SUMMARY: - Step 2 CK (June 2017): 252. Experience can be found on the USMLE Step 2 Study Group. - Step 1 (May 2018): o Prep time: 6 months concentrated o Resources: UW + FA mainly. Selected topics from pathoma, BRS physiology, and immunology (details down below). o Assessments NBMEs (all within 50 days from exam date) NBME 5 offline: 21 mistakes NBME 6 offline: 15 mistakes NBME 7 offline: 12 mistakes NBME 14 offline: 14 mistakes NBME 15 offline: 14 mistakes NBME 16 online: 255 NBME 17 online: 244 UWSA (1 week before exam, both done on same day) UWSA 1: 269 UWSA 2: 269 o FINAL SCORE: 264 I graduated in 2016 from Palestine. I just want to remind whoever is reading this that I had done my Step 2 before Step 1, so for those who are starting with Step 1, please keep that in mind. Step 2 CK helped me tremendously with pathophysiology, pharmacology, ethics, biostats, and psychiatry. My partner and I started dedicated prep in October 2017. We ran twice (roughly) over UW and FA. I don’t want to bore you with all the details so I will keep it nice and short. I am happy to answer any doubts. FIRST RUN: this is the understanding phase. The aim here is just to go over the material as quickly as possible and try to understand the concepts. Keep in mind that the fund of knowledge in Step 1 is tremendous, so if you try to memorize in the first run it will take a lot of time and by the time you start second run, you will have forgotten A LOT. I believe it’s best to keep memorizing till the end (2 months before exam). The approach we used was to study each section from FA, then do its UW questions very quickly, and add the most important notes from UW on FA. It took around 4.5 months to finish the first run. - Biochemistry: being the biggest monster, we had to get biochem out of the way first. We watched Kaplan videos (2015 by Dr Turco). I watched the videos on high speed and just followed with him on the Kaplan figures (didn’t read any text). Then did FA and UW. - Pathology: obviously pathoma is the most efficient source. I had watched pathoma videos many times during medschool which helped a lot, so I went over them really quickly (x2 speed) and added any extra notes on FA. I didn’t read the book except for the inflammation chapter. It has some nice additions not in FA (especially cytokines). We did each system from pathoma/FA then UW questions (e.g. cardio pathoma/FA, then offline cardio pathology). - Physiology: I read some chapters from BRS physio (cardio, pulm, GI, endocrine). I didn’t spend more than half a day on each. Just a quick read, and expanded on things I didn’t understand. Again each system from BRS/FA then its corresponding UW. - Immunology: this was my weakest area so I had watch almost all Kaplan 2010 videos to understand the concepts, added notes on FA, and tried to understand all the concepts in FA. Then I did UW. - Microbiology: FA + UW. They love microbiology. Make sure you get it on point, especially antimicrobials; always highly tested. - Pharmacology: FA + UW - Anatomy and embryology: I watched all anatomy Kaplan 2014 videos. It was a waste of time to be honest. We then did FA + UW. I also read some of the Anatomy Shelf Notes here and there. It has some nice high yield info so I recommend reading them. - Neuroanatomy: FA + UW. - Ethics, biostatistics, psychiatry: FA + UW. I had studied these 3 a lot in Step 2 which helped a lot By this time we had finished FA and all of offline UW once. SECOND RUN: - I went over the first half of first aid again (biochem, immune, micro, patho and pharma introductions). Some of the topics had to be revised multiple times. - Started doing NBME assessments offline mostly - I bought online UW and did the questions random mixed and timed. I was running out of time so I had to skip some patho, physio, and pathophysiology (around 900 questions total which I didn’t have time to finish!). This was a bit scary honestly, but my best bet was to rely on Step 2 knowledge in those 3 areas, which really helped, thankfully. LAST 10 DAYS BEFORE EXAM: - I did my UWSAs on the same day which I recommend in order to test you stamina and performance on the last few blocks. I did not do NBME 18, but definitely do it. It’s one of the hardest NBMEs so try to leave it till the end. EXAM EXPERIENCE - The exam itself is simpler than Step 2 and more straightforward. I took a break after each block. The first block was very easy, marked 1-2 questions. Then had to take 2 paracetamols for a severe headache. On exam night I barely got 4 hours of sound sleep because of the horrible hotel noise. Question 20 Block 6 I literally was in tears from yawning and my brain basically shut down! Luckily I was very comfortable with the timing so managed to shut my eyes for like 3 minutes lol. Being sleep deprived through a USMLE exam is just scary. So do yourself a favor and sleep well. Other blocks I was marking around 5 qs. Last block was the hardest; marked 15 qs. Important points to take home: - The one advice I always give to people who ask me is to get a study partner. I did Step 2 CK without a partner and I can tell you the difference is staggering. People seem to have different definitions for “study partner”, but what we did was just agree on deadlines for each subject, then discuss the wrong/important UW questions for 1 hour 3-4 days a week. More importantly, USMLE is a very long journey and it is very hard to stay focused and motivated all the time for months in a row. Here’s where your partner comes in. - USMLE Step 1 is very clinically oriented, and you will be rarely tested on how much you memorize. Therefore, it is very important to understand the concepts in FA and UW. Outside of UW and FA, you can use any resources to understand (Wikipedia, Youtube, other review books, etc). - I believe FA is the holy grail in Step 1: make sure you understand everything in it. - Solving questions is obviously very important. NBMEs will not only refresh your memory, consolidate concepts and introduce new ideas, but most importantly it’ll teach you how to make a wise guess on the real exam. - Don’t memorize in first run - Do not clutter your FA with notes - I know some people are going to ask me this so here you go: I didn’t study for 14 hours every day! Some people can, I personally just can’t do that. I think it’s very important to have something else to do during your preparation. I used to hit the gym about 5 days a week and did some research on the side as well. This will help you take your mind off of Step 1 every now and then, otherwise chances are you will burnout. The last 50 days before exam, however, we purely dedicated to studying. - My final advice: KEEP IT SIMPLE! Step 1 does not require deep knowledge at most times. It only needs you to understand basic concepts and know how to apply them in clinical scenarios. So keep that in mind when answering questions and just go with what’s familiar to you. If you haven’t heard of a choice, it’s most probably not the right answer. Do not overthink and absolutely do not change your answer unless you have a clear reason to do so. I hope this experience benefits someone out there. I am more than happy to answer any questions. Best of luck guys!!
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