Step 1: Practice tests

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) offers seven practice tests, two of which provide "enhanced feedback." At the end of all seven practice tests, you get an estimated score and a list of your performance in various categories as depicted by bars stretching over a range from below average to borderline to above average. These practice tests are all four hours long (four sets of 46 questions) as opposed to 8 hours long for the real McCoy (seven sets of 46 questions, plus 45 minutes of break).

Looking back, I question whether the extended feedback was worth the extra $10 per test. That $10 basically bought me the privilege of accessing all of the questions that I got wrong. However, they don't give you the correct answer or any explanations! This resulted in me spending much more time reviewing the two self-assessments that offer extended feedback than I spent reviewing a comparable number of typical USMLE Rx question sets. I found this annoying and am still not sure what reasons the NBME could have for not providing the correct answer.

I completed 5 out of the 7 NBME self-assessments, which I think is reasonable for a dedicated study period that is 29 days long.

In addition to these NBME self-assessments, USMLE World offers two practice tests that you can buy on top of the question bank. I completed both of those practice tests near the end of my dedicated study period, and they have the distinct advantage of providing both the correct answer and a detailed explanation of why that answer is correct and all the other choices are wrong. These practice exams also spit out a predicted score using what I assume to be a similar algorithm for calculating the score that NBME uses. I found these questions to be very reasonable and highly recommend using them.

If I could do it over again, I think I would complete one of the USMLE World practice exams at the beginning of my dedicated study period and the other practice exam near the end. The truly extended feedback at the beginning would help guide my studies for the rest of the study period while the truly extended feedback at the end would help me identify any gaps in my studying and fill them quickly before the Big Day.