advice - should i move up test date?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Day man

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
300
Reaction score
1
I'm sick of studying. Most last clerkships were IM (finished about 6 weeks before step 2 studying), and neuro. I spent a day reviewing Ob and a day on Pysche. My shelves were all in the low to high 80s.

I'm completely re-doing UW...so far my overall percentage is 79%, doing 5-6 blocks per day. I wouldn't say I remember the questions...but the teaching points are definitely still very fresh. I have 12 blocks left...and my exam is the 14th.

I'm thinking about moving it up to Monday/Tuesday, as I'm pretty burnt out already. For what it's worth, I'm also going into ortho, and about 95% of the programs don't care about step 2 as long as your step 1 is good.

Does this seem like an awful idea, and really bad example of rationalization? Thanks for any advice.
 
I'm sick of studying. Most last clerkships were IM (finished about 6 weeks before step 2 studying), and neuro. I spent a day reviewing Ob and a day on Pysche. My shelves were all in the low to high 80s.

I'm completely re-doing UW...so far my overall percentage is 79%, doing 5-6 blocks per day. I wouldn't say I remember the questions...but the teaching points are definitely still very fresh. I have 12 blocks left...and my exam is the 14th.

I'm thinking about moving it up to Monday/Tuesday, as I'm pretty burnt out already. For what it's worth, I'm also going into ortho, and about 95% of the programs don't care about step 2 as long as your step 1 is good.

Does this seem like an awful idea, and really bad example of rationalization? Thanks for any advice.

Which ortho program don't care about step2 ?
 
For the majority of surgical residencies (I'm sure there's exceptions to this) step 1 >>>>>>>>>>step 2. This especially is true of ortho programs. I've only even seen 4 programs that require you have taken step 2 and passed, prior to submitting eras.

You don't want to bomb it, but it's very low on the list. A stellar score can help offset a poor performance on step 1 though. If you're interested in ortho I suggest going to www.orthogate.org
 
From everything I've seen in my third year, your personality and ability to mesh with the rest of the team >> exam scores in surgery.

As for OP's question, I would, of course, suggest trying for the very best step score you can possibly get, whether that means continuing to push yourself to study, or getting it out of the way if you feel like you really just can't study anymore and will only forget things from here on out.
 
Above: You're 100% right. A paper/study came out've HSS last year ("success in orthopedic training" or something along those lines) regarding what factors play the biggest role in selection to a residency program. Overwhelmingly, performance at away rotations was number. It comes down to noone wants to work with a douche/lazy coworker. Some programs are more stat driven than others, but being working hard and a good human being can take you a long, long way.

Anyway, might as well close this thread...it was either move it up to today or keep it for Thursday and I chickened out. I'll post my experience in the scores thread later, I've mainly used Secrets + UW, with the kaplan audio lectures here and there. Thanks for the replies.
 
Top