For me, my daily schedule was always changing. Even though it was not constant, I tried to keep it the same and had two different daily schedules depending on the week number.
So for the weeks early on in my dedicated study time, it was more of a slow paced and thorough lifestyle. It mainly focussed on learning material that I hadn’t before, filling any knowledge gaps and also learning how to integrate knowledge into questions and what to expect. At this point, my goal was to equip myself with the tools and knowledge that I would need for my test. Not much emphasis was put on the step 1 exam per se, but rather taking your time and not rushing any topics that would give you trouble. You want this time to be the foundation of how you tackle the exam. The knowledge gained here, you will build upon it later on, and that’s why it is essential to set realistic goals and go it slowly so that you really nail things the first time around
For the 3 weeks before the exam, my schedule then changed drastically. It was my crunch time schedule. This time, it was more focused on the exam and not so content. I used this time to train for the exam by learning from questions rather than raw data. The first couple weeks should have prepared you well enough to be able to be super quick and efficient during these weeks. You will now focus on doing blocks of questions with some content review here and there.
Important
Ensure that you have a day off every week or at least some time to decompress
You will get burnout very easily and then your studies will suffer
Do note that at the beginning you will feel invincible and want to get it all done without a break
That is a bad idea, as it’s best to get a routine down so that it’s easier to follow
So if you must, hang out with friends and family during your time off so that you don’t worry about “missing” study time
I will put an example of my schedule but do NOTE that this is what I wanted to achieve and at the end of the day, I never fully followed the schedule because sometimes my tasks might overlap or sometimes life events would mess it up. So don’t feel pressured to follow your schedule, or mine for that matter, and just have realistic goals
Example of schedule (weeks 1-4)
| 6:00 AM | Swim |
| 6:30 AM | Shower |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 7:30 AM | Organise everything / look over some things |
| 8:00 AM | Uworld (20 Qs) |
| 8:30 AM | Uworld (20 Qs) |
| 9:00 AM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) |
| 9:30 AM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) Review |
| 10:00 AM | Break / Coffee |
| 10:30 AM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) |
| 11:00 AM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) Review |
| 11:30 AM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) |
| 12:00 PM | Lunch |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM | Uworld (10 Qs – System specific) Review |
| 1:30 PM | Uworld (20 Qs) Review from morning |
| 2:00 PM | Uworld (20 Qs) Review from morning |
| 2:30 PM | Rest |
| 3:00 PM | Rest |
| 3:30 PM | FA (specific system) |
| 4:00 PM | FA |
| 4:30 PM | FA |
| 5:00 PM | FA |
| 5:30 PM | Break |
| 6:00 PM | FA |
| 6:30 PM | FA |
| 7:00 PM | FA |
| 7:30 PM | Dinner |
| 8:00 PM | Pharm / Micro |
| 8:30 PM | Pharm / Micro |
| 9:00 PM | Pharm / Micro |
| 9:30 PM | Pharm / Micro |
| 10:00 PM | Sleep |
| 10:30 PM | Sleep |
| 11:00 PM | Sleep |
| 11:30 PM | Sleep |
| 12:00 AM | Sleep |
| 12:30 AM | Sleep |
| 1:00 AM | Sleep |
| 1:30 AM | Sleep |
| 2:00 AM | Sleep |
| 2:30 AM | Sleep |
| 3:00 AM | Sleep |
| 3:30 AM | Sleep |
| 4:00 AM | Sleep |
| 4:30 AM | Sleep |
| 5:00 AM | Sleep |
| 5:30 AM | Wake/Pray |
Example of MY schedule (weeks 5-8) (During this time, it was Ramadan, so I had to fast and alter my studying)
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MAY 24, 2016 |
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6:00 AM |
Sleep |
|
6:30 AM |
Sleep |
|
7:00 AM |
Sleep |
|
7:30 AM |
Sleep |
|
8:00 AM |
Sleep |
|
8:30 AM |
Sleep |
|
9:00 AM |
Smart book |
|
9:30 AM |
Smart book |
|
10:00 AM |
Uworld (Block) |
|
10:30 AM |
Uworld (Block) |
|
11:00 AM |
Uworld (Block) |
|
11:30 AM |
Uworld (Block) |
|
12:00 PM |
Look over block |
|
12:30 PM |
Smart book |
|
1:00 PM |
FA |
|
1:30 PM |
FA |
|
2:00 PM |
Pray |
|
2:30 PM |
FA / Smart book |
|
3:00 PM |
FA |
|
3:30 PM |
Sleep |
|
4:00 PM |
Sleep |
|
4:30 PM |
Sleep |
|
5:00 PM |
Sleep |
|
5:30 PM |
Sleep |
|
6:00 PM |
Sleep |
|
6:30 PM |
FA |
|
7:00 PM |
FA |
|
7:30 PM |
FA |
|
8:00 PM |
Eat |
|
8:30 PM |
Eat/pray |
|
9:00 PM |
Eat/Coffee |
|
9:30 PM |
FA |
|
10:00 PM |
Pharm |
|
10:30 PM |
Pharm |
|
11:00 PM |
Pharm |
|
11:30 PM |
Pharm |
|
12:00 AM |
Uworld (block) |
|
12:30 AM |
Uworld (block) |
|
1:00 AM |
Look over block |
|
1:30 AM |
Smart book |
|
2:00 AM |
Smart book |
|
2:30 AM |
Sleep |
|
3:00 AM |
Sleep |
|
3:30 AM |
Sleep |
|
4:00 AM |
Sleep |
|
4:30 AM |
Suhoor |
|
5:00 AM |
Pray |
|
5:30 AM |
Sleep |
The ultimate USMLE step 1 guide 