USMLE Step 1 Experience Isma Nusrat Javed (Score 254)

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 it’s 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 it’s 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 offline on a periodic basis to gauge my learning)
ONLINE exams
NBME 13 250 (2 weeks out)
NBME 16 250 (1 week out)
UWSA 1 263 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 2 265 (2 weeks out)REAL DEAL 254

IMPORTANT

1) Number of reads does not count. Do 1/2 good reads thoroughly 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 lecture notes )
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!

Isma Nusrat Javed