surgery rotation and step 2 ck

[asuka99]

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i have the unfortunate luck of having my last core rotation being surgery and running from may 13 2013 to aug 02 2013

giving my score 5 weeks to come back (to be on the safe side) and being able to apply to programs on sept 15 (is this right?) this would mean that i'd want to take my exam before wed. aug 14th 2013, only 2 weeks out of surgery.

this would mean that i'd have to study for this thing during surgery - very cumbersome. fortunately my school offers us 4 weeks of "independent study" where our job is basically to just study, and hopefully my independent study part of my surgery rotation will be at the end.

our surgery rotation is 12 weeks, 4 of it being independent study, the other 8 being surgery rotation itself. we have a ~24 hour on-call every 4 days.

i guess my questions are, how heavy is surgery tested in the step 2 ck? will it be very difficult to study for step2 during surgery rotation ? :f

any general advice regarding this matter? thanks

 

[deleted497653]

Your score doesn't have to be out before you apply on sept 15. Step 2 is hard and you need to give yourself the full 3 to 4 weeks to study and prepare. Surgery is a busy rotation with early mornings and loooong days. The only thing you can count on studying while on that rotation is studying for the surgery shelf. Don't stress yourself out unnecessarily. You don't want to rush to take it and end up with a sucky sxore...that won't help your "timely" application. By the way not everyone submits their applicstion on sept15 ....The surgery on the shelf is.mostly trauma...you need to review all the other subjects tested...2 weeks is not going to be enough.

 

[TrainingMD]

i have the unfortunate luck of having my last core rotation being surgery and running from may 13 2013 to aug 02 2013

giving my score 5 weeks to come back (to be on the safe side) and being able to apply to programs on sept 15 (is this right?) this would mean that i'd want to take my exam before wed. aug 14th 2013, only 2 weeks out of surgery.

this would mean that i'd have to study for this thing during surgery - very cumbersome. fortunately my school offers us 4 weeks of "independent study" where our job is basically to just study, and hopefully my independent study part of my surgery rotation will be at the end.

our surgery rotation is 12 weeks, 4 of it being independent study, the other 8 being surgery rotation itself. we have a ~24 hour on-call every 4 days.

i guess my questions are, how heavy is surgery tested in the step 2 ck? will it be very difficult to study for step2 during surgery rotation ? :f

any general advice regarding this matter? thanks

I agree with the above post. There is great variation in the weight that Step 2 CK is given during the interview selection process. So you shouldn't feel like you have to push to have the scores in by 9/15.

That being said, I had Medicine and surgery as my last 2 blocks of 3rd year and managed to rally in late May with a 15 day study period to take Step 2CK, which I felt was plenty of time. The surgery shelf is mostly what one would call "medicine" in that it involves decision-making in a broader context of medical vs. surgical disease. Trauma is the most surgery-specific topic that was found on the Shelf and Step 2, otherwise I felt well-prepared by my medicine block. Having a broad topic like surgery at the end may be helpful as you approach CK (q4 schedule aside).

Surgery at the end is not a disaster!

 

[asuka99]

thanks for the advice.

the problem here however is the fact that i'm an international medical school student (st. george's university) so i was told it's best to have my score in as early as possible

now i know obviously better score > score in earlier however i didnt want to be too late in having my score be in.

i also think that my school might require us to have our score before we apply. not sure if i'm just making stuff up now. i guess there will be a talk in a few weeks to let us know all these nitty gritty details.

anyway thanks for the help regardless !