UWorld summer after MS-1

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
N

nm825

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
584
Reaction score
176
Members don't see this ad.
I'm bored out of my mind this summer. I'm doing some non-intensive research that really doesn't take up too much time. I literally spend the whole day watching tv in my air condition-less apartment in 100 degree heat.

I do stuff at night a lot, but really need to break up the monotony of the day.

I've been thinking about getting UWorld and starting that up. The way the curriculum works at my school in MS 1 is that up to Christmas break we learn the foundations of basic science (I.e. path principles, microanatomy, embryology, microbiology, etc) and then after break, we learn systems. We've done GI, Neuro, and Repro and I've learned everything I'm going to learn about these subjects pre-STEP. Knowing this, should I get UWorld and start reviewing this stuff this summer?
 
nm825 said:
I'm bored out of my mind this summer. I'm doing some non-intensive research that really doesn't take up too much time. I literally spend the whole day watching tv in my air condition-less apartment in 100 degree heat.

I do stuff at night a lot, but really need to break up the monotony of the day.

I've been thinking about getting UWorld and starting that up. The way the curriculum works at my school in MS 1 is that up to Christmas break we learn the foundations of basic science (I.e. path principles, microanatomy, embryology, microbiology, etc) and then after break, we learn systems. We've done GI, Neuro, and Repro and I've learned everything I'm going to learn about these subjects pre-STEP. Knowing this, should I get UWorld and start reviewing this stuff this summer?
Click to expand...

If your Step is toward the end of M2 (April or later), I'd wait until the semester starts. Use other board-review resources to go over the stuff you learned in M1, if you really have nothing better to do.
 
I would recommend USMLE-Rx if you really want to do practice questions. It'd be good to go through more than 1 qbank anyways and from what I've researched UWorld questions are pretty difficult so it might be better to start out with a different bank initially. Otherwise, I would recommend reviewing physio with BRS and another physio qbank like Guyton and Hall to make sure you really got it down before 2nd year.
 
Go out during the day and talk to pretty girls that you see
 
Do what you want. If you don't already, gym/lifting/exercise always takes a healthy amount of time and helps break up the monotony of the day.
 
Studying for boards the during the Summer after M1 is a huge waste of time. You'll burn yourself out. You should be spending your summer doing gym, tan, and laundry.
 
I would have rather sawed off my legs and crawled through a salt flat than dive into Step 1 between 1st and 2nd year. You have very few actual "summers" in the enjoyable school sense in your lifetime, and you're bumping into the very end of them. Go have fun. If you're already having fun, add a hobby that isn't fun per se but is satisfying. Like crocheting. Or alcoholism.
 
QuizzicalApe said:
I would have rather sawed off my legs and crawled through a salt flat than dive into Step 1 between 1st and 2nd year. You have very few actual "summers" in the enjoyable school sense in your lifetime, and you're bumping into the very end of them. Go have fun. If you're already having fun, add a hobby that isn't fun per se but is satisfying. Like crocheting. Or alcoholism.
Click to expand...

we have similar tastes in hobbies
 
It's so weird that studying between year 1 and 2 can be called a complete waste of time. I mean some advice here on SDN says to start a qbank early 2nd year to supplement material being learned. M1s cover some subject material that won't be touched again in M2. How could doing a few questions in those subjects per day really burn you out and amount to nothing? And also if the kid is worried about starting questions, how is ignoring it going to help him relax? I'd say buy the longer subscription to USMLE Rx and do some reviewing of subjects that were completely covered. If it helps your peace of mind then screw it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
MedNation907 said:
It's so weird that studying between year 1 and 2 can be called a complete waste of time. I mean some advice here on SDN says to start a qbank early 2nd year to supplement material being learned. M1s cover some subject material that won't be touched again in M2. How could doing a few questions in those subjects per day really burn you out and amount to nothing? And also if the kid is worried about starting questions, how is ignoring it going to help him relax? I'd say buy the longer subscription to USMLE Rx and do some reviewing of subjects that were completely covered. If it helps your peace of mind then screw it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

This is what I thought initially. However in this case burn out is such a possibility that it just isn't worth it. I took step one about a month and a half ago and already forget so much of what is on the test. Reaching a plateau in your knowledge base is real. Starting a Q bank at the beginning of M2 is fine, but I think the best strategy is to simply relax over the summer. It's literally the last summer ever for most people.
 
MedNation907 said:
It's so weird that studying between year 1 and 2 can be called a complete waste of time. I mean some advice here on SDN says to start a qbank early 2nd year to supplement material being learned. M1s cover some subject material that won't be touched again in M2. How could doing a few questions in those subjects per day really burn you out and amount to nothing? And also if the kid is worried about starting questions, how is ignoring it going to help him relax? I'd say buy the longer subscription to USMLE Rx and do some reviewing of subjects that were completely covered. If it helps your peace of mind then screw it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
It's true that you could review some stuff that you covered in M1, and this might help you with long term retention if you did it properly. The idea that you will "get ahead" is a bad one as you don't have the basic knowledge to jump into review material (which is what qbanks, first aid, pathoma, etc., all are). It expects you to have a foundation, and most good qbanks will combine many different concepts throughout the entire preclinical years. Also, you will likely just stress yourself out as you will ultimately fall short of whatever goals you had and feel down on yourself in a time when you should be enjoying yourself or making the most of a research project. You have the entire academic year to stress about tests and guzzling the fire hose.

I don't mind telling people not to study because that's what they should do. I know many of you crazy med students will try it anyway (I know I did...), but you can really find better ways to enjoy your time. Luckily, for some reason, usually by M4 students know the blessing that free time is and most use it to their advantage before the long hours of residency start.
 
MedNation907 said:
It's so weird that studying between year 1 and 2 can be called a complete waste of time. I mean some advice here on SDN says to start a qbank early 2nd year to supplement material being learned. M1s cover some subject material that won't be touched again in M2. How could doing a few questions in those subjects per day really burn you out and amount to nothing?
Click to expand...

1. Everyone says they're going to do it
2. Nobody actually does it
3. It's not necessary to do well (see point 2)
 
Señor S said:
1. Everyone says they're going to do it
2. Nobody actually does it
3. It's not necessary to do well (see point 2)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have suggested it to OP if I wasn't doing it myself. Although my school requires it (lol), I've found it really helpful so far. I do ~ 20 questions most mornings, filtering out subjects I haven't covered and serves as a good review. The only questions I wasn't able to answer were second to holes in my biochemistry knowledge, which are good to know about. I don't consider it studying because I've already done that but it's interesting to see how it's applied by question writers. Would I be doing this if I wasn't required to? probably not, but that's because I'm cheap not because I think it's a worthless activity. But again, as Donald Juan pointed out, taking questions or studying information that will be learned in M2 with this idea of getting ahead is not at all what I suggested. Also, being the crazy obsessed med students that we are, if NOT doing questions is raising your BP every day then just do it - at that point it's therapeutic and will actually promote relaxation lol - just don't study, studying I believe everyone on here is not necessary.
 
one bit of logic says to focus all your energy on the class material and exams - for obvious reasons

is there benefit to more longitudinal review? yes of course in theory, but it's true that you can only fit so much in at a time

the idea of just using the review questions related to doing well in your current subject - that's not really board review

and I think that you should always save UWORLD for your dedicated study time test question bank

you could use another but I always question the efficacy of any strategy beyond study your ass off in all your classes, get First Aid and start annotating, using world and NBME tests only during your dedicated study period

those are the gold standards, and there's about a million strategies you could add

there are better ways to spend your MS1 Summer
 
nm825 said:
I'm bored out of my mind this summer. I'm doing some non-intensive research that really doesn't take up too much time. I literally spend the whole day watching tv in my air condition-less apartment in 100 degree heat.

I do stuff at night a lot, but really need to break up the monotony of the day.

I've been thinking about getting UWorld and starting that up. The way the curriculum works at my school in MS 1 is that up to Christmas break we learn the foundations of basic science (I.e. path principles, microanatomy, embryology, microbiology, etc) and then after break, we learn systems. We've done GI, Neuro, and Repro and I've learned everything I'm going to learn about these subjects pre-STEP. Knowing this, should I get UWorld and start reviewing this stuff this summer?
Click to expand...


While Uworld is a learning tool and I recommend everyone in my class to start it ASAP, I think MS1 is still too early. I myself started a few Uworld q's in October of MS2 and regretted it because I forgot what I learnt from those questions. Also, before the real thing, you're going to want to do as many USMLE style questions as possible. The NBME EXAMS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL USMLE QUESTIONS. Yes, the exams do a decent job predicting, but Uworld-style is a far better indicator of what you'll see so keeping as many of those questions unused as possible before your dedicated prep time serves a good purpose. I suggest starting Uworld a couple of months before school ends. Start at snails pace (10 questions a day, and work your way up to a full block). Do it systems based for a first pass. Don't worry if you don't have enough time for a second pass. Review your incorrects instead and take notes within Uworld itself, not First Aid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Academic General Surgery after STEP 1 fail
Replies
1
Views
526
Dral
Dral
S
MSKCC summer research fellowship 2025
Replies
18
Views
5K
meds2028
M
Doctoscope
Is there a benefit to doing Step 1 Amboss on top of Step 1 UWorld for Step 2?
Replies
14
Views
4K
PandaBaer
PandaBaer
Z
M1 Summer Research in Home State
Replies
0
Views
570
zjdub3
Z
C
SIR Summer Research Internship 2025
Replies
10
Views
2K
ophthoaspirant
O
Top