Step 2 dedicated

[fldoctorgirl]

Hi friends. Yesterday, my school graced me with a "you will soon be a 4th year, time to start planning and registering for more exams" email. Sooooo.

Last clerkship ends end of May, then my school gives us 4 weeks of dedicated time. We have to take Step 2 (and Level 2, DO student) either during those 4 weeks or within 30 days after. I am currently scheduled for PE second week of July. I kind of run into an issue with timing as my school requires 3 sub-I's/auditions, and I don't want to be studying and/or taking too much time off from those to go take these exams. I am planning on applying IM, so I know auditions don't really matter much. 250+ Step 1, 600+ Level 1 for reference.

How much dedicated does one actually need for Step 2, assuming I will have all of cheesy Dorian + 1st pass of UWorld done throughout the year? Only plan for dedicated would probably be to just redo UWorld. Should I take the full 4 weeks, take Step 2 on like the Monday of the last week of June and then Level 2 that Thursday? That would give me like 4 days to prep for the PE, not sure if that's enough? Or should I push PE later and just miss a couple days of sub-Is for it since I likely won't be auditioning at places I really want to go to anyways? Is 4 weeks enough (will probably be less than that of actual hardcore study time because I will have some life stuff going on right after my last rotation ends)?

It's kind of hard asking upperclassmen since their schedules got all f'ed this year with COVID, so I'd appreciate anyone's input!

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[ciestar]

My school only gave two weeks (which i took off and vacationed) for CK dedicated and I took block 1 off to study, so one month in total and I got a 245.

You wont need a whole dedicated period for your PE.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I took 3 weeks.

 

[ciestar]

I will add that i took off all that time because i got a 211 step 1 lol

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

We don’t get a step 2 dedicated but we are allowed 2 non-clinical rotations so it’s possible to take it at the end of one of those and basically get the whole month to study. Some people do that but some people just take it during a rotation. Doesn’t seem to be a problem either way.

 

[risperdoll]

Hi friends. Yesterday, my school graced me with a "you will soon be a 4th year, time to start planning and registering for more exams" email. While simultaneously giving us almost no guidance on what that means, lol. Anyways.

Last clerkship ends end of May, then my school gives us 4 weeks of dedicated time. We have to take Step 2 (and Level 2, DO student) either during those 4 weeks or within 30 days after. I am currently scheduled for PE second week of July. I kind of run into an issue with timing as my school requires 3 sub-I's/auditions, and I don't want to be studying and/or taking too much time off from those to go take these exams. I am planning on applying IM, so I know auditions don't really matter much. 250+ Step 1, 600+ Level 1 for reference.

How much dedicated does one actually need for Step 2, assuming I will have all of cheesy Dorian + 1st pass of UWorld done throughout the year? Only plan for dedicated would probably be to just redo UWorld. Should I take the full 4 weeks, take Step 2 on like the Monday of the last week of June and then Level 2 that Thursday? That would give me like 4 days to prep for the PE, not sure if that's enough? Or should I push PE later and just miss a couple days of sub-Is for it since I likely won't be auditioning at places I really want to go to anyways? Is 4 weeks enough (will probably be less than that of actual hardcore study time because I will have some life stuff going on right after my last rotation ends)?

It's kind of hard asking upperclassmen since their schedules got all f'ed this year with COVID. We get almost no guidance on this from our school (classic), so I'd appreciate anyone's input!

Echoing that a few weeks is ample time. I started prepping early because I did so poorly on Step/Level 1 and had nothing else to do with COVID, and I was so over it by that point. It’s hard to keep your momentum and you’ve really been studying that material all year for COMATs.

Mostly just wanted to say congrats on your scores! I remember seeing you on the KCU application thread way back when so it really warms my heart.

 

[Ho0v-man]

If you’re feeling anxious, you could stack a rads rotation on right before you’re dedicated so you can get an extra 2wks or so onto it.

I took 5 weeks but that’s because Covid messed up my test date and pushed it back 3 months and my school kept us pretty busy with garbage until rotations restarted. If I was fresh off rotations, I think 2-3 weeks would have perfectly fine.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

With how the test has changed I would highly recommend taking 2-3 weeks.

Trying to study for this beast during a rotation would be very difficult IMO.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Mostly just wanted to say congrats on your scores! I remember seeing you on the KCU application thread way back when so it really warms my heart.

Thank you so much!! This means a lot

With how the test has changed I would highly recommend taking 2-3 weeks.

Trying to study for this beast during a rotation would be very difficult IMO.

As always, appreciate your feedback. I'm leaning towards 3 weeks.

 

[calivianya]

They’re telling me I may not get a dedicated because of COVID with the way my clinical site organizes things. We started two blocks late, so we’re already going into fourth year blocks to finish third year since we lost those early blocks.

And they have my last three blocks as surgery, OB, and surgery.

I have no idea how any of this is going to work out. I’m hoping I can take at least two weeks but it’s looking unlikely.

 

[ohmanwaddup]

Was scheduling step 2 PE hard? I know a few weeks ago I was saying I was going to blow it off but I feel a little more under control, might as well schedule now.

 

[ciestar]

Was scheduling step 2 PE hard? I know a few weeks ago I was saying I was going to blow it off but I feel a little more under control, might as well schedule now.

There is no PE for Step. Do you mean CK? DOs take PE which is their equivalent to the MD CS exam (which i dont think you can even schedule right now)

 

[ohmanwaddup]

There is no PE for Step. Do you mean CK? DOs take PE which is their equivalent to the MD CS exam (which i dont think you can even schedule right now)

I'm a DO. Just stupid and sleep lacking, I meant Comlex PE!

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Was scheduling step 2 PE hard? I know a few weeks ago I was saying I was going to blow it off but I feel a little more under control, might as well schedule now.

Not hard, I would get on it as there's barely any dates due to the c/o 2021 fiasco. Takes ~5 minutes (and way too much money of course).

 

[EMDoc22]

Not hard, I would get on it as there's barely any dates due to the c/o 2021 fiasco. Takes ~5 minutes (and way too much money of course).

Did your school give you any information before you registered? You're so right about spots being very limited in June and July when I need to take it since I'm under the assumption that our class will be on a normal timeline. My school has said nothing about scheduling Level 2 or when we're allowed to take it. They want us to do a 2-week "prep course" at the end of third year which basically means making us do useless BS when I could be using that time to actually study.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Did your school give you any information before you registered? You're so right about spots being very limited in June and July when I need to take it since I'm under the assumption that our class will be on a normal timeline. My school has said nothing about scheduling Level 2 or when we're allowed to take it. They want us to do a 2-week "prep course" at the end of third year which basically means making us do useless BS when I could be using that time to actually study.

We were sent a vague email a couple of weeks ago saying "hey, before you know it you'll be a 4th year, you can go ahead and schedule all these exams". They did give us the dates we were required to take them in. From what I understand, 2022 isn't even allowed to take PE until June or July because they're anticipating still having 2021 testing up until that point. So I just grabbed a date in July to have for now because I want to make sure I have a score in time for ERAS. Ideally, I would've tested in April or May because July gets into audition season and what not, but whatever.

 

[EMDoc22]

We were sent a vague email a couple of weeks ago saying "hey, before you know it you'll be a 4th year, you can go ahead and schedule all these exams". They did give us the dates we were required to take them in. From what I understand, 2022 isn't even allowed to take PE until June or July because they're anticipating still having 2021 testing up until that point. So I just grabbed a date in July to have for now because I want to make sure I have a score in time for ERAS. Ideally, I would've tested in April or May because July gets into audition season and what not, but whatever.

We literally have gotten nothing from our school. My NBOME account says I am eligible to take CE and PE and I'd really love to jump on a July date since I'm assuming we'll be submitting applications on September 15 but I have no idea if I need clearance from the school or what the deadlines are. I'm not sure how it's all going to work out since July and August are prime audition months but it sounds like I'll be taking CK and CE then and possibly PE. And I'm interested in a field that requires audition rotations so...yeah.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

We literally have gotten nothing from our school. My NBOME account says I am eligible to take CE and PE and I'd really love to jump on a July date since I'm assuming we'll be submitting applications on September 15 but I have no idea if I need clearance from the school or what the deadlines are. I'm not sure how it's all going to work out since July and August are prime audition months but it sounds like I'll be taking CK and CE then and possibly PE. And I'm interested in a field that requires audition rotations so...yeah.

I would go ahead and register without waiting for your school. I actually registered for PE even before they sent that email, because I suspected that dates were going to keep getting filled. My friend told me that she has friends at another school who had registered months ago after being prompted by their school that scheduling would probably be a mess. Worst case, they make you move your date or something (although it's unlikely). At least you'll have a spot. And yeah, it sucks that it falls during audition times but there's no way around it at this point since there are literally no other dates left. I would just secure a spot for now and hope for the best-- maybe if they actually do end up opening a third site, more spots in April/May/June will open.