USMLE Step 1 exam:

The USMLE step 1 exam means the first stage of the United States Medical Licensing Exam stages. If the physicians with a degree want to practice medicine in the United States they are required to pass this exam. In the USMLE step 1 Exam you are able to get the knowledge about patient care.

It’s spectacularly difficult and frequently influences your future options for occupation. You must have the knowledge of safe and ethical practice of medicine if you want to pass it. Through this exam you are able to understand the various concepts of basic sciences to the practice of medicine and also able to apply them. The USMLE step 1 exam also assesses your ability to determine complications using fundamental scientific understanding. 

What is the passing score for the USMLE step 1 exam?

After giving the exam you will get the result in the form of pass or fail along with the obtained marks. The actual passing score is approximately 194. It is one of the most strenuous exams in the world. According to the research a Canadian candidate got 230 marks in 2018.

Score the candidate got in the USMLE step 1 exam directly affects the residency choices of yours later on. Some residency programs are very tricky so are very complicated for example plastic surgery, dermatology, neurosurgery and orthopedic etc. 

How long does it take to get your result after the USMLE step 1 exam?

After giving the exams results are available three to four weeks after that. Result could never be delayed from more than eight weeks. Due to some authentic reasons, for example due to national US holiday results can be delayed for a week. After the result announcement you should save your result in pdf form because it is available for one year after the result announcement. After one year you will only be able to get the transcript of your result with the submission of a fee. 

USMLE step 1 exam format:

This exam is taken on the computer. It is taken in one day and it is an eight hour long test. There are a total of seven parts of this exam each with 40 questions. This means the total questions are approximately 280. For each section one hour is available for the candidate. Invigilators provide a break of 45 minutes to the candidates. You are not allowed to bring any electronic item in the examination center such as earphones, mobile phones etc. Even bags are not allowed to be brought in the examination hall. 

How to study for the step 1 exam:

From the first day of medical school you are learning about the concepts and topics about the medicine that will be tested in this exam. Most of the candidates prefer to study the first aid textbook for the preparation of tests along with a lot of questions related to this book. You should approach the various sources to prepare yourself for this test because it is a very laborious test and very difficult to pass. 

Essential books required for the preparation of USMLE step 1 exam:

Among the most famous books here are the top 5 books which are required and very helpful for the USMLE step 1. It is not an easy task to cover all the books of USMLE step 1 so you can select these five books for your exam preparation. 

1: First Aid for the USMLE step 1:

It is one of the highly recommended books for this exam preparation. It contains a lot of knowledge about how to care the patients in best way. This book is always updated after every year so it contains the fresh material. Complicated content in this book is highlighted with colors and could assist you to assimilate knowledge. You can get many tips about how to study for this exam from a first aid textbook. 

2: Kaplan USMLE step 1 lecture notes:

It is another book helpful for exam preparation. It contains a lot of medical lectures which cover all the categories such as biochemistry, microbiology, anatomy, pharmacology, pathology etc. It contains charts and diagrams which are very helpful to understand the various concepts in an easy way. A short summary of each chapter is available at the end.

3: Pathoma Fundamentals of Pathology:

Pathoma is also the most recommended book of all time because it has a detailed review of pathology concepts to understand this subject easily.  It is written by a great pathologist Dr. Hussain Sattar. You can get a comprehensive knowledge about pathology from this book. It has more than 300 Coloured diagrams to understand the various complicated topics.  

4: Uworld Step 1 Qbank:

If you want to get a good score in your USMLE step 1 you should not leave Uworld step 1 Qbank Books for your exam preparation. In order to test your clinical skills Uworld Qbanks contains thousands of questions. This book contains some additional space where you can write your notes. Uworld Step 1 Qbank is no one choice for USMLE Step 1 exam preparation. 

5: Goljan rapid review pathology:

This book is written by the most famous medical review book author Dr. Edward Goljan. This book provides all the updated information about pathology. It contains more than 500 USMLE style questions which are very helpful for practice.