Can you do well by just doing BSS, QBank and FA

Depends on how you're doing on the questions I guess..
I think doing a ton of questions, especially Kaplan questions, is probably the most important thing. If you're getting like 90% on the QBank or QBook, then I guess I wouldn't worry about reading anything. Then again, I don't know too many people who can get 80-90% of those questions right without doing any reading, although I may be a moron.
I would say do tons of questions AND read, even if it's just reading on the questions you didn't do so well on. I read an assload and did probably 3-4000 questions, and I did really well, but it may have been overkill....then again you only get one Step 1 score, so if you study "too much" so what, it's only a few weeks/months of your life, you can always be a lazy slug during 4th year (and for Step 2 if you nail this one)
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I took 4.5w of 8-10h per day 6d/wk to do questions and review for step I and got in the 240's. I would briefly read a section in FA or Step Up and then start pounding out questions. Used BSS, Qbank, the USMLE practice CD, and a few NMS. If you do all/most of these questions and really read the explanations you are golden. I liked BSS the best. Its like the Ron Jeremy of question book series... long, hard...but I assure you if you give it a chance, BSS will take care of you. Also, if I didn't understand explanations, I would reference books like High yield embryo and anatomy, BRS Phys, BRS behav sci, Micro ridiculously simple.

Remember the reason you studied so much the first two years is so this is just a review. I cant think of anybody who worked their tail off and did poorly, though some did better than others. I know several people who worked harder than I and chose not to do questions and did a little worse than me. I dont think I test better or knew more, but I think the questions help you focus on the most important topics.
PS- Make sure to excercise the body and not just the mind.

I think that Step II is more amenable to just doing questions...I recommend a good combination of reading and questions for Step I. I did all the stuff you mentioned plus read some Kaplan Step I review books that covered the old stuff from first year (biochem, anatomy, embryo, genetics, etc.)

I have to echo what has been said above and what has been mentioned in the past on this forum: questions are key. The questions really help you get into a test taking frame of mind, and the answers are gold. BSS has the hardest questions and the most detailed answers, but it is also the highest yield for time spent. If you review past posts on the USMLE forum, you will notice a pattern. "Did tons of questions, especially BSS, scored in 230s or 240s." You should supplement the questions with BRS Path, High Yield books, but make sure you do a lot of questions and you will do well.

Thank you for your response. That was very helpful.

AJ

How important are the kaplan courses or notes for step 2? For me some of the review books were higher yield than the live prep course for step 1.

This is what I did. I studied aprox. 7hr/day for 6 weeks. I started by reading the step up, then I read the cell and molecular biology HY and the behavioral sciences HY. I then read the FA. After that I got together with a friend who had webprep and listened to all the lectures on anatomy and embriology, epidemiology and a few on biochemestry (FA metbolism, hexose monophosphate shunt...). Then I read the underground clinical vignnettes (all except microbiology). I started doing qbank from the beginning and when I was tired of books I just settled for a question only day (150-200 questions/day). One thing I strongly recomend is not to do questions on the subjects that you have recently studied. I tried to wait at least 3 days before doing questions on a previously reviewed subject. After finishing the UCV, I read a few chapters from Ayala and pathology BRS (I just choose the chapters were I felt the weakest). I also read all the chapters on glucose metabolism from lippincott's biochem. One week before the exam I started reading the FA one more time. Two days before the exam I did all the epidemiology, genetics, molecular biology questions from qbank all over again. I didn't finish qbank (200 questions left). That's all of it. One thing that helped me was that I was scheduled to take the test on july 11 (I started studying june 1) and I was able to change it to july 16 some 2 weeks before the test, so I had 5 more days....I took a whole day off and added the brs and ayala to my schedule which helped a lot. One more thing, I took the pathology, microbiology, pharmacology and physical diagnosis shelf exams during the month of May. For thoose tests I read the pathology brs, microbiology high yield, some chapters of microbiology MRS, the microbiology and the pharmacology sections on FA and the physical diagnosis pre-test. After the shelf exams I took 2 weeks off and started studying for the step 1. So most of the heavy subjects for the step I had already reviewed. I concentrated on reviewing subjects at least 3 times during the 6 weeks. For example, I reviewed pharmacology on the step up, FA, UCV, QBank and FA again. If I just finished reading the pharmacology UCV and I was scheduled to read the FA next, I would leave the pharmacology section for the end, so that a few days passed and I had more exposure to the subject closer to the exam and throughout the 6 weeks. In the end it paid off....I got a 250!!! Hope this helps.

Astacun1 , how helpful was pre-test "physical exam and diagnosis" Thats another five hundred questions, but should i try to work some of them in. I thought that would be more helpful for step 2. thanks in advance.

khalid

Hmm, I was checking out this thread, and I feel compelled to share my Step I prep experience. I took it 9 - yes, nine - days after 2nd year finals were over. Actually, it may have been 8, whatever. In my opinion, this was the one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I felt like the education I received during the first two years prepared me just fine. Our path and clinical medicine finals were cumulative over the whole year. So, preparing for those, in essence, prepared me for the boards. I used board review books to study for all of my 2nd year classes, and I thought that made a big difference. By the time finals were over, I had gotten through First Aid once, and I went through it three more times in the next week or so.

Most of my friends who studied for 4-6 weeks were miserable. They all regretted waiting so long and said the last 7-10 days were a complete waste. Many felt that they did not learn anything that imporoved their score during that time. Another problem was that they were totally burned out when we started clerkships - not a great way to look enthusiastic and feel motivated to read about your patients.

I don't think that the 9-day study plan is for everyone, but a month is the maximum I would recommend. Did I get a 260? No. Did I do well enough that I don't have to take Step 2 early to improve my score? Yes. Did I have a friggin great summer and take 5 weeks of vacations to get ready for clerkships? Hell, yeah. Was I ready to kick ass on my surgery rotation? You betcha.

Obviously, this is just what worked for me, and I'm sure a lot of people who have matched in Ortho (which I have yet to do) will disagree. Take it for what it's worth. Studying 3-4 vs. 6 weeks will probably not make a big difference in your score.