Part I Boards will happen before you know it, but don’t worry about them before you need to. Most people (myself included) will tell you that you don’t need to start studying until summer clinic begins, after Memorial Day. This approach gives you about 2 weeks completely off, which is a blessing after the two years of studying you’ll have had by this point. Use those 2 weeks to decompress -- lie around in pajamas, reorganize your life, and do something you’ve wanted to do but haven’t had time for. Then, after Memorial Day has passed, dedicate your life to studying for the Part I Board exam.
Everybody has their own opinion about what materials you should use to study, so I’d recommend asking your Big Sib what they did. However, there are some classics that most people use: First Aid’s USMLE Step 1 is a great way to get through a lot of material without delving in too deep. It presents important information with some helpful mnemonics and practice exams. Don’t worry if the questions seem extraordinarily hard -- they’re written for the students taking the USMLE (the DO board exam), and our questions are different. Another great resource is Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, a book that will sum up everything you need to know about microbiology with helpful tables, comics, and mnemonics. Lastly, keep those handouts and notes from Lower Limb Anatomy – it’s definitely the best way to prepare for the Lower Limb section of the exam.
It is incredibly important to make a study schedule and stick to it. If you want to study with a friend, make a schedule that you can both work with. Start with a basic timeline and then add more detail in as you find out how much time it takes for you to get through the material: this will help keep you on track. Lastly, here’s the most important advice I have to give about boards: take the day before the exam off. Don’t touch a book. If you have a panic attack trying to remember the brachial plexus, go ahead and look it up. But other than that, give yourself a break and relax.
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and beyond
From the kitchen of Ali D'Andelet