Askdoc-USMLE Step 1 Prep Course Enrollment Form

Please Read This Before Submitting Your Application

In order to make people understand better why we have rules, I believe I have to describe the course in more detail including expectations and the amount of work needed so there is no misunderstanding.

1. The course covers USMLE Step 1 which is seven subjects all in all. The course is 6 months long. Therefore telling me that you do not have enough time to finish 1 subject in 4 to 6 weeks means you won't have time to finish the course, period. Therefore please be ready to invest the time needed to do the course. Nothing less than 4 to 6 hours a day at least 5 to 6 days a week is needed. If you are unable to commit this time, then this course will not help you. Although you will have access to course materials for up to 9 months, the course is still 6 months long. Download the suggested course schedule here.

2. The reason you would want in on this course is that it will teach you how to prep for the USMLE in the proper way. Therefore you must be prepared to follow instructions. You would be surprised at how many people insists on following their own methods of studying rather than those outlined in the course. If you will not follow the course's review methodology, why bother enrolling? Six 1.5 hour lecture sessions is reserved to teach you how to study, make sure you attend all 6 lecture sessions.

3. If you ask my current students, proper methodology increased their scores dramatically. In fact, a few chapters into the course, some students have a tendency to start wanting 99’s whereas just a few weeks before all they wanted was to pass the exam. However, enrolling in the course does not automatically raise your scores. YOU STILL NEED TO STUDY. I cannot magically put information in your head, only you can do that. Since this is an online course, I cannot stand behind you and monitor whether you are studying or not or force you to study. Although there are quizzes and progress reports in the online course, I cannot force you to take the quizzes or write down your progress reports. So if you are not ready to really study, then this course will not do you any good.

4. You need to give me feedback. Per experience, the course methodology works fine for most people, however, for some people they need adjustments. Therefore, giving me regular feedbacks about how you are faring will help so that I can adjust your study methodology to suit you better. This is done by doing the quizzes. If you fail to achieve the required score then we need to review your study methodology and adjust them. Also, I can see where you tend to err in answering questions and I can help you change that tendency so you tend to score higher.

5. You have to attend the weekly online chat. The weekly online chat is set up so you not only have an idea of how others are doing, but also to discuss any questions you have about the review process itself. Since an online course has no formal "class". This is a good substitute. In fact, those who did best in the actual exam are those who regularly attend and ask questions in the group chat. However, a certain percentage of students prefer not to attend group chat, so now they have the option to opt out. 

6. You need to follow schedule. You cannot be prepping forever. It takes a certain amount of self-discipline in order to finish the course on time. Therefore you need to make sure you are ready to spend the amount of time needed to finish the course.

7. If you are an old grad who have not opened a basic science book in years, then YOU ARE NOT READY for this prep course. This is because you have not finished your learning phase. I will explain later the difference between learning, mastery and test prep phase. Contact me first and I will tell you what you need to do to be prepared for this course. Nearly half of the reason why people cannot meet the study schedule is because of this. If you have recently prepped for the exam, whether you eventually took it or not, it is possible that you can take this course. Again, best to pm me ahead before applying.

8. The minimum time needed to finish this course is 4 months. If you can devote the right amount of time to the prep. The only way you can finish this in under 4 months is to devote at least 12 hours a day 7 days a week and have a very good memory. And if you can prep for under 2 months and pass Step 1, you do not need to enroll in my course at all. (You can’t imagine how many people keep on asking if they can finish the course in 2 to 3 months. I mean if you can pass the USMLE by prepping in 2 to 3 months, you do not need me, right?)

9. This course is not easy. Any real course that will help you pass or score high in the USMLE can never be easy. Because the USMLE is not easy. People have dropped out of this course. People have scored high with this course. People who have failed multiple times before have passed with good scores with this course. Old grads have passed with this course. But they did what others were not able to do. Stick with the course and finished it. Those who dropped out failed to even start.

10. If you want a sense of how the prep course is running. Register in my forum at http://forums.askdoc-usmle.com. You can then access the site used by my students. Read their prep journal to get an idea of how the course goes.

11. I've put in a lot of time and effort developing this course. I hope you'll respect that effort by respecting my rights to my work and refrain from distributing them without my permission.