The Single USMLE World Mistake…
That Destroys Step 1 Prep Progress 👇

Let’s keep this simple...

There are 3 goals that a USMLE Qbank helps us accomplish:

Goal 1: Improve test-taking skills
Goal 2: Learn to apply content knowledge
Goal 3: Find & fix weaknesses

When you see a question for the first time, or do a full block of 40 questions for the first time, you’re able to accomplish all 3 of those goals.

When seeing a question for the first time, it truly tests your understanding of the content being tested.

When seeing a question for the first time, it truly tests your ability to efficiently maneuver the vignette and come to a reasonable conclusion about the answer.

And when you see a question for the first time, it allows you to recognize an actual weakness that you can then go fix.

If you repeat a question, for any reason whatsoever, you accomplish none of those 3 goals… 😔

If you see a question for the second time, your test-taking skills aren’t being improved because you’ve already seen the vignette and the answer choices.

If you see a question for the second time, you’re not able to truly apply your content knowledge because you’ve seen the answer to this specific question already.

And if you’re seeing a question for the second time, you’re unable to determine if the content in question is an actual weakness because you’ve already seen the answer.

By doing a USMLE qbank more than once, you eliminate your ability to accomplish the BIG goals of doing it in the first place…

What happens as a result of this approach is an inflated sense of content mastery & test-taking skills that aren’t actually there…

The better approach is to do a question bank once, learn from it, build your test-taking skills from it, and accomplish as much as you can from it… Then to move into a fresh 2nd question bank that you haven’t done before.

By doing it this way, you’ll build on what you took from your first qbank and strengthen all of the necessary skills needed to boost your chances of exam-day success.

Bottom line… Repeating questions over and over might work in high school, but it doesn’t work for the USMLE exams.

Your goal needs to be mastering the content and skills needed to pass your exams, not trying to memorize your way through them.

And if you’re doing a qbank multiple times because you haven’t mastered the information from your first time through, it means you should slow down and take the time needed to address your weaknesses as they come up.

Doing the same questions over and over won’t accomplish this as quickly & efficiently as simply cracking open a book and studying your weaknesses for an hour or two.

I hope this helps!

If you want even more USMLE & med school tips & tricks to help you take your exam prep to the next level, grab your free copy of our Medical Student Survival Guide at https://usmle.io

See you next time!