Step II before OB/Gyn?

[U4iA]

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Hello all,

thanks for taking the time to read this.

Is it unwise to take Step II after all the third year clerkships (immediately after IM) but without having taken OB/Gyn?

I am taking OB/Gyn during fourth year and I was wondering if I should take Step II right after third year or not.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Rogue_Leader]

OB/Gyn is going to be a solid 10-15% of the CK, and you can plan on getting at least 1-2 OB/Gyn cases on the CS. People have different experiences on how helpful the clerkship itself is in preparation for these exams, but studying for the OB/Gyn shelf is definitely good preparation for the USMLE.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it unless you have time to sit down for a while and read whatever you would end up reading for the OB/Gyn shelf.

I don't think that the clerkship itself is that helpful (obviously it helps some) for Step II; the key is the shelf.

 

[thackl]

No joke, about 1/3 of my CK was ob/gyn or perinatal med. A lot of it was stuff I didn't see in FA or learn when I was on ob....

I had no ob/gyn specific cases on CS, but did have to ask a lot of sexual and ob Hx's

 

[U4iA]

thanks for the responses! i really appreciate the feedback.

i understand that it would be ideal to take the rotation first, but if i do, it will eat up the first eight weeks of my fourth year and i will not be able to experience that many fields before i have to start applying.. and i know for sure that OB/Gyn is not for me.

is this a reasonable plan?
1) study the review material that I would have used for the OB/Gyn shelf
2) take three weeks of total prep time (perhaps 1 week focusing on OB/Gyn and two weeks of review)
3) do all this right after IM (so hopefully that stuff will be somewhat fresh)
4) take an NBME to gauge where i'm at and postpone the test if absolutely necessary.

i spent a fair amount of time studying for step I and scored just over average - not exactly thrilled with the score.

i really have very little idea what i want to go in to, but i am interested in academic programs on the west coast.

obviously, i would like to improve my numbers if I am going to take the test relatively early.

i apologize for the vagueness of this post. but feel free to ask me any questions. i am just having a real hard time making decisions right now and its much easier to go out on a limb knowing that a few of your solid minds don't think it will snap.. =)

 

[U4iA]

A lot of it was stuff I didn't see in FA or learn when I was on ob....

when did you learn it?

 

[Rogue_Leader]

Wait, don't you have to take Ob/Gyn as part of your carriculum? Anyways, if your objective is to nail step II to show significant improvement from Step I, I can't see how that would be possible without having at least the requisite experience in Ob/Gyn. I don't have any solid idea for how long you would need if you wanted to book-learn all of OB/Gyn, but I might think 1 week isn't long enough. I guess if you only want to just pass, it should be possible.

 

[jj326]

i didn't take peds before ck. i did 1/2 of peds pretest on the plane while interviewing, read FA, and did about 70% of UW. got the same score i did on step I minus 3 points.
good friend took ck without ob/gyn and made it through ~70% of UW and read FA and also got the same score.
that being said, seems if you want to improve, you may want to take ob/gyn before.

 

[AlternateSome1]

I had about 5-10% OB related questions on my exam. I think most of the material was covered in Pretest Pediatrics and Pretest OB/GYN. The only other OB text that I have found useful (for someone with no interest in the field) was Blueprints. If you cover your bases well enough, especially in medicine, it is possible to do well without OB.

 

[theCamel]

ob 1st

 

[lord_jeebus]

is this a reasonable plan?
1) study the review material that I would have used for the OB/Gyn shelf
2) take three weeks of total prep time (perhaps 1 week focusing on OB/Gyn and two weeks of review)
3) do all this right after IM (so hopefully that stuff will be somewhat fresh)
4) take an NBME to gauge where i'm at and postpone the test if absolutely necessary.

I think this is a solid plan. I don't know how fast you read but for most people I think this should be fine. I imagine you could do as much reading and questions in 7 intense days as I did in 6 weeks of OB/Gyn hell. Perhaps 10 days if you wnt a more comfortable pace or are a slow reader.

Fortunately USMLEWorld is particularly strong in this subject as well. QBook is also quite good, and cheap.

 

[U4iA]

thanks for the feedback everyone.
i really appreciate all your perspectives.
it feels less like you're driving with your eyes closed when you get advice from people who have gone through the process.

ironically, i am still kinda stumped - but that is besides the point.

 

[USMELL]

thanks for the feedback everyone.
i really appreciate all your perspectives.
it feels less like you're driving with your eyes closed when you get advice from people who have gone through the process.

ironically, i am still kinda stumped - but that is besides the point.

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