BOTH Class of 2018 Study Thread

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ortnakas

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A lot of us loved our study thread for Step 1, so why not recreate it for Step 2?

I know we won't be thinking hardcore about USMLE/COMLEX until next spring/summer, but figured we could use this for strategizing now, and for shelf exams too.

Paging: @W19 @gobigorgohome22 @Entadus @Ibn Alnafis MD @AlgernonMed @TheShaker @Mad Jack @NontradCA
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TheMountainsAreCalling10 said:
Okay, be gentle.

DO applying EM (both AOA and ACGME, most likely)
Just took UWSA2 today 6/6: 214
UWSA 5/17 (had just started studying): 194
Step 1 was a measly sub-210 so I figure to make it worthwhile taking Step 2 I'm aiming for 230+
COMLEX is next week (feel more confident about it) and Step scheduled for 6/21.

Is it reasonable to jump another 20 in two weeks or should I postpone?

If I postpone, the only dates that work will be 6/25 locally (extra 4 days) or I can find a date somewhere in the early days of my July EM audition rotation making it ~4-5 weeks from now.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would postpone. You just need a score by the time applications submit


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zegrated said:
So I took my Level 2 PE in late April and just learned that I passed! So relieved, I was sure I had failed. Now I can really focus on Step 2CK/Level 2 CE.

I have 2 weeks left but I do have some flexibility to move back another week-ish, which I might end up using depending how I feel. Planning to take UWSA 2 today. My scores have been (so far):
NBME 3 - 211 (4 weeks out)
UWSA 1 - 246 (2.5 weeks out)

Step 1 was 240. Really hoping that NBME 3 was a fluke. I'll be happy with any score around my step 1 score. Good luck to everyone.
Click to expand...
How did you do on your UWSA 2?
 
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TheMountainsAreCalling10 said:
Okay, be gentle.

DO applying EM (both AOA and ACGME, most likely)
Just took UWSA2 today 6/6: 214
UWSA 5/17 (had just started studying): 194
Step 1 was a measly sub-210 so I figure to make it worthwhile taking Step 2 I'm aiming for 230+
COMLEX is next week (feel more confident about it) and Step scheduled for 6/21.

Is it reasonable to jump another 20 in two weeks or should I postpone?

If I postpone, the only dates that work will be 6/25 locally (extra 4 days) or I can find a date somewhere in the early days of my July EM audition rotation making it ~4-5 weeks from now.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

May I ask if you've taken a COMSAE as well?
If you have a good COMLEX I and have taken a COMSAE for Level II with a good score, you might wanna try AOA programs instead. But I agree with others, your scores are borderline and you probably need to postpone.
 
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Nemologist said:
May I ask if you've taken a COMSAE as well?
If you have a good COMLEX I and have taken a COMSAE for Level II with a good score, you might wanna try AOA programs instead. But I agree with others, your scores are borderline and you probably need to postpone.
Click to expand...
I took a comsae a few weeks ago (only studying at that point for a few weeks, I was also pretty slack during the year) and got a 543 which is a little higher than my comlex 1. I feel much more confident about comlex because OMM is cake for me. The problem is the number of AOA EM programs is dwindling (according to ERAS down to 25) so I pretty much have to apply both. I pushed back step 2 and now have a few more weeks to study.
 
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can someone help me understand UW Q 4846?

kid needs emergent airway, mom (a minor) is present and says no. Question asks from whom informed consent should be obtained. Answer (which everyone got right) is no one. I incorrectly said mom.

I get that it's emergent care and so consent not required, but if consent is directly denied by mom in the immediate situation, why does mom not get a say? (UW's explanation does not address this)
 
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PennDippody said:
can someone help me understand UW Q 4846?

kid needs emergent airway, mom (a minor) is present and says no. Question asks from whom informed consent should be obtained. Answer (which everyone got right) is no one. I incorrectly said mom.

I get that it's emergent care and so consent not required, but if consent is directly denied by mom in the immediate situation, why does mom not get a say? (UW's explanation does not address this)
Click to expand...

If it's a life or death situation you do what's right for the kid, regardless of what the parents say.
 
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AshNiffler said:
I just took UWSA2 (255) and ****, it was hard. I think I just need to relax haha. I'll take NBME 6 next week.
Click to expand...

Solid! My test is Monday and I'm in total la la land right now. Finished my second pass of uworld yesterday which was a bad move on my part because now I'm supposed to sit and read this word doc that I made for the next 3 days and....that won't happen lol. So far today I've taken a nap and gone swimming .___.

Trying to re focus!
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
What percentage are you guys getting on your second round of UW?
Click to expand...

I'm more than halfway through and 93% but honestly it didn't seem to matter when I was doing the uwsa2.
MelMcT2009 said:
Solid! My test is Monday and I'm in total la la land right now. Finished my second pass of uworld yesterday which was a bad move on my part because now I'm supposed to sit and read this word doc that I made for the next 3 days and....that won't happen lol. So far today I've taken a nap and gone swimming .___.

Trying to re focus!
Click to expand...

I'm Tuesday after next, I feel you lol just relax it'll be okay.
 
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Took the exam today!

Overall, thought the exam was fair. I'd say 40% questions I could narrow it down to two then having to make an educated guess, 25% where I was confident in my answer, 25% where topic was familiar but not enough to get the right answer, 10% where I was wondering if the question was in english. My biggest problem was timing on the test. I had to pick an answer without reading the question for 1-2 questions consistently for every block. Didn't get to review marked. I dont think the questions were necessary longer, I just spent a lot of time on those 50-50 questions trying to decide between answers. Looking back, there is no other resource I would have used other than uworld. My practice scores are below:


- Step 1: 222
- Uworld SA1: 200 (2.5mo) -> Never reviewed and plan on retaking. Should have never taken it!
- Uworld 1st pass: 68% overall (68% medicine)
- NBME 6: 224 (1mo)
- UW SA1: 255 (2 wk) -> see above
- UW SA2: 246 (1 wk)
- Uworld 2nd pass: 84%
 
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cluelessmedstudent411 said:
Took the exam today!

Overall, thought the exam was fair. I'd say 40% questions were I could narrow it down to two then having to make an educated guess, 25% where I was confident in my answer, 25% where topic was familiar but not enough to get the right answer, 10% where I was wondering if the question was in english. My biggest problem was timing on the test. I had to pick an answer without reading the question for 1-2 questions consistently for every block. Didn't get to review marked. I dont think the questions were necessary longer, I just spent a lot of time on those 50-50 questions trying to decide between answers. Looking back, there is no other resource I would have used other than uworld. My practice scores are below:


- Step 1: 222
- Uworld SA1: 200 (2.5mo) -> Never reviewed and plan on retaking. Should have never taken it!
- Uworld 1st pass: 68% overall (68% medicine)
- NBME 6: 224 (1mo)
- UW SA1: 255 (2 wk) -> see above
- UW SA2: 246 (1 wk)
- Uworld 2nd pass: 84%
Click to expand...
congrats on being done. don't forget to come back and update us in a month with your 250+ score!
 
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So... just took NBME 6. Thought it was pretty easy, and I guess it was - I got ~84% of the questions right (30 questions wrong out of 184). But my score was a 219? I was proud of how I did percentage wise until I got my score. It seems (with my own research) that every year they change the curve?

Great, I have 4 days to go and I thought it was gonna be a confidence booster... Should I push it back at this point, even just a couple days to try to do better? Got a 230 on UWSA 1, around 2 weeks ago. Shooting for a 230 or within 10 of that.
 
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same thing just happened to me; 82% correct correlating to 213 WTF?

I got 2.5 weeks to go and like 60% of UW still to do, hoping I've still got some ground to gain with the remaining questions; otherwise I gotta pospone as well.

Ill take another in 2 weeks. Should I do one of the UWSA's? and which one?
 
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Guys don't worry about percentages, uwo
PennDippody said:
same thing just happened to me; 82% correct correlating to 213 WTF?

I got 2.5 weeks to go and like 60% of UW still to do, hoping I've still got some ground to gain with the remaining questions; otherwise I gotta pospone as well.

Ill take another in 2 weeks. Should I do one of the UWSA's? and which one?
Click to expand...

I'd say UWSA1 is easier than UWSA2, for a confidence booster go with 1.
 
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Didn't want to read 9 pages of forums but has someone mentioned a study guide that includes something in addition to Uworld? Uworld doesn't even cover some major diseases. Are these just not asked?

-SUTM: I don't like this book. It would take me 4 weeks alone to read and memorize it. 4 weeks I don't have.

-MTB: heard this has definitely run its course and gone out of style and looks like most post-test takers say it was a waste.

-first aid: mixed reviews. Is this the next best thing?

Some anki deck(bros or Kaplan): would these take the place of the sources mentioned above?

Online meded: planning on using this to refer to since I used it throughout the year.
 
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Anicetus said:
Didn't want to read 9 pages of forums but has someone mentioned a study guide that includes something in addition to Uworld? Uworld doesn't even cover some major diseases. Are these just not asked?

-SUTM: I don't like this book. It would take me 4 weeks alone to read and memorize it. 4 weeks I don't have.

-MTB: heard this has definitely run its course and gone out of style and looks like most post-test takers say it was a waste.

-first aid: mixed reviews. Is this the next best thing?

Some anki deck(bros or Kaplan): would these take the place of the sources mentioned above?

Online meded: planning on using this to refer to since I used it throughout the year.
Click to expand...

The consensus is that Uworld is all you need (test is Monday so we will see!). I did it twice and definitely felt like it hit everything. Not sure what "major diseases" were missed?
 
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MelMcT2009 said:
The consensus is that Uworld is all you need (test is Monday so we will see!). I did it twice and definitely felt like it hit everything. Not sure what "major diseases" were missed?
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm new to this part of SDN but is that really all you need? Most of the posts in the CK experience thread don't state only Uworld. They state a laundry list similar to what I posted asking about.

For the diseases not covered in Uworld there's a ton... You didn't notice this throughout third year when studying for each shelf exam? Or are we all assuming those extra diseases just don't commonly show up on step 2 and are not worth studying?
 
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Anicetus said:
Maybe I'm new to this part of SDN but is that really all you need? Most of the posts in the CK experience thread don't state only Uworld. They state a laundry list similar to what I posted asking about.

For the diseases not covered in Uworld there's a ton... You didn't notice this throughout third year when studying for each shelf exam? Or are we all assuming those extra diseases just don't commonly show up on step 2 and are not worth studying?
Click to expand...

Idk I've browsed a ton through both here and Reddit and what I've gathered is Uworld is more than enough. Uworld was all I used during third year and consistently did very well. All I used during dedicated and have done very well on UWSAs and NBME. We will see how it works out in the end, but it has served me well to this point. I made my own anki cards for Uworld stuff I did not know and did those through the year. If your background knowledge is solid I think Uworld is the way to go.

I tried MTB for a very short while but there are a ton of errors in it and it ended up getting to the point that I was having to check just about anything I read in there because I was just too skeptical. Became a huge time dump for me personally. I realized that most of the resources had conflicting info, so decided to just stick to what I knew I could trust.
 
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All of your awesome UWorld percentages are freaking me out...

Anicetus said:
Didn't want to read 9 pages of forums but has someone mentioned a study guide that includes something in addition to Uworld? Uworld doesn't even cover some major diseases. Are these just not asked?

-SUTM: I don't like this book. It would take me 4 weeks alone to read and memorize it. 4 weeks I don't have.

-MTB: heard this has definitely run its course and gone out of style and looks like most post-test takers say it was a waste.

-first aid: mixed reviews. Is this the next best thing?

Some anki deck(bros or Kaplan): would these take the place of the sources mentioned above?

Online meded: planning on using this to refer to since I used it throughout the year.
Click to expand...

I'm doing a mix of OnlineMedEd for everything, SUTM for medicine, and MTB for everything else. I'm not loving MTB, but I think combined with UWorld/OnlineMedEd it'll do. I don't hate it enough to jump ship and switch to First Aid or Step Up to CK. As far as SUTM goes, it's definitely dense, but I already had a lot of annotations in it for the medicine shelf, so I figured it would be easier to not start fresh.
 
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Does anyone have any 4 week study plans?

I plan on doing 120Q/day. Should I be doing specific topics (cards, derm, pulm, peds) per day and then reviewing at night or should I do mixed uworld questions?
 
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Command said:
Does anyone have any 4 week study plans?

I plan on doing 120Q/day. Should I be doing specific topics (cards, derm, pulm, peds) per day and then reviewing at night or should I do mixed uworld questions?
Click to expand...
UWorld on UWorld with UWSAs 1 and 2. I don't think you need a text. Do random, timed, all topics. Review questions thoroughly.

Sent from my XT1585 using SDN mobile
 
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Command said:
Does anyone have any 4 week study plans?

I plan on doing 120Q/day. Should I be doing specific topics (cards, derm, pulm, peds) per day and then reviewing at night or should I do mixed uworld questions?
Click to expand...

Agree with the above. I printed out a paper calendar for the time I had, divided the days by the number of uworld questions, and did a little uworld each day. Had a few "weak" days built in to go over weak topics.
 
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But for people like myself who will have 6 wks (4 wks of it is research, but it's bull***) of dedicated study time, don't you guys think it's wise to incorporate a textbook like SUTM and/or OnlineMedEd?
 
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W19 said:
But for people like myself who will have 6 wks (4 wks of it is research, but it's bull***) of dedicated study time, don't you guys think it's wise to incorporate a textbook like SUTM and/or OnlineMedEd?
Click to expand...
I would move up your test then. That's what I ended up doing. Don't worry about using more resources, just own UWorld and practice tests and take it earlier. Just my opinion.

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swk11 said:
I would move up your test then. That's what I ended up doing. Don't worry about using more resources, just own UWorld and practice tests and take it earlier. Just my opinion.

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Click to expand...

Agreed. Take an assessment and see where you are. I had plans to try and use a book (although I really didn't like any of them), but after taking an assessment I moved the test up by 6 weeks and decided to just stick with uworld. You're the only one who can really assess what you need in terms of resources because none of us know where you stand. Best of luck!
 
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W19 said:
But for people like myself who will have 6 wks (4 wks of it is research, but it's bull***) of dedicated study time, don't you guys think it's wise to incorporate a textbook like SUTM and/or OnlineMedEd?
Click to expand...

I think it's a comfort-based decision, not a time-based one.

If I were a baller, I'd feel comfortable with UWorld only. I am not a baller, so I'm supplementing UWorld (and Combank) with additional resources to help review.
 
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ortnakas said:
I think it's a comfort-based decision, not a time-based one.

If I were a baller, I'd feel comfortable with UWorld only. I am not a baller, so I'm supplementing UWorld (and Combank) with additional resources to help review.
Click to expand...
Maybe my 1st diagnostic test will give me an idea...

How is your average in Uworld? did you take a diagnostic exam?
 
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W19 said:
Maybe my 1st diagnostic test will give me an idea...

How is your average in Uworld? did you take a diagnostic exam?
Click to expand...

I'm getting around the UWorld average most days. So not terrible, but not awesome either.

Haven't done a diagnostic yet... I really should. I'm not taking USMLE or COMLEX until late July, though, so I figured I'd do some content review first. I do have to take a COMSAE at some point in the next few weeks.
 
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So I haven't done too much studying since my big 3 week dedicated back in April because I e been burned out. Just been plugging along with uworld so like 1100 questions into my 2nd pass with an 80% average this time around.

So just took uwsa2 and got a 253 with several careless mistakes. Test is the 19th. Guess I'm ready? I'm just sick of studying and ready to get it over with. My UWSA1 back in April was like 254. Step 1 of 250.

One week left....


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MackandBlues said:
So I haven't done too much studying since my big 3 week dedicated back in April because I e been burned out. Just been plugging along with uworld so like 1100 questions into my 2nd pass with an 80% average this time around.

So just took uwsa2 and got a 253 with several careless mistakes. Test is the 19th. Guess I'm ready? I'm just sick of studying and ready to get it over with. My UWSA1 back in April was like 254. Step 1 of 250.

One week left....


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Click to expand...

I'm with yah. I've been on the struggle bus for 2 weeks. The end is in sight!
 
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I goofed on these two questions from nbme 6: 1) post operative pain management for a patient in severe pain 2) an old dude trying to start a new exercise regimen, what's the best test. Does first aid or any resource kind of cover these scenarios? thanks!
 
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