Need advice for CK at this stage

[DoctorMY]

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Hey guys, hope you're all doing well. best of luck on your exams and thanks for keeping this page going. i hope someone can give me a tip based on my specific stage in Step 2 CK prep. Well here's where I am:

Step 1: 81 (Took it on Dec 29th 2010)

1. I've read Kaplan lecture notes Internal medicine twice(last reading recent, the one before was 4 months ago)

2. Reading Kaplan lecture notes pediatrics now(halfway through)

3. Planning on Reading Kaplan lecture notes: OB-GYN, Surgery, and Psych

4. USMLEworld: I still have 62% to go(i flag after i review the exam, only flag correct questions i feel week on and ones i got by chance). Plan on reviewing all exam questions incorrect and flagged. Taking detailed notes on each exam system by system.

I bought Self Assessment USMLEworld but havent activated it yet. I'm also thinking of eventually buying the NBME SA exam. I own Master the boards step 2 CK but i only use it when i dont find information in lecture notes.

How would you proceed if you were in my shoes? As i mentioned above all i do right now is read lecture notes and take 1-2 blocks a day plus detailed corrections. do you think i need to do a full read of my MTB or get FA and read the whole thing? I'm thinking another month of prep(quit my job and have full days).

Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this post

 

[MDpride]

Hey guys, hope you're all doing well. best of luck on your exams and thanks for keeping this page going. i hope someone can give me a tip based on my specific stage in Step 2 CK prep. Well here's where I am:

Step 1: 81 (Took it on Dec 29th 2010)

1. I've read Kaplan lecture notes Internal medicine twice(last reading recent, the one before was 4 months ago)

2. Reading Kaplan lecture notes pediatrics now(halfway through)

3. Planning on Reading Kaplan lecture notes: OB-GYN, Surgery, and Psych

4. USMLEworld: I still have 62% to go(i flag after i review the exam, only flag correct questions i feel week on and ones i got by chance). Plan on reviewing all exam questions incorrect and flagged. Taking detailed notes on each exam system by system.

I bought Self Assessment USMLEworld but havent activated it yet. I'm also thinking of eventually buying the NBME SA exam. I own Master the boards step 2 CK but i only use it when i dont find information in lecture notes.

How would you proceed if you were in my shoes? As i mentioned above all i do right now is read lecture notes and take 1-2 blocks a day plus detailed corrections. do you think i need to do a full read of my MTB or get FA and read the whole thing? I'm thinking another month of prep(quit my job and have full days).

Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this post

kaplan lec notes and videos are too much.
FA step2Ck and USMLE step 2 secrets is more than enough. explanations of UW Qs adds to the notes.

 

[DoctorMY]

kaplan lec notes and videos are too much.
FA step2Ck and USMLE step 2 secrets is more than enough. explanations of UW Qs adds to the notes.

Thanks for replying. So if i've done Kap notes(everything) and UW(self assessment and Qbank) do you think i'll be fine? or do i need to supplement with more material? There's no harm in reading a good concise review like MTB i guess...

I've taken a lot of notes off of UW explanations as well

 

[MDpride]

Thanks for replying. So if i've done Kap notes(everything) and UW(self assessment and Qbank) do you think i'll be fine? or do i need to supplement with more material? There's no harm in reading a good concise review like MTB i guess...

I've taken a lot of notes off of UW explanations as well

don't know abt kaplan

i ONLY did FA step 2 CK and Step 2 secrets along with UW. did fine on test.

 

[DoctorMY]

I just need an effective plan from here on... starting to sweat on it

What i plan to do is to keep doing Uworld and reading Kaplan notes until they're done. Then i'll go over all the flagged and incorrect plus the notes i took of all exams. I'll follow that with NBME SA and UWorld SA to see where i stand...

Suggestions from the good guys in here are welcome

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Hey guys, hope you're all doing well. best of luck on your exams and thanks for keeping this page going. i hope someone can give me a tip based on my specific stage in Step 2 CK prep. Well here's where I am:

Step 1: 81 (Took it on Dec 29th 2010)

1. I've read Kaplan lecture notes Internal medicine twice(last reading recent, the one before was 4 months ago)

2. Reading Kaplan lecture notes pediatrics now(halfway through)

3. Planning on Reading Kaplan lecture notes: OB-GYN, Surgery, and Psych

4. USMLEworld: I still have 62% to go(i flag after i review the exam, only flag correct questions i feel week on and ones i got by chance). Plan on reviewing all exam questions incorrect and flagged. Taking detailed notes on each exam system by system.

I bought Self Assessment USMLEworld but havent activated it yet. I'm also thinking of eventually buying the NBME SA exam. I own Master the boards step 2 CK but i only use it when i dont find information in lecture notes.

How would you proceed if you were in my shoes? As i mentioned above all i do right now is read lecture notes and take 1-2 blocks a day plus detailed corrections. do you think i need to do a full read of my MTB or get FA and read the whole thing? I'm thinking another month of prep(quit my job and have full days).

Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this post

Per my usual advice

Step 2 FA or Step Up Step 2

and

UWorld​

Get you a 230. Average students doing this method get 230ish. I've used this strategy with medical students I've counseled, with people who did poorly on Step 1, and even with a close friend of mine. I know this works.

That being said, I did Kaplan (notes and videos legit) and got a 252 (four point over one standard deviation up on my test). So... they are worth it. But I also got a 248 on Step 1 using Kaplan (six points over one standard deviation up on my test). That 81 may indicate that your potential is just not very high for a Step exam. Doesn't mean youre stupid or going to be a bad doctor, just that you may not perform well on a Step exam. Therefore, doing all the ultra work (Kaplan is really for augmentation, not for "doing average") may not pay off in your case. You may be doing too much. If you have a plan, stick with it. If you really want to get a 230 and call it a day, you may want to abandon your time-consuming plan (recognizing that you've learned alot already) and go to the more average-student-success route.

 

[mosamd]

hi
im doing cs and ck at the same time
just starting both
what about goljan for the ck
i used it for step 1 and was thinking on getting the goljan book, but i dont see too many post for him on ck

any thoughts

 

[DoctorMY]

Per my usual advice



That being said, I did Kaplan (notes and videos legit) and got a 252 (four point over one standard deviation up on my test). So... they are worth it. But I also got a 248 on Step 1 using Kaplan (six points over one standard deviation up on my test). That 81 may indicate that your potential is just not very high for a Step exam. Doesn't mean youre stupid or going to be a bad doctor, just that you may not perform well on a Step exam. Therefore, doing all the ultra work (Kaplan is really for augmentation, not for "doing average") may not pay off in your case. You may be doing too much. If you have a plan, stick with it. If you really want to get a 230 and call it a day, you may want to abandon your time-consuming plan (recognizing that you've learned alot already) and go to the more average-student-success route.

Hey thanks a lot for your post. i really appreciate you tailoring the advice to my case. I have been out of med school for 3 years(working in clinical research) and i recognize that i need extra work for the CK after i scored a measly 81 on step1.

What i understand from your post is that Kaplan is a more time consuming read compared to the other resources and that its less oriented to the actual exam and more towards augmentation as you put it. In that case i'd benefit more from a concise exam book for my last read after i'm done Uworld. Is that what you meant to tell me?

 

[turkeyjerky]

Per my usual advice



That being said, I did Kaplan (notes and videos legit) and got a 252 (four point over one standard deviation up on my test). So... they are worth it. But I also got a 248 on Step 1 using Kaplan (six points over one standard deviation up on my test). That 81 may indicate that your potential is just not very high for a Step exam. Doesn't mean youre stupid or going to be a bad doctor, just that you may not perform well on a Step exam. Therefore, doing all the ultra work (Kaplan is really for augmentation, not for "doing average") may not pay off in your case. You may be doing too much. If you have a plan, stick with it. If you really want to get a 230 and call it a day, you may want to abandon your time-consuming plan (recognizing that you've learned alot already) and go to the more average-student-success route.

How'd you do on your shelf exams, if you don't mind my asking?

 

[DoctorMY]

well so that's it then. a month left until oct 20. i'm gonna finish what i started even if its a longer path. I'll read obgyn, surgery, psych kap lecture notes. finish UW. Take the SA tests(NBME&UW). if there's time i'll do my last reading(either MTB or FA)