Step 1 is one of the foundations of the USMLE exam, and how seriously you prep for it will heavily determine your scores on steps 2 and 3.

I passed my step 1 in October 2022. I will share my strategies; I do not think there are major changes in terms of resources.

I would like to divide this preparation phase into two parts:

A) Foundation

The goal of this phase is to make a strong base of all subjects included in step 1.

  1. Boards and Beyond videos—This is by far the most comprehensive material to strengthen your base with conceptual learning. Dr. Jason Ryan is an excellent faculty member, and there are no words to thank him enough. The way he explained each and every detail will help you understand things from their root level. If you plan to take your step in the third year of medical school, you should finish all videos by the end of the second year. You don't need to memorize everything precisely; just make sure to understand the basis from those videos.

    Do not make lengthy notes from B&B videos; as I said, it is just to start with your step 1 journey, and you don’t have to revise those videos either.

    Thank you, Dr. Ryan!

  2. Pathoms—It is basically a book and videos tailored to pathology. You can skip pathology in B&B, as everything about this subject is covered in Pathoma.

    Do not skip even one video of it. Watch the video and read it from the Pathoma textbook. Understand and try to remember specific buzzwords for each disease explained. This will help you recognize things in the UWorld.

    Thank you, Dr. Sattar!

  3. First Aid—This book should be your love while you are preparing for any USMLE exam. You should not hate this one at least. Very comprehensive book that covers everything you need about step 1. Read this book at least 4–5 times thoroughly, and understand each word. Yes, each word!

    Now, when to read first aid

    The first time while watching B&B, just get an overview of where all the topics are given in first aid and try to correlate things with what you learned from B&B videos.

    The Second time after finishing all videos of B&B

B). Question practice

  1. After B&B and Pathoma, start solving the UWorld question bank. I have made a separate blog about how to solve the UWorld question bank. One of the important things here is to annotate the most relevant information in first aid. Do not annotate information from B&B in first aid; otherwise, you won't have any space to annotate things from the world.

    The third reading of first aid should be during UWorld.

  2. NBME and UWorld self-assessments

    Try to attempt all the latest NBMEs available on the website.

    Stimulate the similar exam environment while giving the exam. Take the same amount of the break between the blocks as you are planning.

    The most important thing is to review them thoroughly. Give yourself dedicated time to read every line of explanation.

    Make sure to make notes from those NBME explanations.

    Ex. —>

    No hepatosplenomegaly + cherry red spots (in glycogen storage disease) —> Tay-Sachs disease

    Let’s say, you got your question wrong —> then write down wrong answer along with above line, such as W—> Niemaan-pick disease

    In this way, at the end of all NBMEs, you will have one line for all NBME questions, which you can actually revise the day before your exam.

    Try to recognize and understand the pattern of questions. You will mostly have the same pattern of questions in the real exam.

  3. Your last self-assessment should be FREE 120, which mimics the real exams for many applicants. I am not sure which score is a good representation of passing the real exam, but anything above 70–75% is good.

Subject-specific resources:

Anatomy - Board and Beyonds, UWorld, First aid and If you have so much time, then watch Kaplan; otherwise, the first two are just enough.

Physiology—Board and Beyonds, UWorld, First Aid.

Biochemistry—Dirty medicine, Uworld, First aid, B&B

Pathology—UWorld, First aid, B&B

Microbiology - B&B (All Infectious Disease) : Dr. Jason Ryan will teach you how to find buzzwords from question stems & to choose the correct answer. Uworld, First Aid (Read micro from FA 15 to 20 times.)

Pharmacology—UWorld, First Aid, Lippincott's Pharmacology Book (in the starting phase), and B&B

Biostat—Dr. Randy Neil videos on YouTube are so good (watch all videos), First aid, B&B, and UWorld. Biostat review course

Ethics—Dirty Medicine, Uworld, Amboss, Fa, Dr Conrad Fischer book (100 cases for ethics)

Psychiatry - B&B, Uworld, Fa

CVS, Endo, GIT, Hematology, Musculoskeletal, Psychiatry, CNS, Renal, Repro, and Respi—all these systems are given in B&B. Watch them and then go through UWorld.

The end goal is that First Aid should be at the tip of your tongue!

Summary:

  1. Start with B&B videos and Pathoma along with reading First Aid.

  2. Then UWorld QBank

  3. Followed by self-assessment with a thorough review

Let me know if you have any questions.

Wishing you all the best for your step 1!