USMLE USMLE - Official 2016 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

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Trogdor_The_Burninator

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Hello everyone!

With 2016 around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to start this thread and continue the 2015 thread into the new year!

Similar threads from the past have been extremely helpful to me (and I'm sure) and many others.

Good luck to everyone taking Step 2 CK in 2016!

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Overall step 1 content is more dense than CK but Step 1 is more predictable in term of content .. You know what needs to be done from day one and the syllabus is more clear and direct . Ck is all over and you will find yourself changing up plans or doubting your current plan .

Thanks! How much would you say a strong foundation from step 1 would help during your step 2 prep?
 
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Hey guys! I have just started preparing for CK and I have been hearing people talking about drug ads and abstracts on their exam and that majority of people find it difficult to solve them. What exactly are they and how do we prepare for them?
Thanks in advance!!

They're exactly what you already said - either research abstracts or drug ads. The reason everyone hates them is cause they're usually long and require more thinking (and thus time) to answer questions versus "what's next" clinical vignettes. There's no real way to prepare for them; UW had a few questions modeled after these and I felt they were good representations. My best advice is to save these types of vignettes (I only remember having one or two with 3-4 associated questions each) for last since they do take up more time but aren't necessarily worth more points.

Some of them were stats based questions (brush up on sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV/etc equations from Step 1) and others were more like, which is the best conclusion based on the results of this study.
 
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They're exactly what you already said - either research abstracts or drug ads. The reason everyone hates them is cause they're usually long and require more thinking (and thus time) to answer questions versus "what's next" clinical vignettes. There's no real way to prepare for them; UW had a few questions modeled after these and I felt they were good representations. My best advice is to save these types of vignettes (I only remember having one or two with 3-4 associated questions each) for last since they do take up more time but aren't necessarily worth more points.

Some of them were stats based questions (brush up on sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV/etc equations from Step 1) and others were more like, which is the best conclusion based on the results of this study.

Thank you so much buddy for the insight! :)
 
I need some advice from the hive mind.

I'm sixteen days out from Step 2CK and I'm stagnating.

55 days out - NBME #3: 229
31 days out - NBME #4: 231
17 days out - UWSA: 232

The same thing happened for Step 1. I was 239 on a NBME one month out, and only ended up scoring 241. So clearly there's something lacking in my preparation.
I need to pick up at least 20 pts over the next 16 days. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys.


What I've done so far:
UW peds x1 + incorrects
UW surgery x2
UW psych x1
UW obgyn x1 + incorrects
UW medicine: 38% remaining

the aforementioned practice exams

Planning to finish UW, go over FA/UW notes again, read Secrets, do the remaining two NBMEs.
 
So I'm atleast 1 year out from giving my Step 2.
How does this sound as a plan :
UW + MTB2 + Firecracker
IM : IM Essentials
Surgery : De Virgilio + Pestana
OBG : Case Files
Paeds : Case Files + PreTest
Psych : FA for Psych
Family Med : Case Files

Got a 251 in Step 1 ( dropped 10 points from my NBME average, would really love to be comfortably across the 260 mark for Step 2 ).

Advice and suggestions appreciated :D
 
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So I'm atleast 1 year out from giving my Step 2.
How does this sound as a plan :
UW + MTB2 + Firecracker
IM : IM Essentials
Surgery : De Virgilio + Pestana
OBG : Case Files
Paeds : Case Files + PreTest
Psych : FA for Psych
Family Med : Case Files

Got a 251 in Step 1 ( dropped 10 points from my NBME average, would really love to be comfortably across the 260 mark for Step 2 ).

Advice and suggestions appreciated :D


The best way to coast into a 260+ score on step 2 is to crush all of your shelf exams. If your school does not give clinical shelf exams, be sure to do all of the ones available online as you progress through the year. It is fairly common for people who score highly on shelf exams throughout the year to score highly on the step 2 with limited dedicated effort.
 
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The best way to coast into a 260+ score on step 2 is to crush all of your shelf exams. If your school does not give clinical shelf exams, be sure to do all of the ones available online as you progress through the year. It is fairly common for people who score highly on shelf exams throughout the year to score highly on the step 2 with limited dedicated effort.

Im an IMG and my school doesn't give Shelf exams. So will the Clinical Science Mastery Series in your link suffice , or is there any other way to evaluate my progress?
 
Im an IMG and my school doesn't give Shelf exams. So will the Clinical Science Mastery Series in your link suffice , or is there any other way to evaluate my progress?

Do all of the clinical mastery series forms for the shelf exams and all of the NBME forms for step 2. Also, do any free released questions from the NBME, which are also available on their website.
 
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IMG here too. I have got 4 months to give my Step 2.
My plan is to do Kaplan notes + MTB + Uworld. I plan on starting Uworld after completing all the reading. Aiming for >250.

When is it advisable to do the clinical mastery series? After finishing each subject's reading, before starting UW, alongside UW or after finishing UW?

Thanks!!!
 
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I'm just joining but found it useful to look over previous scores/tips when I was prepping for Step 2, so decided to pass along my scores as well. Hope this is helpful for someone.

Here were the scores I had:
Final Step 2 CK score: 245
Step 1: 245
NBME 4: 240 (4 weeks out, after having done solid Q bank for 10 days)
NBME 7: 242 (3 weeks out)
Free test: 85.8% (3 weeks out)
UWSA: 244 (2 weeks out)
NBME 6: 227 (5 days before exam, got really nervous and buckled down that week)
Avg NBME: 236
U World: 71% (2nd pass), first pass UWorld: 60%

Throughout M3:
-Studied for all my shelves as I went through M3 year (in hindsight I wish I had review First Aid Step 2 and annotated it). I did average on my IM shelf so wasn't sure how prepped I was
-Did Qbank x1 during M3 clerkships

Study month: Many people do this in 2.5-3 weeks, I needed 4 dedicated study weeks and then did some half fast studying (maybe 2 hrs of q bank a night) for 2 weeks
-For the first 3 weeks I did almost entirely Uworld, and did less than 1 hour a day of a review book of hard topics, videos, etc. For the last week I did mostly reading.
-It was useful for me to study with a friend; we would mainly do our own q bank but also quiz eachother, take coffee breaks, etc.
-UWorld x2 - This was my main resource and almost everything I did for my first 3 weeks.
-Reset Uworld shortly before my study month.
-Got through Uworld x1 in first 1.5 wks (I had done a few hundred before I took off time)
-UWorld x2 by 3 weeks
-Final week I wanted to get through my marked/wrong answers, but ran out of time, so mainly did other studying
-To keep focused on Uworld, I tried to follow a strict schedule and aimed to do 4 blocks a day. I worked 8am-12pm and finished roughly 1.5 blocks (66 questions), took an hour break to exercise/eat/relax, worked 1pm-430pm (1.5 blocks), and then finish 1 final block that night (that usually was all my studying but sometimes I would give up after less and do some reading or a video)
-Practice tests: UWSA was most helpful and representative of my score. NBMEs can cause stress and I don't think you need to do so many, but I found it helpful to do them and then use them more to go over topics with a friend
-Resources: I only read Secrets cover to cover, the rest I used as a reference
-USMLE Step 2 Secrets x2 - Reading once (took me 1.5 days) I think is well worth it
-First Aid Step 2 - I pent 1 or 1.5 days just skimming through and stopping at topics I had trouble with (mainly using high yield charts/algorithms), and also went through the "quick review"
-First Aid Step 1 - Reviewing harder topics (ex Neuro)
-University of Texas High Yield Shelf Videos - Watched these 4 at night after a day of studying: http://som.uthscsa.edu/StudentAffairs/thirdyear.asp
-MedEd videos on Ob-gyn (since UT didn't have OB videos)
-1 hour doing Uwise ob-gyn questions
- I didn't use Master the Boards, but some swear by it

To sum it up, I think UWorld Q bank was the best thing I spent time on, followed by the UWSA and Secrets. But there isn't 1 perfect resources, and it's easy to spread yourself too thin, so use what works best for you! And don't freak out if you get a terrible NBME score...they really don't seem to represent your final score (although a lot of people had scores similar to UWSA).

Best of luck!
 
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I stalked this thread a fair amount when I was in my dedicated study period so I thought I would give back.

Final Step 2 CK score: 270 (was super shocked when I found out. I'm not the top of the class or a genius. Did not expect it since I walked out of the exam bummed. There were some crazy stats/read a research abstract questions.)
Step 1: 242
Total study time: 3 weeks and 6 days.

Shelf exams during third year clerkships: 75th percentile on all of them (like clockwork). Read the most popular text for each clerkship but did not annotate First Aid or MTB or any other Step 2 text (Maybe it would've been helpful?).
Materials used: Uworld + whatever notes I took during my clerkships (I'm not very organized so I just had some scattered pieces of paper with HY info)

NBME 7: 242 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 253 ( 2 weeks out)
Free 120: 93% (1 week out)
U World: completed Uworld with my clerkships.
- First pass during study period was 72% (took me 2 weeks; redid all incorrect and marked questions), second pass was 95% (spent rest of the study period ODing on questions; only reviewed incorrect questions).

Schedule: Didn't really have a study schedule. Tried to do as many blocks as fast as possible. On a really good day, I can do about 9-10 blocks with the day as a review day. On a bad day, I did around 5 blocks. One rest day per week to avoid burn out.

Final thoughts: Uworld alone is definitely enough to get a decent score. Most of my classmates who did what I did got 250+ . Believe in yourself and what you learned. Some knowledge do come back to you!
 
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I stalked this thread a fair amount when I was in my dedicated study period so I thought I would give back.

Final Step 2 CK score: 270 (was super shocked when I found out. I'm not the top of the class or a genius. Did not expect it since I walked out of the exam bummed. There were some crazy stats/read a research abstract questions.)
Step 1: 242
Total study time: 3 weeks and 6 days.

Shelf exams during third year clerkships: 75th percentile on all of them (like clockwork). Read the most popular text for each clerkship but did not annotate First Aid or MTB or any other Step 2 text (Maybe it would've been helpful?).
Materials used: Uworld + whatever notes I took during my clerkships (I'm not very organized so I just had some scattered pieces of paper with HY info)

NBME 7: 242 (3 weeks out)
UWSA 253 ( 2 weeks out)
Free 120: 93% (1 week out)
U World: completed Uworld with my clerkships.
- First pass during study period was 72% (took me 2 weeks; redid all incorrect and marked questions), second pass was 95% (spent rest of the study period ODing on questions; only reviewed incorrect questions).

Schedule: Didn't really have a study schedule. Tried to do as many blocks as fast as possible. On a really good day, I can do about 9-10 blocks with the day as a review day. On a bad day, I did around 5 blocks. One rest day per week to avoid burn out.

Final thoughts: Uworld alone is definitely enough to get a decent score. Most of my classmates who did what I did got 250+ . Believe in yourself and what you learned. Some knowledge do come back to you!


congrats on your great score :) , i just wanna ask which books did you use to study for your clerkships or shelf exams ? since i am an IMG and have no idea !
 
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Hi everyone!

I wanted to post about my experiences as I found it helpful to read others. I took the test at the end of October and just got my score today.

Step 1: 240s
Study time: 1 month of easy rotation + 1 week of dedicated time
Shelf scores: Mostly between mid 80s to low 90s. Had one in the 70s on the Medicine rotation towards the middle of the year

NBME 4 240s (1 month out)
NBME 7 240s 3 day out (I had heard this was tough so decided to not do this as my last practice test to not freak myself out)
NBME 6 260s 2 day out

Final step 2: 260s

Study schedule:
I had actually postponed this test from August to October and ended up regretting this decision very much. I was coming from a tough end of third year and sub-I's and just could not motivate myself to study in August, during my original planned off time. However, I realized that this problem did not get better in October and I struggled with the same lack of motivation. I went through UWorld on tutor mode during this month. I tried making a study schedule but found it difficult to keep (which was not the case during Step 1 studying). During my last "dedicated" week of studying, I had trouble making it through 3-4 hours of studying a day. The last 3 days, I finally was able to strap down and studied primarily my weak areas with a combination of FA Step 2 and FA Step 1. The reason I chose to go back to FA Step 1 was because I had taken significant notes in that FA and was much more familiar with the text. There were many helpful charts that were still applicable to Step 2 CK. I also intermittently watched onlinemeded on subjects that I was particularly weak in (Heme/onc, immunology, etc) just to have different explanations of the same subject. In the end, I did not go through any of my shelf studying tools, as I just did not have the time too. They probably would have been far too detailed too, as I found the test to focus more on general concepts than details. I made myself take the last afternoon off.

Summary of resources:
- UWorld
- FA Step 1
- FA Step 2
- Onlinemeded

Exam day experience:
I was really nervous walking into exam day. I knew I hadn't given it all during my prep period (like I had during my step 1 studying). I spent all of the breaks thinking about the block that just happened. Walked out, feeling like I probably passed but did not feel like I did great. I had gotten most/all of the questions where you're locked in on your answer wrong. The test questions were more vague and more poorly worded than UWorld questions. Felt pretty similar to NBME and more general concept/vague than shelves. There were a few questions that I have only encountered on wards and nowhere else, just via random happenstance. Overall, glad this is over and I can move on with my life, but honestly, this test was not a very well written test and I could have swung in any which direction just based on how vague the patient stems were.
 
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IMG
Step 1 high 260s
Step 2 CK high 270s


Resources for step 2 CK I utilised:
1. Uworld, completed 1 attempt random timed, 82%
2. FA, read cover to cover once through
3. UWSA offline
Did not do NBMEs or CMS. Did not read MTBs or Step Up.


Prep time: 3 weeks part time while not on my shifts + 4 days full time on study leave


Packing list:
  • foam ear plugs
  • passport
  • scheduling permit
  • food sweets, anything high in sugar
  • fluids
  • toiletries, face towel, facial wash
  • jacket
  • wear pants with as few pockets as possible (you have to turn all pockets inside out every time you sign in)
Experience:
  • On arrival, check the proximity of the toilets
  • I took a walk in between every block to pee, drink fluids, stretch, +-snack.
  • Aim to have spare break time (rather more than less), I had about 40min of time unused by the end of the exam
  • Look at the last line of the question, the options, then the labs. Highlight abnormal labs, briskly speedread through the vignette from the start, then you should narrow down to 2 options usually.
  • Choosing 1 of the 2 final possible options is the most difficult step - often it's a game of 50-50 chance. Make a choice, flag the question and move on first. Can come back to review later
  • I flagged more questions ~10-15/40 on the actual exam as compared to on UW.
  • Some questions have alarmingly poor grammar with sentences which end midway and you might feel frustrated given how important this exam is.
  • I walked out feeling like I failed, but it was all right in the end. Guess the Bell Curve God exists.

Score release date:
Third or Fourth Wednesday?
-If you take your exam on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, then you will get your results on the third Wednesday.
Example, a student took the exam on April 13th, 2011 (Wednesday) then the results is expected on May 4th, 2011 (Wednesday).
-If you take your exam on Saturday or Monday or Tuesday then you will get your results on the fourth Wednesday.
Example, a student took the exam on April 11th, 2011 (Monday) then the results is expected on May 4th, 2011 (Wednesday).

Score release time:
Usuallly 9 AM Eastern time - but I got my email at 0830 AM Eastern time


Feel free to email me if I may help further.

Cheers
ossiclechain at gmail
 
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Score back yesterday, took the exam 11/14

Step 2 CK score: 265

Step 1: 253
Shelf avg: 88
NBME 4: 238 (toward end of 3rd year)
NBME 6: 240 (10 days before exam)
UWSA: 235 (8 days out)
U World: 75%

What I did:
-Studied for my shelves using pretest, onlinemeded, and UWorld, FA for psych clerkship
-Did ~75% of UW during M3, forget my average
-3 wks dedicated only used UW, had about 75 qs left when I took the exam
 
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11 days out from test day, currently through 1x UWorld (after 1X during clerkships) with 70% cumulative average but recent blocks are high 70s to low 80s.
UWSA today: 243
Should I go through UWorld again in the time remaining? Or do CMS? Should I add a text like MTB? Thanks
 
For recent test takers, how did you guys find the time constraints on the 2 CK compared to the UWorld blocks? Even more pressed for time, a little more relaxed, or same as UWorld?

I am a slow reader by nature and am finding I am really strapped for time in UWorld and the only way I can get through the blocks is to read the question first, glance at the answer list for some context and then speed read/skim the vignette and try to pick out any details that might be relevant (skimming this quickly/superficially makes it difficult to construct a clinical picture in my head as I am reading). Even doing this I have to settle on an answer virtually immediately and move to the next question or I will run out of time, so there is essentially no opportunity to engage in any level of deeper thought, or do any calculations which I find really frustrating because I feel it puts more emphasis on how fast I can read rather than my clinical knowledge or problem solving/critical thinking skills which is what the exam is supposed to be testing. When questions are too complex I have to just take an educated guess and move on even though when reviewing the question afterward I see that I would have easily arrived at the correct answer if I actually had a little bit of time to work through the nuances in my head. Anyways just ranting now, I only hope the real exam isn't even worse than UWorld in regards to time constraints. What have your experiences been in that regard?

Also, does anybody use highlighting in the vignettes to pick out key information or do you guys find this wastes too much time? Thanks everyone
 
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For recent test takers, how did you guys find the time constraints on the 2 CK compared to the UWorld blocks? Even more pressed for time, a little more relaxed, or same as UWorld?

I am a slow reader by nature and am finding I am really strapped for time in UWorld and the only way I can get through the blocks is to read the question first, glance at the answer list for some context and then speed read/skim the vignette and try to pick out any details that might be relevant (skimming this quickly/superficially makes it difficult to construct a clinical picture in my head as I am reading). Even doing this I have to settle on an answer virtually immediately and move to the next question or I will run out of time, so there is essentially no opportunity to engage in any level of deeper thought, or do any calculations which I find really frustrating because I feel it puts more emphasis on how fast I can read rather than my clinical knowledge or problem solving/critical thinking skills which is what the exam is supposed to be testing. When questions are too complex I have to just take an educated guess and move on even though when reviewing the question afterward I see that I would have easily arrived at the correct answer if I actually had a little bit of time to work through the nuances in my head. Anyways just ranting now, I only hope the real exam isn't even worse than UWorld in regards to time constraints. What have your experiences been in that regard?

Also, does anybody use highlighting in the vignettes to pick out key information or do you guys find this wastes too much time? Thanks everyone
Hi, I had my exam on the 23rd of November.

I actually did have more time constraints on the real exam. I generally don't have a problem with time, and I usually had 10-15 minutes per block on practice exams, but on the real exam, it wasn't the same; not because the questions were longer than practice questions (although some were), but because the choices were more vague and thus time consuming.
In the first few blocks, I used to read the whole questions and so I would end up with only 5-10 minutes; time that was not enough to review the marked questions (about 10-15 per block); that's why in the next blocks I skimmed through the questions, reading them as quickly as possible (from down-to-up, and looking for keywords), and so I'd have >10 minutes to review the marked questions.

My advice for time management:
1. If a there's a question you don't know, don't get stuck on it, just make an educated guess and move on, and then return to it later if you have time.
2. A lot of the questions that have pictures can be solved by just looking at the picture (for example: ECGs, rashes...etc), utilize that.
3. Most of the questions can be solved by skimming the questions, as a lot of them have unnecessary details that will just waste your time.
4. I, however, recommend reading the full questions in psychiatry and trauma/surgery questions.
5. As for the research abstract or drug add, I recommend leaving them to the end of the block (and hurry up on that block). I had a 3-question research abstract in a block of 38 questions, I didn't have any problem with time in that block.

As for highlighting the vignettes, I do recommend that. I didn't use to do that in practice exams, but I found it really helpful in the exam. It is especially helpful in long questions, as some of the important details can be forgotten. It also helps in reviewing marked questions.
 
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is onlinemeded more useful for the qbank or the notes/videos? And is it of any value if you do the kaplan books?
 
I am waiting for my score that is coming out this Wednesday - I am super nervous.

UWSA taken the day before my Step2CK predicted a 254 - but I thought I got killed on the real test. Has UWSA over-predicted anyone's real score by more than 10 points when taken within a week of the exam??
 
is onlinemeded more useful for the qbank or the notes/videos? And is it of any value if you do the kaplan books?
I used it for the videos. Didn't use it for the notes or questions. I find just having information recited to me and learning via osmosis works for me for initial basic review of information. Did not use the qbanks as much as I was barely getting through Uworld and all the other question sources. Onlinemeded gave a general basic overview of topics, which was useful for the initial review/foundation to build Uworld knowledge.
 
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Study time: 2.5 weeks.
- Did step 2 UWORLD throughout the year. Did well on shelfs (>80).
- Did step 2 UWORLD really focusing in 14 days.
- Two NBMEs: 255 and 260.
Actual Step 2: >270

I used other supplements when I was confused about a topic or treatment algorithm. Primarily Onlinemeded.
 
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Hi, I want to get some input on what resources to use for Step 2 CK? I have a low step 1 score, and want to score really well on my step 2 (hopefully 240+) to become more competitive for IM. I'm currently waiting to start rotations, so what can I do to prepare for rotations? What should I do to get honors on all my shelf exams? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you
 
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Maybe I'm the anomaly - but just took step 2 ck and found it remarkably similar to UWorld/UWSA, maybe a touch more general. Will let you know how things went in a month or so!
NBME 6 260
UWSA 261
UWorld ~80%
 
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Took it on 11/27.

Step 1 (June 2015): 254

NBME 6: 246 (12 days out)
NBME 7: 246 (5 days out)

Real thing: 264

I felt like everything was going wrong leading up to and during the test. NBME 7 left me feeling pretty insecure... no improvement after a week of studying. My girlfriend was in town the week before and I felt like I was letting myself get distracted by her (I feel bad in retrospect). My test was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I worried about the fact that I took that Thursday and most of Friday off.
On the day of the test, I woke up at 4am (3 hours before I needed to be up) and couldn't get back to sleep. The questions were more difficult than I expected, long and vague, with the difficulty level of Shelf exams. I was marking far more questions per block than I ever did on UWorld, some blocks I must have marked more than half (though mostly for naught, considering I only had time enough at the end of each block to go back and look at 0-5 questions) Even the questions where I knew what was going on, there always seemed to be 2 answer choices that were equally correct. I left feeling terrible, much worse than how I felt walking out of Step 1. For most questions that I looked up afterward, I was wrong.

Study plan:
DIT- Is it worth the $700? Probably not. I could have probably used other (less expensive) resources and not changed my score. I used it for Step 1 and thought, why not? Pros: similar to how it helped for Step 1, it helped to solidify fundamental concepts so that I wasted very little time on basic/fundamental questions that I might have forgotten and could spend most of my time on the more difficult ones. Cons: nowhere near the level of detail needed to nail tough questions. I would recommend this to someone that only needs to get a mediocre score. If you are looking to get a competitive score, it does not have as much to offer.

UWorld- Used it during the year to study for shelf exams (avg. 60s). Used for 2nd time during studying (avg. 80s). Much more helpful for difficult/tricky questions that you'll see on test day.

Besides those, I felt like studying for shelf exams during the year as well as questions that come up on wards came back to help. I also dedicated 2 Saturdays to seeing what a full-length test feels like, so I did 4 additional UWorld blocks after each NBME to make sure I know what what the burn of an 8-hour test (9 w/ breaks) feels like.

Conclusion: As many others have states on this thread, you feel like you failed and think about everything you did wrong but it usually turns out OK:)
 
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Have the gut feeling that I failed it. Unlike many people here I wasn't a clinical superstar. Squeezed by on shelf exams. Got 234 on NBME 6 and 220 on NBME 7 a few days before the test. The test itself felt way harder than UW. Had no time to recheck questions on any block. Afterwards realized I made amateur mistakes like confusing macular degen with glaucoma, NMS with serotonin syndrome, didn't know the nitty gritty of any of the clinical algorithms. Out of 20 questions I looked up, got 2 right.
 
So I'm atleast 1 year out from giving my Step 2.
How does this sound as a plan :
UW + MTB2 + Firecracker
IM : IM Essentials
Surgery : De Virgilio + Pestana
OBG : Case Files
Paeds : Case Files + PreTest
Psych : FA for Psych
Family Med : Case Files

Got a 251 in Step 1 ( dropped 10 points from my NBME average, would really love to be comfortably across the 260 mark for Step 2 ).

Advice and suggestions appreciated :D


AZ7 I found the case files were far too vague to be useful during my rotations and studying. During rotations I focused on completing DIT videos in the first week related to each rotation (Good warm up) and UW questions. I then used the resources listed below after completing DIT:

IM: IM essentials (I read this book in my introduction to medical foundations class prior to rotations), Pocket Medicine 5th edition MGH handbook of internal medicine, Uptodate, and onlinemeded. ------ Every patient I saw on the wards I both looked up in the pocket medicine and uptodate. Many students didn't like the pocket medicine book but I found it very helpful.

Surgery: Pestana

OBGYN: Blueprints (Everything you need for OBGYN)

Peds: Onlinemeded, Step-UP pediatrics section, (I recommend you go through the review powerpoint at University of texas website listed below. It covered tons of material. http://som.uthscsa.edu/StudentAffairs/thirdyear.asp

Psych: MTB2 Psych, onlinemeded

Family Med: Essentials of Family Medicine 6th edition (Best shelf score of my cores using this book)

I am going to list my study plan I followed for Step 2 Ck separately as I did have 1 month of IM sub-I and 1 month of dedicated study time leading up to my test.
 
I want to start out thanking all of the other students that have posted on this forum in the past as I found it tremendously helpful for studying for Step 2 ck. I told myself I would try and pass on what I learned from my experience as well.

For a little background I am an IMG student with a 231 Step 1 and I took my test on 11/29/16

- NBME #4 (4 weeks out): 237
- NBME #6 (3 weeks out): 265
- UW Self Assessment (3 days before test): 268
- UW during dedicated time: 77% -------------- I did UW during my rotations but I did not save the score
- UW 2nd time: 87%

Actual Step 2 CK score: 265

Schedule:
(2.5 months out) I took 2 weeks off studying for my psych rotation and completed all of the DIT videos in sequence (this essentially brings you through all of Step Up to Medicine)

(2 months out) I then started a 4 week IM Sub-I rotation that I knew was 7am-2pm and we did not write notes only rounding. This rotation helped get me back into the world of general medicine which I had not rotated in for 1 whole year.
---- During the whole rotation and leading into 2 weeks of dedicated study time I completed all of the UW questions spreading them out over 5 weeks (2-4 uworld tests of 40 questions per day) With these uworld questions I wrote down all of the answers in a notebook whether I got them right or not. I feel this was the biggest help in figuring out how to answer UW and USMLE questions.

(3 weeks out) I spent 5 days reading MTB2. I used this as a little break as the book was easy to read.

(2 weeks out) I completed Uworld again in 10 days taking 1 day off in the middle. This meant doing 6-8 tests of 40 per day. This portion was awful. I was getting tired and missing questions to which I knew the answers. However, it really built up my stamina for the test day. I did take 1 day off in the middle of this section for rest and recovery so I really completed the questions in a 5day + 1 rest + 4 day manner. I did make another notebook during these questions of only the wrong answers I kept commonly missing.

(Last 5 days before my test I scanned through the Secrets Book and the Notes I took from UW)
- Day 1- I took thanksgiving off completely
- Day 2 - UWSA + Secrets
- Day 3 - Secrets + My UW notebooks
- Day 4 - Secrets + My UW notebooks + Onlinemeded Biostats
- Day 5 - Very Little Secrets and UW notebooks but I shut it down by 1pm to play video games and relax.
- Test Day

My study schedule was daunting to say the least, but I am glad I stuck to it the whole way through.
- As listed in the my previous post I studied during each of my cores. I can not say enough how important I found sticking to a study schedule during my cores helped improve my score.
- Another important item is make sure to schedule some time for yourself and the important people in your life around you (significant other, friends, family, kids) Taking time off to watch one tv episode, going outside for a walk, or going out to eat with my girlfriend helped keep me mostly sane during studying.

Summary of Studying (2.5 months)
2 Weeks: DIT
5 Weeks: UW questions taking notes on all answer choices (Supplement with whatever you need to refresh topics ie) onlinemeded, uptodate, MTB, Step Up to Medicine)
1 week: Reading MTB
10 Days: UW Second Attempt
5 Days: Reviewing my UW notes and Secrets Book

Take what you will from this post. I know everyone needs to study differently for this test, my only hope is that it may even help 1 person with conquering Step 2 Ck.
 
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Exam date: 11/29
UWSA: 239
Actual score: 251

Step 1 (for reference): 247

I delayed the exam by a month because I didn't feel prepared, but I wish I took it earlier. Vague questions on test day, marked about 10 questions per section. Timing was a bitch.

I only used uWorld qbank, which I felt was somewhat helpful - only did about 75%. ~3 weeks of study time. Honestly, don't bother with all the other resources unless you've consistently failed other shelf exams.
 
AZ7 I found the case files were far too vague to be useful during my rotations and studying. During rotations I focused on completing DIT videos in the first week related to each rotation (Good warm up) and UW questions. I then used the resources listed below after completing DIT:

IM: IM essentials (I read this book in my introduction to medical foundations class prior to rotations), Pocket Medicine 5th edition MGH handbook of internal medicine, Uptodate, and onlinemeded. ------ Every patient I saw on the wards I both looked up in the pocket medicine and uptodate. Many students didn't like the pocket medicine book but I found it very helpful.

Surgery: Pestana

OBGYN: Blueprints (Everything you need for OBGYN)

Peds: Onlinemeded, Step-UP pediatrics section, (I recommend you go through the review powerpoint at University of texas website listed below. It covered tons of material. http://som.uthscsa.edu/StudentAffairs/thirdyear.asp

Psych: MTB2 Psych, onlinemeded

Family Med: Essentials of Family Medicine 6th edition (Best shelf score of my cores using this book)

I am going to list my study plan I followed for Step 2 Ck separately as I did have 1 month of IM sub-I and 1 month of dedicated study time leading up to my test.

Appreciate the insight :D , ill look into them before finalising which books to use. At the end i don't want to overload on resources, thats one mistake i made during Step 1 prep.
 
Ive been reading on a couple of different forums about using Uworld Step 3 questions as well this early on. Any one here doing/heard of the same? Or is it like an IMG thing only?
 
does anyone here feel that Step 2 CK is easier than the shelf exams? I did well pre-clinically and got a good step 1 score but i'm struggling to break the mid 70's on these shelf exams, i find them to be much more vague.
 
does anyone here feel that Step 2 CK is easier than the shelf exams? I did well pre-clinically and got a good step 1 score but i'm struggling to break the mid 70's on these shelf exams, i find them to be much more vague.
for what it's worth I've been finding the shelf exams very hard. I scored mid 260s on step 1, and my shelves started in the high-70s, but have been getting better to mid-80s now. hopefully the trend continues.
 
Hey guys, just wrote the 2CK on Dec. 23rd. Studied sporadically throughout the year (Reviewing First Aid step 1, as well as full Rx qbank), then 6 weeks dedicated study time averaging 10 hours per day / 7 days per week where I did full pass of MTB2, some of MTB3, and thorough 1x pass of UWorld.

Resources (usefulness rating in brackets):

First Aid step 1 (7.5/10)
USMLE Rx Q bank (7.5/10)
UWorld (9/10)
MTB 2 (full cover-to-cover) (7/10)
MTB 3 (everything except medicine and psych sections) (5/10)

Of particular note is that I actually found the Rx qbank to be quite good. Of course UWorld is the gold standard, but its impossible to cover the full breadth of required knowledge in only 2200 questions. I found the Rx bank, although slightly more straight forward than UWorld overall and with less comprehensive explanations, covered some important concepts and knowledge gaps that were missed in the UWorld qbank. I also did not find there to be significant errors in Rx as people have reported in the Kaplan qbank apparently.

MTB 2 was especially useful I found for obstetrics as well as the cardiology section for a refresher on the nuances of ACS management protocols etc. I used MTB 3 for the non-medicine sections after reading a number of people on these boards having found it useful, but I personally found it to be pretty borderline and it's probably the only resource I would not use if I had to go back and study again.

First Aid step 1 was actually extremely helpful as well for refresher, especially the pharm. I ignored most of the basic science (biochem pathways, basic immuno and pathology sections etc) since it is pretty low yield for the 2CK, but did a full pass of all organ systems sections, as well as all pharm and diseases covered in the basic sciences sections as well. Well worth it if you have the time imo.

Previous Scores:

Step 1: 242
USMLE Rx 2CK qbank (1st pass, random, untimed): 78%
UWorld step 2CK qbank (1st pass, random, untimed): 79%
UWorld 2CK UWSA (3 days out): 258

Exam Experience:

I found the questions overall on the 2ck to be slightly more superficial (less multi-level thinking) but also more ambiguous than UWorld. Most of the questions are stuff you can't just memorize from studying (even less so than step 1) but rather you have to reason through and take an educated guess at it. Thus, basically what everyone says about you not having a clue how you did coming out of the exam is true. I got all of the multi-step questions right (where it locks your answer in before moving to the next part and revealing the answer to the first part), but also know I got a couple easy questions wrong by panicking and changing my answer right as time ran out on the block, immediately regretting changing the answer. Really stupid. When in doubt, just go with your initial hunch. In terms of the time restraints, I found it extremely similar to UWorld. I had no drug ads in the exam, and one three-part research article question that was actually really difficult despite having plenty of time for it. There was also barely any ethics/social science on my exam. Basically I feel like I could have gotten anything from 230-260.

Hopefully will find out 2CK score in the next couple weeks, good luck everyone.
 
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Hey guys, just wrote the 2CK on Dec. 23rd. Studied sporadically throughout the year (Reviewing First Aid step 1, as well as full Rx qbank), then 6 weeks dedicated study time averaging 10 hours per day / 7 days per week where I did full pass of MTB2, some of MTB3, and thorough 1x pass of UWorld.

Resources (usefulness rating in brackets):

First Aid step 1 (7.5/10)
USMLE Rx Q bank (7.5/10)
UWorld (9/10)
MTB 2 (full cover-to-cover) (7/10)
MTB 3 (everything except medicine and psych sections) (5/10)

Of particular note is that I actually found the Rx qbank to be quite good. Of course UWorld is the gold standard, but its impossible to cover the full breadth of required knowledge in only 2200 questions. I found the Rx bank, although slightly more straight forward than UWorld overall and with less comprehensive explanations, covered some important concepts and knowledge gaps that were missed in the UWorld qbank. I also did not find there to be significant errors in Rx as people have reported in the Kaplan qbank apparently.

MTB 2 was especially useful I found for obstetrics as well as the cardiology section for a refresher on the nuances of ACS management protocols etc. I used MTB 3 for the non-medicine sections after reading a number of people on these boards having found it useful, but I personally found it to be pretty borderline and it's probably the only resource I would not use if I had to go back and study again.

First Aid step 1 was actually extremely helpful as well for refresher, especially the pharm. I ignored most of the basic science (biochem pathways, basic immuno and pathology sections etc) since it is pretty low yield for the 2CK, but did a full pass of all organ systems sections, as well as all pharm and diseases covered in the basic sciences sections as well. Well worth it if you have the time imo.

Previous Scores:

Step 1: 242
UWorld step 2CK qbank (1st pass, random, untimed): 79%
UWorld 2CK UWSA (3 days out): 258

Exam Experience:

I found the questions overall on the 2ck to be slightly more superficial (less multi-level thinking) but also more ambiguous than UWorld. Most of the questions are stuff you can't just memorize from studying (even less so than step 1) but rather you have to reason through and take an educated guess at it. Thus, basically what everyone says about you not having a clue how you did coming out of the exam is true. I got all of the multi-step questions right (where it locks your answer in before moving to the next part and revealing the answer to the first part), but also know I got a couple easy questions wrong by panicking and changing my answer right as time ran out on the block, immediately regretting changing the answer. Really stupid. When in doubt, just go with your initial hunch. In terms of the time restraints, I found it extremely similar to UWorld. I had no drug ads in the exam, and one three-part research article question that was actually really difficult despite having plenty of time for it. There was also barely any ethics/social science on my exam. Basically I feel like I could have gotten anything from 230-260.

Hopefully will find out 2CK score in the next couple weeks, good luck everyone.

My study resource and UWSA score almost identical to yours. My post-exam feeling was also very similiar. My final score was a 234.
 
Now you're scaring me :eek:

yeah - definitely not the most reassuring news to hear! But also, I would venture to say that @Caltechstud is the exception and not the rule (UWSA has proven to be quite accurate/underpredict for almost all recent test-takers). Scary to hear about the underperformance, but that shouldn't shake your confidence!
 
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yeah - definitely not the most reassuring news to hear! But also, I would venture to say that @Caltechstud is the exception and not the rule (UWSA has proven to be quite accurate/underpredict for almost all recent test-takers). Scary to hear about the underperformance, but that shouldn't shake your confidence!

The problem was that for UWSA - 90% of Q's concepts came straight out of the Q bank. But on the real step2CK - I thought less than half of the Q's concepts was from UWorld Qbank. The Qs were not only ambiguous, but for half of them, I thought 2 answers were equally correct. What I ended up putting was always just a toss up guess.

Another issue was that the actual Step2CK's wording was quite awkward compared to UWorld, and it distracted from my typical style of thinking. If I could go back in time, I would have done at least 2 NBME practice tests and average those scores as my predictor, instead of UWSA.
 
for what it's worth I've been finding the shelf exams very hard. I scored mid 260s on step 1, and my shelves started in the high-70s, but have been getting better to mid-80s now. hopefully the trend continues.

Im stuck in the low to mid 70's so far. Any tips on how you've improved? I have Medicine, Surgery and Neuro left shelf exam wise.
 
Im stuck in the low to mid 70's so far. Any tips on how you've improved? I have Medicine, Surgery and Neuro left shelf exam wise.
This is strange, but I've done better by limiting the number of pratice questions and focusing on the material itself. For my lowest shelf i did 1100 questions over 6-7 weeks. Did not help. I think it's because my baseline knowledge was bad.
Also idk if you've had medicine, but always having medicine knowledge helps.

Edit just saw u still have medicine left. For medicine, my highest shelf, I focused on step up to medicine. Did 650 u world questions. Supplement with onlinemeded.

For more experiences head over to the internal medicine shelf thread.
 
Anyone who has been doing UW in random mode, do you recommend taking down UW notes in a random sequence as they appear in a block or keeping separate notebooks for each subject?
Just started doing UW and really confused in regards to managing my long UW notes. Any advice will be appreciated.
 
Anyone who has been doing UW in random mode, do you recommend taking down UW notes in a random sequence as they appear in a block or keeping separate notebooks for each subject?
Just started doing UW and really confused in regards to managing my long UW notes. Any advice will be appreciated.

For me after i done with a block, i write the title of questions on seperate paper in systematic pattern as neuro questions 21,22,23,35,40, infectious 1,2,7,13,30, ...etc then start writing notes on papers : infectious sheet, neuro sheet, GIT sheet ... etc , after finishing from each note, i wrote the title in documents on my laptop so i can easily reach it by search function. Each document contains only one branch eg. Neuro document, infectious document ... etc.
Its long process but worth it.
Advice : if you will study for ck only from uworld, first do the subject in seperate, thats much better. But if you already done your reading its better to do it randomly.
 
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For me after i done with a block, i write the title of questions on seperate paper in systematic pattern as neuro questions 21,22,23,35,40, infectious 1,2,7,13,30, ...etc then start writing notes on papers : infectious sheet, neuro sheet, GIT sheet ... etc , after finishing from each note, i wrote the title in documents on my laptop so i can easily reach it by search function. Each document contains only one branch eg. Neuro document, infectious document ... etc.
Its long process but worth it.
Advice : if you will study for ck only from uworld, first do the subject in seperate, thats much better. But if you already done your reading its better to do it randomly.

Hey, the suggestion sounds really good!!! I guess creating a numbered index with question titles on a word document will be a great way to quickly search the topic of interest. Thank you so much for sharing the great idea! I am going to try this out! :)
 
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