I’m a recent Graduate (Non-US IMG) with average/basic knowledge in most subjects and currently around 25% through UWorld. I’m planning to study for Step 1 system-wise like this:

For each system:

First 2 days:

• Read that system from First Aid properly , understand every word and topic and use GPT to teach the page of first Aid
• Focus on understanding the underlying concepts
• I’ll screenshot FA pages and ask GPT to teach me every concept in detail

Important point:
While reading FA, my goal is only to understand it and not memorize it. After closing the book, I probably won’t remember much because I’m not actively trying to memorize or recall facts at this stage.

Then I’ll do:

• Sketchy Pharma for that system

Next 4–5 days:

Do UWorld (2 blocks/day)

For UWorld:

• I’ll copy-paste explanations into GPT and ask it to teach me:
  • how to identify keywords
  • how to arrive at the diagnosis
  • detailed explanation of concepts
• I’ll make 1–2 Anki cards per question:
  • FRONT = important Step-style keywords/clues
  • BACK = explanation/concept

I’ll also review my own UWorld Anki cards for around 30 minutes daily.

Then I’ll move to the next system and continue like this until I finish first pass.

Ya, ofc I wud do Sketchy micro, 1st 3 chapter of pathoma, randy Neil biostatistics and dirty medicine Biochemistry.

After first pass:

My plan is:

• Revise First Aid once like a newspaper (again, mainly understanding, not hardcore memorization)
• Properly review my Anki deck
• Read Mehlman PDFs

Then:

• Start NBMEs
• Keep revising First Aid + Anki with NBME explanations

My serious question is:

1. Is this enough to pass Step 1?
2. If I truly understand every topic/page in First Aid but don’t remember everything because I’m not doing aggressive memorization or active recall initially — is that okay?
3. Or is memorization and active recall of first aid such that I have every topic in First aid in my brain absolutely necessary ?
4. Can I give my exam in 3 months from now if I study 8hrs a day like this?

I’m getting super frustrated with Step 1 prep and I genuinely don’t know what the “correct” way to study is anymore.

One senior told me that while doing UWorld, I should:

- open First Aid for every question,

- read that entire FA topic,

- annotate all UW points into FA,

- and basically know every page of FA cold to pass Step 1.

But how is that even humanly possible? Do people seriously remember every page of First Aid?

Right now my method is:

- do UW questions,

- attempt honestly,

- if I get it wrong, I paste the explanation into GPT,

- ask it to teach me from basics,

- then make 1–2 high-yield Anki cards based on keywords/clues in the stem.

And honestly… I LIKE learning this way.

Another senior says I should finish BnB first before seriously doing UW. But I genuinely hate passive video learning. BnB feels so boring to me. I feel like I learn much better by struggling through questions and learning from mistakes.

Maybe I could watch BnB casually just to get broad concepts, then jump into UW?

What’s confusing me more is that some classmates who already passed Step 1 told me:

- don’t constantly open FA during UW,

- UW is mainly to learn question-solving and concepts,

- memorizing every tiny detail from every UW explanation is unnecessary,

- and the real deep consolidation happens during NBME review.

Honestly this makes more sense to me.

Because right now, if I:

- do UW,

- read the entire UW explanation,

- then open FA,

- then annotate everything into FA,

I can barely do 15–20 questions/day even if I study 9 hrs a day

It feels insanely slow and mentally exhausting.

I feel like I’m spending more time “organizing studying” than actually learning.

So I wanted to ask people who PASSED:

1. Did you actually annotate UW heavily into FA?

2. Did you memorize FA cover to cover?

3. Is learning mainly through questions a bad strategy?

4. Is it okay to skip detailed FA reading during every UW block?

5. At what point did NBMEs become your main learning tool?

Would really appreciate honest advice because right now I feel overwhelmed and stuck.