THIS REVIEW WILL BE QUITE DETAILED , BEAR WITH IT AND IM SURE IT WILL DO U GOOD.

Got my score today 250 . ( surprised ! considering the fact that I had left out Qs in the main exam
and I made an ample amount of idiotic mistakes .

I took countless wrong steps during the course of my preparation and during the exam .so I took time
to write all that I wud hv done differently and what I think is the best approach to the exam [ opinions
may vary subjectively ]
First of all, I unfortunately screwed up the main exam by taking an unauthorized break ( I had to go to
the wash room and I ended up leaving out a few qs in that block ) ,After that my brain went
completely numb in the subsequent blocks in which I committed many dumb mistakes[ like I answered
a question thinking p wave represents ventricular depolarization!!!! ). ,
But I can assure u getting above 250 is not so difficult provided u have proper guidance .This is the
most important aspect of ur preparation (which most of the imgs completely lack ) ,not how many
books u hv read/how many times u hv read them , Im sure most will just advice Kaplan ,pathoma
/golijan, first aid ,u world ,but its better if u hv good tutoring to know exactly how to go on. Not until
the last 4 weeks I started having an idea about what is actually being asked in the exam
In the end ,Im very glad I chose usmle (Im an IMG ) as I studied very little in college and Though I
passed I didnt have a clue about most concepts . Now Im confident I have a strong foundation and
Im positive the rest of my journey will be lot easier .
Materials used;
1] Kaplan ,only books (these are outdated ,it does more HARM than good, the risks entirely outweighs
the benefits , instead of wasting time on this , u can revise FA a few more times, OR just find out which
chapters to read,-for example in genetics first 4 to 5 is enough/micro completely unnecessary-I read all
those resistance mechanisms for each drug and in the end Qs asked were straight from FA- I left these
books in the middle and Im glad) I tried watching those video s but I didnt find them convenient.
2] golijan .[good book .but not ideal for step 1, its hard to extract a clear concept and contains a lot of
low yield stuff which will dissipate at least 2 weeks of ur time .If u have already started it leave out
those topics that are given in another book like immunology ,genetics etc ]
3] u world [this the most imp source.. only after doing this one will know what step 1 is actually about.
Its NOT for assessment, no one scores high at the start, this is like another book emphasizing the
topics that are likely to be asked . My advice is to start this asap (after ur 1 st read),I did this once but if
u have no other qbanks , do it once more .
4] FA.[ gold standard. step 1 IS first aid, I was told that this is a revision book_ to be read at the
end.no!! start this at the earliest opportunity, the more grip u have on this book the better, you will be
able to categorize high yield from low ,I used to keep reading golijan and learning investigations

,treatment etc most that is not needed, after starting first aid I was surprised how well it correlated
with u world and nbme qs ,I ended up reading this only once but I wish I had done it a few more times
.
5]. BRS BEH SCIEN. Qs from the LAST four CHAPTERS = I wasnt aware of this book until the last
week . It was quite supportive in my view . ] 100 CASES OF ETHICS : didnt come in handy .
6] NBME = this is an assessment AND a source, gives u some of the favorite topics of the examiners .
do as many as u can)I took a few ( 5) in which my scores were the following =
(I ve also given my performance profiles so that youll have an idea how to proceed)
A] Nbme 11 [ 5 months before] = 220

B] Nbme 17[ 5 weeks before ]

=238

C] Nbme 15 [4 weeks before] =242

This is when I realized how imp fa was.so I starting reading only fa,

NBME 18 [ 10 days before ] = 251

After this nbme I did as many Qs I can find on BS;

Nbme 16 [3 days before] = 262

P.T.O
INITIAL PREPARATION =
If u r an IMG , it is better to take step1 asap after graduation. Avoid wasting time for the reason that
taking the exam near to the graduation will fetch u few extra points .
I was told that Kaplan and golijan are the main books for step 1,,so I wasted so much time on the
topics that werent even remotely asked ,this are the materials I wud recommend;
1 .Microbiology = u world + f a more than enough
2. Pharmacology = f a (+ u w)
3. Immunology = f a + u w
4. Anatomy = f a + u world (but read important topics in standard books because no buk covered all
that was asked in the exam, know normal CTs well) neuro anatomy = f a (is enough in contradiction to
general conception ) also u world +cross sections in Kaplan ; embryology = f a enough
5. Biochem = FA + u world ( u may need Kaplan if u dont understand initially .. but for the exam qs ,
fa wud suffice)
6. Physiology = for exam f a + u w. But its better to start with some other book [brs, kaplan] and do it
quick once
7. Pathology =u world + f a + pathoma [I flipped over pathoma a few topics and it really is sufficient ]

8. Beh sciences and statistics = this is most crucial for an img because we all have somewhat an idea
about other subjects .if u wanna score high ,mastering this is a must, do as many Qs u can find..
7 psychiatry = fa {gunshot} + u w ( Kaplan is completely a waste of time )
8. Ecgs and heart sounds = net .Dont neglect this, this is an easy scoring area .
During your early prep , best is to first analyze first aid properly and later absorb it. After doing u
world , try to know everything related to the concept that were asked in u world. ( also refer wiki and
youtube for the topics u find difficult) . Reason to f a and u world topics only, not for each and
everything .,because I used to try finding reason for everything but looking back now ,I feel that it
had consumed a lot of time nor any of them were of much help . it is recommended that you create
mnemonics on a few vital topics ( ex : congenital adrenal hyperplasia ) to save time in the actual exam
. also take sufficient breaks now and then but not for too long ( not more than 2 days cause step is all
about integration and trust me youll start forgetting once u loose that touch )
2ND HALF OF PREP =
My advice is to start doing Qs asap (uworld/nbmes) and do as many as u can owing to the fact that
even though u know the concepts well , the examiners will find an unfamiliar way to ask you the same
concept . (Regarding q banks , u world is enough in my perspective ,if u can afford it go for usmlerx or
Kaplan). Make sure u know the high yield stuff and give less significance to the low yield. .i went on
reading whatever I can like a moron , instead I could have perfectionalized important topics ,and
remember what ever u study there will be Qs u cannot answer in the main exam ,so dont screw up the
Qs u can answer,.. Plan the preparation so that youll have finished nbmes till 12/13 2months before ,
dont worry if dont get good scores initially because u wont / imgs arent use to the Q pattern,. .by
doing Qs youll get to know what/how to study, and u will never make the same mistakes again;
NBME are very important to access your progress . As u can see in my NBME performance profiles I
needed much improvement in BS . I even lost a few marks in the real exam . Originally I didnt think
BS needed much effort until I took these exams. So take an NBME early , analyze your weaknesses
and work on them .
And no NBME is highly/lowly predictive to the actual exam . Some might emphasize on your weakness
and others on ur strong areas . So attempting various nbmes is hugely recommended ( you might get
straight Qs from it as well )
The last 2 months of study is the most critical component of your prep . Efficient utilization of this time
will tremendously improve your scores . I fumbled for some time during this period as many of my
friends who were preparing for other exams were getting in to specialities and I still had a long way to
go. I even attempted few other exams .please dont do that , just keep in mind that all of this is worth
it ,focus only on ur exam and nothing elsedont let anything stop you from reaching ur goal .
I only wish I had revised fa and uworld again . I was just fed up with this study I just wanted it to be
over . its better to postpone the exam if u are unsure .
The toughest time of my whole study was the last 1 week . I had no idea what to do or study .had I
done FA a few more times , this time wud have been sufficient for the final revision . so I winded up
utilizing only 3 days of the last week . During this interval I did my best to completely de-stress .
DAY BEFORE=
Just go over things that you are prone to forget, some revise the entire F A in around 6hrs. If u can ,do
it . If u are like me, just revise the forgettable ones. .stop reading early since u dont wanna burn out

ur brain the next day. Having good amount of sleep is very very important as you might have to
ponder considerably in the exam and a half awake brain will get u half wrong
EXAM DAY=
i had only 2hrs of sleep the day before even though I had stopped reading at 11 am. So, I drank a red
bull and went to the exam. This was the biggest mistake I made ,,,,, which led to a series of
unfortunate events as mentioned above .After doing around 4 blocks I was so pissed off, I just went out
and took a 40 min break straight .then I just shut out everything , came back and did what I can ( my
breaks ended up in an awkward fashion [ 1st and 2nd blocks continuous ; unauthorized during the 2 nd ]
then 2min-5min-40min-5min-10min.So have an ample amount of sleep and do not hesitate to take
breaks when required .
Try to be early I scheduled my test at 9am, but I started my exam 7:30 !
The exam pattern is very similar to U WORLD (Q length , format , time etc ) in fact I even felt as if I was
doing u world (I donno about the new format ) . The weightage of subjects vary day by day , so pray u
get good amount of Qs from ur strong subjects . Remember in the exam, youll surely come across a
few Qs not given in FA/u w. dont freak out, its the same for every1,some are experimental and use ur
prior knowledge to rule out a few other.. Avoid making stupid mistakes , and mark the option that ur
brain tells u 1st , u must have read it somewhere, dont try to reason with it. I changed to incorrect
answer for around 5 to 6 Qs , and avoid chewing over the doubtful Qs as I had around 10 15 min
remaining at the end of each block. Just doing right the things u know is enough to secure a high
score..! In the end its not about how deep your knowledge is but how well u can rule out the wrong
options from the right .
Its totally normal to feel like shit after the exam . Just forget about everything and relax . Your score
has already been decided . So no point in worrying about it .
Final verdict = limit your study to what is important and master it, the syllabus for step 1 is limited
compared to other exams . They test the topics that they think u must know and ask those repeatedly .
l know people who read all kind of books and ended up with 220s and a few who confined their study
to the star resources ( but revised them numerous times ) & scored above 260s..
Try evading the mistakes I did .All the best ,,