curriculum, I'd say hold off on focused boards studying until a couple of months before the exam (i.e. Spring of your 2nd year). Med school is hard enough without having to study for boards 🙂