Just took Step 2 CK this week, wow! 😱, there must be different versions of this exam as it seemed MUCH easier than Step 1 . . . I didn't believe people who told me that Step 2 CK was easier than Step 1, but when I took 2 CK I easily had enough time to re-check every question in all the blocks, usually ~20 minutes left over during the first run through, then took about 15 minutes to re-check the questions, changed maybe 1 or 2 for each block, . . .and then sat there for 7-5 minutes just relaxing so I only needed to use 30 minutes of break for lunch . . . when I took Step 1 I finished all the blocks but almost ran out of time for some, the blurb for each questions was manageable and much less than usmleworld (UW), and much of it was vitals and labs that were easy enough to read quickly, I think that doing alot of the usmleworld questions really helps because you get used to basically plowing through these exams, and I would say that the UW is very similar in question style and computer based setup to the real thing, only thing is that some questions have like a through n for the answers, but usually it was obvious what was the right choice, I thought that the first block was hard at first, but I finished it with time to spare like the others, I am freaked out that I answered the first questions wrong and the the computer gave me easy questions because it thought that I was doiong poorly and wanted to see how bad I was! I have heard people who thought it was hard do very well, and I thought step 1 was sort of hard but got a 236, I was freaked about the epidemiology/ethics/statistics, but got a question about sensitivity versus specificity and one about giving treatment in a straightforward scenario, . . .
Anyway my study material/methods was:
1.Usmleworld, basically because it was/is highly recommended by this webiste, did NOT use any qbank for step 1 . . . went through UW once and then repeated specific questions and then went back through about 1/3 of it again . . . I started this months before the exam, i.e. would one set of 46 or maybe 10 questions every or every other night. Early on UW was hard i.e. ~60% right I think it motivated me to study "real" stuff like textbooks, made me realize how much I didn't know. In the end I was getting 70-85% right on blocks, mostly because I remembered the questions and had repeated alot of it over the year, I think this helped because it woke me up to how hard Step 2 CK would be and helped me identify areas of weakness like renal . . . it was funny how classic scenarios like a ship-builder = asbestos and nursery care worked = fifth's disease appearred on the real exam, maybe step 2 CK just has a huge question data base decades old 😕
I think my best resource was actually emedicine, I have a secondary flat screen dual monitor I connected to my laptop (almost all laptops can do this) so I could surf the internet while I did UW (I didn't copy any of their material but this is why it hard to open other windows) when I came to a topic I didn't know I would google "emedicine + hemolytic uremic syndrome" and then read the painfully long article, I did this for my patients problems on the wards, . . . it took me along time to get through even 10 questions initially on UW as I would the article on slipped capital femoris etc . . . if I got the question wrong, or knew in my heart I didn't have it down, . . . in the end I think that if you are reviewing just what you know then you really aren't studying, this is the foundation of "meta-cognition" i.e. identifying what you didn't know and then focusing on that, UW helped big time with this.
2. Read all of NMS medicine, did some of the questions in the chapters, used First Aid for Medicine during medicine clerkship, read Step Up to Medicine in 2-3 days, I love this reference-easy to read for me and neat bullet points, read Kaplan medicine.
3. Read half of Ob/Gyn Blueprints after using it for Ob/Gyn clerkship in spring, read a couple cases out of ob/gyn case files, kaplan ob/gyn.
4. Neurology: Actually read Lange Neurology and 1/3 of Neurology case files during a neuro elective.
5. Read most of Boards and Wards, and went through First Aid for Step 2 CK during third year and then read it again in the weeks to exam
6. Pediatrics: Did some of pediatrics pre-test (wish I could have finished it), read first aid pediatrics,
7. Read the Primer on Kidney Disease, an intimidating book, but felt it was necessary as I am/was so weak in nephrology
8. Read Lange Pulmonology, great book, but don't know how much sticks the first time, was weak in pulmonary so felt I needed this, would have read Lange Cardiology if had the time.
9. Read surgery first aid, surgical recall on surgery, and some of NMS surgery during clerkship, kaplan surgery.
10. Read about my patients in depth, i.e. it is a no-brainer that various medical conditions, CHF, diabetes, leukemia i.e. multiple myeloma will be on step 2 CK so if you have a patient with these problems reading long stuff like review articles in New England Journal pays off
11. I actually shelled out ~$300 for Gold Standard audio step 2 tapes, put them on the iPod and listened to them in the car, wherver, they helped some with drugs, big topics like CHF, especially GI, I guess basically keept my brain on medicine, very slow narrator, I will probably continue to listen to them as will help with Step 3, not sure if I would buy again considering price, but helpful.
Conclusion: Staying awake during third year and reading every night (~60 pgs) was my goal and I hope it paid off for Step 2 CK, but . . . definitely feel more confident on the wards this week! Watched television for the first time in a longtime, i.e. have never seen "The Office" or other shows, can't say I missed alot, did rent movies about 1-2/month to watch from Blockbuster for entertainment and reading news on websites, and of course this thread. My version of Step 2 CK seemed much easier than UW and with overall shorter question stems, i.e. many just 2-3 sentences!! This is an endurance test though. Will post score when I get it. Good Luck to all who have yet to take the exam.
Step 1 = 232
Step 2 CK = ?!?
Time to party 
