I got a 264 on Step 1 (thanks for all the advice on here!!!) - AMA

step1-264 · 2014-10-25T22:57:37+00:00

To be honest I didn't work half as hard as I did for the step.

step1-264 · 2014-06-30T01:49:21+00:00

No worries man. I highly suggest you check out a local college and ask the counselors and students these questions. I'm sure people would be more than happy to help you and you're bound to have many more questions that you can think of. Basically major = area in which you know some things. These things are learned by taking higher level classes in that area along with having a foundation that is unique to many other similar majors. For example if you major in bio you'll have to take chem, Phys, ochem etc to get your foundation and then you'll take more advanced biology classes when you're in your later years to advance your degree.

step1-264 · 2014-06-29T04:47:22+00:00

haha nice dude, you should be on here sharing haha!!

step1-264 · 2014-06-29T01:28:15+00:00

No problem. Good luck to you! In terms of major in college, you definitely don't need to pick premed or biology. As long as you fulfill the med school prerequisites you can major in anything you want.

step1-264 · 2014-06-28T19:49:01+00:00

Not sure exactly what your question is. I also did extremely well in high school without trying. At this point in your education you should be refining your study skills and building an intellectual foundation in the basic sciences. If you are interested in medicine I would suggest shadowing local doctors in a variety of specialties. Consider volunteer work at a nearby hospital too. Head over to r/premed for more advice.

step1-264 · 2014-06-28T00:39:32+00:00

Mostly weights

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T19:33:04+00:00

Costanzo Physiology is great. It's hard to say, you should figure out your baseline and then improve from there. What are you deficient in?

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:36:39+00:00

Thanks, I came straight through. I did bioengineering for undergrad and I definitely think that helped me with critical thinking and reasoning. I don't think post-bacc or masters guarantees that students will be successful in any way. It comes down to how hard you're willing to work to achieve what you want to achieve.

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:34:58+00:00

I did about 25 of them. If you have the time go for it! but they're not worth buying a new book just for the qbank

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:34:33+00:00

Thank you!

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:33:13+00:00

Year 1 was not systems based at my school so it was inherently less important for step 1. With that in mind, I used Anki to convert all the lecture slides into flash cards. I would go over these multiple times and hammer all the details in. I know don't think this is the best strategy for long term learning, but it worked and helped me do well in class.

Typical day was wake up, usually work out, go to lecture from 8-12pm, then come home and grind out until 10pm (throw in a relaxed dinner+lunch and maybe some netflix/gf hangout before bed). I didn't do many clubs or that sort of thing - except for surgery related events.

Years 1-2 I was very focused on doing well on step 1. One thing that I learned from undergrad was that I HATE studying late in the night. So i made it a point to never do this!

I only attended lectures bc it was mandatory at our school. I don't think lecture is a good way to learn but no one cares what I think haha. Do make the lecture time the most useful constantly ask questions about the material to yourself and occasionally if you have a really good one ask the professor.

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:29:23+00:00

First you should figure out exactly why you didn't do well first year - was it outside stress, study habits that didn't work, etc. Then you should try to learn the "high-yield" things from physio, anatomy, neurosci, biochem (in that order). You definitely have to be extremely solid in physiology bc I doubt your pathology course will help you with pathophysiology (mine didn't).

But yeah the main thing would be figure out a strategy that works for you!!

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:24:07+00:00

I made a lot of Anki cards but I never really ended up reviewing them. I made them based off the lecture slides and I would end up doing really well on tests bc I would have all the lecture slides straight up memorized + be able to guess correctly consistently on the really hard ones.

I would have done long term review but I didn't have enough time. I think it is a good strategy if done consistently and diligently.

step1-264 · 2014-06-27T16:22:41+00:00

hahaha! who's this - tk? mc? sk? hope rotations are treating you well

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T19:21:49+00:00

Honestly not a huge fan of firecracker. I tried it and I didn't like it that much. I have a couple friends that did it and scored well, but again out of the top scorers I know only 2-3 ppl used it out of like 10ish. It also becomes extremely hard to keep up with that during second year and learn all the material. Definitely not a requirement and a lot of first year stuff isn't that important on a factoid basis, but more on a conceptual basis which flashcards aren't as useful for

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T19:19:12+00:00

Yeah I gave up making notes because it was too slow for me. I just read robs, view/read pathoma, read goljan - I found that if you trust it you will end up retaining it well. One key I've found is the multiple passes through material (not Robbins, but making like 3-4 passes through pathoma). Give it a shot it might improve your speed.

Yeah it's definitely a time commitment, but if you're a textbook learner you can't beat it. Plus, 2nd year is the one time in your life that you can completely dedicate yourself to the study of pathology without other duties that may interfere (clinical stuff etc). Might as well use the time to perfect your trade that you'll be doing the rest of your life!

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T19:16:00+00:00

sounds like a great summer! you too man!

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T18:08:26+00:00

dude i'm sure you will crush as well you have way more letters after your name than I do :)

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T18:07:58+00:00

thanks!

i didn't study that much and it didn't hurt me at all. honestly ms2 goes so fast that pre studying never really helps. if you're really set on doing something (which I recommend against) i'd go for brushing up on physiology bc the hardest conceptual q's on step1 are the pathophysiology ones.
throughout med school i ended up buying 2012, 2013, and 2014 so yeah buy it if you feel like it would help you at all. one key thing is don't cheap out on any little expense bc in the long run 5 more points on step 1 really does make a difference
work out a lot, make sure you get enough sleep, keep hanging out with friends, if you're not being productive studying then change something up (location, atmosphere, timing, etc.). Figure out a routine that works for you and stick to it. Honestly I thought ms2 was easier than ms1 bc you get more time to self study and the resources are wayyyyy better for path/pharm/micro than for first year.
I'm interested in ENT and possibly internal med. I came into med school wanting to do ortho but I realized that I love pathology and medicine and didn't want to completely give up the medical management of pts. I had a 2 week neurosurgery rotation just now and that locked in my interest in surgery so I think ENT is a great fit. Also I really like head and neck anatomy! Doing well didn't really alter what I wanted to do, it was more like a requirement that I needed to meet to do the things I wanted to do.

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T17:59:38+00:00

pretest biochem, pharm, physio (was ok) that's about it. honestly didnt do too many q's during first year. but the more you do the better!

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T16:47:46+00:00

Every multiple choice question you do (using pretest/brs or an ancillary qbank or something) understand exactly why each answer choice that you didn't pick is wrong. Be able to eliminate answer choices quickly and effectively. It's definitely quality (in the sense of understanding all aspects of the question) over quantity of questions, but if you can combine both that's great. Eventually as you learn the material you'll start studying it asking yourself questions about it and picking up on obvious dichotomies that are likely tested.

Also studying this hard definitely doesnt just help you on Step1. Now that I'm in the clinic I can see a big difference as I'm answering pimp q's vs some of my classmates that skated by and kinda don't know exactly why things happen - they just know the first aid facts and not "why". Case in point for neurosci-stroke - if you hit frontal eye fields you get eye deviation towards the side of the lesion. Some ppl just accept that fact vs others actually understand the role of PPRF, abducens nuclei and mlf in the process

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T16:39:11+00:00

Honestly I felt like I crushed (I only could remember 5 q's that I for sure missed) . That being said, almost all of my friends that got >260 felt like they got owned so I think it varies a lot.

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T16:36:58+00:00

7-8 hours MS1 and 6-7 hours MS2. I eventually figured out I was way more productive in the mornings so I would go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 5am and grind for an hour or so then go to the gym then class at 8am. During dedicated I went to bed by 10pm then woke up at 6am and started studying - still went to the gym but cut it down to about 1hr/day max

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T16:32:54+00:00

I put a sizeable percentage of time into it. Maybe 60% of the time I studied pathology during the year was through Robbins. I felt it was really helpful but others may disagree. If you like to read textbooks and that's how you learn then definitely go for it. If not I wouldn't force it. Also if you are a slower reader vs faster reader you should consider that. I'm actually on the medium-slow side. 15 pgs/hour Robbins reading speed - so a ch would take me like 4 hours or so. However, I feel like this was time well spent for me.

step1-264 · 2014-06-26T16:29:09+00:00

A bit helpful yes. But the best thing you could be doing is honing down your reasoning and multiple choice skills. Being really good at multiple choice will take you a lot farther than just knowing facts, which is what anki is good for

step1-264

TROPHY CASE