So i just took my step 1 exam a week ago and i start clinicals on monday but i was womdering if anyone can tell me when is the ideal time to start preparing for step2? I made the mistake of not preping for step 1 in ms2 and it was a pretty painful kick in the crotch on the test. I wanna mAke things better for step 2. When should i start firecrackers? And whats the general feedback on master the boards? Please and thank you 🙂
When to start doing Preparing for step 2?
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With regards to Step 2, basically studying for every shelf is preparing you for Step 2. You can buy a Step 2 review book to read along with each clerkship, but you will need something more in depth for the shelf exams.
The best thing to do for each shelf: find a book/resource for content review AND do practice questions. Practice questions can be QBank (like USMLEWorld) or books (Pre-Test, others).
I bought a UWorld year long subscription and did practice questions for every rotation, and it served me well.
Now that I've used Kaplan as well to help study for CK, I wish I would have bought a year long subscription to their High Yield course, and used the videos to help study for rotations. This is what I did for Peds, and did both UWorld and Kaplan Peds questions, and it was my best shelf score of the year. You get access to their Q-bank with this service as well, and though it's not as good as UWorld, I think it's still very good.
But take that with a grain of salt. Just make sure you do plenty of practice questions during each of your rotations, whichever source you choose.
Thank you all for your resplies. What book do you recommend i order and use during clinicals?
I've done some research and it seems like the best sellers are MTB and FA...? Also what do you guys use for shelf exams?
I've done some research and it seems like the best sellers are MTB and FA...? Also what do you guys use for shelf exams?
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Get year long UWorld, do it while reviewing for your shelves. Do it again when studying for Step 2 (after MS3). Some people also use Kaplan or USMLERx. I passed on both of those.
If you do well on your shelves, you'll have a good baseline on Step 2. In terms of individual sources for the shelf exams, I send you to the Clinical Rotations forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=19) that have threads on every major shelf exam. Focus on posts within the last year or two rather than starting from the beginning of the thread.
If you do well on your shelves, you'll have a good baseline on Step 2. In terms of individual sources for the shelf exams, I send you to the Clinical Rotations forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=19) that have threads on every major shelf exam. Focus on posts within the last year or two rather than starting from the beginning of the thread.
For Surgery I used the Kaplan review chapter and Pestana Notes, and Surgical Recall. For Medicine I used Step Up to Medicine. For OB/GYN I used Blueprints. For Psych I used First Aid and Lange Q&A. For Primary Care I used my school's materials (the exam was not a Shelf). For Peds I used Blueprints.
These were recommended to me by the fourth years at my school. I was pretty happy with these books. But ultimately what helped me most were the practice questions.
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Definitely think that UWorld for a yearlong investment is a good idea (that's what I did, and others above). I know friends who did Kaplan for MS3 and then UWorld just for their Step II period, thats another option.
I agree with checking out the Clinical Rotations forum for the threads on each shelf. It is a good thing to browse to see what people recommend and have used. Once you find a text source to read, you can use UWorld for questions. Just keep in mind that UW does not have enough questions for some subjects, especially Psych and Surgery which you may need to supplement with other Qs.
I agree with checking out the Clinical Rotations forum for the threads on each shelf. It is a good thing to browse to see what people recommend and have used. Once you find a text source to read, you can use UWorld for questions. Just keep in mind that UW does not have enough questions for some subjects, especially Psych and Surgery which you may need to supplement with other Qs.
