Taking the USMLE step 1 in third year

[move.along]

Has anybody taken the exam during third year instead of the summer of 2nd year? What was your experience like? Any insight is greatly appreciated. Is it possible to juggle clerkship plus studying for this exam?

 

P.s - moderators: Can you please move this to the med student section?

[loganonmission]

I took it during my third year (January) and I was very happy I did.

 

I had scheduled to take it during the summer after 2nd year, but I got fairly sick right before I was supposed to take it, and seeing as how I was having difficulty maintaining my balance on the day of the exam, I decided to skip out and just take it during my vacation month in January.

 

By that time, I had been through surgery, medicine, and peds, and I felt so much happier while I was studying for Step 1 because I actually felt like I had seen most of it at some point. When I took the exam, I scored very well, almost 20 points higher than what I was testing at during the previous summer.

 

I personally did the Doctors in Training program, it was actually surprisingly helpful even though all he does is basically read to you. It'll make you feel much more confident, and because he repeats things during the course multiple times, you actually learn some of the stuff that seems unimportant but is actually very important.