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Dear recent exam takers, did u use kaplan Qbank for CK? Is it good to use for a competitive score?
Any reviews would be appreciated. thx
Any reviews would be appreciated. thx
kaplan Qbank for CK
- Thread starter Northerncardinal
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I am almost solely a lurker but signed in to give my POV on Kaplan. I am due to take CK in 2 days, feel I'm in a relatively good position (UWSA1/2 259/258, NBME6 256).
But Kaplan Qbank is just awful. It's fine for shelf exams where questions usually aren't the primary resource, but horrible for step 2.
SO many errors. I'd frequently cross-reference answers with uptodate/UW (which almost always agreed with each other). Most questions have not been updated since 2012. I bought it planning to do it after I'd completed UW. I did 6-7 blocks and gave up and went back to doing UW incorrects.
Avoid, do UW again instead
But Kaplan Qbank is just awful. It's fine for shelf exams where questions usually aren't the primary resource, but horrible for step 2.
SO many errors. I'd frequently cross-reference answers with uptodate/UW (which almost always agreed with each other). Most questions have not been updated since 2012. I bought it planning to do it after I'd completed UW. I did 6-7 blocks and gave up and went back to doing UW incorrects.
Avoid, do UW again instead
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UWorld is first priority. That aside, though, I would highly recommend Kaplan Qbank for Step 2ck. I purchased Kaplan during the beginning of third year because some topics in UWorld doesn't have that many questions. I completed the Kaplan questions for those sections (obgyn and neuro), but didn't really have time to do the other sections. I finished UWorld about a week before my exam and so decided to go through as many Kaplan questions as I can, just so I can recognize some terms or concepts that might not be in Uworld.
I was actually very surprised by how great the Kaplan Qbank was. Most (>95%) of their explanations were very thorough and easily understandable and are comparable to those of UWorlds. Again, I have to emphasize that UWorld is still key, and going through UWorld once probably helped me in reading Kaplan's explanations (they were usually longer than UWorld's but still easily understandable especially with boldening of key terms and concepts). Many of the concepts in Uworld are repeated in Kaplan (which is good for repetition), but many of the diseases are also nowhere in Uworld (but I would still consider completely fair game for the exam). There are some questions (probably 2-3) questions that test minutia and are unlikely to be on the exam, but they are very easy to tell which ones they are. I wish I had done Kaplan earlier in my study period, just on the side (I had >1500 questions left by the time I took step2ck). I would not use it for score prediction, but solely for learning. I have not tried their practice exams (which I have heard are not as good).
Many people complete UWorld >1x. I would recommend doing Kaplan instead of repeating UWorld, because you're still reviewing the same concepts, but also adding new information, and the explanation are likely to help make new connections between concepts.
(I am not at all affiliated with Kaplan)
Edit: Most of their questions also have not been updated since 2012, so I would not use their answers for prevention recommendations (ie. vaccine). That would be my only suggestion. Important concepts remain same though: ex. vaccine pneumococcal/meningococcal/HiB for sicklecell/asplenic patients... pneumococcal vaccine for COPD/lung disease patients... no live vaccines for immunocompromised or pregnant patients... HepB vaccine and IGIV for babies born to Hep B mothers...
Also, many questions are also newly added.
I was actually very surprised by how great the Kaplan Qbank was. Most (>95%) of their explanations were very thorough and easily understandable and are comparable to those of UWorlds. Again, I have to emphasize that UWorld is still key, and going through UWorld once probably helped me in reading Kaplan's explanations (they were usually longer than UWorld's but still easily understandable especially with boldening of key terms and concepts). Many of the concepts in Uworld are repeated in Kaplan (which is good for repetition), but many of the diseases are also nowhere in Uworld (but I would still consider completely fair game for the exam). There are some questions (probably 2-3) questions that test minutia and are unlikely to be on the exam, but they are very easy to tell which ones they are. I wish I had done Kaplan earlier in my study period, just on the side (I had >1500 questions left by the time I took step2ck). I would not use it for score prediction, but solely for learning. I have not tried their practice exams (which I have heard are not as good).
Many people complete UWorld >1x. I would recommend doing Kaplan instead of repeating UWorld, because you're still reviewing the same concepts, but also adding new information, and the explanation are likely to help make new connections between concepts.
(I am not at all affiliated with Kaplan)
Edit: Most of their questions also have not been updated since 2012, so I would not use their answers for prevention recommendations (ie. vaccine). That would be my only suggestion. Important concepts remain same though: ex. vaccine pneumococcal/meningococcal/HiB for sicklecell/asplenic patients... pneumococcal vaccine for COPD/lung disease patients... no live vaccines for immunocompromised or pregnant patients... HepB vaccine and IGIV for babies born to Hep B mothers...
Also, many questions are also newly added.
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It's not bad for $125-150... I have it and plan to do the IM section.
