Question about improving from step I to step II

[tatabox80]

Hi there,
I am just about to start my clerkships and was wondering...are the shelf exams pretty indicative of what you will find on step II? HAve you heard of people not doing all that well on Step I then doing well on step II?

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[electra]

I have heard of people doing better on Step 2, and that is becuase the two tests are very different. Step 1 is largely fact-based, while Step 2 is more clinical in nature. Once you are on the wards for awhile, you realize that Step 2 is also fact based, but in a different context than Step 1.
I didn;t take any shelf exams except the NMBE (old USMLE) and it was similar.

Hi there,
I am just about to start my clerkships and was wondering...are the shelf exams pretty indicative of what you will find on step II? HAve you heard of people not doing all that well on Step I then doing well on step II?

 

[14022]

Hi there,
I am just about to start my clerkships and was wondering...are the shelf exams pretty indicative of what you will find on step II? HAve you heard of people not doing all that well on Step I then doing well on step II?

One of our professors writes Q's for the NBME and he said that the questions for the shelves and Step 2 come from the same question bank and are therefore written by the same people. However, the step 2 questions tend to be easier than the shelf questions because you are expected to know more about a specific discipline while you are focusing on that discipline rather than 6 months later when you may be reviewing it. However, I have taken every shelf and I have taken step 2 and although the average step 2 question was easier than the average shelf question, there were still plenty of difficult questions on step 2.

That being said, I think the best way to do well on step 2 is to do as well as you can on the shelves and then take step 2 as early in fourth year as possible while everything is still fresh in your head.

Also, I think it is easier to do better on step 2 due to the relative lack of competition. Every student in the country busts their hump to do well on step 1. And when the mediocre student (as well as the good students) studies for step 1 for months and pulls his 250 to get into ortho or ENT or whatever, they then take step 2 late in fourth year so their scores are not reported to residency programs and they can't mess up their chances of matching due to a poor step 2 score. So they blow off step 2 and take it in February when it means nothing. Therefore, these people bring down the average. Therefore, if you really need to do well on step 2 and put in the effort, it is easier to get the results.

 

[neilc]

i did far better on step 1 than step 2. lost of us that did poorly on step 1 make sure to kick butt on step 2. also, the test is a different beast than step 1. while i was never great at the basic science details, i always have performed better clinically. so, if that is you, i think you can look forward to a better run at step 2.

btw, do not underestimate the importance of step 2, especially with a bad step 1. all the PD's and programs i have talked to were very happy with my step 2, and prefer a strong step 2 to a strong step 1. the only reason step 1 is such a big deal is that all applicants will have it. so, a strong step 2 can really make up for a bad step 1, at least in most circumstances...of course, the derm/ent/uro etc...applicants need a strong step 1 period. but, for the non to moderately competitve specialties it really can help.