Step 2ck help

[Md Blast]

Uwsa#1 260(~81%) 2weeks ago
NBME 7 252(89%) 10 days ago
NBME 6 260(93%) today
UW 93% half way through 2nd pass(first pass during clerkships for shelf practice)

Looking to score closer to 270 due to my specialty preference and because I only scored 243 in step 1. Dedicated studying has been for just over 2 weeks doing uw 2 blocks/day, except for a few days that I took to read peds and cardio from MTB and FA(havent read any of the other chapters). I could probably finish uw and uwsa but the fact that I havent read much from books and that my nbmes scores arent improving worries me. Any tips on where to go from here or how to get past this plateau?

Any help/tips will be appreciated

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[Md Blast]

Any suggestions?
Finish UW + do UWSA #2
Or read a book? If so which one? Step up/FA/MTB/other?

 

[ShowtimeKaner88]

Any suggestions?
Finish UW + do UWSA #2
Or read a book? If so which one? Step up/FA/MTB/other?

Finish UW and do UWSA 2. You're already in a good spot as is and the NBME's are notoriously unreliable (underscoring) for most people. I saved all the biostats of UW for 3 days before my exam, did all of it and reviewed it, then read through my two weakest sections (OB/Peds) in FA and then read the rapid review of FA the day before my exam. I would also recommend reviewing the latest USPSTF recommendations if you have time. I'm not sure how much reading in a book is going to help you at this point. Just my two cents.

 

[Md Blast]

Finish UW and do UWSA 2. You're already in a good spot as is and the NBME's are notoriously unreliable (underscoring) for most people. I saved all the biostats of UW for 3 days before my exam, did all of it and reviewed it, then read through my two weakest sections (OB/Peds) in FA and then read the rapid review of FA the day before my exam. I would also recommend reviewing the latest USPSTF recommendations if you have time. I'm not sure how much reading in a book is going to help you at this point. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I have a few extra q's for you if you don't mind and/or for anyone else who'd like to chime in as well.
1)Did you feel there was alot of peds/ob in your exam that was not mentioned in uw? (They are my weakest as well.)

2)I've seen people mention that FA step 1 biostats chapter is enough, would you agree or do you think the uw q's were enough?

3)Did the USPSTF guidelines help you in the real deal or were the q's related to that as annoying as the cardio/lipid ones on nbme 6?

4)Any point in sacrificing a few blocks of uw to do nbme 4?

 

[ShowtimeKaner88]

1)Did you feel there was alot of peds/ob in your exam that was not mentioned in uw? (They are my weakest as well.)

I did have a significant amount of OB on my exam. Peds not so much. Interestingly though the effort I put into covering my weaknesses turned them into my highest scoring sections. I think peds can be hit or miss but there guaranteed to be a decent amount of OB.

2)I've seen people mention that FA step 1 biostats chapter is enough, would you agree or do you think the uw q's were enough?

I didn't do the step 1 biostats. I just did UWorld and I think UW is the better option because there is guaranteed to be a research study with a group of questions for it. And that stuff isn't in step 1 FA. I felt 100% confident to handle any biostats on my exam with just UW alone.

3)Did the USPSTF guidelines help you in the real deal or were the q's related to that as annoying as the cardio/lipid ones on nbme 6?

I don't remember the specific questions from 6, but there is guaranteed to be a decent amount of questions about screening and testing guidelines. Enough so that it could impact your score. I know I had at least a few per block.

4)Any point in sacrificing a few blocks of uw to do nbme 4?

I personally don't think so




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[Md Blast]

1)Did you feel there was alot of peds/ob in your exam that was not mentioned in uw? (They are my weakest as well.)

I did have a significant amount of OB on my exam. Peds not so much. Interestingly though the effort I put into covering my weaknesses turned them into my highest scoring sections. I think peds can be hit or miss but there guaranteed to be a decent amount of OB.

2)I've seen people mention that FA step 1 biostats chapter is enough, would you agree or do you think the uw q's were enough?

I didn't do the step 1 biostats. I just did UWorld and I think UW is the better option because there is guaranteed to be a research study with a group of questions for it. And that stuff isn't in step 1 FA. I felt 100% confident to handle any biostats on my exam with just UW alone.

3)Did the USPSTF guidelines help you in the real deal or were the q's related to that as annoying as the cardio/lipid ones on nbme 6?

I don't remember the specific questions from 6, but there is guaranteed to be a decent amount of questions about screening and testing guidelines. Enough so that it could impact your score. I know I had at least a few per block.

4)Any point in sacrificing a few blocks of uw to do nbme 4?

I personally don't think so




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Thanks for the advice.
Took uwsa 2 today.
I felt like I was running out of time, couldn't remember alot of basic concepts, but was pleasantly surprised with the score. I did feel that it was very heavy on psych though, at least compared to others, which may have unrealistically boosted up my score since I did psych rotation recently.

My lowest subjects continue to be ob/gyn, peds, & neuro so I will probably sacrifice a day of uw to read those 3 chapters. What book would you(or anyone else) suggest for these subjects? FA or MTB?

 

[ShowtimeKaner88]

Thanks for the advice.
Took uwsa 2 today.
I felt like I was running out of time, couldn't remember alot of basic concepts, but was pleasantly surprised with the score. I did feel that it was very heavy on psych though, at least compared to others, which may have unrealistically boosted up my score since I did psych rotation recently.

My lowest subjects continue to be ob/gyn, peds, & neuro so I will probably sacrifice a day of uw to read those 3 chapters. What book would you(or anyone else) suggest for these subjects? FA or MTB?

I think either one would be fine. I think FA has more information in it so I would go with that if you're covering your weak areas. I felt MTB didn't have enough for my weak areas. It was more than enough for areas that I felt strong in though.


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