USMLE – United States Medical Licensing exams, are series of tests to be taken to qualify for medical practice in the US. As someone who has taken the first two Steps (1 and 2), I think I have a fair understanding to answer this question.
When I started my preparation for USMLE step 1, most of my college seniors warned me that these exams are very competitive and we needed to study 10–16 hrs a day for several months to crack them. I was naturally tensed at the beginning. But as I read the different material (Kaplan Lecture notes, First Aid and USMLE WORLD) I understood the basic purpose of these exams. I felt them to be very interesting and easy. After taking the tests and doing quite well on them, I have the following points to advise you.
- Relax, USMLE examiners are never going to test the amount of medical GB you can store in your mind. They want you to simply apply the basic science/clinical concepts for treating patients. That’s it.
- Read standard text books (such as Guyton for Physiology, Robbins for Pathology) from first year of medical college. Don’t look for easy books which help us only during exams, they are useless if you want to learn actual medicine.
- These days, American medical literature is easily available. Join Medscape, UptoDate, NEJM student. These give you an insight to the way American doctors think.
I am not saying that only by the above steps you will do well in USMLE. But this is what US medical graduates are taught to do. Since you are looking for a career in the US, I guess you should know what the examiners there are looking for. As Kumar Utkarsh said in his answer, it is the orientation for American health care that we need to understand. Once you grasp this, USMLE exams will be the most interesting tests you have ever taken.