Boards and beyond step2 vs onlinemeded

[taeyeonlover]

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Has anyone used bnb step2 for shelf exams and step2? Wondering how they compare to onlinemeded.

I have a record of not doing well during preclinical years and thus have a poor baseline knowledge. I had to go on loa and repeat third year due to struggling on shelves.

I know that uworld is number one but I sometimes need a video resource to learn things I do not know.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Esmolol]

Online MedEd is very basic compared to BnB. Given what you wrote above - start with Online MedEd and then do BnB.

 

[deleted1065184]

OME for foundational knowledge, UWorld for questions, Amboss if you need more questions. Don't think BnB is necessary tbh

 

[taeyeonlover]

Online MedEd is very basic compared to BnB. Given what you wrote above - start with Online MedEd and then do BnB.

What was your study approach during 3rd year?

 

[Esmolol]

Mainly UWorld. I also made sure to do the NBMEs for the clerkships. Everything else was a hot mess of books/videos here and there.

 

[Billiam95]

Trialed OME for my first rotation, found it to be too bloated and not boards-questions relevant - wouldn't recommend it.

 

[taeyeonlover]

Trialed OME for my first rotation, found it to be too bloated and not boards-questions relevant - wouldn't recommend it.

How did you study during 3rd year? Did you use anything other than uworld

 

[Billiam95]

How did you study during 3rd year? Did you use anything other than uworld

Amboss - I've used Amboss for most shelves - questions can be a bit nit picky but overall useful. There have been a few rotations, namely FM, where I didn't find Amboss to be useful and dropped it.

AnKing - after suspending the cards without the step2 tag, I've kept up on my cards from preclinical and unsuspending from the relevant shelf decks where appropriate. v11 and above have a 'search by uWorld ID' feature (with paid membership), which allows me to unsuspend cards from uworld questions I've done. I'm somewhat judicious about which cards I do, as a fair number of step2 cards are, imo, not helpful. I've also made cards from uworld questions based on wrongs, concepts I don't understand fully (typically several hundred for each rotation - for example, just under 700 for IM).

CMS forms - usually complete these the week of the shelf. Good for getting in the mindset for NBME style questions. Don't recall any repeats from CMS forms but useful nonetheless.

My caveat would be that I feel like I have a good base from preclinical/step-1 dedicated and did not require content review (eg, BNB, OME, WCC) outside of practice questions. Shelf exam scores have ranged from 83 - 93 (with 1 to go).

 

[Billiam95]

Additionally, I would make 2 passes through uWorld - 1st pass uworld, then amboss, 2nd pass through uworld, then CMS forms the week of the shelf.

 

[Aurarice]

If I could go back, prioritize Amboss questions during rotations (using the study plan for whatever specialty and shelf date), using that to read bits of the library, and annotating whatever textbook I had for review. UWorld shelf questions first-pass ideal.
Get a solid foundation, and then you can focus on just pumping questions out during STEP2 dedicated.

FWIW I did effectively 2 passes of UWorld+All of Amboss. Lots of work, but it paid off for me personally.

 

[mistafab]

OP, if you struggled a lot, I recommend you be careful using passive study methods. I.e. watching a video.

Come up with an active learning plan, that you can actually stick to. Get the reps, every day, that’s how to do it.

 

[taeyeonlover]

OP, if you struggled a lot, I recommend you be careful using passive study methods. I.e. watching a video.

Come up with an active learning plan, that you can actually stick to. Get the reps, every day, that’s how to do it.

How did you study during 3rd year?

 

[mistafab]

How did you study during 3rd year?

Everyone has a method that works for them. I did zanki every day (averaged 1 hr 40 min), and got through all uworld questions per rotation. I only zanki'd that rotation's cards, so by the end of the rotation, the minutes per day was lower for that, but more for uworld. I would also +/- a rotation specific resource. So on surgery I also did the devirgilio questions on the back of the book. For peds I did nothing extra. For psych I quickly read the FA for psych at the start of the rotation (took maybe 2-3 hours tops).

I honored all rotations, clinical and shelf. But others did just as well as me using other methods. Find one that works for you for the score you want, and do the reps every day (or for me, I only ever did 6 days a week. Took of completely from everything once a week).

 

[taeyeonlover]

Everyone has a method that works for them. I did zanki every day (averaged 1 hr 40 min), and got through all uworld questions per rotation. I only zanki'd that rotation's cards, so by the end of the rotation, the minutes per day was lower for that, but more for uworld. I would also +/- a rotation specific resource. So on surgery I also did the devirgilio questions on the back of the book. For peds I did nothing extra. For psych I quickly read the FA for psych at the start of the rotation (took maybe 2-3 hours tops).

I honored all rotations, clinical and shelf. But others did just as well as me using other methods. Find one that works for you for the score you want, and do the reps every day (or for me, I only ever did 6 days a week. Took of completely from everything once a week).

Did you think zanki step 2 was comprehensive enough for each shelf? Also, will doing this deck spoil anything from nbme practice exams? I like how it's smaller than anking.

 

[Dorsey DO]

Sorry for the late, and even slightly off topic comment, but are the bnb step 2 summary sheets? I know there's the 800-page Font Aid/ BNB step 1 summary sheets out there, but I haven't found anything for step 2? Just curious.

 

[Billiam95]

Sorry for the late, and even slightly off topic comment, but are the bnb step 2 summary sheets? I know there's the 800-page Font Aid/ BNB step 1 summary sheets out there, but I haven't found anything for step 2? Just curious.

white coat companion

 

[USMLE_Pro]

I used OME third year and during Step 2, and found it helpful for my weak areas (I scored a 281). I’ve worked with plenty of people who haven’t needed to use BnB at all.