Step 2 before 1 : How should our prep differ?

[DYT]

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Hello there,

I hope you're having a good day everybody!

I and a couple of friends are planning on doing step 2 in the next year. We have about 10 months of prep time, which will mostly be during our school rotations. It might be a bit longer.

How should our plans differ from someone who has already done step 1 of the USMLE?

Our school is pretty weak on basic sciences, in general. We have close to zero knowledge about pharmacology, behavioral sciences and biostatistics.

A friend suggested that we study some of the step 1 books on microbiology(MMRS), Pathology(Pathoma) and maybe Kaplan LNs for pharmacology. Will these be worthwhile to do during our step 2 prep?

What kind of resources should we go with? MTB 2 and 3, or the new Kaplan LNs? And in our case, what kind of books should we supplement with? Of course, Uworld is on the top of our list. How much time should we give it before the exam?

I know this is a long thread, and I am really thankful for your reading it. ANY info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

 

[link2swim06]

Why take them out of order?

You need to pass all of them.

Step 2 does have 'some' step 1 stuff. Plus everything makes more sense if you start with the basics.

 

[DYT]

Well, yeah. You are correct. To explain the situation, our school doesn't offer dedicated study time for any exams you wish to take. I'll probably finish off rounding and patients by 4 pm every single day. That would make it pretty hard for us to study something a bit more demanding, like step 1.

We'll have some dedicated study time in 2 years, which we will indeed use to study step 1. But if I don't do step 2 now, and delay it until I am finished with step 1, my schedule is going to be so tight that I might have to delay getting into the match. That I don't want to do.

 

[link2swim06]

Ok well you will be at a severe disadvantage imo taking them out of order.

Step 2 isn't a basic science exam BUT there are plenty of basic science questions on step 2.

Ideally you will focus on doing well in the rotations and reading on all your patients. Plus books like case files and blueprints. Also supplement with uworld questions

Then 1 month of review and run through uworld again.