Hey guys, I have been preparing for step 1 since November and at that time I started from first aid.i studied first aid like 4 times then things got out of place and I took kaplan classes.Now after the classes have started I have started studying kaplan seriously but I keep forgetting it now and then and I study 8-10 hrs everyday! I tried doing questions but as I couldn't solve most of the answers it lowered my self esteem and I moved to books again. I read books and then do questions but i tend to forget it too soon before practicing.its making me really depressed and m planing to take exam in July. What should I do to improve my memory? And is studying kaplan twice is enough? Should I read firat aid after finishing Kaplan?

I seriously need help guys! I haven't been able to study taking soo much pressure

I am in a situation that could be very depressing if I let it, and at one point I let it, not clinical depression off course, but the kind where you focused more on the problem than anything else. Studying has been a challenge, not the grasping of the material, I have no problem with that but my situation makes it very difficult to concentrate and be disciplined. Opening a book was the most boring and depressing thing that I could do, though I still tried. I knew I couldn't give up, this is too important to me. What I started doing and I found myself these days very excited about is using a lot of colors and drawings, never before had I done that in all the years at medical school, but I am in a situation that makes me need to do that. For example instead of JUST writing the features of down syndrome I "draw" a down syndrome child... Mongolian slant, simian crease, widely spaced 1st and 2nd toes....you get the picture and I find myself very excited about studying and I focus more on study than my problems. Off course the problem still pops up now and again but studying gets exciting. Another thing I do is talk it out and role playing (create scenarios that makes me visualize the stuff). when I discovered that method, I rewrote all my notes on copy paper using color and illustrations where ever I can fit them in. Now I realize you said that you wanted to do the exam in July, if you have to follow my method, you might have to push it back a bit, but pushing it back is better than failing, right? I have lots of stuff that I would not mind sharing but that would be a lot of photocopying but if you have money for Kaplan I don't think photocopying would be a problem..lol..... and I pray too.

Hi, I'm looking for a sp also for step 1. You can contact me if you want by email : [email protected]

I feel like continually exposing yourself to the concepts and facts will help, and that's why I do the questions because it forces you to look over the material again. Missing questions is discouraging and frustrating and painful, but it's a process. You miss it now to get it right later.

I have been on the same shoes before..I must say the best thing I did was to find a live study partner. It makes studying a little less painful if you're constantly studying with somebody else.We started by studying the whole first aid together, making mnemonics and quizzing each other at the end of each subject then towards the end we just studied by ourselves, but still meet up to do this.Just sitting together makes a huge difference and u always have someone to vent out with when you're getting depressed.We also have different strengths and weaknesses so we both benefited from each other. Also, after studying with my partner, I made whole new notes, and discarded most of my kaplan notes. Except for my notes in micro, pharma and behavioral which i stuck with till the end. Other subjects, I just relied on first aid and UW and pathoma for pathology.I find that trying to memorize all that was in kaplan was my biggest mistake during my prep.it took so much time, and because of the amount of info thats in it, you're bound to forget most of it.But if u truly understand and not just memorized whats in first aid, u will be able to answer most of uw questons. Whats also important is reading all the explanations in UW and making notes from it.Do not worry much about your scores, it'll get better as u do more questions..just be sure to read all explanations and personally if I dont understand some concepts tested, wikipedia or youtube is the place I mostly go to.once u understand the concept it would be easier to memorize and no matter how they trick u, u will always get the right answer..please do not take the test until you're comfortable with answering UW questions.Also when making notes try to make it into tables and diagrams.Its time-consuming to do but memorizing it is a breeze and trying to retrieve the info while taking a test is so much easier as well..Hope this helps.Good Luck and God bless!