The West Virginia University (WVU) Institutional Review Board committee approved this study. The objective of this study is to investigate which preparation strategies correlate with high scores on the USMLE Step 1 in order to improve academic guidance regarding the best methods to prepare for the exam. Not surprisingly, students in the first quartile of the medical school class performed better on USMLE Step 1 than students in the fourth quartile.
Students preparing for this high-stakes examination used various strategies for preparation and outcomes varied accordingly for the different preparation strategies employed. Testing time interval following second year medical school was broken into quintiles. Common courses and preparatory programs including Doctors in Training, First Aid and Board Review Series books, and Kaplan and USMLE World Question banks were evaluated in correlation to score differences on the USMLE Step 1. This study examined the extent to which test preparation courses help improve scores on the USMLE Step 1 as well as when to take the exam following the second year of medical school. The key to this process is providing an excellent medical curriculum and offering informative guidance for USMLE Step 1 preparation ( Lieberman et al., 2010). A primary goal of medical educators is to promote success for students and to help them fulfill their career ambitions. USMLE Step 1 scores correlate with how well a student will do on a residency board exam ( Kay, Jackson, & Frank, 2015). Those students meeting certain academic and professional criteria are offered an interview. Residency directors at competitive programs use the USMLE Step 1 score in conjunction with class ranking to screen potential applicants ( Lotfipour et al., 2008). The number of medical students applying to competitive residency programs is also on the rise ( Rinard & Mahabir, 2010). Scores have continued to rise on the USMLE Step 1 over the past decade ( Sutton et al., 2014). It serves both as a licensing exam as well as a screening tool for residency directors. The United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 is the first of a series of three board exams.
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