Using anything other than UWorld for CK?

[45408]

I heard that First Aid wasn't that great for CK, so I didn't get it. Anybody using any books? I just see all the threads about UWorld (which I bought). I've got Step Up to medicine, which I was planning on reviewing, and Pre-test for peds and surgery, and I might look over my OB textbook.

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[Cerberus]

Good question. I just started and I am getting pwned by UW. I'd like a text to read but FA and Crush don't seem that great (I borrowed both from the library). Anybody listen to Goljan a second time?

 

[Labslave]

Good question. I just started and I am getting pwned by UW. I'd like a text to read but FA and Crush don't seem that great (I borrowed both from the library). Anybody listen to Goljan a second time?

The problem with the texts is that (with the exception of Secrets and Crush) they take forever to get through. If you have a strong base, they'll be a waste of time.

My advice would be to have something dense like FA (or a review book of your choice) around to review topics that you're really weak on. Mine were peds and ob/gyn, so I used FA for both of those. I also relied on it pretty heavily for derm.

If you're a good test taker, performed well on third-year clerkships, and use World as a learning tool rather than a simulation of the real exam, you'll be fine without running through a dense review book.

Which Goljan are you talking about?

 

[marcus8]

I am studying now and I have found a lot of gaps in First Aid. I am going through World and on several occasions have tried to look something up in First Aid only to find that it isn't there.

 

[Labslave]

I am studying now and I have found a lot of gaps in First Aid. I am going through World and on several occasions have tried to look something up in First Aid only to find that it isn't there.

You won't find a single resource that will cover everything. This exam covers all of medicine, ob/gyn, peds, surgery, family medicine, and psych.

Use UWorld. If you are weak on something, read something like FA to get you the base that you can build on using the question bank.

 

[45408]

I'm finding that just UWorld is working better than I thought it might. I think I have a good handle on most things, I could just use the practice of tons of questions. My neurology knowledge is laughable, but I've only gotten one surgery question wrong so far.

 

[FreakofMeds]

I've started reading Kaplan Lecture notes Internal medicine, half way through and a week later I found myself bored a lot. So I thought maybe I should throw the books out. I started with an NBME 2 to see where I am, it was scored at 500 / 217 . Then started USMLE world and finished nearly 60% of it, averaging around 64%, and slowly my score is trending upwards just by doing USMLE world. The last 10 blocks averaged around 70%.

I'm doing it in tutor mode and learning a hell of a lot of things. My Psych is crap though ( 17th percentile / 53% correct) but everything else seems good. Internal medicine at 76th percentile, Surgery at 69th percentile, OBGYN at 63rd.

Tutor mode is a lot of fun actually, and it has the added advantage of you reading the explanations more carefully, as opposed to reviewing them over after finishing, where you have to remind yourself of the question and skim through eventually. I put myself through an occasional timed block just to make sure I have no time issues when doing the questions, and I usually finish 10 minutes before the block time ends. I expect it to be much tighter on the real thing though, so I am a bit worried about that.

I like where things are going with USMLE world, and plan to keep doing it till the exam day in 10 days. I'll probably brush up on psych from High Yield, some peds and obgyn from FA though.

I hope there aren't any glaring gaps in USMLE world though, because if it does I think I'm screwed, because I am pretty much relying on it. I'm hoping to score 230+, so if anyone is seeing a fault in my preparation, please advice.

 

[Dr McSteamy]

kaplan x5 times seems to work for all the FMG indians.

 

[Knicks]

So Kaplan + UW = A decent way to go about it (just like for Step 1)?

Can anyone corroborate that statement?

 

[flipflops81]

Make sure to get a notebook and take notes on the explanations. I filled up an entire composition book with my notes. I would review them on the elliptical at the gym and I read all my notes the during the 2 days prior to the exam and I think it helped.

I also thought Secrets was a helpful adjunct, but all you really need is UW. Make sure to get through all the questions, each one offers a unique pearl. Good luck!

 

[45408]

Make sure to get a notebook and take notes on the explanations. I filled up an entire composition book with my notes.

That would be a waste of a good notebook for me, along with a gigantic waste of time. I have never been the type to re-write my notes or make a huge worksheet for each lecture. Maybe it would help, but it would drive me crazy to put in that much effort.


The infectious disease stuff for Step 2 is killing me. That's probably what I've had the least exposure to, and we usually just fired up the big guns of broad-spectrum abx anyways. Not so great on peds either. I spent my month of in-patient peds in a step-down unit filled with babies with hypoplastic left hearts. I could explain single-ventricle physiology, but they'd rather ask me about pertussis (that's the worst - pediatric infectious disease ).

Surgery is the best for me, and I'm doing quite well in psych and OB/gyn as well...

 

[Whats_up_doc]

That would be a waste of a good notebook for me, along with a gigantic waste of time. I have never been the type to re-write my notes or make a huge worksheet for each lecture. Maybe it would help, but it would drive me crazy to put in that much effort.


The infectious disease stuff for Step 2 is killing me. That's probably what I've had the least exposure to, and we usually just fired up the big guns of broad-spectrum abx anyways. Not so great on peds either. I spent my month of in-patient peds in a step-down unit filled with babies with hypoplastic left hearts. I could explain single-ventricle physiology, but they'd rather ask me about pertussis (that's the worst - pediatric infectious disease ).

Surgery is the best for me, and I'm doing quite well in psych and OB/gyn as well...

How are you doing Prowler? WHich books did you use for the rotation. Any specific tips? Thanks!

 

[Labslave]

Make sure to get a notebook and take notes on the explanations. I filled up an entire composition book with my notes.

Gunner much?

Seriously people, do all of UWorld and chill the eff out. You don't need to do this kind of stuff to do well on the exam.

 

[Pewl]

I did about 1/2 of UW throughout 3rd year as practice for shelf exams. I've just done about 3/4 of UW again prior to step 2. Sure, I mighta missed a few things, but I've reinforced a lot of other topics, along with use of the Secrets book, I feel reasonably prepared for now. I did the UW self assessment and thought that was more difficult than the regular UW questions. oh well!

 

[FreakofMeds]

I just finished my step 2, and I have to say USMLE world was on the money in a lot of the questions.

 

[deleted77919]

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[PlutoBoy]

I think USMLERx is a valuable and often unnoticed resource... I loved it!

 

[Redrox]

I think USMLERx is a valuable and often unnoticed resource... I loved it!

I don't know, Plut. I was one of USMLERx's big defenders for step 1 but this time around I feel grumpy.

The biggest Rx1 selling point for me was how the answers could all be found in FA, so doing badly on a subject was motivation to read more closely. However, much of the harder RX2 is not found in text.

Also, too many questions are answered correct >90% of the time.

 

[FreakofMeds]

I've started reading Kaplan Lecture notes Internal medicine, half way through and a week later I found myself bored a lot. So I thought maybe I should throw the books out. I started with an NBME 2 to see where I am, it was scored at 500 / 217 . Then started USMLE world and finished nearly 60% of it, averaging around 64%, and slowly my score is trending upwards just by doing USMLE world. The last 10 blocks averaged around 70%.

I'm doing it in tutor mode and learning a hell of a lot of things. My Psych is crap though ( 17th percentile / 53% correct) but everything else seems good. Internal medicine at 76th percentile, Surgery at 69th percentile, OBGYN at 63rd.

Tutor mode is a lot of fun actually, and it has the added advantage of you reading the explanations more carefully, as opposed to reviewing them over after finishing, where you have to remind yourself of the question and skim through eventually. I put myself through an occasional timed block just to make sure I have no time issues when doing the questions, and I usually finish 10 minutes before the block time ends. I expect it to be much tighter on the real thing though, so I am a bit worried about that.

I like where things are going with USMLE world, and plan to keep doing it till the exam day in 10 days. I'll probably brush up on psych from High Yield, some peds and obgyn from FA though.

I hope there aren't any glaring gaps in USMLE world though, because if it does I think I'm screwed, because I am pretty much relying on it. I'm hoping to score 230+, so if anyone is seeing a fault in my preparation, please advice.

Well this deserves an update. I'm an IMG. I stuck to my plan above, which is mostly doing USMLE world. Final result was 240+. Given the fact that my goal was 230+, obviously it worked for me.