Step 2 Secrets: I swear Step 1/2 Secrets has a cult following.Keep in mind, I stopped using MTB once I was in dedicated time – I primarily used it as a slow review source prior to dedicated time. I generally did review questions in UWorld and wrote in little notes throughout MTB to ensure I remembered key points. However, I gave it a try and actually really liked it as a very fast review source for the most basic high-yield facts I needed to hammer into my brain. Master the Boards – USMLE Step 2: I was skeptical about Master the Boards, especially with the mixed reviews on Amazon.Because I bought it sometime in July of 2013, it didn’t expire until sometime in July of 2014 – meaning with my June test date, I just had to reset it to make it a “fresh” question bank. UWorld: I purchased a 1-year subscription during my third year and used it as a study tool for every single shelf exam.It’s a win-win – if you do better than Step 1, you can release it and blow residency programs away if you do not improve compared to Step 1, then you don’t have to release the score.Īnyway, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.įirst off, the resources I used : For those individuals, yes, I agree that it makes sense for you to take it in September or later to ensure that you have a choice on whether or not to release your score. However, I understand that there are exceptional individuals out there that have super-stellar Step 1 scores and do not want to tarnish this. You probably don’t have to buy a new subscription of UWorld because if you take it early enough, you can just reset your 1-year subscription from 3rd year.Some specialties and residency programs like to see a Step 2 score before they will send you an interview.Even if you don’t, at least residency programs have piece of mind that you won’t fail the exam. And because of what I said in 1., it becomes a losing battle. Unless you’ll be doing a series of Medicine rotations, all of that knowledge you built up during 3rd year will fall out of your head at an exponential rate.It gets harder to study as 4th year progresses – I promise you.I’m a bit advocate for taking Step 2 CK early for the following reasons: Gone are the days of 1st order questions … get ready to apply all of that knowledge you built up over 3 years of medical school! For some, this comes easier than others, which is why it is important to really understand why. ![]() The best advice I can give on preparing for Step 2 CK is to do well on your third year shelf exams. This is pretty much the same advice everyone gives on studying for Step 1, but the caveat is that with Step 2, you need to build your clinical acumen. With that, I scheduled CK for Jand CS for J. ![]() After also honoring my Internal Medicine shelf exam, I felt confident that I wouldn’t need more than ~2 weeks to study for Step 2 CK. īy halfway through my second semester of M3, it was clear that something had clicked. Studying for shelf exams became routine and I was doing well on the exams. All in all, my schedule appeared to align nicely with taking Step 2 CK before July 1st. My track also had 2 weeks at the end of the year dedicated to Capstone, which we could use as we wished. My clerkship order was a perfect setup to prepare for the exam – my second to last clinical clerkship was Internal Medicine and my last clinical clerkship was Psychiatry. I scored above average on Step 1, but I knew that if I wanted a shot at top-tier residency programs, I needed to improve on Step 2. This was the view from our hotel room.Īfter I found out my clerkship order for third year, I knew that I would be taking the USMLE Step 2 CK and CS before the start of 4th year. Today’s inane image of the day: After I took Step 2 CK/CS, I rewarded myself with a relaxing vacation up in the Bay Area.
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