‘How I USMLE’ | Q&A on Instagram Live

A few days ago, I did a one-hour segment where I talked about the various aspects of preparing for the USMLE Step 1. Since many people asked, I decided to upload the video to YouTube for anyone who missed the live session or wants to rewatch it.

For my first post on approaching the USMLE as an IMG (international medical graduate), check out this blog post here.

Disclaimer: I haven’t yet taken the exam, thus I have no way of knowing if my “method” works or not. This is simply meant as a guide/insight into the study habits of another student.

I find it useful to see how others study – I always learn so much from hearing about how others prepare for the USMLE, so that is the simple purpose of this video. There are so many resources out there, and insane amounts of ways to approach the exam. Which qbanks? Which books? Tutor or timed mode? Random or block?

I answered some of these questions and talked about the following things in detail:

• My resources: First Aid, Pathoma, Sktechy – spiral-binding, plastic tabbing, etc.
• My checklist and planner: I use an Excel checklist to track my progress, which you can find it here for free
• The color code (see below for closeup) I’m using throughout FA
• UWorld and Rx and how I use them
• My “Extras” notebook, USMLE associations document, and pocketbook
• …and…what a study day usually looks like.

This video is totally unedited – it’s got all the “uhs” and “erms” and bloopers that a live video would, so please keep that in mind! It’s also *unlisted* on YouTube which means you can only access it from this direct link. I hope you enjoy!

Please let me know what you think and comment your questions below!

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