Has anyone taken Step II before Step I?

[Espadaleader]

Has anyone done this? I go to a school where Step I & II are taken after the clerkships and it was suggested that this is a possibility

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[Thrombophlebitis]

Terrible idea. My step 2 exam was ~25-30% step 1 related material. An excellent step 1 preparation basically saved my ass on the exam. Ended up scoring 248.

Again, i believe it is a TERRIBLE idea to do step 2 before step 1. Check the recent IMG step 2 ck thread, the amount of failures is alarming and most of them are saying they did step 2 before step 1 too.

Don't do it.

 

[worldbeater]

Don't do it. You will save more time in the long and get a higher score if you study for Step 1 and do well. Then Step 2 won't be as difficult, because your foundation is set.

 

[killboards280]

ive taken step 2 before step 1. Its definitely doable (passed with an average score) but I would still have to agree with the above post it would save you more time if you do step 1 first. I guess it all depends on how strong your background is on clinical sciences. these exams are all interrelated. whatever you cover in your first exam will help you out in the second exam regardless of the order. however I think its better to get the hard one out of the way. plus you don't want to burn out by the time you get to step 1 studying.

 

[Phloston]

Has anyone done this? I go to a school where Step I & II are taken after the clerkships and it was suggested that this is a possibility

I have no idea why the USMLE even allows people to take Step 2 before Step 1, since one can't even register for Step 3 until the prior steps are taken. The sequence is as such for a reason. Step 1 is the foundation for Step 2 as the above poster has said. I would strongly advise against sitting the 2CK before the Step 1.

 

[Whoops12]

yes its a great idea.

 

[Auvelity]

well a lot of people I know they did. because:
pro: you understand more the pathology behind the question so for ell a lot of people I know they did.

pros:

you understand more the pathology behind the question so for the step 1 you gonna understand whats the way the qs makers think when they do the qs.

cons:

you will need to at least form a strong pathology base before step 2 ck. like reading goljan or doing pathoma because if not in those pathophysiology questions you will be done.

so its doable as you keep your pathology up and read kaplan CK and usmle secrets ck and master the boards.

yes you will need to cover more sources since you dont have the basic foundation and you dont wanna miss any of it.

its true that if you take step 1, step 2 comes more easy because of the pathology foundation, drug indications and side effects are more fresh into your mind which means less material to cover.


Now I am an IMG, I didnt take the step 1 twice since both times I wasnt able to get the scores I wanted for the specialty I want and since I am not settling for less I decided to study for CS first. I am currently preparing it for a few reasons.

Its just pass or fail.

to get a date u need to schedule months in advance.

to get the grade takes up to 3 months

and if I leave it for last I wont get ECFMG certified. And I want to be as competitive as I can be since the big disadvantage. so my plan is CS> step1> CK... because I have the knowledge to pass 1 right away but still gonna take at least 3 months to get that grade up to 240+.

anyways good luck with whatever you decide to do. and most importantly stick to it and commit!

 

[worldbeater]

Like I said before, I really don't agree with taking 2 before 1. If your that confident in your skills, take a Step II NBME right now and see if your close to passing. If you are, I guess it's OK, but your won't max out your score.

But if your getting a score that's not even close to passing, you will make more progress in the big picture if you study for Step 1, LEARN YOUR BASICS, and then use your basics plus management skills for Step 2. You will get a higher score on both exams in this manner.