A Speed Dating Workshop for USMLE Step 1 Preparation

<ns3:p>Introduction/Background The United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 is an important part of undergraduate medical education assessment, as it represents a summative assessment of the entirety of foundational science concepts that are integral for clinical practice. With the advent of a pass/fail score on the exam, preparation for this exam had the potential to be negatively affected. We sought to create a workshop that would help second-year medical students understand the importance of the dedicated study period. Methods We created a speed dating-style workshop with eight distinct themes related to topics other than exam content. Participating second-year medical students rotated through stations for each topic and learned from third- and fourth-year students and their approaches to different aspects of the study period. Participants completed exit surveys to assess what they gained from the workshop. Evaluation/Results The percentage of students who felt this workshop was helpful for their approach to the dedicated study period was high (93.3%). Additionally, a majority of students were able to recognize easily accessible resources on the medical school campus if they needed help. Discussion The format used in this workshop can easily be extrapolated to other ideas and is neither time- nor cost-intensive in terms of preparation of content or implementation. Given the workshop’s positive reception and qualitatively positive impact on students seeking coaching for the exam, we would recommend implementation of similar preparatory workshops at medical schools to provide students with a centralized resource for Step 1-related topics that are independent of basic science content. Conclusion Speed dating workshops are low-cost resources that are easily implemented without being costly. Providing education about Step 1 does not have to be complicated and can be easily done in this format.</ns3:p>