MY STEP 1 EXPERIENCE 254

I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them. Pablo Picasso
GRADUATION YEAR (2013), Done with STEP 2 CS & STEP 1
Exam: July 23,2014
Score report : Aug 13,2014
Preparation time: 8 months
Resources Used:
1) Kaplan Lecture notes (for all subjects except pathology)
2) Pathoma for pathology (Excellent study tool; enjoy it with its lectures)
3) Kaplan video lectures(for all subjects except pathology)
4) First Aid( annotate all important points on it,I found it really boring but its elixir for STEP 1)
5) 100 cases by Conrad Fischer
Additional books (optional)
1) BRS physiology
2) High yield Neuroanatomy
3) High yield Biostats
4) High yield Cell and molecular biology (few topics)
5) Goljan audio lectures
Q banks:
1)U world (most important study aid,do it thoroughly,ONLINE mode is recommended)
2)Kaplan Q bank(Solved it offline)
3) Usmle Rx (incase one has time, helps with retaining First Aid points)
ASSESSMENTS:
NBME 2,3,4,5,6,7,11,12,15 (solved offlineon a periodic basis to gauge my learning)
ONLINE exams
NBME 13 250 (2 weeks out)
NBME 16 250 (1 week out)
UWSA1 263 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 2 265 (2 weeks out)
REAL DEAL 254
IMPORTANT
1) Number of reads does not count. Do 1/2 good readsthoroughly and make concepts.
2) Annotate every important point on First Aid. It is time consuming but is fruitful ( I tried to stay
away from First Aid as much as I could but ended up doing it anyway)
3) FA & Uworld ( most important but not a substitute for knowledge base,do Kaplan lecturenotes)
4) Solve as many questions as possible ( I loved solving questions from whatever source I could get
my hands on)
5) Exam day is the most important. Stay calm & manage time(I got a bit stressed in 1 or 2 blocks
and got very simple questions wrong in agony)
6) There will be ups and downs during the preparation. Try to relax and enjoy the journey.
All the best!