Starting this year, are any med schools out there giving substantial (> 1mo) dedicated time for Step 2?

[deleted1139416]

My school doesn’t, but a lot of people at my school are trying to set up BS research electives in their last month of 3rd year with faculty/physicians they personally know.

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[DrStephenStrange]

It's hard to have dedicated for step 2 in the middle of required rotations, most schools have easier electives, virtual rotations, and a vacation month for that sole purpose. That's how it was at my school as well.

 

[Taddy Mason]

It’s highly variable from school to school but Idk that explicit “dedicated” time for Step 2 is terribly common. Where I went to med school we took our last shelf exam on a Friday in late July and 4th year rotations started the following Monday. There were no elective or research blocks 3rd year and we were only allotted a total of 4 weeks to use for CK, CS, interviews, and vacation, so a large chunk of my class just studied for and took Step 2 while on rotations (including Sub-Is and aways) because of how late our 4th year started. Given my experience, I wouldn’t judge anyone for trying to sandwich Step 2 amongst light or BS rotations. With Step 1 now being P/F, the med school I attended, the one affiliated with where I did residency, and the one affiliated with my fellowship haven’t made any changes with their schedules in allowing more free/“dedicated” time to study for Step 2; though the schools affiliated with where I’ve done post-graduate training are much more generous and flexible with 3rd and 4th year schedules to more easily arrange several weeks dedicated to studying without interfering with aways and sub-Is or using up a substantial amount of potential vacation or elective time.

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Some schools have only so much requirements for 4th year, like "complete 36 weeks of rotations" or something. The rest of that time is vacation time that folks may take for interviews, to make their own Step 2 dedicated period, or to add more electives.

At my school I could technically take 3-4 months of vacation 4th year if I so chose. We start 3rd year a little earlier than most traditional format schools by like 1-2 months.

 

[Billiam95]

Mine has had a 1-month step 2 dedicated for some time but has not given us more time for the first p/f step1 class. Since this will be my only 3 digit score, I wish we had more dedicated time for step2. I imagine in the future step2 dedicated time will increase as it becomes more evident how important step2 scores are for matching.

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Tbf you spend all of 3rd year studying for Step 2 with your rotations/shelf exams. Schools that lack any time for dedicated would have to switch things up in a Step 1 P/F world, but having more than 4 weeks doesn't seem necessary.

 

[Kierkegaard's Bud]

This is where the 1 and 1.5 yr preclinical programs are going to win, since students will finish rotations way earlier and have dedicated time for step.

 

[NeedSomeAdviceGuy]

I think we are going to see a decent amount of over studying for Step 2. There's a point where you plateau and then potentially dip due to burnout. Be careful folks.

After taking shelf exams for a year I can't imagine most people needing more than 4-6 weeks to peak their scores

 

[Anakinmemer]

I think we are going to see a decent amount of over studying for Step 2. There's a point where you plateau and then potentially dip due to burnout. Be careful folks.

After taking shelf exams for a year I can't imagine most people needing more than 4-6 weeks to peak their scores

There's no way this is true. An exam based on content knowledge will be improved upon by knowing more content. Even if the questions make it seem like a lot of reasoning is required, at the end of the day 99% are just purely from medical knowledge on things you either learnt or didn't. It's not like the MCAT which has more reasoning that doesn't require explicit content knowledge which leads to sharp plateaus in many folk, because they just don't have the inherent ability.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

My school had a three week gap between end of third year (final shelf exam) and the official start of fourth year. Those 3 weeks was perfect for me to finish everything I wanted to and needed to. I peaked perfectly, as opposed to step 1 where the dedicated just seemed endless and I was feeling burnt out.

This also depends on what type of a student and studier you were during clerkships. I kept up with all Anking step 2 cards and made my own from all incorrect questions throughout the year. So for me, 3 weeks was plenty. For others, maybe longer is ideal

 

[m1redsox]

Echoing above comments, my school has a 1.5 year preclinical so we finish 3rd year rotations in March and are given 3 “flex” months during 4th year where we don’t have to be enrolled in any classes. Most people use one for STEP 2, one for either November or December for interviews, and one as their last block to finish early. You can use them however you want though so I’m sure some of my classmates will use two flex blocks for step. It might look weird to PDs though, idk

 

[Dantes]

Yeah my school allows a certain amount of weeks for unscheduled time and some virtual electives. If you really wanted you could probably get like two months if you combine unscheduled time with some research electives or something similar.

 

[Dunkthetall]

Would two months be enough for step 1 and 2? My school ” has us take both right after clerkships, and even if I keep up with Anki/Qbanks/third party resources for clerkships I wonder if I’ll forget the granular details for step 1…

 

[Anakinmemer]

My school gives 2 months for step 2 with the new change. They know it's so late in the game to find out you're not competitive for something and want people to score as best as they can.

On that note, it's pathetic you have to decide to take a research year before you even know whether you have a score that will get you screened. Imagine committing to a year of something and then scoring a 220. I genuinely don't even know what you would do at that point.

Step 1 might have sucked but at least you knew your score early and could decide on a specialty based on that

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

There's no way this is true. An exam based on content knowledge will be improved upon by knowing more content. Even if the questions make it seem like a lot of reasoning is required, at the end of the day 99% are just purely from medical knowledge on things you either learnt or didn't. It's not like the MCAT which has more reasoning that doesn't require explicit content knowledge which leads to sharp plateaus in many folk, because they just don't have the inherent ability.

I'd have to disagree here, though this is ofc just conjecture.

The content is finite. You're reviewing this stuff on your rotations for ~year, and a lot during preclinical. The dedicated time is to consolidate, work on your exam taking, and filling gaps. Sure with more time (assuming adequate rest) you can improve but you're going to hit a point where adding a month on top of it may not even improve your score percentile. This is assuming you dont have some serious gaps in knowledge.

 

[Anakinmemer]

I'd have to disagree here, though this is ofc just conjecture.

The content is finite. You're reviewing this stuff on your rotations for ~year, and a lot during preclinical. The dedicated time is to consolidate, work on your exam taking, and filling gaps. Sure with more time (assuming adequate rest) you can improve but you're going to hit a point where adding a month on top of it may not even improve your score percentile. This is assuming you dont have some serious gaps in knowledge.

It's theoretically finite but realistically no one has ever walked into that exam knowing everything that could be tested. I think the vast majority would improve from another month of learning, unless you're already hitting 280.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

It's theoretically finite but realistically no one has ever walked into that exam knowing everything that could be tested. I think the vast majority would improve from another month of learning, unless you're already hitting 280.

As a very good test taker, who did better on step 2 than step 1, I disagree. There's no way another month would have lead to a better score. For precisely the reason you mention - nobody will ever walk into the test knowing everything that will be tested. No matter how many questions you do, the test writers will write questions that pertain to a topic in a different way you haven't seen before. This is where test taking strategies come in, not just knowledge base.

 

[Kierkegaard's Bud]

As a very good test taker, who did better on step 2 than step 1, I disagree. There's no way another month would have lead to a better score. For precisely the reason you mention - nobody will ever walk into the test knowing everything that will be tested. No matter how many questions you do, the test writers will write questions that pertain to a topic in a different way you haven't seen before. This is where test taking strategies come in, not just knowledge base.

You could sharpen test taking strategies if you have more time. More time, if used wisely will lead to a better time, but that is a big "if".

 

[Captain_Falcon]

You could sharpen test taking strategies if you have more time. More time, if used wisely will lead to a better time, but that is a big "if".

That’s different than sheer knowledge base improving with extended (ie longer than typical) dedicated study periods

 

[MDMechEngr]

I took my first Step 2 practice exam and hit a 249 without studying a lick. Anyone with similar experience that hit a 270+ on the real deal?

 

[Captain_Falcon]

I took my first Step 2 practice exam and hit a 249 without studying a lick. Anyone with similar experience that hit a 270+ on the real deal?

Similar starting point for me. I came close, high 260s.