Best way to use First Aid for step 1 and BSS?

one word: qbank, do it all over, and over again. I could swear that 30% of my test was straight from qbank, re-reading is a total waste of time (especially class notes), figure out where your weak points are from doing questions, the do more questions.

I agree with Ron Burgandy on this and would like to add a little. Identify your weaknesses before you start studying & allocate more time for them. Don't spend the same amount of time on all subjects if you're stronger in some than others-that just doesn't make sense.

I felt that I needed a good foundation to start doing questions, but everyone varies here. I don't like getting 50%'s on sections before I was ready, b/c it's just a blow to the confidence. Put a little time in, start phasing in questions, then convert to mostly questions with a little review. I can vouch that First Aid for Step 1 was very good, but everyone has their faves. Ones I'd recommend-BRS for Path, Kaplan for Biochem. The rest you will get from QBank. Also, I reviewed Micro & Pharm with a study partner a little each evening, b/c studying 50+ drugs or 50+ organisms/day just won't stick.

In the end, everyone has different techniques that work for them. I'm a poor crammer, so I went with the methodical approach.

Good luck.

One of the myths that has seemed to perpetuate along the trail is that with so many applicants, if you're not from a top 10 school, your Step 1 scores are what separates you from the pack. Also, regionalism is alive and well. I thought it was all BS, but if you're really interested in going somewhere that you have no ties to on your CV, do yourself a favor & rotate there.

I don't envy you...I can still remember the day I took it & thought I went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Thanks for your advice everyone. One more thing - while we're learning say CV or GI in class, would people recommend using our own time right now to review weak topics (like biochem), or wait until it gets closer to the test? I'm in the process of making a plan for myself now but am just trying to get a better feel for things that have worked for others in the past. Thanks.

If you can review while still learning the material, then go ahead. But by no means review at the expense of not learning the current material really well.

Just to echo the above statements, do questions, questions, and then more questions. I think that's the key. And when you review questions, don't simply focus on the correct answer, but read through the entire explanation to understand what would've made the wrong answers correct. That's the only way that resources like Kaplan Q-bank are able to cover most of the important material, but too many people just read over the right answer and move on. Also, closer to test-taking time, do blocks of 50 and treat it like the real test. In the end, a big part of taking this test is developing a test taking strategy with the limited time you are given to answer questions. Learning that will help you with Step 2 as well.

I used the Kaplan Q Book & video lectures + Q bank for step 1, dedicated 6 weeks to it. Used Q Book, Q Bank, and Lecture Notes for Step 2, dedicated 3 weeks. Also found that the lecture books for Step 2 were very helpful in preparing for my clinical rotations (& exams) during 3rd and 4th year. Used Q Bank for Step 3 when I had time for 1 month. Scores: 243, 246, 239

Agree with those who say make your studying question heavy. I spent 6 wks total (mostly annotating first aid) and was doing nothing but questions for the last 2 wks (maybe a glance at a text to review something totally foreign). Getting yourself accustomed to doing many 50 question blocks in a row definitely helps preparing you for the timing of the test and with endurance. Its nice to have 10 minutes at the end of each block to review your work or settle back and throw in a lipper.

Good luck to everyone on the exam.

sorry for the rookie question but, what is meant by "annotate the first aid book" (yes I know the book)

"annotate the first aid book" =take notes. When I did qbank I referenced the answers in first aid and added additional info I thought was important in the margins. It was nice to have the majority of info in one book. First Aid and qbank is all you need--all other books should take a backseat. Good luck.

Yeah, I agree with above. Annotating First Aid is writing in the margins so that you don't have to go back to your big bulky books for reference.

I spent 4 weeks reading review books, like from brs, nms, lippincott biochem and pharm. I read, not studied during this period, emphasizing on taking notes. Then, spent 1 week reading the first aid with notes.

I did Q bank all throughout the period.
I did well in step 1.

If I could go back, I'd have spent one more week reading my first aid with notes and review more questions.

So here'swhat I did, with some suggested modifications...

1st/2nd year- annotate First Aid (wish I had done this!)

4 weeks prior to the exam- Write out a schedule, spend 12 hours reviewing a First Aid chapter, spend the next 24-36 hours doing QBank questions on this material, move on to next chapter and repeat, etc. Do this for each chapter in First Aid. When doing questions in First Aid, review every single one... Know why your answer (hopefully) was correct and why all others are wrong.

In addition, once each week do a simulation... Week 1: 1/2 exam (untimed), Week 2: 1/2 exam (timed), Week 3: full exam (timed) with include all prior incorrect answers, Week 4: full exam of new questions (timed). Review each practice exam in depth.
Worked well for me.

FYI: Most people I spoke to started in the 55-65% range, and if their timed scores rose to 75% by test time, they usually beat the mean. Also keepin mind, these stats are for the 2005 season.

Very much agree with DrHibbert.

I had a very similar plan of attack for step 1 and had a great result. I also read though Step-up, which I thought was useful because it had some different information.

Good luck on the exam. Take it seriously to avoid worrying about it during the application season, but realize that if you don't get the score you want that you can still find other ways to get in the game.

Thanks for all the advice. I've been annotating FA quite a bit with notes from class, and I've almost completely moved to using BRS with heavy notetaking for my coursework. Just a question - what's a reasonable amount of time to set aside for Qbank? My plan is to finish up the board simulator question (which might take awhile) and then going at Qbank, hopefully there's enough time for this.

I used FA, and entered many notes from other sources. One was class/lecture, then I used the physiology, pathology, gross anatomy, and biochem brs's. Also used the Micro made Ridiculously Simple book (which is awesome). My FA doubled in size. Then, I just reviewed my compilation a couple times and finished Qbank (also entered notes from here).

I got 242. Most of my friends did the same thing and scored similarly or better.

The big missing factor in FA is the college level biochemistry (esp lab-type info) that was on the step one. But, I just said, F it.

While I'm repeating many ideas already stated, hope it helps.

Very well said indeed. Your talent can never be judged by scores of a certain exam. Still this is the way of judgment.
Rendering Error in layout BBCode/Image: Layout 'BBCode/Image:default' Not Found. Please enable debug mode for more information.

If you can review while still learning the material, then go ahead. But by no means review at the expense of not learning the current material really well.

Just to echo the above statements, do questions, questions, and then more questions. I think that's the key. And when you review questions, don't simply focus on the correct answer, but read through the entire explanation to understand what would've made the wrong answers correct. That's the only way that resources like Kaplan Q-bank are able to cover most of the important material, but too many people just read over the right answer and move on. Also, closer to test-taking time, do blocks of 50 and treat it like the real test. In the end, a big part of taking this test is developing a test taking strategy with the limited time you are given to answer questions. Learning that will help you with Step 2 as well.