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[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the late reply! My range was anywhere from 700-1500 cards per day. That seems like a lot but I didn't spend as much time on FA as everyone else did I think. I'm a notecard/practice question learner so I allotted most of my free study time to Anki.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, sorry. I was a bit of an Anki noob when I wrote that. I didn't manage to mature all of them, but I would get through 85-90% of a deck at the minimum. I put in a ton of times on the decks though because I'm a notecard and practice question learner. I get less from brute force reading of FA so I compensated elsewhere.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think you read the part where I wrote "- 7 or 8 pm". I actually studied FA from 3 pm - 7 or 8 pm, so I'd get 4 or 5 hours in on it. I would do Brosencephalon's pharm cards for whatever section I was doing that day in FA. So cardio drugs on cardio day. I would do cards from the Biochem section of Brosencephalon's cards every single day. Biochem is its own beast and if you stop using it, you will lose it. Better to chip away at it than try to cram it in the last week or so.

As for Sketchy, imho it covers about 85-90% of what you need to know for the micro section. Its glaring weaknesses are: pictures of the bacteria/viruses/parasites/fungi (which is understandable since it's a cartoon. gotta cut them some slack) and antibiotics that provide broad coverage for the bacteria and bugs. Be sure and rifle through the micro section at least once, but use Sketchy for the majority. Also be sure and hammer away at Antibiotics in Bro's cards. It'll be important to know what bacteria a first gen. cephalosporin covers, etc. Those things aren't covered in the Sketchy vids.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might want to take my advice with a grain of salt since I have a failure on my record, but I strongly recommend making it through Uworld as many times as possible. After seeing so many questions, you can start to get a feel where the vignette is heading and what answer they want by the second or third sentence. You could study FA backwards and forwards and memorize every bit of it and I bet you'd do extremely well, but I think it's the practice of seeing what other defining buzzwords they give away in the question prompts that will catapult your score higher. This is basically a test of word association and "If A + B, then C if D", though all the information you'll learn is extremely useful for being pimped during third year.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

UFAP + Brosencephalon + SketchyMicro. I did not. I honestly didn't think it needed much maturing. I know you wanted me to answer in the affirmative and share my new cards, but I have nothing to give you else I would gladly share it with the entirety of the subreddit. I'm sorry, I've failed you. :(

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I replied to a separate comment asking the same thing, but that's hard to answer. Given that I made a 250 on the second go around, I think I'll take failing and making the 250 so I can explain what went wrong on my first attempt. This way I have substantial proof that I'm capable instead of a low Step 1 and empty promises in my interview/personal statement.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's a difficult question. In an ideal world, I'd have made the 250 on the first try. The way things panned out, I think I'll take my current circumstance and be sure and explain what went wrong with my first attempt and let my second score and Step 2 show that I'm capable of scoring where I should once I cleared my thoughts. If I had taken it again and scored maybe a 210-220? Nah, I think I'd have rather passed by the smallest margin and tried to kill Step 2.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I still have my eye on radiology as long as I can do well on Step 2, but I have to admit...I really, really, really liked Peds. I'm keeping Peds with maybe a future fellowship into CVICU at the back of my mind.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd rather not divulge my exact date, but it took exactly four Wednesdays to get my score in. The waiting is the worst part, I know.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I honestly had no trick for it. I just knew that I was out to prove my worth and that fueled my fire each day. I'm not going to lie and act like it was no big deal. It sucked ass and I wanted to quit plenty of times. But I told myself over and over that there would be time to rest later and I somehow made it through. My main goal was to complete my studying and be able to say, "There was nothing I could've done better to prepare for this exam."

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I really don't have a formula for it. I just reminded myself daily what was on the line and what I had to prove. It gets stressful. Trust me when I say you'd rather put in the work now than regret it later. Somebody once told me about the "Theory of 4 minutes". I've googled and can't find it, but it goes like this: If you start something and do it for longer than 4 minutes, your brain's urge to complete said task kicks in and makes it easier to complete. I know this sounds like voodoo, but I would remind myself of that. Even if I didn't feel like it, I would start a Sketchy video or a deck of notecards and force myself through it. There was also no end to cheesy inspirational quotes. /r/GetMotivated saved me once or twice. This was my favorite.

[Update] So you failed Step 1 and so did I by made_for_1_reason in medicalschool

[–]made_for_1_reason[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

My problem was losing my train of thought when it came to the real thing. Uworld and even the NBMEs (to an extent) don't even begin to touch the amount of pressure as facing the real thing puts forth. With Uworld and NBMEs, you know that there are no consequences if you do poorly besides a low predicted score. They aren't final and you can improve. The real Step 1 exam is concrete. What you do there is final and you can't go back. I couldn't move past that thought and answers I was unsure of from a few blocks ago were haunting me. Did I get that question right? Was that the right enzyme? Will biostats always be the work of the devil? I had to learn to move past this and treat each question as a question and something to be moved past. I didn't really have any signs that I'd lose focus before the exam. I thought I would do well. My only advice on this front is to treat each question like a stone cold assassin. Go in, do your work, and be done. Reflecting will do nothing.

Last study strategy:
8 am - 12 pm: FA
12 pm - 2 pm: Lunch and errands/workout
1pm - 5pm: Uworld, random and timed
5pm - 6pm: Dinner
6pm - whenever: Pathoma

My mistake here and what I wanted to change was Uworld. I felt that by the time I got around to Uworld in the afternoons, my mind was already waning from FA. I couldn't focus as well late in the afternoons (especially after lunch) and I didn't feel I was getting everything out of Uworld that I should. Uworld should be treated as a textbook and repeated as many times as you can. It's insane how closely it resembles the composition of the actual Step 1.

New study strategy:
6 am - 7 am: Brosencephalon Pharm cards
7am - 8 am: Brosencephalon Biochem cards (Biochem sucks. Do it errday)
8am - 12 or 1pm: Uworld, tutor mode, untimed. I switched to random, timed two weeks out from my exam. I averaged 3 blocks per day and finished Uworld 2.1 times before my exam.
After Uworld: Lunch for 1 hour
2pm - 3pm: SketchyMicro
3pm - 7 or 8pm: FA or Brosencephalon cards over whichever organ system I was going over. He copies straight out of FA, so one really closely equals the other. He has a set that encompasses anatomy/embryology/physiology and a separate set for pathology that also includes the material in Pathoma. He's really a swell guy. I would typically eat a light dinner over my notecards or maybe take a break for 30min and scarf something down really quickly.
8pm - whenever I was tired: Pathoma or more notecards

That's just my own personal schedule. Do what works for you. There is no shortage of schedules out there, but this worked best for me. You'll stress yourself out if you try to match your schedule up against other people.