# The Seven Sheets

> Seven free Step 1 downloads — Sketchy Micro, HY Pharm, First Aid Guide, Neil Randy, Mehlman Arrows, Foundation Anki, NBME Booster — each with its trigger.

URL: https://usmlevault.com/blog/sheets.html
Canonical: https://usmlevault.com/blog/sheets.html

## Summary

A hub page listing seven free Step 1 resources, each paired with the rule for when it enters your prep. The argument is that a resource list without a WHEN attached is a shopping cart, not a plan, so every sheet carries a trigger: foundation week, every system, before an NBME, plateau, or the final one to two weeks. It ends with a phase table that orders all seven by entry point and points to usmlevault.com, where four questions build a dated schedule backwards from the exam date.

## Key facts

- Sketchy Micro: ~85 bugs in 6 days, ~20 hours of video; days 1–3 DNA viruses, RNA viruses, parasites; days 4–6 fungi, gram positives, then gram negatives/atypicals/spirochetes; skip TB, COVID, HIV, Bunyaviruses and malaria and read them from First Aid
- The First Aid Guide covers 646 pages with 2,534 page-by-page MCQs, ~2,002 ELI5 explanations, ~870 mnemonics and pearls, and 367 First Aid 2026 change cards; the Renal system is free
- Each Guide page carries Focus On, a Concept Walkthrough, "How is this tested?", Key Takeaways, and Test Yourself MCQs; the How-is-this-tested block runs Common Confusion → Core Concept → The Trap → Your Approach
- The Neil Randy PDF maps his full video library system by system and moved scores by 5–10%; used right before an NBME and in the run-up to the exam
- Mehlman's High-Yield Arrows is one dense multi-system document kept open throughout and run hard to break an NBME plateau; the 65% rule applies to his videos, not the Arrows
- Foundation Anki: ~2,400 cards with the First Aid page number on each; at ~400 a day that is a complete First Aid pass in five to six days
- NBME Booster: 4,174 cards from forms 20–33, used in the final one to two weeks and before moving to newer forms
- Phase sequence: Foundation (Sketchy Micro, HY Pharm PDF) → every system (First Aid Guide daily, Arrows open, Foundation Anki after each system) → before an NBME (Neil Randy, full Anki cycle) → plateau (Arrows) → final 1–2 weeks (NBME Booster, Neil Randy, no new content)

## Covers

free USMLE Step 1 resources download, when to use each Step 1 resource, First Aid Guide MCQs, Foundation Anki deck First Aid, NBME Booster deck, Mehlman high yield arrows, Neil Randy PDF, Step 1 study plan order

## Source

USMLE Vault — https://usmlevault.com
Author: Dr. Marish Asudani

Updated: 2026-08-26