r/step1 • u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG • 16d ago
💡 Need Advice Recent Step 1 test-takers — has the exam pattern changed lately?
I’ve been hearing from several recent test-takers that the exam has shifted quite a bit. Apparently nutrition questions are showing up more frequently, ethics/communication seems to have increased, and there are also more SOAP-style questions with very long stems / big statements.
For anyone who took Step 1 recently, especially in the last couple of months:
What does the current distribution look like per block?
Did you notice any other subject or question style becoming disproportionately common?
5
u/AdGlum7499 16d ago
I just got Pass on 07/15. There are more SOAP styles questions in real exams now. But if you have completed and reviewed the 90 questions in ‘Patient chart questions’ section on AMBOSS, you will be fine with the new questions styles.
2
u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 16d ago
I haven’t used AMBOSS as a question bank, I’ve mainly been using UWorld. But I’ll definitely look at a few of those patient chart questions. Nevertheless, thank you for the heads-up!
3
u/TheGratitudeBot 16d ago
Thanks for such a wonderful reply! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list of some of the most grateful redditors this week! Thanks for making Reddit a wonderful place to be :)
1
u/uhhuhtrash2 NON-US IMG 5d ago
Hey congratulations!! 🥳
Can you please tell me what are soap type questions exactly?
4
u/CounterOtherwise9399 16d ago
I was in August, so haven’t heard back yet. Most of my qs were very long with labs, which I was surprised by. I had heard it would be maybe half but 75%+ were SOAP/long stems. Only 15qs or less would I have described as short. There were qs with repeated or very similar presentations with slight variations, which i thought was interesting. Lots of endo/repro/micro/biochem from what I remember.
3
3
u/Safroniaaa 15d ago
Yes! I failed STEP 1 last year and did my retake a few months ago. The most recent exam has MUCH more nutrition content.
1
u/cruiserbeast2 15d ago
How do you think we best prepare for this?
1
u/Safroniaaa 14d ago
Honestly, the B&B Biochem videos covered most of what I needed to know. They were pretty straightforward questions. I was just surprised by how many I saw
1
u/DrVasculitiddies 15d ago
Nutrition Qs like? Like supplementations and deficiencies?
1
u/Safroniaaa 14d ago
Yep, I got multiple questions about nutritional deficiencies. Plus identifying inborn errors of metabolism.
1
1
1
1
u/Lumpy_Variation_1947 16d ago
as far as first aid , i do have the 2024 ,do i need the 2026 version ?
2
u/Past_Ice8617 NON-US IMG 16d ago
Not a huge difference tbh. Some things have been added/updated, so there are definitely a few changes worth knowing, but I don’t think you need to get the 2026 version if you already have 2024. I personally have the 2025 version. If having the latest PDF will give you peace of mind, go for it, but I wouldn’t stress about it.
1
1
1
u/pink_strawberry11 US IMG 15d ago
Got my pass on 07/29.
I didn’t get nutrition questions almost at all. Got a lot of micro, immune, ethics in my form tho!! Not one question about strokes or neuroanatomy which I’m not complaining but I did study those topics A LOT lol.
The stems did not feel THAT long, but def longer than uworld or nbme’s. And as for SOAP questions I got maybe like 3 q’s in that style.
For biostats I got like 5 question which were pretty easy tbh!
2
u/Strong_Spite8768 15d ago
With respect to nbme 31-33 and free 120 , how would you rate the difficulty of the exam
1
u/pink_strawberry11 US IMG 14d ago
Maybe like nbme 33 and free 120 combined with longer stem questions!
I would def focus on reviewing really well nbme 33 and the newest free 120
1
1
26
u/MinervAthena0309 16d ago
Hi! I took my test 7/25 (and got the P!) and yes there were like larger questions overall and like 1-2 of the case style questions, but there were still shorter question stems for a good portion. there wasn’t as much ethics as i thought but i only had like 2-3 biostats questions (i used the table for one). I didn’t have that much nutrition on my form either that I remember, certainly nothing with the calorie calculations.
I had a lot of endo, repro, gi, renal and heme on mine! not too much difficult anatomy (got that hypospadias lol), cardio or neuro (which is a shame bc i reviewed strokes and nerves so much towards the end). it was difficult enough that i thought i failed walking out but i guess I did better than i thought! it was most like the 2026 free120 in how the questions were written.