[mujama]

MY USMLE Step 1 experience
Duration : july-17 november
Material :
Kaplan Notes + Kaplan lectures + First aid + Goljan notes + goljan Audios + goljan slides + UW + some of Kaplan q book + some of first aid questions
Approach :
First read Kaplan notes now regret the wastage of time ! ( see my recommendations and mistakes that you should not do at the end of the post )
After the reading I saw all the lectures except some of physio one which I didn't have time to see
then I read Goljan book which I also shouldn't have ! followed by listening to Goljan lectures
FA was the next
then did UW with addition of notes to FA
a couple of weeks before the exam started FA again with Goljan slides didn't + Kaplan q book + FA questions didn't complete any of them !

The Exam day slept at 11 30 pm woke up at 0130 am couldn't sleep any more !
Quick glance at first aid had a amy breakfast cup of coffee with bread
Went to Prometric center
Skipped the tutorial
1st block was hell extremely difficult things I've seen for the first time in my life it scared the hell out of me
I did 3 blocks at a time the 2nd and 3rd blocks were easy
Took a break had my lunch with a power horse went back
Did blocks 4 & 5 at once they were easy also
Break had another power drink
Block 6 was mixed easy and difficult
Break ( had to pee - no wonder all this caffeine had to come out ) + coffee latte
Block 7 = extremely tired but it was a mixed block

Now my mistakes and recommendation please please listen to what I have to say its out of experience every point could have made a difference in my performance If I did it in the way I'm gonna tell you now please take it seriously
1- First aid should be started early not like me you should read it 3 to 4 times at least
2- Goljan Lecture are the best lectures ever they are not just for pathology they include all the high yield questions you must listen to it every where you go put it in the iPod or mp3 listen to it every single place listen to it at least twice
3- Don't use Kaplan for all the subjects like what I did it was waste of time and during my exam even the things which I studied from Kaplan couldn't help me because I forgot most of them what I studied using FA was of real help
4- Subject wise recommendation
· Anatomy I think FA is sufficient read neuro from HY don't use a 500 page book of Kaplan it will take much time for nothing no need fpr the lectures the question ask about cross sections MRI or brain specimens
· Physio : hmmm not really sure I used Kaplan and Im not really satisfied I think FA is good lecture not so good specially the fat guy in the beginning togtal waste of time
· Biochemistry : Kaplan is the best + FA + lectures are also good ( you wont understand FA unless you read Kaplan besides there are some topics not there in FA or not covered in FA in a good manner I had 3 questions to use hardy wienbergh equation )
· Behavioral : Kaplan Is good HY is also good choose one lecture are excellent
· Pharma : study it last since a lot of memorization is required and the exam is based on memorization Kaplan is excellent FA is sufficient so its your call lecture are very good I really understood a lot of things from that French guy
· Microbiology FA is WOW and the only thing you should read Kaplan is waste of time lectures are waste of time also
· Immunology : FA is Very good Kaplan is good also but if I went back in time I wouldn't read Kaplan for immunology only FA
· Patho please don't read goljan just keep it as a refrence fo the things you don't understand , for patho listen to the Lectures once twice and even thrice + FA is really good if you don't understand something go for goljan book for that particular topic there are goljan slide + goljan high yield 46 pages notes don't go to the exam without having alook through them also oonce , twice
· UW is a must UW is a must UW is a Must .

Prep duration 4 months
FA + Kaplan + videos + UW + goljan
Score 223 = 95

 

[kundra]

thanks for such a experience and congratulations for ur score...n best of luck for ur future...i would like to know if ur an img or amg and if u hav already graduated,b'coz i dnt see how img's like us can get through this exam without going through goljan and other subjects which u simply suggested it to do from FA(i mean just with a single read in all cases)..b'coz to memorise FA one should have some basic understanding of things that v r supposed to be learning and until and unless u r an amg(who have recently studied all those subjects in detail) or an img taking exam after finishing his basic science subjects,its not possible for MOST of the people to go ahead without knowing abt what the lines of FA really mean..dnt you think so??:notsure:

 

[patelMD]

Yes, the above details are very much important.

I am following what you did exactly, people are telling me to read Kaplan thoroughly for all subjects (except Pathology, which i'm reading Goljan RR from end to end, with audio) for the first time with lecture videos.

The second time, I will be incorporating FA as I brisk through Kaplan & Goljan audio, and doing UW.

Does that sound good enough?
Did you use any other question banks like NBME? etc.

Also, im an IMG whos just finished Basic Sciences.

And Finally CONGRATS! :happy:

 

[aalam]

congrats

congrats buddy

cn smone pls tell me what is FA??? nd which lectures are being referred to???

and yea third thing, where do i get goljan slides???

pls let me knw, i shall appreciate ur help, thnx
cheers

 

[patelMD]

congrats buddy

cn smone pls tell me what is FA??? nd which lectures are being referred to???

and yea third thing, where do i get goljan slides???

pls let me knw, i shall appreciate ur help, thnx
cheers

FA = First Aid

Lectures: Kaplan Lectures

Goljan Audio = Goljan Lectures

Goljan slides, you have to look for around on the net, maybe a search in these forums might get you something

 

[Haisook]

Congratulations! Very good score considering the short preparation time!

 

[varun.nat25]

congrats buddy

cn smone pls tell me what is FA??? nd which lectures are being referred to???

and yea third thing, where do i get goljan slides???

pls let me knw, i shall appreciate ur help, thnx
cheers

well u can get the goljan slides and audio from torrentz.com

 

[dr100]

wats this UW??? CONGRATS.

 

[varun.nat25]

wats this UW??? CONGRATS.

UW- USMLE world
it is a question bank

 

[donofitaly]

Excellent work and excellent results, you should be very proud of you mate!

 

[usmle2011]

Good work buddy
best wishes for nxt step

 

[ignacio]

are kaplan notes and lectures 2 different things?, need more background thxs!

 

[varun.nat25]

are kaplan notes and lectures 2 different things?, need more background thxs!

kaplan notes are the written forms on a particular subj. whereas lectures are the videos related to it....if u work on notes along with the video lectures the first time you will understand and retain more easily

 

[varun.nat25]

congratulations with your score its really nice....party hard and good luck for the next step

 

[mujama]

thanks for such a experience and congratulations for ur score...n best of luck for ur future...i would like to know if ur an img or amg and if u hav already graduated,b'coz i dnt see how img's like us can get through this exam without going through goljan and other subjects which u simply suggested it to do from FA(i mean just with a single read in all cases)..b'coz to memorise FA one should have some basic understanding of things that v r supposed to be learning and until and unless u r an amg(who have recently studied all those subjects in detail) or an img taking exam after finishing his basic science subjects,its not possible for MOST of the people to go ahead without knowing abt what the lines of FA really mean..dnt you think so??:notsure:

hi Goljan's book is excellent but its too long and the info in FA is more than sufficient for Step 1 i listened to Goljan audio and even goljan says to just listen and IF you find something difficult you read goljan
im an IMG
again the key is to solve UW questions and they should help

 

[mujama]

Yes, the above details are very much important.

I am following what you did exactly, people are telling me to read Kaplan thoroughly for all subjects (except Pathology, which i'm reading Goljan RR from end to end, with audio) for the first time with lecture videos.

The second time, I will be incorporating FA as I brisk through Kaplan & Goljan audio, and doing UW.

Does that sound good enough?
Did you use any other question banks like NBME? etc.

Also, im an IMG whos just finished Basic Sciences.

And Finally CONGRATS! :happy:

Hi Patel wish you all the luck
as i told you some subjects are not good to go through with Kaplan use FA so you will memorize everything in FA and those subjects are anatomy embryo micro and immuno + patho listen to Goljan lectures as many times as you can the are much better than the book which should be used as reference only i used NMBE to calibrate my performance once before starting the prep and the 2nd one one month before the exam
DO AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU CAN YOU WILL FORGET THE INFO IN KAPLAN PRIOR TO THE EXAM BUT YOU CAN REVIEW FA IN 2-3 DAYS IF YOU ALREADY DID IT 3 -4 TIMES RIGHT ?
Bio is excellent from Kaplan do it from there

 

[mujama]

congrats buddy

cn smone pls tell me what is FA??? nd which lectures are being referred to???

and yea third thing, where do i get goljan slides???

pls let me knw, i shall appreciate ur help, thnx
cheers

FA = First Aid For Step 1
Lectures = Goljan lectures for patho Kaplan lectures are for all the subjects
you can find them online with the slides

 

[mujama]

Excellent work and excellent results, you should be very proud of you mate!

thanks dude