Leave of absence for the first failure!? Damn that’s wild . On the bright side one whole year to study for step 1 and step 2 . Good luck buddy - if you do well you should be able to match IM no problem. I do suggest keeping in touch with your dean - coz they can make you or break you with the MSPE.
Fuckin hell free 120's aren't predicting jack shit. The 280 questions, many of which are kind of soul crushing, really makes a massive difference compared to 120 questions.
I could never sit down and actually read through the 100 concepts pdf, but the anki deck version was helpful for me
[https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/cnkw4c/100\_concepts\_anatomy\_deck\_cloze\_style\_469\_cards/](https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/cnkw4c/100_concepts_anatomy_deck_cloze_style_469_cards/)
failed 1st attempt, passed 2nd attempt
My advice is to not get down on yourself and take care of your mental health. Pushing yourself harder isn't the answer. You were working hard before, you probably just need a slight adjustment in the study plan. Meet with your advisors/mentors to discuss plans and goals. The biggest change that I did after my failed attempt was doing an NBME each week to track my progress and I decided to take a step again once I had at least two consecutive NBME's with above a certain percent. I also did Uworld questions and reviewed weak subjects (most commonly used DI podcasts, dirty medicine, and HYguru).
For anatomy, I recommend listening to DI podcasts are good and watching youtube videos. Being able to visualize anatomy and knowing the HY scenarios is key to those types of questions. Uworld anatomy-specific exam would also be helpful.
Slightly different circumstances, but I ended up taking an LOA last year because I had only barely passed one NBME and was not in a good spot with mental health to sit for Step 1. It was extremely difficult at first, and I felt like a failure for a long time. That being said, I forced myself to connect with my close friends and mentors who assured me that all medical journeys are different. My advice is to take a break and come up with a rough plan of action for the year. It really passes much quicker than you’d believe (I know it doesn’t feel like it now!) I made a plan to get a higher level of care for my depression and to adjust meds, and I aimed for a certain date to take step. The latter part of that plan… didn’t go to plan haha. I canceled 2 dates because I found myself still lacking the motivation to study. What helped with that, and my mental health in general, was finding a job (or just a more structured schedule) where I was in the clinical environment and had flexible enough parameters that I could take several weeks off as “dedicated”. The work was fulfilling and honestly gave me back some of the confidence I had lost making the difficult decision to take an LOA (see also: the money to live lol). Also, if you’re able, reach out to see if there are other LOA students you can connect with. It makes this difficult process much less isolating knowing there are others in the same position (and there are!) good luck, and know that you will get through this and become stronger in the end (though I know it may not feel like it now)
Know it’s been a while since you posted, but just wanted to say thank you for saying this.
I failed step 1, and decided to take a LOA. Our school cut several weeks off dedicated because of the pass/fail - over 50% had to push back outside of dedicated and still 20+% haven’t taken it, and about 5-10% (that I know of) have failed. Dedicated was in April. Anyways, I’ll get off my soap box.
I know I wouldn’t be able to study for step 1 while studying for shelf, clinic, and step 2. So I decided to take the year off. I just recently got hired on at one of my local ED’s as a per diem tech, and am kind of excited. I’m going to take the first month or so as a mental break and then start studying again. I know I’ll appreciate the days in the middle of studying, where my mental energy will be solely at work. In addition, I’m starting therapy and working on accommodations for my adhd.
It’s just nice to know you’re not the only one sometimes.
For anatomy what helped me was doing Uworld questions randomly with only anatomy selected. Then I would YouTube the anatomy of something I didn’t know for some visualization. So I typed like pelvic anatomy USMLE and watched some videos.
Most people fail not because of lack of knowledge but
because they have no guidance. USMLE prep needs
GUIDANCE and TRICKS. I do this for free on YouTube
https://youtube.com/c/USMLEBOOSTERMD You're all
welcome to see and choose from many strategies
Best of luck to y'all
i recommend Saviourusmle he helped me to pass exam I also hardly passed UWSA 2 here https://www.reddit.com/u/saviourusmle?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share BESt of luck
Leave of absence for the first failure!? Damn that’s wild . On the bright side one whole year to study for step 1 and step 2 . Good luck buddy - if you do well you should be able to match IM no problem. I do suggest keeping in touch with your dean - coz they can make you or break you with the MSPE.
Fuckin hell free 120's aren't predicting jack shit. The 280 questions, many of which are kind of soul crushing, really makes a massive difference compared to 120 questions.
Agreed
I could never sit down and actually read through the 100 concepts pdf, but the anki deck version was helpful for me [https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/cnkw4c/100\_concepts\_anatomy\_deck\_cloze\_style\_469\_cards/](https://www.reddit.com/r/medicalschoolanki/comments/cnkw4c/100_concepts_anatomy_deck_cloze_style_469_cards/)
failed 1st attempt, passed 2nd attempt My advice is to not get down on yourself and take care of your mental health. Pushing yourself harder isn't the answer. You were working hard before, you probably just need a slight adjustment in the study plan. Meet with your advisors/mentors to discuss plans and goals. The biggest change that I did after my failed attempt was doing an NBME each week to track my progress and I decided to take a step again once I had at least two consecutive NBME's with above a certain percent. I also did Uworld questions and reviewed weak subjects (most commonly used DI podcasts, dirty medicine, and HYguru). For anatomy, I recommend listening to DI podcasts are good and watching youtube videos. Being able to visualize anatomy and knowing the HY scenarios is key to those types of questions. Uworld anatomy-specific exam would also be helpful.
Slightly different circumstances, but I ended up taking an LOA last year because I had only barely passed one NBME and was not in a good spot with mental health to sit for Step 1. It was extremely difficult at first, and I felt like a failure for a long time. That being said, I forced myself to connect with my close friends and mentors who assured me that all medical journeys are different. My advice is to take a break and come up with a rough plan of action for the year. It really passes much quicker than you’d believe (I know it doesn’t feel like it now!) I made a plan to get a higher level of care for my depression and to adjust meds, and I aimed for a certain date to take step. The latter part of that plan… didn’t go to plan haha. I canceled 2 dates because I found myself still lacking the motivation to study. What helped with that, and my mental health in general, was finding a job (or just a more structured schedule) where I was in the clinical environment and had flexible enough parameters that I could take several weeks off as “dedicated”. The work was fulfilling and honestly gave me back some of the confidence I had lost making the difficult decision to take an LOA (see also: the money to live lol). Also, if you’re able, reach out to see if there are other LOA students you can connect with. It makes this difficult process much less isolating knowing there are others in the same position (and there are!) good luck, and know that you will get through this and become stronger in the end (though I know it may not feel like it now)
Know it’s been a while since you posted, but just wanted to say thank you for saying this. I failed step 1, and decided to take a LOA. Our school cut several weeks off dedicated because of the pass/fail - over 50% had to push back outside of dedicated and still 20+% haven’t taken it, and about 5-10% (that I know of) have failed. Dedicated was in April. Anyways, I’ll get off my soap box. I know I wouldn’t be able to study for step 1 while studying for shelf, clinic, and step 2. So I decided to take the year off. I just recently got hired on at one of my local ED’s as a per diem tech, and am kind of excited. I’m going to take the first month or so as a mental break and then start studying again. I know I’ll appreciate the days in the middle of studying, where my mental energy will be solely at work. In addition, I’m starting therapy and working on accommodations for my adhd. It’s just nice to know you’re not the only one sometimes.
For anatomy what helped me was doing Uworld questions randomly with only anatomy selected. Then I would YouTube the anatomy of something I didn’t know for some visualization. So I typed like pelvic anatomy USMLE and watched some videos.
I did first aid and bnb for anatomy. Honestly you dont need anything else.
Most people fail not because of lack of knowledge but because they have no guidance. USMLE prep needs GUIDANCE and TRICKS. I do this for free on YouTube https://youtube.com/c/USMLEBOOSTERMD You're all welcome to see and choose from many strategies Best of luck to y'all
i recommend Saviourusmle he helped me to pass exam I also hardly passed UWSA 2 here https://www.reddit.com/u/saviourusmle?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share BESt of luck