USMLE Step 1 Experience

Hey, I’m Waleed, and this is my step 1 experience, the resources I used, my recommendations
for you, and the mistakes I made which you should try to avoid. Keeping in mind the medical
curriculum followed by universities in my community, I wrote it mainly for students enrolled
in a 5-year MBBS program. I made it as detailed as possible so as to not miss a singular
aspect. I might add up points if I recall anything I missed.

Resources I used:
1. Anki (for spaced repetition. Flashcard app that helps with memorisation) for
everything!
2. Kaplan (I used kaplan from 1st year and beyond and hence did its physiology,
biochem, anatomy already in 1st and 2nd year. Then I did kaplan pharma.
Patho/micro and others are not recommended. Though you may see kaplan immuno
as some of my friends liked that, though I personally did not use cuz other
resources were sufficient)
3. Pathoma book+lectures (I started pathology directly from pathoma. Didn’t use
Robbins or any other book that people usually read for proff exams)
4. Boards and Beyond videos (everything except a few videos. I recommend that you
watch it for every single thing except pharma and micro which the other resources
cover well. But do watch basic microbiology videos as you already aren’t using
kaplan for micro, so at least use these videos to learn the basics of microbio)
5. Sketchy (pharma + micro) Did not use for pathology, neither do I recommend, cuz
pathoma and BnB cover patho well.
6. First Aid (I have been reading this book alongside my 1st and 2nd year relevant
topics and systems. However in the last year till exam I mainly replaced reading FA
with anki as it covers almost everything in FA)
7. Pixorize (for immunodeficiencies, transfusion reactions, neurocutaneous disorders
(NF1,2, Tuberous sclerosis, VHL disease etc). I would recommend it for
immunology as well, though I did not watch all immuno except the ones I
mentioned. Biochemistry I would not recommend as Kaplan is sufficient for that.
Though I did watch it for a few biochem diseases like MCAD deficiency. First use
kaplan biochem, cover its anki cards, and then see if you’re weak in any topic based
on your q-bank performance, watch those particular videos. Make a folder where
you add all the videos you watch from pixorize so that you can review those videos
in your last week before exam. Hence, keep it limited and only for weird topics.)
8. UWorld Q-bank (I did not use offline UW, and purchased an online 1 year UW
subscription right from the start, and I would recommend the same. Don’t waste
time on offline UW only to do the same questions again online. There are 2 basic
opinions. First is to start doing UW right away and cover the content alongside
doing mcqs for the topics you’ve already done. Second opinion is to cover all or
almost all the content (physio, anatomy, biochem, patho, immuno, micro, pharm)
 and only then start doing UW mcqs. Both have their pros and cons. I personally did
the second one, however, I do not think this is the only best way to learn.
- My recommendation would be to divide your day into 2 parts. In the first part,
do UW mcqs on the topics that you have already studied before. And in the
second half of the day study new topics/systems, and keep adding those topics
to the question pool you’re solving in the first half of the day. Do not wai to
cover the entire content to start doing questions. Doing questions on the topics
you’ve already studied will give you a general idea along the way. I bought
UW in June2021, and till September I had only done around 500-1000
questions (if you can do more, it would be better. I was slow because of using
anki religiously), after which I started doing it regularly cuz I was done with
the content by then.
- Also, the dilemma about doing UW system-wise vs random. I did it randomly.
My recommendation is: If you're using anki, and you cover up most of the
cards, and start doing UW after that, then it’s better to start UW on RANDOM
mode. But if you’re not using anki, go for a system-wise approach. Based on
my experience so far (after getting done with step 2 as well), I believe one
should start with system wise UW initially, and gradually moving on to
random mode. My recommendation would be to must do Amboss Q-bank
(instead of repeating the UW q-bank again, and doing Amboss in random
mode).
- Timed Vs tutor mode: I recommend tutor mode in the start while you’re
mainly learning new concepts and practising question solving skills. Later on,
at least a few months before exam, shift to timed mode so you adjust to the
time restraints
9. Randy Neil youtube channel (highly recommended for biostats, genetics. I used to
watch his other videos as well. Add him in as needed)
10. Dirty medicine youtube channel (selective videos for topics I needed to explore
more eg psychiatry, immuno, biostats, communication and ethics, some pathophys
videos). Watch this video as well High Yield CT Scans (Part 1) || USMLE
11. Dr Bhattia youtube channel (https://youtu.be/hcmlHReoOCg ) (Watched his
radioanatomy videos, https://youtu.be/GJ99vuoA37U this video for neuropathology
radio/histo, Dr Zainab radiology videos https://youtu.be/1osj6Qczy8s and some
other relevant videos. Watch them only when you’ve already learned from all the
above mentioned resources)
12. 100 concepts of anatomy (pdf file available on google) (This resource, along with
B&B’s MSK portion is enough for the anatomy part of your exam. Kaplan is not
recommended if you haven’t already studied that in the first 2 years, except kaplan
NEUROANATOMY of course, which is a must!)
So basically that’s the whole thing. Concise resources, dig deep into them and you’re good to
go. I would like to give you an idea on how you can proceed now. Please follow up with links
according to your year of study at this moment.

Second year MBBS:

Second year MBBS: Step 1

Third year MBBS:

Third year MBBS: Step 1

Fourth year MBBS:

Fourth year MBBS: Step 1

My thoughts and recommendations:

● Do not study with a pass/fail mindset. Study to actually learn the content really
well, and to score in the 240-250s range in assessments (NBMEs and UWSAs). For
many people UWSA2 is the most predictive of their performance in the real exam,
but for me it wasn’t. I scored 250 plus on UWSA2 and UWSA1, and higher 240s in
NBMEs (25-30 mistakes), and ended up with 241 on step1. There are a lot of
factors that impact the scoring system, but that’s not our worry. Do whatever is in
your capacity and to the best of your efforts.
● Basically, there is no single assessment that will accurately assess you, even the real
exam, but at least you know where you stand. Your steps knowledge and actual
experience will help you everywhere in your career.
● NBMEs are predictive of your exam performance, but are not reflective of it. By
this I mean that the real exam is very different from NBMEs question-writing style.
My exam, like for most test-takers, had very long stems as in UW (some even
longer) but the overall style was very similar to UWSAs and the usual UW
questions.
● Do the major subjects first (patho, pharm, physio) and minors in between.
Psych/Biostats/etc towards the end.
● Do not bother yourself with proff exams if you are already studying consistently for
steps. Look at the broad image, not tiny details.
● Take these recommendations with a pinch of salt, cause you definitely will lose a
few points in your proff exams, but honestly all this effort that people put in to read
 those hectic resources yield no benefit in the long run. The resources you will use
for steps will benefit you in every single exam, whether steps, proffs, or
postgraduate exams. Why? Because these are concise, comprehensive, and easy to
review anytime you’re about to appear in any future exams.
● Do not think low of step resources! These resources are far better than the low-yield
university-exams’ oriented resources. Just make sure you use them wisely,
productively, and retain the information that they tell you
● Get around people who share similar goals, join whatsapp groups, fb pages etc to
stay oriented. You may accomplish certain goals with study partners, online or your
friends who’re studying for step1.
● Should you find any problem anytime along the journey, you may contact me via
text or email. I’ll consider it a privilege to help someone in any capacity.

Email: waleedzeb56@gmail.com