School of Medicine

General Recommendations

Stick to your schedule as much as possible.
Don’t spend too much time on one topic such as anatomy or genetics. Move on!
Do take some time to yourself each day, even if it is only for 30 minutes.
It’s ok to schedule in days/afternoons/evenings off if you have a birthday party/wedding/graduation/family event.
Don’t push the exam back. You will be ready by the time you finish your study schedule.
Do workout/run/do pilates: Exercise is good for the mind! But...don’t start a new marathon training regimen.
Check out medfriends.org: there is a score estimator, which gives you an idea of your score +/- 10-15 points. It is obviously not the most accurate but it can ease your mind about passing. It is based on how previous students did when they report their scores along with how they were doing on Kaplan or USMLE world questions prior to taking the test.

Books for Step 1

I used a combination of BRS and High Yield books to study for Step 1, along with Step Up and 1st Aid for Step 1. I was reading about ~100 pages per day. Often less than 100 pages/day.
- Pros: Less reading than for the Kaplan series of books.
- Cons: You have to buy a bunch of different books and keep track of them all.
Pathology / Pathophysiology, Physiology:
- BRS + 1st Aid and Step Up
Pharmacology:
- I used 1st Aid
Microbiology/Immunology:
- I used Underground Clinical Vignettes and 1st Aid.
Behavior Sciences, Biochemistry, Anatomy, Histology, Neuroanatomy:
- I used high yield + 1st Aid
Genetics, Nutrition:
- Used the genetics/nutrition section of BRS Pathology. ~20-30 pages long. Also you get a review packet at the end of 2nd year that was a good, but brief review of these topics.

Books for Step 2

You can definitely get away with using just 1st Aid and Crush Step 2. Crush Step 2 has the same material, in a different format, as Secrets for Step 2 (small green covered book). Crush Step 2 is a very quick and brief review of most topics that will be on the exam. Secrets for Step 2 has the same material, as mentioned above, but in a format that allows you to quiz yourself as you go. I really liked First Aid for Step 2 as it had a lot of facts that showed up on questions and the exam.

Question Bank

Q-bank: Used for Step 1. Tends to be more expensive compared to other question banks. Questions also tend to be a little harder than the actual exam questions.
USMLE World: Did not use for Step 1. Might be cheaper than Kaplan for Step 1. Definitely cheaper for Step 2 with very difficult questions. I know many people who were scoring in the 40-60% range on the questions who did fine on the exam. Great preparation for Step 2 CK. Saw several questions on the real Step 2 CK that were almost identical to USMLE World Questions.
NBME Tests: Took one test for Step 1 to put my mind at ease. Not totally necessary.

Schedule

Step 1 - Spent about 35 days studying for Step 1. I felt like I was ready a few days before that. I was reading about ~100 pages a day on average which was taking anywhere from 6-10 hours depending on the topic. Every night I would take a 2-3 hour break for dinner/workout/relax then do anywhere from 25-100 questions from Kaplan Q-bank.
- USMLE Step 1 Schedule (doc)
Step 2 CK - I was on radiology while studying for CK. Most days I would read for an hour or 2 from Crush or First Aid. I’d do a few sets of questions at night, totaling about 100 questions per night. I studied for maybe 2-3 weeks total.