Step 1: 241
Honors: IM, Surgery, Psych
UWSA 1: 252
Step 2CK: 263
Throughout the year:
- OME with note taking (I regret the note taking, perhaps it helped me learn it, but took way too long)
- SketchyPharm- watched relevant videos (e.g. ACEi/ARBs for IM, etc.)
- UW for the rotation I was in, completed all Qs at least 1x during each rotation, sometimes a second time or incorrects (Surgery and OBGYN)- if you want to accomplish this for IM you have to start early- I did 20Q/day every day, rain or shine; also helps if you do some IM questions during Family (because what else are you going to study? Do not do the AAFP question- completely useless)
- completed UW 1x during the year because of this
- Emma Holiday videos (University of Texas)- she's the best, for reals. Pretty sure she's a genius.
- Surgery- + pretest (moderately useful, but man were they hard sometimes)
- OBGYN- + ACOG questions (moderately useful)
- Family- AAFP questions (complete waste of time)
Dedicated study (8 weeks while on Psych, so not technically "off", but I was only at the hospital a few hours a day, studied 6-8hr/day):
- OME- only videos that I needed a refresher on (kept a list and just went through them gradually)
- SketchyPharm- only videos that I needed a refresher on (kept a list and just went through them gradually)
- Emma Holliday videos- all (she's so clutch)
- IM Essentials- did these after I finished IM (8 wks out from exam). Low-moderate yield, really didn't think it was that worth it, but I needed something to do while on an outpatient IM elective so I cranked through them in about a week.
- Reset UWorld and did it all questions again, doing timed 40Q tests to practice the timing of the exam. Then did incorrects again. Took one bullet's worth of notes per question if necessary on the high-yield info, reread the notes I took during the week leading up to the exam. I found this to be very, very useful, as I would write down the thought patterns I had that were incorrect/questions I kept missing until the right idea was drilled into my brain (e.g. if it's arthritis that looks like RA/SLE but is more acute, think Parvo and look for h/o exposure to kids. Can't tell you how many times I missed that.) Didn't organize these notes or anything, just had a notepad and went line by line (having different pads/any organization just takes more time, didn't think it was worth it). I know some people get bogged down by note taking, I avoided this by only doing one bullet/Q and only writing stuff down if I definitely needed to. Better to take no notes and get through UW than to take notes and not make it through- don't get bogged down in notes.
- Total UW (during year + dedicated): 2x all, 1x incorrects.
From my perspective,
all you need is UW. I'm not saying other resources aren't useful- they really can be. For example, OME often explained things better than UW (e.g. PSC vs PBC- such a great video), so those videos helped me to really grip the UW knowledge. So use whatever you need to get that stuff to make sense, but as far as the body of knowledge you need to learn goes,
that body is UW- plain and simple. I spent my time learning UW like the back of my hand, not worrying too much about my other extremities (e.g. IM essentials, OME).
Biggest piece of advice-
study for your shelves throughout the rotation, not just at the end. Honoring is good and all, but at the end of the day my biggest motivation to study hard throughout the
whole rotation (not just the 3 weeks leading up to the shelf) was I knew all of it would pay off for Step 2 because it would quicken my recall (also- you know your medicine better and can care better for your patients). I had no time off after MS3 year before taking Step 2- literally took the shelf for my last rotation on Friday, June 16th and my Step 2 on Monday, June 19th (for personal reasons + I'm EM so I wanted an externship in July). This meant I had to work hard throughout the year and I had to work my butt off pulling double-time on my last two MS3 rotations (IM and Psych). I'm an average student, no brainiac, just methodical and hard-working. Put in the work throughout the year, plan ahead, it'll pay off.
