Shelf Exams vs. Step 2

[manleyjb]

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Can anyone tell me how similar or different these exams are in regards to question type and material covered? Are they very predicitve of performance on Step 2? Thanks in advance.

 

[VincentAdultman]

If you did well on the shelf exams (ESPECIALLY IM) then you will be in good shape for step 2. I thought the questions on step 2 were a little longer, but the concepts were the same.

 

[drdrew267]

It's important to note that Shelf exams are MUCH HARDER than Step 2. You will have nowhere near the amount of detail on Step 2 as you would on specific shelf exams. Of course, the trade-off is that you need to know a heckuva lot of different topics.

 

[SlaveOfTCMC]

Bump an old thread


Would it fair to say that:

Shelf exams test a far greater scope of knowledge within each discipline than Step 2 but is rather narrow in its questioning?

(for example, Peds testing on the milestones, the specific nuances of the growth charts, etc... Surgery testing the Parkland formula, Goldstein's Cardiac rule, specifics of the Ranson criteria, etc...)

whereas Step 2 does not go into as much detail, but is just a very complex multistep reasoning set of questions that focus mainly on diagnosis, workup, and treatment?

 

[turkeyjerky]

Bump an old thread


Would it fair to say that:

Shelf exams test a far greater scope of knowledge within each discipline than Step 2 but is rather narrow in its questioning?

(for example, Peds testing on the milestones, the specific nuances of the growth charts, etc... Surgery testing the Parkland formula, Goldstein's Cardiac rule, specifics of the Ranson criteria, etc...)

whereas Step 2 does not go into as much detail, but is just a very complex multistep reasoning set of questions that focus mainly on diagnosis, workup, and treatment?

Yeah, that's prolly a fair assessment. Although, keep in mind that shelf exam questions are retired step 2 questions, so obviously there will be detailed Q's in there, just not the majority.

What's Goldstein's cardiac rule? I've never heard of it, and there's nothing on google.

 

[SlaveOfTCMC]

Yeah, that's prolly a fair assessment. Although, keep in mind that shelf exam questions are retired step 2 questions, so obviously there will be detailed Q's in there, just not the majority.

What's Goldstein's cardiac rule? I've never heard of it, and there's nothing on google.

My mistake, in my haste I mistyped

Rather, it's the Goldman's Index of Cardiac Risk