How long did you study for step 2?

[carol ann]

Quick question -- due to travel plans (gosh fourth year sure is tough) I think I am going to move my Step 2 date up, but I want some reassurance that 2 weeks is enough time to study....

So, how long did you devote to prepping for Step 2?

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[vietcongs]

i had 8 weeks of surgery and 4 weeks of internal medicine preceeding step 2. i took off only 2 weeks to study.

 

[starayamoskva]

i had 8 weeks of surgery and 4 weeks of internal medicine preceeding step 2. i took off only 2 weeks to study.

Two weeks is plenty of time to study. Anything more than that is overkill.
I have already posted what I used to study (two digit score of 98)
I had a very hard time making myself study for the thing. I thought the test wasn't that bad, certainly easier than most of the subject boards.

 

[Blade28]

I also spent two weeks studying for it, during my first rotation (nephrology). After that, my schedule turned to hell, so it would be too difficult.

I DID take Step 2 CS while in LA, though.

 

[dchristismi]

I spent about 2 weeks during a July EM rotation (which they let us schedule, so I could front and end load it and leave some room in the middle to review.)

I got my scores back a couple of weeks ago, and rocked it. (2 digit score 99)

I think the best thing for me was the fact I'd worked my arse off all 3rd year and did decently on the shelves. Wasn't as bad as I though it would be.

Good luck, and happy traveling!

 

[stormjen]

I'm spending about 2.5 months, but then I did poorly on Step 1, plus I have the attention span of a flea and the study habits of a five-year old.

 

[zedpol]

I'm spending about 2.5 months, but then I did poorly on Step 1, plus I have the attention span of a flea and the study habits of a five-year old.

hahha, i wish we could vote for our favorite posts, because this one would get my vote. Stormjen, mind if i use the "attention span of a flea, study habits of a five-year old in the future? I will reference you.

peace

 

[stormjen]

hahha, i wish we could vote for our favorite posts, because this one would get my vote. Stormjen, mind if i use the "attention span of a flea, study habits of a five-year old in the future? I will reference you.

I would be honored. And it's true, by the way.

 

[Skip Intro]

Man, either I got screwed, or the most recent round of question banks being released from the NBME are attempting to bring the curve back down. I studied (lightly) starting in July, and I studied pretty much non-stop for the past two weeks and that was, by far, too little studying. It was much MUCH harder than Step 1.

Now I'm in that horrible holding pattern until I get my score, which won't be for another four weeks at least.

I should've studied a LOT more than I did (and I did really well on the Internal Medicine "shelf", which was a joke compared to what they tested on Step 2-CK).

-Skip

 

[ys]

Hey Skip, good luck with the results. Could you please tell me your usmleworld and/or kaplan qbank percentages. I have been using usmleworld and have been stuck on 54-56% since I started 3 weeks back.My test is in a coulpe of weeks and I am panicking. Thanks.

 

[Skip Intro]

Hey Skip, good luck with the results. Could you please tell me your usmleworld and/or kaplan qbank percentages. I have been using usmleworld and have been stuck on 54-56% since I started 3 weeks back.My test is in a coulpe of weeks and I am panicking. Thanks.

Look at your individual breakdowns. I used USMLE World too, and I think there were two basic problems with it:

(1) While the subject categories are clearly on the right track in USMLE World, the questions are not really that representative of what's covered on Step 2. Step 2 questions are less "tricky" than USMLE World, but the questions go much deeper than USMLE World does. USMLE World also emphasizes way too much on things that, in my opinion, just weren't tested. There was FAR more OBGYN and Peds than is covered on USMLE World.

(2) The questions on USMLE World are much, much shorter on the whole than Step 2. At least on my test, I had several - no, the majority - of questions that were a full computer screen page long and had more than 7-8 options to choose from. Also, there were some questions that said, "For the next two questions, pick your answer from the list above." The options list was listed first, and then the question was at the bottom. In the options list, you had about 10-15 items to choose the correct answer from. Sometimes it was obvious, sometimes you were just like

Overall, I scored on USMLE World in the upper 50% to low 60% on the whole thing, but on some sections I did better, others worse. Again, I should have looked at the individual breakdown and just focused on those sections where I was consistently scoring below 50%.

Do not waste a lot of time with "drugs for bugs" or anything like that. There were very few questions on that, and the ones that were there were pretty straightforward. There was a TON of endocrinology. There were a ton of presenting to the ER with altered mental status, uncontrolled hypertension, some chest pains (most were what would you do AFTER the patient's been treated). A lot of OBGYN and Peds and a lot of preventive medicine.

Just focus on your weak areas from here on out. USMLE World is extremely good at helping you pinpoint that. There are going to be ones that are obvious to you, and those will be the ones you've already studied sufficiently for at this point. Don't bother reviewing stuff you already know. Work on your weak areas, and hopefully you'll be one of those people that walks out of the test saying "it was a breeze". Personally, I felt like the NBME examiners were psychic and they picked only the topics they knew I was weak on.

Good luck.

-Skip

 

[Mongo]

As always, skip is out there trying to help other people. What a class act. I bet it makes you feel better because your score is WAAAAYYYYY below mine. Cheers

 

[Skip Intro]

As always, skip is out there trying to help other people. What a class act. I bet it makes you feel better because your score is WAAAAYYYYY below mine. Cheers

What the hell is that all about? Seriously? What compels you to feel the need to sarcastically comment on this thread if you have nothing positive to offer?

I know you've got a whole year before you take Step 2-CK. Instead of making acerbic barbs at people, you should be grateful for the feedback. You should be taking notes.

-Skip

 

[Hawk22]

Skip,
Thanks so much for the information. The vast majority of us really appreciate the advice and input from those with experience.....so don't let the comments of a few get you down. Good luck with getting the score you want back......

 

[Skip Intro]

Skip,
Thanks so much for the information. The vast majority of us really appreciate the advice and input from those with experience.....so don't let the comments of a few get you down. Good luck with getting the score you want back......

Thanks. I appreciate that.

Another thought, while it's still here... don't forget about the malabsorption syndromes either... I had a few questions on that too. And, it wasn't just determining the diagnosis (which they expected you to deduce by what they presented), it was more about, again, figuring out the diagnosis and then what long term complications and such. For example, if you get confused on the difference between Whipple's disease, tropical sprue, or celiac sprue while you're considering your differential, you may make the wrong advice to the patient about what future treatment they should get once the primary episode resolves. It's tricky. Many of the options are right for each diagnosis that you may consider. And, you don't have a lot time to figure out or second-guess yourself while you're considering each.

Really, I can't emphasize this enough. This test takes the knowledge covered in the review books one step further.

-SI

 

[Mongo]

What the hell is that all about? Seriously? What compels you to feel the need to sarcastically comment on this thread if you have nothing positive to offer?

I know you've got a whole year before you take Step 2-CK. Instead of making acerbic barbs at people, you should be grateful for the feedback. You should be taking notes.

-Skip

Sorry skip. I need to work on my delivery of sarcasm. I thought you would recognize it.

 

[Skip Intro]

Sorry skip. I need to work on my delivery of sarcasm. I thought you would recognize it.

Well, in light of this post you made on the everyone forum, it was a little hard to tell.

For what it's worth, I am sincerely - and always have been - only trying to help here. My delivery is sometimes a little "off" because of the more-than-occasional silliness I'm subjected to on this forum.

No harm, no foul.

-Skip

 

[ys]

Skip, thanks for the in depth response.

 

[cardioboy]

Well, in light of this post you made on the everyone forum, it was a little hard to tell.

For what it's worth, I am sincerely - and always have been - only trying to help here. My delivery is sometimes a little "off" because of the more-than-occasional silliness I'm subjected to on this forum.

No harm, no foul.

-Skip

we love you skip... keep up the good work

 

[DoctorG]

Thank you, Skip. Good luck.

 

[c diddy]

i took step 2 yesterday and i have to say i was surprised at the difficulty level. i studied with secrets, mock exams, nms, q bank, some of A&L. what tripped me up the most was that instead of A-D or E, there were 6-10 answer choices for about half the questions. definitely not a walk in the park.

 

[cardioboy]

i took step 2 yesterday and i have to say i was surprised at the difficulty level. i studied with secrets, mock exams, nms, q bank, some of A&L. what tripped me up the most was that instead of A-D or E, there were 6-10 answer choices for about half the questions. definitely not a walk in the park.

hello please could you be more specific about the difficulty level..did u do the usmleworld was it helpful....did u take the nbme self ass....which materials did u think helped the most..thanks

 

[c diddy]

nms and qbank were helpful. secrets/mock exams were too superficial. i did not use usmleworld or nbme practice tests, but i would say without question that the more practice quetions you do, the better. however, with the questions i did, there always seemed to be one or two answers that stood out, whereas on the real thing there seemed to be much fewer and i felt as if i were guessing too often. all subjects seemed to be covered substantially, with the exeption of surgery. one thing that was easier than step 1 was the time constraint- i finished everything with time to spare. i felt similarly upset after step 1 and i wound up with a high score, so i guess i will see in a month or so. take it easy.