how much to study?

[tr]

How much time are you guys devoting to studying for Step II?

I have one month off in Jan, during which I have to go to 9 interviews, a bunch of which are on the opposite coast, and take Step II CK. Unfortunately I will only have about 4 days between my last interview and the test date.

My shelf scores have been in the average to not-so-great range if that's at all informative (70-somes and 80-somes), and I won't have had my surgery rotation before I take the exam. But I think all I have to do is pass as the residency programs will not see my score (right?).

Anyway, is this feasible? I remember I took 3 solid weeks to study for Step I, but I heard Step 2 is supposed to be much easier. How much buckling-down do y'all think I need to do during my time on the interview trail?

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[tr]

Bump!

Anyone? Bueller?

 

[manning18]

Questions like this are hard to answer, because the audience does not know how well prepared you are to begin with. You maybe able to pass the test cold, if you took it tomorrow! You did very well on your shelf exams, which is a positive sign.
Your plan is feasible in some cases and not-so-feasible in others. Based on the information you gave, you seem to be in good shape to at least pass the CK exam, so your best bet is to take it as soon as possible, so your programs can know you passed sooner rather than later.
Can you take the test any sooner then Jan? If so, maybe take it next month and get it out of the way!

 

[deleted109597]

Judge it by how much you studied for Step I, and what you got on that test. Combine it with how much clinical medicine relevant to Step II you did during the first half of 4th year. See how you did on shelfs (which you have done). Take some UW tests.

In all, I can't say. I studied only about 6 days. Not everyone does well doing that. (I studied for a month for Step I, and did 30 points worse on it. Go figure).

 

[tr]

Questions like this are hard to answer, because the audience does not know how well prepared you are to begin with. You maybe able to pass the test cold, if you took it tomorrow! You did very well on your shelf exams, which is a positive sign.
Your plan is feasible in some cases and not-so-feasible in others. Based on the information you gave, you seem to be in good shape to at least pass the CK exam, so your best bet is to take it as soon as possible, so your programs can know you passed sooner rather than later.
Can you take the test any sooner then Jan? If so, maybe take it next month and get it out of the way!

I did well on my shelves? I thought I did poorly. You never hear about an average for those things, or even a minimum passing grade. The only thing I know about how other people did comes from seeing SDN people post how they scored 95+ on all their shelf exams. (Obviously a skewed sample population, but like I said, I have no other basis for comparison.)

I don't really want to take the test any earlier than the end of Jan. I'm an MD-PhD, I'm not getting much of a fourth year, I'm on my OB-GYN rotation through mid-December, then I have mid-Dec thru Jan off but there are interviews scattered all through. I am just going to haul my Step Ii books along on the interview trail and hope for the best.

Judge it by how much you studied for Step I, and what you got on that test.

Step I: nothing stellar, nothing terrible. I studied for 3 weeks and scored in the 66th percentile. I hear Step II is kind of different though, and if it's anything closer to the Shelf stuff I appreciate those types of questions more (seemed marginally more rational than the Step I stuff, which was pretty much restricted to brute memorization).

In all, I can't say. I studied only about 6 days. Not everyone does well doing that.

That's reassuring. I feel that given my time constraints it's almost a given that I won't do well. But I do have to pass.

 

[pathman2006]

I studied about one week. I used a similar strategy for step I, namely qbank online )because it helps simulate real time and forces you to use a computer a) and firstaid and some blueprints

 

[manning18]

Most shelf exams have an average somewhere between 65-75, so your scores seem to be above average, on average. They try to set the national mean right at 70, but there is variance.
I would take some of the comments on this site with a grain of salt. The mean USMLE score on this site seems to be 240+, so you'll have to filter between what seems reasonable vs embellished.
It would be wise to do some reading AND do questions as well. I'm more of a 'reader,' but questions help solidify my knowledge and pinpoint what's the better diagnostic step, treatment etc in specific cases, whereas FA will list more than on diagnositic/imaging modality and more than one treatment, often without indication of which is the preferred choice.

 

[pathman2006]

sorry I forgot this point that manning18 brought up: shelf scores
my shelf scores were above average/average for my school. (sorry no 90's for me) but that did give me confidence when I took the exam knowing that the shelf exams were older/used step 2 questions.