r/usmle

Hello 😁
To keep this short I graduated from medschool year 2024 and just now I have decided to do my steps to go to the US

And I have to be done with step 1 by December
Only having a few hours to spare a day so my question is

Is it possible to pass step 1 if I study everyday for 4-5 hours for 4 months ? Keep in mind that I’m a post grad and I haven’t done anything related to basic sciences in a while , I’m also a non US IMG

Thanks 😁

hey guys my exam is in 2 weeks do you recommend mehlman for ethics and biostatistics?

I wanted some advice everyone
I gave nbme 26 in the start of may and scored 56%
27 Mid may 60%
29 End may 64%
28 Start of june 64%
Then I decided to take a 2 weeks break do amboss and revise whole FA so that my scores can go up to 70%
Studied for 1 week then my grandmother passed away sadly and my prep got stuck
Couldn’t continue for 2 weeks
Started again on 30th june
Done with 100% Uworld 40% amboss
Should I go for nbme 30? What tips would you give me so that I can score in 70s

I am thinking of studying mbbs from georgia and wants to give usmle side by side from 2nd year but I heard that international students faces difficulty with getting us license , is that really tough ? Please educate me more about this

so I scheduled my step 1 exam on 21/7

my scores 27:68% 29:69% 30:78% 31:78%

im not joking are my scores really safe?? im planning to do nbme 32-33 and free 120 do i have time or postpone??

also do i need to revise FA again?

plz i need guidance am i good to go

I dont know what to do anymore. I am really tired of my life.

I graduated from Russia (img/gold medallist with researches and conferences) and then I gave plab1. decided I will give plab 2 during my internship, which I did from dubai. got sidetracked, into applying for IM residency positions in uae, and got waitlisted, even though I had the best scores- unfiar- well thats how the world is)

I cant go back to my home country because well, doing residency is impossible there.

applying to uk seems like...im not sure everyone has bad opinions these days.

uae? waitlisted-- out of option

I tried to give step 1- was very hesitant and gave it in my second year of med school, a very stupid mistake, when the war started between Russia and us. and it was very hectic, and I fail by marginal scores, like I think the line was so close to the pass line I could not even differentiate. I got so demotivated by it, that I couldnt not even think about apprering it again at that time. lost my aunt as well like a week before exam, which was just..I dont even imagine the time I went through.

so please, help me out. I genuonyl feel tired. does anyone have suggestions for me?

newzealand? should I go for steps again? I genuinely do not know anymore

Hey everyone,

I recently took Step 1 (fingers crossed), and I've just been perusing studying for Step 2. For context, I'm a Canadian med student who just finished MS2 and moving to clerkship in a couple months. Had a question about Step 2 studying.

For Step 1, I only watched the high yield Sketchy Pharm and Micro videos. I didn't do any Anki nor did I watch all the videos, but I already feel like I will forget it soon. Is it worth going back and redoing the Sketchy Pharm and Micro videos and completing the Step 1 Anking for them? I feel like my drug knowledge is still weaker than where I would like it to be. Thankfully, the drug questions on Step 1 weren't terrible. I heard Step 2 is more about management, so would I need a strong grasp of Sketchy Pharm to be successful in Step 2?

Also is the main resource just learning from UWorld and Amboss? Are there no reputable third party resources? Just doing practice questions? And are there UWorld question links to the Anking deck or do I need to download some Chrome extension to automatically link them. I used to use the Chrome Step ToolBox Add-on to link my Step 1 UWorld questions to Anking, but I have to pay for Step 2 haha. Was just wondering if there was a free alternative.

Any advice or recommendation would mean a lot. I've been working for 7 months on and off for this. Free 120 today was a schokerrr. Should I postpone? Test scheduled for 9th July.

NBME 25	49%	Two months before
NBME 26	55%	~30 days before
NBME 31	68.5%	~25 days before
NBME 32	72.5%	~18 days before
NBME 33	75.5%	~12 days before
NBME 30	69%	10 days before
NBME 29	77%	9 days before
Free 120 (today)	~66%	6 days before

Whoever feels like this can DM me.

Hey everyone,

I'm already done with Step 2, but after the July 1 score release I noticed something that honestly seems really strange.

I've come across multiple posts from people who were consistently scoring in the 250–260+ range on NBMEs/UWSAs but ended up scoring 20–30 points lower on the real exam. One of my own friends was consistently in the 255–265 range and received a 235 on the real deal.

Of course, practice scores aren't guarantees, and every exam day is different. But seeing so many similar stories being shared around the same score release made me wonder if anyone else has noticed this pattern.

Has anyone else been seeing the same thing? Is there any way to formally request a review or raise concerns with the USMLE, NBME, or FSMB if enough people believe something may have gone wrong with scoring or score processing after the May 2026 administrations, especially since they took so much time releasing the results.

I'm not claiming there was definitely an error, I just think if there's a genuine pattern, it deserves a closer look maybe a formal re evaluation.

Curious to hear everyone else's thoughts and experiences.

What is your Golden Step1 schedule with discipline that helped you master the exam in 6 month?

lets say 4 hours a day but 100% dedicated to it.

So I’ve been doing endocrine system and i find that its hard to remember all the enzymes and pathways that happen in adrenal gland. How do i remember it better or what sources should i use for adrenal in particular to learn it and remember it better. TIA.

So I received my Step 2 score today, and got 222. As you can imagine I'm utterly shellshocked and heartbroken. What surprised me the most is that I was doing well In my NBME's and even scored 81% in the Free 120 a few days prior to the real deal.

I am currently doing rotations for IM in the USA, and will have 3 done by September( Miami, Houston, Milwaukee). Graduated last year. Might be able to publish a paper shortly, but haven't done too much work on my CV expect for a few shadowing gigs while prepping for steps.

Is there any chance I'll be able to match I the current cycle in IM? I'm not too picky on where I match ( ofc I'd prefer a city with things to do), but I really don't want to spend another year trying to match. Any advice on what I should do/focus on now ? and if there is any hope for me ?

I am doing daily 80 questions of random uworld and need to skim-read first aid for which I need a study partner.

We can skim read 20 pages of first aid (front and back) daily from 3:30 PM – 7:00 PM (Islamabad, Pakistan Time; PKT, UTC+5). Serious and interested ones can DM.

Okay so, imve been prepping for step 1 for some time now. I have exam in 22 days and i was in dedicated on nbme 31 but i got some
Severe health issues and i was at the hospital for 10
Days. Originally got from spine problems, took too much nsaids and became classical uworld case myself, at the hospital caught some infection and half the time i was burning up with high fevers. I wasn’t able to do much during those days. I had around 70-75% in nbme’s before that, rn i got 65% in nbme 31. PLEASE HELP, any advice, doc or fole that can help me review faster or any 100% must do material beside nbme’s you think i have to do before exam. Or just anyone who has had a major fall out during their dedicated and still passed

(Step 1!) Any advice or recommendation would mean a lot. I've been working for 7 months on and off for this. Free 120 today was a schokerrr. Should I postpone? Test scheduled for 9th July.

NBME 25	49%	Two months before
NBME 26	55%	~30 days before
NBME 31	68.5%	~25 days before
NBME 32	72.5%	~18 days before
NBME 33	75.5%	~12 days before
NBME 30	69%	10 days before
NBME 29	77%	9 days before
Free 120 (today)	~66%	6 days before

I wanted to hop on here and tell how I studied for the exam. I’m not a lazy student but I definitely burn out way quicker than most. You’ll never catch me studying for 10 + hours. I studied for 6 hours consistently ( pure study , no breaks ) 3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon. Sometimes 2 hr at night . I went to gym and had a routine.
My NBMEs ranged from 56% to 66%. My free 120 that I took 2 days out was 80% ( I still have no idea how I jumped from 66% to 80% )
All I did was review NBME mistakes. I had google docs of all the topics from different subjects that I made consistent mistakes in. I screenshotted the topics from FA and made a separate document. Last 1 week I revised this document almost 10+ times.
UWORLD - 1st pass done, 46% score
1 day before exam
- I booked a hotel. Watched the office. Chatted with mom to get my mind off. Around 6pm I did a bit of yoga and meditation and slept at 8:30 . No studying

On the exam day
- woke up at 6:30 Am, got ready. Ate fruits and 1 sandwich. Went to the exam centre
- the exam topics were vague, I marked almost 12/20 questions on every block and this worked for me cause I didn’t run of time and had at least 10 mins of every block to review the marked questions
- even though the topics were vague they weren’t unfamiliar. I looked at the key words, eliminated options and pattern recognition was the KEY
- DO ETHICS FROM BOTH UWORLD AND AMBOSS. They were pretty direct and some word for word from AMBOSS
- I did my blocks 20/20/20 (60Q) - 5 min break - 20/20/20 (60Q) - 15 min break ( lunch ) - 20/20/20 (60Q) - 5min break - 20/20/20 (60Q) - 10mins break - 20/20 ( 40Q )
- I still had 30mins or so left in my break time but I felt refreshed enough in those small breaks
- between every block I would take 20 secs to deep breath without actually taking the break
- during breaks I ate sandwich, fruits , candy ( for quick energy ) monster ( monster was a bad idea ) . I stretched and gave myself pep talk ( highly recommended)
- I was calm and trusted the process.

Honestly nonchalance is the answer cause writing an exam of any difficulty with 8 hours of sustained concentration is a challenge in itself and the only way to get through is to detach your self worth from the results.
Trust your learnings, don’t regret the days you took breaks.
You know the content already, don’t be intimidated by long vignettes.

If I did it, believe me so can you. I’m no genius. I’m just above average at maxx.

Tested 17 June. Will I have to wait till 15th July to receive my report ? Or will there be a drop on 8th July?
Confused because the USMLE site says that no new scores will be released the week following the 4th of July

Hey, I'm looking for some courses i can take online to boost my cv as an mbbs student, apart from research and all, I have read its important to have a strong CV, and I was wondering if there are any courses related to research or anything medicine related that could help me not just to boost my cv but also as a medical student, I have heard abt Coursera too, but I'm confused on what courses to approach onto there

Would love if someone could help me out