Introduction

“Do at least one 8-block practice test: The real test is only 7 blocks and feels more manageable, stamina-wise.”

“Buying lots of books did not help. Microcards were decent.”

“I personally thought the hype or stress associated with it far outweighed the material and exam itself. Studying for it was actually pretty enjoyable.”

“My advice for people is not to try to change their learning behaviors for boards... even if their learning mechanism is a bit inefficient. I wish I had started pharm much earlier. I was quite weak on pharm and still feel weak on pharm even now. There weren't THAT many questions, and practically all of them are on mechanism, but I do think it's worth knowing.  Lastly, this year I started using first aid during each block we studied as an exam-prep tool.  I also wrote in lots of info into the margins of first aid.  This was CRITICAL. I wish I had done this last year as well.  I think that from day 1 students should have a copy and use it often.” 

“QUESTIONS QUESTIONS - if I took it again, I would focus more on the
questions. Maybe read First Aid once in 1-2 weeks, finish Kaplan Q
bank, read First Aid again, and do USMLE World TWICE.”

“Schedule the exam so that you have time for AT LEAST a week off afterwards, preferably two (I had three). Don't feel bad watching a bit of TV at night, going to the gym during the day, and taking other short breaks - they are important. And take a day off if you need it, they help you stay focused.”

• 
  “Most importantly, I think it's best to try to learn everything really well the first time around as you go through classes.  I was continually shocked at how much I remembered from class and felt that I had a really solid foundation to work with in boards studying.  I would recommend trying to use books that you think you may use for boards throughout 2nd year to get used to them.  I used BRS phys and Goljan's path books for each block and for boards.  I also think Goljan's audio lectures are really helpful.
  
  
  

Don't get caught up in the rest of the class' obsession with boards.  I felt like going to lecture and studying for classes throughout the first two years prepared me very well for Boards.  I didn't do boards prep over the summer between years 1 and 2 and I didn't do anything over our breaks.  The dedicated study time is more than long enough to solidly prep for the test.

Definitely try to have some time each day for exercise, friends, family, food, and just in general taking care of yourself.  Don't shut people out of your life for 6 weeks just to study.

I studied at my apt all the time.  For me, it was better since I tend to operate on a different schedule than most.  It would have stressed me out to see classmates at the library all the time.  Again, throughout the first two years I think you get a sense of where you study well.  I had always studied at home, on my couch so I didn't want to change that for boards.”

• 
  “Relax the day before the test.  Make sure to have other things to occupy your thoughts and your time.  Get plenty of sleep, eat well, etc etc.

  Test day: get there early, I was able to start early and was done super early.  Bring lots of food and drinks.  I didn't bother looking at anything during the breaks, there is too much info and there's almost no way to choose what to review during those short times between blocks.  I took short breaks pretty frequently, just to get up and stretch.  A little longer break to eat lunch.  But honestly I just wanted to finish and be done so I tried to minimize break time.  The day sucks, you will walk out feeling like you failed.  But it will all be fine in the end!  It is a frustrating experience since you spend so much time studying and so little of what you study actually shows up on the test.  Finishing the test is one of the most anticlimactic experiences since you feel like you failed and then have to wait weeks to know your score.”

  
  

• 
  “Minimize your resources. It will help you feel like you have a manageable amount of material. I used First Aid, Costanzo BRS Physio, Goljan Rapid Review Path, Microcards, and Brenner's Pharm flash cards, and that's it. I made notes in First Aid of anything that came up in those other sources that wasn't included in First Aid, and used post-it note tabs to mark the most essential pages. I also listened to the Goljan lectures, which definitely got me ~5 points on the exam. I did pharm cards every night before bed for ~30 minutes, and I think that helped.
  

QBank: I used World, which I think pretty much everyone does, and would highly recommend it, worth every penny. I also bought two assessment exams with my Qbank, which I also recommend. Get through the whole question bank if you can, ideally with enough time to review your wrong answers.  
General strategy: know yourself, and don't protect your ego by not testing your knowledge along the way. Do the assessment exam at the beginning, even if you don't want to. Knowing where you're starting, and what your actual strengths and weaknesses are, will be very helpful going forward. Do blocks of random questions all throughout your studying, don't just focus on the topics you covered that day. You might not get quite as many correct, but you'll be keeping more information fresh in your mind.
Also, you will probably feel like you got run over by a truck when you finish the exam, and that's ok. Hardly anyone feels good about it when they leave, and that's normal, it doesn't mean you failed.” 

 

• 
  “Overall Advice: Your best preparation is putting the time into learning the material (especially physiology and general pathology) really well during your pre-clinical years. Going into boards study period, you will feel like you have forgotten everything you learned over the last two years, but you have not. You will 're-learn' it much faster the second time around.
  

 

Test Day: The actual test will feel harder than you anticipated based on the 150 "free" questions from USMLE and the NBME form exams. As you are taking the exam, do not be discouraged by the feeling that you are performing poorly and that there are extremely weird questions. It is normal to feel that way.
Question Banks:  I think that doing 'mixed question sets' from your question bank early on in your study period is an ineffective way to study. It is fine to do mixed sets to get used to the testing experience, but you will have such a random sampling of subject material that it is not easy to assimilate. I think I wasted a lot of time when I tried to understand the answers.
Instead, I recommend doing subject-specific question banks during your first run-through of the material: For example, if you study renal on Monday and pulm on Tuesday, on Tuesday do a full 46-Q set on renal and pulm only. And you can progress by adding on subjects as you go. That way you build on a strong base, and are able to actually learn the sometimes bizarre questions that USMLEWorld throws at you in a time-efficient manner.
But having said that, make sure you are doing questions throughout. Do not be tempted to "save" them. The 2000 questions on a given bank will keep you very busy. And if you run out, you can always try the many you got wrong a second time.
Do not feel badly if you cannot finish the entire bank -- I got 1300 done out of my 2000. Other people may tell you they did the whole thing plus parts of other question banks, but it is quality, not sheerly quantity that matters. (Anyone can blow through thousands of questions, but make sure you are putting the time into understanding why you were right or wrong on a given question.)
Schedule: I recommend trying to make your schedule such that you push through your first pass of all the subjects with 7-10 days left before the exam. You will feel like you need way more time to do that first pass-through, but you simply need to move on and let go! The last week - 10 days you can do mixed question banks and actually memorize the higher-yield material that you reviewed over the last few weeks.
Work Environment: Surround yourself with people that do not stress you out. Do something special everyday with people you care about. Eat well and exercise. Enjoy being control of your own schedule.
Pharm!!! Do not put off doing Pharm. Everyone feels overwhelmed and discouraged by this seemingly impossible list of meds (and, yes, it is impossible to know them all. Just do your best). Do bite size bits according to subject area -- e.g., during the cardio day tackle all of the cardio drugs. Force yourself -- you will be grateful that you put the time in once the last week rolls around.”

• 
  “Work with the big picture and then add details to the scaffolding you create. Draw pictures, flow charts, tables and diagrams to actively process the information. Use these and your marked up First Aid book to study instead of using the texts, since it will be more efficient.”
  

• 
  “Devote more time to weaker areas, yet try to cover all relevant material at least once.”
  

• 
  “Link organ system material to first‐semester basic sciences.”
  

• 
  “An effective daily plan is essential. Stay rested. It is difficult to store and recall information if you are exhausted, or unfocused, or experiencing personal distractions.”