USMLE study schedule maker
Enter your exam date and the hours you can study each week, and this page lays out every day until the exam: which content areas to cover, sized by the weights the USMLE publishes for Step 1 and Step 2 CK, how many timed 30 minute blocks to do in the 2026 format, a full-length practice day and the review days before the exam. It runs in your browser, and you can save the plan to your calendar.
How the schedule is built
The page counts every day from your start date to the day before the exam, leaves out the days of the week you take off, and divides your weekly hours by the days you study in a week: 30 hours a week with Sundays off is 5 hours on each study day. It needs at least 7 study days and plans 1 to 12 hours a day.
The last study days before the exam are the review phase, as many as you choose, and every study day before them is a content day. Each timed block counts as one hour of its day: 30 minutes timed, as on the exam, and 30 minutes to read its explanations. That hour is this page's own rule, not a USMLE figure. What is left of a content day goes to the content areas, counted in quarter hours.
An area's weight is the midpoint of the range the USMLE publishes for it: Cardiovascular System is 6 to 12 percent of Step 2 CK, so it weighs 9. An area you set to more weighs 1.5 times its midpoint, and one you set to less weighs half of it. The quarter hours of all the content days are shared out in proportion to the weights, each area rounded down, and the quarters left over go one each to the areas with the largest remainders: the heavier area first when two remainders are equal, then the one higher in the outline.
Areas set to more come first, then the others from the largest midpoint down, in outline order when two are equal, and areas set to less come last. An area fills its days until its time is used up and the next one starts on the same day, so a day can finish one area and begin another.
With the full-length option on, the first review day is the whole exam in one day: 14 blocks for Step 1, 16 for Step 2 CK. Every other review day has as many timed blocks as it has whole hours, and the minutes beyond those go back over the topics the blocks showed were weak.
If you give the questions left in your question bank, the page sets the timed blocks of each content day from them, at 20 questions a block, so the bank is finished on the last content day, before the review phase, and it prints the questions for each day. It needs at least one question for each content day, or some days would get a block with no questions in it; with 0, the content days get no timed blocks. The review days keep their timed blocks either way, to redo the questions you missed or flagged the first time.
The USMLE's own advice on its outlines is short: "Use the USMLE content outline and physician task/competencies documents to study for Step 2 CK." Of the Step 1 outline it adds: "The content description is not intended as a curriculum development or study guide." The weights describe how each exam is built, not an order you have to study in. This page uses them only to share out your hours, and more and less change the order.
The content weights it uses
The weights are the system ranges in Table 1 of the USMLE content specifications for each exam, read on November 4, 2026. The last column is the share of the content time an area gets with every area at normal. The USMLE adds under each table: "Percentages are subject to change at any time."
Step 2 CK
| System in Table 1 | In the schedule | Range, % | Share at normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences: Legal/Ethical Issues & Professionalism/Systems-based Practice & Patient Safety | Social sciences | 10 to 15 | 12.4% |
| Renal & Urinary System & Reproductive Systems | Renal and reproductive | 7 to 13 | 9.9% |
| Cardiovascular System | Cardiovascular | 6 to 12 | 8.9% |
| Musculoskeletal System/Skin & Subcutaneous Tissue | Musculoskeletal and skin | 6 to 12 | 8.9% |
| Behavioral Health | Behavioral health | 5 to 10 | 7.4% |
| Blood & Lymphoreticular/Immune Systems | Blood and immune | 5 to 10 | 7.4% |
| Gastrointestinal System | Gastrointestinal | 5 to 10 | 7.4% |
| Nervous System & Special Senses | Nervous system and special senses | 5 to 10 | 7.4% |
| Respiratory System | Respiratory | 5 to 10 | 7.4% |
| Multisystem Processes & Disorders | Multisystem processes | 4 to 8 | 5.9% |
| Endocrine System | Endocrine | 3 to 7 | 5% |
| Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Puerperium | Pregnancy and childbirth | 3 to 7 | 5% |
| Biostatistics & Epidemiology/Population Health/Interpretation of Medical Literature | Biostatistics and epidemiology | 3 to 5 | 4% |
| Human Development | Human development | 2 to 4 | 3% |
Nutrition is 15 to 20 percent of Step 2 CK items, and the USMLE codes each of them to one of the systems above as well, so the schedule gives Nutrition no time of its own. The midpoints of the 14 ranges add up to 101, so each share is a midpoint divided by 101.
Source: USMLE, Step 2 CK Exam Content, Table 1, read November 4, 2026.
Step 1
| System in Table 1 | In the schedule | Range, % | Share at normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Development | Human development | 1 to 3 | 2% |
| Blood & Lymphoreticular/Immune Systems | Blood and immune | 9 to 13 | 10.8% |
| Behavioral Health & Nervous Systems/Special Senses | Behavioral health and nervous system | 10 to 14 | 11.8% |
| Musculoskeletal, Skin & Subcutaneous Tissue | Musculoskeletal and skin | 8 to 12 | 9.9% |
| Cardiovascular System | Cardiovascular | 7 to 11 | 8.9% |
| Respiratory & Renal/Urinary Systems | Respiratory and renal | 11 to 15 | 12.8% |
| Gastrointestinal System | Gastrointestinal | 6 to 10 | 7.9% |
| Reproductive & Endocrine Systems | Reproductive and endocrine | 12 to 16 | 13.8% |
| Multisystem Processes & Disorders | Multisystem processes | 8 to 12 | 9.9% |
| Biostatistics & Epidemiology/Population Health | Biostatistics and epidemiology | 4 to 6 | 4.9% |
| Social Sciences: Communication and Interpersonal Skills | Social sciences | 6 to 9 | 7.4% |
The midpoints of the 11 ranges add up to 101.5, so each share is a midpoint divided by 101.5.
Source: USMLE, Step 1 Exam Content, Table 1, read November 4, 2026.
Worked examples
Each example below is computed by the same code as the planner above, each time this page is served.
Example 1: Step 2 CK at 30 hours a week
Step 2 CK, starting Monday, January 4, 2027, with the exam on Monday, February 15, 2027: 30 hours a week with Sundays off, 2 timed blocks a day and 7 review days, the first of them a full-length practice day.
36 study days of 5 hours: 29 content days with 3 hours of content and 2 timed blocks, then a full-length practice day and 6 review days. The plan starts with Social sciences, January 4 to January 7, 2027, and the three areas with the most time are Social sciences (10 h 45 min), Renal and reproductive (8 h 30 min) and Cardiovascular (7 h 45 min). The full-length practice day is Saturday, February 6, 2027, with 16 blocks, and the review days run February 8 to February 13, 2027, with 5 timed blocks each.
Example 2: Step 1 at 48 hours a week, no day off
Step 1, starting Monday, March 1, 2027, with the exam on Monday, April 26, 2027: 48 hours a week with no day off, 3 timed blocks a day and 10 review days, the first of them a full-length practice day.
56 study days of 6 hours and 51 minutes: 46 content days with 3 hours and 45 minutes of content and 3 timed blocks, then a full-length practice day and 9 review days. The plan starts with Reproductive and endocrine, March 1 to March 7, 2027, and the three areas with the most time are Reproductive and endocrine (23 h 45 min), Respiratory and renal (22 h) and Behavioral health and nervous system (20 h 30 min). The full-length practice day is Friday, April 16, 2027, with 14 blocks, and the review days run April 17 to April 25, 2027, with 6 timed blocks and 51 minutes on weak topics each.
Example 3: Example 1 with two areas weighted
Example 1 with Cardiovascular set to more and Social sciences set to less.
With Cardiovascular at more, it comes first, January 4 to January 7, 2027, with 11 h 45 min, 13.6% of the content time. With Social sciences at less, it comes last, February 4 to February 5, 2027, with 5 h 30 min, 6.3% of the content time. The three areas with the most time are now Cardiovascular (11 h 45 min), Renal and reproductive (8 h 45 min) and Musculoskeletal and skin (8 h). The full-length day and the review days stay where they are in Example 1.
Timed blocks in the 2026 format
For a Step 1 taken on or after May 14, 2026, the exam is one 8 hour testing session of fourteen 30 minute blocks, with no more than 20 questions in a block, about 280 questions in all, at least 55 minutes of break time and a 5 minute optional tutorial (USMLE, Step 1; USMLE, 2027 Bulletin of Information). For a Step 2 CK taken on or after May 7, 2026, it is one 9 hour session of sixteen 30 minute blocks of up to 20 questions, about 316 questions, with the same 55 minutes of break and 5 minute tutorial (USMLE, Step 2 CK content outline; USMLE, Step 2 CK).
A timed block on this schedule is the same unit: 30 minutes for up to 20 questions, 90 seconds a question at 20. The full-length practice day is the whole exam in one day, 14 blocks for Step 1 and 16 for Step 2 CK.
The USMLE publishes free sample questions: more than 100 for Step 1, as an interactive testing experience (Step 1 formats and questions), and a set for Step 2 CK (Step 2 CK formats and questions).
What this schedule does not do
- It is not a USMLE or NBME tool, and this site has no connection to the USMLE, the FSMB or the NBME.
- It does not tell you how many weeks to study, and it predicts no score and no pass: no USMLE document gives a study length, so the length is the dates you enter.
- It uses the weights as the USMLE published them when this page read them, on November 4, 2026. The USMLE can change them at any time, and the plan does not follow a change until this page is updated.
- It picks no books, videos or question banks, and it does not know which topics you already know well.
- It does not move days around clerkships, illness or exams you have already booked. Change the dates or the days off and make the schedule again.
- The hour for each timed block, the order of study and the review days are this page's own rules, not the USMLE's.
- Nutrition gets no time of its own, because the USMLE codes every Nutrition item to a system as well.
Practice in the 2026 Step 2 CK format
Each timed block on this schedule is a 30 minute block of up to 20 questions, the format Step 2 CK has used since May 7, 2026. For Step 2 CK, this site's Step 2 CK practice test gives one free 30 minute block of 20 new questions in that format, with explanations; full 316 question mocks are paid.
Counting weeks back from the published test dates is in how long to study for Step 1, the NCLEX and the MCAT.
Sources and read dates
- USMLE, Step 2 CK Exam Content: Table 1, the Nutrition note and the Step 2 CK format from May 7, 2026; read November 4, 2026.
- USMLE, Step 1 Exam Content: Table 1 and what the outline is for; read November 4, 2026.
- USMLE, Step 1: the Step 1 format from May 14, 2026; read November 4, 2026.
- USMLE, Step 2 CK: the Step 2 CK format from May 7, 2026; read November 4, 2026.
- USMLE, 2027 Bulletin of Information: about 280 and about 316 questions, one day of about 8 and about 9 hours (PDF); read November 4, 2026.
- USMLE, Step 1 Formats & Questions and Step 2 CK Formats & Questions: more than 100 free sample Step 1 questions and the free sample Step 2 CK questions; read November 4, 2026.
Published .