USMLE USMLE - Official 2016 Step 2 CK Experiences and Scores Thread

[Trogdor_The_Burninator]

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Hello everyone!

With 2016 around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to start this thread and continue the 2015 thread into the new year!

Similar threads from the past have been extremely helpful to me (and I'm sure) and many others.

Good luck to everyone taking Step 2 CK in 2016!

 

[cabergoline2]

I got 267 on nbme 3 6 weeks out. Found it outdated and not very helpful. UWSA 2 days out I think it was 90%+ don't remember percent didnt have it saved. One block I got 98%, rest were 89% and 91?93 not sure.

did you find the clinical mastery series to be of any use?

 

[plasmodium]

Got my score. 270+ I was so escastic I couldnt believe it! The exam was so vague and felt so bad that I felt I would score anywhere between 220-250. I guess trust in your prep and trust in the generous curve which is much more generous than step 1. In step 1 I had star performance in all disciplines except 3 and got a 260+. Whileas ck I had 2 borderlines and no star perfomance and my score was 11 points higher.

As an IMG my biggest advice would be to build a foundation using more detailed US rotations books like brs peds first aid psych step up to medicine complemented by mcq books like Pretest IM essentials. Followed by focusing on UWorld at the end. I did not find the step 2 dedicated prep books to be that useful. Best of luck to anyone taking this beast.

Congratulations !

What was your first pass UWorld if you don't mind me asking?

Also, did you read all of SUTM and would you have read it again if you had time? Do you recommend Toronto Notes?

 

[Leafcolonel]

I did not use the clinical mastery series. I only did one pass of uworld. Did 75% of the questions in my 10 days dedicated doing 4-5 blocks per day. Reviewed half of my incorrects and gave up since I memorized half of my answers. The uworld explanation quality is most definitely better than most textbooks though.

Toronto Notes is an amazing textbook for clerkships but it's extremely dense for medicine and surgery + subspecialities. It's probably overkill and you're better off reading recommended rotation textbooks instead for the specialities like pestana or brs peds.

I skimmed through mtb and kaplan lecture notes and found them to be of low quality honestly with the exception of the kaplan obgyn + peds books which were pretty good. I was detecting an error every 2-3 pages which is kind of scary for commercial review books. In the end I think the step exams depend on your general fund of knowledge and if you build a strong foundation you will do well. Im grateful to my med school as our curriculum was pretty dense and very detailed and thats what builds your foundation.

As for step up to medicine. I read it once in med school and once again during my medicine rotation in internship. It's a pretty decent book and worth going through fully. It explains concepts pretty well and sets a good foundation for medicine.

 

[CivatteBodies]

Still having nightmares about this test and thinking back to old questions.

same here

 

[gregoryhouse]

Got my score. 270+ I was so escastic I couldnt believe it! The exam was so vague and felt so bad that I felt I would score anywhere between 220-250. I guess trust in your prep and trust in the generous curve which is much more generous than step 1. In step 1 I had star performance in all disciplines except 3 and got a 260+. Whileas ck I had 2 borderlines and no star perfomance and my score was 11 points higher.

As an IMG my biggest advice would be to build a foundation using more detailed US rotations books like brs peds first aid psych step up to medicine complemented by mcq books like Pretest IM essentials. Followed by focusing on UWorld at the end. I did not find the step 2 dedicated prep books to be that useful. Best of luck to anyone taking this beast.

That gives me hope!

 

[Journeyofwisdom]

per

Hey Leafcolonel, any good biostat supplements for an average student with weak base in biostat?

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

same here

The thing killing me is I think back and I actually got a couple of really tough Qs right, which is reassuring. BUT, then I think back and I can recall maybe 7-8 questions where the answer was blatantly obvious and I thought that they were tricking me, and picked the wrong answer. So, who knows how much of this occurred on the exam (which is a blur now).

I wish I could forget about it (and I suspect I will after I take the COMLEX shortly). I've never been neurotic so it is quite alarming that I feel this bad and this neurotic after an exam.

 

[Leafcolonel]

Hey Leafcolonel, any good biostat supplements for an average student with weak base in biostat?

I found FA for step 1(easily skimmable in less than 1 hour) + UWorld more than enough. I heard the uworld biostats supplement is good but never used it honestly.

The research/drug ads still take forever on the exam to process though. Im glad to only get 1 on the exam.

 

[Craigielawson]

The thing killing me is I think back and I actually got a couple of really tough Qs right, which is reassuring. BUT, then I think back and I can recall maybe 7-8 questions where the answer was blatantly obvious and I thought that they were tricking me, and picked the wrong answer. So, who knows how much of this occurred on the exam (which is a blur now).

I wish I could forget about it (and I suspect I will after I take the COMLEX shortly). I've never been neurotic so it is quite alarming that I feel this bad and this neurotic after an exam.

Comlex tomorrow. Can't wait to be more infuriated about that exam for not telling me any information than the usmle for telling me too much information

 

[cabergoline2]

I found FA for step 1(easily skimmable in less than 1 hour) + UWorld more than enough. I heard the uworld biostats supplement is good but never used it honestly.

The research/drug ads still take forever on the exam to process though. Im glad to only get 1 on the exam.

did you have to read through the whole abstract ? or were you able to get the answer by selective skimming of the question?

 

[1badvette]

I found FA for step 1(easily skimmable in less than 1 hour) + UWorld more than enough. I heard the uworld biostats supplement is good but never used it honestly.

The research/drug ads still take forever on the exam to process though. Im glad to only get 1 on the exam.

I find myself going back and looking things up in 1st aid on daily bases , the images are good in that book along with micro and drug summery . I spent over 2 years staring @ that book and it seems to trigger some synapses in my brain, reminding me of some long forgotten concepts by simply skimming a page for few minutes. lol

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

Comlex tomorrow. Can't wait to be more infuriated about that exam for not telling me any information than the usmle for telling me too much information

same here.

 

[Leafcolonel]

did you have to read through the whole abstract ? or were you able to get the answer by selective skimming of the question?

I think I skimmed through it first. Some of it requires reskimming whileas some require you to just find certain sections. It takes a lot of time and theyll adjust your block length accordingly too.

 

[Journeyofwisdom]

I found FA for step 1(easily skimmable in less than 1 hour) + UWorld more than enough. I heard the uworld biostats supplement is good but never used it honestly.

The research/drug ads still take forever on the exam to process though. Im glad to only get 1 on the exam.

Thank you so much!!

 

[atiyaH]

Hey guys, I have a question. I just took the first block of UWSA and I feel SO demoralized. I scored 43%. I was hoping for AT LEAST 50%. Does anyone know what the UWSA % to score scale is? Like what does a 50% correct equal? I appreciate any insight.

 

[pd1112]

Hey guys, I have a question. I just took the first block of UWSA and I feel SO demoralized. I scored 43%. I was hoping for AT LEAST 50%. Does anyone know what the UWSA % to score scale is? Like what does a 50% correct equal? I appreciate any insight.

No matter what you do now, any correlation will be weak at best because you didn't take the 4 blocks consecutively. Just finish it & find out.

 

[atiyaH]

No matter what you do now, any correlation will be weak at best because you didn't take the 4 blocks consecutively. Just finish it & find out.

I realize my comment from this morning sounds stupidly alarming but your words gave me the strength to go ahead and take the rest of the test. Even though I didn't score as I wanted to, I at least know exactly where I am and how much work I still have to do. <3

 

[pd1112]

I realize my comment from this morning sounds stupidly alarming but your words gave me the strength to go ahead and take the rest of the test. Even though I didn't score as I wanted to, I at least know exactly where I am and how much work I still have to do. <3

Exactly; just push through.

 

[Leafcolonel]

Oh. I forgot to mention that I would highly recommend the Emma Holliday shelf review videos available here:
http://som.uthscsa.edu/StudentAffairs/thirdyear.asp

Super high yield and great review videos. A very useful resource. Used them once before dedicated and once during dedicated. Wish she made an Obgyn one as these are golden and not very time consuming at x2 speed.

 

[cabergoline2]

thanks leafy...any suggestions for ethics ? did you use 100 cases by con fisher ?

 

[Leafcolonel]

thanks leafy...any suggestions for ethics ? did you use 100 cases by con fisher ?

I did not so cant give feedback. Ethics on the exam was really weird and much harder and more vague than step 1 and the uworld step 2 questions. I cant explain much more details but it's clinical scenario oriented ethics and even after the exam youd have no clue what the appropriate answer is(same for a lot of the exam tbh).

 

[1badvette]

Been using the 1st Aid 9th edition for a week now , it's defiantly a better review book than MTB especially in the none IM sections , not as easy to read as MTB and could still use some reorganizing, but overall i feel it's a better book to tag along with Uworld .

 

[justAstudent]

Been using the 1st Aid 9th edition for a week now , it's defiantly a better review book than MTB especially in the none IM sections , not as easy to read as MTB and could still use some reorganizing, but overall i feel it's a better book to tag along with Uworld .

MS3 here, so I have no experience with STEP2 but it seems like FA is preferred over MTB nowadays. Is that true? I ask because I'm trying to figure out what resources to use to study for STEP2 and shelf exams.


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[EmergDoc2B]

both resources are incomplete. Use both with a heavy dose of up to date.

 

[1badvette]

MS3 here, so I have no experience with STEP2 but it seems like FA is preferred over MTB nowadays. Is that true? I ask because I'm trying to figure out what resources to use to study for STEP2 and shelf exams.


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If you're currently in 3rd year , then i would use the recommended resources for each self/ subject and start making your own notes out each of those resources. Once you start your dedicated prep , these notes along with Uworld should be more sufficient than any review book that is currently on the market. I took the NBME Comp that is administrated to Medical schools and the 1st aid book would have definitely scored me few extra points over MTB . I haven't taken the exam yet , but to be honest the one single resources that has taken me to the next level in knowledge has been OnlineMed.. This has been hand down they most HY resource i've used.

 

[cabergoline2]

for the dedicated period uw seems to be enough...that is what seems to be the consensus opinion...the problem with UTD is that its algorithms are very very long and level of detail is beyond what we need...i made a lot of notes from utd and don't find them very useful ...except some cases..

 

[IllDefined]

took this yesterday, just a little insight for those stressing...
FWIW: DO student
Step 1: 235-250
NBME 3 and 6: low 250's
UW 1st pass: low 70's
UW 2nd pass (got half way through): low 90's
FA Step 2: I probably ended up reading this a couple times through and I think it got me 5-10 questions I may not have gotten otherwise
Listened to basically all of the OnlineMedEd audio in my car and working out 3rd year

Test wan't crazy brutal. Finished each set with 10 mins left and had about 5-10 marked that I wasn't 100% sure on. Most of those I marked were "next best step" questions where 2 answers seem reasonable, but just have to go with your gut. Tested was a good mix of everything, I had a lot of OBGYN management, MSK pain management (which after COMLEX 2 felt like a cake walk), psych, and I drew the short straw and had a ton of vasculitides that I hope I remembered right from step 1. I was surprised the amount of "mechanism" type questions I had where Step 1 knowledge really came in handy. Some of the ethics questions weren't as straightforward as I was hoping. I really feel like the name of this game is just being able to read and comprehend quickly so you can eliminate distractors and tease out the answer from a key word or two or a key lab finding that makes one answer most correct. The subjective findings are definitely not your typical ones you think of for some of some diagnoses. I had a lot of pictures. A couple stethoscopes that you didn't really even have to listen to. One journal article set that was fairly straightforward. ALOT of "what is the diagnosis" which I felt like are gimmes for the most part.

It's a long day, but felt infinitely more manageable than comlex 2 for DO students reading this. As long as you've done UW well and paid attention during 3rd year you'll be good! Will update with score, hoping I broke 250!

 

[cabergoline2]

scored 88% in uwsa...made tons of silly mistakes....even though i knew the concepts i got wrong...i need more practice...done uw x 1.5 times...any source of equally good quality questions ?..in the last 10 days...

 

[dartmed]

Hey you guys,

I am an average medical student unlike most of you on here. I scored in the mid-to-high 70s on my SHELF exams, most of them in the 60th-65th percentile. I take my Step 2 CK on August 3rd.

Here's what I was thinking of doing:
UW (take notes, learn the explanations, etc)
NBMEs (Clinical Mastery Series + Comprehensive exams)/UWSA
FA to Step 2 CK (the new edition)
Online Med Ed
Secrets as light reading.

Anything else you guys would recommend?

The biggest think I am lost on is what book to use. I am a bit weak in IM as I took it as my first clerkship. I was thinking about doing Step-up to medicine, but it's such a BIG book! Any thoughts?

 

[justAstudent]

If you're currently in 3rd year , then i would use the recommended resources for each self/ subject and start making your own notes out each of those resources. Once you start your dedicated prep , these notes along with Uworld should be more sufficient than any review book that is currently on the market. I took the NBME Comp that is administrated to Medical schools and the 1st aid book would have definitely scored me few extra points over MTB . I haven't taken the exam yet , but to be honest the one single resources that has taken me to the next level in knowledge has been OnlineMed.. This has been hand down they most HY resource i've used.

I just took a look at onlinemeded and it seems like a very good resource. Did you purchase a subscription or did you just use the free videos?


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[1badvette]

I paid for the subscription .. All his IM , surgery and GYN vids/notes have been recently updated and i think OB and PEDs are suppose to get updated by end of july . So if you have time , i would wait and pay for the subscription when the other sections get updated so you get access to newer stuff to before your subscription runs out .

 

[sloop]

I'm getting really frustrated by my practice test trend.

6/18 NBME 7: 235 (done before any studying at all, basically cold)
6/20 NBME 4: 246
Today UWSA: 236
Today NBME 6: 248

Like, my NBMEs are showing some trend (although way slower than I want), but the UWorld score is such a setback.

I really kind of want >250 to match my step 1, with my test in a little over a week. I'm just not sure if I'm screwed or if I should move my test back.

I do think I wasn't taking UWSA seriously enough, possibly. I did it in the morning and did some stuff that I don't normally do. For some reason UWSA seems to always put grouped or media questions at the end of the block. Usually I just go through and do those as they come up but this time I kept seeing them at the end and would do them first. This usually meant I spent more time than I should have trying to figure them out and rushed through a lot of stuff in the other questions to finish the block on time. Reviewing my answers, a good third or half of my incorrects were stupid things I would have gotten right if I had read the question stem more thoroughly. I stopped doing this as much in the second two blocks, which were substantially better than my first two.

I just don't know. I'm so sick of this experience. I feel like I have no idea what to expect.

The other issue is that there's not a lot of consistency in my weak areas. I mean, I feel shaky on cardio even though my nbmes had that as one of my decent subjects. I am consistently meh on neuro, so I plan to review that. Nephro/male Uro stuff is also a weak point. But other than that, there doesn't seem to be a consistent area I'm weak in.

Any advice for me? I'm just getting so frustrated.

 

[abolt18]

102 questions remaining in UWorld. Test is on Monday. No desire to finish this! I just want to sleep until my test.

 

[dfib slim]

102 questions remaining in UWorld. Test is on Monday. No desire to finish this! I just want to sleep until my test.

Good luck man. I have a little over 3 weeks left and working on my second pass of UW. Taking NBME 4 tomorrow!

 

[justAstudent]

I paid for the subscription .. All his IM , surgery and GYN vids/notes have been recently updated and i think OB and PEDs are suppose to get updated by end of july . So if you have time , i would wait and pay for the subscription when the other sections get updated so you get access to newer stuff to before your subscription runs out .

Thanks for the heads up. I'm excited to start using this.


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[EmergDoc2B]

....

 

[abolt18]

Good luck man. I have a little over 3 weeks left and working on my second pass of UW. Taking NBME 4 tomorrow!

I took the UWSA last week and exceeded my goal. Not doing any other practice tests. Started out UWorld averaging like 66% on the first 15 blocks. The last 20 have been 75-76% so I'm happy with that. I did one more block yesterday, 58 questions left today!

 

[TedStark]

What raw percentage correct do you guys estimate is necessary to pass CK? Going into family med here so not trying to break any records but am studying for four weeks to pass comfortably. Did 65% correct on shelves throughout the year. Also finished one pass of usmle world, doing 10-40 questions consistently almost every day.

 

[dfib slim]

Any advice for me? I'm just getting so frustrated.

Take a day off to recharge.

 

[lifeandnothingmore]

What % of Step 2 has been Step 1 material would you folks say? Is it smart to keep reviewing step 1 material at the beginning of 3rd year or just switch over to rotation/step 2 resources?

 

[sloop]

Take a day off to recharge.

I think I'll take your advice and take tomorrow off. Thanks man.

I just don't like feeling like I don't know whether I'm on track for my goal or am about to take this test and go down ~15 points from step 1.

 

[dfib slim]

I think I'll take your advice and take tomorrow off. Thanks man.

I just don't like feeling like I don't know whether I'm on track for my goal or am about to take this test and go down ~15 points from step 1.

Looks like your scores were starting to go up but had a bad day. Just a minor bump in the road.

 

[sloop]

Looks like your scores were starting to go up but had a bad day. Just a minor bump in the road.

Thanks man, I needed that encouragement.

Hopefully I can return on Tuesday ready to go.

Do you think it's worth taking another test between now and my date, or should I just study?

 

[pd1112]

What % of Step 2 has been Step 1 material would you folks say? Is it smart to keep reviewing step 1 material at the beginning of 3rd year or just switch over to rotation/step 2 resources?

Unless you failed step 1 or barely passed, not sure why that would be smart.

 

[dfib slim]

Thanks man, I needed that encouragement.

Hopefully I can return on Tuesday ready to go.

Do you think it's worth taking another test between now and my date, or should I just study?

Personally I'd do the extra questions just for practice but if you get psyched out from a low score it may not be worth it.

 

[lifeandnothingmore]

Unless you failed step 1 or barely passed, not sure why that would be smart.

Thanks for the response!

 

[VCorp]

scored 88% in uwsa...made tons of silly mistakes....even though i knew the concepts i got wrong...i need more practice...done uw x 1.5 times...any source of equally good quality questions ?..in the last 10 days...

Wow man, 88% great job. Isn't that >265 or so? I wish I was this smart. Just took NBME 7 and got a 210 on the damn exam. Severely disappointed in myself. Many of the questions I came down to being 50:50 and ended up choosing the wrong answer. Instead of "thoracic aorta" I chose "abdominal aorta". Thought that was the better answer especially since I remember Pestana talking about it in a person with severe MVA.

Exam is on Thursday. 🙁

 

[walakin25]

Good luck man. I have a little over 3 weeks left and working on my second pass of UW. Taking NBME 4 tomorrow!

what did you think about NBME 4? I only have time for one nbme and was debating between 4 and 6

 

[dfib slim]

what did you think about NBME 4? I only have time for one nbme and was debating between 4 and 6

I thought it was pretty straightforward. Ended up with a 267. Haven't taken any of the others yet so I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

[cabergoline2]

my problem is that uwsa had questions from topics i am really strong in...it was IM heavy and had very little ob-gyn....and yet i got so many wrong...which means i am most certainly likely to do worse on real deal unless question distribution is similar to uwsa...
and my nbmes fluctuate by 15-20 points..and i have no clue of how to improve as there is no pattern in my mistakes...i just hope that the scoring curve is as liberal as people believe it to be....