Here is the email I had promised to send with my strategy. So after your
exam is over give it a read and then don't think about it again until the
spring!
I know the time is quickly approaching and the school puts a lot of
pressure on you guys which turns into hysteria amongst the secondsh year
class. So hopefully this will help settle your nerves and come up with a
good plan.
First off if you are a textbook reader/studier this is not for you. The
only text I read during 1st and 2nd year with any consistency was Lilly
during cardiology. I like and look for lists, outlines and pictures.
So my approach was I bought First Aid and during the spring semester read
about 10-15 pages per week. That will take you maybe 45 minutes - at most!
The only reason I did this was for word recognition (oh the kidney I
remember what that is!) and to settle my nerves and feel like I was doing
something. I did not memorize anything and I did not write anything down at
that time. By doing this it also tells you what is in first aid. When you
begin reading it you will quickly realize that there is not a lot in first
aid - it's bare bones. So that is all I did during the year. Study for your
courses it will help you with the boards.
Once school ended I decided that for 6 weeks I would put life on hold and
studying for the boards. I'm generally a busy person so I had to limit
myself to one non-studying activity per day. To give you an idea of how
strict I was with my self Wegmans, getting gas or the gym all counted as an
activity. So if I did any one of those things I did nothing else that day
besides study. However, I planned one day off per week (Sunday for me) and
every weds night off (to go to LH) so I had breaks (or time to catch up). I
also put 2 flex days in my study plan. Flex days are work days with no
assigned reading so that if I'm behind I can catch up. I did 1 day at the
end of 2 and 4 weeks. This helped me catch up without freaking out because
I did end up getting about 1 day behind at the end of 2 and 4 weeks. So
like in medicine those are your lifestyle modifications for board study.
As for what and how long to study daily this is what I did:
I picked one book for every subject - that is all you will have time for.
Don't think that you will read one book and then maybe use another for
referencing things you don't understand - YOU DON"T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!
This is how people in my class got into trouble. The list of books I used
for each subject and comments on them are listed below at the end of this
email.
Once I had gathered all my books. I took out a calender and I took each
book, looked at it and made a decision on how much I could REASONABLY read
in one day plus do UCV's and QBank questions and wrote it on the calender.
The UCV's (underground clinical vignettes) are very short and easy - a good
evening activity. So I would pair them with the book of that subject and
assign a certain number to be completed per day. Examble of schedule is at
the end of this paragraph. The other task everyday is to do Q Bank. Q bank
is key to your success. You should always, always, always do them mixed up.
It just makes sense. The real test is mixed and if you are reading
pathology that day of course you are going to get more questions right if
you do just pathology questions in Q bank because its fresh in your head.
Now this means that in the beginning of your studying you will be doing
VERY poorly on Q Bank. Don't be surprised if you get a 35%! You haven't
studied most of the material yet it's OK! So you need to do at least one
section (50 ?'s) everyday (because that's the format of the real test). I
tried to alternate on weekdays and do 2 sections every other day. On
Saturdays I would schedule in the whole morning (4 sections) to help build
up test stamina. Its a long test! But your study schedule will help you
prepare also.
So this what I would write on my calender:
Day 1 BRS Path pgs 1-88, Pathophysiology UCV book 1 #1-45, 50 Q bank
Questions.
Day 2 BRS Path pgs 89-160, UCV book 1 #46-90, 100 Q bank questions
Day 3 BRS Path pgs 161-240, Pathophysiology UCV book 2 #1-30, 50 Q bank
questions
And on an on…. for each book until you get to the week before the exam.
Plan out everyday this carefully and you will not get behind.
It is an 8am starting exam so that is when I started my day. I was in my
study spot seated and ready to read at 8am on the dot. Not leaving the
house, not parking the car etc. I would read and take notes (see next
paragraph on how to take notes) until noon with a 10 minute bathroom/snack
break. Then I would eat lunch for 1/2-1 hour. Then read again from 1pm to
3:30. I found that was sufficient to accomplish my assigned reading daily.
I would then do 1 or 2 (depending on the day) 1 hour 50 question q bank
blocks. Then I would check them. After that I went home ate dinner and did
my one activity for the day. After dinner I would do only light studying
the UCV's or Flashcards (see next paragraph for thoughts on flashcards). So
that was the schedule 5 days a week. Then Sat I would do 4 blocks of
questions and then read a half day with no evening studying.
As for the actual studying. You will have every intention of making
charts, study sheets & flash cards. YOU DON'T HAVE TIME! if you are
stopping that much through your daily reading you will never get through
it. However, I also understand that if I just sit and read I don't really
pay attention. So the solution to this is First Aid. Use it like a work
book. As you're reading flip to the relevant section (ex. the cardiology
part of the physiology section while you are reading the BRS Cardio
Chapter) and anything you deem important that is not in first aid (which
will be a lot) WRITE IT IN. So at the end of your reading period (1 week
before the real exam) you will have a complete Step 1 study manual which is
a compilation of all your review books, first aid, Q bank answers and
UCV's.
What I did over that last week was I took one section of first aid (ex:
biochemistry) and read it straight through all in one day no matter how
long it took. The purpose of this was so I saw everything in that subject
together (for comparison/reference) all in one day again right before the
exam. Then the last day before the exam I went over a list of things I know
that I always forget and just need to see one last time AGAIN (like I will
ever remember it after the exam!?!?) as well as did my flashcards again.
Try to have a low key day and get a good nights sleep before the test. The
worst thing you could do to yourself is be tired for this exam. On the
subject of flash cards as mentioned above you do not have time to make them
yourself. The only two subjects they are useful for is micro and pharm. So
I bought the BRS Microbiology and BRS Pharmacology Flashcard sets. They
were worth every penny. DO NOT buy the BRS Pathology flashcards they are
too easy and do not have enough info.
Now for Q bank. Do the questions as described above. Treat it like the real
exam EVERY TIME. Q bank has two parts: regular and IV q bank. IV is more
clinical (translate to MUCH EASIER) so it is in your best interested to do
every single (4,000) regular q bank questions first and do IV when you need
a little pick me up/ego boost. Another place where friends of mine got
bogged down is in the answers. The Q bank explanations are generally good -
but long. So if you got a question right assume that you either knew it or
could figure it out again. Read only the ones you got wrong or totally
guessed on and got right, taking note of what you learned from them your
first aid "work book" for future review in your last week. I also when
starting q bank always selected the question option "all unused and all
previously wrong" That way you get new questions you have never seen and
they mix in the ones you have previously gotten wrong until you get it
right. Its good re-enforcement - if you can't learn it hammer it in!
Full length practice test. This is very important. You need to know how
long that day really is before you actually do it. Kaplan offers a test.
You can either do it online or you can go to their center. Either way is
fine as long as you treat it like the real test. However, a mistake made in
my class was to do it the week before your real exam. BAD IDEA. People who
did poorly freaked out a week before their exam. So do it 2 weeks before
your test so if you freak out you have time to recover and change your
study strategy. You can also take a test in the real Sylvan Learning
Center. I did not do this it might be something to consider. I think its
like $40 but you definitely have to plan in advance and schedule it with
them.
Changing your test date. DON'T DO IT. People who did didn't do any better.
Unless you have a major crisis that derails studying so badly you can't get
back on track. Llike you miss 3+ days or more remember you should have a
day off per week and 2 flex days built in. On that note, life goes on
during this time. People get married, families have reunions etc. Plan in
these things in your schedule above and beyond your study days and don't be
overly optimistic about getting studying done during these things. Stick to
your plan and don't get behind and you will do alright.
So those are my wise (and long because I'm on a very easy rotation right
now and have ample time to type) words of wisdom. The books I used are
listed below. Remember, pick ONE and stick with it. Also remember which
subjects you were good and more importantly not so good at. The light at
the end of the tunnel is this will eventually end and you will be so smart
and ready to start third year you will hardly be able to believe it!
Good Luck
Supercool MedStud
Disclaimer: This is how I studied and it worked for me but it may not work
for you. Make changes based on your own style. With that feel free to pass
this on to anyone who wants it.
Resources:
1. QBank- It should be required!! Buy it!
2. Kaplan Books- Too wordy, not compatible with my style of learning I did
not use any of them. Too textbook-like.
3. Underground Clinical Vignettes (UCV's)- 9 book series you can usually
buy used or new all together. Good big picture on diseases and good clincal
review.
4. Board Review Series (BRS) Microbiology Flash Cards- Awesome for quick
review, or to take with you places where you might have to wait. ( A
doctors appointment? Wegmans checkout line? treadmill? etc..)
5. BRS Pharmacology Flash Cards- Same as the micro ones - Awesome.
So those are the accessories so to speak, now for the books…
1. First Aid for USMLE Step 1- This is your work book and new best friend -
never go anywhere without it!
2. Medical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple- perfect level for the
boards, excellent pictures and mnemonics.
3. Lippincott's Biochemistry- I am terrible at biochem so I read the whole
book and it paid off for me. However, if you are a little more adept at
biochem classmates of my used and were happy with High Yield Biochemistry.
4. BRS Pathology- excellent. Take lots of notes in your first aid workbook.
5. BRS Physiology-excellent. Take lots of notes in your first aid workbook.
6. BRS Pharmacology- perfect level of depth. Lippincott's (red book) is too
much info. You do not need to know dosing, brand names, clearance etc. BRS
provides you with the generic name, mechanism of action, indication and
side effects which is all you need to know. Also a brief summary of
pharmaco kinetic/dynamics at the beginning.
7. BRS Psych/Epidimiology- perfect level of depth and two subjects in one
book! What more could you ask for?
8. High Yield Anatomy- Any more info than this book is too much But
re-learning the brachial and sacral plexuses is a must!
9. High Yield Neuroanatomy- Dr. Cohan is such a good teacher that you will
learn your neuro so well you will hardly need to review it. So this short
book is more than enough.
10. High Yield Embryology- A must read since we don't have a formal course.
Its short though! But a word of caution there are two editions of this book
you want the longer one that is approximately 130 pages. The other (~ 70pg)
book is TOO bare bones.
11. High Yield Histology- Thank goodness for flex days because I forgot
about this subject. So plan it in. Its a short book.
Happy Reading and Good Luck!
