What would be an ideal Step 1 schedule and study plan?

[Dr. Sana Majid – MST USMLE TutorMod Reputation: 24]

I have had many students over the years ask for a general schedule and study plan for their days in dedicated study period. The knowledge base required for Step 1 can be incredibly overwhelming, and finding the time to fit everything in is a huge undertaking. I have developed my own favorite schedule for most of my students, which *so far* seems to work! Schedules do vary significantly from tutor to tutor, and also during different points in the study period. I’ve included a general sample of what I would recommend to someone a bit further out from the test below!
8am-12pm: One UWorld block, timed, all boxes checked
12pm-1pm: Lunch/break
1pm-2pm: Pathoma Cardiology Review
2pm-3pm: Cardiology MI/Heart Failure Review, FA
3pm-4pm: FA/Boards and Beyond Cardiology Physiology
4pm-5pm: Break
5pm-6pm: Cardiology Pharmacology Review
6pm-7pm: Cardiology, Sketchy Pharm/Anki, Anti-Arrhythmics
7pm-9pm: Class Material, Review Lectures, Study for school
Some of these time slots can be modified based on the resources used by each student — some prefer Goljan to Pathoma, some prefer Amboss to Boards and Beyond, some prefer Sketchy to Anki. Overall, though, this should be what a lot of your days can look like — a solid mix of diverse questions, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and review of prior topics.

[Dan S., MST USMLE TutorMod Reputation: 30]

Love it. I’ve found that for myself, and for many of my students, a reasonable rate for reading FA (which you should only really do once – afterwards it should be more about studying FA, e.g. covering parts up or using Anki to actively test yourself on your weaker areas) is about 12 pages per hour. This means it can take a good chunk of time (3-4 hours) to get through an FA chapter, but it shouldn’t take more than 1-2 days (with the other study resources you are integrating in). I prefer doing cycles, so 1-2 days on each topic over 2 weeks, then go back and do another 1-2 days on each topic for another 2 weeks, etc. If you’re also doing random question blocks throughout, this iterative process allows you to build, connect, and solidify knowledge in a helpful way.

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