265 Experience - Abdelrahman Abusaif PDF
265 Experience - Abdelrahman Abusaif PDF
265 Experience - Abdelrahman Abusaif PDF
Assessments:
I have highlighted in green the self-assessments generally considered the most predictive. I also highlighted in blue the new NBMEs which
were released just 1 month prior to my exam; their predictive value is still to be determined.
UWorld Qbank 90% Throughout my preparation period
UWSA1 266 2 months out
NBME 16 259 6 weeks out
NBME 18 255 4 weeks out
NBME 20 259 3 weeks out
NBME 21 263 2 weeks out
NBME 22 267 12 days out
NBME 19 6 mistakes 11 days out
NBME 17 5 mistakes 10 days out
NBME 15 9 mistakes 9 days out
NBME 13 10 mistakes 8 days out
UWSA 2 266 7 days out
Free 120 Q's 91% 1-3 days out
Timeline:
(A) Subjectwise 1st Run (7.5 months):
In every subject, I followed the same sequence: I watched the relevant videos while adding relevant new Anki cards every day to my master
deck & doing them, then I did UWorld for that particular subject. After that, I moved to the next subject. I didn't use books except for Kaplan
2018 Bio Book. I skimmed through First Aid in some subjects (Bio, Micro, Anatomy, Physiology) but I didn't really study it so I didn't include it
in the table below.
Subject Videos Books Anki Deck UWorld Duration ***
Biochemistry Kaplan 2014 Kaplan 2018 Bio 1/2 of Zanki 4 blocks of Bio + 2 1 month
Classroom Videos Book blocks of Genetics
[80%]
Micro + Sketchy + B&B in --- Pepper 6 blocks of Micro + 1 1 month
Anti- general micro block of anti-microbials
microbials (Pharma > Infectious
Diseases) [94%]
Pharma Sketchy + Kaplan in --- Pepper 9 blocks of Pharma 1 month
general pharma random systems [95%]
st
Pathology 1 8 chapters of --- Pepper or Duke for 15 blocks of Pathology 2 months
Pathoma + About 1/2 Pathoma chapters + random systems [92%]
of SketchyPath SALT for Sketchy
chapters
Anatomy Kaplan 2014 --- Brosencephalon Total 7 blocks random 1 month
Classroom Videos systems (Anatomy +
Histology +
Embryology) [85%]
Immunology B&B --- USMLE-Rx Flash Facts 2 blocks [95%] 1.5 weeks
2016 + Lightyear
Behavioural Both B&B & Kaplan BRS PDF: only in Zanki 4 blocks 2 weeks
only in ethics & ethics & physician-
physician-patient patient relationship
relationship
Physiology 1st 2 lectures of Kaplan --- USMLE-Rx Flash Facts 4 blocks random 2 weeks
2014 Classroom 2016 systems [92%]
Videos + a few videos
from B&B
*** I consider this to be extremely slow, so don't take it as a standard but take it as an upper limit. I wrote down the rough duration because I
don't remember the exact time spent on each subject. In addition, there were some overlaps & time gaps between these subjects. For
example; I started immunology after micro then I took a pause & finished it after anatomy.
General Thoughts:
The best advice I can give is to avoid long time gaps in the middle of your preparation as much as possible. You take a significant time
to rebound after such breaks & you easily forget what you studied before. If personal circumstances arise, you can take 2-3 weeks as
needed. If you have to take a longer break, try to study 1-2 hours daily so that you don't take much time rebounding after a break.
Your performance in the step 1 exam depends on your cumulative knowledge throughout your previous medical education & your total
preparation period. In other words, if you couldn't study well during the few weeks prior to the exam due to any cause, chances are this
wouldn't hurt you as much as you would think. As long as you mastered enough high-yield concepts throughout your preparation, you
should be completely fine.
The skill of making an educated guess is critical for a high score. A large proportion of the questions I got right in UWorld & self-
assessments were about concepts I didn't know while a large proportion of the questions I got wrong was actually about concepts I
knew well. This demonstrates the value of the test-taking skill. This skill can be easily acquired when solving UWorld questions by self-
reflection & analyzing your approach to difficult questions afterward.
Don't obsess over a specific topic you can't understand or memorize. The range of testable topics is massive, and the probability of
seeing this specific topic on the exam is slim. I've experienced this first hand in both USMLE steps: I frequently researched some
difficult topics & struggled with them for a long time only to find later that they are not tested by either NBMEs nor in the real exam.
Instead, try to cover a wide range of high-yield topics with moderate depth. This is better than covering a narrow range of topics with
marked depth. Of course, this applies the most on medium-yield topics.
Don't spend too much time deciding which resource to use. There's no magic resource for step 1, despite most people thinking
otherwise. Try some of the most popular resources at first, then decide which resource to stick to & move on. Don't second guess
yourself in the middle of the journey. Hesitancy about which resource to use in each subject wastes significant time, contributes to
feelings of being overwhelmed, and is a significant reason for low scores & long preparation periods.
Finally, know that no matter how much pain you experience in this journey, you WILL achieve. No matter how much frustration
& disappointment you pass through, you WILL succeed, sooner or later. May you all achieve your magnificent dreams
Insha'Allah.