Yes, AnKing and UWorld are enough to pass USMLE Step 1 in 2026. Since the exam is now Pass/Fail, you no longer need to chase a perfect 270 by using every resource available. For the vast majority of students, the combination of a high quality question bank (UWorld) and a spaced repetition system (AnKing) provides all the knowledge and application skills needed to clear the passing threshold safely.
To understand why these two are sufficient, you have to look at what they actually do. Step 1 tests two different things: your ability to recall a fact and your ability to apply that fact to a clinical vignette. If you only use AnKing, you will know the facts but fail the questions. If you only use UWorld, you will understand the logic but forget the specific details (like the name of a rare enzyme) by the time you reach the exam.
Many students make the mistake of treating UWorld as a testing tool to see if they are ready. In 2026, you should treat it as a textbook. Every explanation in UWorld is a lesson. When you get a question wrong, the explanation tells you exactly why the wrong answer was tempting and why the right answer is correct. This builds the clinical intuition that Anki cannot provide.
The AnKing deck is a massive compilation of cards based on the most popular resources. Its value is not in the cards themselves, but in the Spaced Repetition System (SRS). By showing you a card right before you are about to forget it, Anki moves information from short term memory to long term memory. This prevents the "forgetting curve" that happens when you read a textbook chapter and forget 60 percent of it within a week.
"I spent the first two months of my dedicated period trying to use four different resources. I was exhausted and felt like I knew nothing. I cut everything except UWorld and AnKing. I stopped trying to be perfect and focused on just finishing the QBank. I passed Step 1 with a much lower stress level."
- Marcus, M2 Medical Student
While these two are enough, there is a trap. The "Anki Void" occurs when a student memorizes the wording of a card without understanding the concept. For example, you might memorize that "Drug X causes Side Effect Y" because you've seen the card 20 times. However, if the exam asks you *why* Drug X causes that side effect based on its mechanism of action, you will be stuck. You have memorized the answer, not the medicine.
To avoid this, never do AnKing cards in a vacuum. If you are starting a new system (like Cardiology), do a set of UWorld questions first. This gives you a conceptual framework. When you then unlock the corresponding AnKing cards, the information has a "hook" to hang on. You aren't just memorizing a string of words, you are reinforcing a concept you just saw in a clinical scenario.
The AnKing deck is enormous. If you try to do every single card, you will spend 8 hours a day just clicking "Good" and "Again." This leads to burnout. In a Pass/Fail environment, you have to be strategic. You do not need to know every obscure detail to pass. Focus on the high yield tags and the cards associated with your UWorld incorrects.
Not all subjects are created equal. Some require more Anki, while others require more UWorld application.
These are memory heavy. You need to know the "classic" presentation of a disease and the specific side effects of a drug. AnKing is your best friend here. Use the deck to drill the differences between similar-looking pathologies. For pharmacology, focus on the mechanism of action cards, as UWorld often tests the "why" behind the drug's effect.
These are logic heavy. Memorizing a card about the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS) is less helpful than drawing the flow chart yourself. For these subjects, prioritize UWorld. If you get a question wrong, don't just find the Anki card, read the explanation and try to explain the process out loud. Only use Anki for the hard facts (like enzyme names in the Krebs cycle) that cannot be logically deduced.
These are essentially lists of characteristics. Is the bacteria Gram positive or negative? Does it produce catalase? This is where AnKing shines. These subjects are high yield and relatively easy to "brute force" with SRS. Spend less time reading textbooks and more time hitting your daily reviews for these sections.
Even with AnKing and UWorld, you will encounter "knowledge gaps." These are the specific things your professors emphasized in lecture or the niche details in a high yield PDF that aren't covered in the general AnKing deck. Usually, students spend hours manually creating cards for these gaps, which takes time away from actually studying.
This is where StudyCards AI fits into the workflow. Instead of wasting your dedicated period on data entry, you can upload your specific lecture PDFs or textbook chapters to StudyCards AI. It converts the text into AI-generated flashcards that you can export directly to Anki. This allows you to maintain the efficiency of the AnKing system while adding the personalized content you need to feel confident. You get the benefit of a custom deck without the manual labor of writing hundreds of cards.
You do not need five different resources to pass Step 1. You need a focused strategy and the discipline to stick to it.
If your foundation is very weak, you might need a conceptual resource like Boards and Beyond or Pathoma before starting UWorld. However, for most students, UWorld explanations are detailed enough to act as the primary teaching tool.
The number of new cards matters less than the number of reviews. Focus on clearing your reviews first. A sustainable pace is usually 40 to 80 new cards per day, depending on your timeline.
For a Pass/Fail exam, one thorough pass is usually enough if you are using Anki to retain the information. A second pass is only recommended if you are consistently scoring below the passing threshold on NBMEs.
It is possible, but much harder. Without a spaced repetition system, you will likely forget the material from the first 20 percent of the QBank by the time you finish the last 20 percent.
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