UWorld step 2??

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I'm beginning to start 3rd year clerkships. Would you guys recommend getting UWorld for Step 2 CK and doing questions subject based on rotations? Or should I save that for when I'm studying for Step 2? What about Kaplan qbank?

I'm just wondering because I learn better doing questions, but alot of posts on how to study for clerkship shelf exams are mainly reading/texts/review books (and see many people get great shelf scores). Any other good qbank sources? I'm new to this so plz forgive my ignorance

Also i would like to ask how do you guys recommend to study for clerkship shelf exams in general? (since we will probably be tired after a days work)

thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by hotchik

I'm beginning to start 3rd year clerkships. Would you guys recommend getting UWorld for Step 2 CK and doing questions subject based on rotations? Or should I save that for when I'm studying for Step 2? What about Kaplan qbank?!

I also learn best using questions.

I got a one year subscription to UWorld and used it in the fall semester. I stopped using it this spring for rotations because I wanted to save the IM questions for board prep.

You could try USMLEasy, which is an online repository of the PreTest questions, possibly plus some new questions. The downside to USMLEasy is that it is HARD so you get discouraged. Different rotations have other resources for questions, like MKSAP 4 or 5 for IM, AAFP for Family, UWise for OBGYN, sort of CLIPP for peds.

Originally Posted by hotchik

I'm beginning to start 3rd year clerkships. Would you guys recommend getting UWorld for Step 2 CK and doing questions subject based on rotations? Or should I save that for when I'm studying for Step 2? What about Kaplan qbank?

I'm just wondering because I learn better doing questions, but alot of posts on how to study for clerkship shelf exams are mainly reading/texts/review books (and see many people get great shelf scores). Any other good qbank sources? I'm new to this so plz forgive my ignorance

Also i would like to ask how do you guys recommend to study for clerkship shelf exams in general? (since we will probably be tired after a days work)

thanks in advance!

yes you should get a 1 year subscription to uworld and do questions throughout third year. shelf exams and grades are important so you need to use your best weapon which is uworld. for many subjects (surgery, ob, psych, peds) there aren't nearly enough questions in uworld so you should supplement with pretest, appleton and lange, or some other question book

I did questions along with rotations, took notes, etc. Then, you can reset it once so it erases everything and you can start over before the exam. It wasn't like taking a test I'd already taken and remembered all the questions for because there's so many questions

Thanks everyone for the replies...Looks like I will get UWorld qbank for next year. Are there any other good qbanks/qbooks and for which rotation recommended besides the one's mentioned above?

anyways, thanks for the help everyone!

Originally Posted by coffeebeanjenn

I also learn best using questions.

I got a one year subscription to UWorld and used it in the fall semester. I stopped using it this spring for rotations because I wanted to save the IM questions for board prep.

You could try USMLEasy, which is an online repository of the PreTest questions, possibly plus some new questions. The downside to USMLEasy is that it is HARD so you get discouraged. Different rotations have other resources for questions, like MKSAP 4 or 5 for IM, AAFP for Family, UWise for OBGYN, sort of CLIPP for peds.

Uwise is 1000 bucks or 600? that seems like a lot for one rotation.

Originally Posted by hotchik

I'm beginning to start 3rd year clerkships. Would you guys recommend getting UWorld for Step 2 CK and doing questions subject based on rotations? Or should I save that for when I'm studying for Step 2? What about Kaplan qbank?

I'm just wondering because I learn better doing questions, but alot of posts on how to study for clerkship shelf exams are mainly reading/texts/review books (and see many people get great shelf scores). Any other good qbank sources? I'm new to this so plz forgive my ignorance

Also i would like to ask how do you guys recommend to study for clerkship shelf exams in general? (since we will probably be tired after a days work)

thanks in advance!

It sounds like we have similar learning styles. I used a year long subscription to Uworld for the shelf exams, then reset it and used it for Step 2... I found it really helpful, my shelf exam scores were definitely improved by using UWorld and having gone through the entire QBank twice helped me nail Step 2 which was my best of the 3 step exams.

Errrrrrr, my institution has subscriptions to things like USMLEasyq, which I think is how I accessed it. I definitely did not pay, and I did not realize UWise was that much. I don't think it was helpful enough to warrant spending that kind of money.

What subjects does the world qbank cover? I'm starting out third year with an elective (EM... wacky schedule) and was wondering if I should get the qbank then or wait until my first real rotation (family).

Originally Posted by Girfaroo

What subjects does the world qbank cover? I'm starting out third year with an elective (EM... wacky schedule) and was wondering if I should get the qbank then or wait until my first real rotation (family).

you don't need UWorld for FM either. there are hundreds of questions on the AAFP website for free. unfortunately its an extremely desperate organization and they'll distribute your information and you'll receive tons of junk mail and junk email from the org and from equally desperate FM residency programs.

Hi,

I'm in the same boat. Start third year next monday with OB/GYN. Besides getting UWORLD what books/resources should I be using during the year to help with rotations?

Also - this is probably a silly question - what should I have with me in my white coat?

Thanks!!

With regard to UWorld, yes I would recommend a 1 yr subscription. It's not sufficient but at least there are enough questions to make you feel like you are learning something and to get used to vignettes. I used it for every rotation as an MS3, and I'm finishing up the entire qbank on my peds rotation now. All I have to do is do a 2nd pass before my Step2CK. UWorld IM actually saved me on both IM and Surgery.

uworld is an absolute MUST for third year.

i posted this in another thread, but using uworld and casefiles is almost sufficient for every rotation.

Augment with the following...
Surgery- NMS Case Book, Pestana
Medicine- Step Up to Medicine
OB/GYN- Blueprints
Peds- Pretest
Psych- First Aid, Lange
Neuro- Blueprints

that should pretty much save you from having to sift through all those rotation threads.

Originally Posted by Scissor88

Hi,

I'm in the same boat. Start third year next monday with OB/GYN. Besides getting UWORLD what books/resources should I be using during the year to help with rotations?

Also - this is probably a silly question - what should I have with me in my white coat?

Thanks!!

FWIW this is what I used:

Medicine - Step up to medicine - horrific book, do NOT buy. Far too dense, mistakes, unreadable in my opinion. Get casefiles or master the boards step 2 and do the uworld Qs.
OBGYN, FP, Peds - Casefiles/World
Psych - blueprints/World.
Surg - I used blueprints and it was good for general knowledge but not the most useful for the shelf. I think Just doing Uworld is good enough in that aspect. Also Surg recall for pimp questions = money.

Originally Posted by engineeredout

FWIW this is what I used:

Medicine - Step up to medicine - horrific book, do NOT buy. Far too dense, mistakes, unreadable in my opinion. Get casefiles or master the boards step 2 and do the uworld Qs.
OBGYN, FP, Peds - Casefiles/World
Psych - blueprints/World.
Surg - I used blueprints and it was good for general knowledge but not the most useful for the shelf. I think Just doing Uworld is good enough in that aspect. Also Surg recall for pimp questions = money.

This is how I know your opinion has no value whatsoever.

Originally Posted by RadicalRadon

This is how I know your opinion has no value whatsoever.

I heard step up to medicine is great, but are there mistakes like that dude/dudette says there are?

Thanks for this thread. There really don't seem to be many basic threads for those of us about to start 3rd year and looking for simple advice.

Originally Posted by RadicalRadon

This is how I know your opinion has no value whatsoever.

Wow, really? Harsh. I've seen other people with the same opinion posting here. Might be time to come to terms with the definition of "opinion".

I'm starting the year with IM. I'm going to get UW, but not sure what else to do. Thankfully I feel reasonably well prepared as far as interview, physical exam, and presenting patients, which makes starting out a bit less daunting.

Do y'all think the edition of Case Files matters? I have a lot of old ones.

edited to add: The newest Step Up is coming out August 23, 2012. The current one is from 2008. Kind of sucks, since I'll be done with my rotation by the time the new one is out.

Just wondering, thoughts on using a different QBank (e.g. Kaplan) during the year and UW closer to the exam? (as some recommend for Step 1, but I know this is different altogether)

Or better to just do UW over the year and then repeat it for Step 2?

I used the kaplan step 2 qbank (it is like 160 dollars for the whole year and you get a discount for being an AMA member) during the year and then used UWORLD for 2 weeks before the test. Got a 272 on the step 2 and 99s on all but one shelf. Kaplan for a year is a lot cheaper than UWORLD for a year and then your uworld is fresh.