STEP 1 EXPERIENCE – 260 – Dr Vashistha (Indian IMG)
HI , EVERBODY . I AM KIRTIVARDHAN VASHISTHA FROM SMS MEDICAL COLLEGE , JAIPUR ,
RAJASTHAN , INDIA . HERE IS MY EXPERIENCE IN A SHORT FORMAT FOLLOWED BY A LONG ONE , I
HOPE ITS HELPFUL TO YOU
PREP DURATION :- 10 MONTHS , FROM MAY 2016
SUBJECTS :- ANATOMY – KAPLAN —> THEN FA + U WORLD
PHYSIO – KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW BCHEM – KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW MICRO – FA + UW
IMMUNO – KAPLAN —> THEN FA + UW GENETICS – KAPLAN ( WEAK IN FA AND UW) —> FA + UW
PHARMA – KAPLAN —> FA + UW PATHOLOGY – GOLJAN + FA + UW BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE –
KAPLAN —> FA + UW + 100 CASES
BY CONRAD + HY ETHICS BIOSTATS – KAPLAN —> FA + UW AND UW BIOSTATS REVIEW
SCORES :-
UW FIRST PASS AVG :- 77 % SECOND (ONLY 1/4TH) :- 92 % JAN 3RD – NBME 16 – 30 ques wrong –
232 FEB 7TH – NBME 17 – 17 ques wrong – 248 FEB 25TH – NBME 18 – 16 ques wrong – 255
MARCH 9TH – UWSA 1 (85%) AND 2 (90 %) – 264 AND 264 SAMPLE QUESTIONS FROM USMLE – 93
% , A DAY BEFORE MY EXAM MARCH 20TH – STEP 1 , RESULT ON APRIL 12TH – 260
CLOSEST FORMS TO THE EXAM :- NBME 18 , UW SA & U WORLD Q BANK !
NOW IN A MORE DETAILED WAY :-
First of all , its important for everybody to realize that uploading experiences for others to read
isn’t a way to show off your high scores , i have already done that on my Facebook / INSTA and
with my family and friends . I have read tons of experiences whilst preparing for my step and
found them immensely helpful and my heart was itching to help my fellow mates on this forum
who have been tremendously helpful .
For ones who are going to start , you will feel lost , hopeless and , especially so if you have been an
average student (just like me) . The point here is to work continuously for the goal you want to
achieve
i started with kaplan subject wise with videos in early may during my internship year . it took me 4
months , which by any standard would give a turtle a run for its money .
i regret wasting so much time in kaplan , but after that i switched to u world and fa ,annotating
extra info from uw into fa, in september with my friend and thats when the real preparation
started for me.
Make sure you understand everything there is , on u world and fa , use multiple resources if a
particular topic is making you cringe . For instance , you tube videos , dit , google images have
been immensely helpful in a deeper understanding of the step 1 content.
As you move forward in your preparation , you would realize that the way you look or understand
something has an added dimension to it , which will make you feel satisfied and you would be
more confident about your preparation .
i could barely do 20-30 ques/day initially , and i managed to complete uw by mid december . After
that i thought of starting with nbme’s and gave myself 25 days to complete it ( which i couldn’t )
gave 16 on 3rd jan – got a 232 , it was the lowest point in my step preparation . i expected myself
to be at least a 240 .
i took extension for my period from nov – dec – jan to feb – march – april and gave myself another
month for NBME 17. While doing that i worked on my weaknesses and tried to memorize facts ,
especially that of micro and bchem.
Gave 17 on 7th feb – got a 248 , was relieved .
On 25th feb i gave 18 , and got a 255 , this form was the closest to the real exam . All others are
pretty vague in my view point .
I kept revising fa , did random questions from random resources (for e.g. :- fa q and a and usmlerx
) in last two weeks and gave uw sa 1 and 2 on the same day to get the feeling of the exam
On the exam day , most important thing is to have a strong mindset and its not hard to get that .
i’v had panic attacks in almost all the nbme’s i gave and i was considering seeking professional
help for that .
But on the exam day , i told myself that i did whatever i could and now is the time to add 2-3 to
your score and the only way i could do it is to face the exam headstrong .
I had a redbull , snickers , chocolates for the day , make sure you wear loose clothes without
pockets and socks( wear a t shirt instead of a shirt , sandals instead of a pair of shoes)
I did 2 blocks in one sitting and took a break of 10 mins in between , didn’t utilize 25-30 mins of
my break because i did not feel the need of taking it . i knew i was in the game , and i wanted to
finish it early and on a high note i managed to finish the exam 50 – 55 mins before the stipulated
8 hours .
The key here is , this worked for me , it might not be applicable on you , but you have to know
various ways of how people have tackled this monster of an exam in past to choose the best one
for yourself .
Its a do-able exam , if i could do it , you could get a 265 (no kidding )
All the best , stop freaking out , start working !