Hello from the Mountain West

[Cinderella]

Are these general review books for each step or are they study guides for various subjects such as microbiology or anatomy? I don't know what to say if they're study guides. On one hand he probably feels like he needs a refresher. On the other hand, my reaction is to say that he already knows this stuff. After all, he graduated from medical school already. These were books my husband used while taking those classes, not after. If they're all different review books for Step 1, I'd caution him that he's wasting time. They're all more or less the same thing. Some are better than others, but he should pick one or two at most, and do tons of questions during the rest of his time. My husband and his classmates used First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, if that helps.

The Step 1 books are general review and refresher with various subjects like you said. His Sister said the same thing as you did that he already knows this stuff and doesn't need the refresher courses and should study the questions instead. He feels because of the level of the questions on the exam, and that it's well known it's the hardest exams in the world, that he needs the refresher and to go deeper.

He's also countered before that his Sister has her Masters and is working on a PhD and has been a lecturer in the medical University and practicing medicine for 6 years already. Her skill level is much higher than his so of course she'd take less time to study for the exams than he needs. We think he's afraid of doing worse than her on the exams and there is some cultural pride in that as well.

I also think that since his first practice exams and how he did on them he scared himself and thinks he's lost much information from the primary learning which they start at a much earlier age from 14-15 years old. I wrote about the differences in the educational system in another thread but removed it since then because it was irrelevant to that thread. I saved it on my home computer though so I can repost it here later when I get home after work if you'd like to know how it goes there.

Sometimes I think he's repeating medical school at an accelerated pace but I can understand why he's doing it this way when his entire career here is riding on the scores he gets from these exams. I used to pressure him about when he'd take the exams and why he's doing it the way he is but I've learned since then to not do that because it doesn't help anybody really. It's better to be in a supportive role and let him go through his internal process. I have confidence in him. I'll give him the information about First AID for USMLE Step 1.

The online option is not a book. It's thousands of questions formatted the same way the actual exam is. They're not marked in any way by other users. Well, you DO get feedback on how well other users have done, so you know how you compare, but I would imagine that's a good thing, no? This is probably where he should spend the bulk of his studying time, doing as many of the questions as he can and then reviewing his answers, making sure he understands why he got a certain question wrong.

I know he's into some sort of online simulation testing experience like this. I'm not sure if it's the same thing though. He says he's doing better on the practice exams but that he has to increase the rate at which he is able to answer each question. He explained that there are 44 questions and he has 70 seconds to answer each one but he's answering them all correctly in 90 seconds. That's not going to cut it. If he gets 36 right but can't get to the rest in time he gets just above an 80 and his goal is the high 90's. After he's done refreshing himself with these books and lectures on video I think he'll be doing one practice exam after another from May until the exam in October to get the highest score possible.

[diggitydot]

...he's answering them all correctly...

If that's the case, he'll be fine. My DH wasn't answering them correctly 100% of the time while he was studying/practicing and he scored VERY highly on the real thing.

[Cinderella]

If that's the case, he'll be fine. My DH wasn't answering them correctly 100% of the time while he was studying/practicing and he scored VERY highly on the real thing.

His BIL who just took the first Step said the same thing over the phone to him. That's a relief to know another person agrees. Thank you diggitydot!