USMLE Step 1

It sure has been a busy few months. Second-year finals ended in late February, which meant it was time to start studying for boards. The medical licensing exam has three parts: one you take at the end of second year, one you take in fourth year, and one you take during intern year. Step 1 is really important because you can't move on to third year and residency programs really look at the score to determine your competitiveness.

I decided the best thing for me would be to study at home. I didn't want to have any responsibilities besides studying. Plus, it would be nice to be treated like a princess for 2 months!

Words of encouragement around campus.

Studying wasn't actually too bad. I had made a schedule which broke down my days into 8am-6pm on weekdays and 8am-2pm on Saturdays, with Sundays off. I usually ended up taking the entire day on Saturday to finish up questions and whatnot, but for the most part my schedule worked and kept me in check. I had gone through all of First Aid throughout the year so that my study period could be focused on review and question banks.

The holy grail.

I also decided it would be a great time to pick up a new series to read! I read the Abhorsen books throughout my study period and I fell in love with them. It's got a perfect balance of modern-day and fantasy weaved in to what are essentially coming-of-age stories. Garth Nix is my new favorite author. (I eventually read Shade's Children as well. That wasn't my favorite, mostly because it was more science-fiction than fantasy. If you enjoy dystopian futures, then it's worth a read.)

Study break: hike

Study break: restaurant

I felt pretty good during my study period. I was doing well on questions and felt I had a good grasp on the material. I did fairly well on my practice tests. They were still a little below my ideal goal, but I figured I hadn't reached my peak yet and all would be swell come exam day. However, the test was absolutely brutal. It didn't help that I slept a grand total of 2 hours the night before. I didn't think I would be nervous but I lay wide-awake, tossing and turning. By some miracle, I had enough adrenaline pumping through me to make it through the entire 8 hours without feeling sleepy, but I did not feel I did my best. It was going to be a hard three weeks until the scores were released.

By that time, we had already had orientation and I had started my surgery rotation. The gossip is that you get paged the morning your scores are released if you failed. Of course I got paged and my heart just sank. Of course the page had nothing to do with me. I was still feeling shaky at the end of the day when I got home to check (I didn't have the guts to check while I was at the hospital). And I couldn't believe it: not only had I passed, I had scored above my goal! Such a relief.

HOORAY!