My 245 in step1 Experience

I am not good narrator thats why I am writing my experience succinctly. I am

2013 graduate of Chandka medical college Larkana, pakistan. I am an average
student thats why preparation of USMLE was challenging task for me.
Preparation started in on/off mood with lots of gaps while the journey. I started
preparation of USMLE Step1 from last semester of last Prof But soon it stopped
for 7 to 8 months due to House Job than I quit House job without completing it
and started preparation again in the end of February 2014. First, I read all
Subjects without videos, FA and QBanks. Second Read was with videos and Kaplan
Qbank but not FA, 3rd read was with FA.

BOOKS SELECTION
Being an average student I needed to select books with more explanations thats
why my selection of books was bit different than above average students.
I had used Kaplan in all subjects except Neuroanatomy (High yield), Embryology
(High yield), Behavioral science (BRS but used Kaplan for chapters like learning
and defense mechanisms), Microbilogy (MMRS), biostatistics (High yield) and
Pathology (goljan with pathoma videos). I Also used 100 ethical cases of C.fischer.

Qbanks
1= Kaplan qbank (offline) untimed and subject wise and used one time. Overall
percentage was about 74 to 75
2= Uworld Qbank (online) timed, random and mixed. Overall percentage in first
read was 77 and on 2nd read 94%. I made subject wise short notes from
explanations of uworld on blank papers of about 200 pages.

Strategy after booking triplet

I booked triplet (feb-march-April 2015) in October 2014 when I was giving the last
read. I completed last read in the end of December 2014. As last read completed,
I booked uworld for 3 months and completed it on 20 feb 2015. Started reading
FA with uworld short notes and completed the read on 5th march 2015 and still 7
days of uworld were remaining. So, started doing 7 blocks of uworld per day for 7
days and got 94% on it. As uworld expired, I started watching pathoma videos 2nd
time and completed it on 25 of march2015 than started working on my weak
areas from books for 12 days. Booked uworld again for a month and was doing 5
blocks per day without reading explanations and also read uworld notes made on
200 pages. After 6 days, my father suffered a stroke and couldnt read for 10 days
therefore I could only complete 30 blocks with 93%. In last 7 days I read 2015 FA
last time. Day before exam I did UWSA1 and 4 blocks of uworld to simulate 8 hour
exam.

How I read FA
Read FA 2014 during the last read of subjects. I did 2nd read of FA 2014 after
uworld. 3rd read FA 2014 during 2nd revision of pathoma lectures. Last read of FA
2015 in last seven days. I used google as a tool for pictures, cts and MRIs. I
googled every single topic that confused me in FA.

Assessments
I only used two Nbmes and UWSA1 for assessment.
One month before exam.
NBME 7 = 176/199
NBME15 = 174/200
1 day before exam
UWSA1 = 264

Our performance depends on how much confident we are during the exam. So,
UWSAs overpredict us but also gives us confidence thats why I advice you, not to
do NBMEs the week before exam because it may underpredict and depress you.

Day before exam

I just did UWSA1 and 4 uworld blocks to prepare my mind for 8 hour exam. I was
doing 2 blocks back to back and was taking 5 mints break after each two blocks,
finished all eight blocks by 4pm then closed all books. This proved helpful for me
on the exam day. After 4pm , I was a free man and took my bike and left home
with friends. Returned home at 8pm and slept at 9:30

Exam Day
I arrived at the centre 30 minutes before my scheduled time. Entered prometric
centre and started exam at 9:00 am. After 1st block I took 5 minutes break and it
was very tough and 2nd block was even harder than the 1st block. Then, did 3rd and
4th block back to back, took 15 minutes break. Again I did 5th and 6th block
continuously and took a break and did last block. Last 5 blocks were very easy and
I was marking 4 to 5 questions per block.

What would have been my strategy if I was to start

preparation of step 1 now after exam experience
My personal experience of exam tought me that toughness of exam explained to
us is biased. I didnt see it that much tough.If I were to start my preparatioon
from now, I would have given one read to all subjects with videos and Kaplan
Qbanks. After completing K.Q banks then would have done online uworld with FA.
As uworld is finished, I would have worked on my weak areas from books. In last,
FA and uworld explanations notes, all NBMEs should have been focused and
appear in exam.

Mistakes
Multiple reads didnt work for me, it was just wastage of time.
Should have done all NBMEs
I didnt work on my weak areas shown by Uworld graph thats why my
performance graph of usmle step1 shows that I have performed low in
cardivascular which is why I think, I didnt cross 250.

Exam is doable and every one can do it if he/she keeps

believing in themselves. Try to make your own strategy
that fits your daily routine and be confident during the
exam . . If something important is missing from the story, feel
free to ask me. I will be happy to answer you.

Best of luck to you all

Keep me in your prayers
Thanks