USMLE Step One Support

The University of Queensland School of Medicine Ochsner Clinical School provides support to students in the Ochsner cohort as they prepare for the USMLE examinations (U.S. Medical License Exam), which are a requirement for licensure to practice in the United States. The faculty is aware of how crucial to a student’s success his or her performance on the USMLE is, and has developed a study curriculum in order to assist students in the successful completion of this important milestone. The USMLE website is an important reference to which students should refer regularly (www.usmle.org).

The 3 Steps

The exam is given in 3 distinct parts.

Step 1 is a multiple choice exam typically taken after the first two years of medical school. At The University of Queensland School of Medicine Ochsner Clinical School, students must sit for the Step 1 exam prior to beginning the third year of medical school.

The Step 2 exam is divided into two parts, the Clinical Skills exam and the Clinical Knowledge exam. The Clinical Skills exam is an oral, clinical exam given at several sites across the United States. The Clinical Knowledge exam is a clinically focused multiple-choice exam. The two parts of the Step 2 exam should be taken around October of a medical student’s fourth year of school.

The Step 3 exam is typically taken during internship year.

The Step 1 exam is the most difficult of the three components of the USMLE licensing process. Preparation for this exam should start on the first day a student begins the first year of medical school. It is impossible to do well on the Step 1 exam by waiting until one or two months before the test to begin preparations.

Details of the recommended study plan is made available to all incoming students. This study plan should be followed in concert with the UQ curriculum during the first two years. In this manner, classroom work will help solidify and clarify topics which students are reviewing in the USMLE resources.

Study Resources

UQ will provide First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 and Kaplan Medical USMLE Step 1 Q Book for Year 1 students. UQ will provide the USMLE World and Kaplan Q Bank question banks for Year 2 students.

Tutorial Groups will be formed for Year 2 students. These groups will be led by 4th Year UQ students who have obtained high scores on the USMLE and who remain in Brisbane for the entire four year medical program. The groups will meet weekly for two hours; they will meet with increasing frequency as the date of the exam draws nearer.

The computer-based and print resources listed below are divided into essential resources, which all students must have available and which must be completely mastered, and secondary resources, which includes those books that are excellent references with which to learn more in those areas in which students find they are weaker.

Please note that text-books are more expensive and occasionally not readily available in Australia. They are less expensive in the U.S. and should be purchased there and brought to Brisbane.

Essential Texts

• First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 (This is the key text from which almost all of the questions in the Step 1 exam are derived.)
• BRS Physiology
• Rapid Review Pathology
• Rapid Review Biochemistry

Essential Question Bank Resources

• Kaplan Medical USMLE Step 1 Q Book
• USMLE World
• Kaplan Q Bank

Secondary Resources

• Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple
• Lange Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
• High-Yield Behavioral Sciences
• USMLE Step 1 Secrets
• Lippincott’s Pharmacology

Suggested Study Timeline

Year 1

USMLE study preparation begins in Year 1 and coordinates with the curriculum presented in class. Throughout the year, students should review the portion of First Aid for USMLE Step 1 which corresponds with the particular subject being studied in class that week, using the other texts listed here for further explanation of difficult concepts. Students should test themselves weekly in the Kaplan Q Book by taking those questions that pertain to that week’s work.

Year 2

In Year 2, students should continue to follow the practices outlined above. In addition, students should begin using the Kaplan Q Bank online bank of questions by no later than April of Year 2. This comprises approximately 2,500 questions.

By August of Year 2, and no later than 2-3 months prior to sitting for the exam, students should begin using the USMLE World Step 1 question bank. The USMLE World Step 1 question bank has many questions which are similar and in some cases identical to those found on the actual Step 1 exam. There are approximately 2,000 questions in this question bank.

You should plan on reviewing the Kaplan Q Bank and the USMLE World question bank twice. This will be nearly 9,000 questions.

Year 2 final exams typically occur during the second week of November in Brisbane. You will be spending October and the beginning of November studying for your final exams for the second year curriculum and will have little time to study for the USMLE. Students should plan accordingly.

Students should take at least one practice Step 1 exam offered by the USMLE under simulated testing conditions, and use the results of the practice exam as a guide for those areas on which to be further concentrated. The practice exam should be taken no later than mid-November, after UQ final exams, but preferably earlier.

Students should be aware that they will need to spend the winter holidays in intense preparation for the exam. Arrangements should be made in early November at the latest in order to sit the exam in December.