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Updated: May 20, 2020
This post includes:
How to study for Step 1?
Study material
How to memorize everything?
How did I study after being out of school for more than 2 years?
How much time does it take to prepare the exam?
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β’Uworld qbank x2 or 3 times
β’First Aid x4 or 5 times
β’Pathoma videos
β’Anki flashcards
ππππ ππ ππππ ππ πππππππ πππππππππ: β’Kaplan and Board & Beyond VIDEOS for subjects that you donβt understand β’100 cases Anatmy shelf notes β’Sketchy medical (If you memorize with photos/ stories this might work for you. They sketch a story for every microbe, pathology, drug, etc. itβs impressive how they do it. I didnβt do it on my preparation, but a lot of people recommend it.) β’Golijan Audios are very outdated (like 20 years old) but is so funny to listen to this guy, you can find his audios for free online. And listening to him while your are walking/ exercising is very fun, he makes tons of jokes, it's like listening a Stand up comedian, but you are learning USMLE! lol
πππππ ππππππ ππ πππ ππππ πππππ ππππ: β’Amboss Qbank β’Kaplan Qbank β’USMLE-Rx Qbank
ππ πππ πππ πππππ ππ ππππππ: β’Use USMLE material to study for your classes β’Make sure that you always review the material in First Aid while you are studying that unit in class.
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β’Itβs VERY important to understand every concepts, do tons of questions, discuss the topics, take notes.
β’Once you start doing question after questions you will see that most of the concepts are repeated, so please UNDERSTAND them all!ππ‘π² ππ§π π‘π¨π° ππ¨ π«πππ π π’π«π¬π ππ’π?
β’First Aid is so compact, itβs the USMLE bible, literally has it has 95% of your exam. But itβs not just about memorizing it! Itβs also understanding every concept.
β’I would recommend to go over FA about 4-5 times.
β’I assure you that every time that you read it, YOU WILL SEE NEW CONCEPTS, that you never saw before, new things will appear like magic every time your read it! And make Ankis about it!
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β’Uworld is not just a qbank, it EXPLAINS almost EVERY USMLE concept.
β’My recommendation is to start almost from DAY 1, yes, start Uworld ASAP, and do it 2-3 times during your preparation period.
β’Donβt worry about the %, how many right questions you are getting. WORRY ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS!! β’Your first pass will take you about 6-8 months (Maybe less, maybe more)
β’Then do it again in like 3 months, and one more time during you FULL TIME DEDICATION PERIOD RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EXAM, CRAM UWORLD IN 3-4 WEEKS!!
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β’Dr. Sattar explains everything exceptionally good!!
β’There might be like 2-3 errors in his videos. But everything is so well explained, and so HIGH YIELD.
β’His book is good, yes. But his videos are FABULOUS!!
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β’Anki is a platform that you can make your own flashcard.
β’If you got android it's free, also computer version is free, and for iPhone is $25 dollars, but trust me, itβs worth EVERY PENNY!!
β’You can put photos into your flashcard, different colors, and even audios.
β’You can also download otherβs people flashcards, but I highly recommend to make your own cards!!
β’Soon I will show some examples on how I did my Anki cards, I made over 2,000! I will make a word document out of them and give it out. I canβt yet due to copyright reasons, but soon I will have mines available! π
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1. Watch videos
(Kaplan, Bnb, etc, even Youtube has a lot of great explanations!
2. Grab the book and read it from there! (Eg, Kaplan books, High-yield books)
3. Discuss everythig new that you learned with your friends.
4. Make/ join Whatsapp group.
Share questions with them and discuss!
I would call some friends at like 1 am after I finished my studies, while walking back home from the library, just to talk about the topics that we learned during that day. β’I canβt stress this enough, itβs SO IMPORTANT to discuss concepts and share questions with your friends!!
β’There are tons of people studying for step 1 that can become your virtual friends!!
β’I actually made a lot of friends during my preparation, with some of them we even met in person and became my best friends.
β’What you are doing is not just STEP 1, itβs a journey, the USMLE JOURNEY. You will meet a lot of friends that will accompany you all along your journey! π
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β’Very hard to answer. β’It can go from 6 months to 2 years. A lot of people will lie to you, they will tell you: "I prepared STEP 1 in 2-3 months and got a great score." Donβt believe them, they either prepared for it all along their school years, or they are only mentioning their dedicated period.
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β’We will face tons of problems, stressful situations, during our preparation. Itβs very important to keep going, if you are facing a stressful time, try to do at least 5 questions a day or something. But donβt stop for a long time, because then itβs very hard to come back.
β’Thatβs why I recommend also making your own Ankis. I had a lot of problems/ situations during my USMLE journey. I had to stop a couple of times. But I felt like even if I forgot a topic, I had it on my Anki cards, and it was easy to review and remember it again.
β’You can read some of the problems that I faced during my USMLE journey and how I overcame them on π π π¦ππΌπΏπ post
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β’You will find TONS of bibliography for STEP 1. Try to stick to what works best for you
β’What Iβm describing is π΅πΆπ» π»π―π¬ πΆπ΅π³π πΎπ¨π to approach STEP 1 of course
β’There are many many ways, Iβm just posting my recommendation! πβ’Really study hard and deep for STEP 1, don't rush trough it, even if they change to PASS/FAIL system, π
π πππ πππππ ππ ππππ πππ ππππββMost of it's concepts will be repeated in STEP 2 CS, CK, and even STEP 3! Learn it once very good, and you will learn it forever! π
πΌπ© πππ§π¨π© ππ© π¬ππ‘π‘ ππππ‘ π‘ππ π ππ©'π¨ ππ πππΎπ, specially if you graduated a couple of years ago from medical school. How did I start my Steps preparation?
β’I started my USMLE preparation after 2 years after finishing medical school. And 5-6 away after I took my basic science subjects at Med School. Eg, Histology, biochem, etc.
β’I felt like I was starting from CERO, literally from CERO. But after reading, studying, discussing topics, watching videos, things will start to sound familiar, and you will start to memorize and improve more and more everything.
β’I recommend to start from the subject that you like the most, you will get more into it from the beginning and stay motivated! Eg, I started from pathology.
(Most people would leave patho for the end, I would just tell you as I mentioned, start from your most favorite subject!)
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Soon I will post how to study for STEP 2 CK and STEP 2 CS.
Good luck everyone, keep studying hard and pursing your dreams!! π
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πππ πππ πππππππ ππ ππππππππππ πππππ ππ !!
My idea about creating www.doctorsebas.com is to put everything that you need for USMLE together in just one place, so you don't waste precious time going crazy trying to find something, and instead use that time to study, work or do more productive things :)
Love you all,
Sebastian Arruarana, MD Fb: Doctor Sebas Instagram: @doctor.sebas
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