USMLE World Scores and Step II Scores

[lmh14]

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Probably been discussed before, but can't find a recent thread....

I'm just curious about what scores people were getting on USMLE World, and then how you ended up doing on Step 2.

All you have to do is post two numbers...... 🙂

Thanks folks, and good luck with everything!!

 

[1trickpoknee]

Time for me to give back...
Took a month off to study for step II. Started by reading FA cover to cover. Next mixed UWorld questions with crush step II. All questions untimed and random. Hit 64% on UWorld while finishing all but 250 questions (averaging 68+% at the end). Made sure to spend a great deal of time understanding why an answer was wrong/right (if the explanation was not good enough in UWorld, I would seek it out). Took the UWorld self assessment 1 week prior to the real deal with a score of 243.

Step I- 213
Step II- 245/99

Pretty happy with my results, can't complain about gaining 30+ points- wish I would have used UWorld for step I (pretty disappointed in rx)
Hope this helps those of you studying.

Good Luck

 

[Holistic]

I took the test on July 28th, gonna give back to the board. It has helped me a lot. Study time 16 days. I took step 2 ck and thought it was difficult. I left the testing center mentally exhausted. My test was weird, a ton of peds, ob/gyn, with lots of preventative medicine and next step and management questions that seemed like they have two answers. I have been stressing for this report to say the least. Anyway here are my stats,

UW 74% correct on time through all random timed blocks
Last NBME was form 4 predicted 264 don't remember the other number
Shelf exams all above 78 minus psych which was 73
Step 1 255
Step 2 264 😀

I am pleased with my results to say the least, after I realized I couldn't withhold step 2 for ERAS I have been sweating bullets.

Advice, do all of UW, take the NBME's and be prepared to feel like crap walking out, the exam is tricky with long stems and lots of distractors, but world gets you thinking right. Good luck to all future takers, and thanks to the board

 

[77ridgeway]

Books
- firstaid, Secrets (DID NOT USE EITHER)
Q-Bank
- World- took notes in a notebook, did questions by subject and redid questions at the end of each subject in timed 20-30 question blocks. avg'd in the low-mid 60s
- World (again)- bought another subscription since you can't reset and redid all of the medicine questions in 42 question blocks. (did this after form 2)
Forms
- World Assessment 1: whatever correlates to a 220 (this was at halfway point just after I had finished all of the medicine topics)
- NBME form 2: 230 did this after I had finished all of world (for the first time through)

Test
- felt like the thing was a crap shoot. at points i felt really good and at other times had really tough blocks.

step 2: 245
step 1: 220

overall pretty happy with the improvement. I felt like I really underperformed on step 1. at the end of the day I think going through world questions more than once is really helpful. It enforces the key points that you need for the exam. If you don't feel confident with the material after the first go through in world, do it again (as painful as it may be). I also recommend taking the assessments. I avoided taking them for step 1 because I didn't want to freak myself out, but it retrospect it may have been a good warning sign telling me to push back the test date as they did for step 2. And for a final piece of advice take a few days off during the study period. I went full steam with step 1 and was pretty burnt out by test time. I started the same way for step 2 but quickly realized that it is too mentally draining to approach it in that fashion, I took some time off here and there and felt like it was very helpful mentally.

good luck

 

[Poppy123]

I'm down to 1 week before my exam. As of right now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get through psych & peds questions (although I did review peds). How well represented are these 2 on the actual test? Thanks guys!

 

[zedx]

Got my scores with the rest yesterday...but was a bit busy takin CS, haha.

Step 1- 254
Step 2 - 268

-Took 3 weeks to do UW, Kaplan Q bank, read Secrets/Crush, Kaplan Notes, FA and some of the Blueprints books. Took two NBMEs (#4 at the start, predicted 245; #3 a week before, predicted 243). I'd say UW and the kaplan notes were the way to go.

 

[Scoot]

Long time lurker to this thread, first time posting.

I hate to discourage anyone currently studying, but, for me, at least, the trick to doing well on these steps has been working hard during med school. I say this because I did not work hard for the first two years in med school and had to make up a lot of ground while studying for step 1. Was testing 250+ but scored a 229.

During third year I worked much harder and did much better on clerkships gradewise. I used USMLEWorld throughout third year in studying for the shelf exams

For step 2 prep I used ONLY UW. I had already seen all of the UW questions during third year. I had my UW reset and re-took them all in blocks of 10 in tutor mode, answering about 90 Qs/day. Took about 5 weeks to study, max of 5 hrs/day, only took like 3 days off the entire time, but it wasn't that bad considering I never did the 10+ hour days some people seem to be capable of. I took something like 38 pages of notes from UW on topics I was unclear on and tried to review everything I had written once or twice a week. I think this was key because towards the end I was taking almost no notes.

Got my score back yesterday: 265

Needless to say, I am a strong supporter of UW.

 

[Simethicone]

My turn...

Step I 228
Step II 241

5 weeks to study: UW, Step Up to Medicine, Secrets. Wasn't particularly worried about scoring myself during the study period, my UW scores jumped all over the place. Took every weekend off to relax and enjoy my summer, and studied anywhere from 6 to 10 hours during the weekdays. UW in the morning, and Step Up in the afternoons. I took notes in Secrets. Pretty happy with my score, not too bad for IM.

Good luck! 👍

 

[Converge]

Step 1: 236

Studied 4 weeks, 6 days a week about 5 hours a day. Read Case Files: Pediatrics and Case Files: Ob/Gyn because I took these a long time ago. Finished 90% of USMLEWorld doing 46Q random tests with an average of 70%. Read Step II Secrets over the last couple days.

Step 2: 252

Step II Secrets is a great book for quick review near the end, hits lots of high yield items. However, it also has some out of date info.

 

[ahd929]

studied 4 weeks, during an M4 radiology elective. 2 hours/day of reading first aid, 2 hours/day of UWorld, more on weekends. finished 3/4 of the questions, averaged around 70-75%. i would mark any questions i got wrong, or just felt like i didn't understand completely, and would do the marked questions again the next day, taking notes in my first aid. UWorld self assessment four days before the test was 268.

step I: 259
step II: 271

now my brother says i'm wasting my usmle scores by going into pediatrics. what am i supposed to do, choose my career based on how i did on a test?

 

[wince]

Wanted to share my experience since I gained a lot of valuable information from reading all of yours!

NBME 1: 215 (6 weeks)
NBME 2: 235 (2 weeks)
NBME 3: 243 (5 days)
Free 138: 85% (2 days)
USMLE World: 64% average (first time through)

Step 1: 243
Step 2: 262

Studied for 3 weeks, 8-10 hours daily except Saturdays. Being able to study all day without being on a rotation was key for me, so glad I did this. Did all USMLE World questions, marked about 900 questions, went back and redid those. Read all explanations very carefully, made sure I understood the concepts behind each question, made notes in Step Up to Medicine. Read Step 2 Secrets twice. Used First Aid Step 2 CK for Peds only...I would not recommend buying this book, stick to Secrets and Step Up to Medicine, but only if you used it doing your Medicine clerkship and are familiar with it. Otherwise, it will overwhelm you. Really happy about my score, didn't have a great feeling when I left the testing center and over the next few days thought of 10-15 easy questions I'd missed. My goal was just to beat my Step 1 score, so I'm beyond elated that I did even better than I was hoping.

Recommendations:
1. USMLE World. Used this to study for all my clerkships, went back and redid all the questions while studying for Step 2, then redid all the marked questions. Do questions on random mode to help your brain jump from one subject to the next.
2. Step 2 Secrets. Very high yield book, some outdated info but otherwise very valuable. You might feel like it isn't enough, but if you know this book well you'll do fine.
3. Don't neglect subjects like Psych and Ob-Gyn. While the majority of Step 2 is Medicine, I had about 10-15 Psych or Ob-Gyn questions per block...this adds up!
4. Build up test-taking stamina. The last few days before my test, I'd do 4 blocks of 46 questions in a row under test-like conditions. It is a grueling day, and I think a lot of people forgot what its like to take an 8 hour test.

Good luck to all of you!

 

[penguin24]

studied 4 weeks, during an M4 radiology elective. 2 hours/day of reading first aid, 2 hours/day of UWorld, more on weekends. finished 3/4 of the questions, averaged around 70-75%. i would mark any questions i got wrong, or just felt like i didn't understand completely, and would do the marked questions again the next day, taking notes in my first aid. UWorld self assessment four days before the test was 268.

step I: 259
step II: 271

now my brother says i'm wasting my usmle scores by going into pediatrics. what am i supposed to do, choose my career based on how i did on a test?

Why don't you do Peds at Johns Hopkins, that way your score won't go to waste?

 

[willy334]

Step 1: 227
Step 2: 257

Read secrets through once, then did all UW questions on tutor mode (65% first time through) Then I did all the incorrect again, then all the marked questions. Took about 3 weeks just studying for 6-10 hours per day. I am planning to go into a competitive specialty so had to kick butt, and study more than most. After I took the test, I felt like I could have done it in 2-2.5 weeks.

Good luck to all those average test takers out there. I'm proof that 30 point improvement can happen.

 

[anonperson]

Step 2 CS-Passed in April (Took this early)
Step 2- 240

I ended up taking July off and had the last week of June off so I studied about 4.5 weeks for this test.

During my med 3 year I had ended up reading through Step Up to Medicine 3-4 times for my various shelf exams (IM and Family Med). I used it as a reference guide during my study month. Mainly I used Step 2 Secrets (From Brochert) and read through about 3/4 of the way through. I had used it during my med 3 year on and off so I had a good amount of familiarity with it. Actually, I didn't read too much during my study month. I mainly used my books to brush up on certain topics I felt I was weak on like Renal issues and certain cardiac topics.

For surgery review, I just read the pestana notes twice (I had used it for my surgery shelf so it was pretty familiar) and the surgery sections for secrets (general, ortho, uro, ophtho).
For OB/GYN I read through the Secrets section and the OB and GYN sections in First Aid for Step 2 CK.
I had just come off my peds rotation so I didn't specifically study for this, just went through the world questions.
For psych, I reread the secrets psych section.

I didn't bother with blue prints or case files as I felt they were too detailed and too dense for Step 2 studying. I feel that the questions for OB/Gyn, Peds, Psych, and surgery are generally very stereotyped and can be covered in the above resources I mentioned.

I used USMLE World as my question bank. I actually signed up for the year and used the surgery and OB/Gyn questions during my rotation. I did the rest (IM, Psych, and Peds) starting in April. I did random blocks of questions, but only from one subject at a time (like IM only or Peds only) and did 46 at a time every few days from April to May. I did the questions in tutor mode and just mentally reviewed the answers. By the end of June/July I was doing 3-4 blocks daily and finished going through the questions once by the first week of July. I spent the rest of the month going through all of my past tests and reviewing the answers and questions while also making hand written notes. I tried to spend around 30-60 min at the end of the day to re-review my notes.

When I first started doing questions, specifically the medicine ones, I was in the mid to low 50% area. By the end I was getting around 65-70% correct, with a few 80%s here and there. My overall percentage was ~67%.

 

[Tsutsugamushi]

congrats to everyone who passed the exam.... i'll be taking my exam in about a week or so and wanted to ask everyone how they felt about USMLE world in comparison to the actual test. Specifically, did you find the actual test to be harder, similar, easier as comparted to UW?

Also, did anyone do the FRED questions (the 136 free questions from USMLE?) Are those past exam questions? And once again, how would you compare the level of difficulty of those questions as compared to the actual thing?

Thank you in advance. Good luck to those who have yet to take the exam.

 

[tfom08]

congrats to everyone who passed the exam.... i'll be taking my exam in about a week or so and wanted to ask everyone how they felt about USMLE world in comparison to the actual test. Specifically, did you find the actual test to be harder, similar, easier as comparted to UW?

Also, did anyone do the FRED questions (the 136 free questions from USMLE?) Are those past exam questions? And once again, how would you compare the level of difficulty of those questions as compared to the actual thing?

Thank you in advance. Good luck to those who have yet to take the exam.

I think UW is similar in difficulty. The free questions are much easier. They might be retired CK questions, but if so, they represent the easiest 30% of questions. If you look through this post, you will see some data from people who took the free questions. People do much better on the free questions than on UW.

 

[wjm]

congrats to everyone who passed the exam.... i'll be taking my exam in about a week or so and wanted to ask everyone how they felt about USMLE world in comparison to the actual test. Specifically, did you find the actual test to be harder, similar, easier as comparted to UW?

Also, did anyone do the FRED questions (the 136 free questions from USMLE?) Are those past exam questions? And once again, how would you compare the level of difficulty of those questions as compared to the actual thing?

Thank you in advance. Good luck to those who have yet to take the exam.

I took the exam on the 8th when the format was still 46q. Felt the difficulty was similar between the two. So World does a good job at preparing you. I did feel like the actual test had longer question sets though. It could just be my interpretation.

I also agree that the free questions were definitely easier than the real questions. I wouldn't say that they are dramatically off. Only slightly easier in terms of difficulty level.

 

[joboe]

Has anybody taken Step 2 ck after August 10? I was wondering if you felt USMLE World and Secrets was still the way to go. It makes me nervous that the number of questions has decreased, but the amount of time to take the exam has not. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

 

[obliviousjdf]

I have used this thread numerous times during my step 2 studying and just wanted to give out a generalized thanks to all who have written before me. This thread is awesome, so I wanted to give something back! 🙂

Step 2 CK --July 28th, 2009
Step 2 CK score reported--August 19th, 2009 @ 11am

Step 1 = 243/99 🙁
Step 2 = 272/99 😎

Days of studying: 27
Took first month of MS4 year off to study, as I am applying in couples match to a competitive residency and wasn't happy with step 1 score. Felt I needed more to not bring down my girl, who is applying to Peds and extremely well qualified for this field...could probably get a top 5 Peds program if I wasn't bringing her down! 🙁

Resources: ONLY USMLEWorld!!!! No Kaplan review notes, no Crush, no FA. Only World. (few Kaplan q's also)

100% of questions finished in timed, 46Q blocks only. No tutor mode. I feel this was VERY important as toward the end of my studying I was able to finish with 8-12mins leftover on each block allowing ample review time. On the real test, I also had 8-12 mins on each section for review. DO TIMED TESTS to maximize your test taking skills!

Review each test, reading all correct and incorrect answers. Every single world in the Qbank.

USMLEWorld percentage correct = 77%

Finished 600 of the New Kaplan Step 2 Qbank at 72% correct. Felt this bank focused on details, not concepts like world. Would recommend world>>>>>Kaplan.

NBME 4 = taken 2 wks into studying, approx 2 wks before test = 800 (>268)
NBME 3 = destroyed my confidence, 640 (247)!

Would advise taking NBME 4 and 2, as I didn't find NBME 3 to be presentative of the test at all (in predictive scoring or subject content)

I found the medfriends calculator very accurate and a great tool to chart improvement. Use it to chart performance and get a pretty accurate score correlation...it predicted 268, I received 272. Very close.

Best test prep = reading and performing well on shelf exams during MS3 year!

I was kind of surprised, as I heard that most people do much better on this test compared to step 1, but I don't see how the stats support this myth. My step 1 group mean and SD was 224 and 23. My step 2 group mean and SD was 226 and 23. What am I missing? 😕

I hope this post helps.

 

[tfom08]

I was kind of surprised, as I heard that most people do much better on this test compared to step 1, but I don't see how the stats support this myth. My step 1 group mean and SD was 224 and 23. My step 2 group mean and SD was 226 and 23. What am I missing? 😕

Most of the top students (say 250+ on step 1) don't take step 2 until later because they a) don't feel the need to study hard for it and b) don't want to bring their competitiveness down with a lower step 2 score. So basically, steps 1 and 2 are standardized, so NBME decides the means will be the same; but the relative difficulty is lower on step 2 if you study for it because a decent sized portion of the testing population (especially the top test takers, but also people who decided to go into non competitive specialties) don't really try at all. If people study equally as hard for both tests, it seems they almost always do better on step 2. That's why I think it is smart to take it early no matter how you did on step 1. You will almost certainly improve your score and the information is fresh so it doesn't even take that much work to get a strong score.

Congrats by the way, killer score!

 

[AFDuck]

Most of the top students (say 250+ on step 1) don't take step 2 until later because they a) don't feel the need to study hard for it and b) don't want to bring their competitiveness down with a lower step 2 score. So basically, steps 1 and 2 are standardized, so NBME decides the means will be the same; but the relative difficulty is lower on step 2 if you study for it because a decent sized portion of the testing population (especially the top test takers, but also people who decided to go into non competitive specialties) don't really try at all. If people study equally as hard for both tests, it seems they almost always do better on step 2. That's why I think it is smart to take it early no matter how you did on step 1. You will almost certainly improve your score and the information is fresh so it doesn't even take that much work to get a strong score.

Congrats by the way, killer score!

This logic makes sense, but I'm wondering if it might change for the current cohort of test takers who are the first to take the CK form with 44 questions per block. If the curve for this new format is created solely from the scores of everyone who takes the test from Aug 10th-early October wouldn't it likely be skewed higher because these are the more motivated test takers according to the prevailing logic? I hope that makes some sense. I guess this would be prevented if each question has an historical average (like on UW), and unique curves/scores were generated based on the random selection of a questions a test taker recieves (assuming a lot of the questions are the same as before the format change, they will have a track record). Any thoughts? I don't know a whole lot about how the test is made, I'm just throwing thoughts out there.

 

[tfom08]

This logic makes sense, but I'm wondering if it might change for the current cohort of test takers who are the first to take the CK form with 44 questions per block. If the curve for this new format is created solely from the scores of everyone who takes the test from Aug 10th-early October wouldn't it likely be skewed higher because these are the more motivated test takers according to the prevailing logic? I hope that makes some sense. I guess this would be prevented if each question has an historical average (like on UW), and unique curves/scores were generated based on the random selection of a questions a test taker recieves (assuming a lot of the questions are the same as before the format change, they will have a track record). Any thoughts? I don't know a whole lot about how the test is made, I'm just throwing thoughts out there.

I think you are on the right track with the theory about each question having a historical average. I doubt NBME would totally rescale the test scores based only on a 1.5 month sample. They will have a very good idea on test difficulty based on historic performance and can likely closely approximate the difficulty of the exam prior to Aug 10. The same thing happened last summer when I took Step 1 (went from 50 to 48 q blocks) and I don't think there was any difference.

 

[VPDcurt]

Just took it today. Was able to get through all of UWorld, FirstAid and Crush...Crush and FirstAid are a waste of time and money.

 

[markglt]

y are they a waste of time and money, namely fa?
was uw representative?
if u did it again what would you use?
got 4 weeks to go, getting nervous
best of luck with your scores

 

[jtre506]

VPDcurt Just took it today. Was able to get through all of UWorld, FirstAid and Crush...Crush and FirstAid are a waste of time and money.


VPD can we get a reason as to y?
Thanks in advance

 

[VPDcurt]

UWorld was great - definitely helpful to read all of the explanations. I had a bunch of questions that seemed like they were directly taken from UWorld. I don't recall learning any truly useful information from either FA or Crush. The biggest problem with those two texts is that, for the most part, they just list the possible diagnostic tests or the possible treatments, but they rarely say which is the next best step or the preferred treatment...and that is one of the major question types that shows up on the real test. Crush has little to no information in it - it's way too broad and sweeping. I can't cite one useful fact from either FA or Crush that isn't mentioned somewhere in UWorld, but there are probably thousands of facts in UWorld that aren't mentioned in the other two texts.

 

[mplee79]

Hey. I am in need of some advice. I have a couple days before my test (Thursday). I still have roughly 35% left of World to get through. I've only really used world for studying so far and have ranged from low 50s to mid 70s and continue to be around that range now. Would it be better to get through the rest of World or go back and review the questions I got wrong?

Thanks

 

[jtre506]

VPD curt,
Thank you for your reply, I have a few more questions for you. You think USMLE world was representative of the test you were giving as far as the distribution of IM, Bio-stats, Ob/Gyn, Peds ect...Was your test 44 questions? How were the audio visual portions?

As for mplee79, I suggest you do a mixture of questions that you answered incorrectly with new questions.

 

[Jeep23Guy]

Step 2 CK tomorrow...starting to get really nervous.
Anybody got any last minute high-yield tips?

 

[theunderdog]

Time to give back. I finished 98% of UW; couldn't finish it all because UW kept adding Qs each week. I used Step Up to Medicine, USMLE Secrets, old shelf exam notes that I compiled through 3rd year, and Boards and Wards.

UW self-assessment predicted a 188 about 3 days before the real exam.
I averaged about 58-59% correct on UW... again, I finished 98% of it. I did it by section and untimed. I did about 15-20 Qs at a time... sometimes 10-12. This allowed me to better go over my answers. My lowest on any UW test was a 30%; highest was a 90%.

As for the actual exam itself, it was well-distributed with all fields, including those specialities that my school does not offer core rotations in -- i.e. ortho, opthalm. I probably had a little more OBGYN and biostats on mine. Only one block did I really have to push myself for time because of acid-base questions.

Real score: 216/89

Got score back on the 3rd Wednesday from the day I took it.

I think the best predictor is how you did during your 3rd year. My lowest shelf was 62. My highest was 74.

 

[drmom33]

😱I took my exam Sunday 8/23
Inshallah, God Willing I do well. Not sure how I did, so I won’t talk about my prep, only about the new format (It was something I was looking for before my test so I thought I'd post my experience).

It’s 44 q’s with 1 hour to complete. I had only 3 biostat q’s & 3or 5 ethics. It was a long day, and I used up my break time so my last 2 blocks were back to back and I was tired and hungry, so pace yourself well! There was also lots of annoying typing going on all around me, I don’t know what exam those other people had, but they were typing like their life depended on it!

my exam was mostly IM, and it was everything. The format is exactly like uw and the free material from the orientation downloads. Each block had a good number of the easy to answer q’s, and they were not long at all. The long ones were the psych q’s, and they were very straight forward. The easy q’s reminded me of the first block of the orientation materials, and there was at least 5-7 in each block, a good confidence booster and time saver when I came across them! Although I had 2 blocks that were impossible, and I had marked more than half the questions but not time to review them, that’s why not sure about how I will do.😕

The answer choices were what really threw me off, it was not like UW, vague, you might know what the symptoms are and how to dx and tx, but then they ask you the mechanism behind it, and for me, step 1 was 4 years ago!

It was similar to the 3rd block of the free material, the hard q’s not the easy ones. (I didn’t do the 2nd block) Surgery was strait trauma, exactly like the UW q's, I don’t think I had anything else, and it was minimal as well, not more than 3-5 q’s per block.

Obgyn was not what I expected, I thought I studied that subject well, but just could not figure out some of the answers! I just felt that maybe I learned the material the wrong way, for example I never paid attention (or didn’t remember) about the ms afp as a number and I could not remember what was elevated and the next step, I guess I thought they would just tell you if it was elevated or decreased. I also had 3 fetal monitoring strips.

Peds could have been mixed in with everything else, i think there were 3 milestones, and like 2 post exposure vaccinations. The rest was pretty mixed in with IM.

For media and pics, just like everyone is saying, can figure it out from the q. I only had 2 media only 2 ekg’s. and about 3 pics/xrays/mri’s per block. Not difficult if you know how to answer the q’s, it’s the choices that really drove me nuts in this exam.
overall it's a strait forward common sense test, just those few q's that you really have to scratch your brain for.
Now i wait in pain for the next 6 weeks

 

[FDoRoML]

Okay everyone. I got the magical email that the score report would be available "later this morning," so I am hitting the refresh button on my NBME exam report page like, every 5 minutes!! 😱 Haha. Good luck to everyone who will be getting theirs today!

FD

 

[mddo82]

DO student. Studied mostly weekday evenings starting in June. Completed 100% of UWorld over this time with a final score of 66%. Made sure to read each explanation carefully. Also read Secrets and Deja Review texts. I did look at First Aid for EM and OB/GYN.

My experience with the exam on 8/1: LONG questions. Be prepared to read the entire question as they like to stick important info in the middle of a bunch of distractors. UWorld questions are approximately same length - so do full length sets of timed UWorld questions to prepare for true exam experience. The questions on the NBME practice exam I took (#3) were much shorter and easier.

Score: 266/99

Best of luck to you all.

 

[tfom08]

I studied for 4 weeks with a short vacation in the middle of study time, so approximately 24 days, while taking a light elective. I studied approximately 8-10 hours per day during this time. My study plan was as follows:

First 2 weeks: Almost exclusively UWorld, 3 sets of 46q daily on average. Finished the entire bank in 2 weeks. Some reading interspersed when I had extra time.

Final 2 weeks: Reviewed missed UWorld questions and reading. Reviewing missed UWorld questions was a key, I saw quite a few on the real exam. It only took about 30 minutes per day over the final 2 weeks to review all of the missed questions a couple of times. Also during this time, I read the Kaplan notes of Ob/Gyn, Peds, and the Pestana vignettes. I also read through Step Up to Medicine because I had used it during the year on medicine so was familiar with it. While reading Kaplan notes, I would do a few questions here and there on Kaplan Qbank as reading subject quizzes only because I had a free subscription, but would not necessarily advise buying that qbank, reusing UWorld probably would have been ok. I do recommend the Kaplan notes if you have time to read them as they are more comprehensive than most of the other sources like FA or Crush. I found them fairly light reads (I finished the Ob/Gyn and Peds books in 3 days total) even though they are a bit lengthy they aren't too dense. I just kind of liked having a source that explains things a little more since you can always skip the stuff you already know.

Test day: Test was similar to what I expected. A few Step 1 type questions on histology and pathophys (5-10) but nothing too surprising. There were more EKGs on CK than there were on any of the shelf exams (probably because the computer screen makes it easier to include them when compared to booklet forms) so be ready for EKGs. The "what age is this child?" questions were more difficult than I expected (had 2, think I missed 2) because you had to assess 3-4 areas of development for the children as delayed, normal, advanced and I didn't prepare for that. The A/V questions weren't that bad, of the 4-7 I had, I think half could be answered without the A/V and the others gave you a pretty good idea that you just have to confirm.

Stats:
Shelf Exams: 89, 75, 83, 82, 87, 89, 95 (chronological)
UW Self Assessment: 241 (4 weeks out, before studying)
UW Qbank: 77% (started low 70's, last half of qbank @ 80%+)
Step 2 CK: 279

I was advised by some people not to take CK early if you did well on step 1 because you risk performing poorly and hurting your residency chances. I think you are actually better off taking CK early as long as you did well during 3rd year because you will be able to get a great score without studying as hard as you will have to later. The best thing to do is probably take a practice test at the end of 3rd year if you are really worried and just see if you are in a position to do well on CK.

Good luck to everyone else!

 

[hellotherematey]

I took the exam recently...I have been reading these posts for a while to help me study, so I thought I'd share my strategies.
Studied for 4 weeks, about 6 hours a day.
Books: First Aid for Step 2 CK, Step 2 Secrets
USMLEWorld: 90% finished, always did sets of 40 or so on tutor mode, subject-specific depending on what I was studying that day or what I felt weak on...finished with overall 72% correct. One thing I always did was take notes on questions I got wrong, and I really took my time with the qbank to suck every bit of info out of it that I could. There were numerous questions on the exam straight out of usmleworld.

NBME #2 - 800 (>268) timed 2 days before I took the exam.

that's it! I didn't do fabulously well on Step 1, so I am trying to make up for it. I'll post when I receive my scores!

Just got my score back ---- 267!!!! Woo hoo!!!

 

[excelsior]

step 1 204/84

Shelf scores ranged from 57-80

Used World, Crush, First Aid for CK

100% world done on tutor mode and then towards the end timed 46 q blocks, final was 58%, towards the end I was getting 60-70% per 46q block

NBME # 4 1 week prior predicted 205

Took CK 8/1/09

Score: 235/97

Substantial improvement from my step 1, World is money I should have used it for step 1

Good luck everybody, I posted just to show not everybody here can just easily drop 250s, but with hard work a good score is within reach 😉

 

[tacrum43]

Got my score back today. 237/98! 😀

It may not be an SDN score, but I'm very happy with it and hopefully it'll help me match somewhere back home on the west coast. Plus it's a 21 point improvement over Step 1 for me (216/89). 👍

I studied for about a month 5-6 hours per day using USMLEWorld on tutor mode, did 100%, going through the explanations for all the ones I got wrong and most of the ones I got right, and then started re-doing some too. My average was 59% before I started re-doing them. I didn't use tutor mode on UW for step 1 and I think it made a big difference in learning to be able to read the answer and explanation right away rather than having to revisit each question at the end of the section. The only other thing I used was a few chapters of Step 2 Secrets but the list of facts format was driving me crazy and I quit using it.

FYI, my shelf scores third year ranged between 73 (OB/Gyn) and 83 (Psych). Ironically I did best in the L&D section on Step 2. That'll help me a lot in IM. 😛

 

[anonymous one]

Alright, don't like everyone knowing my scores so I'm posting here anonymously. I will not be around to answer questions so don't bother PM/asking for replies. Anyhow, some background:

Med school: Top 40 NIH
Step 1: 213
Shelfs: 66-74, mostly around 70
Preparation for step 2: I took a month off, read about 1/2 of Secrets and did 100% of UW. All done on untimed, tutor mode with a 60% overall average at the end. This was considered 50th percentile according to UW. Really wanted to improve on my 213 score and was pretty nervous about the test. UW was great, as you already know if you are reading this thread. I was averaging in the mid-upper 60's at the end.
Test: It was hard! I didn't have any repeats from UW, and most questions were pretty tough, only 5-10 easy per block. I was pretty worried since I thought I definitely didn't hit what I needed to.
Score: 241/99 !

Yes, totally awesome and I am pretty hyped. A per everyone else's advice, I recommend UW. I think the problem for me is I never did practice questions despite advice for step 1shelfs, so I wasn't very good at taking tests. That changed this time and I really learned how to take a standardized test well.

 

[Gator08]

Took 3.5 weeks to study for this. Read through FA, then Secrets. Then I completed 82% of UWorld with a score of 66%. Then read through most of Secrets a second time. No practice tests. I felt like I was dragging my feet for most of the studying, and just had a terrible focus. End result:

Step 1: 247/99

Step 2: 247/99

I am so, so relieved that I didn't go down. I do think that if anyone is truly motivated and studies as hard as they did for step 1, then there is a very good chance that they will greatly improve their score (although nothing is guaranteed).

For what its worth, I thought Secrets was a lifesaver and a great read those last 2 days as it reinforced a lot of major concepts. The 3 areas that I didn't review in Secrets were my worst scores.

Good luck to all, and thanks for help.

 

[lov]

Just thought I'd throw my .02 out there about what I did for Step 2:
Step 1 - 230
Studied consistent all year for NBME's and spent 4-5 wks after clinicals for Step 2
Did Uworld finished at about 66% (all timed, 46 ques, random), then reviewed all missed questions, read secrets twice throughout the 4-5 wks, and first aid for a couple sections I didn't feel great on
got results back today : Step 2 - 245
hope this helps some people out to gauge things a little

 

[Loanna]

Hello everyone! I am an FM Student about to graduate and I just wanted to share my own experience.
Step1 : 253/99 (on 07/31/2008)
Step2 : 254/99 (on 08/06/2009)
For Step2 I studied from kaplan notes during the past year (it was my final one) and I did UWorld (I did the I.M, OB/GYN and Surgery parts) during January and March. Then I came to the U.S.A as a visiting student for a month and as soon as I got back to my home country I repurchased UWorld and I finished all of it, tutor-untimed. I redid everything I got wrong and some marked Q's. What I found extremely helpful was that I noted down almost everything that was explained in UWorld (right AND wrong answers!!). I also read Secrets while doing UWorld. For my final revision ( after completing the Qbank ), I went through Secrets again and I reviewed ALL my Uworld notes. I also did the NBME Q's and the free q's 2 days before the test date.
As for the exam itself, it had really long q's, but I always had some minutes to go back and answer any question I had left unanswered and the ones I marked. I also thought that I had done worse compared to my impression when I finished Step1. Maybe that's because the q's are really long, making you feel like you crawl from question to question especially in the final block. Overall I felt more tired and disappointed when it ended, but thank God I performed equally well!
My advice would be (except studying hard during your clinical rotations) to pay attention to every question in UWorld and read one of Secrets, Crush, B & W's, whichever book works best for you (after all their content is basically the same). Good luck to everyone!!

 

[markglt]

to those that took step2 already, any advice on ekgs....for a rapid review? or what u saw

 

[tfom08]

to those that took step2 already, any advice on ekgs....for a rapid review? or what u saw

I had probably 7-10 EKG's. Most of them were pretty basic (definitely know all the different MI's with ST elevation and the basics of treatment). Know the different heart blocks and which ones need a pacemaker. I had one that stumped me with diffuse ST elevation but symptoms that didn't seem like pericarditis and no PR depression, still not sure what it was. I wish there was a way to select out all of the EKG questions on UW or kaplan and do just those for review, I think that would be sufficient. Otherwise, the back pages of dubins book are a pretty good review.

 

[markglt]

thanks alot.

 

[gostudy]

I wish there was a way to select out all of the EKG questions on UW or kaplan and do just those for review, I think that would be sufficient.

The key is to mark every question with an ekg as you go through the qbank so that at the end you can select for questions "marked" and for subject "cardiology" and it will tease out the ekgs from all the other questions you marked in other subjects...this is assuming you don't mark any other cards questions.

 

[Pendergast]

Step 1: 258/99

USMLEworld: 74% correct
NBME CSSA: predicted score 262
USMLEworld practice exam: predicted score 258

Actual USMLE step 2 score: 259/99 (taken 8/1/09)

1 point. I went one point up, yet I'm still 1 point from my goal.

 

[markglt]

which nmbe did you take?

 

[medInUSA]

my step 2 CK exam is on Tuesday!!!!!!


NBME, 1 week before step 1 242
Step 1 223




I have taken NBME for 4 last Thursday and got 237

U world 100 percent finished overall 61%
Kaplan Qbank 100 percent finished also 61 %

I am really nervous if I go down 20 points again I would only get a 217, any advice, should I postpone, should I take another NBME???

 

[medInUSA]

The key is to mark every question with an ekg as you go through the qbank so that at the end you can select for questions "marked" and for subject "cardiology" and it will tease out the ekgs from all the other questions you marked in other subjects...this is assuming you don't mark any other cards questions.

honestly there are only very few EKG patterns you have to recognize

Afib: no discernable p waves, irregularly irregular
A flutter: sawtooth appearance
SVT: narrow QRS complexes no apparant P waves
Multifocal atrial tachy: polymorphous p waves
Torsades: undulation of amplitude
VFib: no organized activity at all
V tach: Wide complex tachy cardia
WPW: delta wave (preexcitation)
and maybe the different heart blocks.

and that's it, just google image each of these and memorize how they look

 

[gostudy]

honestly there are only very few EKG patterns you have to recognize

Afib: no discernable p waves, irregularly irregular
A flutter: sawtooth appearance
SVT: narrow QRS complexes no apparant P waves
Multifocal atrial tachy: polymorphous p waves
Torsades: undulation of amplitude
VFib: no organized activity at all
V tach: Wide complex tachy cardia
WPW: delta wave (preexcitation)
and maybe the different heart blocks.

and that's it, just google image each of these and memorize how they look

Right. These are the pretty much all the rythms one needs to know for the Step. The problem is that just looking them up and memorizing them would do one little in regards to successfully answering the question. As I'm sure you're aware, merely knowing how to diagnose a problem won't get you anywhere on the Step as most questions assume you know the diagnosis and are asking you studies/management type questions. So if someone thinks they are weak on EKGs marking all EKG questions (including those that have images and those that don't) would serve that person well as they would become well versed not only in how to recognize abnormal rythmns but also in how to further work them up or treat them.

 

[wjm]

my step 2 CK exam is on Tuesday!!!!!!


NBME, 1 week before step 1 242
Step 1 223




I have taken NBME for 4 last Thursday and got 237

U world 100 percent finished overall 61%
Kaplan Qbank 100 percent finished also 61 %

I am really nervous if I go down 20 points again I would only get a 217, any advice, should I postpone, should I take another NBME???

I think you will be ok. you've done 100% Uworld and Kaplan. The 19 point drop on Step 1 may have been an accident. It's really hard to tell just by looking at one NBME. Why dont you try UW self assessment or NBME2 and see where you are at? If you go through this thread, there's plenty of comparison between different NBME scores, UWSA scores vs. the real deal.

Good luck