Psychiatry clerkship: the resource stack, and a free shelf tool.
To study for the Psychiatry shelf, make UWorld Step 2 CK your backbone and read every explanation. Read First Aid for the Psychiatry Clerkship for the diagnostic criteria and first-line treatments, build frameworks with OnlineMedEd, and keep Anki running. Psych is pattern-heavy and very learnable, so daily reps pay off. Then take an NBME practice shelf before exam day.
“This app makes studying so effortless and fun. Highly recommend.”From a 5-star App Store review titled "Best Step 2 supplement"
Psychiatry is one of the most learnable shelves: the diagnoses hinge on time criteria and cardinal features, and the treatments are first-line patterns you can drill. You build a small stack and use each piece for the one job it is good at. This is that stack, positioned honestly by role, plus a week-by-week plan that weaves it together. Step Gunner is one tool in it, the fast daily recall layer, and we will tell you exactly where it fits and where it does not.
What resources do you need for the Psychiatry clerkship?
Each of these earns its slot for one reason. Psych is a shorter, high-yield rotation, so the stack is lean. Pick your qbank, pick one reading source, and keep a spaced-repetition habit running underneath. The rest are supplements you reach for when a weak area shows up.
UWorld Step 2 CK
Use it for: your primary learning engine. Do the Psychiatry blocks and read every explanation, the explanations are the real curriculum here.
Highest yield for both the shelf and Step 2 itself. If you do one thing well, do UWorld Psych well.
First Aid for the Psychiatry Clerkship and Case Files Psychiatry
Use it for: the diagnostic criteria, time cutoffs, and first-line treatments, laid out to match the shelf. Case Files is the vignette-based alternative if you prefer to learn through cases.
Pick one as your main read. First Aid is criteria-first; Case Files is case-first.
OnlineMedEd
Use it for: building the mental scaffold before the details. Watch the psychiatry videos when a topic is brand new, then reinforce with questions.
Great for the diagnostic approach and the medication classes. Not a substitute for question volume.
AnKing, on Anki
Use it for: keeping the criteria and first-line drugs from blurring together. Unsuspend the psych subdecks as you cover topics, then do your reviews daily.
Psych rewards clean recall of criteria and treatments, exactly what spaced repetition is for.
Divine Intervention Podcast and AMBOSS
Use it for: patching weak areas hands-free and adding reps. The Divine psychiatry episodes are dense, high-yield audio; AMBOSS is a fast reference plus a second bank.
Supplements, not a second full curriculum. Reach for them once you know which topics are shaky.
Where does Step Gunner fit in the psychiatry stack?
Step Gunner is not your qbank and it is not your textbook. It is the 5 to 15 minute pattern-recognition tool you open between the big resources: between interviews, in downtime, while a UWorld block loads. It drills retrieval, not recognition, so the criteria and first-line treatments stick. Here is the Psychiatry content, counted straight from the app, no rounding up.
What is actually in the app for psychiatry.
Three question decks are tagged Psychiatry, each a different study mode. These are real counts from the current build, not projections.
350+ Psychiatry cards across three study modes.
Source: Step Gunner app content database, current build, counted August 2026. Counts grow as content ships, which is why they carry a plus.
The honest part: this is a supplement, not a spine. It will not replace UWorld, your reading, or Anki. It replaces the ten minutes you would otherwise spend scrolling. The core is free to study; the Visual Dx image bank is the paid upgrade, though psychiatry leans on the text decks rather than images.
“Gotten me multiple questions on practice tests. Helpful for those not keen on the Anki burden but who like spaced repetition.”
How do you study for the psychiatry shelf, week by week?
Psych blocks are often shorter, 4 to 6 weeks, so compress these phases to fit. The order matters more than the calendar. Early, you learn the diagnostic criteria and time cutoffs. In the middle, you turn up question volume. In the final stretch, you consolidate. Step Gunner runs daily underneath all three phases.
Learn the criteria, go slow on purpose.
Do not chase volume yet. You are nailing the diagnostic criteria, the time cutoffs that separate look-alike diagnoses, and the first-line treatments.
- OnlineMedEd psychiatry videos for the topics on your current service, framework first.
- UWorld on tutor mode, untimed, 10 to 20 a day, read every explanation.
- First Aid for the Psychiatry Clerkship chapters that match what you are seeing.
10 minutes of Buzzwords Psych daily. Build the reflex of clue to diagnosis, psych rewards it more than most shelves.
Turn up the questions, start banking retention.
This is the volume phase. Move UWorld to timed blocks and start a spaced-repetition habit so the criteria stop blurring together.
- UWorld Psych, 20 to 40 a day, timed blocks now, still reading every explanation.
- AnKing psych cards: unsuspend what you have covered, do reviews daily without fail.
- First Aid or Case Files aimed at whatever your incorrects keep exposing.
10 to 15 minutes of CK Gold and Next Best Step Psych daily. Use it as the between-block warm-up.
Consolidate, and stop learning new things.
The last stretch is about firming up what you know and finding the last gaps, not opening new material. Take a practice NBME to calibrate.
- UWorld finished, then a second pass on your incorrects and marked questions.
- Divine Intervention psychiatry episodes on commutes to patch weak areas.
- Take an NBME practice Psychiatry shelf a week out and treat the review as a study session.
Warm-up and palate cleanser between blocks, and run the readiness check to see where you actually stand.
Psychiatry shelf questions students actually ask.
Short, honest answers to the queries that come up every rotation. Where your school's rules differ from anything here, your school's rules win.
Q What is a good NBME Psychiatry shelf score?
A good score is usually defined by your school's honors cutoff, which often sits somewhere around the 70th percentile or higher on the NBME norm table. The exact scaled-score threshold varies by school and by year, so check your clerkship's grading rubric. Passing is typically well below the honors line.
Q Is the psychiatry shelf easy?
Many students find it one of the more learnable shelves because diagnoses hinge on clear criteria and time cutoffs, and treatments are first-line patterns. That does not make it trivial; the exam tests fine distinctions between look-alike diagnoses, which is exactly where daily recall helps.
Q How much reading do I need for the psych shelf?
One concise source is usually enough: either First Aid for the Psychiatry Clerkship or Case Files Psychiatry. Pair it with UWorld and spaced repetition rather than adding a second heavy text.
Q How many UWorld Psych questions should I do?
Aim to finish every Psychiatry-tagged question in UWorld Step 2 CK at least once during the rotation, then a second pass on your incorrects. The bank is smaller than medicine, so completing it is realistic.
Q When should I take the psychiatry shelf?
Take it on your scheduled exam day at the end of the rotation. Do a full NBME practice shelf about a week out to calibrate, and treat reviewing that practice test as a study session.
Two free things worth doing before the shelf, and one for later.
Leaning toward Psychiatry as a specialty? When you get there, Rezumab's free Match Probability Calculator shows your odds by program from NRMP data. No rush, that is a fourth-year problem.