So, I know that most people say that you should save UWorld for M2, but has anyone started it in their first year with good results? I know it contains lots of pathology that you won't even encounter until M2 at most schools, but I figure it might be good to gain exposure as soon as possible. The only reason I'm asking this is because a 4th year recommended it, saying that they wished they had started UWorld first semester of M1...on the other end of the spectrum, some people say that you should save UWorld for the dedicated board prep time, but I don't subscribe to this since it doesn't fit my personal learning style. I believe a resource as good as UWorld should be used primarily as a content review source, not just a means of testing your knowledge. Indeed, I will definitely start UWorld at the beginning of M2 at the latest...but maybe starting in M1 would be more advantageous? I already plan to follow along in First Aid with my first year courses.
Thoughts?
I vote no. There's a laterality of thought that's probably wasted in first year, especially if you have a more traditional curriculum.
The typical USMLE question is characterised by multi-step reasoning. They don't often ask you to out-and-out regurgitate something, but rather integrate knowledge across disciplines in medicine. UWorld is so good, in part, because it's highly integrative.
For example, Step 1 might give you the key history, physical, and one or two lab findings. Your mind should immediately jump to the causative organism or disease process--but they won't ask about that. That should hopefully be
obvious. They'll instead ask about the mode of inheritance, underlying mechanism, pathophysiology, treatment, etc. And sometimes, they'll go even further. So you know the disease, you know the treatment, but what about the most common side effect of the treatment? Or you know the disease, you know the mechanism, but what about
another disease with the same mechanism? How do you appreciate that as a MS1?
Here's the thing, you actually
can't UWorld your way to success--especially if you're hoping for a really high score. It only works well on a solid background of preexisting knowledge. There's a risk that you'll just memorise UWorld questions without being able to study them at the depth required to succeed on Step 1. Why? Because you won't recognise what's actually important. Plus it's a horribly inefficient way of studying. If you're learning biochemistry, then learn biochemistry--instead of a haphazard hodgepodge from UWorld, where one question is about the urea cycle and next question is about Von Gierke's (which has to do with glycogen storage).
If you're aiming for a really high score, the more questions, the better. I really think USMLERx or Kaplan is your best bet for MS1. Less integrative, more straightforward, better for familiarising yourself with FA. Get the facts down before you start trying to tie them together. Walk before you can run, or whatever cliche you want to use.
And of course, everybody's different, there are exceptions, etc. This is what worked for me and the people I tutored.
