I’m back after a looooong break from writing things on my website. This time its good news. Let me build up to the news slowly.
I would like to thank my mother, father, forums, seniors who contributed to my success in all possible ways.
I started my final year in medical school as an intern in march. I came in late from my vacation in the US. I finished my step 2CS while I was there in Atlanta on Feb 9 2010. I then started my prep on 15th of Feb 2010 for step 1 and have been preparing ever since.
Let me write down the names of the books to be used subject wise-
1. Pathology – Goljan Rapid Review 3rd Ed, Robbins Review of Pathology 2010 Ed
2. Pharmacology – Kaplan Pharmacology, Katzung review of pharmacology 2010 Ed
3. Physiology – Kaplan Physiology, BRS Physiology
4. Microbiology – Kaplan Microbiology, Clinical Microbiology made ridiculously simple
5. Biochemistry – Kaplan Biochemistry
6. Immunology – Kaplan Immunology
7. Behavioral Sciences – Kaplan Beh Science, The Kaplan Daugherty videos, BRS Behavioral Sciences, 100 cases in ethics by Dr. Conrad Fischer
8. Epidemiology – Kaplan Beh Science, High Yield Biostatistics
9. Anatomy – High yield gross anatomy, High yield embryology, High yield histology, High yield neuroanatomy
10. Genetics – Kaplan Biochemistry, High yield cell and molecular biology
11. Question Banks – USMLE Rx(100%), USMLEWorld(100%)
Now here is how I went about reading all this –
Feb-2nd week of June – Finished reading all the material once as mentioned except Robbin Review. I had my long medicine, surgery and KEM Obgyn rotations during that time. So it took me that much time.
By mid July I finished Robbins Review of Pathology and finished revision of Immunology from USMLERx and the text book. My 2nd revision was with this question bank. The advantage was that as I was reading the material the 2nd time I was able to notice what was important and what was not with the help of the qbank and hence I didnt read the less important things the 2nd time and saved some time on that.
Also I applied for my step 1 by end of July to prevent delay with the processing. It is a very easy process which is done on IWA on ECFMG website.
I finished USMLERx by mid august and by then finished reading all that was important according to this qbank. The major advantages of my 2nd read –
1. Knew what was important – highlighted them and read them 2nd time thoroughly(around 80% of material)
2. I read the explanations of all the question irrespective of them being right or wrong and flagged some for future review.
3. USMLERx explanations have First Aid material printed into the explanation so I didn’t have to read First Aid separately.
4. Annotated my books with what was not there and newer concepts and mnemonics. This is one reason why one should go for online banks and not solve the printscreen ones as you get to know what is latest.
Next I subscribed for USMLE World. It was very difficult as compared to what I had read and what I faced in the real exam but it surely boosted my confidence. I used only timed 1 hr blocks and that too with unused questions. I used to only annotate my books when new information would come up. I never did the 3rd full revision with USMLE World as it would have been a gross overkill. I read all the explanations sincerely and thoroughly. I finished the USMLE World questions by 20th of september and by then I was quite confident of my subjects. I did all the flagged questions of both the qbanks over 3 days period during this time.
The advantage of doing USMLEWorld –
1. Difficult questions which creates a challenge.
2. The scorellators online can correlate your scores to the real exam quite well so you know where you stand.
3. Added a 3rd dimension to my study which consolidated what is important permanently in my head.
20th september onwards I started reading the material which I had annotated namely –
1. All anatomy books
2. Goljan Patho
3. Kaplan Pharmac
4. Kaplan Micro/Immuno
5. Kaplan Physio and BRS Physio
6. Kaplan Beh Sciences and BRS Beh Sciences
7. Kaplan Biochemistry
I read only highlighted and annotated material. I finished all the material 4 days prior to my exam date 6th October. I simulated the real exam by solving all the blocks of the USMLEWorld self assessment form 1 and 2 in one go. I left out the 1st block so that I have exactly 7 blocks to complete. I suggest everyone to do that so that you have a fair idea of how to cope up with the pressure on the exam day.
I reviewed the forms on the next day and last 2 days reviewed FA for a quick overview.
The night before the exam I slept at 11 and on the BIG day I woke up at 6:30. I had a nice bath and said to myself – “if this much hard work can’t get you 99 than nothing else will – Go out and show the world what you can do”. I had a light breakfast and I packed 2 tiffins, coffee, apple for the exam.
During the exam I skipped the tutorial as I had already reviewed the material online from USMLE website. I did 2 blocks on the trot. Then I took a stretch and pee break. Then I did one more block before I took my mini meal break. I finished it in 15 minutes and went back in to do 2 more blocks on the trot. Then I cam out for my long lunch break. I finished it in 30 minutes. I washed my face and went back in and did one more block. I came out and had the coffee and apple I had got. Then went back in and finished the last block and survey and left at 4:00 PM(I still had 1 hr of break to go). I had no time crunch ever and finished most blocks 10-20 minutes before time.
Now I would like to discuss some questions which often people ask me
1. Why not Kaplan for step 1 anatomy– I say read both high yield and kaplan and then ask me the same question. High yield material is millions of miles ahead in anatomy
2. For KEM interns preparing for steps the best posting to do major studying – OBGyn-Wadia, Ophthal, ENT, Anesthesia, Psychiatry, Ortho, Malaria surveillance.
3. The most important subjects after experiencing the entire process of reading, solving questions and taking the final exam – Patho, Pharmac, Behavioral Sciences, Physio, Genetics, Micro, Immuno, Anatomy, Biochemistry
4. Which question bank was best – both, I say solve both. The kind of confidence you will get after that beats anything one gets after reading material only.
5. Can one take this step in 3rd year – sure. A little more hard work will be required but its very manageable
6. Please please be very very confident of PATHOLGY. Follow exactly as I said and you shall be fine.
7. You can buy all these books from bookstores around KEM Hospital, Mumbai. Also read the article before this about step 1 book list listmania on amazon.com . You can buy it from there as well.
8. Do not solve offline banks. They are not up to date. USMLE is
My final scores – with correlations
USMLE Rx – 82% = 260/99
USMLEWorld – 73% = 255/99
USMLEWorld Self Assessment forms = 250/99
Real score – 246/99
GIVE FULL EFFORT AND THIS EXAM SHALL BE A PIECE OF CAKE FOR ALL OF YOU. BEST OF LUCK
this blog is also good
Welcome to my website :-) 
congratulations on your brilliant score !! 😀 very well laid plan buddy.. .. as you said “if this much hard work can’t get you 99 than nothing else will” proved right & u did score !
thanks for the book list, tips & exam experience.. didnt know that usmle rx n uworld should be taken early.. and both..
if you were at home and studying full time.. how many months do you think it would take to prepare for the exam ?
good luck !
Thanks man for all the compliments. I think around 2/3rd of the time I spent shall be enough if you are preparing at home doing nothing else other than just step 1 prep.
Nice read dude… am giving both UWSAs today… fingers crossed!
I hope u do real well… Counting on you to get awesome scores… I am a huge fan… So live up to expectations… Ok :))) Best of luck (Predic-99/274)
lol… lets see… got 265/800 and 263/770 in the self assessments… scores r nice but still loads of room for improvement… only 1 week to go!!!
dude that is awesome…n they closely predicted my scores…245 and 255 tha…so 246 mila…dont worry dude…u will do well…
That was a brilliant score.
Got your link from prep 4 usmle forum 🙂 I had some query-
You are not recommending Kaplan anatomy ? And did you watch the kaplan videos?
When is ur step 2? DO put in your prep plans and schedules!!
Thanks
Thanks 🙂 The kaplan anatomy is quite superficial and dull. The books that I recommended and read were high yield series and they are definitely a notch above kaplan in case of anatomy. Also I only saw Behavioral Sciences video. I would recommend only that and if u have lots of time on u then u can see the other videos as well. But Behavioral is a must. I want to finish step 2 by feb 2012. I will put in my prep plan as soon as I get done with it. Thanks for the comment.
Vitruvianmedico
All the best for your Step 2 preparations though I am wondering why are you giving so late when you have finished your CS 😀
and have a great score in step 1 !!
I will definitely heed to your advice and go for HY….But I like videos 😀 they give me the filling that I am listening to a teacher !!! 😀
Thank you.
Great 🙂 I will take it in February as I don’t graduate before that anyways. Also I am the 1st from my batch to have finished 2 steps. So I am actually quite ahead of my peers. Best of luck 🙂
Hi. I came across your website from prep4usmle. First I’d like to congratulate you on your score. I have a question about the length of the questions on the actual exam. I read that they changed the format of questions in may 2010 so that now all questions are clinical based. Because of this, they also reduced the number of questions on a block from 48 to 46. So i wanted to ask how lenghty were the questions you found on the actual exam? Were they similar in length to the Uworld qbank and NBME questions, or were they much longer? Was every question like a paragraph long? Or were there some shorter questions about 2-3 lines? Your input would really help me because I’m getting close to take my exam, and this question has been bothering me a lot. Im not sure what to expect. I hope i dont get any bad surprises on the exam day :s
Hello,
Very pertinent question. The questions are mixed in length. But as far as I and most of my friends are concerned. We never had problem with time. I finished most blocks at least 10 mins before time. All said this was not due to preparation for the test but rather the size of the questions. There were on an average 10 question paragraph long and 5-6 2 liners and rest were in between. Hope this helps. Best of luck 🙂
Vitruvianmedico
Thanks a lot for your response! So do you think the Uworld qbank questions are about the same length as the questions in the actual exam? Im asking about Uworld specifically because Uworld is my main question bank used while studying.
Very similar in length but easier in difficulty as compared to UWORLD
thanks once again. You’ve been a great help! I hope you dont mind if i refer to you for some help while studying for step one from time to time 🙂
Not at all 🙂 I hope you do well. Which medical school are you from and which year do you graduate
gud work!
thanks 🙂
AWESOME!
that was very comprehensive, a very good plan, something that works for me!
thanx
I am glad I could help
How much importance does USCE carry to get a good residency? I am a 2nd year student as of now and I am planning to take step 1 at the end of 3rd year. Meanwhile I was looking to go to US to do some electives and clerkship work done for about 2 months. But that will cause problems for me in college with regard the attendance and stuff ( Yeah my college really sucks related to attendance). So is USCE worth it?
Hello Saad,
I am happy to see the determination so early in your career. There are no fixed number of months one should be doing but more is always better. I did 8 months. But if you do 3-4 it should be fine. Try and get rotations with well known people so that the letter they write will be valuable to you. Please go through other posts in the doubt section to know about places and requirements. Best of luck.
Vitruvianmedico
Thank you so much Avirup! I’m really looking forward to use all the guidance i can get from this website. I have actually ordered the books you listed for Anat, biochem and physio from amazon and hope to get it pretty soon. But i didnt order the books for the 2nd year subjects i.e patho micro and pharmac as i still have to read the standard textbooks for it first. Or do you think its better if i read the USMLE material along with the textbooks? And when do you think will be a good time for me to take step 1? Also i forgot to mention that I actually have a US green card. So does that give me an edge if my scores are decent?
Oh and your recent post on USCE cleared all my doubts, Again thanks a lot. And keep up the good work!
hello Saad,
I am happy to hear that you are using my website in a productive way. The way to go about reading the material is 1st finishing off your second year books fully and then supplementing the USMLE material with it. Also if you are going to do the USMLE material in the respective year of study then no harm in watching the Kaplan videos along with the books. It will make reading less boring and would add a new perspective to the study which will help you remember things better. You should wrap up step 1 by mid 3rd MBBS if possible which will help you get electives at good places easily. Having a green card will definitely help your cause and would place you favorably in front of all residency programs as most programs prefer not sponsoring VISA as it is a little bit of a hassle for them. Best of luck
Vitruvianmedico
You really make it seem so easy along with your presentation however I to find this matter to be really one thing that I think I’d never understand. It seems too complex and very wide for me. I’m taking a look ahead to your subsequent post, I¡¦ll try to get the grasp of it!
wish i could make it simpler… it isn’t 🙂
… could u tell me wch forms of nbme simulate d real exam.. m planning to give 2.. thanks
always go with newer one and also i have heard on forums about 4 being the one which most people take. But to exactly tell 2 numbers is pushing your luck too much. Do other resources well as well. Best of luck.
Vitruvianmedico
how accurately does uwsa predict scores for the real exam.. different forums tell different stories.. what is the current experience for those who took the exam recently? any ideas???
my uwsa 1 550/230
uwsa 2 640/247
my exam in 1 week
i have this dicrepancy in my score when i took both on the same day..
plz reply.. thank you!
good scores. the correlation is not the best but it definitely tells you that you will be +- 10 of max you got and the least u got. Knowing its 230 and 247 the odds of getting very low or very high is low. Also how you do on the day of the exam will matter but I will not break my head over prediction. I would just reviewing material till whenever is the deadline making sure that you don’t have a steep fall.
Best of luck
V
thanks a lot for the reply!
Hi,im planning on giving d step 1 sumtym in oct/nov 2013.i went thru ur blog.i needed to ask dat after doing the kaplan notes do v write all d imp points in FA.And do v have to knw everything in d kaplan notes??
No right way of doing it. Whatever way helps you remember.
Hey,
Im a 3rd year student in India looking to start prep for step 1. Do you recommend joining a coaching institute? The chopras have a few coaching options with their tie up with kaplan but it is a little expensive. But im willing to join if it is worth it. What do you suggest?
I would suggest reading from the kaplan books. Classes for USMLE are waste of time. If you are not confident after reading kaplan and doing usmleworld 2-3 times over then I suggest taking classes. These classes are very expensive. Best of luck. Hopefully this opinion helps.
V
Hello. I am planning to give my first step in final year. I am currently a third year student, I have not started with research. Do they consider it in your application if it does not get published? Will a high step 1 score suffice lack of research experience ? What if you dont get LORs during electives. Would my CV be accepted at all in match?
Yeah unpublished but submitted papers are useful and can be mentioned. Unfortunately ERAS does not let you write about unsubmitted work. Step 1 score is not a substitute for research but Step 1 score is important for sure. I would try to get LOR during electives and most professors would write you one but in general you need 2-3 LORs for application plus one from the chair of medicine in your medical school and also a deans letter in ERAS application. There is no way of uploading CV directly and you have to fill the online form of ERAS.
Thanks for your question and best of luck
Thank you so much 🙂 also I wanted to ask is it possible to not get matched at all even with a good score? If you apply earlier for the match is there a better chance of being selected, point being, if I am doing my electives till august, will it be too late ?
Never too late to apply. Just apply by september 15. Pls it only takes 1 day for letters to upload.
Alright. Thank you soooo much avirup!!
Hi Avirup! I learned something new today. A couple of my friends told me that you have to do your electives during your internship so that you get a research/clinical elective, oherwise you get an externship which is not good and does not help your CV much. Is this true ? Didnt you do it after your internship?
Your friends are right. There used to be multiple places which let you do elective after finishing internship and before getting degree. I am not sure about that now. It has been over 4 years since I did that. The value of the rotation is based on what you make of it. Best of luck. V