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Standard Textbooks

2299 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  abhicanada
Will reading the standard or recommended textbooks during med school help towards USMLE? I am currently studying in India (2 years more left + internship). How can I prepare for step 1 now? Is the pretest series useful at this stage or should I prepare for USMLE following graduation and focus on the clinical aspects?
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Yes they do! One of my friends would study kaplan after studying the standard book. He started doing this from his second year in medschool and tool USMLE step 1 in 4th year. He scored 95%, took CK right after final year, 99%. He is way ahead of even most of our seniors.:)
hmmmm lets see what I can tell you.

1. While studying the textbooks, do pay special attention to clinical applications of important points. For example, if you are studying glycolysis in biochem, do pay great attention to enzyme deficiencies.

2. In pathology, try to understand the slides, I didn't do that and then had to start from the scratch on that one.

3. Do your microbiology very well. Not sure about others but for me its one of the toughest subjects as most of it has to be memorized.

4. ELECTIVES!!! You are still an undergrad so you should avail this opportunity while you can. Electives are hands on clinical experience which is what most of the programs are asking for nowadays, or atleast prefer. Hands on clinical experience after graduation i.e externship is not easy to get.

5. Don't let others discourage you. Some will say you should concentrate on your curriculum and not worry about USMLE while others will say its hard to get a residency so why go for steps? But don't listen to anyone discouraging and do your thing.

Again, Best of luck!!!:D
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