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I'm just going to lay it all out for you--the nitty-gritty. There's no modesty, self-righteousness or shame in this post--just a little honesty for the rest of you crammers worrying about Step II CK.
HOW HAVE I DONE SO FAR IN MEDICAL SCHOOL?
Well, I could have done better--as I'm sure we all could have. I'm providing my scores not for you to laugh at, but for the sake of comparison (but I suppose if you feel the inclination, go right ahead and laugh), because I know when I was wandering through the forums in my last ditch efforts to find hints for Step II, I was hoping people would post numbers so I had something to go by. I got a 209 on Step I. I wasn't happy with that score to be honest with you, but it's not failing either. Will I get a job with that score? Sure. Will it be my first choice residency/institution--probably not. Third year I accrued NBME Shelf exam scores between 66 and 83. (The 66 probably would have been higher had I actually finished said exam. Who would've thought that the Surgery Shelf wouldn't have any surgery on it? Very tricky, NBME--I'm on to you.
)
WHAT DID I DO TO PREPARE FOR STEP II?
I studied for two-and-a-half weeks--not including weekends. Quite honestly, I knew taking Step II as close to my 3rd year clerkships as possible would be my best option. Why? Because as a crammer I know my powers of retention are lacking. This served me well. I'm not saying if you're a crammer you should try to shove up your test date, but just realize that if you're anything like me, there's nothing like panic to get you to hit the books.
1. I did exactly twelve 46-question USMLE World practice tests, all random questions, all timed. (No where near finishing the entire bank of questions.) Then I went over each one with a fine-toothed comb. I really only finished one exam per day. When I didn't understand/know about the information in the answer, I pulled out my old friend "Cecil's Essential's of Medicine" and read. I loved this book. It's concise, readable and great for the crammer. I finished half of it and it bought me an 81 on the Internal Medicine shelf. I love it so much I'd marry it. If it would have me, of course. And then only if my husband wouldn't mind.
2. I read Crush Step II from cover to cover, ONCE. Just once, because you know us crammers don't have much time. In fact, the night before the exam I was finishing the last two chapters as I lounged in bed. Bed is a great place to study, by the way.
That's all I did. There was no more.
ON TEST DAY:
1. I sat down and finished the first three blocks as fast as I could. It's not something I recommend because by the time I was 10 questions into the 3rd one, I was desperately trying to stay focused. I'm not suffering from ADHD or anything, but a quick walk around every two blocks is probably the way to go. Otherwise you may go insane.
2. I realized that there wasn't near as much pediatrics on the exam as there was OB/GYN. I recommend focusing study time more on the lady parts, if you're strapped for time.
3. I downed an entire Red Bull. This was not good. I don't recommend drinking the whole can at once. You may need to stay awake, but you don't need any more bathroom trips than your break-time allows. Small sips, people, small sips. (Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee--it's the devil. Besides, it's not going to stay warm in that crappy little locker they give you anyway, so give it up.)
4. I noted how similar the questions were to USMLE World. I had two blocks that I thought were incredibly easy, and two blocks I thought were extremely difficult (I really had no clue what some of the questions were asking). The rest were somewhere in between, and I felt I performed on each block about as well as I had on my practice exams.
5. Don't do the stinky tutorial at the beginning. If you did USMLE World or Kaplan, it's basically the same. It will save you some potty time in case you do actually drink the whole can of Red Bull at once. I panicked thinking there'd be something profound within that text, and read the whole thing because I'm stupid. Lesson? Don't be me.
6. The information I got from cramming on USMLE World Questions and Crush Step II really did end up on my exam. I recommend going over the diuretics, inherited coagulation disorders and inherited immunodeficiencies. They'll be on there for certain, and they're easy to recognize even if you just gloss over them. Nothing better than a quick point!
7. I don't know who got the brilliant idea about putting slides in this exam, but there they were. If you have Crush Step II there's a nice list of subjects in the back of the text of things that you should know the "look" of. It will only get you the answer to a few questions, but if you have the time and want the points, there they are! (I didn't have time to look at the pictures, but boy-howdy, if I did...)
8. I ate a turkey sandwich from subway. Lunch is good. Don't skip lunch.
THE RESULTS...
I prayed a lot. You too can pray to God, Buddha, Allah, Krishna, the Great Pumpkin or whatever deity you prefer. You can do whatever atheists do instead of praying if that's your thing. If a good score warrants animal sacrifice, then I say cover your bases. I took the exam on the 27th because 27 is my lucky number. A little superstition never hurt anyone--at least not anyone I know. (Wow, there's a lot of sarcasm in this paragraph...)
So, I got my result last week and I got a 244. I don't know quite how this happened, because according to Dr. Phil--the source of all true knowledge in the world--nothing predicts future behavior quite like past behavior... And yet I'm not staring at another 209. Will this strategy work for you? Maybe. I can't make any guarantees, but I wanted to provide the rest of you crammers out there with a little hope that even you can do well.
If there are any questions I can answer for any of you, you know where to find me. Hate mail, unconstructive criticism and death threats of course, can be sent to the same message thread.
Best of luck to all of you.
P.S. I like icons.
P.P.S. With all seriousness, I think the key to cramming for this thing is quality and not quantity. Crammers know that they can't possibly get in all of the information that they need to in the time that they have. I doubt even non-crammers have that kind of time to tell you the truth. However, in the time that you DO have to study make sure that you know the topics you DO go over well. I think that's the main difference between my scores on Step I and Step II. On Step I, I tried shoving in as much information from about twelve different sources as I possibly could. I was hoping that all these little tidbits of information would find their way into my brain and somehow I would magically be able to apply them when the exam came around. I was wrong. This time I used 3 sources. Just three. And I only used two to supplement what I was getting from my main body of information. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, I did better. For all of those individuals out there who were able to get through all of Qbank, I commend thee. I built up some pretty poor study habits in the past that I'm regretting now. However, I did what I could in the time I had. If you need to take a break, take a break. If you need to study, study. I can't run a marathon, but I can sprint 50 yds. with all I'm worth. For the rest of you crammers out there, run those 50 yds. with all you've got too. Focus, and breathe.
HOW HAVE I DONE SO FAR IN MEDICAL SCHOOL?
Well, I could have done better--as I'm sure we all could have. I'm providing my scores not for you to laugh at, but for the sake of comparison (but I suppose if you feel the inclination, go right ahead and laugh), because I know when I was wandering through the forums in my last ditch efforts to find hints for Step II, I was hoping people would post numbers so I had something to go by. I got a 209 on Step I. I wasn't happy with that score to be honest with you, but it's not failing either. Will I get a job with that score? Sure. Will it be my first choice residency/institution--probably not. Third year I accrued NBME Shelf exam scores between 66 and 83. (The 66 probably would have been higher had I actually finished said exam. Who would've thought that the Surgery Shelf wouldn't have any surgery on it? Very tricky, NBME--I'm on to you.
)WHAT DID I DO TO PREPARE FOR STEP II?
I studied for two-and-a-half weeks--not including weekends. Quite honestly, I knew taking Step II as close to my 3rd year clerkships as possible would be my best option. Why? Because as a crammer I know my powers of retention are lacking. This served me well. I'm not saying if you're a crammer you should try to shove up your test date, but just realize that if you're anything like me, there's nothing like panic to get you to hit the books.
1. I did exactly twelve 46-question USMLE World practice tests, all random questions, all timed. (No where near finishing the entire bank of questions.) Then I went over each one with a fine-toothed comb. I really only finished one exam per day. When I didn't understand/know about the information in the answer, I pulled out my old friend "Cecil's Essential's of Medicine" and read. I loved this book. It's concise, readable and great for the crammer. I finished half of it and it bought me an 81 on the Internal Medicine shelf. I love it so much I'd marry it. If it would have me, of course. And then only if my husband wouldn't mind.
2. I read Crush Step II from cover to cover, ONCE. Just once, because you know us crammers don't have much time. In fact, the night before the exam I was finishing the last two chapters as I lounged in bed. Bed is a great place to study, by the way.
That's all I did. There was no more.
ON TEST DAY:
1. I sat down and finished the first three blocks as fast as I could. It's not something I recommend because by the time I was 10 questions into the 3rd one, I was desperately trying to stay focused. I'm not suffering from ADHD or anything, but a quick walk around every two blocks is probably the way to go. Otherwise you may go insane.
2. I realized that there wasn't near as much pediatrics on the exam as there was OB/GYN. I recommend focusing study time more on the lady parts, if you're strapped for time.
3. I downed an entire Red Bull. This was not good. I don't recommend drinking the whole can at once. You may need to stay awake, but you don't need any more bathroom trips than your break-time allows. Small sips, people, small sips. (Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee--it's the devil. Besides, it's not going to stay warm in that crappy little locker they give you anyway, so give it up.)
4. I noted how similar the questions were to USMLE World. I had two blocks that I thought were incredibly easy, and two blocks I thought were extremely difficult (I really had no clue what some of the questions were asking). The rest were somewhere in between, and I felt I performed on each block about as well as I had on my practice exams.
5. Don't do the stinky tutorial at the beginning. If you did USMLE World or Kaplan, it's basically the same. It will save you some potty time in case you do actually drink the whole can of Red Bull at once. I panicked thinking there'd be something profound within that text, and read the whole thing because I'm stupid. Lesson? Don't be me.
6. The information I got from cramming on USMLE World Questions and Crush Step II really did end up on my exam. I recommend going over the diuretics, inherited coagulation disorders and inherited immunodeficiencies. They'll be on there for certain, and they're easy to recognize even if you just gloss over them. Nothing better than a quick point!
7. I don't know who got the brilliant idea about putting slides in this exam, but there they were. If you have Crush Step II there's a nice list of subjects in the back of the text of things that you should know the "look" of. It will only get you the answer to a few questions, but if you have the time and want the points, there they are! (I didn't have time to look at the pictures, but boy-howdy, if I did...)
8. I ate a turkey sandwich from subway. Lunch is good. Don't skip lunch.
THE RESULTS...
I prayed a lot. You too can pray to God, Buddha, Allah, Krishna, the Great Pumpkin or whatever deity you prefer. You can do whatever atheists do instead of praying if that's your thing. If a good score warrants animal sacrifice, then I say cover your bases. I took the exam on the 27th because 27 is my lucky number. A little superstition never hurt anyone--at least not anyone I know. (Wow, there's a lot of sarcasm in this paragraph...)
So, I got my result last week and I got a 244. I don't know quite how this happened, because according to Dr. Phil--the source of all true knowledge in the world--nothing predicts future behavior quite like past behavior... And yet I'm not staring at another 209. Will this strategy work for you? Maybe. I can't make any guarantees, but I wanted to provide the rest of you crammers out there with a little hope that even you can do well.If there are any questions I can answer for any of you, you know where to find me. Hate mail, unconstructive criticism and death threats of course, can be sent to the same message thread.
Best of luck to all of you.
P.S. I like icons.
P.P.S. With all seriousness, I think the key to cramming for this thing is quality and not quantity. Crammers know that they can't possibly get in all of the information that they need to in the time that they have. I doubt even non-crammers have that kind of time to tell you the truth. However, in the time that you DO have to study make sure that you know the topics you DO go over well. I think that's the main difference between my scores on Step I and Step II. On Step I, I tried shoving in as much information from about twelve different sources as I possibly could. I was hoping that all these little tidbits of information would find their way into my brain and somehow I would magically be able to apply them when the exam came around. I was wrong. This time I used 3 sources. Just three. And I only used two to supplement what I was getting from my main body of information. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, I did better. For all of those individuals out there who were able to get through all of Qbank, I commend thee. I built up some pretty poor study habits in the past that I'm regretting now. However, I did what I could in the time I had. If you need to take a break, take a break. If you need to study, study. I can't run a marathon, but I can sprint 50 yds. with all I'm worth. For the rest of you crammers out there, run those 50 yds. with all you've got too. Focus, and breathe.
