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I'm an immigrant and would like to know if there is any chances of taking the step 1 in 4-5 months studying 8-10 hrs a day , 5 days a week. I have a gap of 8 years. How about the other steps? Could they be taken in even less time than step 1. any thoughts? recommendations?
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someone please reply , need a advice from you .
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It really depends on your starting point. For me 1 took more time than CK, but 3 took more time than CK.
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Hello disciplined doctor,
It's doable but you have to put in extra effort. I am 4yrs postgrad. Definitely not up to urs, but trust me, the knowledge is there, when you start, you will be relating and smiling at most of the stuff.
I started with step 2ck....October 17, and took my exam January 27th. So about 3months and 1wk, used just mtb 2 and 3, uw Qbank and Kaplan videos. NoThing extra, I didn't use Kaplan notes, I didn't have the time cos I needed to write all my steps before application season. I go to library about 7am to 8am daily and left library at 10pm daily at least 97percent of these period. So I put in a lot of hard work and entertained little or no distraction.
I started my step 1 prep May 9th, and I took the exam in August 17th, so about 3months and a week too. Of cos the knowledge from step 2ck made the step 1 so easy for me, so that's why the study period was ideal for me.I used just first aid 2015, Uworldqbank and Kaplan videos.
The reason why I speak from my experience is that, I believe the first one you right be it step 1 or step 2ck will definitely take more time especially the step 1,so maybe 4-5months, but trust me, your step 2ck will be so much faster, def in 3months or a lil less. I know people who started with step 1, spent 5 months, but the knowledge helped them in their step 2 ck, so they spent less time during study.
Note: I didn't use Kaplan notes because I didn't have a lot of time, so try and pick the materials u want to use and stick with them, do not go Looking for different unnecessary materials, that could confuse you and also you get to master none. People told me about different materials but I stuck to the ones I used because it worked for the person that introduced me to this whole usmle exams procedure. So I just obeyed and it worked very well for me too.
My exam scores were not Soo fantastic but good enough considering the time constraints. I had above 240 in both steps and passed my CS On first attempt as well. And I was able to meet up for application season. I wish myself luck with the interview season and the match.
I hope I have been able to encourage you a bit. I wish you all the best with your prep, before you know it, it is application season. Please put in the hard work now, it definitely pays .
Warm regards,
Iradat.