Internal Medicine is one of the tougher shelf examinations. It’s kind of like a mini Step 1 exam. Personally for me, it was the first shelf exam I had, which is why I may be biased to say it was the toughest one.
My Internal Medicine Rotation was 12 weeks long. It consisted of various requirements that I kept in a note on my iPhone to sync/update daily on my Macbook as the rotation went along. Staying organized and having a plan from the first day of the rotation was the best way for me to stay on top of my studying throughout the rotation.
A goal of mine was to do a minimum of 20 questions of UWORLD a day for 12 weeks. I had a list of daily tasks I wanted to complete and a separate list for all the requirements for the rotation, including the short calls, long calls, weekend calls, assignments, presentations, and everything so I could keep myself organized for the rotation. I ensured I updated my patient log weekly and completed the weekly comprehensive history and physical note assignment.
Shelf Studying
My rotation had a different system covered each week in lectures; I aimed to correspondingly study, watch my Kaplan Videos (a mandatory requirement for AUA), and annotate my First Aid Step 2CK as per the system covered for the week.
I did do my questions RANDOM, but looking back, I should have done focused blocks. I did do questions with a friend in the mornings or evenings, depending on which service/rotation we were on.
I watched Dr. High Yield’s Internal Medicine video and wrote down the notes. It’s a long video, so break it into pieces to watch initially. I watched this video before taking the NBMEs and the shelf. SUPER HELPFUL.
Divine Intervention has a 4 part series of videos. I watched the first 2, but I do wish I watched all 4 earlier on in my rotation. And I do wish I listened to his podcasts throughout this rotation. I appreciated them when I was studying for Step 2.
I completed the 4 NBMEs 2 weeks before my shelf examination.
Conclusion
Staying organized and having a plan to tackle all the questions for this shelf is important because it’s the largest amount of questions on UWORLD, and it is easy to fall behind without a plan.