USMLE Family Medicine Clerkship then Step II

[WingedDragon]

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Hi everyone. Quick question. I have done all my rotations and I will be starting Family medicine soon (in a week or so). The FM rotation is about 5 weeks and then I have 6 weeks to study for the Step 2. I was wondering, can I just study from UWorld for Step II and a Step II book such as Master the Boards or Step II Secrets and be fine for the FM shelf exam?

Thank you.

 

[tom10]

FM shelf is a crapshoot. There isn't really a good way to study for it. I did about 700 AAFP questions (this doesn't take long and the questions are free) and only got a 72 which I wasn't happy about. I felt like I killed the test so I guess I just made a lot of stupid mistakes. The AAFP questions cover a lot of what you need to know, with a little more ambulatory medicine than you need to know. The shelf will ask you ambulatory stuff like which type of cast to use for a type of injury. This stuff obviously isn't in uworld or any review books to my knowledge. After my family med shelf, I started on uworld and was averaging about 68-69% right out of the gate and I am just an average student. The family medicine shelf at the end of your third year is a blessing.

I would just knock out all of the AAFP questions, supplement what subjects you don't know well with a Step 2 book and you should be good and have a head start on the boards. Save your uworld for board prep I say. Hell 6 weeks is plenty of time to dominate the test even if you don't know jack **** about anything.

 

[WingedDragon]

Thanks a lot for your help! So I guess I will work on the AAFP questions and use master the boards for step 2 CK. Is there a review book that you would recommend for FM?

 

[res1cue]

The family med shelf is pretty tough and nitpicky. IIRC it had OB and peds on it too.

Youre better off ignoring it and just start step 2 studying. Probably everything you would study for step 2 would be fair game on the family med shelf.

Also there is no good book for family medicine, but I would recommend step 2 secrets for step 2 and for the shelf

 

[tom10]

MTB is a good for the quick and dirty. I think MTB can get your score up quick since it is geared toward the test, not just knowledge (hard to explain). If you are weak in peds and OB, you can cover those sections in 4 hours ish and get a lot more peds and ob questions correct on AAFP. Step up to medicine has a good ambulatory section that will make you look like a genius on a FM rotation haha.

 

[eagle03]

During my last FM rotation, I did nothing but COMBANK (approx. 1200 questions out of 2700) as I had already taken USMLE step 2 (Uworld...that's it along with proper preparation for each clerkship prior). I scored 85 on NBME FM shelf, good enough for Honors at my school. Funny thing is that I had a classmate do AAFP questions, case files, some Uworld questions, MTB and didn't break 78. You'll find folks who did the same and scored >85. Crap shoot of a shelf. My prep for FM shelf is probably nowhere to be found on SDN other than maybe an osteopathic thread somewhere for the NBOME FM Shelf (DO version of NBME) Exam. So why COMBANK? I was prepping for my COMLEX Step 2 exam. If COMLEX/Osteopathic profession is very "primary-care oriented," I figured that a COMLEX qbank would prepare for both COMLEX and the NBME FM Shelf. I gambled and it turned out alright. Go figure.

 

[Win-Win situation]

Hi, I'm new and I'm beginning my 3rd year in family medicine. Could you tell me more about the AAFP questions? You said they were free, but is it free to members or anyone can get them? Please let me know. Thank you.