8-Week Study Strategy for Step 1

Preparing for the USMLE Step 1 exam can be overwhelming, but in this video, I outline an 8-week study plan designed to streamline your efforts. Follow these steps to build a strong foundation and gain confidence.

• Introduction to the 8-week study plan and its four phases.

• Key study metrics and methods for each phase.

• Detailed breakdown of subjects and question blocks.

• Strategies for handling burnout and maintaining momentum.

• Importance of practice exams and self-care.

Phase 1: Weeks 1-2

What to care about:

The goal in this phase is to build a solid foundation on how to approach and answer questions efficiently, and build a consistent study routine. This is where we dust off the kinks, roll our sleeves up and get to work. The sooner you get through phase 1, the sooner you can move to phase 2.

Suggested Goals:

• Get through left side of UWorld (1 pass of all questions regardless of if you did them before or not)
• Read through the whole Anki 1000 rapid review document (this is 70-80% of all the stuff you need to know. The rest comes from practice questions)
• Get every anki card from the Blue to the Red (Constituting 1 pass through all the cards in the whole deck)

Suggested Methods:

• 80 – 100 UWorld questions per day
  • Spend no more than 2 mins per question answering
  • 90 sec per question reviewing question
• For all wrong answers - Write a 1-2 line answering: What information did you need to know the answer in 90 secs
  • These are the study notes you review before bed and first thing when you wake up
• Cap your study days at 12 hours per day for 6 days
• Take a day off where you only review what you had from the previous day

Suggested Study Blocks for Phase 1(Left Side of Systems + HYs):

Phase 2: Weeks 3-4

What to care about:

Now that we have the “high yield” questions under our belt, it is time to build on the foundation towards master. Not mastery of the content, but mastery of how to approach the types of questions you will most likely encounter on step based on their published exam content distribution.

Suggested Goals:

• Scoring in the 50% on average with the question blocks for that day (not individually, but average of the blocks you did that day)
• 80 – 100 UWorld questions per day based on the suggested blocks
  •  
• Average 500 Cards per day
• Cap your study days at 10-12 hours per day for 5 days
• Do 1 half (4-5 hours) focused on reviewing
• Take a day off where you only review what you had from the previous day
• Take a practice exam at the end of this phase

Suggested Blocks (10-20qs for each, never do 40q blocks!):

Phase 3: Weeks 5-6

What to care about:

Our goal for this phase is to prioritize reviewing what you know and what you don’t know. By this time, you are already reviewing thousands of cards and you probably have a book full of 90sec info notes you are reading through every morning and every evening. Let’s continue to build on that so that you know everything like the back of your hand. This is the point that you may feel burnout creeping. We also want to balance our studying with intentional breaks and self care. Lean on your hobbies and the Pomodoro Method to get you through.

Suggested Goals:

• Scoring in the 70% on average with the question blocks for that day (not individually, but average of the blocks you did that day)
• 80 – 100 UWorld questions per day based on the suggested blocks
• Average 700 Cards per day
• Cap your study days at 9-12 hours per day for 4-5 days
• Do 1 – 2 half days (4-5 hours) focused on reviewing
• Start Taking a practice test every week (my day was on Sunday, and I reviewed it on Monday)
• Take a day off where you only review what you had from the previous day
• Take a practice exam at the end of this phase

Suggested Blocks (10-20qs for each, never do 40q blocks!):

Phase 4: Weeks 7-8

What to care about:

Scoring consistently high in all the suggested question blocks for that day for the last two weeks going into the exam. You want to be scoring high on daily blocks to offset whatever you get on practice exams. At the end of the day, practice exams are not representative of the real thing because the content distribution is off by miles. Therefore, your confidence is built from the daily wins, not the weekly anomalies.

Suggested Goals:

• Scoring in the 80% on average with the question blocks for that day (not individually, but average of the blocks you did that day)
• 80 – 100 UWorld questions per day based on the suggested blocks
• Average 800-1000 Cards per day
• Cap your study days at 8-10 hours per day for 4-5 days
• Do 1 – 2 half days (3-4 hours) focused on reviewing
• Take a Practice Exam Every Week
• Take a day off where you only review what you had from the previous day

Suggested Daily Study Checklist

• Stretch and Recite a Daily Mantra
• Review Crib Sheets from previous day (30mins – 1 hour)
• Review Anki Rapid Review Charts (30mins – 1 hour)
• 80 – 100 UWorld Questions based on Step 1000 Blocks
  • Make crib sheets with 1-2 lines for each wrong answers
• Do 500-1000 cards from Anki 1000 Deck
  • Integrate your own cards into the deck based on your crib sheets
  • Start with 200-300 cards and build your way up
• Review Crib Sheets from this day (30mins – 1 hour)
• Take a break every 45 – 60 mins
• Don’t skip meals and overload on caffeine
  • Eat 3 meals a day
  • Have snacks in between meals
  • Stay as hydrated as possible (8 cups)
• Indulge in a hobby
• Get 6-8 hours of sleep each night

🔗 Visit https://www.step1000.com for free Clinical Clues, Anki decks, study schedules, study guides, and more!

👥 Follow us: @usmlestep1000

Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/1XO0Bno1BtORKzybh4YZ7T

Instagram - https://instagram.com/usmlestep1000

YouTube - https://youtube.com/@usmlestep1000

Facebook - https://facebook.com/usmlestep10000

Explore Each Chapter of Step 1000:

Created by Steven Christian of Iltopia Studios.

Check us out on other online platforms: