CHICAGO – The class of 2016 returned to campus this week excited for Phase 2, but many remain flustered from Step 1 and its vigorous preparation. There also seems to be residual confusion regarding the content of the exam.

“I was expecting Step 1 to be very different,” Alan Smith, a rising M3, told Flipside reporters. “I thought it was more difficult than all the practice questions I did. There was one question that was straight out of UWorld, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I needed to know. At the end of that section, I was ready for a writing section to appear so I could formulate a learning plan and explain my below benchmark rating for that question. I was kind of surprised I didn’t get that opportunity.”

It turns out that Step 1 doesn’t follow a competency based review and evaluation system like our own curriculum. It also turns out that certain aspects of our curriculum weren’t tested on at all, even though they comprised a significant portion of our in house exams.

One member of the class of 2016 says she outlined her boards studying around FSM 3.o.

“[…] I even studied HQPS. I had that confusing lecture about hopping over a fence to avoid gang violence all figured out. Not a single question about that or the risks involved in taking my younger brother to school.”

Feinberg students historically do well on boards, but it’s unfortunate that Step 1 doesn’t contain more of the non-SM work and busy work that we’re used to. If it did, our class average would be well into the 260’s.