Developmental Milestones are HY for the USMLE Step 1

[USMLEbloggerMike]

Developmental Milestones are HY for the USMLE Step 1

Questions I saw while preparing for the USMLE would often give the amount of blocks stacked as an important clue to figure out how old the child is

A formula that may help you to guess the age among the multiple choices
(AGE in years) x 3 = blocks stackedI doubt that you will have to rely on the amount of blocks stacked alone, but rather as a piece of a larger picture in real life and therefore also on the exam.

Other Clues:
Something I dreaded trying to memorize were the ages of different milestones. Childhood and adolescent milestones are often easier to guess at but infants just seemed much harder for me.

Some sources list so many milestones in tables it was daunting to have to try to cram that in a brain filled with a lot of other stuff that seemed more important for a 2nd year medical student.

I figured I would make myself an easy way to actually REMEMBER it for answering questions. It wasn't all inclusive or exact, it was a little silly, but it worked pretty good to weed out wrong choices. Again, if the below works for you - awesome, use it.

I admit some are a stretch (for example, making a 12 look like a baby laying on its back is no easy task), but at least you can draw them yourself and maybe it will stick this time!

So without further adieu...

Mike's Milestone Chart


(click the image to make it larger)

Each age (in months) is written in a different color on the left. Then, on the right is the sketch that may help you to remember the milestones - the number in the sketch and the number written in the left column match so you can see where I stuck it. I used dark blue in each row to add the "fluff" that makes the numbers represent the different milestones.

In the "7-9 months" column I also included the pincer grasp, even though its normal for a child upto 12 months to not have one. 12 is also looks more similar to an 'R' than a 9 does, which is also nice.

[unknownunknown]

Thanks man. That's an awesome picture and good hy notes.