|  Words of Wisdom to Share- You do not need to be miserable during M2 year or the boards studying period. Don't buy into the neurosis. Work hard but don't stress.
- Make a schedule and stick to it!
- Take a little bit of time every day to do something fun or relaxing. Make sure you go out with your friends once in a while- preferably friends who aren't studying for boards. Definitely leave enough time between boards and the start of first year clerkships to take a vacation.
- And one last point: get plenty of sleep and exercise (both augment memory, improve mood and reduce stress) and at least once a week get some exposure to the outside world. Spend time with friends outside of medicine or spend an evening once a week watching a movie. The point is not to obsess about the boards constantly. I have some peers who did well on the exam who disagreed with me on this last point, but I really believe that it was important in helping me succeed.
- Finally, remember that the Boards is an endurance test. Don't let the 7-8 hours of testing wear you out. Do all those smart test-taking things (eat snacks; use your break time, etc). Give each question a fair shot, but if you don't know it, pick an answer and move on (and pray that it was a pilot question anyway). Remember that there are easy questions at the end of the block that you don't want to run out of time on. And when you're finished, celebrate.
- Schedule time for yourself each week. Study no more than 6 days per week because you will burn out very quickly. Try to schedule the exam around 3 weeks upon finishing school. Any more than that and you will find your studying becomes more and more inefficient.
- Definitely use this time as a way to bridge your knowledge from the books to the wards. I'm surprised at how much information I've retained as an M3 just from my boards studying. While some of the sections will surely be annoying (yes, reviewing 90% of the biochem chapter will make you want to just hit your head repeatedly against a brick wall), just know that you seriously WILL use this information in the future, so it's not all for nothing.
- Remember that this is a marathon of a process...but hang in there, and think about the prize.
- If you use First Aid as your ONLY resource but know it inside and out, you should be able to get over 240.
- Keep in mind that your M3-M4 year grades are likely to be even more important than your individual board score, and that many factors are considered when applying to residency. Don't stress out, because in the end this is really just one of many pieces of a puzzle.
- While your SBM test scores will NOT directly be useful to you in any way after M2 year, they WILL indirectly affect your board score. Think about it this way: if you were able to remember everything you were learned in every unit during M2 year, you would easily get 270+. In fact, this would be true even if you remembered only 30-40% of what you were presented. Of course, this is not a practical scenario (and 270+ is obviously not a common score), but the idea is that you will be taught AT SOME POINT almost everything you need to know for the boards. If you play by the rules, by the end of the year you should be reviewing subjects that you've already seen and feel comfortable with. Keep in mind that board preparation lasts the entire year, not just one month
- Work hard throughout 2nd year and do well in SBM. Even if the material doesn't necessarily translate to boards, you'll learn how to study as an M2. Hone your study skills and hit it hard when boards time comes around.
- Trust your abilities – you know what works best for you, so do not get overly concerned with how someone else is studying
- Med school really is the best preparation for this exam, and NU prepares you better than most places.
Get organized! There's too much stuff to cover, and unless you make a plan, you'll miss something. But once you're organized, stick to it--don't waste time re-hashing organizational strategies when you should be working on material. Block out time to exercise, eat well and sleep. It's good advice for your future patients and its good advice for you. Group study keeps you accountable--no one wants to look like an idiot in front of or let down their friends. Take a day off per week. Or if you can't stand it, do a block or two of questions, and then call it a day. You had a life before boards and you'll have one after; keep some perspective. - If you have a significant other, plan something nice for them after boards. They'll have put up with you at your worst, and you owe them. Really. You're going to lock in a lot of understanding over the next few months; learn, celebrate and then go apply it in third year.
- Recognize that you will burn out towards the end of this lengthy process. Continue to mix up your study materials and keep your approach fresh.
- Do not get hung up on “score predictors” – they sometimes can be helpful, but are often inaccurate.
- Best way to learn is by doing lots of questions, and reading the explanation of the answer regardless of whether you got it right or wrong.
- Don't expect to study much for boards during the CVR and Neuro units; they're too dense to allow much "extra" study time. Kick into high gear during Spring Break and keep chipping away at First Aid. If you can get through the whole book once before classes end in May, you'll be good. Then, plan on going through First Aid twice during your free time before boards.
- Don’t stress out / panic, especially as the exam nears. The best way to do that is to familiarize yourself with the questions as well as the format of the test day in every way possible. I highly recommend going to the test site and doing the practice exam. Even though the practice questions there may not be entirely useful, knowing where everything is and how everything works is essential to decreasing the stress level. Also start early – even at the beginning of the M2 year, I would go to the library and check out some review books just to understand the topics that will be covered and the format of the test. Starting early also decreases stress later on.
- Hide your SBM notes, they contain way more detail than you need for the USMLE, and will only cause you endless frustration.
- Q Bank questions were key to my success and key to testing and learning how to apply my knowledge. If you do all of them, a lot of the concepts are reinforced over and over again. Also, make sure you go through the entire explanation of every question, regardless of whether you got it right or not, because that is where all the learning happens. Lastly, if you feel like you are starting to go crazy, back off a bit. It is important to stay sane, for your own mental health and because you are not nearly as good at retaining information after you start going crazy.
- Keep it simple and learn SBM well. As you will find out, First Aid will have just a couple sentences about a topic that you will have had an hour lecture about during SBM. It isn’t important to remember all the miniscule facts that were discussed during SBM lectures when it comes time to study for Step 1. However, you will find that SBM provides a basic foundation of knowledge, from which First Aid and Qbank will supplement during your Step 1 studying.
- I did not use many resources for the Step 1, and I believe that this worked best for me. I don’t think that diving into each High Yield topic or BRS review book offers an advantage. For me, simplifying my day was a blessing. If one feels extremely weak on a subject, then I would suggest supplementing your studying with a specific book. However, too many resources can cause one to lose sight of the big picture.
- Use M2 year and SBM to find out which style of studying is most effective for you, especially if you still don't know after M1 year. You have the luxury of trying different studying techniques (outlines? notes? flash cards? group studying) during M2 year, and if you can find the best ways to study and apply that to studying for boards, it will make your boards studying much more efficient.
- Make a study schedule and try to stick to it. Be reasonable.
- Consider where you feel most comfortable studying, where you'll feel less stressed, if you want to see your classmates as you prepare. I flew home the day after our last exam and it was completely worth it. Take that 3 hour practice test at your testing center. You'll hear different things about when to start studying but your best moments will be that last month of preparation. Overall, not blowing off SBM is the best thing to do, despite what you might hear. So my advice: around March, if you haven't already done so, formulate a general study plan. Whatever subjects you felt uneasy with in the past conceptually, this is a good time to review. In my case I reviewed Renal & CV over Spring Break. So when I looked at those subjects again later on, it was less overwhelming. Biochem is a long, detailed chapter, so that may be something worth doing in advance. But whatever you study before school ends, you will study again. Keep doing the things that keep you centered.
- Don't get freaked out or intimidated by your friends' study schedules or styles. You know yourself and how you study best.
- Be cognizant of boards in the fall and winter. Start honing in once cardio starts. Give in to the dark side after spring break. Sharpen your mind during the time between SBM and the test. The boards will try to trick you and you should be in good mental and physical shape when you take the exam. Eat healthy, workout, and socialize. You're still a human being even with the step looming. And try to make the studying fun, as hard as that sounds.
- I never believed people when they told me that Step 1 was going to be just fine but I'll share the same advice I was given. Study hard during your second year and you will do well on Step 1. Sure a lot of what we learn 2nd year is not going to be on Step 1, but it will give you a framework to learn what is required for the boards. Second, it is true... you do not need to worry or think about Step 1 for quite a while during second year so don't let your nerves get to you. Lastly, try to do things you enjoy while you are studying for Step1. You have to study hard but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your month studying.
- Spend time studying for SBM during SBM and don't worry about the Boards. I didn't think about it at all until after Spring Break, and I found that to be productive and efficient.
- I encourage you to schedule the Step 1 exam on the earlier side and stick to your date! I took it 3.5 weeks after MDM ended, which gave me 2+ weeks before ICC started. I can't tell you how many people told me, "I wish I would have scheduled mine sooner"
- Don't move your test back. Don't. You'll panic two weeks before and want to change the date, but don't, trust me. Give yourself at least one week off. Don't skip unit 7 SBM lectures to study for boards. Don't go to the boards review sessions unless you think you need to (I mean, don't go to all of them just to go - go because you feel like you need some help in that particular area).
- Step 1 is all about Pathology, Physiology, and Pathophysiology. For example, while its great, and admirable, to have memorized the different types of antipsychotics and their associated side effect profiles, this info is not very high yield for Step 1. Instead, focus on mechanisms of disease, physiology of hormones, transmitters, and neurons, and pathologic aspects of certain diseases.
- By the time you start studying for boards, you will have a pretty good understanding of what works best for you. I like to mix up questions and textbook reading so I tried to do a fair balance of each. Don't freak out if you don't finish Uworld. Some people will go through every question twice and some people like me will take the test with 25% still unfinished. It's an awesome resource to finish, but not a prerequisite for doing well on boards. I'd also recommend glancing at the review books you think you might use for studying (for me it was First Aid and RR path) during the year while you are studying for SBM. This will help familiarize you with them and make studying for boards easier.
- Find a way of learning that works for you. Mine was reading First Aid over and over
- The best advice I can give is to stick to First Aid and Q bank. They are exponentially higher yield than all other resources and, unless you can recite everything in them from memory, you probably should not divert your attention to other resources. Try to work as much as you can during the day without diverting attention to email, internet, etc. so that when you get tired at night, you can stop without guilt. Also, during the year, practice studying directly from the resources you are provided rather than spending time reworking information into your own study guide. This will allow you to be more efficient when studying for Step 1 when you are pressed for time. And lastly, don't kill yourself during the school year. You will be busy enough and anything you study early in the year will be forgotten by the time the summer arrives.
- I don't think there is one right way to prepare for this - just don't get too bogged down during the year trying to prepare for Step 1. You could use your off time during winter breaks and thanksgiving and spring break to review stuff. If you've already done a good job going through some M1 stuff as you go through M2 and keeping good notes, you won't have any trouble quickly reviewing it from first aid. Try to take a day or two early on during one of the breaks and get Biochem/Genetics out of the way. If you've gone through it once, it makes it very easy to review and you'll get tons of questions on just these two on Step 1.
- Studying for boards is really just an endurance trial - how long can you stay focused each day and how many days can you study. Don’t freak out about studying every night. It doesn't help and just wears you out. I went out a week and a half before my test because the Hawks won the Stanley Cup and I wanted to celebrate. The next day though I was back at it and studying. I lost maybe 6 hours of studying out of an entire month so just remember to continue to enjoy yourself. Go to the beach, go out occasionally and hang out with friends whenever you can.
- Use the qbank as a measurement of where you are you. Start studying around spring break or a little after. Put in hard work, the result will be good.
- DO NOT DO QBank AFTER 8pm. You will get a bad score and freak yourself out.
- Set yourself up for success. Choose a study environment where you're comfortable and productive.
- Give yourself some downtime, you can't study 24/7 and expect to retain anything. Make a schedule before the end of the school year. Don't start studying too early - it won't help. Just focus on getting as much out of SBM as possible (don't just study to pass the test, study to learn that system as well as you can).
- Start early and review the same material over and over again until it becomes your vernacular. Be able to write out and explain each fact from First Aid and the Goljan notes. You'll be set.
- An excellent score is absolutely attainable for anyone at Feinberg. Success isn't easy, but it is simple. Here are the keys:
- Start early and work consistently
- Identify areas of strength and weakness
- Make a focused plan to fill in knowledge gaps
- Evaluate your progress regularly, and adjust course as necessary - If you leave yourself enough time, you should very easily be able to use this strategy of objectives-based learning, followed by assessment of progress and revision of plans, to maximize your performance on Step 1.
- Don’t use anyone else's study plan without personalizing it. What works for someone else will very likely not work for you. And you can figure out what's best for you by trying different strategies, assessing the improvements in your knowledge base, and then changing your strategy or keeping it the same as you see fit.
- Ignoring your weaknesses and hoping they won't be tested on the exam can definitely come back to bite you.
- Electronic Q banks and their ability to present questions and the answer explanations right afterwards plus the ability to repeat questions several times in different wording is by far the most high yield part of studying. subtract 10 points from your projected UW or USMLE RX score to get the real score you will get on step 1.
- On the day before you take Step 1 DON'T STUDY. I knew this was good advice and planned not to study, but then I felt woefully unprepared for the exam the day before I took it, and tried studying a bit in the morning. But that only started to confuse me, so I stopped and exercised/relaxed the rest of the day, keeping my mind off the Boards. You might feel the same way and be tempted to study the day before Step 1, so promise yourself that you won't do it! You're more prepared than you know. Remember, you'll never know everything, but you will know enough.
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