How long to study for step 2?

[Ihateverbal]

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How long do people normally take to study for Step 2CK? and CS?
It seems like 1 month is the general consensus, is this true for most people?

 

[mdc848]

For the CK yea, about a month. I spent 6 weeks. For the CS, consensus seems to be 1-2 weeks.

 

[deleted50541]

If you're taking time off for CK and feeling confident, you really only need about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks to study. Anymore than that, you'll start to burn out and kick yourself for allocating more time than you really need.

Otherwise, schedule the test at the end of an easy elective month, providing some structure to your day while allowing you to study in the afternoon and evening for 4 weeks.

As for CS, about a week of review is fine.

 

[OMMFan]

Be sure to include time to study OMM even if you use it regularly! Otherwise, you'll kick yourself later for needless point loss.

 

[Stark]

I studied one month for CK - got two points better than Step 1 (which I seemed to study 6 months for).

 

[Chloroform4Life]

How important is step 2 really?

Theoretically, let's say I made a 260 on step 1 after studying for 6 weeks. If I study only 3 weeks for step 2 and make like a 230, is that going to look really bad?

 

[Stark]

Well, it depends.

If you are using your Step 2 score to try to get an interview at a top program, in a top field. . . Theoretically, yes.

You already have a great Step 1 score, and you have interviews already lined up (don't need to get in the door). . . Theoretically, no.

In general, your step exams help you "get your foot in the door." When a program gets 200 applications for 3 residency spots, they need a quick and dirty way to cut out the "undesirables" and use Step scores for this.

Once you have an interview lined up, they won't cancel it if you bomb Step 2. In the interview they want to see if you're human, interesting, and want to work hard. The Step scores already told them you're intelligent.

Good Luck!

 

[Scaredshizzles]

How long do people normally take to study for Step 2CK? and CS?
It seems like 1 month is the general consensus, is this true for most people?

Step 2 CK: Most people study 2-4 weeks for step 2, 2 weeks if you have no rotation is manageable (USMLE-world, consider using something like Crush if you're long removed from your rotations and/or didn't study during your rotations.) 4 weeks on a light rotation works too.

Step 2 CS: I personally did not study one minute for this exam, and did a very lousy job on the physical exams (I only did 2 or so heart and lung exams of all the cases, and placed by stethoscope under the gown instead of having the person lower their gown.) My neuro and msk exams were also pathetic. But I still passed. Honestly, if you're comfortable and confident in your history taking skills and you speak with compassion and respect for the standardized patient, there is pretty much no way you could fail this exam. I sense that even though they are supposed to grade you on a rubric/checklist, that nevertheless general impression of the encounter shifts your grade markedly. If you feel you struggle gaining rapport with patients, or feel like you would struggle under the exam stress situation, then you want to prepare for this exam and make sure you get a bunch of points off the checklists they use...That way you can't be failed, no matter how awkward the encounter went.