Fourth year MBBS:

So you’ve already done anatomy, biochem, physio, much of patho and pharm in previous
years.
If you have already done Kaplan and BRS in the previous years, much of the work is done. If
not, then take a few weeks and revise the whole physiology from BRS along with watching
BnB videos for physio topics from all modules (or you can only do one resource e.g. BnB
alongside FA. Depends on how well you have studied these subjects in the previous years of
study). Must read FA along with lectures. Skip Kaplan (I only recommend it for juniors years)
If you have done Kaplan earlier, you can skip BnB physio now, however I'd definitely
recommend that you watch the videos at a faster speed just to revise the high yield stuff
(which I personally did). (Optional: You can do the physio anki cards for selective topics, not
all)
Also do anatomy (from BnB MSK module and 100 concepts of anatomy pdf), including
neuroanatomy from Dr.White’s Kaplan lectures. Skip the rest of kaplan anatomy, however
kaplan Neuroanatomy is a must. Do the respective anki cards and get done with this subject!

Biochemistry, watch Dr. Turco biochem kaplan, the whole book, including the genetics
portion. Do anki metabolism cards (optional) only after you have finished the whole
metabolism part as the cards are mixed, then do all the chapters from chapter 1 upto
metabolism (vitamins etc) and follow up by anki vitamins cards, then do genetics
videos+book (understanding) followed by anki genetics cards (memorisation – optional). Do
read FA alongside everyday. If you understand FA completely, good, otherwise also watch
BnB biochem alongside for better understanding (I did them, and recommend too. Like I
already said, BnB for everything!)
Get done with all these in no more than a month (including anki cards) because you have
already studied all these in the previous years, this is just a recap (and doing anki cards is
optional – depepnding on whether or not it works for you)

Now, Pathology and pharmacology. I’d recommend that you do these together in around 2
months (including anki cards for selective topics). For patho, watch Pathoma first (followed
by its anki cards (pathoma tags)-- optional), then do BnB alongside FA. These 3 resources
are enough for both proff and step exam. No other resource, literally, loud and clear. But, do
these well, and you know what I mean.
For pharm, you already would have done much of it, so i’ll just tell you my basic approach to
it. Do Kaplan first (Dr. Raymon, and NOT Dr. Harris!). You can watch general pharm from
Dr.Harris, but from ANS and onwards, watch Raymon’s. After you finish a chapter in kaplan,
watch its respective sketchy videos, and then do the anki cards (optional). Anki cards are
based on sketchy pharm, so do not do cards right after kaplan, rather do sketchy before
starting to do cards.
You might need detailed guidance on how to use anki. I have conducted 2 zoom
sessions where I have explained it in detail directly in the anki app. Follow the link.
https://youtu.be/ti9Q502jPuc?feature=shared

Then comes microbiology (you might do this alongside pathology, as I did). Same as
path/pharm, you have studied most of it in third year. But you definitely need step oriented
study for it. My approach is to watch BnB videos (along with reading FA) to understand basic
general micro, and then start watching sketchy micro. Alongside, watch BnB videos for every
bug, and read from FA. Follow with anki cards (optional – Lolnotacop deck). Micro should
take you no more than a month overall. However I would recommend that you not only do
micro alone, rather do the other minor or major subjects alongside.
Then do psychiatry. BnB videos followed by reading FA, and then anki cards. That’s all.
This should take you no more than 2 weeks.
After that, do biostatistics and epidemiology. BnB videos followed by reading FA, and
then anki cards. You might not understand this subject at first, don’t worry. Watch Randy Neil
videos from first to last, and again and again. Biostatistics should take you no more than 1-2
weeks.
After that, do ethics and communication. There is no specific famous resource for this,
except UW and a few other videos (Dirty medicine, Randy Neil etc). I recommend doing
Khan 100 cases of ethics, and also Conrad Fischer 100 cases of ethics if you want to dig
deeper. I did not do any of these per se (The reason is, step 1 these days tests
communication more, ethics less. While these books are mainly on ethical scenarios.
However if you do them, you will feel very confident with these questions in all step exams in
future. You have got time, do them!). You can also watch/listen to my sessions on
ethics/communication/biostats for quick review and HY scenarios. Follow the link.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTgiIfsqeO0m8k53Uy8Gtfwjo62LV11Mj&feature=shared

That’s almost all the content you need to study for step1. You should be done with all this
somewhere midway in 4th year.
Now, Do NBMEs. Mainly the latest NBMEs. Do any 2-3 of them, and see how many
mistakes you make. I did them offline, and one online. For me, doing online NBME was NOT
helpful at all, so I do NOT recommend buying it. It does NOT correlate with the actual
exam’s interface. UW Self-Assessments do. Skip the NBMEs before 20, they're no more
predictive.
1:15 hr for one block (50 ques). You should be making no more than 40-50 mistakes. If you
made more, don’t worry, it’s just to figure out where you stand for now. UW will polish you.

Now buy a 6 or 12 months UW subscription. You might have already bought UW 12 months
midway while covering the minor subjects, when you’ve done major chunks of
patho/pharm/micro and may do around 20 questions a day just to get familiar with the ques
style (That’s what I did). My recommendation is to start doing questions early (read the
points i wrote in the start of the main document about “Uworld”.

Initially you can randomise mcqs from subjects you’re very good at, and then add up more
and more until you’re finally doing mcqs from the whole content randomly.
After you get accustomed to questions, start doing at least one block (40 questions) a day.
Finish first pass in no more than 3-4 months.

Note: No need to make anki cards from UWorld or write notes. There are already enough
anki decks and notes out there. JUST DO QUESTIONS AND LEARN!
Do an NBME after every 3-4 weeks. You should at least do 3-4 nbmes before ending the
whole UW. However, don’t do any NBME in the NBME 26-30 list for now.
When you finish all UW ques, also UW anki cards, and anking deck around 28k cards, do
UWSA1 (you should score in 250s range in UWSA1, remember that UWSA1 is over
predictor)
After that, do your UW wrong questions first, and then marked questions. This would take
you around a month. Do at least 2-4 blocks a day. Review only wrongs, and educational
objectives for corrects, and may be some important points here and there. This is to develop
your stamina for the 8 hr step1 exam)

Do NBME 26-30 here and there, preferably with at least 1 week gap each, within which you
work on your weak areas. You may purchase online NBME 29 or 30 just to get familiar with
NBME test taking interface etc, however the real exam’s interface is more like that of UW
tests and AMBOSS tests. So you can skip the online NBME. Depends on whether you want
to spend that extra 10k rupees.

I recommend doing AMBOSS Q-bank AFTER UWorld. Atleast, do blocks for

ethics/communication/biostats/weak areas. It might not be be necessary to do if you just
want to pass step 1, however, if you can do it, must do it. You can cover it within 3 weeks
(around 3-4 blocks a day)

At last, do UWSA2 and get that 250+ score on it. Follow it up by free120 (search on google
and you’ll get the link)
You’re ready now!
Towards the end, do 5-6 blocks a day, and at least a few times, do 7-8 blocks a day to
simulate the real exam. It worked for me. I was fresh as hell in the exam by doing so much
practice, as advised by a senior whom I would definitely thank wholeheartedly.
You should be done with step1 somewhere before 4th proff if you religiously follow this
timeline.
Remember!
● Do take breaks and days off. This article does not include everything I did, I might
have done more, or maybe less, but that’s almost everything you need to know.
The rest make your own plan. I did go out on hangouts almost every week, long
trips, attended family functions and everything. You do not have to kill yourself to
do step 1, or any other exam.
● Step journey is a long long thing, do not rush. Take a break if you may – and you
definitely will need to. Breathe & take it easy.
● Do not think it’s too early for you to do all that as some people might
suggest. That’s a trap. Do yourself a favour – don't get misled. You know what
I mean! Do your thing your way!
● Stay consistent (e.g. religiously doing UW questions/anki reviews every day).
● I started doing anki/UW late, for you, do it the way I recommended and get done
with step1 with a better timeline than mine.
● Do not waste time by making hand-written notes if you already are using anki.
If you have started very early (e.g. in first/second year), add stuff into anki cards,
which is beneficial in the long run.

That’s all from my side, Good luck.

Do let me know if you have any queries, and whether or not this helps you and to what
extent. Let me know if I missed something. Either text me on whatsapp or email me.
Good luck!