# All the NBMEs in 6 Days

> How to study every retired NBME in 6 days with the NBME Booster: forms 20 to 31 before NBME 32, system by system, and what to do if you're out of forms and still in the 60s.

URL: https://drmarishasudani.com/nbmes-in-6-days
Canonical: https://drmarishasudani.com/nbmes-in-6-days

## Questions this guide answers

- **How can I study all the NBME forms quickly?** Use the NBME Booster: every topic from forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120 written as a tutored one-liner, 4,493 cards sorted by system. Run it system by system, never form by form, finishing each system before the next. At 12 or more hours a day it fits in 6 days. Before NBME 32, do forms 20 to 31. If you have exhausted every NBME and are still in the 60s, do forms 20 to 33 and then the USMLE Vault assessment.

## Page text

USMLE Vault · Step 1 · NBME Booster
All the NBMEs in 6 days
Out of forms, out of weeks, or both? This is for IMGs with NBME 32 or exam day coming and no time to give every old form.
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published 22 October 2026
How can I study all the NBME forms quickly?
Use the NBME Booster: every topic from forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120 as a tutored one-liner, 4,493 cards, filed by system. Run it system by system, never form by form , finishing each system first. Before NBME 32, do forms 20 to 31. Out of forms and still in the 60s? Do 20 to 33, then the USMLE Vault assessment .
You can't retake 14 NBMEs. You don't have the forms, and you don't have the weeks. But you can study every one of them.
The NBME writers retire forms. They don't retire logic. The concepts tested on forms 30 and 31 already appeared on 20 to 25: new vignette, same trap . So the exam you're about to take has, in substance, already been published.
You don't need to give every old form. You need every topic they tested. Here's how my students get all of them in 6 days.
Students on the NBME Booster Anki
Real students on the deck built from every NBME form. Tap to play.
Ashna · 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
1
The tool What the NBME Booster is
Every NBME, form by form, was gone through topic by topic. Every topic was written as a one-liner and sorted into its system. The one-liner is not a summary. It is the thing the exam asks you.
Forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120, 4,493 cards, filed by system.
Tutored: every line has the concept explained underneath, in plain language. You're taught the point, then asked it back.
2 modes on every card: Tutored, with no clock, and Timed: 60 seconds for the question, 60 for the answer.
FA Foundation Anki teaches you the book. The Booster teaches you the exam. Why you need both →
▶ USMLE Vault videos My playlist of USMLE Vault videos.
▶ How to do Anki from the FA Guide My video on running FA Foundation Anki from the FA Guide. The Booster is in the same Anki section of the Vault.
A real Booster card: the form it came from (NBME 22), the one-liner, the explanation, and the First Aid page it maps to.
Open the NBME Booster Anki Every topic from forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120, each one explained underneath. It opens on the first card.
Open NBME Booster Anki →
The NBME Booster Anki library in the Vault: 1 deck per system.
2
The rule NBME 20 to 31, right before NBME 32
⭐ NON-NEGOTIABLE
Every student has to do the NBME Booster . Right before giving NBME 32, you do NBME 20 till NBME 31 , every system, to completion.
The same rule works before any form: every form from 20 up to the last one you attempted, system by system. Took NBME 28 last week and NBME 29 is next week? Booster 20 to 28.
On Pick & Mix you can filter by NBME form, so you only get the forms you need.
And NBME 32 itself goes offline, like every form: 20 questions in 30 minutes, the real exam's pace. Online (50 in 75 minutes) inflates your score by 4 to 6%. Why offline → · The week before NBME 32 →
Build a custom session: pick your systems and NBME forms, and they become 1 deck.
3
The 6 days System by system, never form by form
2 rules. You go system by system , never form by form, because the same system across every form at once is where the repeats show themselves. And you finish a system before you open the next one .
The full Booster week on the schedule is 7 days. At 12+ hours a day it condenses to 6, split like this. About 540 cards a day:
6 days · forms 20 to 30 · 3,219 cards
Day 1 · Renal 194 · Respiratory 177 · General Pharm 24 · GI & Liver 239 634
Day 2 · Biochem 264 · Repro 189 453
Day 3 · Endocrine 201 · General Path 26 · Immuno 199 · Heme/Onc 183 609
Day 4 · Ethics 72 · MSK 208 · Micro 272 552
Day 5 · Psych 140 · CNS 273 413
Day 6 · Cardio 183 · Pharm 249 · Biostats 126 558
On your Vault schedule , the Booster days are already laid out, day by day, with each system's deck 1 tap away. These counts are a recommendation, not a quota. If a day runs short, take the systems you're weakest in first and leave the rest for the next morning. Fewer than 12 hours a day? Use the 7-day split: the Booster week, 7 days →
The 200 NBME 34 cards are not part of this run. Before any form, you run 20 up to the last form you took, and 34 is the newest.
Want a day-by-day schedule that tells you exactly what to study next? The Vault builds it around your exam date.
Put the 6 days on my calendar →
Why it works: students who ran it properly didn't learn new medicine in 6 days. They stopped being surprised. Every pattern the last forms used was already in front of them, in 1 line, explained.
4
Out of forms Exhausted every NBME and still in the 60s?
If you've exhausted all of your NBMEs, your exam is coming up, and you're still stuck in the 60s, do the NBME Booster Anki from 20 till 33 , and then give the USMLE Vault assessment . It is the nearest thing you'll find on the internet to a Step 1 exam .
14 blocks of 20, 280 questions, 30 minutes a block: the shape of the real day.
Stems written at real-exam length, longer than any NBME stem.
A system-by-system breakdown and an honest verdict, no 3-digit score.
Why it beats another NBME at this point: an NBME is half an exam. It can measure your knowledge, but it can't train 8 hours of stamina, timing and decision fatigue. The Vault assessment does, and its report tells you which 2 systems to rebuild before your date.
Which one? Start with Assessment 2 : all 14 blocks, all 280 questions, free for every signed-in student . Then run Assessment 1 in your final stretch, so the last full day you remember is a strong one.
Start the free Vault assessment 14 blocks of 20, 280 questions, stems at real-exam length, then a system-by-system breakdown and an honest verdict. Assessment 2 is free for every signed-in student.
Start the free assessment →
More on both: The Vault assessments → · and when the score says you're ready: Ready or not →
What it does: students who run it properly, system by system and to completion, have moved from 49% to 75% on their NBMEs in 15 to 20 days.
Students on the Vault Anki decks
Ananya · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Dr. K · Passed Step 1 An honest review of Vault Anki
Try a free 3-day trial → usmlevault.com · no card needed
Where this fits in the whole plan: the NBME Booster → · the exact NBME order → · Tutored and Timed mode →
Every NBME, already written down.
4,493 one-liners from forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120, each one explained, sorted by system.
Start the NBME Booster →
usmlevault.com/anki · free for your first 3 days
Read next
The week before NBME 32 — Booster, then Mock Exam 1.
Which Anki deck, when — Foundation vs Booster.
Stuck at 62–65% — the Booster is move 3.
2 PDFs = a 10-point jump — what goes next to the Booster before 32 and 33.
USMLE Vault · All the NBMEs in 6 Days · Created 2026-10-22
USMLE Vault
Try the Vault free for 3 days Start free trial

## Source

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

Updated: 2026-10-22