best way for retakers to approach step one?any suggestions?

[felicia]

Any suggestions?

[superoxide]

Originally Posted by felicia

Any suggestions?

My experience:

I passed step 1 last month (203/83). This was my second attempt. Not a great score, but Im happy. So, here is what I did.

I did qbank for my first attempt and took notes on most of the answers. For my second attempt, I annotated my FA with the qbank and qbook answers/explanations. Then I went over it over and over again. I also listened to goljan audio lectures (probably 10 times). I also did Robbins Review of pathology questions (twice). I also did usmlerx qbank. Other questions I did were rapid review pathology questions (150 at the end of the book and 350 from the CD). The 150 usmle free cd questions. After taking my test, I can say that over 1/2 the test could have been answered from FA alone. As for kaplan videos, I recommend the physio and biochem videos. I didnt do them all (for physio I just did renal, endocrine, and cardio lectures and for biochem I just did the metabolism section)..these are the highest yield areas that are usually tested. I should have gone through the anatomy videos, considering that is where I scored on the lower end on my step 1. I listened to the above kaplan lectures twice. so repitition is the key!
I also did all 4 nbme's (form 1 - 2 months before, form 4 - 1 month before, form 3 - 2 weeks before and form 2 - 2 days before) I felt that forms 2 and 3 closely resembled my Step 1 exam.
Good luck.

[felicia]

what is the length of time you used to review each block of Q bank ?did you do kaplan..old or new or pdf.I am doing physiology Qbank as well as usmlerx online..taking my time to annotate first aid...
any suggestions...how long did you take to do your first read of kaplan lecture notes.I have access to the videos as well

[superoxide]

Originally Posted by felicia

what is the length of time you used to review each block of Q bank ?did you do kaplan..old or new or pdf.I am doing physiology Qbank as well as usmlerx online..taking my time to annotate first aid...
any suggestions...how long did you take to do your first read of kaplan lecture notes.I have access to the videos as well

It took me about 2 hours to annotate my FA per block of qbank (I took notes on almost every question). I did kaplan qbank (1 month subscription) I dont know whether it was old or new (I subscribed for it in March 2006). I havent used Physiology qbank (but I have heard from some posters that it was quite good). USMLErx is good as well. Its a great way to test how well you know your FA. The kaplan lectures are (i think) about 160 hours in length. How long it will take you will depend on how many hours a day you put it. If you put in 8 hours day, you could be done in 3 weeks. If you feel you dont have a lot of time, I recommend listening to the Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology lectures (twice)

[felicia]

did you use Kaplan lecture notes and if so ,which ediion?did you listen to kaplan behavioural science video or audio,dis you watch kaplan immunology and genetics video?what did you use for moelecular and cell biogy as well as histology?

[superoxide]

Originally Posted by felicia

did you use Kaplan lecture notes and if so ,which ediion?did you listen to kaplan behavioural science video or audio,dis you watch kaplan immunology and genetics video?what did you use for moelecular and cell biogy as well as histology?

- Yes, I used the Kaplan lecture notes from 2004.
- Yes, I listened to Behavioural Science videos. I dont know what audio you are referring to.
- I listened to the genetics and histology videos, but not immunology/microbiology videos.
- The first couple of chapters of the Biochemistry Kaplan lecture notes covers cell/molecular biology

[felicia]

did you use any of the rapid review series ...?what did you use for neuroscience?
which areas were your lowest in your score report?what would you have done better?
Some posts say OLD IMGS MUST DO KAPLAN Q BANK BECAUSE OF PHYSIOLOGY,PATHOLOGY,PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY.WHAT IS YOUR SUGGESTION?
What was your individual performance in micro/immunology,molecular/histology,cell biology and genetics with biochemistry? also physiology? also gross anatomy and embryology?
what would you do better?

what did you use at your first attempt?...did you use kaplan lecture notes then?what is the difference inyour study for the first attempt and second attempt?what advise would you give ?

[marcus "the gun" pupil]

i vouch for that, i think you are vague with the understanding of your material, now yo need tons of questions to pound it in. Do loads of questions till, u can answer the questions without looking at the answer choice, and you will be fine

[qtncaribbean]

personally i didn't think the videos from kaplan were too helpful (i think i have the old ones) and they took too long to go through them. Just read the lecture notesand look up anything that didn't make sense and try the first aid cases for usmle step 1 ( i thought they were good) and if uhave time go through all of tommyks HY (but understand them, not memorization)