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She joined on 12 August, about 8 weeks before her exam. Her NBMEs were stuck at 67–68%, she was almost burnt out, and she had no idea what to do next. On 8 October she took Step 1, and she passed. This is the schedule you commented for, day by day, with the receipts.
In her own words: “I was stuck with my NBME score, almost burnt out without an idea what to do next.” She had watched our student videos, and the one thing every student said was that they knew exactly what they had to do every day. That is what she wanted: a timetable for every single day, and someone checking whether she finished it.
So she got both. A daily timetable from me, and an accountability partner who checked in with her twice a day, morning and night.
Viruses, parasites, gram positive, gram negative, fungi, then the Mehlman micro PDF and a few questions. Micro was done by Aug 19. (How to run micro fast: Sketchy Micro.)
1 system at a time, usually 2 days each: HemeOnc, immunology, GI, MSK, psych, neuro, renal, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive, cardio, then biochem. Each system was the First Aid Guide with First Aid next to it, plus the Mehlman Medical videos. (The method: how to actually complete First Aid.)
She took her first NBME and reviewed it. She had already been through First Aid with the Guide, so she didn't need another read. From here, I moved her off reading and onto Anki. (Which form to take, and when: the exact NBME order.)
She finished the FA Foundation Anki (the General Series deck): every First Aid page as 2–3 question-style cards.
System by system, every day, with the NBME Booster Anki: the high-yield topics from every NBME form, split by system. Alongside it, 1–2 blocks of the Vault Assessment every day, just to shock herself with how long the questions are.
Same week, a practice Free 120 at 78%.
The new Free 120 the same day: 63%. Then 2 days of Mehlman PDFs, a 2nd pass of the Mehlman arrows, and the weak topics from NBME 33.
The full-length Vault Assessment, built to be tougher than the real exam. Anything over 65% on it is a pass on the real thing. The next day she reviewed it and read First Aid for the weakest systems it flagged.
She went back through NBME 24 to 33, and found the Randy Neil PDF. Her words: “Brooo this randy neil pdf is so good. Wish I'd have done it sooner.”
Up from 67–68% when she joined.
First Aid and the Mehlman PDFs for weak systems, Mehlman videos at night, the arrows, a quick revision of NBME 30–34 and both Free 120s, and Randy Neil for biostats. (The last stretch: the last 2 weeks.)
She took Step 1 on Oct 8. Right after, she told me the paper was not vague at all, it was very direct, and she had about 1.5 hours of break time left. The result came on Oct 21.
If you only save 1 thing from this page, save this order.
| When | What she did | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 12–19 | Sketchy micro + the Mehlman micro PDF | — |
| Aug 20 – Sep 1 | Every system: First Aid + the FA Guide + Mehlman videos, ~2 days each | — |
| Sep 2 | First NBME + review | — |
| Sep 3 | FA Foundation Anki finished | — |
| Sep 4–12 | NBME Booster Anki, NBME 20–31, system by system, ~400 cards a day + 1–2 Vault Assessment blocks a day | — |
| Sep 11 | NBME 32 | 71.5% |
| Sep 19 | NBME 33 · new Free 120 | 74% · 63% |
| Sep 25 | Vault Assessment 1, 8 hours | 69% |
| Sep 27 – Oct 1 | NBME 24–33 revision + Randy Neil | — |
| Oct 2 | NBME 34 | 76.5% |
| Oct 3–7 | Weak systems, arrows, NBME 30–34 + Free 120 revision | — |
| Oct 8 | Took Step 1 | — |
| Oct 21 | Result | PASS |
This is what she ran every day from Sep 4: the high-yield topics from NBME 20 to 33, split by system, each card built around the keywords and the common trap. In her words: “Honestly I am not an Anki person, but this was a boon for me.” She wanted to cover NBME 20–25 quickly but didn't have time to go through every question, so she did a few cards here and there, all the time.
How the NBME Booster Anki works → · Get it in the Vault →
Ashna finished it on Sep 3, right before the Booster. She isn't the only one it worked for.
Dr. E ran the same deck, about 2,400 cards in 8–9 days, and went from a 59.5% baseline to 74.5%. Read Dr. E's schedule →
How to run the FA Foundation Anki →
She took Vault Assessment 1 about a week before her test. Her words:
What's in the Vault Assessment →
The timetable told her what to do. The check-ins made sure she did it. Twice a day, morning and night. When she told her friends about the program, the number 1 thing she said was accountability and the timetable.