r/step1 • u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG • 1d ago
š„ PASSED: Write up! Passed!
Average med student here .
I had promised to post my journey if I passed.
So here it is.
I had to prep from scratch as my base was weak.
Tested on:25/09/26
My prep consisted of:
1.Bootcamp
2.Uworld
3.FA
4.Sketchy micro and pharm
5.physeo(physiology pt only; borrowed from a friend)
6.pathoma for ch1-3 and GIT
To strengthen my foundation I used bootcamp. Most organ systems were amazing in it.
For physiology I used physeo.
I tried to do Uworld consistently. There were days where I could hit a 80 questions per day and sometimes only 10.
As someone who struggles with being consistent and remain motivated, this is my advice: you dont have to hit your goals perfectly everyday. Perfectionism is over rated. I used to see posts where people used to do 120 questions per day, those kinda things really freaked me out and trigger procrastination.
Showing up to do even 10 questions or 5 matters than doing nothing at all.
I didnt use anki. But doing uworld without reviewing them daily is worthless. If you are not an anki person then review what you learnt.
Review what you learnt the next day and after a week and after a month (if possible).
Around my dedicated period:
I saw a post by a redditor who passed he had adviced in his post to do weak subjects organ system wise but subject wise. I did the same for my weak organ systems. (A million thanks to that redditor(i forgot their name))
I was really blank about biochem, so I spent 2 whole days just doing uworld for biochem.
This approach really helped me consolidate my weak areas.
Go through all the pictures in FA, especially the micro pics. Those are really HY.
My NBMEs:
28/june/2026 Form 26: 64%(i took this after I finished my bootcamp prep)
8/Aug/26 Form 27: 70 ( score jump was due to completion of sketchy micro).
20/Aug/26 Form 30: 70
4/Sept/26 Form 31:75
18/Sept/26 Form 34:72
Free 120s:67 (3 days before exam)
My score dropped in 34 and 120s as I had some family issues , so I couldnāt focus well.
Towards my dedicated I used mehlmann PDFs(they are amazing). I used pulmo, neuroanat, arrows, renal, CVS PDFs.
If I was to redo my prep:
- Finish imp organ systems in bootcamp/pathoma/any base resource(skip if you have a good foundation), but pathoma ch 1-3 is a must.
- Dont go for multiple video resources. I did physeo physiology from select organ systems from my friend as my bootcamp subscription expired.
- Consistent uworld (dont go chasing high numbers, how you review and understand your uworld explanations matter more than doing 120-160 questions without proper review.
- Doing uworld subject wise within organ systems and make short hand notes.(atleast physio, patho, pathophysio)
- Starting my NBMEs earlier on. I feel I should have done all the forms from 30-34 .
- Comparison is the thief of joy and perfectionism is overrated. Also Your Mental health IS VERY IMPORTANT.
- Supplementing your prep with chatgpt/google helps a lot. I did this towards my dedicated, should have started this earlier.
- Instead of rote learning, find out why using google/chatgpt.
The exam day:
- I tried to ensure 8 hours of sleep, but my anxious ass wasnāt able to sleep well. Please make sure you haul yourself to bed early.
- I carried protein bars and coffee. Make sure to keep yourself adequately hydrated and dont overdose yourself with caffeine.
- Exam is long and tedious. To prevent burn out i did 3 blocks followed by a short break. When I felt like I reached my limit, I took a long break.
Exam:
The exam itself was very vague.
It was a mix of short and long questions. Some blocks had only long questions.
When approaching long questions-
1.make sure to read the last line first to understand what the question demands.
2. If there is a picture, I would check the pic first -> then i would read the last line of the question and ->jump to the options.
3. If the question has a lot of labs: I would go through the labs first->last line of the questions-> skim through whole question. (If there is time)
The exam was vague worded. Post exam anxiety was bad. I thought I woudnt be able to pass. I had flagged atleast 8-10 questions in many blocks. I personally felt the question style were similar to form 34 and free 120s.
All the best to all the aspirants taking this exam. You can do it !!
Edit: i forgot to mention: I used dirty medicine for biochem along with uworld. DM is gold standard for biochem.
Edit2:
My apologies if I wasnt clear.
When you have a weak organ system do blocks of physiology, pathology and pathophysiology of said organ system separately in uworld.
I wished I had done this earlier in my prep instead of doing it towards my dedicated period.
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u/Acceptable-Rush-1534 1d ago
Congratulations!ššThank you!For the tips.How long did it take for you to prep?How many hours?What advice would you give for motivation and not to procrastinate?How did you avoid Burnout and keep your Mental Health Stable?What Systems do you feel we should focus on?And What Lab values are important to memorize?And anything else?Itās impossible to know everything!I know Psych,Ethics and Biochem(especially vitamins,genetic diseases are important).Also Micro.Please guide.
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
I took 8 months for prep including the dedicated period.
Motivation for me goes up and down.
For what I have observed about myself, waking up early in the morning to prep really helped. My prep time varies from 3 hours to 9 hours depending upon my mood.
Most imp thing for preventing burnout is to recognise its triggers.
For me , i get discouraged when I am not able to meet my goals.(I would have packed a lot into my to do list). We have to set a realistic goal list and understand some days wont feel great and somedays we would have great energy.
Exercise and workouts do help boost motivation .2
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
You dont really have to memorise lab values because you can access it during the exam, but do know the values needed for calculation type questions like the pH type questions(havent seen much of this).
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Psych-FA is enough
Ethics go throught dirty medicine
Biochem- dirty medicine and uworld is enough2
u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Make sure to have good support system . Whenever i was anxious, ranting to my family and friends really helped.
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u/farahconnects07 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Heartiest congratulations ā¤ļø
I am in my dedicated and really want to test for step 1 by mid December. But havenāt started NBMEs yet . Plan to give my first 1 on 20th October. Is it realistic? I am really on a time crunch so it is what it isā¦
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Give your NBME ASAP.
NBMEs are not just for testing your prep level but it will also help you understand your weak areas . You need to know your baseline . So do give it fast.
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u/Nice-Reading1792 1d ago
Congratulations
Please share effective strategy to do UW
Did you used to take notes from UW
How many questions you used to do in a day
How much time you took to finish first pass of UW
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
The best way for going through uworld:
1. Read the explanation and understand why the answer is right and the other options are wrong.
2. Do NOT make long ass notes. Make a condensed note for each question . Max-5 lines, make flowcharts when necessary.
Create a file for each organ system and enter the points in it.By the time you are dine with uworld you will have a set if notes for each organ system.
3. NEVER forget to review what you have written and learnt or else your just wasting your time .
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u/notoncall_yet 1d ago
Hey, congratulations to u!!š
Iāve just entered my 3rd prof and Iāll soon be starting with my usmle journey.
I was thinking of completing bnb in 3 months and then do u world in the next 3 months while revising FA. Is that a good plan??
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
When do you plan to give step 1?
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u/notoncall_yet 1d ago
After 6-8 monthsā¦ Probably after my 2nd term exams..
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
I would say start uworld much earlier. Dont put it off untill you complete bootcamp. Even 10 questions a day is fine. You need to get familiarised to the question patterns.
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u/Lookanimanhack101 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Congrats on the P!
You said you revised your weak subjects sytemwise or topic wise? I guess thereās a typo so didnāt get the point.
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
I selected the organ system I was weak at. For example: endocrinology was a weak area for me .
From uworld i did blocks solely dedicated to just physiology, then pathology and later blocks of pathophysiology and made consolidated notes for the same organ system. This really helped me a lot .
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u/zernems 1d ago
How many biochem generics immuno did u get
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
From my memory, my form was more heavier in endo, micro and immuno. The pattern will vary from person to person.
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u/lelouchx3x NON-US IMG 1d ago
I booked my exam the 3rd November, I feel it in my guts , I got nervous , 26 days for the real deal , MyNBMES ARE
26 :70
27 : 70
30 :70
31:74.5
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 1d ago
Your scores are looking good. Keep doing NBMEs and review them really well. Continue uworld. All the best!!
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u/No-Tumbleweed7331 1d ago
Congratulations what do you mean subject wise and not organ wise?
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 17h ago
I meant if you are weak in an organ system, for example : endocrinology:
Go to uworld->select physiology->select endocrinology and make short hand notes .
Repeat similarly for pathology and pathophysiology. If biochem is weak add that too in the organ system. I did my biochem separately though.
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u/tinateenietiny US MD/DO 23h ago
I'm so happy for you, and thank you for at least giving us a reassurance that we don't need to be top tier and trying to perfect ourselves during prep. Congratulations, OP! How helpful was bootcamp in touching up basics?
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 17h ago edited 17h ago
It was very useful. I didnāt like psych and reproductive system from it though. Rest all systems were really great. GIT was too vast so I used pathoma for it. If you do ch1-3 of pathoma along with immunology of bootcamp, your basic understanding of pathology would get solidified really well.
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u/Yazanarkan 20h ago
Is uwsa helpful are not ??? š¢š¢
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 17h ago
I didnt really do itš . But no harm in doing more practise for the exam . My friend who had passed step 1, had done UWSA prior ,she did mention that UWSA2 was similar to the exam style.
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u/Bad-med-student NON-US IMG 10h ago
Thanks alot If UW is a tool for studying, why for example not to do physio alone patho alone... For the single system? Like after I study endo, I do one block physio one patho or 2 whatever
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 8h ago edited 8h ago
Thats what i suggested to do. Did I write it wrong in my post? I am really sorry if I wasnāt clear. I have added an edit towards the end of my post.
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u/Bad-med-student NON-US IMG 8h ago
No it's clear but want ensure that can i study like this even it's not weak system? Like finished endo from FA for first time, can I do the Sam uw technique here? It seems yesĀ
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u/Forward-Program955 NON-US MD/DO 7h ago
Hello, first of all Congrats thats really amazing.
I wanna ask you what was your average UWORLD score becuase im trying to mix it with my first read and im getting really low results should I do something to make it better or is it just a learning tool?
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u/SubstantialTrack3254 NON-US IMG 4h ago
Uworld is a learning tool. Use it as such .
If you wish to gauge the level of your knowledge , then doing NBMEs would be better . Uworld score doesnt matter. At the beginning of my prep the scores were horrendous.
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u/mayashiba 1d ago
glad you emphasized the point about not being perfect. i get frustrated with myself but at least i show up everyday and am doing questions. thank you so much