I just started my dedicated study period (~8 weeks). I plan to give my Step 1 by mid-August. As per your suggestion, I gave my first NBME (Form 19) yesterday to establish a baseline & I scored 215. I am a bit disappointed & worried as I want to improve my score by at least 40-45 points. The major thing I noticed during my NBME analysis was that ~70% of my Incorrect questions were due to forgetting a fact/detail in a topic I have already studied. [ Eg- Did Vincristine inhibit microtubule assembly or disassembly ? Nerve roots & their muscles supplied ; Storage disorders questions (symptoms, lab findings) ]. The remaining incorrect questions were due to missing what the question was asking or incorrect interpretation.

I have about 800 questions left in first pass of my UWorld. I was initially planning to do a second pass of UWorld but after reading some of your articles. I will go ahead and do a different QBank. I feel like I have gaps in my knowledge (like Anatomy & Behavioral sciences which the NBME report also showed me to be my extremely low performing areas) but I also feel I don’t have time to deal with them separately.

I am highly confused as to how I should go forward in my dedicated study period – just keep continuing QBanks or try to schedule continuous revisions from FA to minimise forgetting of facts or even tackle topics in a subject-wise manner. I would be extremely grateful if you could guide me with your expert perspective.

Thanks & best regards,
Abhishek Goel