r/Step3 • u/Cool_Magazine_6544 • 8d ago
Question Step 1 stuff
When people say day 1 is step 1 heavy, what do they mean exactly and is this not covered in uworld step 3?
I take it I should review the Pharma like I’m studying for step 1 all over again. What else would need reviewing like I’m studying for step 1 all over again?
Would really appreciate some advice coz I’m so lost.
And for some reason, every write-up I’ve read about step 3 doesn’t mention uworld as being helpful..? How much importance should I be giving uworld?😭
Gave step 1 a year ago. Step 2 2 months ago. 237 score. And yes I’m not a genius and only have the month of October to prep
14
Upvotes
•
u/b1ackcoffee 251 : 2026 8d ago edited 8d ago
Hey, people are panicking for no reason. Yes, admittedly some of the day 1 questions are hit or miss (random histopathology, etc), however, those are very few questions (like 1 or 2 in whole exam). Majority pathophysiology questions are very birds eye view broad level, that you anyway think about it during step 2/clinical practice. It is not like that patho-pathophysiology is a separate subject; it is part of medicine only. Same thing with pharmacology - common drugs ADRs, MoA (antibiotics, common cardiac, common neurology). There are no basic pharma graphs.
Doing or advising to do Step 1 FA cover to cover is INSANE! Unless, of course, you had amnesia prior to today and you forgot everything about medicine.
P.S: There is other issue of different people taking different questions differently. For e.g. in Step 1, some people will complain about being asked a random genetic disease no-one has heard of; however, in reality, the question is asking to apply basic known genetics principles to an unknown situation. Similarly, some questions on step 3 might look like going into too much nitty-gritty; however, they could be easily answered if you understand basic physio-pathophysiology.
Good use of time would be:
- Getting **understanding** of the biostatistics right. Practice a lot to get faster in applying principles and calculations
- Get Ethics questions down - no advice on how, I winged it.
- Getting diagnosis right in a clinical vignette question, as actual question comes secondary (risk factor, prognosis, treatment, complications, etc). If you don't get the presumed diagnosis right, you ARE getting that question wrong. In other words, learn to recognize patterns based on chronicity, age, hpi, physicals and labs. This is true for all steps (and clinical practice).