USMLE Step 1 is a critical milestone to becoming a licensed healthcare provider. Other checkpoints during which your knowledge and skills will be tested on the road to earning your Doctor of Medicine degree include USMLE Step 2 and USMLE Step 3. Satisfactory results or performance on the first test significantly impact your eventual residency placement.
With so much riding on your test performance, it is only essential that you adequately prepare. Usually, it would be best to study for USMLE months ahead of time. However, sometimes you may fall behind on study, leaving you desperately racing to be ready for the exams. If you are only ten weeks from taking the USMLE Step 1, don’t panic; you still have time to prepare adequately. But you will need to be efficient with your time and ready with a study plan.
Now that the exam is fast approaching, it is essential to have a realistic schedule that you can stick to and follow to the latter.
Points to note about this 10-week USMLE Step 1 study schedule
Unlike the usual study routine, this plan is intense and requires approximately 10 hours of studying every day, including breaks. For you to achieve high scores, you must put in the work. However, with that being said, you should not stretch yourself thin. Do what you can; most students may not be in a position to allocate 10 hours or more each day for USMLE Step 1 studying.
Because you have a limited timeline, you also want to stick to specific high-yield resources. Your instructor may advise choosing books to use for USMLE Step 1 Preparation. Remember that you are more likely to benefit from using a few resources than numerous books.
Creating flashcards for the topic you find challenging can help your study. The resource is worth the effort in the long run because it allows you to memorize. Besides being an effective memory aid, flashcards can help you learn new information more quickly.
Morning routine study structure
During the morning hours, read each section twice of the resource you are using. While reading, have a book and pen to write down any important points. Avoid skimming through the pages but ensure you comprehend everything that you read. It is okay to re-read any point or concept that proved challenging.
In the afternoon, consider studying by answering at least 50 questions. If you are making flashcards, this can easily take three hours or more, so do not feel like you are slow. The questioning technique is a vital study method; it can stimulate learning and thinking ability.
You can review the questions you completed to commit the topics you just learned to memory in the late afternoon hours. Repetition may feel like a waste of time, but it is the only way to memorize what you learned and confirm your understanding. Therefore, do not skip this step.
Evening routine study structure
Allocate at least two hours of study in the evening to review your flashcards and go through supplemental resources, including those on online platforms. Ensure you review flashcards for at least one hour per night; this should become your new evening ritual.
Making the most out of your study schedule
Studying for ten hours or more each day is not a mean fit, so you should push yourself but not beyond your limits. While studying remains the priority, working yourself to exhaustion causes more harm than good. For this reason, ensure you take breaks to relax to avoid burnout and make studying enjoyable.
If studying makes you overwhelmed or unreasonably stressed out, give yourself a break. Burnouts can happen anytime, but they are common in the first week or two when you adjust to the intense schedule. Taking a break may mean engaging in non-study activities like taking a walk, cooking, or playing with your pet. Making your study area comfortable and pleasant can also motivate studying. Consider buying a desk plant or set up your study area in a place full of natural light.
Do not lock yourself in the house during these ten weeks of study. Although studying at home is okay, you can sometimes head out to the library or a quiet park to break the monotony. If you are constantly distracted while studying alone, do not be afraid to ask for help. You can create a study group of individuals who hold you accountable or find a tutor.
Studying for USMLE Step 1 in a short period can be challenging, but it is doable with a commitment to the proper study schedule.