Med student here. We all know this stereotype. I hear it every other time I mention I'm interested in neurology. What gives!? Will I not fit in unless I'm a hyper-analytical, introverted, strange ol' fella?
Again kidding, but also... not?
Maybe it is getting to be a bit much lol.. sigh!
There are many many posts about all different sorts of resources you should do to pass. I only had 4 weeks of dedicated and was overwhelmed with the amount of options, I didn’t get through most of it. Figured I’d share what I didn’t do for others to see it’s possible to pass without going overboard.
Didn’t do:
- Early morning wake-ups & pomadoro & all that discipline stuff. That was never me, why would I force it?
- Much of UWorld at all (25% complete). Don’t let people convince you content review is secondary.
- Any Mehlmann docs aside from Arrows & Risk Factors
- Amboss Q bank (** however I did do the 200 concepts thing they have at the beginning of dedicated, it was great, highly recommend)
- Boards n Beyond or Bootcamp
- Consistent Anki-ing (just watched a sketchy video, did the cards twice in a row, then reviewed a master deck I found online the last week of dedicated. I also used the updated mnemosyne deck to review First Aid’s biochemistry, immunology, & pathology chapters, but just once, not continuously through dedicated)
Oh also, I didnt Anki at all during preclinical lol, not sure why people commit so much time to it with Step 1 P/F now. If you’re doing it for genuine learning and knowledge, you are better than me doctor!
My NBMEs were mid 60s to low 70s.
Happy to share what I did do but figured that has been beaten into oblivion.
Best of luck!!!
edit: okay fine what I did:
1st week - Amboss 200 concepts on every Step1 exam (just google it you’ll see it), took a while because every single answer choice is teaching you something) + a lot of Sketchy Micro (did updated Pepper deck cards twice after watching video), Pathoma 1-3, skimmed First Aid rapid review, first NBME
2nd week - Finished most of Sketchy Micro, continued Pathoma (did chapter then did targeted 40 Uworld questions), started Dirty Medicine Biochem (Google Free Step Stuff Reddit, someone made a pdf for each video), watched targeted videos on this YouTube channel: Med Student Success, skimmed FA Rapid Review again, 2nd NBME
3rd week - Much of the same. Pathoma, Sketchy Pharm for that chapters organ system, targeted UWorld questions, Dirty Medicine biochem + random topics, Med Student Success YouTube channel, started random UWorld blocks after finishing Pathoma (could never do more than 80 questions in a day), read Anatomy 100 concepts PDF, skimmed FA Rapid Review, 3rd NBME
4th week - Mehlman Arrows + Risk Factors, More Sketchy pharm (got through 50%), Updated Mnemosyne anki deck for First Aid Biochem, Immunology, & Pathology chapters (check my post history I posted about it), NBME HY Images documents, skimmed FA Rapid Review, 4th NBME, Sketchy Micro master sheet (drive.google.com/file/d/1zMDJaM5da3eHdIx3Oulf5gZo7X3lpn0v/view), Randy Niel biostats videos, Free 120 (2024 & 2026 versions)
Last 2 days - reviewed Dirty Med pdfs mentioned above, skimmed through all of First Aid focusing on images and tables, went through my UWorld notebook (all the photos and tables I saved from my question sets, highly recommend this feature), wanted to review my Pathoma book that I annotated while watching videos but didn’t have time
Crammed the day before. Again this is what I always do for exams, why would I reinvent the wheel?
Slept absolutely horribly, adrenaline did its thing.
Hope that helps! you got this.
PS was 4.5 weeks actually
With regards to the plethora of discussion about midlevels and changes in the field of psychiatry recently, I've seen many comments about the imperative to establish a niche and to expect to work harder than years prior to make a name for yourself.
From what I understand, historically it rarely mattered what institutions you trained at to attain consistent job security (and great jobs at that). Do we think that this could have a greater role to play in career success as the field continues to evolve? Or... still irrelevant?
Based on all the posts I’ve seen recently, it really felt like the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
The exam isn’t so crazy that there aren’t some easy ones and that you can’t make educated guesses overall. But I’m also not sure it’s something you can just bank on your NBME performance.
They ask random things I didn’t see anywhere before, and usually avoid buzzwords by describing pathology or treatments in ways you’ve never heard. Without truly understanding how diseases, drugs, anatomy, etc all work & interact, I don’t see how you can see the forest for the trees in some of the answer choices they give you.
I think Mehlman Arrows is a great example of what this test is really going for. True understanding of how things influences other things. That plus First Aid rapid review knowledge, you’re in a good spot!
Thank you everyone for the advice you’ve shared, wishing you all the best of luck!
Go us for even attempting to do this! This is truly a diabolical amount of information. We should be proud of ourselves for even trying :)
Rising M3 here that finds themselves really enjoying learning about all things tangential to the endocrine system. I'm pretty set on psych but wondering if there is any potential to establish a niche for yourself at the juncture of both fields? (aside from diabetes management)
Since hormones are directly related to brain function, could you imagine a psychiatrist who manages thyroid, adrenal, sex hormone function alongside and maybe even to the benefit of their patients' mental health?
Thanks!
