# MSK, Start to Finish, in 6 Days

> The whole musculoskeletal system for Step 1 in 6 days, without dermatology: the 7 MSK organisms first, then active reading of First Aid pp. 450–480 and 495–498 on the First Aid Guide, Mehlman for active application, FA Foundation Anki for active recall, and UWorld with the RPSR method.

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

## Questions this guide answers

- **How do I study MSK for Step 1 in 6 days?** Leave dermatology out and do it separately. Day 1: the 7 MSK organisms. Day 2 to the middle of Day 3: active reading of First Aid pp. 450–480 and 495–498 on the First Aid Guide, with the MCQs on every page. Middle of Day 3 to Day 4: the Mehlman Medical MSK playlist. Second half of Day 4: the FA Foundation Anki MSK cards. Days 5–6: UWorld MSK in 20-question tutor blocks with the RPSR method, aiming for 65% or above.

## Page text

USMLE Vault · Step 1 · Musculoskeletal
MSK, Start to Finish, in 6 Days
35 First Aid pages · 7 organisms · 6 days · no dermatology . The week most IMGs lose to 1 mistake.
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published 22 October 2026
How do I study MSK for Step 1 in 6 days?
Leave dermatology out and do it separately. Day 1: the 7 MSK organisms. Day 2 to the middle of Day 3: active reading of First Aid pp. 450–480 and 495–498 on the First Aid Guide , with the MCQs on every page. Then the Mehlman Medical MSK playlist, then the FA Foundation Anki MSK cards. Days 5–6: UWorld MSK, system-wise, with the RPSR method , aiming for 65% or above.
Read this first. This plan is only for you if you have roughly 10–12 hours a day for studying, and you're either an intern or a graduate. Working, with 5–8 hours a day? Keep the same order and stretch the days: Step 1 while working →
MSK is usually done badly for 1 simple reason. Students open the MSK chapter, find dermatology at the end of it, and try to do both at once. 2 different subjects, 1 week, and neither of them sticks.
So the first rule is this: MSK is done without dermatology . The derm block comes after MSK is finished.
Everything else is the method I use for every system, and every step hits the same 35 pages from a different angle. The whole method, once: how to study any system .
Students who did this
Real students, in their own words, on the exact tools in this guide. Tap to play.
Haritha · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Lakshmi · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Try a free 3-day trial → usmlevault.com · no card needed
▶ How to Do the MSK/Derm System 15 minutes. Watch it once, before Day 1. It's the same video the Vault schedule gives you on day 1 of MSK.
Start here · before page 1
MSK: micro and pharm first
MSK starts with its own organisms: 7 organisms , without derm. MSK has no Pharm pill, because the drug map does not split out MSK drugs, so its pharm is a check of the High-Yield Pharmacology PDF on Day 1 and the drug pages (pp. 495–498) on Day 2. These are the full guides.
Microbiology
MSK micro → The page lists MSK and derm organisms together (13). Do the 7 MSK ones now; derm's wait for the derm block
Microbiology by system → Why micro is 9 short lists, 1 per system, and how to run each one
Sketchy Micro in 6 days → The WRWRT method in full, if these organisms are new to you
Pharmacology
The High-Yield Pharmacology PDF → Look for any MSK drugs before you read. Free
Pharmacology in 48 hours → The FWRT method and the whole drug map, system by system
All of antibiotics in 90 minutes → The drugs for septic arthritis and osteomyelitis: 1 video, then the cards
The NBME Booster pharmacology deck → Every NBME pharmacology question as flashcards, for your final week
Open MSK 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
MSK is the 8th system. It opens the neuro block: MSK, then derm, then psychiatry, then genetics and ANS, then neurology. 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 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 You are here 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 →
MSK in 6 days, hour by hour
One fixed order. The organisms first, then active reading , then active application , then active recall , and only then UWorld.
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 1 · Micro + the pharm check The lightest day of the week: 7 organisms
9–9:15 AM Watch How to Do the MSK/Derm System , the University walkthrough.
9:15 AM–1 PM Micro: the 7 MSK organisms, WRWRT. Watch, recall, watch the gaps, read the Sketchy PDF, then the First Aid Guide MCQs for all 7.
2–3 PM Pharm: open the High-Yield Pharmacology PDF and find any MSK drugs. Any notes there, you do next to pp. 495–498 on Day 3.
3–6 PM Rest, or get ahead on pp. 450–454.
Day 2 · Active reading First Aid Guide, page by page, MCQs on every page
9 AM–1 PM pp. 450–458 · upper and lower limb nerves, rotator cuff, brachial plexus, hand, hip and knee, radiculopathy
2–6 PM pp. 459–467 · muscle contraction, fibre types, bone formation and cells, sports injuries, childhood MSK conditions, achondroplasia, osteoporosis
7–10 PM pp. 468–475 · osteopetrosis, osteomalacia, Paget, avascular necrosis, bone tumours, OA vs RA, gout, Sjögren, septic arthritis, spondyloarthritis
Day 3 · Reading, then Mehlman Skip pp. 481–494: that's derm
9 AM–1 PM pp. 476–480 and 495–498 · lupus, myositis, the vasculitides, NMJ diseases, Raynaud, then the MSK drugs
2–6 PM Watch How to watch Mehlman Medical videos (10 minutes), then the Mehlman anatomy and MSK playlist from the top, in order.
7–10 PM Mehlman, continued. Pause before he answers and answer it yourself.
Day 4 · Mehlman, then Anki
9 AM–1 PM Finish the Mehlman MSK playlist. Any gap → that First Aid Guide page, the same day.
2–6 PM FA Foundation Anki · MSK , all 136 cards. The derm cards in it are an early pass. Answer before you flip.
7–9 PM Open the First Aid page of every card you hesitated on. Read the line and a couple above and below.
Day 5 · UWorld MSK Unused · musculoskeletal only · tutor mode · 20 questions a block
9–9:30 AM Clear today's due FA Foundation Anki cards first.
9:30 AM–1 PM Blocks 1–2 (Qs 1–40): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
2–6 PM Blocks 3–4 (Qs 41–80): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
7–10 PM Blocks 5–6 (Qs 81–120): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
Day 6 · UWorld MSK + the finish check Blocks 13–14 go to the next morning, before derm
9–9:30 AM Clear today's due FA Foundation Anki cards first.
9:30 AM–1 PM Blocks 7–8 (Qs 121–160): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
2–6 PM Blocks 9–10 (Qs 161–200): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
7–10 PM Blocks 11–12 (Qs 201–240): solve both in tutor mode, log each score, then review every bookmark in First Aid.
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 →
Day 1
Micro of MSK, from the pill
Open the First Aid Guide → MSK in the Vault ( what the First Aid Guide is ) and tap the Micro pill. It opens the exact MSK list and nothing else. There are only 7 organisms, so Day 1 is the lightest day of the week . Use what's left of it to rest, or to start the Day 2 pages early.
Open MSK in the First Aid Guide First Aid pp. 450–480 and 495–498, page by page: Focus On, ELI5 and the MCQs on every page. Opens straight into MSK.
Open MSK →
🦠
Micro · 7 organisms · the WRWRT method. W atch the sketch at 1x with no notes → R ecall the whole story in your head, in order → W atch again only the gaps at 1.5–1.75x → R ead the Sketchy PDF for that organism → T est with the First Aid Guide MCQs for that organism.
01 · Gonococci
02 · Borrelia
03 · Staphylococcus
04 · Salmonella
05 · Parvovirus
06 · Rubella
07 · Coccidioides
Open MSK Micro →
▶ How to Do Sketchy Micro The WRWRT method on video. Watch once if you've never done Sketchy this way.
💊
Pharm · no separate list for MSK. The pharm map has no MSK row, so there is no pharm video block today. Before you read, open the High-Yield Pharmacology PDF and look for any MSK drugs; if there are notes, do them next to the drug pages. The MSK drugs live on First Aid pp. 495–498 (acetaminophen, aspirin and NSAIDs, bisphosphonates, gout drugs, teriparatide, TNF-α inhibitors and the biologics), and you read them on Day 3 like any other page.
Why micro first: when you reach septic arthritis and osteomyelitis on p. 474 , you meet the organisms as old friends, not new facts. Never done Sketchy? Do the same 7 from First Aid and the First Aid Guide alone. The list does not change, only the source.
Before Day 2: what the First Aid Guide is
First Aid was written to remind you, not to teach you. The First Aid Guide puts the teaching back into every page: Focus On (what's high-yield and what to skip), a Concept Walkthrough , an ELI5 for each heading, How is this tested? , and the Test Yourself MCQs for that exact page. MSK without derm carries 145 MCQs (as of October 2026) .
This is what a real MSK page opens with. Page 450, upper extremity nerves, Focus On:
Focus On, p. 450: "The key here is understanding which nerve controls what function and where each nerve is vulnerable to injury along its course. You need to connect: anatomical location of injury → nerve affected → motor/sensory deficit."
First Aid p. 450 (Upper extremity nerves) in the First Aid Guide: Focus On, the ELI5s, the video guide, Concept walkthrough, Key takeaways, How is this tested? and Test yourself.
Want to see every block on a page opened up? Inside a First Aid Guide page →
Day 2 → first half of Day 3
Active reading: First Aid pp. 450–480 and 495–498
For every page you explain it, understand it and do it. You don't turn the page until all 3 are done.
1
Read Focus On for the page. Now you know what matters.
2
Run the Concept Walkthrough and the ELI5s. Explain each heading out loud. If you can't say it, you haven't understood it.
3
Read the actual First Aid page. It should now read like a summary of something you already know.
4
Solve the Test Yourself MCQs. Any miss → back to that heading before you turn the page.
Pace: 10–12 minutes a page , 4–6 pages an hour. 26 pages on Day 2, 9 on the morning of Day 3. Understanding is the only job. Memory is Day 4's job.
Day 2 · pp. 450–475 · anatomy, muscle, bone, injuries and joint disease (26 pages)
Pages Topic
450–454 Upper limb nerves, rotator cuff, brachial plexus lesions, wrist and hand muscles, hand distortions, knee exam
455–458 Hip muscles, lower limb nerves, ankle sprains, lumbosacral radiculopathy
459–462 Muscle contraction, fibre types, smooth muscle, proprioceptors, bone formation, bone cell biology
462–467 Elbow overuse, clavicle and wrist injuries, psoas abscess, knee conditions, childhood MSK conditions, paediatric fractures, achondroplasia, osteoporosis
468–471 Osteopetrosis, osteomalacia and rickets, Paget disease, avascular necrosis, bone lab values, bone tumours
472–475 Osteoarthritis vs rheumatoid arthritis, gout and pseudogout, Sjögren, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, seronegative spondyloarthritis
Day 3, first half · pp. 476–480 + 495–498 · autoimmune disease and drugs (9 pages)
Pages Topic
476–480 Lupus, polymyalgia, fibromyalgia, myositis, the vasculitides, NMJ diseases, Raynaud
495–498 Arachidonic acid pathway, acetaminophen, aspirin and NSAIDs, bisphosphonates, gout drugs, teriparatide, TNF-α inhibitors and biologics
Skip pp. 481–494. That's dermatology. It gets its own block after MSK (see the end of this page).
🎬
A page still won't click? If the First Aid Guide page has a video, watch it first: the Guide puts the best video for the topic on the pages that need one. If it's still unclear, use 1 backup playlist, only for that topic:
…

## Source

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

Updated: 2026-10-22