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For the nights you'll scroll anyway. Same screen time, actual Step 1 points.
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published
For Step 1: my 90-minute antimicrobials video, Dirty Medicine on drugs of abuse, stroke localization, dermatology and ethics, Mehlman on murmurs and immunology, the MEN syndromes video from the First Aid Guide's endocrine pages, Ninja Nerd on the autonomic nervous system, and Neil Randy's psychiatry playlist. In first year: Dirty Medicine and Mehlman biochemistry, Dr. Najeeb's neuroanatomy, and Mehlman's physiology. In the week before Step 1, only videos that revise what's already in: Mehlman's HY Arrows, high-yield images, the highest-yield drugs and Neil Randy's high-yield topics.
Read this firstMost nights end the same way. You put the book down, open your phone, and 2 hours of reels later you've learned nothing and slept late.
I'm not going to tell you to stop watching. I'm going to tell you what to watch instead. Every video on this page is free, and every one of them teaches something the exam actually asks.
One honest note. You don't need to hunt YouTube for every topic. On the First Aid Guide, the pages that need a video already have the best one for that topic. This page is for the nights you just want to press play. How the Vault picks them ↓
Tap the edition that matches where you are
Every video on this page is free.
These are the ones I'd send a student myself. Same scrolling, actual points.
My own video. A topic that feels endless, made finite. The largest single hour-for-hour return in all of Step 1 pharmacology. Then do the antimicrobials in the NBME Booster Anki pharmacology cards. How to use it →
▶Antimicrobials in under 90 minutes!UsmleMatch · then the antimicrobial pages of First AidThe 40-minute video about drugs, cocaine and the rest: intoxication, withdrawal, associations.
▶Drugs of Abuse (Mechanism, Intoxication, Withdrawal & Associations)Dirty Medicine · 43 minThe video on the MEN page of the First Aid Guide's endocrine section (First Aid p. 356). Which glands, which gene, and the mnemonic that keeps the 3 apart.
▶Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome (MEN I, II, III) / Mnemonic series #17Medinaz · the video on the Vault's MEN pageThe rest of endocrine, page by pageThe First Aid Guide · Endocrine: what each page tests, the best video where a topic needs one, and MCQs under it.
Open Endocrine →Everyone watches his biostats. His psychiatry is what brings the real difference.
▶USMLE STEP 1: BEHAVIORAL HEALTHNeil Randy · playlistAll of dermatology for the exam, in 1 video of about 23 minutes.
▶Dermatology on USMLE/COMLEXDirty Medicine · 23 minHis ethics is a banger for Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3. Do it once and you're set. Where ethics fits with biostats: Biostatistics and ethics →
▶Ethics (USMLE/COMLEX Practice Questions)Dirty Medicine · 63 minSame rule: free, and every one of them is something the exam asks.
In first year, you just have to do anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Watch with First Aid open, and every extra point goes into the First Aid page, never a separate notebook. The full first-year plan → · USMLE during med school →
For biochemistry, the first thing I recommend is the Dirty Medicine biochemistry playlist, along with First Aid, and your brain will open. Then do the Mehlman Medical playlist for biochemistry, and it opens again. How biochem fits into Step 1 later: Biochem in pieces →
For anatomy, the very best videos are Dr. Najeeb's neuroanatomy. As a first year, this is probably the best time you'll invest in yourself. He teaches it tract by tract, drawn out, until the wiring is obvious. Skip it now and you'll cram CNS in your dedicated phase, where it's the hardest system on the paper.
His neuroanatomy isn't one YouTube playlist. Search "Dr. Najeeb neuroanatomy" and work through the tracts, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum lectures in order.
For physiology, I've never watched physio videos. I would much rather do the Mehlman Medical playlist of physiology. You can pick up a lot of good physiology videos from Dr. Najeeb too, for the concepts that refuse to click.
The week before is not for new content. The Neil Randy PDF and Mehlman's HY Arrows are non-negotiable, and the NBME images are the most important part. So every video below revises what's already in. None of them teaches you something from zero.
The same material in rapid recall form, which is what makes it stick before the exam.
▶USMLE BIOSTATS SHORTSNeil Randy · playlistThe NBME repeats its images. Run the NBME Images Anki the same week.
▶40 High Yield Images for USMLE (CT, X-ray, histology)Dirty Medicine · 13 minWatch it once at the start of your prep, then again 1 week before your exam, and you're good to go for antimicrobials.
▶Antimicrobials in under 90 minutes!UsmleMatchQuick pharmacology recall, a minute at a time.
▶USMLE PHARM #SHORTSNeil Randy · playlistWant a day-by-day schedule that tells you exactly what to study next? The Vault builds it around your exam date.
Build my schedule on usmlevault.com/schedule →
On the First Aid Guide, me and the students who just passed went page by page and attached the best video for the topic, on the pages that need one. Sometimes Dirty Medicine, sometimes Neil Randy, sometimes Mehlman. You open the page, the video is there, and the MCQs are under it. That's how the MEN video above got its place.
See it on a free system firstFirst Aid Guide · Renal: every page decoded, its videos and MCQs on the page. Renal is free.
Open Renal free →6 playlists = 6% growth — whole playlists, and the full 10.
5 channels = 0 paid courses — which channel, in which phase.
Things to study when you're bored — switch the format, don't stop.
How to use Mehlman Medical — the video step in every system.
The YouTube channels tier list — every channel in one place.