Biostats and epidemiology

[calespine]

Are you guys doing anything special to study for the biostatistics and epidemiology questions they're adding to step 2 ck? I expect they will be added mid-august since that's when they're doing the "modifications." Do you think the questions in usmleworld are enough, or should I get another book? What are you guys using/used for biostats and epidemiology? Thanks!

"small increases in the number of biostatistics and epidemiology items will appear in Step 2 beginning in 2010 and in Step 3 in 2011."

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[swtiepie711]

I'm interested in what pp are doing too. Epi/Biostats is a weak area for me, according to UW but I haven't done anything to specifically address that weakness, other than read UW explanations & try to understand (which isn't easy for me - bias? chi square? ttest? OR? not my forte!)

 

[calespine]

bump

 

[Golding]

I hope they do this, because it's a strong suit of mine. Biases and how to resolve them are the only thing that I currently need to brush up on.

The Kaplan books actually have a pretty simple graphic to demonstrate what type of study something is, what test to use for it, and what it can check for. I found it most helpful, though I think the repetition from reading other resources contributed to the solidification of information.

 

[rahulb]

i hope my test is 90% biostats

 

[calespine]

What are people using for biostats/epi besides world and kaplan?

 

[calespine]

Since people started taking the new version of step 2 ck yesterday- did you guys notice any significant differences? NBME said they're increasing the biostats/epidemiology questions- did they noticeably?

 

[humabot]

Since people started taking the new version of step 2 ck yesterday- did you guys notice any significant differences? NBME said they're increasing the biostats/epidemiology questions- did they noticeably?

where are you getting this info from. took test on 7/24 and did not notice anything...

 

[swtiepie711]

where are you getting this info from. took test on 7/24 and did not notice anything...

In part, I think pp are getting it from this (received from NBME):

Most score reporting of Step 2 CK results occurs within four weeks of testing. However, because of necessary modifications to the test item pool, there will be a delay in reporting for some examinees testing beginning in mid-August 2010. The target date for reporting Step 2 CK scores for most examinees testing from August 12 through mid-September will be Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

There also was another post from NBME about adding epi/biostats ("small increases in the number of biostatistics and epidemiology items will appear in Step 2 beginning in 2010 and in Step 3 in 2011.")... so maybe pp are putting 2&2 together? Not sure that's really the big change tho...

 

[dusselas]

any recent test-takers think there was an upsurge in statistics questions?