American Medical Student Association

Your Step 1 score is an important criterion that residency programs use to evaluate you.  Now that you are preparing for your Step 1 exam, do you know what your ideal score should be?  Satisfaction with your performance requires planning, hard work, and knowing what your goals are before you’re too far along in your preparation.

If you have an idea of which specialty you will likely choose, then you should find out what scores will make you competitive for that specialty and set your goals accordingly. To do this, consult the most recent ‘Charting Outcomes in the Match‘ released biannually by the NRMP and AAMC, then talk to the residency program director at your home institution. Discuss your medical school performance-to-date, extracurricular activities/interests, and aspirations for the months and years ahead to find out what your goal(s) should be for Step 1. You can do this even if you’re still undecided, in which case you might want to do this for a few different specialties.

Once you have an idea of what your goals are (and even if you don’t), set three goals for Step 1: the minimum score for ‘success,’ the score you’ll be happy with, and the ‘moon shot.’ Once these are set, stick to them throughout the process. There’s no need to adjust them upwards, even if your studying is going particularly well.

1. Minimum score for ‘success’: For some people taking Step 1, their definition of success should be simply passing the test. That is, you need to score a 188 on the 3-digit scale. To really get an idea of the minimum score, take a practice test and subtract 20 points (approximately the lower limit of the confidence interval of score estimation for most practice tests) from the estimated 3-digit score to arrive at your minimum score. If this is below 188, then clearly you’ll want to bump it up to safely pass.

2. Score you can be happy with: This is where it starts to get a little more complicated. It is important to consider your performance in medical school thus far when you set this goal and the next. Someone who has struggled to pass any number of exams in medical school will want to keep this goal comfortably above the pass threshold. Those concerned with matching into a given specialty should look at the mean Step 1 score of matched applicants in ‘Charting Outcomes‘ and subtract 20 points (approximately one standard deviation). For certain specialties, like dermatology and radiology, you will want to score 240 or better. You should adjust this goal up from this point only if you’ve performed really well in medical school.

3. ‘Moon shot’: This is the score that will inspire you to propose to your significant other, take your spouse on a second honeymoon, or get up the courage to ask out that guy or girl you’ve had a crush on since anatomy lab. From a practical standpoint, a score that is 250+ can cover up a lot of deficiencies on your CV and make you competitive for a wide range of residency programs and specialties.

Check out these important links for more information:

USMLE Scoring page
‘Charting Outcomes in the Match‘
National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) website
AAMC

Perhaps the most crucial component of your approach to studying for Step 1 is consistent use of a high-quality online question bank. The best question banks give you a realistic, exam-like experience, feedback on your performance, thorough explanations, and the ability to easily customize your experience.

There are at least a dozen question banks for Step 1 out there…some great, some not. The Big Four: USMLE-Rx Qmax, USMLE World Qbank (UWorld), USMLE Consult (Consult), and Kaplan Qbank (Kaplan). These four consistently rank among the most popular on medical student forums and websites. Choosing among them, you probably can’t go wrong. The following qualities can be useful for comparing any question bank during your selection process.

Price: This may be the first thing most people consider, but it is certainly not the most important. The Big Four run about $99 for the first month. Most companies have reduced-price options for extending/renewing your subscription should you require more time. However, the best deals are for long-term use, such as subscriptions for up to 12 months and even until you pass the test.

Number of questions: This is where it’s all too easy to be misled by clever marketing techniques. Sure, every company wants to have enough questions that you won’t be recycling back through after a month of using their product. But astronomical numbers of questions don’t guarantee that all of the questions are high quality. So, how many is enough? That depends on your intended frequency and duration of use. All of the Big Four advertise at least 2000 practice questions, in addition to extras like diagnostic tests and simulated exams. That is plenty for the majority of people. There is some benefit in recycling back through questions you’ve missed.

Quality of questions: This is where you really get the ‘bang for your buck.’  This includes everything from the depth of the questions to the quality of the explanations provided at the end. If you really want to do well on Step 1, you need to be prepared to answer 2nd- and 3rd- order questions (i.e., questions that require two and three steps in logic from the initial vignette) quickly and correctly. You also need to be able to learn from your mistakes. High-quality explanations will help you identify gaps in your knowledge and/or traps inherent to the distractor answer choices.

Extras: Each of the Big Four offers additional components either included in the price of the subscription or for an additional fee (i.e.,customizable self-assessment exams, study books, online video tutorials). Aside from the self-assessment exams, these extras are truly a matter of personal preference and should be considered based on your individual needs and time commitment.

AMSA is pleased to announce another high-yield talk from Dr. Tao Le, the series editor for First Aid and USMLERx. This Webinar will cover the basics of the USMLE Step 1, including an overview of the boards, goal setting, high-yield topics in each subject area, study strategies, review resources, and study schedules. There will be an opportunity for a live Q&A session at the end of the talk.

ATTENTION: You can either use your computer's speakers or make a long-distance telephone call to listen to the conference audio.

Title:
First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 by Dr. Tao Le

Date:
Thursday, March 28, 2013

Time:
9pm-10pm EST

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees:
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees:
Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/555813593

• Over 100 hours of high-yield videos explain each fact from 2011 and 2012 First Aid for the USMLE Step 1. New 2013 videos expected early March
• More than 600 extra images and multimedia clips enhance First Aid instructor explanations
• Exclusive 200+ page color First Aid Workbook reinforces the highest yield facts when used with the video course
• No talking heads - we keep you engaged with on-screen highlights and active learning questions
• Study anytime, anywhere, and watch as many times as you want
• 100% satisfaction and PASS GUARANTEE!

www.usmle-rx.com

ALL NEW
First Aid
Step 1 Ultimate VIDEOS

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