STEP 2 Advice

[Nukanuba]

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I've searched the threads but haven't been able to find an answer for what I'm looking for and I don't really know who in my medical school to get advice from.

I'm an AMG in the middle of my third year of medical school. In general, I usually performed pretty average (40-50th percentile of my class) and never failed anything in my first two years. I had a rough spring of this year which included, unexpectedly finding out I was pregnant a week before my husband left the country for several months and subsequently struggling through horrific morning sickness while trying to finish up my second year course work and prepare for STEP 1 as well as dealing with serious psych issues in a very close family member. It sucked. Anyway, I passed STEP 1 with a nasty low score of 201.

I'm not looking to go into anything super competitive, but I think I'm leaning toward either OB/Gyn or EM. I've heard that with a bad STEP 1 score you want to take step 2 earlier, and I think that without the crazy social stressors I'll be much more likely to perform closer to the mean. My question is how early should I take Step 2 CK and CS? and how much time is needed to prepare for them? I'm also concerned that some of my core clerkships won't be completed until fall of next year-- namely Surgery, family medicine and psych.

I've only taken neurology, internal medicine and pediatrics rotations, but so far my grades have been average, with my best marks being in my patient interaction skills (so I'm not AS worried about Step 2 CS).

Any advice?

 

[kdburton]

I've searched the threads but haven't been able to find an answer for what I'm looking for and I don't really know who in my medical school to get advice from.

I'm an AMG in the middle of my third year of medical school. In general, I usually performed pretty average (40-50th percentile of my class) and never failed anything in my first two years. I had a rough spring of this year which included, unexpectedly finding out I was pregnant a week before my husband left the country for several months and subsequently struggling through horrific morning sickness while trying to finish up my second year course work and prepare for STEP 1 as well as dealing with serious psych issues in a very close family member. It sucked. Anyway, I passed STEP 1 with a nasty low score of 201.

I'm not looking to go into anything super competitive, but I think I'm leaning toward either OB/Gyn or EM. I've heard that with a bad STEP 1 score you want to take step 2 earlier, and I think that without the crazy social stressors I'll be much more likely to perform closer to the mean. My question is how early should I take Step 2 CK and CS? and how much time is needed to prepare for them? I'm also concerned that some of my core clerkships won't be completed until fall of next year-- namely Surgery, family medicine and psych.

I've only taken neurology, internal medicine and pediatrics rotations, but so far my grades have been average, with my best marks being in my patient interaction skills (so I'm not AS worried about Step 2 CS).

Any advice?

Taking Step 2 CS early probably isn't going to impact things that much since it is Pass/Fail. In terms of CK, if you have a bad Step 1 score ideally you want to take CK early enough that your score comes back prior to when interview invites go out for your particular specialty of interest. In other words if you're applying for psychiatry you want to APPLY and have your Step 2 score ready by right away on Sept 1 when ERAS opens up. Some specialties don't really invite till quite a bit later. So do your homework on here and figure out when you need your score by and then schedule your exam accordingly.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Be careful with Step 2 CS. Some people think they don't need to prepare for the exam, and then wonder why they failed. It's smart to get a copy of First Aid for Step 2 CS, do some preparation and practice (really, shouldn't take more than a couple of days at most) to be sure that you know how everything is supposed to happen during exam day.

Agree with taking Step 2 CK earlier if you can. You will have retained more of your third year coursework, and you'll be able to show off your shiny new high score for residency applications.

 

[Nukanuba]

Thanks for the response! So earlier is better, is there any time that is "too" early? Will I be hurt if I haven't finished a bunch of major rotations, or is most the knowledge accessible from First Aid and U World?

Also, I know people say ~1-2 weeks to study for Step 2 is sufficient, but would it be better to take 3-4 weeks to study or would that be overkill?

 

[ACSurgeon]

Thanks for the response! So earlier is better, is there any time that is "too" early? Will I be hurt if I haven't finished a bunch of major rotations, or is most the knowledge accessible from First Aid and U World?

Also, I know people say ~1-2 weeks to study for Step 2 is sufficient, but would it be better to take 3-4 weeks to study or would that be overkill?

I would NOT recommend taking step 2 before completing ALL of your core rotations. Some think 1-2 weeks of DEDICATED step 2 study time is enough because you have completed the cores and taken shelf exams. More importantly, you need to have a solid clinical foundation and clinical sense, one that I am certainly still developing (4 months into 4th year). I decided to take 2-3 weeks for step 2, and now I'm counting days to the test (I think 2 weeks would have been perfect).

In your situation, that you are hoping to score better on step 2, I would suggest blocking off 3-4 weeks of study time, and then move the test a week or two sooner if feel prepared. Self assessment tests should guide you in terms of how prepared you are for the actual test.

Finally, I'd recommend getting the UW qbank now, and do questions as you go along. Also, pay attention while on rotations, and try to figure out why the team choses a certain treatment/diagnostic test over an other.

Best of luck!

 

[kdburton]

Thanks for the response! So earlier is better, is there any time that is "too" early? Will I be hurt if I haven't finished a bunch of major rotations, or is most the knowledge accessible from First Aid and U World?

Also, I know people say ~1-2 weeks to study for Step 2 is sufficient, but would it be better to take 3-4 weeks to study or would that be overkill?

No, not "the earlier the better." There is no advantage to having your Step 2 CK score come back any earlier than when you apply for residency, and certainly not if it means taking it before finishing any of your rotations. Basically studying review books for shelf exams during your rotations is studying for Step 2. If you have a bad Step 1 score that you need to make up for just make sure that you take Step 2 early enough than the score is back prior to when programs begin inviting people for interviews.

Also 1-2 weeks is sufficient for many people, but you scored almost a standard deviation below average on Step 1. Unless you barely put any time into studying for Step 1 to begin with then you should take that as a sign that you need to put more time into studying for these types of exams. There are plenty of people who take 3-4 weeks to study for Step 2, especially if they have a low Step 1 score to make up for.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

I have a nice anecdote for you. Without giving away too much information, there is a person who is now applying to residency.

(s)he got a 212 on Step 1, and as in your boat for most of first and second year, passing, never really excelling, and is at a middle of the road med school.

She took one month off to study from first aid and do a single Qbank (world) and jumped up to a 232. Now she has like 17 interviews, and its not in OB, neither.

If you want to do peds, family, or OB, and you dont care where you go, you can definitely make up a poo step 1 score with a good step 2 score, especially when you say "by the way, i got pregnant without my husband around." Thats a personal statement booster and something to talk about in an interview.

 

[ATruPhenom]

You could call the programs you are interested in applying to and see if they will divulge any information to you in terms of what they are expecting from potential residents (i.e. board scores, AOA, whether or not they require STEP 2 for interviewing). A lot of this information can also be gained from FRIEDA and NMRP, although I have heard that not all info is up to date on FRIEDA. Good luck.