welcome to the second year of medical
school lectures now in this lecture
we're going to discuss the USMLE step 1
exam we'll talk about why the exam is
important when you should start studying
for the exam what resources you should
use how to study for the exam itself now
let's talk about the exam so the USMLE
step 1 exam is a multiple-choice exam
that students take at least in the
United States after the second year of
medical school the exam covers multiple
topics going over them briefly the exam
will contain anatomy behavioral sciences
biochemistry microbiology pathology
pharmacology physiology genetics
immunology nutrition molecular and cell
bio epidemiology biostatistics and
medical ethics a lot of content the exam
though don't get overwhelmed you covered
these topics in the first two years of
med school so the exam itself tests the
basic science material that you'll learn
throughout the second the first two
years of med school but it tests you in
the form of what are called clinical
vignettes and we'll come back into
defining what our clinical vignettes so
the exam itself will you sit down on
test day you will have seven 60-minute
blocks each block will have 40 questions
so 7 blocks
40 questions each you will sit down for
a total of 280 questions on test day
just so you are aware prior to 2016 each
block of questions actually had 46
questions instead of the new 40 so if
you reading something or you were here
about some block having 46 questions you
know it's a bit of an outdated resource
now personally when I took the exam it
had 46 questions and we had the same one
hour time so you've been gifted in a way
with a new exam setup so with all that
exam time you are gonna need some breaks
so on exam day you are allotted 45
minutes of what they call personal break
time but you can get some more out of it
so in the when you go sit down on test
day there's actually a 15 minute
tutorial at the beginning of the exam
and this tutorial just teaches you how
to click the buttons how to use a basic
interface
which all of you I'm sure I'll wear so
what you can do is actually hit skip on
this tutorial and that 15 minutes will
get added to your 45 giving you a new
total of one hour of break time that you
can use on test day as a quick side note
you can go on to the USMLE website and
view that tutorial on your own computer
and take as much time as you want
getting familiar with the interface so
on exam day you don't have to waste time
and you can just hit skip and take those
15 minutes and earn them as your own
there's even another way to get some
more break time so if you're taking a
block and you finished that section
early within the one hour limit whatever
unused time gets tacked on to your total
break time all right so there is plenty
of opportunity on this long day of exam
to give yourself adequate breaks so
where do you take the exam so the exams
taken you know in the US and actually
globally at what's called a Prometric
Testing Center this is a very
uncomfortable and let me say that again
an uncomfortable and sterile testing
environment okay we'll go into details
of how this feels
shortly but it's not pleasant but we
have a strategy to make it better so
describing the USMLE exam so far it all
sounds pretty horrible doesn't it you
know you have to study for the exam
you know but taking the exam can also be
a fun challenge it's not as bad as
people will think
don't let that introduction scare you if
you have the right mindset and you
prepare properly studying for and taking
it on test day can actually be pretty
fun
so why is the USMLE step 1 exam
important why do people care so much why
is it so talked about in the medical
community so you need to know the
purpose of the exam and the USMLE step 1
exam is used for multiple purposes
medical schools take them they use them
to gauge students on how they're
learning and it assesses the school's
curriculum design so schools use it for
self evaluation medical students
themselves can use it for self
evaluation and to see how they're doing
in the curriculum and unfortunately or
you know for better or for worst
residency programs which all medical
students want to apply and match in to
use them heavily in their decision
making process
for matching residency applicants so
these are the few ways in which the u.s.
Emily's exam score is used and you know
a world of uses also exist but these are
the vital ones you should be aware of so
the exam is extremely important and you
want to have the right mindset and
strategy for it so the exam is used for
a wide variety of purposes if you search
online and see what the average USMLE
score is across the nation and what
average scores are for students matching
into different residency programs you
could do this I could tell you this
information but I'm going to argue it's
worthless I'm not going to focus on that
material because it doesn't help you in
any way it doesn't help you plan it
doesn't help you develop a strategy or
help you do well on step one to be frank
I'm going to ignore all those numbers
and I'm going to recommend you do as
well they're only going to distract you
there's no value in knowing oh there's a
killer number I need to get to match
into dermatology well I'm sure you're
aware if you want to do dermatology is
very competitive let's have the strategy
of getting you the best score we can
instead of worrying about numbers and
stressing ourselves out so let's do
something else let's instead focus on
learning the material well learning how
to take the USMLE exam and perform well
on it then you don't have to worry about
score averages or n MBE score reports
you will have done well you would have
had a solid strategy and you go on with
your life no need for extra stress so
when do you start studying for USMLE now
this is a debated question among medical
students but I'm going to argue the
answer is very simple when you refers to
your medical student don't worry about
us Emily step 1 it's going to be an
unnecessary distractor focus on
developing strong study skills reading
skills having a heavily you know having
a healthy lifestyle of good eating
sleeping and exercise these lifestyle
habits and study habits take a long time
to develop and to get them deeply
ingrained takes effort and time so
during the first year focus on growing
yourself academically mature wise and
physically and mentally then you'll have
the perfect platform for going into
second here so when you start the second
year of medical school that's when you
start to plan out there
sources for us Emily step one and start
to develop a study schedule now let's
break it down per month you know this is
based on the typical US medical school
schedule and yours may vary but in
general here's how it goes in the month
of February this is when students start
to study for us Emily it's not dedicated
us Emily time but they study for step
one simultaneously while studying
medical school courses this is a
balancing act it's when you start
getting your foot you know dipping it
into the pool getting a little wet while
still being in medical school curriculum
now net no in March the next month this
is the transition point of medical
school final exams also called shelf
exams and the transition into full
dedicated us Emily study mode now in
April
most students across the nation will
have an entire month two to six weeks
depending on which school you go to in
April for dedicated hardcore nose to the
grindstone us Emily's study time this
isn't true for all school some schools
have it you know a different amounts at
different times in the month but in
general in April that's when you'll have
dedicated step one time and then in May
that's when most students will actually
sit and take the USMLE step 1 exam so
you've learned about the exam you've
learned the overall timeline and its
importance
so the real important question becomes
what resources should you use for the
exam now the amount of resources
available to study for us Emily step one
are now for better or for worse
innumerable so you know this is a
problem students have too many resources
to pick from they buy too many they
become overwhelmed so let's not have
that happen what you want to do you know
the goal here is to purchase a set core
of resources that you study well with
and are also high-yield gold standard
resources pick a few and those few are
going to be strong good ones now you may
be in the process of buying resources
that you don't like and you'll have to
ignore some but this is a process and it
comes with the territory
so there is going to be some loss some
sunk costs you'll buy some resources you
don't like them Hey
better to throw them away and not be
distracted then
and be distracted with all these
unnecessary resources find what works
for you and we'll discuss them so what
are the overall types of resources
available for us Emily step 1
these include but are you know not
limited to number 1 books go to class
like books now digital as well using
flash cards there are pre-recorded video
lectures there are video animation
companies and also question banks let's
go through them so for books many
resources are available and these are
also the most historical resources us
Emily resources started off in books and
they're still in books today so the
single book that we are going to argue
and no one's going to argue against us
because it's a national agreeing that
the first aid for us Emily step one is a
must-have book you can also use the
lectio book matcher app on any popular
book including first aid for us Emily
step one and just take it and scan the
book and find relevant videos so
hopefully during your first year of
medical school you obtained a video
lecture series to follow along with your
medical school lectures if you're
watching this video you likely purchased
or hopefully about to purchase some
material videos and good job for picking
what I'm going to vary by ously tell you
is the best resource out there and that
comes with my genuine opinion extremely
high quality high-yield videos so what
you need to do is keep watching these
videos during your first year of med
school and if you didn't that's fine
watch them during your second year of
med school
get on the train as early as you can
these videos are going to be the
foundation for your understanding of
step one material so question banks kind
of an interesting topic these are the
core resource used when the basic
science learning is complete and now
you're focusing on studying for the
actual USMLE exam itself now question
banks really come in two forms those
that help you learn the material and
those that separately help you prepare
for the USMLE exam itself so the
resources you will loo use will be
categorized into two forms the first the
material helps you learn material
throughout your second year of med
school that'll be the first style of
you want going getting and learning the
material and then the second form of
resources will be a material that then
reviews what we call high yield test
relevant material that you learned
during the first two years of med school
and you actually need both those that
teach you the material and those that
then say hey here are the highlights or
high yields of what you need to know for
clinical practice and going into
standardized exam so how do you actually
study for the exam so we previously
discussed the resources and the content
present on the USMLE exam now let's talk
about how to actually study for it first
things first I want all of you to really
focus on the second year of medical
school courses the second year of
medical school topics in school are the
most heavily tested on USMLE step one in
comparison to the first year of med
school let me say that again it's that
important the first year of med school
is important you will learn how to study
and become a good student and the
material is foundational to
understanding everything during your
second year when you sit for the USMLE
step 1 exam and take that test a lot of
the material is going to be from that
second year but for you to know that
material well in the second year it's
rooted in first year content so if
you're a second year student or a first
year student really focus on the content
it'll come in handy when you're trying
to learn the high yields and study for
you assembly itself so this is what it
comes down to the key concept to
performing well on the USMLE step 1 exam
is a two-stage principle gaining
knowledge what you learn during your
first two years in your high yield
review then applying that knowledge to
the actual test so what you need to do
is finalize your resource resources that
you wish to use to study for the exam
these resources will then be
incorporated into the study schedule
that you will develop so when we go on
to the video that shows you how to
develop a study schedule you need to
already know what resources you want so
you can plug them in and have a clean
schedule to follow
so speaking of studying for the test
studying for the USMLE
requires developing a very strict study
schedule and understanding then how to
answer how to read and understand how
you assembly questions are created this
is what we're going to talk about in the
next two lectures so let's summarize
what we've talked about here we talked
about how the USMLE step 1 exam is a
multiple-choice exam that covers the
material from the first two years of
medical school and the form of clinical
vignettes the step 1 exam is important
but I don't want you to worry about
national averages and residency score
averages come up with a solid study plan
study extremely hard do the best you can
move on no need and giving yourself
extra stress you're going to start
studying for the step 1 exam during your
second year of medical school now
studying for the exam requires knowing
the basic science material and then
reviewing high-yield tests relevant
material from the first and second year
you will need to pick your key resources
that you will use books videos and q
banks are the general categories now
studying for the exam requires that you
carefully plan out the resources you're
going to use understand how questions
are completely composed and then you
will use a strict study schedule thank
you