Strategy for preparing for USMLE Step 1

[ray farrell]

I am in school in the DR and we go year round without a break. Taking a quarter off to prepare for the USMLEs is not an option.
I am only in the first quarter and hope to prepare for the USMLE utilizing the following strategy.
At the end of this semester in the 2-3 week bread I will go over the subjects covered utilizing various videos ie. Kaplan, Pass and CDs with questions, books ie. First Aid etc. that I have.
At the end of each successive semester. I will again review all material of previous semesters plus that of the one I just completed.
Closer to the exam time I will use Qbank to do extra questions.
I invite comments on this approach to preparing for Step 1 which I hope to write after basic sciences.
Any helpful suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

[md90]

that is the good strategy.. what I would recommend or suggest to you: integrate your class notes into First Aid, and study from that.. also if it's financially feasible to you, I would highly recommend two other books: Goljan's Rapid Review: Pathology and Step Up; do the tommyk questions..

in the end.. you should be able to see signs or hear signs, and know what differential diagnoses, lab tests, treatments...

[jameslynton]

I would highly recommend two other books: Goljan's Rapid Review: Pathology and Step Up; do the tommyk questions..

I agree on those two books - I do have a few more suggests for both books and methods.

Books
Kaplan - paper Q-bank
Lange - paper Q-bank

Method - in the above two books do 50 block questions every day. The Kaplan is by subject with two tests per subject area - the Lange is 50 questions at random. This gets you use to doing questions - After you do the questions review the answers. Make a hit list of things you missed in the subject area and research them in your courses. Also the Made Ridiculus simple series has a Step one with 1000 questions on CD as does the Goljan Path book. Do questions in these books also. The BRS books also have questions. Do these as you go along with your courses.

I read where a student did this at school and the USMLE was less difficult to prepare for. Many people say the best test prep is to get it the first time...

[ray farrell]

Thanks for the responses. Any more suggestions are also welcome.

[md90]

seriously and honestly, don't get too many review books..; If I had to do basic sciences over again (I don't, thank goodness), but I would have only two review books: First Aid and Goljan's pathology. Then the rest would be the textbooks required by the school and the notes provided by the instructors. I concentrated so much of my energy in "fixing" my test anxiety.. that it just made it worse during the exam... Find a study plan that works for you, and stick to it... everything else will fall into place....

That is what I'm doing now... and am learning that I understand the material, and I do get mixed up in my concepts and it's okay (I'm not perfect even though I try to be)... medical school is hard work, and if you put in the work, the benefits will show...

good luck to you...

[jameslynton]

MD90 has a really good point about "test anxiety" - you have to have to know how you learn and do on tests. If you have issues in learning -There are professionals who can help you learn better. I am not in medical school yet - however, I have done over 1,000 Q's in the q-banks, practice tests and am doing pretesting so I know where I am weak for class. I am also plotting how long it takes me to learn a new concept. My statagy is to do the best I can do in basic science along with making sure I integrate all the information.

BTW - I am a dyslexic - my biggest concern is spelling and words that are similar that I may confuse on tests.

[ray farrell]

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I look at some questions now and I am overwhelmed to a degree because I haven't taken the courses but as I go along I will step by step try to understand the material in a wholistic way seeing how it all fits together and will use my review material at the end of each quarter and day by day to build up to the exam. I don't get time off and there is no live Kaplan course available here in the DR. I have lots of material to prepare with and I like the advice that it is a good idea not to get too many review books I have First Aid, Goljan Pathology, Brs Pathology and Goljan USMLE and other stuff so hopefully I have enough in that department. I have a bunch of CDs and an extrahard drive with Kaplan stuff. I hope I will be able to get it together. MY BIG CONCERN IS NOT BEING ABLE TO TAKE OFF 3 MONTHS TO JUST REVIEW!!

[lilymarpr]

Hi!
I was wondering if anybody has used or heard about Peter Morrison USMLE Secrets. I'm thinking of ordering the book but the only reviews I've read are the ones posted on his website. Is it worth it?

[white-rose]

I was wondering if anybody has used or heard about Peter Morrison USMLE Secrets.

Thats a good question. I was also wondering the same thing. I hope someone has got the book as I would also like to know is it just how to prepare or does it also have study material in it.

I have just started preparing for USMLE and I was wondering if anyone else was feeling that in order to do well in step 1 you should have a good clinical knowledge? I feel like many questions are case based. Can someone please correct me if I am wrong because this will help me in the way I prepare.
Thanks!

[jameslynton]

...heard about Peter Morrison USMLE Secrets. .... Is it worth it?

Save your money - it is not worth it. All the big secret is a way to take a multiple choice tests and make an educated guesses. Spend 50 minutes with a good q-bank you will see his method is worthless. They meaning the test designers factor this method into the test design. Is that worth the price of the book. I think not - Yea, when I was starting out a year ago - I got his MCAT and USMLE secrets - I wasted my money. But like the man who took off his clothes and jumped into a catus patch - I thought it was a good idea at the time.

You can find methods to do multiple choice tests in a good library. Save your money for review books with question banks (q-banks). You can get good used Kaplan, Lange and other q-banks and Robbins reviews. Also you can download megs notes on how she studied for the Step one. These methods have been followed by many students successfully - are they quick and dirty - no - they take time and structure. Hope this helps.