I took USMLE Step 2CK on 6/14/2013 with a 4 week study period and I just received my score report. The following is a list of potentially relevant/useful scores followed my analysis of the study tools that I found useful.
USMLE Step 1: 253
Surgery Shelf (8/3/2013): 85% (88th percentile), High Pass
Pediatric Shelf (11/23/2013): 83% (76th percentile), Honors
Pediatric NBME 1 Score (11/7/2012): 80
Pediatric NBME 2 Score (11/21/2012): 82
Psychiatry Shelf (1/11/2013): 91% (90th percentile), Honors
Psychiatry NBME 1 Score (1/1/2013): 85
Psychiatry NBME 2 Score (1/10/2013): 98
Ob/Gyn Shelf (2/22/2013): 94% (98th percentile), Honors
Ob/Gyn NBME 1 Score (2/19/2013): 90
Ob/Gyn NBME 2 Score (2/20/2013): 82
Medicine Shelf (5/17/2013): 90% (94th percentile), Honors
Medicine NBME 1 Score (5/8/2013): 90
Medicine NBME 2 Score (5/12/2013): 90
Uworld 1st Pass: 74% (Completed each section along with clinical rotation)
Uworld 2nd Pass: 88% (Random, timed)
UWSA: 260-265 (I didnt write down the score, and my access expired)
Kaplan 1st Pass: 72-75% (I didnt write down the score, and my access expired)
NBME Form 6 (5/21/2013): 260
NBME Form 2 (6/3/2013): 275
NBME Form 3 (6/5/2013): 279
NBME Form 4 (6/9/2013): 283
In addition to the above question sources, I read MTB 2/3 and watched Conrads high yield cases. I found MTB to be extremely useful as I have a tendency to choose answers that I have seen done clinically, but Dr. Fisher does an outstanding job indicating the next best step, test, etc for common scenarios. I remember a handful of questions that I got correct because I read MTB 2/3 and did not fall for the bait answers. Likewise, Dr. Fishers high yield case videos enabled me to feel confident in my understanding and management of 20 clinical scenarios. It may seem trivial to watch Dr. Fisher explain the ins and outs of HTN, but because I took the time to sit through this relatively trivial topic, I was able to solve the more complex HTN cases (variety of comorbid diseases, presence of contraindications, using 1 Rx to tackle more than 1 disease in a patient, etc.)
The efficacy of Uworld is described throughout the archives on Student Doctor, so I will make this brief. Uworld is an absolute necessity. When I sat down to take 2CK, I felt like I was sitting in my office doing Uworld practice questions. I have read in previous posts that people felt that 2CK had much longer vignettes than Uworld, but I did not experience this. The vignettes were not only similar in overall length, but also in overall complexity.
I decided to use the Kaplan Qbank because the Uworld questions were still very fresh in my memory and I wanted to dilute them with something different. Kaplan questions are difficult and focus on the seemingly arcane and exotic. Nevertheless, I love doing difficult questions and I enjoyed the challenge that Kaplan offered. I think Kaplan can be used if there is some time to kill.
The NBME practice forms were all quite excellent (even if some of the questions are dated). I will note that the vignettes are incredibly short on the NBME forms, but this is because all of the distracting information is essentially removed. I found this very helpful because I was able to trim the longer vignettes on 2CK into the bare essentials seen on NBME forms, which saved me a large chunk of time. The NBME forms overinflated my predicted score by a lot, but this is to be expected from outdated questions. One other thing, the NBME forms share a very similar structure to the blocks on 2CK, and I found this structure comforting when I sat for the real deal.
The 2CK exam was overall a fair examination. I had roughly 7-10minutes at the end of each block to look back on more complex questions. The drug ad questions were very easy. Statistics questions were all reasonable, with the only difficult question I came across being one that required you to understand how pre-test probability and likelihood ratios combine for a post-test probability. For example, if screening tool A has a +LR of 30 but the pre-test probability of the patient being studied is 0.01 and screening tool B has a +LR of 3 but the pre-test probability of the patient being studied is 1, then you would want to use screening tool B if your patient population matched (even though the +LR is 30 in A and 3 in B). This is just an example, the actual question had a large vignette with several tables of information.
Step 2CK Score: 257
Now you get what I'm saying.
