Exam will be like the mixture of UW, UWSA, NBME, Free 120. My advice is try zolpidem before exam and if it works then take it prophylactically before going to sleep because that 1 night of sleep can hamper your 1.6 years of preparation.Įxam day: All my assessments were in favor of at least 250 or 260. I was really relaxed and thought that I could sleep easily but when I went to sleep, I could feel my palpitation although I was relaxed in my mind. Luckily I had one partner and one mentor which I think is extremely important. Do it as per your potentialĭon’t underestimate the power of study partner and mentor. Less is more.ĭoing more number of question in UW. 4 hrs of Kaplan will be 2-3 pages of FA.ĭon’t dwell into too many resources. Starting FA late: Start it as soon as you start Kaplan. Taking too long for Kaplan and videos – finish in max 3-4 months NBME 18: 188/200 (Best of my NBMEs) – About 1 week before exam
Regardless, I am sharing my offline NBME scores. No wonder why I took that long for Step 1). NBME: Started with NBME 1 till NBME 24 (Yeah! That’s not required. I believe it’s not quantity but quality that matters. There was a saying in our library that once you finish your FA 6 times, then you are ready for exam. In second round UW, I would go through the FA for every topic given in questions. By the time first round of UW was finished, FA was also finished. Probably I will talk in detail about that later. There are different ways you can annotate your FA. So I started FA by annotating it with UW. My other huge mistake was that I started FA only after finishing Kaplan and other videos when I should have taken it side by side. So, while I still had about 1000Q left to solve, I reset my UW and started all over again. So, it gives you a false sense that you have mastered it. This was my biggest mistake as I would know the answers to the question but not the concept given in explanation since I was not giving enough time. I was desperate to finish 2nd round as my exam date was approaching so I started doing 60Q/day sometimes even 80Q/day.
It took me 6 months to finish 1 round as I could not study for 2 months in between because of my travel to US. But still I would calculate my mistakes and corrects. Surprisingly 1 question came in step 2.įirst round, I did it offline and system wise. But in exam there were 3 question exactly from that block. So if you are a noob like me, start with this book which is really concise.Įthics: 100 cases of ethics (Done in 1 day), BRS few important pagesĪmboss: Did 3 blocks only. Immunology: How the immune system works – Really helped me as this book teaches immunology like ABC. If you still don’t know the importance of it, then you are in a cave. Undoubtedly the only source required for Pathology. Finally, I did entire gm +ve on 1 day and so on. As I finished all the videos, I started again with 4-5 organisms per day. I would watch 1-2 organism initially and read the corresponding chapter in First Aid. Lionel Raymon just because I love that guy. UW will cover you.īiochemistry: Becker by Dr. Started with Kaplan and becker videos to clear the basic conceptsĪnatomy: Kaplan neuroanatomy by Dr. Only after leaving my job and returning from US, I started my dedicated study. Also as I was working night shifts, I would get really tired. My entire phase was not constant as I was working, went to US in the middle. I am saying this because some people despite trying all their best cannot succeed just because they don’t apply proper techniques.Ībout 1 year 6 months. Having said that I knew that if I worked hard, I could succeed. Therefore, I had to work really hard for step 1. I would study only before exams most of the times. With immense endurance and perseverance, I have completed both the Steps exam and I am here to share my experiences with all of you.