good luck

[sophiejane]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of those taking step 2 this week...I've got a double whammy with USMLE on Tues and COMLEX on Thurs. Good times. I see large margaritas in my future on Thursday night....

Thanks for everyone's input on questions, etc. This is a great little online community.

Anyway, soon it will be over and we can enjoy 4th year! I'm so glad I'm getting this beast out of the way early...

Best of luck, all!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BadVB750]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of those taking step 2 this week...I've got a double whammy with USMLE on Tues and COMLEX on Thurs. Good times. I see large margaritas in my future on Thursday night....

Thanks for everyone's input on questions, etc. This is a great little online community.

Anyway, soon it will be over and we can enjoy 4th year! I'm so glad I'm getting this beast out of the way early...

Best of luck, all!

You are crazy two in one week; those will be some well earned margaritas. I'm taking both but I scheduled them a week apart, I'm not as brave as you.

 

[Medical123]

Good luck to all! I am taking the USMLE on Friday! Celebrate this weekend and start my first clinical rotation of 4th year on Monday!

 

[sophiejane]

You are crazy two in one week; those will be some well earned margaritas. I'm taking both but I scheduled them a week apart, I'm not as brave as you.

I figure it's best to not prolong the pain.

Did I mention I am doing all my manip study on Wednesday? Heh.

Well, just took the OMM shelf a couple of months ago and did fine. Just gonna go over those famous sympathetic innervations and cross my fingers!

 

[omarsaleh66]

good luck, post your expereince and answers!!

 

[VincentAdultman]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of those taking step 2 this week...I've got a double whammy with USMLE on Tues and COMLEX on Thurs. Good times. I see large margaritas in my future on Thursday night....

Thanks for everyone's input on questions, etc. This is a great little online community.

Anyway, soon it will be over and we can enjoy 4th year! I'm so glad I'm getting this beast out of the way early...

Best of luck, all!

Thursday for me (CK) good luck!

 

[DNASplicer]

yes, positive vibes all around.

good luck with additional exams and 4th year learning/duties... it better be worth it!

 

[Charge!]

Hi.. Am a newbie to SDN and am a MS III. Have been keenly following this thread and your comments, and since I am also taking STep 2 on Aug 7, just wanted to say thank you for all of ur postings. They have been really helpful. Good Luck to y'all n may the force be with u! Peace

 

[sophiejane]

The beast (at least the first beast this week) has been slain.

It really wasn't that bad. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't that bad. I had a predicted 215-220 from my NBME, so if you are hoping for higher than that, I guess you should take my advice with a grain of salt.

Doing UW helped me a lot, I think...mostly just in getting fast at getting to the bottom of endless stems and being able to cross off answer choices based on what they give you in the stem.

I did a LOT of that today. There were a lot of q's that I just eliminated all the wrong choices based on what they gave me in the stem, even if I didn't know the answer right off the bat. I don't remember being able to do that so much on step I.

Anyhoo, boatloads of swollen joints and dyspnea on exertion, murmurs out the wazoo, not nearly as much OBGYN and Peds as I expected.

Lots of what's the mechanism Q's. Lots of distractors. The bastids LOVE to throw in murmurs that sound really important because they describe how they sound from EVERY auscultatory point of the freaking chest, but that are essentially irrelevant to the disorder. Or they'll tell you all about how somebody's EBV IgG is elevated to make you think it has something to do with their problem when it was really just some idiot ordering every test imaginable.

In general I thought it was fair, though. But I swear those guys must sit around doing shots in their ivory tower and trying to outdo each other at writing vague questions...

 

[BadVB750]

The beast (at least the first beast this week) has been slain.

It really wasn't that bad. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't that bad. I had a predicted 215-220 from my NBME, so if you are hoping for higher than that, I guess you should take my advice with a grain of salt.

Doing UW helped me a lot, I think...mostly just in getting fast at getting to the bottom of endless stems and being able to cross off answer choices based on what they give you in the stem.

I did a LOT of that today. There were a lot of q's that I just eliminated all the wrong choices based on what they gave me in the stem, even if I didn't know the answer right off the bat. I don't remember being able to do that so much on step I.

Anyhoo, boatloads of swollen joints and dyspnea on exertion, murmurs out the wazoo, not nearly as much OBGYN and Peds as I expected.

Lots of what's the mechanism Q's. Lots of distractors. The bastids LOVE to throw in murmurs that sound really important because they describe how they sound from EVERY auscultatory point of the freaking chest, but that are essentially irrelevant to the disorder. Or they'll tell you all about how somebody's EBV IgG is elevated to make you think it has something to do with their problem when it was really just some idiot ordering every test imaginable.

In general I thought it was fair, though. But I swear those guys must sit around doing shots in their ivory tower and trying to outdo each other at writing vague questions...

Congrats, on finishing one of two . Good luck on thursday; I bet you can taste the tequilla.

 

[omarsaleh66]

The beast (at least the first beast this week) has been slain....

I'm sure u did great. Thanks for sharing. Good to know that UW and the NBME helped. I plan on finishing UW in a couple of days and taking the NBME this weekend according to all the advice on here. Goodluck

later

 

[sophiejane]

I'm sure u did great. Thanks for sharing. Good to know that UW and the NBME helped. I plan on finishing UW in a couple of days and taking the NBME this weekend according to all the advice on here. Goodluck

later

One thing I think helped with stamina...I spent quite a few days doing nothing but UW Q's, all day, for 8 hours. Timed blocks of 46 are great for the final stretch.

It sucks, but it's kind of like training for a marathon, you gotta practice like you perform...

 

[NKMU]

Congrats on finishing one. Hopefully you'll have some encouraging words for me after you finish COMLEX on Thursday-- I was dumb (smart?) enough to sign up for USMLE on a Monday and COMLEX on a Tuesday.

I figured that since I got through the two day paper-and-pencil COMLEX, I could do two days of computer tests. I think my OMM studying will occur the weekend before both tests.

I think USMLEWorld has been helpful. I've learned, but I haven't improved my scores all that much since I started. I'm running about a 61.X now, with a couple hundred questions left. I haven't studied a single other source yet, though, just wanted to use this bank as a learning tool, not as a diagnostic test. (I'm starting to sound like the UW disclaimer now.)

 

[sophiejane]

I figured that since I got through the two day paper-and-pencil COMLEX, I could do two days of computer tests. I think my OMM studying will occur the weekend before both tests.

Heck, yeah. c/o 2007--last of the 2 day marathon paper and pencil slaves. If we can survive that, we can survive anything.

I know someone who didn't crack an OMM book and did fine. No worries there, hopefully. My manip study starts tomorrow a.m. and ends at lunch!

 

[ucbdancn00]

good luck everyone...

glad you're done with the beast sophie, i hope it went well for ya..

Everyone's input has definitely made this process a little easier and I definitely appreciate it...

i'm kinda nervous about the exam, esp b/c i'm trying to match ortho in California (trying being the key word)...that being said, i'm trying to kick some butt on this exam. However, your thoughts have definitely helped to ease some of the anxiety

thanks again, and good luck to everyone taking the beast...

ucb

 

[sophiejane]

i'm kinda nervous about the exam, esp b/c i'm trying to match ortho in California (trying being the key word)...that being said, i'm trying to kick some butt on this exam. However, your thoughts have definitely helped to ease some of the anxiety

thanks again, and good luck to everyone taking the beast...

ucb

I am sure you will rock it, ucb. You seem to have a good foundation and that will take you a long way.

I was surprised at how many buzz-word Q's there were, but also at how many just required you to know the "why" behind things--and not even that deep of a why. If you have a decent grasp on physiology and have done plenty of Q's, there's no reason why you can't blow the top off this one.

That, and just keep telling yourself to RESIST the DISTRACTORS!

best of luck!

 

[VincentAdultman]

Step 2 studying = OVER

 

[VincentAdultman]

Step 2 studying = OVER

Well that was fun. Could potentially go either way score-wise. But it was basically what I expected...pretty striaghtforward, not as many WTF questions as on Step One. Good OB/Peds representation, but very IM heavy. But it was still hard. And I spent a lot of time reading through vignettes. I was pretty surprised when I didn't even have enough time to finish the survey. The only weird thing was that I got like 3 separate questions on normal pressure hydorcephalus.

Oh well, it's over and I'm going to get drunk.

 

[Medical123]

Well that was fun. Could potentially go either way score-wise. But it was basically what I expected...pretty striaghtforward, not as many WTF questions as on Step One. Good OB/Peds representation, but very IM heavy. But it was still hard. And I spent a lot of time reading through vignettes. I was pretty surprised when I didn't even have enough time to finish the survey. The only weird thing was that I got like 3 separate questions on normal pressure hydorcephalus.

Oh well, it's over and I'm going to get drunk.

Congratulations! At least it is over! I get to tackle the beast tomorrow!