MD is 3.5 weeks of dedicated for PF step 1 bad idea?

[taeyeonlover]

I'm in a tricky situation because I am required to remediate during the summer one of system based courses for 6 weeks. On top of this, I have to do 3 weeks of orientation/training for 3rd year rotations. Therefore, I only get around 3.5~4 weeks of dedicated for STEP1 which I need to take literally right before 3rd year starts.

The dean advised me to move one of 3rd year elective courses which is 1 month long to 4th year if 3.5~4weeks end up not being enough for me.

Does anyone know if 3.5~4 weeks of dedicated for PF STEP1 is enough? Or should I just register for a later date and move elective to 4th year?

My MS1 year was not great due to depression issues so I have a feeling that my preclinical knowledge might not be good. My classmates claim that they forgot everything too but they performed a lot better than I did during MS1 year.

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[Redpancreas]

I'm in a tricky situation because I am required to remediate during the summer one of system based courses for 6 weeks. On top of this, I have to do 3 weeks of orientation/training for 3rd year rotations. Therefore, I only get around 3.5~4 weeks of dedicated for STEP1 which I need to take literally right before 3rd year starts.

The dean advised me to move one of 3rd year elective courses which is 1 month long to 4th year if 3.5~4weeks end up not being enough for me.

Does anyone know if 3.5~4 weeks of dedicated for PF STEP1 is enough? Or should I just register for a later date and move elective to 4th year?

My MS1 year was not great due to depression issues so I have a feeling that my preclinical knowledge might not be good. My classmates claim that they forgot everything too but they performed a lot better than I did during MS1 year.

While it's P/F, you've unfortunately demonstrated that you are prone to exam failure so I wouldn't compare yourself to others as difficult as that is to stomach. Just save yourself the grief and move the elective to 4th year tomorrow. Then, focus your energy for the next three weeks solely on passing that system. Once you've gone through that for 3 weeks, take the weekend off. Then, do whatever you need to prepare for success during Step 1 for the next 6-7 weeks.

One high impact study strategy I learnt during the pandemic is going through UWorld with a peer over Zoom. You need to do a majority of questions by yourself but typically I'd tap out at around 80 per day (weak I know). That said, I was able to exceed that by doing an extra 40 with a friend where we'd do it timed but discussed answer choices. This really helps as it allows you to see inside someone else's head and borrow their strategies and identify knowledge gaps and they'll be further along than you because they've already been studying for 3 weeks. If you can't find a medical student locally, there are several IMGs willing to work with you two and you'll benefit off each other's knowledge. Depending on how well/poorly you're doing, you may benefit from a tutor. Do as many questions as you can, watch as many videos as you can, and try to understand as many concepts as you can. Repeat, repeat...

The only thing to note is there will be a notation that you took Step 1 a little later in your medical school file residencies look at. Some places get hung up about that, but it's not a big deal in my opinion because there's already a notation on your file with a course remediation and it makes logical sense you had to take more time if you had to remediate a course.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

How flexible is your school's 4th year scheduling? If it's super flexible, might be worth it to bump an elective to fourth year not just to give you some time to study, but maybe give some time as well to decompress post exam before jumping into rotations.

 

[Banco]

Depends on where your baseline is starting out. But I would have comfortably passed if I took it after 4 weeks of dedicated studying; the additional 2-3 weeks were needed to fine tune my score however. With P/F 4 weeks is most likely enough unless they have increased the pass threshold significantly.

 

[taeyeonlover]

Depends on where your baseline is starting out. But I would have comfortably passed if I took it after 4 weeks of dedicated studying; the additional 2-3 weeks were needed to fine tune my score however. With P/F 4 weeks is most likely enough unless they have increased the pass threshold significantly.

Should I at this point aim for taking the exam after 4 weeks and then take a practice exam several weeks before the real deal to see if I am on the right track? and then if I am not scoring well, I can delay the exam.

Do you know which practice exams are predictive? There seems to be so many out there.

 

[Banco]

Should I at this point aim for taking the exam after 4 weeks and then take a practice exam several weeks before the real deal to see if I am on the right track? and then if I am not scoring well, I can delay the exam.

Do you know which practice exams are predictive? There seems to be so many out there.

Yeah, maybe take a practice exam at 2 weeks, and then a couple in the final week.

 

[mrbreakfast]

It should be plenty. If you are an average medical student you have a good chance of passing without any dedicated studying whatsoever. Four weeks is plenty.

Do you know which practice exams are predictive? There seems to be so many out there.

NBMEs and UWSAs. Wouldn't bother with any others.