My experience and some take-home points for USMLE Step 1
Hello everyone. I’m an IMG from India. I got my Step 1 score a few days back. Here I’m sharing my experience and thoughts so that you don’t make the same mistakes as I did and I hope your journey becomes relatively smooth after reading this.
Preparation time: 1.5 years with many long breaks
Dedicated time: Last 3 months
Target Score: 250+
Real Deal: 245
Brief Stats :
UWorld 1st pass: 69.7 %
UWorld 2nd pass: 93.8 %
NBME 13 offline: 222, 38 wrongs (4 Months out)
NBME 21 online: 234 (2nd Sept)
NBME 16 offline: 235, 27 wrongs (8th Sept)
NBME 23 online: 226 (13th Sept)
UWSA 1 online: 262 (26th Sept)
NBME 17 offline: 243, 19 wrongs (10th Oct)
NBME 19 offline: 228, 27 wrongs (15th Oct)
NBME 20 online: 248 (20th Oct)
NBME 22 offline: 249, 28 wrongs (28th Oct)
NBME 24 online: 244 (1st Nov)
NBME 18 online: 250 (7th Nov)
UWSA 2 online: 260 and Free 120: 88% (14th Nov)
Honestly, I feel that I scored low than what I anticipated seeing my recent assessments before the big day. I was pretty confident of doing well after coming out of the test center, which usually never happens after any exam. I found it fair and doable. It took some time for me to accept reality and move on. But I’m happy that I did try my best and more importantly, I learned a lot.
Exam Day: I was calm and confident as I sat for the test. Started my test around 7.45. In the first two blocks, I made a MISTAKE which nobody has made in the history of the usmle. Once I started my first block, I noticed that I could not strike out the options with the mouse. I got nervous initially but continued answering without striking out other options as the clock was ticking. Striking out the least likely options was an important and essential drill for me to narrow down and reach to the correct answer, especially when there are 5 or more options. I mean I could rule out options by seeing them but I had this habit of doing it by striking out. I answered around 60–65 questions without this drill. Later I called the Prometric official to assist me. She said we’ll have to restart your system. So I asked her, will my time continue to lapse? She said Yes. So I told her to come after I finish the block. Luckily, after 10 mins she came and instructed me to DRAG AND CLICK SIMULTANEOUSLY TO STRIKE OUT THE OPTIONS. It worked!
I did not think about the blunder that has happened. Tried to focus hard and got the rhythm back.
- Took break after each block. I’d drink some water/Redbull (sugar-free) and eat some bites of a protein bar. After the 5th block, I took a long break of 15 mins. Ate protein bar and banana. I expected the last 2 blocks to be tough but they were similar to the previous ones.
Overall, I had positive vibes about the outcome after finishing the test. Everything went smoothly except for the mistake I made during the first two blocks.
Post-test feels: Used to wake up early with the dreams/thoughts of exam and questions, which is normal. Frequency decreased with time. I wasn’t really worried about the results.
Result day (11th December): The scheduling permit disappeared 12 hrs ago. I was waiting eagerly. At 7.17 pm IST, I got the mail, “Your score report is available.” Logged in and It was a 245. Could not believe it for a while because I expected more. It took some time for me to accept it completely. But eventually, I realized that it’s not a bad score. Just a bit low compared to my recent assessments. A minor setback but not a big deal.
My thoughts and some take-home points :
- I didn’t plan anything before starting this journey — No solid time frame, No idea about what, when and which resource to use. Because I was more focused on quality, so I ended up using multiple resources during the initial phase. And simultaneously the internship was being a bit demanding so I could not spend more than 16–18 hrs per week.
First Subject — Biochem, genetics and molecular bio — Studied for good 3 months to understand the concepts and basics. I could have finished it in 1 month with proper planning about resources and time management.
Lesson: Take a pen and paper, Make a rough outline about what Section or System or Subject you’re going to study and allocate time according to your abilities. So that you get a rough idea about how to lead and where do you stand.
- Make short term goals to ultimately achieve long term goals. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I personally realized this during the last phase of my preparation. It’s all about being organized and disciplined. You should know what are you going to do tomorrow, next week and next month. And don’t worry if you fail to achieve daily goals, just try to give your 100% and take your time as needed. Ultimately you’ll get things done.
- Bought Uw (for a year) a bit early and did not utilize it properly during the internship so had to renew the subscription for the last 2 months. Again, mismanagement can cost you money.
- At times, the process can be tiresome and depressing. For me, it happened quite a few times because of various reasons. I took too many unplanned breaks (Plus added time in recovery) which I could have avoided. So just try to keep it simple by maintaining a balanced schedule. Take a day off every week to detox and relax with your close ones.
- Whenever you feel low, listen to some good music, Go out and meet your friends, Spend time with family. Try to Communicate. Even when it feels uneasy or uncomfortable. Because one of the best ways to heal is simply getting everything out. Take care of your mental space.
- It’s not about, how long you study. It’s about the Intensity. I realized that the best way of learning, especially after a couple of revisions of FA, is by solving more and more questions actively rather than reading materials passively.
- It doesn’t matter what you score during your first pass of Uw. Don’t bother about your performance. Just try to learn as much as possible during the first pass. Use the second pass as an assessment tool. Do it in a timed mode with multiple blocks.
- Do not waste your time making Flashcards from every question of Uw. Rather annotate unfamiliar important info in FA and make flashcards only containing Uworld images, which will be helpful during the days before the test.
- Use NBMEs and Self-Assessments to just find your weak areas. Do not get depressed after scoring low and Do not get excited after scoring well. Just focus on the number of mistakes, rather than the score. Try to reduce the numbers day by day.
- Make mistakes while you can and learn from them so that you don’t make the same mistakes in the future.
- During the last 2 months along with NBMEs, try to maintain the sleep cycle and avoid afternoon sleep. In terms of diet, have a good breakfast and some light lunch to stay alert in the afternoon during the dedicated time.
- Watch the tutorial carefully from free 120. The striking out drill surely has cost me some points.
- Everyone is different. And therefore what may work for one person may not for another. So find your path. It’s okay to stumble and fall. Because everybody does. And every time you fall, remember one thing — We fall so that we can learn to pick ourselves up.
- Help others to help yourself. Because we rise by lifting others.
Finally, to conclude, I’m extremely grateful and would like to thank my family, friends, seniors, and mentors who guided me and supported me so far. This would not have been possible without them.
Good luck everyone.
May the force be with you.
