high step score but struggling with shelf exams

[831929]

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hey guys,

so I've been through 4 rotations now. have only done okay (>50th) on one of them. well below 50th on the rest of them. usually read case files, do a some flashcards (not as much as I should) and do all of uworld or another resource if uworld doesn't have a set (family med).

not sure if I am just not studying well enough or is it something about 3rd year that is just not clicking for me. any tips? anyone having a similar experience?

 

[bananafish94]

My Step 1 was only a hair above average but for some reason I've been doing quite well on the shelf exams. I've been getting in the 90th or so percentile. What I do is every UWorld question for the rotation that I'm on, and I make Anki cards along the way for things that I think are particularly important or high-yield. I haven't been using any of the pre-made decks as of yet because I worry that they have UWorld spoilers that will detract from my learning from the questions. I do every single NBME exam leading up to the real test and pore over it in detail to explain why each correct answer is correct and incorrect is incorrect (not to mention, sometimes the NBME will basically put the same questions or change one word on the shelf so knowing those cold is very helpful).

 

[831929]

My Step 1 was only a hair above average but for some reason I've been doing quite well on the shelf exams. I've been getting in the 90th or so percentile. What I do is every UWorld question for the rotation that I'm on, and I make Anki cards along the way for things that I think are particularly important or high-yield. I haven't been using any of the pre-made decks as of yet because I worry that they have UWorld spoilers that will detract from my learning from the questions. I do every single NBME exam leading up to the real test and pore over it in detail to explain why each correct answer is correct and incorrect is incorrect (not to mention, sometimes the NBME will basically put the same questions or change one word on the shelf so knowing those cold is very helpful).

Do you make your cards in Zanki style? How much time do you usually spend on average studying per day after clinic? Maybe I have really been slacking because usually after clinic I don't want to do much and weekends I don't spend enough time to cover all I should've in that week

 

[whatisthisstuff]

Not using Online Med Ed? Can't recommend it highly enough....If you are an Anki user the Brosencephalon Step 2 CK deck correlates too. Then I would update these w/ pearls you get from questions or add a handful of new cards as you need to. So I would watch all the videos and then do the corresponding cards with some UWorld questions. Did > 80th% on all shelf exams. Its definitely a challenge to study after long days but try to do a little bit each day. I would just have a goal to have all the OME videos finished atleast a few days before your shelf as well as most of the UWorld questions depending on the topic. Medicine is the toughest as there is a ton of videos and alot of questions. I only ended up getting through half the UWorld medicine questions.

 

[831929]

What are you having trouble with? Are you struggling with knowledge on the wards as well, or just with answering multiple choice questions? Are you not able to memorize the information or not feeling like you studied enough/the correct material? What types of questions are you usually answering wrong?

I feel like it's a bit of both. My evals have been great and those are the things keeping me in H/HP range but I don't think I am knowledgeable enough in clinic still. Questions for FM for example were things that I maybe overthought but it wasn't complete lack of knowledge. I usually get 70-80s on NBMEs so idk why my scores from by 10-15 points on the exam.

 

[831929]

Not using Online Med Ed? Can't recommend it highly enough....If you are an Anki user the Brosencephalon Step 2 CK deck correlates too. Then I would update these w/ pearls you get from questions or add a handful of new cards as you need to. So I would watch all the videos and then do the corresponding cards with some UWorld questions. Did > 80th% on all shelf exams. Its definitely a challenge to study after long days but try to do a little bit each day. I would just have a goal to have all the OME videos finished atleast a few days before your shelf as well as most of the UWorld questions depending on the topic. Medicine is the toughest as there is a ton of videos and alot of questions. I only ended up getting through half the UWorld medicine questions.

Sorry I do use onlinemed ed. I love it and probably the only reason I'm passing the exams. But I think I do not do a well enough job of reinforcing the material after and forget or misunderstand the content once exam comes around. Are the online meded flashcards good enough to replace zanki?

 

[whatisthisstuff]

Sorry I do use onlinemed ed. I love it and probably the only reason I'm passing the exams. But I think I do not do a well enough job of reinforcing the material after and forget or misunderstand the content once exam comes around. Are the online meded flashcards good enough to replace zanki?

Never used Zanki so can't compare. Always thought it was only Step 1 cards. I used the Brosencephalon Step 2 deck which seems like it was made from OME material. OME + Anki + Uworld is all I used basically for Shelf exams and Step 2 and did well. Overall I probably ended up editing my cards a decent amount in a way that I liked, shelf exams and step 2 are very process oriented so knowing the order of testing and treatments is really important. So I would usually have a flash fact as the flash card and then have a whole bunch of information in the notes section. Or sometimes the flash card was really just an excuse to review info and there wouldn't be an easily identifiable factoid to necessarily quiz myself on. I think thats the big change from Step 1 studying. Ultimately the repetition is what makes it powerful imo.

 

[Black Coffee 24/7]

Sorry I do use onlinemed ed. I love it and probably the only reason I'm passing the exams. But I think I do not do a well enough job of reinforcing the material after and forget or misunderstand the content once exam comes around. Are the online meded flashcards good enough to replace zanki?

The OME flash cards and quests are straight up trash.

There are two decks out there for all of 3rd year: Zanki and WiWa

I am in the same position as you. I’m going to personally use the WiWa deck and see how things will go for this current rotation.

 

[Jesus1]

OME is good but lacks many of the details you need to do well on the shelf exams.
Find a reliable text (e.g. BRS for Peds, NMS Casebook for IM, DeVirgilio for Surgery, CaseFiles for OBGYN, FA for Psych, Blueprints for Neuro), digest it (2 reads or so if possible) AND then do a combo of UWorld/pretest for that specific field.
Worked like a charm for me in M3 (90s many exams).

 

[WolfDick]

OME is good but lacks many of the details you need to do well on the shelf exams.
Find a reliable text (e.g. BRS for Peds, NMS Casebook for IM, DeVirgilio for Surgery, CaseFiles for OBGYN, FA for Psych, Blueprints for Neuro), digest it (2 reads or so if possible) AND then do a combo of UWorld/pretest for that specific field.
Worked like a charm for me in M3 (90s many exams).

When are you finding time to read through a book 2x AND do all the uworld questions for that subject? I barely have time after I get done for the day. Maybe I’m just a slow reader..

 

[Jesus1]

When are you finding time to read through a book 2x AND do all the uworld questions for that subject? I barely have time after I get done for the day. Maybe I’m just a slow reader..

Of course, this varies by institution and rotation, but I tried to start literally from Day 1 of a rotation so that the amount of daily work needed was very minimal. I typically studied for about an hour before I went into work (early riser) and about 2-3 hours upon return on most days. I also used "downtime" during the day (usually about 1-2 hrs during conference and all the other stuff I don't care about). I just tried to have something on my phone/ipad mini that I could study with even a 5-10 min break. So usually at least 3 hrs of study on every given day. Also helps to not keep changing study plans. This is a nice time killer.