Step 2 or Step 1 More Painful?

[basupran]

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I can't imagine sitting still and taking an 8 hour exam, especially after my clinical years. I feel like my brain is fried after 2 blocks on UWorld. I have no idea how I am going to maintain my concentration for this exam....

Is the actual test day any worse than Step1?

Test on Saturday...feel like quitting....

 

[ShyRem]

Step 1 far more painful.

 

[docbill]

Step 1 far more painful.

Everyone says that... and I hope you are right.
However I know people who did worse on their step 2.

 

[Saladin MD]

Step 1 by far.

 

[theunderdog]

There is no comparison here. It's like comparing King Kong vs a chimpanzee.

Step 1 is harder (and more important) by miles. Step 1 is used by many residency programs, especially the more competitive ones, to weed one the ones who have borderline scores.

However, Step 2 is a much better clinical predictor than Step 1.

A high Step 2 can compensate for a low step 1. However, if your step 1 is low enough, many programs will weed you out based on step 1 alone, regardless of how high you scored on step 2. Believe it.

NBME statistics show that applicants generally score the same for steps 1 and 2, given all equal testing conditions and study ethic. I believe the SD is 10 points.

 

[basupran]

a lot of people went down on step 2... based on my NBME, I am going to be one of them.

Step 2 has a lot more memorization and pattern recognition than I anticipated...

 

[CCLCMer]

There is no comparison here. It's like comparing King Kong vs a chimpanzee.

Considering that a chimpanzee was all over the news a year ago after literally ripping a woman's face off, and she spent the next several months in the ICU at the Cleveland Clinic, I'm not sure that your analogy is going to make basupran feel much better.

So seriously, basupran, you sound burned out. Take a day or two off, then start cramming all the things you need to memorize like child milestones. Then just go in there and get it over with. Good luck.

 

[45408]

I prepared less for Step 2, and it felt easier while I was taking it. The actual test day was still pretty painful though - 9 hours is pretty grueling.

 

[Frugal Traveler]

I can't imagine sitting still and taking an 8 hour exam, especially after my clinical years. I feel like my brain is fried after 2 blocks on UWorld. I have no idea how I am going to maintain my concentration for this exam....

Is the actual test day any worse than Step1?

Test on Saturday...feel like quitting....

Step 1 is worse because it's the first time you take a medical licensing exam and so many rumors swirl around.

Step 2 is doable and easier secondary to you learning the material on the wards for the most part. The dirty secret is that not everyone's score will increase (some people that did well on Step 1 bomb Step 2 because of the assumption that the score will not go down... don't make that mistake... take it seriously).

 

[JeffLebowski]

Interesting question.

Step 1 was more painful in that it required a greater investment of energy, stress, time, and studying, and is obviously more important than Step 2.

Step 2 was more painful in that it's late in our medical school career, everyone takes it at a different time, it's hard to schedule in between rotations, it's hard to get yourself the energy to study hard for it, for the most part it probably won't have an impact on residency selection and thus hard to care too much about, and we're a little more separated from the material I think, depending on when you take it.

 

[njbmd]

I found Step II to be more of a nuisance than Step I. I took more breaks during Step II because the scenarios were longer and more exhausting to read. I finished Step I in 5 hours and took nearly the entire 8 hours (took every break that I could) for Step II.

I can't say that preparing for Step II was any more difficult than preparing for Step I. I took both of these exams as early as I could (Step I in May before my third year and Step II in August before my fourth year). I had a paid medical student fellowship that required me to take Step I three weeks after year 2 ended and I wanted to take Step II as soon as I was done with my Internal Medicine rotation.

It worked out well for me in both cases. I can't say that Step I or Step II (or Step III for that matter) were harder or easier as they all tested different things. I just know that getting these exams done is the best feeling. Once I had matched, there was nothing between me and graduation except to show up. That was the best feeling. Good luck!