SP for Step 2 CK - examusmle

[ArchivalUser]

Hi,

I am interested to study with a SP. I don't care whether it is a male or female or which country he/she belongs to, as long as it serves the purpose for both of us.

I just got done with step 1 and got 99/233, but I didn't have an SP since I had plenty of time in my hand to study on my own. Also I was scared that I would end up spending too much time on the internet, doing chatting, writing in the forums, sending emails etc.

I now would like to give it a try studying with an SP for step 2, to see if it would be easier and more helpful, mainly because I don't have the luxury of time as I had for step 1. I would want to give
it a chance to see if it works.

Started studying for step 2 two days ago. (KLN internal medicine). Planning to do 60 pages per day. Planning to give my exam in August, hopefully if everything goes well according to my plan.

I am on eastern time zone, I don't have skype but have Vonage internet phone from which I can make
free calls.

My email ID: examusmle, but I prefer you respond here primarily, since I don't want to
waste too much time checking emails and responding for individual messages.

Disclaimer:
I am OK with people being abrupt/harsh or having language problems as long as they are
truly interested to study, but I can't afford to spend too much time on the phone or writing emails. But I can do a pretty good job on motivating, as long as you can put up with the nuisance of a NO nonsense
person!! Just kidding..

[ArchivalUser]

hello, i am an IMG, n i'm interested in joining u as an sp, but i cannot skype(wastage of time) plus the only time i can study is between 11am till 5pm, i just took my exam yesterday, plan to take ck in october. n i want to start studying for step 2 ck from monday. so what books r u using? i have kaplan series n first aid.

[ArchivalUser]

Thats exactly my point too. I cant afford to waste time on skype. Thats why I don't have a skype account.
But we can report to each other about everyday progress and if needed, can discuss some difficult/important concepts every now and then. Ideally, I would like to finish my exam in August, but also keeping 1 extra month as a reserve, just in case. (Would like to apply for next year matching).

I am planning to use only these materials:

Kaplan DVDs (just once in the beginning to get an idea).
Kaplan lecture notes (Minimum 3 readings)
MTB for CK (minimum 4 readings)
Kaplan Q bank (1 month subscription)
UW (2 months subscription)
NBME and FRED software as everyone else.

Please let me know about how you are planning to study. Any suggestions welcome.

[ArchivalUser]

hey examusmle.. nice to c u here.. i took the exam 2 days ago and i dont know where to start.. in ur materials there is not mention of CK first aid.. i guess v dont need that for ck.. but MTB is that a good book.. should i get that . ? i have only 10weeks to prepare.. should i just do i qbank or go with the world and kaplan.. good luck

[ArchivalUser]

drkhan,

I have FA 2006 5th edition but some senior in this forum advised me that MTB for step 2 CK is better than
FA. So I bought a brand new MTB from Amazon and didn't bother to get the latest version of FA.
I not going to juggle with too many books. So, you can either choose MTB or FA, whichever works
best for you. But in terms of practicing questions, I would suggest you better go for both online
Kaplan Q bank and UW. The more questions the better you get. Good luck to you too! You won't see much
of me after 2-3 days, once I am done with fishing for my new SP! May be I'll visit once in a while if I need some advice, but majority of the time, I am going to zip up and try to focus on step 2 preparation...

[ArchivalUser]

hey man thanks for the advice ill stick to master the boards also.. going to start tomoro as im taking the test in early august.. so need to get it done soon... good luck with urs aswel.. tc..

[ArchivalUser]

hey drkhan and examusmle ... i have taken my step1 and waiting for result . My plan is also early august... so lets exchange schedule and will go with a pace, yea i also preffer motivation and disscusion but no time wastage by reading on skype etc.. so if u both interested we should share schedule and get it started..im gonna start with medicine.. my email id is ... drstep2ck

[ArchivalUser]

hello drkhan, examusmle and drstep2ckk, i'm starting with medicine in a day or two, i'll start with kaplan notes but if u guys suggest MTB2 is better than FA, then i'll buy that. i'm not buying the q bank until july since my in laws are visiting me for a month but i'll start the mcqs as soon as im done with an initial study of all the subjects. i aim for max, 2 weeks for each subject initially n then repeat them with UW mcqs.

[ArchivalUser]

hi guys....
i m also planning to give Ck in august. now i m preparing for ck. anyone who want to study give me mail with ur study plan....i had gap between step 1 and Ck for few motnh...b/c had step cs exam that i cleared last week..

i m IMG from India living in Eastern zone . i know my name is weird on usmleforum and email..

email : lamberttroose

[ArchivalUser]

Hi grad1980,

Good that you are joining as SP. Please don't feel under pressure that you have to do the same thing
at the same time as other SPs. You take your own time and choose to do whichever way works the
best for you. The idea of having SPs is to support and motivate each other. I am planning to do once reading
of Kaplan and and watching the DVds once before I start reading the MTBs. While I do MTBs I plan
to do second revision of KLN and do Kaplan Q bank along side.. Lets report each others progress every
3-4 days or so.

drstep2ckk,
You are most welcome to join us. Please let us know how you want to study if you have made any
preliminary plans yet. I prefer to communicate through forum, so that it is more transparent
and useful for others as well, but also less hassle than trying to do individual emails.

hi lambertroose,
Good to see you too. We can all form a network and study together through this forum and keep tab on
each other, if you wish. I prefer doing it this way, than doing individual mails.

I am not sure if drkhan mentioned anything about wanting to be an SP, it didn't sound like it from his
message, but if he wishes to join us, he is most welcome too.

Let me see, so far we have about 5 members including me, who are in similar kind of situation i.e. finished either step 1 or step 2 CS recently, just started or about to start step 2 CK preparation and planning to give exam sometime around August. May be we can include another 2-3 members more who matches
our profile and then form a very close group but have a open communication thorough this site. Please
let me know what you think.. Any better suggestions welcome. But I am not going to waste much
time on this more than the next couple of days..