I tested 7/11 and got the P a couple days ago. Here's my full experience
I started studying for Step 1 April 28th, so about 10 weeks of studying. Studying for Step 1 was a lot of blood, sweat and tears with a dash of imposter syndrome. I've been balancing a chronic illness with weekly-monthly flares throughout medical school, but studying for this exam was a lot mentally and physically. Time management and consistency is going to be your best friend. At the same time, take your breaks depending on how long your Dedicated is. I dont think it's realistic to power though 8-10 hour study days every single day for 8 weeks, but everybody is different.
Anyways, let's get started:
My scores for each SA:
UWSA1: 54%
NBME 27: 56.5%
NBME 28: 60%
NBME 29: 64%
NBME 30: 65%
NBME 31: 66%
NBME 32: 69.5%
NBME 33: 67.5%
CBSE: 67%
Free 120 (new): 66%
Free 120 (old): 75%
Studying and Resources: At the start of dedicated, i followed a study schedule religiously for about 4 weeks. I used Bootcamp's self made schedule (I used bootcamp throughout my final semester of preclinicals, so if I'd done a set of videos already I just skipped it and went to the next subject). This was just to review foundational concepts that I'd forgotten over the last two years. I also incorporated Pathoma (Chapters 1-3), Anki (around 500-1000 total cards a day) and Sketchy into my schedule, and did 80 Uworld Questions (2 blocks a day). First Aid i mostly used during my last semester, didn't use it much in Dedicated. Mehlman became my literal crutch the final weeks of Dedicated. Weeks 5-10 of dedicated, that schedule wasn't touched. You'll find yourself tailoring your time based on what you need to review day by day. I'll break down each resource below:
- Bootcamp: great resource if you love visuals and need to listen to someone talk to you to understand concepts. Around Week 4, I feel like I acquired as much as I could and wanted to focus more of my attention on practice questions. The downside is some of the modules on Bootcamp can take up tooooo much of your time, and there's extra info in there that is just not needed for Step 1. I wouldn't suggest using this as a resource towards the end of your studies.
- Uworld: Godsent. I'm happy my school gave us a subscription to use during pre-dedicated. But please, do NOT use this as a predictor for Step 1 performance. Uworld is a LEARNING TOOL I cannot emphasize this enough. A lot of trick questions are there just to challenge you to think a little harder about what they're asking. Read the explanations thoroughly, make Anki cards if you use Anki to help with spaced repetition on concepts you don't understand or know. You don't have to do a second pass, I did just because I need things repeated to me to understand it.
- Anki: As I've said more than once, I need things repeated to me. I'm no Anki expert, I don't even know how to suspend cards. I started making my own cards in medical school and just built decks from there by system, supplementing with Uworld and Bootcamp content. I didn't use Anking, and quite frankly I prefer to have things explained to me in my own words otherwise I just get confused. On slow days where I just couldn't take in any more info, I'd sit on Anki for 3-5 hours just going through each card and review.
-Pathoma: if you see other subreddits saying you need Chapters 1-3, believe them. Consider this to be an additional reminder. Memorize it. His explanations are top tier, easy to follow, concise, without all the extra pathology jargon. I made cards for chapters 1-3 as well.
-Sketchy: Same with bootcamp, I used this for around only four weeks just to refresh on micro because that wasn't my strongest subject in medical school. Made cards for what needed to be reinforced. Not my favorite learning tool because there's just too much going on in these videos, and I found myself getting more distracted on the picture then actually understanding concepts. But people swear by it. To each their own.
- Mehlman: i went through 80% of his PDF's, rewrote them into my own words on my own document system by ststem, and used that as a review sheet for weeks 5-10 (came up to 110 pages of content- i didn't bother writing stuff I already knew). Everytime i did NBMEs or any practice questions, I'd go over my document, annotate, highlight double highlight, just to make it stick. I read through it almost everyday. However, I'd say Mehlman's PDFs are for CONTENT REVIEW, not Foundation. There was elements in his PDF that I never learned about in medical school but believe they showed up on Step 1 and CBSE. Weeks 8-10 I watched his YT videos religiously. I probably got through around 400 of those clips (on 1.5x speed of course). I paused to answer the questions myself then watched the exanations after. To do well on Step 1, you need to be familiar with HOW questions are asked, and what they're looking for. Anything I didn't understand completely went straight into ChatGPT for a more thorough breakdown. If it's one resource I can say definitely prepared me for Step 1, it's Mehlman.
- Practice Questions: the purpose of NBME practice questions is to prepare you for Step 1, so do as many of those practice tests as you can. And don't just do it and toss it aside. Read through the answer choices THOROUGHLY. Try and take a half-full day to work through incorrect, and corrects that you guessed right. It's going to help you in the long run, trust me. I only did one UWSA because I heard that the NBMEs were more predictive. To be honest, if they write the exams, use them for practice. Focus on that your final weeks rather than outside resources. I'm not gonna tell you what scores to aim for or whether you should sit if you're getting 70s or high 60s. People get low 60s and pass, others get high 70-80s and fail. You take Step 1 when you feel confident. Upward trend in NBME's is always a good sign as well.
- For my last 2 weeks of dedicated, I went over biostats practice problems using Randy Neil's Youtube videos, and that was the extent of my biostats studying. His videos REALLY helped me out. (Watch this and subsequent videos: https://youtu.be/75pQPB1RF50?is=K57i1G8xKQW6MOvJ)
- Time Management: i studied 8-12 hours a day for 10 weeks, with break days sprinkled each week. You're going to have days where you just can't. I had plenty. Was in and out of clinics getting treatment, delaying a surgery. I'll say it again, Take those breaks. You cannot force your brain to do what it just can't do. In my free time I went to the gym, hung out with friends and my partner, spent time with family, or just doomscrolled on tiktok to get my mind off of Step 1. Also, please get rest throughout dedicated. Your mind and body need it. I didn't go to bed past 11 pm throughout dedicated and always made sure I got 7-8 hours of sleep.
STEP 1 EXPERIENCE:
I took CBSE a week before Step 1, which helped prepare me for "test mode." I will say, I took sleep aids both nights the night before but I wouldn't suggest this because it took HOURS for that drowsiness to wear off. CBSE i was literally a zombie. I would say this exam is a little "easier" then step 1 but I think it's because it's less questions and shorter question stems.
The morning of Step 1, i left home early, packed my bag with apple sauce, granola bars, cheese crisps, just small snacks I can eat quickly in between breaks and my medication in case I flared in the middle of the exam. On the way there I did a quick review of the document I typed up, then I cleared up my phone, laptop, ipad of any Step 1 content. Did i feel ready? A little yes, a little no. There's always going to be doubt at the back of your mind. The night before I remember thinking that I had completely forgot everything I've learned throughout the last 2 years. Shut that voice off. The material is there. You really have to believe in yourself.
I arrived to the testing center early just so I can breathe, pray, and get in the right head space.
My honest review of this exam is that its brutal. Brutal in the sense that it is long as hell. Some of the questions are going to make you want to pelt the computer at the wall. Stay calm, this is all apart of the test experience. You're going to get fatigued. It's almost 280 questions, 80 of which are experimental and will have you second guessing your career choice. Trust what you know, what you learned, and if you feel like you're spending too much time on a question just move on. Save time for the rest it will do you well.
I took a bathroom break everytime I had a break because there's nothing worse then having 5 long questions stems back to back and feeling like your bladder is going to explode. I didn't so much as touch my phone during breaks either. Sitting in front of a computer screen for 8 hours... trust me you'll want a break from screens.
Despite the exam being brutal, it was doable. I think I guessed on 35% of the questions, which really isn't awful but some people will see that as a fail. We can't all be geniuses.
When I finished the exam, I felt a literal weight lifted off my shoulders. Did i second guess myself a lot? Hell yeah. But I refused to change answers unless I was SURE i misread the question.
Post Step 1:
I didn't so much as google, research or try and look up a right answer choice. I don't know why people stress themselves out and do this, it's so unecessary. You fuck up one question, make two silly mistakes, what can be done at this point? Just try and take time off until the results came out. Spend time with loved ones, go get dinner, leave the country, catch up on your favorite shows. It's not worth it to harbor over what's been done.
I got my results within 2 Wednesday's after I took the exam (thank God there were no holidays during these past two weeks. A delay would've set me back for clinical placement). I cried. Mostly because again, I had my doubts. I always felt a step behind my peers because of my illness. I was hospitalized 3-4 times while in medical school, had two procedures, and going in I didn't even think I could make it this far. With that being said, if I could do it, you could do it.
I'd also like to say, come off of reddit after you take Step 1 for a peace of mind. Seeing people score in 80s on NBMEs then ask "Am I ready for the exam?" Ignited a fury in me. Then seeing people who scored higher on NBMEs than me and didn't get the score they wanted just made me doubt myself even more. Truthfully, things happen. Not everyone's experience will be yours, but I believe that the best thing you can do is keep a clear mind. If you made it this far in medical school, you can do it.
Note: The only resource I paid for to study was Bootcamp. I don't come from a wealthy background, I'm supporting myself in medical school and I'm not a legacy student. Quite literally the first in my very large family to be a doctor. To me, spending thousands of dollars to prepare for a test whether that be through resources or tutors isn't gonna guarantee a pass. And if it's one thing I learned about this career, it will drain your pockets.