QUIZ: Are You Ready for Your Shelf Exam?
If you’re in the middle of clinical rotations, you might be wondering how in the world you’re going to make time to study for shelf exams in medical school. Trust me, you’re not alone! M3 year is one of the…
Blueprint Med School Blog (formerly Cram Fighter & Med School Tutors)
The blog for Blueprint Medical, supporting your MedEd journey with our exam study planner, tutoring, residency consulting, and advanced boards.
Read MoreQUIZ: Are You Ready for Your Shelf Exam?
Shelf Exam FAQs: Exam Format, Test-Taking Tips, and More
Congratulations! You’ve completed Step 1 and you’re ready to get started on wards. But now you have a new challenge to face: the shelf exams you need to complete at the end of each clinical rotation. These tests are written…
What Do You Learn in Medical School? A Guide for Incoming Med Students
After successfully completing college and all the classes and extracurricular activities it entails, now it’s time to prepare yourself for the next step: medical school. But what, exactly, will that be like? And what do you learn in medical school? …
How to Study For Shelf Exams: A Tutor’s Guide
As you progress through medical school and the structure of your educational curriculum evolves, how you learn will also change. The most dramatic transition happens when you start your clinical rotations. In the process, you move from classroom-based or online…
My Success Story: Passing Step 1 and Shelf Exams During Third Year with Med School Tutors
The following post is a guest blog from a Blueprint tutoring student, Katerina, who successfully passed her Step 1 and shelf exams at the same time with the help of her Blueprint tutor. Hear her story below! The summer before…
Which Are the Hardest Shelf Exams?
Clinical rotations are an exciting time that most medical students look forward to. With them comes the exhilaration of hands-on learning, patient interactions, and teamwork alongside residents and faculty. Another, perhaps less enjoyable aspect of clinical rotations are the shelf…
How to Use Deliberate Practice to Prep for Your Medical School Exams
The equation is simple: solid preparation = successful exam performance. Whether you’re getting ready to take the USMLE or COMLEX, dedicating a large chunk of time exclusively to test prep is how to ensure you’ll crush it on exam day.…
How We Made the New Step 2 & Shelf Exams Qbank from Blueprint Test Prep
Updated January 2024 As a third-year medical student, you no doubt spend a lot of time going through your Step 2 & Shelf Exams Qbank getting ready for your M3 exams. At some point during your study period, you’ve probably…
How I Balanced My Clinical Rotations with Shelf Exam Studying
During my third year of medical school, the first half of my general surgery clerkship was spent on the hepatobiliary and transplant surgery service. One day, as we were completing the running subcuticular stitch on skin after a Whipple procedure,…
How to Use Blueprint’s Med School Study Planner to Prep for All Your Med School Exams
Finally, you’re done! You spent hours on Excel creating a study plan, and you’re letting out a sigh of relief. But your joy is short-lived: your professor adds another suggested book to your reviewing list, a friend insists a lecture…