# Endocrine, Start to Finish, in 6 Days

> How to study endocrine for Step 1 in 6 days: 1 day of carb and lipid metabolism first, then half a day of pharm, active reading of First Aid pp. 330–361 on the First Aid Guide, 1 day of Mehlman, FA Foundation Anki, and UWorld with the RPSR method.

URL: https://drmarishasudani.com/endo-6-days
Canonical: https://drmarishasudani.com/endo-6-days

## Questions this guide answers

- **How do I study endocrine for Step 1?** Start with biochem: spend 1 day actively reading carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the First Aid Guide. Then endocrine in 6 days if you have 10–12 hours a day. Day 1 morning: the endocrine pharm (insulin and sulfonylureas from Sketchy, metformin and SGLT2 inhibitors from Osmosis), because the insulin videos explain the physiology. Day 1 afternoon to Day 2: active reading of First Aid pp. 330–361 with the MCQs. Day 3: the Mehlman endocrine playlist. Day 4 morning: the FA Foundation Anki endocrine deck. Day 4 afternoon to Day 6: UWorld endocrine with the RPSR method.

## Page text

USMLE Vault · Step 1 · Endocrine
Endocrine, start to finish, in 6 days
If diabetes and the steroid hormones keep slipping, the fix isn't in the endocrine chapter.
32 First Aid pages 4 drug groups 185 MCQs 6 days + 1 day of biochem first
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published 22 October 2026
How do I study endocrine for Step 1?
Start with biochem : 1 day on carb and lipid metabolism in the First Aid Guide . Then 6 days: half a day of endocrine pharm (the insulin videos explain the physiology), 1.5 days of active reading of First Aid pp. 330–361, 1 day of Mehlman, half a day of FA Foundation Anki , and UWorld for the rest.
Read this first
This is only for you if you have roughly 10–12 hours a day for studying, and you're an intern or a graduate.
Working, or studying 5–8 hours a day? Keep the same order and stretch the days. Step 1 while working →
Endocrine doesn't start with endocrine. It starts with biochem. Diabetes is built on glucose metabolism, and every steroid hormone is built from cholesterol. Spend 1 day on the metabolism of carbs and lipids first, and endo clicks.
Then you begin with pharmacology, half a day. Pharmacology is very important here, because the Sketchy Pharmacology videos explain the physiology of insulin and the biochemistry of carb and lipid metabolism . They make a lot of things clear before you open a single endo page.
After that, every step is the one you already know from the other systems. Mehlman is very good for endo.
Students who did this
Real students, in their own words, on the exact tools in this guide. Tap to play.
Karthik · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Dr. N · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Try a free 3-day trial → usmlevault.com · no card needed
Start here · before page 1
Endocrine: micro and pharm first
Endocrine has no organisms, so there is no Micro pill. It has a Pharm pill with 4 drug groups , and that is where Day 1 begins: the insulin videos explain the physiology of insulin and the biochemistry of carbs and lipids. These are the full guides.
Microbiology
Microbiology by system → No organisms belong to endocrine. Before you start, the Vault schedule has you check the SystemWise Micro chart, the chart every micro list is cut from
Every system's micro and pharm lists → Where endocrine sits: no micro list, 4 drug groups
Pharmacology
Endocrine pharm: the 4 drug groups → Insulin and sulfonylureas from Sketchy, metformin and SGLT2 inhibitors from Osmosis
Pharmacology in 48 hours → The FWRT method and the whole drug map, system by system
The NBME Booster pharmacology deck → Every NBME pharmacology question as flashcards, for your final week
Open Endocrine in the First Aid Guide → The Micro and Pharm pills are at the top of the system in the First Aid Guide. Free for your first 3 days.
Where this system sits
The order: easy systems first, cardio last
Endocrine is the 5th system, right after reproductive (repro → endocrine is a fixed order), with 1 day of carb and lipid biochem in between. Cardio comes last. Tap a system to open its guide.
1 Renal 6 days · the easy one, start here Open →
2 Respiratory 6 days · same method as renal Open →
Before it: Biochem nutrition, 1 day, right before GI · where it sits
3 GI 7 days Open →
4 Reproductive 7 days Open →
Before it: Biochem carb and lipid metabolism, 1 day, right before endo · where it sits
5 Endocrine You are here 6 days Open →
6 Immunology 5 days Open →
Before it: Biochem cellular, molecular and amino acids, right before heme-onc · where it sits
7 Heme-onc 6 days Open →
8 MSK 6 days, no derm Open →
Before it: Dermatology, 3 days, after MSK · the derm block
9 Psychiatry 5 days Open →
Before it: Genetics and ANS, right before neuro · genetics
10 Neurology 7 days Open →
11 Cardiovascular 7 days · always last Open →
Biochem is never a block of its own: each piece sits right before the system that needs it. The whole method, once: how to study any system →
1
1 day before Day 1 Carb and lipid metabolism, from the First Aid Guide
Before beginning endocrine, spend 1 day on the biochem of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Just understand it, by active reading in the First Aid Guide : Focus On, the explanation, then the MCQs on each page.
Biochem metabolism · 1 day
71–79 Rate-limiting enzymes, glycolysis, PDH, TCA cycle, electron transport, HMP shunt, fructose, galactose, sorbitol
84–85 Glycogen regulation and the glycogen storage diseases
87–92 Fatty acid metabolism, ketone bodies, fed vs fasted state, starvation, lipoproteins
Why right before endo: glycolysis, glycogen and insulin are what diabetes is built on, and every steroid hormone is built from cholesterol. Read them the day before and the insulin page (p. 338) and the adrenal steroid page (p. 339) read like a review. The amino acid pages (pp. 79–83) wait until before heme-onc.
Where every biochem piece sits →
2
The plan Endocrine in 6 days, hour by hour
Biochem the day before, pharm first, then the same order as cardio. Here is every day, block by block.
Clock times assume an 11-hour day: 9 AM–1 PM, 2–6 PM and 7–10 PM, with lunch and dinner in the gaps. Shift the clock to your day. Keep the order.
Day 0 · Carb + lipid metabolism 1 day of biochem, right before endo, not counted in the 6
9 AM–1 PM pp. 71–79 · rate-limiting enzymes, glycolysis, PDH, TCA cycle, electron transport, HMP shunt, fructose, galactose, sorbitol
2–6 PM pp. 84–85 and 87–92 · glycogen and the storage diseases, fatty acids, ketone bodies, fed vs fasted, starvation, lipoproteins
7–9 PM Redo every MCQ you missed today, with the page open.
Day 1 · Pharm, then reading Pharm in the morning, active reading from lunch
9–9:15 AM Watch How to do the Endocrine system , the University walkthrough.
9:15 AM–1 PM Pharm: insulin and sulfonylureas (Sketchy), then metformin and the SGLT2 inhibitors (Osmosis). Each video twice. Read them in the High-Yield Pharmacology PDF, then the endocrine pharmacology MCQs.
2–6 PM pp. 330–338 · development, the hypothalamic-pituitary hormones, growth hormone, ADH, prolactin, thyroid hormones, PTH, calcium, glucagon, insulin
7–10 PM pp. 339–343 · adrenal steroids and CAH, cortisol, signalling pathways, SIADH, diabetes insipidus, hypopituitarism, acromegaly
Day 2 · Active reading
9 AM–1 PM pp. 344–349 · hypo- vs hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, hypo- and hyperparathyroidism
2–6 PM pp. 350–357 · diabetes, DKA, HHS, hypoglycaemia, Cushing, adrenal insufficiency, hyperaldosteronism, pheochromocytoma, MEN
7–10 PM pp. 358–361 · the diabetes, thyroid and pituitary drugs. Then redo the MCQs you missed on Days 1–2.
Day 3 · Mehlman Active application, the whole day. Mehlman is very good for endo
9 AM–1 PM Watch How to watch Mehlman Medical videos (10 minutes), then the Mehlman endocrine playlist from the top, in order.
2–6 PM Mehlman, continued. Pause before he answers and answer it yourself.
7–10 PM Finish the playlist. Any gap → that First Aid Guide page, the same day.
Day 4 · Anki, then UWorld
9 AM–1 PM FA Foundation Anki · Endocrine , all 146 cards. Answer before you flip. Hesitate → open that page.
2–6 PM UWorld Blocks 1–2 (Qs 1–40): unused, endocrine only, tutor mode. Solve both, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
7–10 PM Blocks 3–4 (Qs 41–80), the same way.
Day 5 · UWorld endo
9–9:30 AM Clear today's due FA Foundation Anki cards first.
9:30 AM–1 PM Blocks 5–6 (Qs 81–120): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
2–6 PM Blocks 7–8 (Qs 121–160): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
7–10 PM Blocks 9–10 (Qs 161–200): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
Day 6 · UWorld endo + Anki revision The last 2 blocks, then the finish check
9–9:30 AM Clear today's due FA Foundation Anki cards first.
9:30 AM–1 PM Blocks 11–12 (Qs 201–240): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
2–6 PM FA Foundation Anki revision: the endo cards you missed on Day 4. Then check the 3 finish rules below.
Same pages, 5 angles. Pharm, then active reading, then active application, then active recall, then UWorld. Every step hits the same 32 First Aid pages from a different direction. The method behind every system →
Want a day-by-day schedule that tells you exactly what to study next? The Vault builds it around your exam date.
Build my schedule →
3
Day 1 morning Pharm first: the insulin videos
Endocrine has no Micro pill: no organisms belong to it. It has a Pharm pill, and that's where you begin. Open the First Aid Guide → Endocrine in the Vault ( what the First Aid Guide is ) → Pharm.
Endocrine in the First Aid Guide on usmlevault.com: its First Aid pages, MCQ count, the micro and pharm pills it has, and the How to do Endocrine video.
Pharm · the FWRT method. F ind the resource (already mapped for you, below) → W atch each video twice , back to back → R ead the High-Yield Pharmacology PDF after all of them, and highlight only what did not survive → T est in the First Aid Guide → Endocrine → Pharmacology.
01 · Insulin (Sketchy)
02 · Sulfonylureas (Sketchy)
03 · Metformin (Osmosis)
04 · SGLT2 inhibitors (Osmosis)
The most mixed-up row on the map: metformin and the SGLT2 inhibitors are on Osmosis, not Sketchy.
Already did the pharm block months ago? Watch the Sketchy insulin video again today. It sits in the pharm block, so most students pass it long before endocrine and then meet insulin here without it. Watching it first clears up a lot of what follows.
Open Endocrine Pharm → · The full pharm map →
▶ How to complete pharmacology The high-yield pharm strategy, 15 minutes.
Why pharm first in endo: the insulin video teaches you how insulin works and what it does to carbs and lipids. When you reach the insulin page (p. 338) and diabetes (pp. 350–352), you are reading about something you already understand.
4
Before Day 1 afternoon What the First Aid Guide is, and why you read it
First Aid was written to remind you, not to teach you. Every line assumes you already understand it. That is why IMGs spend 3 hours on 1 page, Google half of it, and still remember nothing a week later.
The First Aid Guide on usmlevault.com puts the teaching back into the page. Every endocrine page (pp. 330–361) has the same 5 parts:
Focus On: what on this page is high-yield, and what to skip.
Concept Walkthrough: the page in the order you should think about it.
ELI5: each heading in plain English, with the trap the exam sets. What ELI5 is →
How is this tested?: Common Confusion → Core Concept → The Trap → Your Approach. See a real page →
Test Yourself MCQs on that exact page: 185 across endocrine (as of October 2026), with a Rule-out button so you practise elimination the way UWorld makes you.
Example: p. 338, Insulin. Focus On tells you what matters on this page: insulin synthesis (preproinsulin → proinsulin → insulin + C-peptide), C-peptide to tell your own insulin from injected insulin, insulin's anabolic effects, which GLUT transporters need insulin, and the secretion mechanism: glucose → ATP → K⁺ channel closure → depolarisation → Ca²⁺ influx → exocytosis.
First Aid p. 338 (Insulin) in the First Aid Guide: Focus On, the ELI5s, the video guide, Concept walkthrough, Key takeaways, How is this tested? and Test yourself.
Why it works: you understand the page, then prove it with MCQs in the same minute. 60–70% of UWorld traces straight back to First Aid lines , so a page you truly understood is a UWorld question you already own.
Open Endocrine in the First Aid Guide First Aid pp. 330–361, page by page: Focus On, ELI5 and the MCQs on every page. Opens straight into endocrine.
Open Endocrine →
▶ How to use the First Aid Guide Watch once, before your first page.
5
Day 1 afternoon → Day 2 Active reading: First Aid pp. 330–361
…

## Source

USMLE Vault — https://usmlevault.com
Author: Dr. Marish Asudani

Updated: 2026-10-22