step 2 CK- need advice

[USMLE0423]

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Hey,

So i'm just starting to study for Step 2 CK (taking it in a couple of months) and I have of questions that I need to be clarified

1. what are the "must do" resources?
2. are kaplan lec notes/vids necessary or are they ancillary?
3. what exactly is the "new change" to the step 2 CK (besides the drug ads, abstract and different number of questions?)
4. has the content or the style of questions changed from the CK prior to Aug 2012?
5. what is the av amount of time everyone studies?
6. what do you guys think about MTB vs FA 2012 vs Step up to step 2?
7. Which qbanks are good besides uw and kaplan?


Thank you to anyone and everyone that replies. I tremendously appreciate your help!🙂
PS.. my step 1 was in the 240s and my goal for step 2 is 250+

 

[Syncity]

Hey,

So i'm just starting to study for Step 2 CK (taking it in a couple of months) and I have of questions that I need to be clarified

1. what are the "must do" resources?
2. are kaplan lec notes/vids necessary or are they ancillary?
3. what exactly is the "new change" to the step 2 CK (besides the drug ads, abstract and different number of questions?)
4. has the content or the style of questions changed from the CK prior to Aug 2012?
5. what is the av amount of time everyone studies?
6. what do you guys think about MTB vs FA 2012 vs Step up to step 2?
7. Which qbanks are good besides uw and kaplan?


Thank you to anyone and everyone that replies. I tremendously appreciate your help!🙂
PS.. my step 1 was in the 240s and my goal for step 2 is 250+

Not being funny - but for a good briefing on materials, look for one of Overactive Brain's replies on similar threads to this one. He tells it much better than me or anyone else.

I think it's difficult to say regarding changes in questions, unless someone has taken both formats. A month of dedicated study would cover you. MTB is good insofar as the material sticks. It's far from complete, though. For this reason, I feel FA is a more complete resource. I personally used both.

I used both Kaplan QBank and UWorld. In retrospect, I would have stayed away from Kaplan as neither the style nor content is reflective of the actual exam. A thorough run through UWorld is where the money's at.

I haven't got my score yet, so I'll update how this worked for me in due course.

 

[Stellar Clouds]

Hey,

So i'm just starting to study for Step 2 CK (taking it in a couple of months) and I have of questions that I need to be clarified

1. what are the "must do" resources?
2. are kaplan lec notes/vids necessary or are they ancillary?
3. what exactly is the "new change" to the step 2 CK (besides the drug ads, abstract and different number of questions?)
4. has the content or the style of questions changed from the CK prior to Aug 2012?
5. what is the av amount of time everyone studies?
6. what do you guys think about MTB vs FA 2012 vs Step up to step 2?
7. Which qbanks are good besides uw and kaplan?


Thank you to anyone and everyone that replies. I tremendously appreciate your help!🙂
PS.. my step 1 was in the 240s and my goal for step 2 is 250+

Hit uworld for 2-3 weeks. Try to get through all the questions. No other resources are necessary.

The caveat to this is that you do need to learn from the questions you do.

 

[USMLE0423]

Thank you guys!! I've been doing MTB and Kaplan qbank subject wise so far. gonna start uw soon.

 

[Syncity]

Hit uworld for 2-3 weeks. Try to get through all the questions. No other resources are necessary.

The caveat to this is that you do need to learn from the questions you do.

Absolute cock-and-bull advice.

UWorld alone without any other material will definitely not cover all the information you need to know for this exam. One exception to this may be a US student who has done extremely well in their shelf exams to the extent that they can get by with UWorld alone. They represent an exception rather than the rule. It's completely dependent upon your own personal situation and at least one review book in addition to UWorld is the minimum one should consider doing.

Edit: I personally found Kaplan QBank didn't represent the actual exam in terms of content or format. I would be far more inclined to stick with UWorld and get all the explanations down.

 

[Stellar Clouds]

Absolute cock-and-bull advice.

UWorld alone without any other material will definitely not cover all the information you need to know for this exam. One exception to this may be a US student who has done extremely well in their shelf exams to the extent that they can get by with UWorld alone. They represent an exception rather than the rule. It's completely dependent upon your own personal situation and at least one review book in addition to UWorld is the minimum one should consider doing.

Edit: I personally found Kaplan QBank didn't represent the actual exam in terms of content or format. I would be far more inclined to stick with UWorld and get all the explanations down.

OP--let this be a lesson to take advice given on this forum with a grain of salt.

 

[Syncity]

OP--let this be a lesson to take advice given on this forum with a grain of salt.

Would you care to clarify that comment?

 

[USMLE0423]

Hi Syncity,

In your opinion, how was the real exam different than Kaplan qbank? Also, is Kaplan qbank overkill or just not the right material? lastly, any advice on any other the other resources?

thank you

 

[Stellar Clouds]

.

 

[Stellar Clouds]

Would you care to clarify that comment?

I'd prefer to steer clear of an argument.

OP -- take a little bit from everyone who has posted and formulate it into your own unique plan. There are too many variables to take any single person's advice. Feel free to PM me, I'd be more than happy to discuss how I did on step 1 and shelf exams to help give you a better idea how much/what you should study for step 2.

 

[Syncity]

Hi Syncity,

In your opinion, how was the real exam different than Kaplan qbank? Also, is Kaplan qbank overkill or just not the right material? lastly, any advice on any other the other resources?

thank you

The questions in Kaplan QBank are written in a very different style to the actual exam. UWorld is, in my opinion, far closer. While the material in Kaplan QBank does help consolidate information learned from other sources, a lot of it is low-yield. As far as QBanks go, I would say that a second or third run through UWorld is far more beneficial than a single run through Kaplan.

With that in mind, some of my friends did Kaplan before UWorld and profess that this helped them to a major extent and swear by this method. I agree with the above poster insofar as you need to formulate a unique plan using the consensus that has been arrived at through others.

 

[PeterPanic]

This thread has been silent for a while.
Need your feedback guys!

With step 1 results under my belt and having sat CS last Friday, I am just starting to prepare for step 2 CK.

Background: IMG currently working full time as a postdoctoral research fellow and been out of practice for some years. My study time is 2 to 3 months.
I went over experience of people who scored well in this forum and others and came up with this plan.

Must Read
Diagnostic test: Kaplan Diagnostic
Comprehensive book: MTB 2 CK (main study text)
Question bank: UWorld + NBME CS Mastery Series
Self-assessment: UWSA + NBME CCSSA (3,4,6,7) + USMLE practice material

Should read
Comprehensive: USMLE step 2 secrets
Pathophysiology: Goljan Audio
Surgery: Pestana's Surgery Notes
High yield: Conrad Fischer Comprehensive Cases

Nice to read (only if weak in a topic after above)
Medicine: Step-Up to Medicine or Kaplan internal medicine
Other topics: MTB 3
Other topics: Kaplan lecture notes
Ethics: MTB Medical Ethics – 100 cases

My main questions for you:
- do you think relying on MTB2 and not studying Kaplan notes is crazy?
- do you think the plan is reasonable?
- any major shortcoming you notice in the plan?
- overall, I really welcome / need your thoughts and comments.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for their feedback. I believe this is a tremendous community of professionals helping one another.