M3 advice on Step I preparation

[Cadusma]

Source: http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/osa/faq/USMLE.htm

M3 advice on Step I preparation: (9/9/03)

USMLE STEP 1 Study Materials

You'll find that, like the MCAT, etc., Kaplan dominates the market. But other company's stuff can be really good (e.g.First Aid as the almost universally-recognized best source of concise info for step 1, NMS practice tests many think are closer to the real thing than Kaplan QBank, etc.) I can only comment on what I have used or heard a great deal about, which is what I'm doing here.

I feel that if I had some of the Step 1 material SOONER our M2 year could have progressed a little sooner. Personally, I felt that when I bought my Kaplan books and audio supplementary lectures (Webprep), I felt that I understood things much better as the material helped me to see the bigger picture and served to help integrate various concepts that I hadn't throughout classes. If I had one thing that I could have done differently for M2 year, I would have gotten my Step 1 stuff earlier..

Many students feel that they need:

+core study materials
+other material to help supplement & present the info (e.g. classes, audio lectures, etc.)
+practice tests & question banks, and
+other miscellaneous [very] concise review materials (e.g. 1st aid or step up, recall books, etc.).

I'll give a bit of info about each one of the things that I know about:

CORE STUDY MATERIALS

Many use Kaplan sets for this. Basically there's a few different sets of books that Kaplan releases (cost b/w $500-1000 new), but many students feel that all of these sets contain similar information, just organized and presented a bit differently. There's Lecture Notes (although you definitely don't have to get/use their lectures to use these, as the name is a bit of a misnomer.. the books are straightforward to use by themselves and many if not most students end up doing just this), Home Study Review books, and various other sets. I've heard that really the major notable difference b/w the different sets is the degree of information in them -- some have much more details than others. For example, I've heard that this is true for the Home Study & Organ Review books (even though the Lecture Notes may appear bigger, they have a lot of extra space for taking notes, etc.). The Lecture notes are outline-based, whereas the other read more like concise review books. There are pros and cons for each style: the concise outline format can be quicker to get through, but sometimes the ones w/ more info & detail may allow the material to be understood & remembered easier, more complete, etc. But I've heard some students complain that they take a little longer to get through, though, which can be a problem the closer you get to the exam.

Most students say that Kaplan "pretty much only changes the cover and organization" b/w years. Obviously you don't want to get something from 1969, but as long as it's a version that's from the past few years, you should be fine (in fact, there may be less than 100 word difference total b/w a slightly older year and 2003). In fact, when I compared 2003 versions to older versions page-by-page, I literally found nothing after 15 mins of doing this.. so, the advantage is that it's a whole lot cheaper to buy books slightly dated, but on the flipside if you enroll in a live-lecture course you'll get a set included.

I met only a couple students who used Princeton Review core books.. I remember them saying that they liked them early on, but haven't heard from them or anyone else using them, since.

Some students I know will opt to not get any commercial review book sets,and go with the same material they used for classes, e.g. textbooks, lecture notes, etc. The advantage here is they you're already familiar w/ the material (which could be a disadvantage too if you eventually become kind of desensitized to it).. and that this will save you a couple hundred bucks. But many students are hesitant to do this b/c they feel like it won't be concise or thorough enough w/ covering the wide range of topics for step 1 (and you can always turn back to old texts, coops, or review books as a backup if you feel a topic isn't presented well in a commercial set). If the going-it-alone option might be for you, you probably already know it and know who you are (if you really feel the lecture handouts, coops, your notes, etc.. will be good enough). But I'd say the vast majority of students that I ran into used SOME sort of commercial review books.

OTHER RESOURCES TO SUPPLEMENT/PRESENT THE MATERIAL

You'll have to eventually come up with a good regimen for studying, whether that's now, in jan., or closer to the exam. Some people opt to go it individually (w/ kaplan books or their own, etc.), some sign up for classes (e.g. kaplan intense prep), and some feel very good using supplementary resources (e.g. kaplan webprep audio lectures). Take into account how the 1st couple years in med school have been for you -- if you've enjoyed the structure of going to class and made most, then this may be option for you. the cons, though, are time (some say it's hard to study at the end of a hardcore 9 hr day when the test is just a few weeks away). If you didn't go to class much, then obviously the individual or audio/visual supplemented approach may be more flexible for you.

As an example of the supplementary-individual approach.. I personally used Kaplan Webprep audio along with their set of books. I really felt that this was awesome for me as their audio lectures correlated perfectly w/ their books, and times that I was getting tired this would keep me into it, etc. plus I felt that this was much more time-efficient than going to class all day long and still having to just start to crack the books at night. In fact, when I started using the webprep audio/Kaplan book combo for classes 2nd semester, I felt that it helped me tremendously, and in retrospect, wish I had gotten them earlier..

Money, too, is a factor for some.. most commercial live lecture courses are $1000+ (not even counting practice tests/question banks).

PRACTICE TESTS AND QUESTION BANKS

I've heard many students say that regardless how you choose to study for step 1, you want to be sure to do a lot of questions. As many as you can before the test. Questions are always an active way of learning, as with reading texts you can become tired, passive, etc..

Kaplan has a huge amount of questions in this arena. There are, however, alternatives, which I'll try to talk about too. But all together Kaplan probably easily has 5000+ practice questions. There is QBank (2000 Q's, ~$250), probably one of the most popular prep resources for step 1, which is an online-only resource w/ questions, images, etc.. many people say that if you hammer away at these and finish most of them off (reading & learning the explanations), that while they might not be the exact style as the real step 1 exam, they will certainly help tremendously in practice & learning. Kaplan also has their new, more integrative, clinical Integrated Vignettes, which is very similar to Qbank but in a slightly different style (1200 Q's, also ~ $250). These two q-banks are extremely popular among students (IV being newer and still not as popular, though). Kaplan also has the Q-Book, just a regular old book with ~ 850 questions in all the subject areas. I think it only comes w/ purchasing their course, but you can always buy an older one from another student. Kaplan also has questions snuck away in their various sets of books (lecture notes, organ review books, etc.) - I think all of them. They also have q's in the form of practice tests (similar CD's, diagnostic, etc).

I actually went through the nightmare of printing out most of Kaplan q-bank & iv q-bank. I'd never heard of anyone else ever doing this.. and I guess I found out why (it was a HUGE headache, and basically killed my printer in the process). But I felt that it was really great to have - doing the online stuff hour after hour can really become tiresome, you feel that your eyes are burning out, etc. but the coolest thing about having printed versions is that you don't have to be around a computer w/ internet access to do them - you could be in a library or coffee shop and still do them, etc. if you don't wanna go thru the hassle of printing them, etc., just use another set of questions that's printed (e.g. Kaplan Q-book, lecture books, Princeton review questions, etc).

The NBME releases a practice exam that many students say is similar in STYLE to the real exam. Definitely get a copy of this and do it somewhat close to the exam. There is also "NBME Retired Questions," which are actual past questions but really old (e.g. <1990). Students I talked to, and myself, found these to be too easy, not integrated / clinical enough, and kind of a waste of time.. but I know that some liked them better, too..

NMS also releases a Step 1 practice test book & CD-ROM w/ about 800 questions. If you talk around, a heck of a lot of students say that they find these Q's are the most similar to the real thing, even more than Q-bank. I would have to agree with this. While Qbank was a good learning tool, sometimes the questions were a bit picky w/ details (not necessarily difficulty), while the NMS stuff was more similar in style and content to the real thing. Their explanations are good, too - not too terribly detailed. oh,
and regarding the Kaplan q-bank stuff, I've heard some say they thought it was a lot harder than the actual thing and I've heard some say they thought it was easier.


Board Simulator Series - I can't remember how many Q's there are w/ this one, but I know there are a lot, too. I started w/ these but quickly kinda opted to focus on other stuff, so I can't say a whole lot here. I just know that the major complaint about these is that they're good, but can be far too picky compared to the real thing and take a long time to get through.

Then there are still other practice test/qbank options (e.g. A&L book w/ 1200+ Q's, Princeton review stuff, medrevu.com online stuff, etc..). I can't say a lot about these, though.

OTHER MISC & CONCISE REVIEW RESOURCES

Basically you're probably gonna end up w/ a huge stack of step 1 prep books (whether it's Kaplan, your old texts, etc.).. and this can be overwhelming. Many students find it EXTREMELY useful to have one very concise and broad review book hitting the major points from the different subjects. Some even take extensive notes in the book they choose from the other review materials that they're using.

By far the most popular book at all for Step 1 would probably be First Aid. Although it has other sections (strategies, scheduling tips, blah blah) it has about 200+ pages of high-yield info for the different subjects.. that many students feel is darn good, considering the brevity. In fact, the book has progressed thru the years by students writing in w/ their own mnemonics, Q's they remembered seeing, etc.. bottom line, this one is popular. I myself remember two questions on my exam that were STRAIGHT out of it..

I've heard people like a book called Step-Up to the Boards (or something like that). It's more of a text than first aid, so it kinda hits different areas. I've been told Step-up kind of integrates everything you've learned in the first couple med years w/ brief chapters on each integrative topic, but that it can be a bit risky before the exam as it can take some real time to read.

A week before my exam, I ran out and bought a book called USMLE Step 1 Recall: Buzzwords for the Boards. I heard it's a good book to try in the days before the test.. which I would have to agree with.. it's really straightforward - quick questions & answers. You definitely wouldn't use this to learn from, but in the days before can be a good resource for when you start getting burned out..

I've heard a good number of students recommend re-reading BRS Path before the test. I did this and felt that it helped - there are things that you definitely notice this time around that you never did before (or at least, never understood as well and just kinda memorized).

The Underground Clinical Vignette book series can be good prep for Step 1. it's written by the same people who make First Aid, so there are references in First Aid for them. I know some people really loved these for step 1, I wasn't a huge, huge fan but they were good. I used them for M2 classes as well..

(end M3 advice 9/9/03)

[Anonymous]

Thanx for this lenghty /detailed TYPE up, it appears you are trying to give the best advice you can. I thought i would share MY 2 cents.


I think FIRST aid is the KEY.....in my exam i found atleast 60-80 straight qs RIght off the first aid............ YES 6O-80qs ( no kidding)

one thing is missing here is GOJLAN audio lecture and his notes.(if you know Goljan well... I bet you will not miss a SINGLE qs in pathology )
Intrestingly Goljan covers some genetics as well as biochemistry topics.

The best practice test in my opinion is kaplan Q bank

The best Bookz for all subject is KAPLAN

NMBE exams are good ..on line NBME test (Almost exact replica of real exam..offcourse diffrent sets of qs)

I do conqur with M3 experience of type up.

Good Luck :P