The blog for Blueprint Medical, supporting your MedEd journey with our exam study planner, tutoring, residency consulting, and advanced boards.
Medical students in the United States (and many around the world) are required to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1, the first of three medical licensing exams. Most are aware they have to take the exam,…
If your Step 1 exam is scheduled in 2025, you may be wondering whether you need to be following conventional advice about Step 1 dedicated periods. Should you follow the detailed study calendars that abound online? Should you use the…
Something I’ve come to appreciate during my journey as a medical student (and now a resident) is that having good guides and mentors to rely upon is very important. When I was a student, upperclassmen pointed me to study materials…
The USMLEs (United States Medical Licensing Examinations) are a series of exams (referred to as “Steps”) that assess an aspiring physician’s ability to demonstrate fundamental medical knowledge by answering difficult multiple choice questions. For international medical graduates (IMGs) planning to…
In the new age of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME)—we’re talking new logo and everything—the question on medical students’ minds is just how hard is Step 1 now? It’s still difficult, despite being pass And in fact, the…
In recent years, the role Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) plays in the residency application process has changed. When it transitioned from a scored assessment to a pass/fail test in January 2022, the change alleviated…
The Clinical Basic Science Self-Assessments (CBSSA), released by the NBME, should be integral to any USMLE Step 1 study plan. These tests are traditionally referred to as NBME practice tests. They consist of retired exam questions reformatted into practice assessments…
After successfully completing college and all the classes and extracurricular activities it entails, now it’s time to prepare yourself for the next step: medical school. But what, exactly, will that be like? And what do you learn in medical school? …
The following post is a guest blog from a Blueprint tutoring student, Katerina, who successfully passed her Step 1 and shelf exams at the same time with the help of her Blueprint tutor. Hear her story below! The summer before…