USMLE Step 1–3 • 1:1 Live Tutoring

Live USMLE tutoring with someone who actually reads your NBMEs.

In MDSteps 1:1 sessions, you bring your NBMEs, question blocks, and panic. Your tutor brings calm triage, live whiteboarding, and a concrete plan that fits the next 7–14 days, not a generic “perfect” schedule.

NBME delta triage Diagnosis & next step practice Realistic study plan

Trusted by students in crisis mode

Live video & screen share

NBME 29 autopsy & new plan Step 1 • 3 weeks out

Step 1 panic Step 2 CK plateau Step 3 & CCS

Session focus

Step 1, 3 weeks out: 19-point gap between last NBME and goal. We triage deltas, set a 10–14 day micro-plan, and decide what to drop so you can actually execute.

NBME breakdown Keep / cut tasks 7–14 day plan

NBME delta triage

Walk through your NBME or UWSA with someone who does this every day. We highlight actual patterns, not vibes, and translate them into a small number of concrete, doable changes.

From noise to signal

3–5 key pivots

Filtered by data

Live reasoning practice

You talk through vignettes out loud, your tutor listens for where the chain breaks, then rebuilds your schema with simple “if X, think Y” rules you can actually recall under pressure.

In-session drills

5–10 cases

Next-step focus

Realistic structure

Together, you set a plan that respects rotation hours, call, and mental bandwidth. You leave with a written schedule and clear “this is enough for today” guardrails.

Plan horizon

7–14 days

Burnout-aware

What a live 1:1 session actually looks like

Sessions run on a shared workspace with live video, screen share, and a running notes board you keep after the call. You do not just “talk about studying” for an hour, you leave with a written plan and specific rules to test on your very next block.

Tutor & student connected

Screen share: NBME & Anki stats “Let’s get the real picture first.”

Shared whiteboard

• Red: mistakes from NBME 29 that hurt the most
• Yellow: low-yield habits to cut
• Green: 3 non-negotiables we will protect daily

Live schema edits Algorithm notes

Today’s focus

NBME 29 & new 10-day plan

1–2 goals

Session tools

NBME log, error pattern tracker, study plan, crisis checklist.

Between sessions

Optional check-ins via email or shared doc, depending on your plan.

A typical 60-minute session

Minutes 0–5

Check in & context.

You tell us where you actually are: test date, recent scores, schedule, and level of “on fire” right now.

Minutes 5–20

NBME / block autopsy.

Screen share your NBME, UWSA, or recent blocks. We find 3–4 repeating errors and separate “you forgot” from “you never learned this logic.”

Minutes 20–40

Live reasoning & schema fixing.

Talk through cases. Your tutor pauses at the exact moment your reasoning drifts, then rewrites that step into a simple rule you write down.

Minutes 40–55

Plan the next 7–14 days.

We build a schedule together, with concrete block counts, content tasks, and hard boundaries so you know when you are “allowed” to stop each day.

Minutes 55–60

Sanity check & export.

You read the plan back, we sanity check it against your life, then you get a written copy of the notes and plan after the call.

Most students meet weekly or biweekly, with heavier support near test day.

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Where 1:1 tutoring fits into your actual life

Tutoring should not feel like another exam you have to study for. MDSteps sessions are built around what your week really looks like: rotations, research, family, and how much mental bandwidth you have left when you sit down to study.

Dedicated study block

You are off service and going all-in. We help you structure days, decide when to push vs consolidate, and make sure your NBMEs are spaced and interpreted correctly.

Weekly or twice-weekly calls
NBME sequence & timing
Adjust plan with each score

Heavy rotations / call

You are on surgery, nights, or a brutal floor month. We keep your plan tiny but targeted so you move the needle without breaking yourself.

Micro-goals for “post-call brain”
Short, focused question sets
Protection from burnout spirals

Early MS1–MS2 scaffolding

You want to build good habits early. We focus on understanding NBME language, building clean path/phys schemas, and not over-investing in low-yield details.

Conceptual anchor tables
How to read vignettes
Prep that compounds into Step 1

USMLE tutoring that starts with your data, not our script

Many students who find MDSteps are already doing question banks, Anki, and videos. The problem is not that you are “lazy,” it is that your study plan is not tightly aligned with what your NBMEs are actually telling you. In live sessions, your tutor starts with your real performance: NBME and UWSA scores, recent block stats, and how you felt on test-like days.

From there, we identify patterns of misses (content gaps, misreads, time pressure, second-guessing) and convert them into a small set of high-impact changes. Instead of trying to overhaul your entire life, we pick a few levers that are realistic to pull this week and build a plan around those levers only.

Over time, sessions become less about “fixing disasters” and more about refining your judgment. You bring fresh blocks and new NBMEs, we tighten your heuristics, and we decide together when your scores are stable enough that the exam is a confirmation, not a gamble.

1:1 Tutoring — Common questions

Ideally, bring your most recent NBMEs or UWSAs, a rough sense of your daily schedule, and an honest description of what has and has not worked so far. If you have an error log or Anki stats, those are helpful but not required.

No. Some students are in full crisis, others are scoring well but want a clear plan for the last few weeks or help tightening decision-making. We adjust the level of structure and intensity to what you actually need.

Yes, we work with Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 3, and CCS. The details of a session look different for each exam, but the core is the same: understand your data, sharpen your reasoning, and build a realistic plan you can follow.

Most students meet weekly or every other week, with closer follow-up in the last month before an exam. Some only need a single “reset” session to fix their plan. We can adjust frequency as your situation changes.

Tutoring sessions with MDSteps cost $49 per 60 minute session. You can schedule a session at any time from within your student tutor dashboard.