Clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple questions
After narrowing down the list to those designed specifically for med students studying for the USMLE Step 1, you will find yourself left with about 43,943 books. You will find that there are about three million medical books out there. Now that we convinced you that First Aid won’t make you a Step 1 superstar by itself, let’s look at what else to consider. Furthermore, it should be annotated thoroughly, which will be discussed with tips in an upcoming post. Either way, it should be used as your starting marker to point you in the right direction, not your end point. Some students like returning to review First Aid after that, and/or in the days just before the exam. This should then be followed by in-depth learning from a dedicated resource. The sections corresponding to the subject of your focus should be lightly overviewed first. The proper way to use First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 is as a guide. Every commercial question bank and review course will cite some arbitrary number that suggests First Aid doesn’t hold 100% of the needed knowledge. However, this absolutely cannot be the sole source of information for Step 1 studies. This should be at the core of every med student’s study plan, and can be purchased confidently, regardless of your individual study strengths. It has been reviewed and highly recommended on this site, and even given away in a contest. Get a Copy of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2012
Using a question bank to accomplish this goal is an alternate option, but they are focused on teaching topics, and nothing is as authentic and insightful as an exam coming directly from the NBME. If desired, take another one about 10 days before the actual exam for comparison and reevaluation of focus. It can serve as a strong motivator, and has been shown to increase board scores at certain med schools by 1/4 of a standard deviation. Assessing your Step 1 knowledge before studying, and seeing the score and performance profile early on will definitely sting, but the purpose is to push you in the right direction.
It is recommended that you take an untimed enhanced CBSSA exam early on or even before you start studying.
Clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple questions for free#
Hopefully your med school provides them to you for free (if they don’t, petition for it). It lays out a visual representation of strengths and weaknesses. They use Step 1 style questions and provide performance profiles (above) similar to that found on your actual Step 1 assessment.
The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), the same guys who bring you the Step 1 exam, have created a number of helpful exams for this goal called the Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment (CBSSA). After all, it would be silly to dedicate the same amount of time to a topic you despise as one you already know really well. Before you even decide where to start, you should have a basic idea of big-picture learning goals. The problem will always come back to figuring out what works best for your specific learning style and knowledge base. Figure Out Your ACTUAL Strengths and Weaknesses, with Evidence.Įarly in the study process, you will be bombarded with different strategies and study practices.