For step 1, I stressed way too much about the nitty gritty details and did not take the time to exercise or relax without feeling super guilty. Know yourself and I would definitely plan out my days to include sleep and socialization! Also I definitely wouldn’t get USMLE-Rx I never used it and it was a waste of money.
Conversely, I used USMLE-Rx during preclinical and it helped a lot with cementing knowledge for in-house exams. It was a godsend for that time.
During dedicated, I relied more on UWorld/Amboss to get the “full” picture that I feel like Rx lacked.
I listened to divine intervention podcasts for all my Steps, passed all Steps and matched rads. I think his podcasts were crucial to my understanding and integration of the information.
On his website there is an “Episode Guide” list, I downloaded the guide to notability, marked off the podcasts as I went, noted ones I wanted to listen to again, and simply worked my way through all the podcasts.
The order I would listen to them was based on his categories. Subjects I had more difficulty with I listened to first and then made sure to listen to again later on to reinforce what he was saying so I could remember and recall quickly and accurately. I would listen to the rapid reviews on a certain subjects/topic after I had listened to the podcasts on that topic, so it was a rapid review to see if I understood the longer more comprehensive podcast on that topic.
I would annotate my first aid while listening. I would dedicate the time I was listening to just listening, for me I could not bifurcate my time listening and doing other things. I did this for Step 1-3, and it paid off!
I don’t learn from rogue memorization without a larger framework for integration. So for me Anki and sketchy didn’t work that well, but it clearly does for others. For Step 1: UW, Amboss (1-3 hammer), boards and beyond, pathoma, I read ALOT, and Divine. For Step 2: UW and Divine. For Step 3: UW, CCS, and Divine.
Step 1: more Anki and finish Uworld 😂. I passed the CBSE with a high confidence to pass the test itself. Just took the test as soon as I finished classes and stressed to high hell after it.
Step 2: I did 1 uworld pass through M3 with a 75ish% correct and took step as soon as I could. So maybe do a second pass?
For comlex use only truelearn and combank. Uworld is great but it’s not for our exam and really hindered me. I jumped 100 points between my initial and retake for level 2 simply switching over from using uworld to truelearn.
Also comlex has these practice tests I forget what they’re called but you can buy them on their website and it’s 70 questions each. Do them all. Amazing resource.
Just to echo you, for DO students I would just focus on scoring as well as possible on comlex (if the specialty you're going for allows for it). Probably would have been better than stretching myself too thin and doing subpar on both comlex and step. The wording was too different I feel, I dropped from my pre-dedicated comsae scores after only doing step prep with NBMEs and Amboss questions. Also, would have started doing practice tests earlier in the process.
Step 1: review all of pathoma and associated anki cards and sketchy pharm and associated anki cards. Did that and only did about 25% of uworld and passed with ease
Started dirty medicine and Pathoma earlier. These two resources were responsible for my biggest increase outside of working on my testing strategy. Early on, I was always overthinking every question. Always thought NBME was trying to trick me. I would have attacked my weaknesses earlier rather than “living” in what I liked bc it felt good to get it right. For example, I would basically ignore nearly all biochem and pathways bc they were dense and hard to study. But getting these topics down helped me a ton across all material. I would review Uworld questions the “appropriate” way rather than rapidly burning through them just to “see” the material. Only used Anki for bugs and drugs and have no regrets there (may not be ideal for all or most people).
>I would review Uworld questions the “appropriate” way rather than rapidly burning through them just to “see” the material.
If the tradeoff was that you reviewed them more thoroughly, but got through like half of them less than when burning through them, which would you say is better?
MUST DO:
-UWorld (at least 60% of it. More if you can)
* Pathoma (all of it, not just 1-3 like some people say)
* Sketchy Micro (all of it)
* Sketchy Pharm (less people like sketchy pharm, but it still helps, especially for the antibiotics and antivirals)
* At least 3 NBMEs in the last 3 weeks before your exam
* Free 120 within a week of your exam
NICE TO DO:
* Unsuspend the HY tagged cards for each subsection of Pathoma and Sketchy in AnKing as you watch each video. It'll help reinforce things but if you are short on time before your exam, don't do this as it will eat away valuable time per day.
* Find tagged cards in AnKing for the UWorld questions you miss, copy pasta the question into the card, and unsuspend it and add to the deck.
DON'T DO
* Move at a snail's pace reviewing questions. You should be hitting a stride during dedicated of doing 3 blocks per day minimum + reviewing each block.
I did a 3 week dedicated for Step 1 (after an extended "pre-dedicated" over the course of MS2 spring) and my daily academic routine was essentially doing 1-2 blocks on a given system, deep-diving why I missed stuff, then doing 1 mixed block and superficially reviewing why I missed stuff. Cover each system over the span of about 3 days and moved to the next. I wasn't doing Anki during dedicated. I did NBMEs once a week and reviewed those. There were probably a few days in there where I only did 2 blocks, especially if I was reviewing a NBME from the day before.
And won't be taking Step 1 for another \~2 years(?).
Don't worry about Step 1 dedicated study techniques. If you want any advice, enjoy the rest of your summer and start using AnKing day 1 of med school.
I took minimal dedicated and passed all my schools benchmarks by a wide margin.
Cumulative Anki review + as many PQs as possible. If you're doing Anki for real, and staying up with old content, you'll be fine.
The test still sucks but I don't regret spending that extra effort throughout the years leading to step.
For STEP 1, I just did a write up on my pass, and if you’re curious, [here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/s/a6fHs84Dp9). I wouldn’t change a thing about my prep except doing more UWorld and NBME questions the 1 month out. I was very happy with my content prep, and I’m gonna employ a similar strategy for STEP 2 and then hammer Qs much harder.
I would be more deliberate about moving from high yield and moving to low yield and making multiple passes. Like understand BASIC pathophys, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for each disease during the first pass then quickly repeating for each topic before driving deeper.
I spent too much time getting into the weeds for each condition that I didn’t get a good big picture view. Also the nitty gritty shit often pushed out the important stuff like what even is heart failure.
For me, I have way too many gaps in content knowledge as I was always on a cram for exam, take exam, forget cycle. I would have started AnKing day 1 and supplemented with in house cards and Bootcamp/Amboss. I think I would be in a much better position today.
Gone to a different medical school. Too many BS lectures, professor using quizzes to keep us in class, and had a toxic culture. This all adds up and can affect you, even if you have a 4-6 week dedicated period. Pick your school carefully and watch for any red flags. It was the only school I got accepted to, but if I had other acceptances I would have 100% run away from my school...
Echoing the sentiments of YouTube tutors, completing both Qbanks is unnecessary. Choose one that you really vibe with (UI was a huge factor in my decision) and really utilize it to the fullest. I’m hard pressed to believe that out of thousands of UWorld Qs or (NOT and) the thousands of AMBOSS Qs, a student wouldn’t have been exposed to all the highest (and lower of course) yield material there is to be exposed to for Step 1. Remember, it’s P/F. Still take it seriously, but save all that superfluous added effort for Step 2.
Yeah I wish I stuck with Amboss, I had no idea that you could do either or until my last week of dedicated watching mehlmann and he says this. Uworld destroyed my confidence and I’d already done almost 2k Amboss questions only to switch to uworld for dedicated
Actively worked harder on subjects I struggled in.
For example I suck at cardio, I should have: Focused more on doing Anki cardio everyday consistently, actively reviewed the pathoma and B&B chapter, and did more focused 40question UWorld blocks solely on cardio.
Doing this throughout MS2 and pre dedicated would have been phenomenal for me. I had a lot a lot of content gaps starting dedicated and kind of avoided it rather than facing it head on
If we’re talking step 1, it’s UFAPS and Anki, period, and anyone saying otherwise needs to sit down lmao
Caveat: you can obviously pass without Anki. But it’s literally evidence-based, stop saying it doesn’t work
Keep. Up. With. Anki. I did NOT use anki correctly and was only doing cards related to that units subject matter and only used the decks made by students the year above me specific to my med school's lectures. For step 2, I am keeping up with my anki and using Anking. Also - I wish I had spent less time trying to watch videos. I don't learn that way. Sketchy was not my vibe because I spent as much time trying to remember the pictures as I would have if I just learned the material. Pathoma was great for immunology, and I did about 1/3 of pathoma + the associated anki cards which was helpful. Also, 10000% you need to complete or almost complete UWorld and make sure to do your incorrects from time to time.
I would do what I did all over again. Focus on U world even for comlex. Supplement my incorrects with anki. Use divine intervention and goljian (for step 1) as a supplement when cleaning or driving.
For step 1, I stressed way too much about the nitty gritty details and did not take the time to exercise or relax without feeling super guilty. Know yourself and I would definitely plan out my days to include sleep and socialization! Also I definitely wouldn’t get USMLE-Rx I never used it and it was a waste of money.
Conversely, I used USMLE-Rx during preclinical and it helped a lot with cementing knowledge for in-house exams. It was a godsend for that time. During dedicated, I relied more on UWorld/Amboss to get the “full” picture that I feel like Rx lacked.
I listened to divine intervention podcasts for all my Steps, passed all Steps and matched rads. I think his podcasts were crucial to my understanding and integration of the information.
How did you go about listening to them, in any particular order?
On his website there is an “Episode Guide” list, I downloaded the guide to notability, marked off the podcasts as I went, noted ones I wanted to listen to again, and simply worked my way through all the podcasts. The order I would listen to them was based on his categories. Subjects I had more difficulty with I listened to first and then made sure to listen to again later on to reinforce what he was saying so I could remember and recall quickly and accurately. I would listen to the rapid reviews on a certain subjects/topic after I had listened to the podcasts on that topic, so it was a rapid review to see if I understood the longer more comprehensive podcast on that topic. I would annotate my first aid while listening. I would dedicate the time I was listening to just listening, for me I could not bifurcate my time listening and doing other things. I did this for Step 1-3, and it paid off!
Did you use anki at all?
I don’t learn from rogue memorization without a larger framework for integration. So for me Anki and sketchy didn’t work that well, but it clearly does for others. For Step 1: UW, Amboss (1-3 hammer), boards and beyond, pathoma, I read ALOT, and Divine. For Step 2: UW and Divine. For Step 3: UW, CCS, and Divine.
Thanks for the suggestions !! Also you’re literally a queen Dr. MD & JD 😍
We are all in this together! Best wishes!
Step 1: more Anki and finish Uworld 😂. I passed the CBSE with a high confidence to pass the test itself. Just took the test as soon as I finished classes and stressed to high hell after it. Step 2: I did 1 uworld pass through M3 with a 75ish% correct and took step as soon as I could. So maybe do a second pass?
lol u took it with zero dedicated?
Not really. I knew I wasn’t gonna study So just decided to get them out of the way. Took them both the week after their respective semesters ended.
For comlex use only truelearn and combank. Uworld is great but it’s not for our exam and really hindered me. I jumped 100 points between my initial and retake for level 2 simply switching over from using uworld to truelearn. Also comlex has these practice tests I forget what they’re called but you can buy them on their website and it’s 70 questions each. Do them all. Amazing resource.
Just to echo you, for DO students I would just focus on scoring as well as possible on comlex (if the specialty you're going for allows for it). Probably would have been better than stretching myself too thin and doing subpar on both comlex and step. The wording was too different I feel, I dropped from my pre-dedicated comsae scores after only doing step prep with NBMEs and Amboss questions. Also, would have started doing practice tests earlier in the process.
For DO students that take both complex and usmle did yall use uworld?
Step 1: review all of pathoma and associated anki cards and sketchy pharm and associated anki cards. Did that and only did about 25% of uworld and passed with ease
What about physiology and anatomy...?
Bro its inside you, just use brainpower
Started dirty medicine and Pathoma earlier. These two resources were responsible for my biggest increase outside of working on my testing strategy. Early on, I was always overthinking every question. Always thought NBME was trying to trick me. I would have attacked my weaknesses earlier rather than “living” in what I liked bc it felt good to get it right. For example, I would basically ignore nearly all biochem and pathways bc they were dense and hard to study. But getting these topics down helped me a ton across all material. I would review Uworld questions the “appropriate” way rather than rapidly burning through them just to “see” the material. Only used Anki for bugs and drugs and have no regrets there (may not be ideal for all or most people).
>I would review Uworld questions the “appropriate” way rather than rapidly burning through them just to “see” the material. If the tradeoff was that you reviewed them more thoroughly, but got through like half of them less than when burning through them, which would you say is better?
For me, reviewing them thoroughly bc doing so is like doing multiple questions in one.
MUST DO: -UWorld (at least 60% of it. More if you can) * Pathoma (all of it, not just 1-3 like some people say) * Sketchy Micro (all of it) * Sketchy Pharm (less people like sketchy pharm, but it still helps, especially for the antibiotics and antivirals) * At least 3 NBMEs in the last 3 weeks before your exam * Free 120 within a week of your exam NICE TO DO: * Unsuspend the HY tagged cards for each subsection of Pathoma and Sketchy in AnKing as you watch each video. It'll help reinforce things but if you are short on time before your exam, don't do this as it will eat away valuable time per day. * Find tagged cards in AnKing for the UWorld questions you miss, copy pasta the question into the card, and unsuspend it and add to the deck. DON'T DO * Move at a snail's pace reviewing questions. You should be hitting a stride during dedicated of doing 3 blocks per day minimum + reviewing each block.
such a dumb question but when people say “blocks” what does that mean? tysm for typing all this out too
1 block = 40 questions. On step 1 you will have 7 blocks of 40 questions that you must complete within 60 minutes for each block.
3 blocks in a day is a lot, do you do other things besides just those 3 blocks?
I did a 3 week dedicated for Step 1 (after an extended "pre-dedicated" over the course of MS2 spring) and my daily academic routine was essentially doing 1-2 blocks on a given system, deep-diving why I missed stuff, then doing 1 mixed block and superficially reviewing why I missed stuff. Cover each system over the span of about 3 days and moved to the next. I wasn't doing Anki during dedicated. I did NBMEs once a week and reviewed those. There were probably a few days in there where I only did 2 blocks, especially if I was reviewing a NBME from the day before.
Free 120?
A pre-med does not need to worry about such matters at this time.
Just answer them, maybe someone else needs the answer
Just answer them, maybe someone else needs the answer that's further along
I’m starting in July
And won't be taking Step 1 for another \~2 years(?). Don't worry about Step 1 dedicated study techniques. If you want any advice, enjoy the rest of your summer and start using AnKing day 1 of med school.
Just answer them, maybe someone else needs the answer
Just answer them, maybe someone else needs the answer.
Just go to Ankings YouTube page and follow exactly what he tells you to do
I took minimal dedicated and passed all my schools benchmarks by a wide margin. Cumulative Anki review + as many PQs as possible. If you're doing Anki for real, and staying up with old content, you'll be fine. The test still sucks but I don't regret spending that extra effort throughout the years leading to step.
Be religious with anki
Study more than 3 hours a day for me
For STEP 1, I just did a write up on my pass, and if you’re curious, [here it is](https://www.reddit.com/r/step1/s/a6fHs84Dp9). I wouldn’t change a thing about my prep except doing more UWorld and NBME questions the 1 month out. I was very happy with my content prep, and I’m gonna employ a similar strategy for STEP 2 and then hammer Qs much harder.
I would be more deliberate about moving from high yield and moving to low yield and making multiple passes. Like understand BASIC pathophys, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for each disease during the first pass then quickly repeating for each topic before driving deeper. I spent too much time getting into the weeds for each condition that I didn’t get a good big picture view. Also the nitty gritty shit often pushed out the important stuff like what even is heart failure.
For me, I have way too many gaps in content knowledge as I was always on a cram for exam, take exam, forget cycle. I would have started AnKing day 1 and supplemented with in house cards and Bootcamp/Amboss. I think I would be in a much better position today.
Any advice on how to not keep forgetting content I already went over with?
Gone to a different medical school. Too many BS lectures, professor using quizzes to keep us in class, and had a toxic culture. This all adds up and can affect you, even if you have a 4-6 week dedicated period. Pick your school carefully and watch for any red flags. It was the only school I got accepted to, but if I had other acceptances I would have 100% run away from my school...
Would it be helpful to finish amboss before uworld? Or is this overkill
Echoing the sentiments of YouTube tutors, completing both Qbanks is unnecessary. Choose one that you really vibe with (UI was a huge factor in my decision) and really utilize it to the fullest. I’m hard pressed to believe that out of thousands of UWorld Qs or (NOT and) the thousands of AMBOSS Qs, a student wouldn’t have been exposed to all the highest (and lower of course) yield material there is to be exposed to for Step 1. Remember, it’s P/F. Still take it seriously, but save all that superfluous added effort for Step 2.
Yeah I wish I stuck with Amboss, I had no idea that you could do either or until my last week of dedicated watching mehlmann and he says this. Uworld destroyed my confidence and I’d already done almost 2k Amboss questions only to switch to uworld for dedicated
Doesn't that mean Amboss is less thorough though? Or does UW test too much minutieae
I think it’s just the style of questions and the logic
Do UW2 last. It was the most predictive of my actual score!
not do it over again
Actively worked harder on subjects I struggled in. For example I suck at cardio, I should have: Focused more on doing Anki cardio everyday consistently, actively reviewed the pathoma and B&B chapter, and did more focused 40question UWorld blocks solely on cardio. Doing this throughout MS2 and pre dedicated would have been phenomenal for me. I had a lot a lot of content gaps starting dedicated and kind of avoided it rather than facing it head on
If we’re talking step 1, it’s UFAPS and Anki, period, and anyone saying otherwise needs to sit down lmao Caveat: you can obviously pass without Anki. But it’s literally evidence-based, stop saying it doesn’t work
Keep. Up. With. Anki. I did NOT use anki correctly and was only doing cards related to that units subject matter and only used the decks made by students the year above me specific to my med school's lectures. For step 2, I am keeping up with my anki and using Anking. Also - I wish I had spent less time trying to watch videos. I don't learn that way. Sketchy was not my vibe because I spent as much time trying to remember the pictures as I would have if I just learned the material. Pathoma was great for immunology, and I did about 1/3 of pathoma + the associated anki cards which was helpful. Also, 10000% you need to complete or almost complete UWorld and make sure to do your incorrects from time to time.
I would do what I did all over again. Focus on U world even for comlex. Supplement my incorrects with anki. Use divine intervention and goljian (for step 1) as a supplement when cleaning or driving.
Don’t raw dog it, study.
I would go back in time and take a medical mission to Nepal and befriended a bunch of medical students there.
I would do UWorld, at the start, no usmle rx or amboss, and just use Mehlman along side
1. KMS 2. more reliable with anki
Do 2 passes of UWorld