I took USMLE Step II yesterday, and...

[RockfordWF]

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It was WAAAAAAY easier than Step I. Most of the questions were exactly like Kaplan QBook, and there weren't any questions that required math or basic science of any kind. I got done with 2 1/2 hours remaining of time, and always had at least 15-30 minutes left on each block. The key is to pick and answer and move on. Don't fool around with it.

Here as some key things to know:
-Electrolyte Disorders (tons of questions on hyper- and hypocalcemia)
-Common antibiotic side effects and teratogenic effects
-Common antibiotic indications
-Skin Rashes
-Mood Disorders
-Know the study types and how to determine risk/specificity/sensitivity, etc.
-Illicit Drug Overdose, Treatment, & Withdrawal Symptoms
-STD's, unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, etc.
-effects of long-term smoking

I'll try to think of some more and add them, but those are the ones that had the most questions on my exam.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Don't spend all day every day for weeks studying for this exam like it was Step I. Most of this stuff will come to you if you review First Aid or a similar book. I recommend QBook to get acquainted with they way they ask questions because I thought I was actually reading QBook on the day of the test....

Good Luck!

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Appreciate the feedback. Taking mine next week!
-Richie

 

[josephf1]

I also too Step 2 yesterday,
Studied 3 months, used Step up to Med, FA CK, Crush, B&W, UW, Washington Manual
Questions were very basic, just tedious and long exam
High Yield for me was:
Psych: Dif between MDD, Normal bereavement, Drug induced depression
Stats: Basic PPV, NPV, P value concepts
Surgery: Lots of car accidents, what do you do 1st or what is the injury
IM: less in depth than I expected, very basic pathology, lots of multiple myloma, lung cancer, DM, no crazy ECGs, CTs, Fluid & Electrolyte or Acid/Base stuff, no transudate vs exudate or calculating A-a or SAAG or anything like that, much more 1 line questions too than I expected
Peds: Bruton Agammaglobulinemia 5 times (on Step 1 it was Lesch Nyhan 5 times), vaccinations, nursing, normal development milestones
OB/GYN: also very basic, know how to read a fetal monitor
Ethics: 3 of these, crazy hard to answer

I overstudied, think 1 month MAX with just 1 book and 1 web site are enough. Sure think they just want to pass us all at this point and just get another $1000 bucks out of us

 

[JulianCrane]

So, are the USMLEWorld questions mirrors of the actual test questions or what?

 

[GOGETA]

so its Washington manual usufull?

 

[josephf1]

overkill, step up to medicine + UW is money, better than FA for IM, just need FA for the rest of the stuff in my opinion

 

[DebDynamite]

This thread is making me feel better- taking it next week and all positive statements are appreciated.

 

[golfpropsychguy]

This thread is making me feel better- taking it next week and all positive statements are appreciated.

Keep em coming. I take it next week. Im in full crank mode!!!!!!!!!

 

[Med0000]

I took step II a short while ago and it was way easier than Step I. It was exactly like UsmleWorld, if not a little easier! Keep in mind each exam is different, but my exam had a ton of trauma questions. Lots of MVA's with decision to do diagnostic test or surgery type scenario. I only had a few images and 2 EKGs that were easy. There were some zebra type questions that I couldn't figure out what they were getting at, but much less so than on Step I for me. I also had a NPV calculation.

This is a long day. Get lots of sleep, use ALL of your break time, and bring some caffeine!

 

[RockfordWF]

I took step II a short while ago and it was way easier than Step I. It was exactly like UsmleWorld, if not a little easier! Keep in mind each exam is different, but my exam had a ton of trauma questions. Lots of MVA's with decision to do diagnostic test or surgery type scenario. I only had a few images and 2 EKGs that were easy. There were some zebra type questions that I couldn't figure out what they were getting at, but much less so than on Step I for me. I also had a NPV calculation.

This is a long day. Get lots of sleep, use ALL of your break time, and bring some caffeine!

I wouldn't use all of your break time. I had 2 hours remaining at the end of my exam, and I would have hated to be there until 5pm instead of 3.

 

[Alcon]

I wouldn't bring caffeine, because you can only leave the room every 100 questions. If you are diuresing yourself, that could be a problem.

I dunno what test you took, but you can use your break time after each block of 46 questions. You can leave the room during or after any block at your discretion.

 

[RockfordWF]

I dunno what test you took, but you can use your break time after each block of 46 questions. You can leave the room during or after any block at your discretion.

You're right, that was the COMLEX. My mistake.

 

[golfpropsychguy]

It was WAAAAAAY easier than Step I. Most of the questions were exactly like Kaplan QBook, and there weren't any questions that required math or basic science of any kind. I got done with 2 1/2 hours remaining of time, and always had at least 15-30 minutes left on each block. The key is to pick and answer and move on. Don't fool around with it.

Here as some key things to know:
-Electrolyte Disorders (tons of questions on hyper- and hypocalcemia)
-Common antibiotic side effects and teratogenic effects
-Common antibiotic indications
-Skin Rashes
-Mood Disorders
-Know the study types and how to determine risk/specificity/sensitivity, etc.
-Illicit Drug Overdose, Treatment, & Withdrawal Symptoms
-STD's, unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, etc.
-effects of long-term smoking

I'll try to think of some more and add them, but those are the ones that had the most questions on my exam.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Don't spend all day every day for weeks studying for this exam like it was Step I. Most of this stuff will come to you if you review First Aid or a similar book. I recommend QBook to get acquainted with they way they ask questions because I thought I was actually reading QBook on the day of the test....

Good Luck!

are u sure your talking about the usmle step 2 or do you mean the comlex 2??
Thanks

 

[FowlersGap]

are u sure your talking about the usmle step 2 or do you mean the comlex 2??
Thanks

i've been wondering about that too; i thought usmle was really brutal...comlex was ok though

 

[GOGETA]

i've been wondering about that too; i thought usmle was really brutal...comlex was ok though

Dr. Daughtery from kaplan said that if you finish your exam with more than 1 hour remining or you are stremly bright or stremely stupid, nothing in betwee.

So you are extremly inteligent 🙂

 

[RockfordWF]

are u sure your talking about the usmle step 2 or do you mean the comlex 2??
Thanks

USMLE Step II. USMLE Step II was actually easier than COMLEX Step II, since the COMLEX questions were much more ambiguous. Also, COMLEX had questions on medical jurisprudence, EMTALA, etc. None of these types of questions were on the USMLE exam.

 

[josephf1]

got a 230, guess it was easy like we all said
good luck everyone
Step up to medicine + FA + UW is all you need in my opinion

 

[HoodyHoo]

USMLE Step II. USMLE Step II was actually easier than COMLEX Step II, since the COMLEX questions were much more ambiguous. Also, COMLEX had questions on medical jurisprudence, EMTALA, etc. None of these types of questions were on the USMLE exam.

100% disagree with you here. For me COMLEX was way easier. thought usmle was kinda tough. Aren't there any normal people out there? seems like everyone posting on these boards score in the 230s and higher.

 

[AbuJadenDO]

Taking the beast in the a.m...wish me luck!

life will be so different in 24 hours!👍👍👍

 

[Tiki]

got a 230, guess it was easy like we all said
good luck everyone
Step up to medicine + FA + UW is all you need in my opinion

I got a 257 and I didn't think it was easy. I thought it was hard as hell.