Hello people i have made an mega file including all the resources you need for step 1 which includes videos from bnb, dr najeeb, sketch,etc. more than 3000 resources and q bank from uworld, nbme, fauworld, kaplan everything
hey guys. need advice. Exam on June 2nd (3 weeks!)
nbme 29 - 57% (April 22)
I did the whole excel page tracking down the topics and facts I got wrong and that took wayyy too long (10 whole days + topic revision ;-;... tbh, a whole lotta procrastination that week)
nbme 30 - 62% (today)
I felt like I was down to two for a lot, and mostly felt like I was guessing and going off of vibes... I also feel like I forgot a lot already and I felt it while taking this exam.
I dont know how to proceed... Is it possible to pass by Jun 2??
What should I focus on?
oh btw my uw is 45% completed and 50% correct, if that helps at all
Hello I tested on 21st April AND I PASSED!!!
The ppl on the subReddit helped me so much, so I’m just doing my part and helping every1 forward.
I prepared throughly for 6 months.
Honestly the exam was actually shit difficult (I don’t wanna be fear mongering, but please be prepared). Ethics, for me honestly, was wayyy too close, as in, when you read or hear ppl saying ‘oh just be very nice’… all of my options looked very nice (and I’ve solved uworld ethics twice). The questions will be long and you will almost be like ‘wtf was that’ but trust ur gut.
Here’s some of my advice. I hope it helps any1 in need :)
4 months of prep-
- day 1 - called a very trusted senior and spoke to them for 2 hours trying to understand everything.
- dedicated reading of FA
- solving uworld as soon as I finished reading that chapter
- 2nd chp onwards, mixed bag in uworld
- consistently solving 1 block + reading atleast 20 pages of FA + reviewing yesterday’s block EVERYDAY (it may seem very less but it prevents burnout too soon)
- finished portion in 4months
1 month -
- read weak FA chps again very deeply. Tried remembering everything (ik it sounds like a long shot, but this boosted my confidence 10x)
This increased by uworld scored from 60s to 75s
I read CVS, RS, Renal, biochem, CNS
- gave my 1st nbme
- took almost 10 days to review my 1st nbme (regret that)
Last month -
- started giving 2 nbmes every week (Tuesday and Friday)
- reviewed the nbme photos pdf thrice
- prayed a lot 🫠
One day before the exam day -
- woke up at 6 am
- had a list of high yield small concepts that I got wrong and revised that again from FA
- worked out at the end of the day from 7 - 9pm
Day of exam -
- was in bed the night before at 10pm
- got as much as sleep as I could (was deff > 6hours)
- had 2 scoops of protein shake (50g of protein) THIS WILL KEEP YOU GOING TRUST ME
- had some water
- half a cup black coffee
- some matcha for sustained release (I think this was just in my head tho)
- reached centre 1hr earlier
- prayed again
- got my locker and stuff, checked out where the washroom is, took earplugs (used the one the centre provided tho)
- unconsciously remembered what all checks I need to perform after a break (keep 5 mins in ur mind for this)
During exam -
- 1ST BLOCK WTF MARKED THAT WHOLE BLOCK and had 5 seconds left
- calmed down 2nd block
- started smiling consciously everytime I found something difficult or felt myself frowning too hard (idk why this worked magic)
- 3rd block - smiled, marked a ton, smiled
- 4th block - same
- finally took a break after 4th block
- my bf and I gave our exam on the same day so met him outside and just smiled at him and calmed out
- after 4th block I took a 10m break after every block and ate a whole protein bar in those breaks and went to the washroom even if I didnt feel like it
Final takeaway -
- shit I didn’t realise it was such a long write up sorry
- have some1 who consistently studies with you (I had my bf and we both passed😮💨)
- we were mutually motivating and kept each other up the entirely of the 6months
- have faith in urself and god
AND ALL THE BEST
Helloo
I just passed a few days ago and my uworld has 5 months remaining.
Please lmk if any1 needs it.
It was great help for me:)
Hey this is PAKISTANI IMG studying for step 1. Was looking for a study partner aiming for September October 2026 to give test. Thank u
I will keep this as short as possible. Above average med student but not like top 25%, did well on in-house exams. I was given roughly 7 weeks of dedicated. Decided to spend the first 2.5 weeks just doing Anki reviews and occasionally learning new cards because I was tired :). Didn’t wanna deal with the confidence dip of uworld, so I put it off for a long time. My first NBME was my first time doing practice questions. Just focused on weak areas from then on by doing targeted UW practice in highest yield categories for the last four weeks with an NBME every now and then. Mostly 120 questions a day, kept a question log for incorrect/guessed correctly with short explanations. Reset cards for topics I got wrong. In the last two weeks, turned the question log into an outline sorted highest yield to lowest by ChatGPT then wrote it out every other morning/evening. That’s it. Check post history for the dates on NBMEs. Would not recommend this to anyone; I definitely thought I failed the exam.
28-53
30-60
31-63
26-70 (7 days out)
Free120-66
uworld 28% complete 60% average, mostly weak topics as aforementioned
I scored 153 out of 200 in nbme 29 ….what will the EPC ??
Also shall I book the test or no ?????
Hi everyone! I’m an IMG and I’ve been preparing for Step 1 on my own. I don’t know anyone else who’s also preparing, and I’ve run into some problems while trying to register for the exam.
Right now I have to choose an elegibility period, so I went to the prometric center’s website to check for dates in my country (Chile). However, it shows that there are no available seats for the entire year, but that seems impossible. I can’t apply for my eligibility period without first knowing approximately when I’ll be able to take the exam or if there’re any seats available at all.
If anyone else has also been in this situation, please help!
Need some real talk. Struggling a lot!!!
I'm a Pakistani IMG, MBBS grad, currently full-time on Step 1 with the 2028 Match as my target. Im using or plan to use Bootcamp, First Aid, Pathoma, Sketchy, Pixorize, UWorld. But the reality of actually executing it alone every single day is something no YouTube video prepares you for. I did only one system in my first month.
1)The First Aid problem
This is the one that's currently breaking me. I finished Bootcamp videos and PDFs for Respiratory, actually understood everything like flow-volume loops, V/Q mismatch, the works. Then I opened FA to annotate and consolidate, and suddenly I'm spending hours on a single section trying to memorize every line like it's a textbook. I know logically that FA is supposed to be a memory document, not a learning resource. But in practice I can't stop myself from trying to deeply understand every single thing written in it, even things Bootcamp already covered. It's killing my pace and honestly making me question if I'm even doing this right.
I dont use anki as it have 35000 cards which are impossible to cover in 7 months.
How do you guys actually use FA? Do you read every line carefully or just skim and annotate gaps? How long should a single system realistically take?
The isolation
This is the one I don't see talked about enough. I study at a hospital library daily which helps with structure, but there's nobody around me doing the same thing. No study partner, no group, no one to quiz me or reality-check whether my pace is normal. Back home most people my age are either in residency already or have moved on. I'm the only one in my circle doing this, and some days that weight is really heavy.
I'm not looking for sympathy. I chose this path and I'm committed to it. But I genuinely want to know: how did you deal with the psychological side of this? Especially those of you who prepped solo or as IMGs without a built-in med school cohort?
The burnout creep
I'm not burned out yet, but I can feel it on the edges. Some days I sit down at my desk and the motivation just isn't there. The finish line is years away. I know why I'm doing this and I believe in the goal, but sustaining that daily energy when progress feels invisible is harder than I thought.
Did you guys have days where you just couldn't? What kept you going through the long middle stretch of prep?
Any advice, reality checks, or even just knowing others went through this would genuinely help. Thanks.