I am a graduate from European medical school, and took Step 1 exam two years after completing MBBS (during which I was working in hospital). I was an average student in medical school.
Exam date 7th March 2019
Score reported 27th March 2019
Score reported 27th March 2019
UWSA2 1 week before exam - 247
NBME 18 2 weeks before exam - 242
Free 120 3 weeks before exam - 86% (done at prometric test centre)
UWSA1 4 weeks before exam - 264
NBME 17 5 weeks before exam - 244
Kaplan 2 6 weeks before exam - 214
NBME 16 7 weeks before exam - 230
Kaplan 1 8 weeks before exam - 228
NBME 15 12 weeks before exam - 234 (big jump from previous NBME, which I credit to doing 2 blocks of UWORLD/day and Anki deck regularly)
NBME 13 17 weeks before exam - 192
NBME 18 2 weeks before exam - 242
Free 120 3 weeks before exam - 86% (done at prometric test centre)
UWSA1 4 weeks before exam - 264
NBME 17 5 weeks before exam - 244
Kaplan 2 6 weeks before exam - 214
NBME 16 7 weeks before exam - 230
Kaplan 1 8 weeks before exam - 228
NBME 15 12 weeks before exam - 234 (big jump from previous NBME, which I credit to doing 2 blocks of UWORLD/day and Anki deck regularly)
NBME 13 17 weeks before exam - 192
NBME 19 used as baseline before any revision started - 153 (6 months before exam)
Prep:
4 months study with work and teaching med students
2 months dedicated
4 months study with work and teaching med students
2 months dedicated
Resources:
1. UWORLD 1st pass 66.7% 2nd pass 84%
2. Anki - used pre-made deck, bought from AlecYouSMLE and added my own cards to his deck
3. First AID - did ( 2 times)
4. Goljan Audio (1.5 times)
5. Pathoma (2 times with weaker topics 3 times)
6. Kaplan Q bank (once)
7. Sketchy Micro (added into anki and used as flash cards)
8. BRS Physiology (once)
9. NBMEs (all)
10. Headspace App - daily guided meditation
1. UWORLD 1st pass 66.7% 2nd pass 84%
2. Anki - used pre-made deck, bought from AlecYouSMLE and added my own cards to his deck
3. First AID - did ( 2 times)
4. Goljan Audio (1.5 times)
5. Pathoma (2 times with weaker topics 3 times)
6. Kaplan Q bank (once)
7. Sketchy Micro (added into anki and used as flash cards)
8. BRS Physiology (once)
9. NBMEs (all)
10. Headspace App - daily guided meditation
Day before exam:
plan was to do nothing except go for a run and complete anki deck for the day, but ended up watching pathoma, reviewing parts of First AID... eventually stopped at 15:00. Prepped food for the following day, documents, and clothes. Got around 6 hours of sleep which was broken (woke up 2-3 times in between).
plan was to do nothing except go for a run and complete anki deck for the day, but ended up watching pathoma, reviewing parts of First AID... eventually stopped at 15:00. Prepped food for the following day, documents, and clothes. Got around 6 hours of sleep which was broken (woke up 2-3 times in between).
Exam day:
Woke up feeling anxious, but also relieved that no matter what, time does not stop for anyone, and this time shall also pass. My wife accompanied me, which was a morale and confidence booster.
Drank half a cup of coffee 30 mins before exam.
Breaks after each block (8 mins, 7 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins, 10 mins, 10 mins). Had water and snacks ( freshfruit/dried fruit/nut bars). Struggled for time on 6th block - mentally felt slow and fatigued from previous blocks and broken sleep. In my break before 7th block I splashed face with water. Final block I was not struggling for time.
Woke up feeling anxious, but also relieved that no matter what, time does not stop for anyone, and this time shall also pass. My wife accompanied me, which was a morale and confidence booster.
Drank half a cup of coffee 30 mins before exam.
Breaks after each block (8 mins, 7 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins, 10 mins, 10 mins). Had water and snacks ( freshfruit/dried fruit/nut bars). Struggled for time on 6th block - mentally felt slow and fatigued from previous blocks and broken sleep. In my break before 7th block I splashed face with water. Final block I was not struggling for time.
Left feeling that the exam was tougher than previous NBMEs due to unique/atypical style of questioning (similar to that of UWORLD), I had marked 10 questions in each block for which I was not completely sure. Was not sure if I would reach my target of 240+ but had read on previous posts to believe in my previous self assessments (NBMEs).
Post exam:
- I had gone on a holiday day after my exam, which helped keep my mind off the anxiety of waiting for results.
- Doing NBMEs and UWSAs was really helpful, I realised that timing is important and to move on from difficult questions and come back to them rather than spending a lot of time and then having less time to complete the remaining questions.
- I wish I had spent more time on question analysis (where I review each sentence of vignette, understand what the examiner is trying to tell, and come to a preliminary answer before looking at the answer choices).
- I found AlecYouSMLE website very helpful in understanding study styles that work, and get good results. For example active learning (doing questions/anki deck) which leads to high retention vs passive learning (reading First Aid or watching Pathoma) which leads to relatively poorer retention.
- I had gone on a holiday day after my exam, which helped keep my mind off the anxiety of waiting for results.
- Doing NBMEs and UWSAs was really helpful, I realised that timing is important and to move on from difficult questions and come back to them rather than spending a lot of time and then having less time to complete the remaining questions.
- I wish I had spent more time on question analysis (where I review each sentence of vignette, understand what the examiner is trying to tell, and come to a preliminary answer before looking at the answer choices).
- I found AlecYouSMLE website very helpful in understanding study styles that work, and get good results. For example active learning (doing questions/anki deck) which leads to high retention vs passive learning (reading First Aid or watching Pathoma) which leads to relatively poorer retention.
Thanks to all those who have shared their Step 1 experience on this forum as reading your experience has helped me. I hope this helps someone else. Good luck to everyone!
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What did you use for biochem, genetics, neuro other than first aid ? And if we directly study from first aid for these topics will it be difficult to understand ?
I personally struggled with First AID early on in my study. I enjoyed Pathoma as it was something I could understand, and then after doing roughly half of UWORLD i revisited First AID, where the content made a lot more sense.
I didn't use a specific resource for the subjects you have mentioned, I found the anki deck created by AlecYouSMLE very helpful in integrating and applying the tough biochem/genetic content. BRS physiology helped with some of the tough neuro concepts.
I didn't use a specific resource for the subjects you have mentioned, I found the anki deck created by AlecYouSMLE very helpful in integrating and applying the tough biochem/genetic content. BRS physiology helped with some of the tough neuro concepts.
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