{"id":237,"date":"2022-01-12T03:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T03:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.picmonic.com\/why-med-students-fail-usmle-step-1\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T21:34:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T21:34:46","slug":"why-med-students-fail-usmle-step-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.picmonic.com\/pages\/why-med-students-fail-usmle-step-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Med Students \u201cFail\u201d USMLE Step 1 Exam (And How to Make Sure You Pass The First Time)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Why
Most med students pass USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"why<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners recently announced that the United States Medical Licensing Exam will be pass\/fail for Step 1. Until the <\/span>new scoring system takes place<\/span><\/a> in January 2022, there will still be a numeric score for Step 1 (and the numeric score will remain for Step 2) that will factor into residency \u201cmatch\u201d decisions.  For most medical students, simply passing the USMLE Step 1 <\/span>isn\u2019t good enough<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any hopes of going into a competitive specialty or the field of your choice, then you need to pass the USMLE Step 1 with flying colors. <\/span>The first time<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t retake<\/span><\/a> the step component to simply improve your score. Once it\u2019s done \u2014 it\u2019s done. So you have to make the most of your Step 1 opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merely passing isn\u2019t good enough. A low passing score can be just as damaging as failing outright.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And unfortunately, in most cases, medical students are their own worst enemy, because the most common reasons for poor performance and low memory recall on exam day are self-inflicted.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what med students like you might be doing when you study for Step 1, and what you should be doing instead.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOMINATE THE USMLE STEP 1 WITH PICMONIC<\/a><\/center>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"usmle
The Most Common Reasons for Low USMLE Step 1 Scores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The goal of USMLE Step 1 is to evaluate a med student\u2019s ability to apply key concepts and fundamentals to medical practice.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time you take it, the material isn\u2019t necessarily new. There\u2019s just <\/span>a lot<\/span><\/i> of it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difficulty of this medical licensing exam comes down to the sheer breadth and volume of information. And the prospect of regurgitating everything during a single, 8-hour day is daunting. Especially because you only get about one minute per question.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing to master so many different areas, and being forced to recall and apply them quickly \u2013 under pressure \u2013 is challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s even more challenging when your preparation is <\/span>misspent<\/span><\/i>. Poor study habits like multitasking, social studying, and a distracting environment sabotage your memory faster than you can improve it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of you are familiar with the 10,000-hour rule (made infamous by Malcolm Gladwell). However, everyone has lives. You can\u2019t simply lock yourself away for a few years to focus on a single medical licensing exam.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of hours you study can only get you so far. To succeed with a limited time frame and numerous other extracurricular commitments, we need to focus, prioritize, and use that time wisely.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we need to kill passive studying<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRY ACTIVE STUDYING WITH PICMONIC<\/a><\/center>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"how
How to Study for the USMLE Step 1 Like a Chess Grandmaster<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrandmaster\u201d is the highest attainable title in the chess world, and rightfully so. Very few people make it to this status in their lifetime, but here\u2019s the most surprising thing:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies have shown that chess grandmasters don\u2019t necessarily spend more time studying the game than their counterparts. <\/span>They just make better use of that time.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of chess, their memory recall is just like your average person. The reason they excel at chess is because of (among other things) their deep understanding of how the pieces fit together.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They \u201cchunk\u201d their domain expertise down \u2013 like how different individual pieces fit together to form patterns and strategies \u2013 and can quickly recognize, recall, and apply that information.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they develop this ability cumulatively, over time, through countless hours of deliberate practice.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAKE BETTER USE OF YOUR TIME WITH PICMONIC<\/a><\/center>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"how
Improve Memory Recall by Making Studying More \u201cActive\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Passive<\/span><\/i> techniques like copying notes as written, sticking to one studying method, and relying on rote memorization can only get you so far. Presented with too much information and a short time frame, it quickly starts to break down. That\u2019s because there\u2019s no engagement with the material, there\u2019s no context for how it fits together. Your application and recall of the information will be limited at best.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to mastering information recall is to add context and improve engagement with the material. <\/span>Active<\/span><\/i> studying techniques like writing in your own words, rewriting, creating flowcharts of related concepts, self-testing, and using multiple approaches like Picmonic\u2019s audio and visual can significantly improve retention.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underneath most <\/span>active<\/span><\/i> studying approaches is <\/span>deliberate practice<\/b>, a concept coined by Anders Ericsson and his colleagues. Whereas \u201cthe mere number of years of experience with relevant activities in a domain is typically related to performance,\u201d deliberate practice is a more focused approach to quickly improve how we learn.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And deliberate practice has some unique characteristics that set it apart from most other techniques:<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n