Blueprint Med School Blog (formerly Cram Fighter & Med School Tutors)

The blog for Blueprint Medical, supporting your MedEd journey with our exam study planner, tutoring, residency consulting, and advanced boards.

What Happens if I Fail Step 1 (Now That It’s Pass/Fail)?

While some med students may feel relief from Step 1 going pass/fail, others may still be wondering, “What happens if I fail Step 1? Without a score, how will I know how to improve when I retake the exam?” Whether you’ve arrived at this article before taking Step 1 or after receiving a failing score,

Sep 05, 2023

10 Tips for Creating an Effective USMLE Step 1 Study Schedule

USMLE preparation is no small task, and it’s easily the most crucial step in any medical student’s future. When you’re preparing for the USMLE Step 1, it’s important to have a strong study plan. This helps you organize your time better, so you can cover all the material on which you will be tested and

Aug 29, 2023

How to Use Blueprint’s Med School Study Planner to Prep for All Your Med School Exams

Finally, you’re done! You spent hours on Excel creating a study plan, and you’re letting out a sigh of relief. But your joy is short-lived: your professor adds another suggested book to your reviewing list, a friend insists a lecture series is a must-have based on their experiences prepping for Step, or you get an

Feb 14, 2023

5 Self Care Tips for Medical Students

In commemoration of Valentine’s Day, we think it’s the perfect time to explore a gesture of love that med students neglect far too often: self-care. And no, staying up all night slurping ramen in preparation for USMLEs doesn’t count. Moreover, self-care for medical students entails much more than slapping on a face mask or binge-watching

Jan 26, 2023

Tips for Studying On-the-Go During Med School

Stop me if this sounds familiar: to stay on track with your study plan, you’ve got 1000 Anki cards, 100 practice questions, and 10 videos to finish this week. On top of that, you’re required to be present and prepared for your clinical rotations and you have to plan your study goals around your class

Dec 06, 2022

Help, My USMLE Study Plan Isn’t Working! How to Get Back on Track

If you have gotten to the point in your medical training journey to be preparing for your medical licensing exams, the USMLEs, congratulations! You are on a path that many have found immensely rewarding as well as terribly stressful. Being a medical student, you are used to exams whether it be the SAT, ACT, MCAT,

Nov 03, 2022

What’s the Best Med School Study Planner?

Matriculating into medical school is an exceptional feat, and all who manage it should feel an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment. Once you enter those hallowed halls of preclinical lectures, small group sessions, physical exam essentials, and patient interactions, many students wonder one thing: “How do I succeed on Step 1 and Step 2?”

Sep 27, 2022

How Long Should You Study for Step 1?

“Your Step 1 score is the most important part of your application.” For many medical students, this was the message we heard throughout our preclinical years. According to a 2021 NRMP survey, residency program directors cited USMLE Step 1 scores as the number one factor in granting an interview. Now, you may be wondering: if

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