I have been a silent observer of this forum and today I registered a new account to post my experience, this forum has helped me a lot with my questions especially the old threads!

This post is dedicated to my family, my teachers(from both my school and college), Dr Srinivasan.

Without the support of my mother and the rest of my family this wouldn't have been possible. The time I spent reading the different experiences, suggestions, methods and questions posted by the awesome members of this community is one of the main reasons behind my success.I guess its now time to give back.

Intro :

I am a 3rd year Medical Student from Kolkata, India. During my first year I came to know about this exam called USMLE and after that I tried googling what it is all about. After a few days of skimming through useless search results and forums I came across USMLE-FORUMS and started reading the Recommended Step 1 Threads. During my first year due to lack of guidance I couldnot implement the USMLE materials in my study schedule but I made it a point to include all of them in my 2nd Year. The 2nd Year in Indian MBBS curriculum consists of one and a half years i.e. 3 semesters and it was ample time to revise all of my first year subjects as well as do my second year subjects, but this time instead of doing all this from Indian authors(which my peers prefer) and "the big foreign books", I started using USMLE prep materials and solely relied upon them to help me through my 2nd year (List will be provided below). Obviously before my college exams I used to consult the Indian authors and prepare the important questions that may come in that exam but I never let college exams become my primary focus instead I studied from Kaplan and Pathoma and supplemented from Shanbhag(Indian author) and Robbins(Basic) when necessary. During my 2nd year I had almost covered every subject i.e. revised Anatomy,Biochemistry and Physiology and also did Pharmacology, Pathology and Microbiology. It was tough but manageable if one is wiling to put in the effort and sacrifice. So at the beggining of this year I only had Behavioral Science and Biostats left, which I finished in two weeks and then I planned to take my exam during the period July-September, July being my target, but I ended up taking it on Sept 7th 2016!

So without beating around the bush lets get started,


The Materials I Used during the first two years : (I would describe all these later in my post)


1. Anatomy : Kaplan Anatomy Video Lectures and book, High Yield Anatomy [Note : Neuroanatomy from Kapaln also, I didnot find High Yield Neuroanatomy to be High Yield]

2. Physiology : Kapaln Physiology Video Lectures and book and BRS Physiology book

3. Biochemistry : Kaplan Biochemistry Video Lectures and book

4. Pharmacology : Kaplan Pharmacology Video Lectures and book

5. Pathology : Pathoma and Goljan Audio Lectures and book(Rapid Review Pathology - selected topics only)

6. Behavioral Science : Kaplan Video Lectures and book

7. Biostats : Kaplan video Lectures and book and UWORLD Biostats review

8. Microbiology : Clinical Microbiology made ridiculously simple and Kaplan Video Lectures and book

9. Immunology : Levinson(only did the immunology part) and Kaplan Video Lectures and book

SCORES:

Uworld - 76% - finished 4months before STEP 1
UsmleRx - 82% (did only medium and hard)
Free sample questions - 94%
NBME 12 - May 02 - 256
NBME 15 - May 27 - 245
NBME 17 - Jun 11 - 262
NBME 18 - Aug 20 - 262
USWA 1 - Aug 31 - 269
USWA 2 - Aug 31 - 264
Step 1 - Sept 7 - 259

The full story is available on the net, google it "CleverFOX's USMLE STEP 1 Experience", Kudos!