Hey guys!
I took my USMLE step 1 afew months ago and I did fairly well on it, so i figured i share some of my experience with you!
First of all i have to say that my biggest fear going into the exam was pharmacology :nono:. Pharmacology was a big chunk of the exam and i had about 35-40 questions just on pharmacology. Like most of you guys who still haven't taken their step, i hated pharmacology because it was very hard to recall all the drug names.
So this is how i studied for it and I answered every single question right except for 2.
After you're done reviewing the entire First Aid pharm, then you can start your normal studies. But make sure that every week you put an entire day away just for pharm! by the time you're getting close to your exam date you'll be able to review the entire First Aid pharmacology within a few hrs.
The questions that i got and most of my friends got on Step1 were all straight forward and nothing beyond First Aid. Put a lot of focus on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and be able to read those graphs.
Do not stress your self too much, if you know the entire First Aid pharmacology you are golden and you'll be able to answer almost all of the questions they ask you on Step 1.
My biggest advice is NOT TO LISTEN to people who say the exam was hard. These people either didn't study much or they failed the exam (Common sense).
Good luck to you all.
I took my USMLE step 1 afew months ago and I did fairly well on it, so i figured i share some of my experience with you!
First of all i have to say that my biggest fear going into the exam was pharmacology :nono:. Pharmacology was a big chunk of the exam and i had about 35-40 questions just on pharmacology. Like most of you guys who still haven't taken their step, i hated pharmacology because it was very hard to recall all the drug names.
So this is how i studied for it and I answered every single question right except for 2.
- All you need to study is Kaplan pharmacology and then First Aid! DO NOT waste time on other resources!!!
- I watched all of the Kaplan Pharmacology which was WAY too detailed!!! so i recommend you just watching it one time and get the most you can get out of them. This will build up your basics and give you a general idea of what is going on.
- Next take as many days as you think you need and go through all of first aid pharmacology sections (it took me 7 days). I recommend that every morning before you start studying to review the stuff you studied days before.
After you're done reviewing the entire First Aid pharm, then you can start your normal studies. But make sure that every week you put an entire day away just for pharm! by the time you're getting close to your exam date you'll be able to review the entire First Aid pharmacology within a few hrs.
The questions that i got and most of my friends got on Step1 were all straight forward and nothing beyond First Aid. Put a lot of focus on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and be able to read those graphs.
Do not stress your self too much, if you know the entire First Aid pharmacology you are golden and you'll be able to answer almost all of the questions they ask you on Step 1.
My biggest advice is NOT TO LISTEN to people who say the exam was hard. These people either didn't study much or they failed the exam (Common sense).
Good luck to you all.