# Five Resources. Not Forty.

> Everything needed for USMLE Step 1 in five resources — USMLE Vault, First Aid, UWorld, the NBMEs, and Mehlman plus Neil Randy. Kaplan, Boards & Beyond and Bootcamp are deliberately excluded.

URL: https://drmarishasudani.com/stack
Canonical: https://drmarishasudani.com/stack

## Summary

The complete USMLE Step 1 resource list reduced to five, on the argument that one of them absorbs what students usually buy separately. USMLE Vault carries the First Aid Guide (646 pages decoded with 2,534 page-mapped MCQs), both Anki decks, the free Sketchy/pharm/Neil Randy/HY Arrows PDFs, the full-length assessments and the schedule engine. The four that stay separate are First Aid itself, UWorld, the NBME forms, and the video layer of Mehlman Medical plus Neil Randy. One filter decides inclusion: if it does not move your UWorld score, it is not a Step 1 resource.

## Key facts

- 1. USMLE Vault — holds the First Aid Guide (646 pages, 2,534 page-mapped MCQs, ELI5 explanations, best video per topic), Foundation Anki (~2,400 cards) and NBME Booster (4,174 cards), the free PDFs in University, two full-length assessments, and the schedule engine
- 2. First Aid — the spine; every extra point is written into the page rather than a second set of notes; four readings, about eight weeks
- 3. UWorld — a learning and assessment tool, not a first pass; Read, Pre-solve, Solve, Review; leave a system when the last two blocks hold above 65%
- 4. NBMEs — always offline, 10 blocks of 20 questions at 30 minutes; a form plus a Free 120 makes 14 blocks; ready means above 67-68% on 31, 32 and 33 consecutively and progressively
- 5. Mehlman Medical and Neil Randy — the only two video resources that earn their hours; Mehlman is conditional on a system's UWorld dropping under 65%, his HY Arrows stay open throughout; Neil Randy is worth 5-10% and is not only biostats
- Kaplan, Boards & Beyond and Bootcamp are excluded because they do not move the UWorld number
- The free PDFs (Sketchy Micro, HY Pharmacology, Neil Randy, Mehlman HY Arrows) are at https://usmlevault.com/university

## Covers

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## Source

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

Updated: 2026-08-28