Old IMG - need help putting together a study plan

[ron2006]

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Hi All ,
I am on old IMG and have passed the Step 1 and CS exams. My score in Step 1 is not great so I want to make sure I get a higher score in Step 2 CK .

Could someone please guide me on how to put together a study plan / study schedule ? I want to make sure I score high ( 250 + ) . Is it doable in 4 months ?

I started studying few months back by watching the Kaplan videos & reading the Kaplan books, but had to stop due to work and other family responsibilities . I want to start again and would really appreciate your help in putting together a study plan .
Books I have are Kaplan, MTB 2 & 3 .Plan to use UWorld. I know this is what is mostly used but since I am an IMG I am wondering if I should also take some Prep courses ? Looked for reviews on Kaplan Live Lectures ( LivePrep ) but found no reviews.

Also should I get the newer Kaplan books ? I have been told they have updated the books and they are more current now.

I just want to make sure I start off right and move in the right direction. Please help !

 

[link2swim06]

Hi All ,
I am on old IMG and have passed the Step 1 and CS exams. My score in Step 1 is not great so I want to make sure I get a higher score in Step 2 CK .

Could someone please guide me on how to put together a study plan / study schedule ? I want to make sure I score high ( 250 + ) . Is it doable in 4 months ?

I started studying few months back by watching the Kaplan videos & reading the Kaplan books, but had to stop due to work and other family responsibilities . I want to start again and would really appreciate your help in putting together a study plan .
Books I have are Kaplan, MTB 2 & 3 .Plan to use UWorld. I know this is what is mostly used but since I am an IMG I am wondering if I should also take some Prep courses ? Looked for reviews on Kaplan Live Lectures ( LivePrep ) but found no reviews.

Also should I get the newer Kaplan books ? I have been told they have updated the books and they are more current now.

I just want to make sure I start off right and move in the right direction. Please help !

What's your starting point? I'd start with a practice nbme to see where you are at currently. If you currently are at a 250 your study plan is a lot different than if you have a 150.

MTB is good but a 'review' book. You need more to do well on this test.

You should plan to go through uworld twice (this needs to be your number 1 resource).

 

[ron2006]

Thanks Link2swim06.

My current NBME assessment score is 280 ( which translates to an Approximate
Step 2 Three-Digit Score of 191 ) . I have a long way to go !! Please advice.

 

[link2swim06]

Thanks Link2swim06.

My current NBME assessment score is 280 ( which translates to an Approximate
Step 2 Three-Digit Score of 191 ) . I have a long way to go !! Please advice.

I think you would be very successful if you went through MTB 2/3 multiple times.

Also you have 4 months to study? If so, try to go through uworld in the next 2 months and take a ton of notes. I have a friend who typed up anything he didn't know in the explanations of questions (regardless if he got them right or wrong) and ended up with around 500 pages of typed notes. Go through these notes a few times then reset uworld and go back through again for a second time.

Finally the last 2 weeks read through the secrets book twice.

The above plan is the highest yield imo. You don't need kaplan. But I'd recommend kaplan high yield cases which is 20 cases (approx. 20 hours) which will hit a lot of high points on the 20 most common diseases.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

Hi All ,
I am on old IMG and have passed the Step 1 and CS exams. My score in Step 1 is not great so I want to make sure I get a higher score in Step 2 CK .

Could someone please guide me on how to put together a study plan / study schedule ? I want to make sure I score high ( 250 + ) . Is it doable in 4 months ?

I started studying few months back by watching the Kaplan videos & reading the Kaplan books, but had to stop due to work and other family responsibilities . I want to start again and would really appreciate your help in putting together a study plan .
Books I have are Kaplan, MTB 2 & 3 .Plan to use UWorld. I know this is what is mostly used but since I am an IMG I am wondering if I should also take some Prep courses ? Looked for reviews on Kaplan Live Lectures ( LivePrep ) but found no reviews.

Also should I get the newer Kaplan books ? I have been told they have updated the books and they are more current now.

I just want to make sure I start off right and move in the right direction. Please help !

Since you have 4 months, I'd spend a month going over all the kaplan lectures. Just keep in mind that the preventative medicine section is outdated and that not all sections of IM are up to date. I would not use any of the kaplan lecture notes (exception of surgery OB/gyn) and instead replace that with MTB 2 for IM. and outside sources for psy, peds, as you probably haven seen or even thought about these subjects for a long time. I really liked blueprints peds for my peds clerkship and firstaid psy for psychiatry clerkship but it may be overkill for the boards. Its easy reading but may be time consuming. Take a look at it and see what you think.

btw I am not saying not to read the non IM sections of MTB just that the IM section is way better

save 2 months to do UWORLD. best of luck man.

 

[ron2006]

Thank you link2swim06 & HelpPleaseMD.

What are your thoughts on Kaplan's Step 2 CK High Yield & USMLE Step 2 CK Classroom Anywhere ? I was considering starting off with either one of these 2 . Other Kaplan videos have outdated information and not scheduled to be outdated until October. With these 2 options I am sure of getting current info.

 

[link2swim06]

Thank you link2swim06 & HelpPleaseMD.

What are your thoughts on Kaplan's Step 2 CK High Yield & USMLE Step 2 CK Classroom Anywhere ? I was considering starting off with either one of these 2 . Other Kaplan videos have outdated information and not scheduled to be outdated until October. With these 2 options I am sure of getting current info.

I did a few of the high yield videos but I didn't have the time to make it through them.

People sometimes make the mistake of using too many resources. I really think if you take detailed notes on uworld twice, read MTB and secrets you are set.

BTW kaplan high yield videos are essentially just MTB 2 being read to you with little additional info.

 

[ImNotBritish]

People sometimes make the mistake of using too many resources. I really think if you take detailed notes on uworld twice, read MTB and secrets you are set.

I totally agree with this. I'm a poor test-taker, and an even worse procrastinator, and the 450+ pages of notes that I took through UWorld are my pride and joy and the only things that saved me on this test. I never even got around to MTB, but UW and Secrets were awesome prep for me.

 

[ron2006]

Thanks for your suggestion.

How should I approach it ?

Should I
A) Start with a quick read of MTB 2/3 and then start UWorld in timed / random mode while doing a second read ?
OR
B) Do both simultaneously - Read MTB and also do UWorld in subject / timed mode? Once I complete Uworld , do it second time over in timed / random mode and read from MTB for incorrect questions.


Please advice.

I did a few of the high yield videos but I didn't have the time to make it through them.

People sometimes make the mistake of using too many resources. I really think if you take detailed notes on uworld twice, read MTB and secrets you are set.

BTW kaplan high yield videos are essentially just MTB 2 being read to you with little additional info.

 

[ron2006]

I am a really bad test-taker too ! 🙁

I totally agree with this. I'm a poor test-taker, and an even worse procrastinator, and the 450+ pages of notes that I took through UWorld are my pride and joy and the only things that saved me on this test. I never even got around to MTB, but UW and Secrets were awesome prep for me.

 

[link2swim06]

Thanks for your suggestion.

How should I approach it ?

Should I
A) Start with a quick read of MTB 2/3 and then start UWorld in timed / random mode while doing a second read ?
OR
B) Do both simultaneously - Read MTB and also do UWorld in subject / timed mode? Once I complete Uworld , do it second time over in timed / random mode and read from MTB for incorrect questions.


Please advice.

I'd do both together. Read one MTB daily and do 1 block of 44 uworld questions. Always do random timed blocks of 44, not subject.

The key is not treat uworld as an assessment but rather a learning tool. During my prep, I would spend 45 minutes doing 44 questions, then ~4 hours writing detailed notes on every explanation of every question (regardless if I got it right or wrong). If you don't do this you are missing >60% of what uworld has to offer imo.

 

[ron2006]

Ok so help me understand this , please .

I start reading MTB ( Let's say I start with Surgery) , so I am studying subject wise but I should do Uworld in random mode ? I don't get it !
Here is why I am confused - If I haven't read anything of Peds / Psych / OgGyn, obviously ,I won't be able to answer questions related to them as effectively.

I am sure its the correct approach but I just need to understand the reasoning behind it.

I'd do both together. Read one MTB daily and do 1 block of 44 uworld questions. Always do random timed blocks of 44, not subject.

The key is not treat uworld as an assessment but rather a learning tool. During my prep, I would spend 45 minutes doing 44 questions, then ~4 hours writing detailed notes on every explanation of every question (regardless if I got it right or wrong). If you don't do this you are missing >60% of what uworld has to offer imo.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

Ok so help me understand this , please .

I start reading MTB ( Let's say I start with Surgery) , so I am studying subject wise but I should do Uworld in random mode ? I don't get it !
Here is why I am confused - If I haven't read anything of Peds / Psych / OgGyn, obviously ,I won't be able to answer questions related to them as effectively.

I am sure its the correct approach but I just need to understand the reasoning behind it.

In my opinion for you going straight with MTB2/3 is a bad idea. MTB is a review book. if you never learned or forgot the different areas tested on step 2, even if you memorize mtb it wont help.

you have 4 months. We in the US do this in 2 - 4 weeks

 

[link2swim06]

Ok so help me understand this , please .

I start reading MTB ( Let's say I start with Surgery) , so I am studying subject wise but I should do Uworld in random mode ? I don't get it !
Here is why I am confused - If I haven't read anything of Peds / Psych / OgGyn, obviously ,I won't be able to answer questions related to them as effectively.

I am sure its the correct approach but I just need to understand the reasoning behind it.

If you got a 191 you have to know something about those subjects.

Random keeps your knowledge integrated.

If you truly know nothing about any of those subjects then I guess you could go subject wise...but your last pass has to be random (that is harder and more like the real test).

 

[ron2006]

HelpPleaseMD : By Kaplan Lectures you mean Kaplan Videos ?

Since you have 4 months, I'd spend a month going over all the kaplan lectures. J
.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

videos. the information of the videos are in mtb 2/3 but sometimes it takes a person presenting it to connect the dots as they emphasize and deemphasize certain information.

its up to you, but i think a run through will help with your 250 goal.

 

[999999]

The key is not treat uworld as an assessment but rather a learning tool. During my prep, I would spend 45 minutes doing 44 questions, then ~4 hours writing detailed notes on every explanation of every question (regardless if I got it right or wrong). If you don't do this you are missing >60% of what uworld has to offer imo.

Would you guys suggest same approach for uworld step 1?