Dedicated is the study period the is “dedicated” for Step 1. It’s a larger window of time where there is no class, but required practice exams for Step 1. Dedicated and Step 1 are some of the largest challenges of my wife’s Medical School journey, and is the most challenging to date.
Before dedicated started, my wife began laying out how she was going to study during this time. She has online study guides and tools, and she planned to use them accordingly. She planned to go through practice questions in excess of 150 per day, and watch videos to help her remember key terminology. She laid out the study session for 6 weeks, and is currently approaching the end of her fourth week of study.
She began studying at home, but soon found it to be boring. It was hard for her to sit in the same place everyday and try to study. So, she started going out after lunch and studying in a new location. This mixed up the scenery a little bit, and it seemed to help her keep focused. Her favorite locations to study are the alcoves of the simulation building and coffee shops. She loves to have lots of windows for sunshine and scenery.
She hasn’t tried studying with other students, but I think this is mainly because the students work at their own pace and can go through whatever material they want.
In the evening I usually make dinner when I get home from work. She enjoys when I make dinner because it allows her to study up to dinner time, then we can eat together and her study time isn’t used on meal preparation. I enjoy making dinner as well. I tend to make roasts, chicken dishes, or pasta. It just depends on how much time we have and what we are interested in eating.
Unfortunately for her, we are in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak in the US. This has closed a lot of the places where she was studying, and has made the future seem a little bit unpredictable. The state of Ohio has put restrictions on schools, which has put the status of taking the Step 1 exam in jeopardy. If all goes well, she will be able to take the Step 1 exam early this year and will not have to wait longer.