Step 2 Scheduling, planning

[Perfect Hair Day]

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Aloha,

A few questions I was hoping to field

1) I have a strong Step 1 score (247) and I am applying IM. Should I hold off on taking Step 2CK until after I've submitted ERAS? My concern would be scoring lower or around whatever is considered "average" for 2CK, and that this may harm my residency prospects which otherwise would be good with a solid Step 1 score while pending an untaken Step 2CK score.

2) Is it okay to take Step 2CS before CK? Regarding my above question, if I didn't take Step 2CK but I took and passed Step 2CS before submitting ERAS, would that help make my application more competitive or is it more of a "meh, this applicant passed." kind of thing?

3) How much time do people usually dedicate to preparing for Step 2CS? I have 1 week between the end of my 3rd year and the start of my 4th year during which is a "free" week (no rotations can be scheduled for that window of time) and I am wondering if it would be enough time to run the gamut for Step 2CS and take it at the end of that week - assuming there is a test being administered then.)

Thanks 🙂

ButteredLobster

 

[MSTP18]

Aloha,

A few questions I was hoping to field

1) I have a strong Step 1 score (247) and I am applying IM. Should I hold off on taking Step 2CK until after I've submitted ERAS? My concern would be scoring lower or around whatever is considered "average" for 2CK, and that this may harm my residency prospects which otherwise would be good with a solid Step 1 score while pending an untaken Step 2CK score.

2) Is it okay to take Step 2CS before CK? Regarding my above question, if I didn't take Step 2CK but I took and passed Step 2CS before submitting ERAS, would that help make my application more competitive or is it more of a "meh, this applicant passed." kind of thing?

3) How much time do people usually dedicate to preparing for Step 2CS? I have 1 week between the end of my 3rd year and the start of my 4th year during which is a "free" week (no rotations can be scheduled for that window of time) and I am wondering if it would be enough time to run the gamut for Step 2CS and take it at the end of that week - assuming there is a test being administered then.)

Thanks 🙂

ButteredLobster

I would love the answer to some of these questions too. I can offer the answer to #2 because my adviser and I already talked about that. Yes it is ok to do CS first and assuming you are a US MD student, passing is just "meh, this applicant passed." If you're IMG, I guess maybe it's better than meh because it's not a given in their eyes that you'll pass.

 

[educ8r]

I had the same kind of dilemma. I don't know about IM requirements, but when I worked out the risks / benefits for my own residency application I realized that the downside risk of doing poorly on step 2 CK was tremendously greater than the upside potential of doing well. I delayed CK as much as possible and was very happy that I did.

 

[MSTP18]

I had the same kind of dilemma. I don't know about IM requirements, but when I worked out the risks / benefits for my own residency application I realized that the downside risk of doing poorly on step 2 CK was tremendously greater than the upside potential of doing well. I delayed CK as much as possible and was very happy that I did.

How delayed was delayed as possible for you? And what stopped you from doing it later if it wasn't just "my med school' deadline?"

 

[sliceofbread136]

1. Step 2 ck is becoming much more important these days. If you do not have it by the time rank lists are eventually submitted it will hurt you (in some cases completely disqualifying you). If you do poorly it will hurt you. In order to maximize your application potential you will eventually have to do well on this test and there is no way around it. Plan to do well for on it from the start and take it very seriously (do not listen to the people telling you otherwise, this is now very poor advice). If you take it early it can help you with interview invites so it would be ideal to get it in before eras although don't rush it if you aren't ready. I suggest take a low time commitment rotation and use that month to also study

2. It is ok to take cs before ck. Having a cs pass will not help you as an AMG, but a fail will hurt you quite a bit.

3. 2-4 days prepping for step 2cs is most likely enough if you've had prior prep from your medical school. Find a copy of first aid somewhere so you can make sure you are hitting the checklist items (transitions, hand washing etc), look up an ros pneumonic (very helpful!!), have you physical exam routines down to a T and look up the common chief complaints and what in general you should be asking. It's all there in a fairly concise format.

This is an important time, your relaxation time has not started yet. Honestly this period of subI/step2/eras is probably the hardest and most stressful time of medical school. You're almost done though, just make that final push and then you get to chill

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Aloha,

A few questions I was hoping to field

1) I have a strong Step 1 score (247) and I am applying IM. Should I hold off on taking Step 2CK until after I've submitted ERAS? My concern would be scoring lower or around whatever is considered "average" for 2CK, and that this may harm my residency prospects which otherwise would be good with a solid Step 1 score while pending an untaken Step 2CK score.

2) Is it okay to take Step 2CS before CK? Regarding my above question, if I didn't take Step 2CK but I took and passed Step 2CS before submitting ERAS, would that help make my application more competitive or is it more of a "meh, this applicant passed." kind of thing?

3) How much time do people usually dedicate to preparing for Step 2CS? I have 1 week between the end of my 3rd year and the start of my 4th year during which is a "free" week (no rotations can be scheduled for that window of time) and I am wondering if it would be enough time to run the gamut for Step 2CS and take it at the end of that week - assuming there is a test being administered then.)

Thanks 🙂

ButteredLobster

1.) I say take Step 2 CK as soon as possible. I made the mistake of taking it after one away rotation, and I feel I plateaued before then. To my understanding, programs only really care about Step 2 CK if you have a low Step 1 and use it to look for improvement. You don't want to bomb it though. I believe scoring a little lower won't hurt you.

2.) You can take Step 2 CS before CK. It won't make you more competitive; the exam is just a huge waste of time & money therefore I say take it as early as possible to get it over with.

3.) If you did well on all your OSCE's and are graduating from an allopathic US school, then all you have to do is read the first few pages of FA for Step 2 CS to understand the exam formatting. Maybe do some practice cases if you feel rusty or borderlined an OSCE. One week of studying is too much. All my friends said they over-studied. I honestly could have walked in cold and passed that stupid thing.

 

[sazerac]

Step 2 CS is the most random of the three tests. The outcome is hardest to predict. Step 2 CS is easy to pass the first time, except when you don't. The one thing you absolutely cannot afford is a fail on your September 15th application.

I strongly suggest taking CS such that the results come back on September 16th or soon afterwards. That way you have plenty of time to retake the most arbitrary of exams, and you won't have to reveal a fail to your programs without a make-up pass.

 

[educ8r]

How delayed was delayed as possible for you? And what stopped you from doing it later if it wasn't just "my med school' deadline?"

I took it at the end of November. This was delayed enough so that it did not go out on the initial USMLE score reports pushed to programs from the residency application. For me this is the most crucial since that's the time when a low score could be a hard cutoff and prevent you from interviewing. This timing also means that most interviewers don't have your score. For my institution, the score still had to be in before rank lists were due. My guess is lots of institutions form their rank lists soon after they are done interviewing, and well before they are due, so I think a late low score reported then would not necessarily sink you. Here's my logic. If you have high step 1 there are a few possibilities for your step 2: 1) Early and high- minimal if any increase to your shine. Just confirms what you already showed with the rest of your app. 2) Early and low- Might be catastrophic, might no longer be eligible for the field or programs you want. 3) Late and high- no increase to your shine. 4) Late and low- less likely to be catastrophic, might take off your shine for late interviewing programs.
Remember, this reasoning only applies to someone with a relatively high Step 1 score who is just trying to avoid the possibility that a worse score on step 2 will decrease their shine.

 

[sliceofbread136]

1.) I say take Step 2 CK as soon as possible. I made the mistake of taking it after one away rotation, and I feel I plateaued before then. To my understanding, programs only really care about Step 2 CK if you have a low Step 1 and use it to look for improvement. You don't want to bomb it though. I believe scoring a little lower won't hurt you.

2.) You can take Step 2 CS before CK. It won't make you more competitive; the exam is just a huge waste of time & money therefore I say take it as early as possible to get it over with.

3.) If you did well on all your OSCE's and are graduating from an allopathic US school, then all you have to do is read the first few pages of FA for Step 2 CS to understand the exam formatting. Maybe do some practice cases if you feel rusty or borderlined an OSCE. One week of studying is too much. All my friends said they over-studied. I honestly could have walked in cold and passed that stupid thing.

I disagree with your one and three. The bolded statement really is not true anymore and will continue to be less and less true, especially if OP is going after more competitive specialties. Even scoring at the same score as your step 1 (which is a lower percentile) can give a PD all the reason to pass you up for another applicant.

For #3, as the above poster said CS is easy to pass until you don't. Why risk putting all of your hard work in the crapper when all it would take is a weekend of work to 100% guarantee that P?

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

I disagree with your one and three. The bolded statement really is not true anymore and will continue to be less and less true, especially if OP is going after more competitive specialties. Even scoring at the same score as your step 1 (which is a lower percentile) can give a PD all the reason to pass you up for another applicant.

I should add a disclaimer: I only applied for general surgery. Other specialties may differ.

My bolded text that you quoted came from a chief surgery resident. Also during an interview had a PD say "your scores are good and all submitted...not that Step 2 matters."Also for the record, I did have a slightly higher Step 2, and it could have been that he was an older PD.

I'm not saying Step 2 CK isn't important, and I'm not dismissing that it may be of growing importance at certain programs. I'm just saying that serious Step 2 CK score consideration occurs when an applicant has a low Step 1.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

1/2: Take both CS and CK such that scores come back after Sept 15. If you are aiming for competitive IM, then study your @ss off and get a great score, then release the score report so it can help you get interviews if necessary (247 is a great score and will not hold you back, but there will be people with higher scores-- not trying to shoot you down, just being realistic). If you still study really hard and get at or below your Step 1, then hold off until Dec/Jan. CS takes ~2 months to come back so you will have plenty of time for a retake if necessary.

3: 1 week is sufficient for CS. However long it takes you to read FA for CS >1x and practice a few cases with a real person is the right amount of time for CS. Would not recommend less than 3 days however. Read the first few chapters describing the test 2-3 times, read all the short cases 2 times, go through all the long cases 1x, at least 5 with a real person. Seems like overkill while studying, but you will be glad you did on test day and while waiting for the score to come back.

 

[MSTP18]

@ButteredLobster

FWIW, my advisers had told me to take CK after ERAS and affirmed that again in a meeting I had the other day. The school's deadline is the end of December but they recommended no later than November. My school offers a CK prep course during the summer so a lot of people just take it after that but I will probably be doing my Sub-I then because I have to schedule my year before I know my medicine grade. Given the Sub-I timing, they recommended spending the time after sub-I but prior to Sep 15th (about 6 weeks) focusing on getting out ERAS and fitting in CS and then turning my attention to CK.

I don't know where you live but I just scheduled my CK and it was very slim pickings for Sep-Nov so you might want to commit to at least something ASAP.