2007 Step 1

[owen_osh]

Hey SDN

I haven't been on here much since I applied to med school, but lately I've been thinking a lot about Step 1 and I know that this is the best place for advice, motivation, and support.

I'm not doing a lot of prep work right now. Mainly, I'm focusing on learning micro as well as I possibly can. I'm also taking some time to read BRS Physio to keep that fresh in my mind and I might read HY BS if I have some extra time.

My main source of worry is that I really didn't learn biochem, genetics, or neuro very well. I'm not sure if I should start early trying to learn these subjects or just cram them before the test.

Has anyone else out there started to think/worry about Step 1? I'd love to here from you all.

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[Adcadet]

yup, thinking seriously about Step I already.

Had neuro already and hated it. Didn't feel like I learned jack. I thought they tried to teach us way too much, and I ended up missing the forrest for the trees (do I really need to know where nucleus ambiguus is on a purple blob slide???!!!). BRS Phys chapter 2 is neuro stuff, and I'm wondering if that is all we really have to know about neuro in addition to anatomy. Anybody have a sense of this?

It's also a bit of a challenge to think about studying, since year 1 for us was all basic science and year 2 is organ system-based (we take pharm, path, and pathophys all year, organ system by organ system). Is my cardiovascular pathophysiology material going to be in physiology, or pathology...I have yet to figure that out, though I'm guessing path since it looks like physiology on the boards is normal physiology which we covered in year 1.

And then there's the question of what I really need to score on the exam. Do I assume I want to do IM locally and try to score around the mean, or shoot for 250 in case I want to do something more competitive (anesthesia? IM at one of the premier places?). And what if I want to get a competitive fellowship (cards?) - does my score matter? So many questions, so few answers.

 

[Paul1441]

yup, thinking seriously about Step I already.

Had neuro already and hated it. Didn't feel like I learned jack. I thought they tried to teach us way too much, and I ended up missing the forrest for the trees (do I really need to know where nucleus ambiguus is on a purple blob slide???!!!). BRS Phys chapter 2 is neuro stuff, and I'm wondering if that is all we really have to know about neuro in addition to anatomy. Anybody have a sense of this?

It's also a bit of a challenge to think about studying, since year 1 for us was all basic science and year 2 is organ system-based (we take pharm, path, and pathophys all year, organ system by organ system). Is my cardiovascular pathophysiology material going to be in physiology, or pathology...I have yet to figure that out, though I'm guessing path since it looks like physiology on the boards is normal physiology which we covered in year 1.

And then there's the question of what I really need to score on the exam. Do I assume I want to do IM locally and try to score around the mean, or shoot for 250 in case I want to do something more competitive (anesthesia? IM at one of the premier places?). And what if I want to get a competitive fellowship (cards?) - does my score matter? So many questions, so few answers.

Do you know Paul Luikart?

 

[AlexRusso]

Don't worry about your first year courses. Concentrate on REALLY learning the stuff in second year. Path, Pharm, Micro are the most high yield when it comes to Step 1. You can learn enough of the year one material from review books in a few weeks before your exam. BRS Physio, HY Anatomy and HY Neuroanatomy are very good review of 1st year stuff. All the neuro you need and then some is covered in the HY book. As far as biochem, I really liked the Kaplan lecture notes for this subject. Others swear by HY Biovhem and Mol Bio. I flipped through those, they look good, so pick one and use it.

Bottom Line: Concentrate on learning 2nd year stuff really well. Don't stress the 1st year stuff for now.

 

[Idiopathic]

Don't worry about your first year courses. Concentrate on REALLY learning the stuff in second year. Path, Pharm, Micro are the most high yield when it comes to Step 1. You can learn enough of the year one material from review books in a few weeks before your exam. BRS Physio, HY Anatomy and HY Neuroanatomy are very good review of 1st year stuff. All the neuro you need and then some is covered in the HY book. As far as biochem, I really liked the Kaplan lecture notes for this subject. Others swear by HY Biovhem and Mol Bio. I flipped through those, they look good, so pick one and use it.

Bottom Line: Concentrate on learning 2nd year stuff really well. Don't stress the 1st year stuff for now.

As good as any advice you can get right now.

 

[Harbster]

Pharm, Physio, Path + Basics of clinical medicine.............that's Step I. Embryology, anatomy, and biochem are low yield. Neuro is straight forward, parkinson's, stroke lesions, etc........you'll be surprised how much neuro you actually know.

 

[utlonghorn50]

As I am sure you know, there are many old posts on this topic. I would concentrate on doing well in your classes right now.