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USMLE step 1 Score 252



Preparation Time:8 months
One interesting thing about step 1 is that there are many RIGHT pathways to a good is score.During preparation,one mistake made initially by many people is to follow someones experience blindly and they end up in the middle stuck,exhausted and unable to to  decipher their current progress.Everyone of you has the potential to score above 250s but it is important for you to know your personality,style of studying and temperament  first.Some people can stay in library for 12 to 14 hours a day and some will find it difficult to drag their motivation to study for even 6-8 hours.Some people can memorize facts easily and some will require frequent reads to learn a concept.Everyone is different,so following exactly what someone else is doing can harm your progress.Never ever compare your time of preparation to others.You are unique and you will get great marks utilizing the technique that is best for you.So use this experience just as a stepping stone,not a lone guide and after a couple of weeks you will be able to make your own study schedule and do great with it.
I will divide my preparation into different phases,lets see how things go J

Phase 1 : Foundation Phase(3-4 months)
Resources:Kaplan books and Videos+Pathoma book and videos+Kaplan Qbank+NBME 1,2,3,4
It is a frequently asked question that should we read big books as at the end we don’t remember them.My answer is A BIG YES.Importance of big books is that they help you to lay a foundation and are able to understand concepts.Although you don’t read it again and again but believe  me they help you a lot on the exam even if it is 1 year after their read.I read Kaplan for all subjects except pahthology.For pathology there are 2 type of people,”Goljan Warriors” and “Pathoma Knight riders”.This is my opinion,do what you think is right for you.
Goljan is a very big books.It is a good book but takes a lot of time.It is good for those who like to study for long hours and want to understand everything in a bit detail.I am a proud Pathoma Knight rider.Pathoma is shorter than goljan but has almost everything you need to know about pathology.Videos are must.Dr Hussain Sattars videos are best medical lectures in my opinion.People may find a few deficiencies in them but I think these lags will be addressed in UWORLD so not a big problem.
Phase 2: Memorization Phase(2 Months)
Resources:First Aid + Qmax+NBME 5,6,11,12,13
FirstAid is the single most important book in whole step 1 preparation.Sometimes its really staggering to think how 600 pages book covers each and every aspect of Step1.This book has everything in it.After foundation Phase I spent 2 months on first aid and read it 3 three times.First read takes time then subsequent reads are easy.Repeat this book as many times as possible and learn everything in it.

Phase 3:Uworld Phase(2 months)
NBME 7,14
Uworld is a good learning tool and pseudo assessment tool.There are many people who worry correlating the Uworld percentage to their exam scores but let me clear one thing.People who read first aid very very well will be scoring high in Uworld but they will not learn much from it .People who don’t have a strong grip over first aid,will score low but they will learn more from Uworld than the previous group and at the end both of them will lie at same level.So don’t get dishearted by your Uworld percentage,learn from it as much as you can.It helps to manage time and learn how simple concepts can come in a twisted manner in a real exam.I did Uworld one time thoroughly and revised it in last 10 days

Final Phase
I did first aid again in last 10 days before exam.took Nmbe 16 and 17 and I was ready to go.

“The Questions Banks”
USMLE exams are a matter of reflexes.You don’t get time to do think,make logic,countercheck your logic for every question.In almost 80% of the questions,you answer reflexively and save time for tough questions.Reflexes are made by question banks.Recently realizing the importance of it,me and many of classfellows are doing atleast 2 Qbanks.Usmle has a limited number of concepts which they are repeating throughout the decades and questions bank companies know them well.I did Kaplan qbank,qmax,uworld and all nbmes (Consider NBMEs are a very very important question bank)
NBME in my opinion can be utilized as a very important Qbank.i saw concepts being repeated from old nbmes in my exam.Dont use old nbmes as assessment tools.Use them for learning that which sort of questions are asked so that while reading F.A and UWORLD you will pay more attention to those concepts and that helps a lot.
This is my progress through out the nbmes and qbanks
NBME 1     220
NBME 2     224
NBME 3     219
NBME 4     224
NBME 5     228
NBME 6     215
NBME 7     260
NBME 11   250
NBME 12   260
NBME 13   235(MOST TOUGH NBME IN MY OPINION)
NBME 15   252
NMBE 16  252
NBME 17  247
KAPLAN    70%
QMAX       74%
UWORLD  81%

Exam day
Exam day is not that tough.One most important advice given to me by a junior was to be active from the very first question.I still made that mistake,wasted 10 minutes in first 2 question that caused a bit problem at the end of block.Rest of the exam was fine.Every question seemed to from a question bank or an old NBME.2,3 questions from Stats,Major chunk was from pathology,2 heart sounds(listen heart sounds from any youtube video)There will be couple of “What the Hell” questions in every block but let them block disturb your focus.Make sure you do not make dumb mistakes.They may cost you 5 to 7 points.
Exam day passes quickly.Its definitely not be exhaustive.Be positive and I know you will do great.
Final Words
If you give proper time,STEP 1 is very vey easy,It requires patience.Initial progress in preparation doesn’t yield much.You may not be able to answer many questions in Qbanks then you will see sudden progress once you are done with your books and 1 qbank.Only things preparation demands is time and steadiness.KEEP CALM AND GO FOR THE KILL.

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