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Boards & Beyond in 2026: the 6 videos still worth it, and what to do instead

For IMGs about to spend months on Boards & Beyond. Read this before you press play.

By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published

Is Boards & Beyond still worth it for Step 1?

It is no longer a necessity. It is worth it if you're in 3rd or final year with real time to build basics, watched against First Aid, and especially for neuro and GI. If you're short on time, do each system this way instead: the First Aid Guide, then Mehlman, then the FA Foundation Anki, then UWorld. Watch Boards & Beyond for a system only if your UWorld scores still don't move after that.

Read this firstNone of my students have used Boards & Beyond for some time now. A couple of years ago, that sentence would have sounded crazy.

Let me pay respect to the OG first. Boards & Beyond was the GOAT a few years ago, and Dr. Ryan explains well. The teaching was never the problem. The problem is that none of it is anchored to First Aid. You finish a long video, then you have to find where it lives in First Aid yourself. So you end up with slides and a book, and you can't decide which one to write your notes in.

So this page doesn't tell you to delete it blindly. It tells you who it still helps, the few videos I'd actually keep, and the faster way to do a system if you don't have months to spare.

Tap the situation that matches yours

Both end on the same experiment, so you can test it yourself.

If you have time (3rd or final year)
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3rd or final yearWhen Boards & Beyond is worth it

When you're in 3rd year or final year and you have a lot of time to build your basics, Boards & Beyond gives you a lot of information that you can cross-link with First Aid. That helps you understand and deepen your concepts. Neurology and gastroenterology are especially good.

The condition is the cross-linking. Learn it against First Aid, and test those exact concepts straight after. If you don't, you spend months for a score that doesn't move.

  • Watch the system's video with First Aid open to the same pages.
  • Write every extra point into the First Aid page, never into a separate notebook.
  • Then run that page's MCQs on the First Aid Guide, the same day. Renal is free.

Try it on Renal tonightFirst Aid Guide · Renal: every page decoded, with the MCQs on that exact page. Free.

Open Renal free →
Plan your year around it: How to study for USMLE in 3rd year → · Final year MBBS and Step 1 together →
If you're short on time (graduate)
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Graduate · every systemShort on time? Do the system this way instead

If you're a graduate who wants to give your Steps and ace them quickly, don't open Boards & Beyond first. Do each system in this exact order:

  1. The micro and pharm of the system, from the pills on the First Aid Guide. Micro by system → · Pharm in 48 hours →
  2. The First Aid Guide of the system. Active reading, page by page, with the MCQs on every page. What the First Aid Guide is → · How to read First Aid →
  3. The Mehlman videos of that system. Videos, not PDFs. How to watch Mehlman →
  4. The FA Foundation Anki of that system. First Aid lines as flashcards, the page number on every card. How to run the deck →
  5. UWorld, system-wise. Read, pre-solve, solve, review, and cross-link every miss back to its First Aid page. The RPSR method → · When a system is actually finished →

The FA Foundation Anki, by systemEvery First Aid line as a card, the page number on every card. Opens straight into the deck.

Open the deck →
▶How to watch Mehlman Medical videos10 minutes. Watch it once before step 3, then open the system playlist. ▶Mehlman · Gastrointestinal playlistStep 3 for GI ▶Mehlman · Renal playlistStep 3 for renal ▶Mehlman · Neurology playlistStep 3 for neuro. Every other system's playlist is on the Mehlman guide. ▶How to solve UWorldWatch once before step 5.

If you get good scores after this, it means you have enough knowledge in your basics. These resources just saved you multiple days of work. Hours and hours: in my experience, more than 100 hours of studying.

If you still don't get good scores, then go and watch Boards & Beyond, or Bootcamp, for that one system only. Not the whole course.

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Both · 2 systemsDon't believe me? Run the experiment

If you don't believe me, try it out on 2 systems, for example gastrointestinal and renal. Your UWorld score decides, not me.

System A · Boards & Beyond

  1. Open the Boards & Beyond videos of the system.
  2. Watch a video, read the First Aid. Watch the next video, read the First Aid.
  3. That takes roughly 3 to 4 days.
  4. Solve that system's UWorld questions.
My UWorld score: ______ %

System B · the Vault method

  1. The First Aid Guide of the system.
  2. Mehlman's videos for it.
  3. The FA Foundation Anki for it.
  4. 2 to 3 days max. Then that system's UWorld.
My UWorld score: ______ %

Compare the 2 numbers, and the days each one cost you. You can see for yourself whatever helps you more.

Your day-by-day plan

Want a day-by-day schedule that tells you exactly what to study next? The Vault builds it around your exam date.

USMLE Vault day-by-day schedule Build my schedule on usmlevault.com/schedule →
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If you still use itThe 6 Boards & Beyond videos worth your time

⭐ THE KEEPERS

These are some of the best videos I've watched, and they do actually help you understand these concepts. A lot of the other videos are just long and unfruitful.

Neuro

1. Brain blood supply

Neuro

2. Circle of Willis

Neuro

3. Brain stroke

Neuro

4. Brain stroke localization

GI

5. Gallbladder and liver enzymes

Understanding the enzymes, not memorising them.

Neuro

6. Movement disorders and basal ganglia function

Hemiballismus, Wilson's, Parkinson's, and how the basal ganglia actually work.

▶Boards & Beyond (boardsbeyond.com)Behind their paywall, not on YouTube. Search the video by the name above.

These are the topics, not the exact catalogue titles. Search Boards & Beyond by topic name.

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For each of the 6How to watch one, the right way

A video on its own doesn't convert into marks. The First Aid Guide is what turns it into marks. It decodes First Aid page by page: every page opens with what to focus on, then a concept walkthrough, how the page is tested, the key takeaways, and MCQs on that exact page.

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Open the First Aid Guide on the same topic.
  3. Open it alongside First Aid, the same pages, side by side.
  4. Go through the concept walkthrough, the key takeaways, the exam points and the common confusions.
  5. Solve the MCQs on both of those topics.
  6. Move forward to the rest of the pages.
What's on every page: What the First Aid Guide is → · See a real page →

Watched a video? Open the same pageThe First Aid Guide: the concept walkthrough, key takeaways and MCQs for the topic you just watched.

Open the First Aid Guide →
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Every other topicFor everything else: skip the video

For the rest of the Boards & Beyond videos, there's no need to watch. The First Aid Guide already carries the best and shortest video on the internet for the topic, on the pages that need one. If a topic is important, its video is already on its page. Not a playlist to search. The single best one.

The First Aid Guide in the Vault (renal shown): the video sits on the page, and the MCQs are on every page below it.
The First Aid Guide in the Vault (renal shown): the video sits on the page, and the MCQs are on every page below it.
The important topics already have their best video.
The First Aid Guide, Mehlman's playlists, the FA Foundation Anki and your schedule, in one place. Renal is free.
Open usmlevault.com →
usmlevault.com/schedule · free for your first 3 days
Read next

4 resources I would never use again — Boards & Beyond, Kaplan, USMLE Rx, Pixorize.

Five resources, not forty — the whole Step 1 stack.

How to use Mehlman Medical — the video step in every system.

The tier lists — Step 1 resources, YouTube, qbanks, micro, Anki, pharm.

The 10 canon events — including 3 hours of Boards & Beyond and nothing retained.

USMLE Vault · Boards & Beyond in 2026: The 6 Videos Still Worth It · Created 2026-10-22
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