My advice for the Step 2CK- 185 to 258 - the28shogun

[ArchivalUser]

I took my exam quite some time ago but have had so much to say about it that writing this post took me a long time. Please feel free to ask questions. If you disagree with anything then feel free, this is just 1 person's experience and may be very different from yours. Good luck on your exam.

[ArchivalUser]

My advice for the test is as follows:

1. This test is NOT easier than step 1. It can be just as hard, or harder. Step 1 primarily focuses on knowledge, Step 2 primarily focuses on making MINUTE distinctions BETWEEN clinical findings and scenarios which could very easily be any three out of five choices.

2. Give yourself at least 3 months to study if you are an IMG. Schedule your test date at the end of those 3 months.

3. You MUST take notes. You cannot simply stare at screens and expect to remember everything.

4. You MUST take the NBME exams ONLINE and in an ACTUAL TIMED MODE, otherwise you have NO prediction, no matter how many questions you get right or wrong, or how little or how much time you used, the testing conditions are nowhere near the same. YOU MUST take the NBME's ONLINE ONLY. TRUST ME ON THIS PLEASE. You can check answers with the offline versions but PLEASE do not try to take an "offline" nbme and try to get a score. It will only hurt you in the end!

5. Do not waste your NBMEs. TAKE ALL OF THEM.

6. Make a study schedule everyday.

7. Be aware of the testing strategies: Knowing a diagnosis is not enough. Knowing a lab result or treatment is not enough. If you memorize a list of 1-10 risk factors, make sure you know that list thoroughly. The question may ask which risk factor is the worst? But the answer choices will only be from 5-9 while you keep hunting around for number 10 or number 1-4 to get your list together in your head. You need to be prepared for these kinds of things while you're studying. Make sure you are asking yourself questions about the things you're reading everyday. You might know that isoniazid is used for TB. What is Isoniazid though? The test answers might not mention it by name. Instead it might say something like, anti-tubercular drug, anti-bacterial drug, cell wall synthesis inhibitor, lipoic acid inhibitor, mycolic acid inhibitor, mycotic acid inhibitor, fatty acid synthesis inhibitor, etc etc, they can write Isoniazid in ten different ways without ever mentioning tb or INH. You need to KNOW what you are reading, you can't just memorize the words. This exam is becoming less about knowledge, and more about strategies such as these. You may know to order a NBT test in CGD, but the exam may not say that the result is positive or negative. It may say it is blue. You need to know that blue means normal, or a negative result, meaning there is no CGD. But not turning blue is a positive result, and that is indicative of CGD. These are very typical examples of how the questions will AVOID using common words. There is no such thing as "textbook," "typical" cases anymore. Be prepared.

8. Very important: Don't kid yourself, you KNOW which topics you HATE and why you hate them. I assure you with at least 150% confidence, that all of the things you hate WILL come up in your exam and KEEP on coming and coming. If you hate acid-base disorders, I promise, you will see at least ten questions on it. If you hate vaccination schedules you MUST review them at the CDC website for the latest information, this is a HUGE advantage. If you hate vitamin deficiencies, you will get multiple questions per block on these things or biostats or anything else. It doesn't matter how much time it takes, you need to review the things you hate. I just can't emphasize this point enough. If you learn nothing else from this post, at least learn this.

9. Don't listen to anyone who says it is easy.



The actual usable list of resources should include no more than the following:

1. USMLE World Step 2 CK Qbank:

While they are the best qbank out there, they are basically the only qbank out there. It's not hard to be first place when you are only competing with Kaplan (whom have not updated step 2 ck material in years) and UsmleRx (questions are either very easy or simply extremely specific with low chance of ever being tested). Regardless, UWorld are a good source for questions, and you need to do this qbank multiple times. There is ongoing argument of whether you should or shouldn't repeat this qbank and that doing it more than once is not helpful. This is true ONLY if you can absorb every wrong answer and every fact that you see in Uworld on the first pass. Then yes, go ahead and only do the Qbank once. Otherwise, keep repeating the Qbank. Every block of questions you do from Uworld should definitely be in timed mode. There is NO benefit from doing these questions ANY other way. You must absolutely get used to doing 45 questions in 60 minutes, and that will be your GREATEST advantage on test day. Do NOT waste even one question in any un-timed mode, including timed tutor. You must do the questions first then review answers. ALWAYS do the questions in random mode. After completing the questions once, go back and do a TIMED test of the incorrect questions until you reach zero. You have to pay attention to the right answer, your answer, and all incorrect answers as well.
Also keep in mind, UWorld is not 100% all inclusive of everything you need to know. You will need more resources, unless you have a great memory and remember everything from medical school.

2. Kaplan USMLE Step 2 CK Videos: These are very helpful and I recommend them. There are common test topics that are written about everywhere in every book and every qbank-- the kaplan videos will OFTEN tell you 1 additional thing that you have not seen anywhere else. These things are important and you definitely need to know them. You may find that nobody mentions which side a lung or mediastinum shifts to in atelectasis vs pneumothorax-- but Kaplan videos will emphasize distinguishing points MORE than any other resource, and that is extremely high yield for the test. The exam is becoming more and more vague, and I actually think the kaplan videos are more relevant now than they were when they first made!

3. THE FREE USMLE QUESTIONS: I can't emphasize enough how important it is to do these. These questions are surprisingly helpful and actually very close to the real test. There is a good mix of easy, medium, and hard difficulty questions on there. You can choose to do these questions (there are 150 or so) of them whenever you feel like, but maybe save them for somewhere in the middle of your studying so that you don't just waste them at the very beginning. These are available at the USMLE website and are updated every few months or maybe just once a year.

4. Master the Boards: Undoubtedly this book is outdated garbage and the author absolutely knows it by now. Still, there isn't much competition and we all still like to have books, so we end up buying it. I personally think you MUST get the step 2 AND the step 3 version. There is a LOT of overlap, they are almost the same book! However, there are enough differences in the step 3 book that you should definitely know for step 2. For example the ER and radiology sections are surprisingly helpful. There are OB/G tables that you must memorize, eg pap smear guidelines, etc. Do your best to read both books and just add what you need from the step 3 version into the step 2 or the other way around. GET BOTH BOOKS FOR SURE.

5. NBMEs: If you are studying for 3 months, you need to take 1 NBME after you finish 1 review of your resources, whatever they may be. Take the second after reviewing all mistakes in first review and first NBME. For example, I would take one NBME if I have just finished my first pass of entire UWorld. Then you would review my NBME and you would review your incorrect questions in UWorld, and then prepare to take your next NBME. Then you will take your 3rd NBME after you have reviewed your 2nd NBME mistakes, your first NBME, and have at least reviewed 50% of your study resources another time. Take your 4th NBME at least 8 days before the test day, meaning that day 9 would be your test. And yes, you should take ALL of the NBMEs and always get the expanded feedback when possible. DONT FORGET YOU NEED TO ALSO REVIEW YOUR CORRECT ANSWERS. The expanded feedback will only tell you which questions you got wrong, and you can look up the answers for those. But you need to also review the questions that you got right, because you don't know by the end of the exam, whether or not you got that question right because you guessed- or because you actually knew the correct answer. And if you did get the correct answer without guessing, you need to review it anyway just to make sure you got the answer correct for ALL of the right reasons.

6. The UWorld Self- Assessment Exam - included with your Uworld Qbank: Take this with at least 3-4 days before your exam.


Resources that I didn't use and why:

Step 2 CK Secrets: This book is underrated, but it is not a must-have ! Use it if you can. No it doesn't have any secrets! But it is small, and you can take it anywhere, and you can read it REALLY quickly to review almost the entire course. Sometimes you need a fast review. Sometimes you want to just see on 1 page, all of the vitamins and mineral deficiencies, or the differences between chron's and ulcercerative colitis. This book is a good source for finding those types of things in one small focused spot, so it's helpful to have. Again, this is not a must-have book, but sometimes when you are tired of studying, or when you just want to see things with a smaller view without opening an entire text book or browsing an entire qbank, etc etc, you can find that 1 topic quickly in this book. It isn't bad to have.

First Aid: You cannot use this AND MTB. It's like having multiple people in the same room trying to tell you the same thing but in different and argumentative voices. You need to pick one or the other. They are more or less the same and if you like First Aid then go ahead and use it but I don't think it compares to the duo of MTB 2 & 3. I only briefly looked at First Aid and can't offer a full in-depth review of it, but suffice it to say, it didn't add anything that I wasn't already seeing elsewhere, and the few things in MTB that weren't in First Aid made me prefer MTB.

The Clinical Mastery Series Questions online is only helpful if you are having a LOT of difficulty with a subject and need help understanding basics. It is NOT helpful otherwise because the questions are much more basic and straightforward than the CK will be. A better resource if you really want to do more questions is the *medbullets website* which has questions for all USMLEs and they are somewhat comparable to Uworld.

Kaplan Qbank: Wow, what an awful, AWFUL qbank. I can't tell you how horrible this thing is. Full of spelling and grammar errors, questions that are just intentionally deceptive and tricky or misleading, which doesn't make them a difficult question at all, it just makes them incomplete questions and then kaplan gives an answer out of nowhere with explanations that focus on HUGE HUGE assumptions. The questions are not updated. On average the most recent questions are from 2012 or earlier, with few being 2014. The only good thing I can say about Kaplan is that the qbank comes with two full length practice tests. If you want to practice just taking a full 9 hour exam, then try the kaplan Q bank exam- BUT avoid the qbank itself (you have to buy the qbank to get the practice exams though). The kaplan practice exams also have lots of questions which are SO random and will never ever have ANY chance of being on the real exam, so DO NOT worry about your score too much from these exams, but make sure you aren't missing anything on a common subject that you've seen anywhere else. In short, if you want to feel what it's like to test for 9 hours straight, take these. Otherwise they do not really add any value to your studying that you won't find elsewhere.


Test day: AVOID any advice of using any sort of medications that you don't normally use. Don't go to the exam thinking you need tylenol for this or that, or using advil or ibuprofen because you think you have a headache, or taking TONS of caffeine because you're feeling dull or tired. None of these things will help you. You need to have a clear head and be focused. If you routinely use these things on a daily basis, then feel free, but don't try something new on test day. Take appropriate snacks and food. Don't take things super high in sugar or fat. Get fresh food, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, etc. I'm sure most people will not pay any attention to that but you've been warned. You don't want an insulin-food-coma during block 4. Take dry fruit and nuts if possible.
TIMING: No matter which test center you pick, be prepared to have your time WASTED. If you take a break when 5 other people are taking a break, you will lose 3-5 minutes just signing in and out. You don't have 60 minutes of actual break time. You actually have 45 and have to skip the tutorial to get the extra 15. Even then, just remember, you will lose time on just signing in and out, waiting for a key to use the restroom since only person can go at a time, etc. If you miraculously test on a day when no one else is there, trust me, it is a huge bonus. I lost a good amount of time because of other people ahead of me for breaks and signing in and out. If you are running out of time don't forget to at least mark SOMETHING for all of the remaining questions, DO NOT try to answer 5 questions in 2 minutes. Simply mark all 5, then try to answer 1 or 2 if possible.




Keep in mind that the test is always getting harder and always changing. Your goal should be to take the exam as soon as possible. You should also make sure to not do anything but study during that time. Do not try to work or engage in other responsibilities if you can avoid it. Time is invaluable. I was working full-time from 8am to about 6pm when I made my first attempt at this exam and I used Uworld... and NOTHING else, if you can believe that. I did not take a single NBME, I did not use any videos, notes, etc. I did Uworld twice over the course of 2 months, and took the exam.

Study resources always lag behind the exam. Creators of test prep materials will always be one step behind be the actual test. The actual test changes day by day and books like master the boards or anything else, even if there is a new edition coming out a week before your exam date, will still not be up to par with the real exam. When it comes to resources, you have to find which are most helpful to you, and there is nothing wrong with learning from a resource that no one else is using as long as it is teaching you something *relevant.*


Lastly-- this forum is a great place to help each other. Please do so and please try to keep spam and ads to a minimum. Whenever you see someone trying to scam you for an "online course," or "online tutoring" or "skype tutoring," please, do not reply to the post, simply click the button in the bottom right of the post that says Report Abuse. I can't tell you how annoyed I would be when I would come to this forum after a bad day of studying, trying to find help or answers or just company amongst people who were going through the same thing I was only find nothing but spam ads pretending to have a new and sensational way of helping you. They don't. It's completely bogus. The only one who can really help you is...

[ArchivalUser]

congratulations!!!! I gave an exam 2 days ago, and I was wondering if you could share ur NBME/UWSA scores and tell me what you think correlated the most with ur actual exam?

thans a lot
K

[ArchivalUser]

WWWWWWWWWWow what a detailed experince ! thanks so much for sharing it! I just started preparing and really confused about the resources. Wish you all the luck

[ArchivalUser]

could you please clarify regarding marking something if I run out of time?
also do you recommend Kaplan Surgery vidoes? I felt like the teacher is just reading through the book
thanks

[ArchivalUser]

Thank you for all your help and experience!! def very useful!!! and congrats on the great score!!

[ArchivalUser]

congratulations...& thank u you for sharing all these valuable advises.

[ArchivalUser]

@ the28shogun

First of all I wanted to say WOW WAY TO GO!!! Kick ass jump from your first attempt and your 2nd one.

Second point Thank you!!! You have made my day by posting a detail experience covering everything. There are only a few people who post their experiences for step 2 ck and most of them are from ages ago or not enough detail.

I will definitely take note of all the advice you have posted.

@everyone

Just one question: ---> Is possible to study for step 3 while studying for step 2 ck ? If you can recommend some material that will be useful to study for both step 2 ck and step 3 I would be grateful. Thank you .

~Rhinoracer

[ArchivalUser]

cngratulations for all of you who did their exams
please if anyone have NBME^ or & offline can send it to me please
email: hskan2010
thanks a lot

[ArchivalUser]

@ the28shogun

Wooow!!! Congrads!!! excellent detailed advice on the exam, Thank you soooo much!!! thanks a lot!!

My query is do you have the notes that you took for the exam, could please share it via email or anyother way. I am willing to even pay. Also can you give an example of what kind points you need to take down as notes, just an example. I understand it varies from one person to another but an example would be helpful....

Also like you mentioned , NBT for CGD not turning blue is not mentioned in UW but only in wikepedia, how to know which topics you need to read extra from wiki. kindly explain.

thanks a lot!!!