usmleed
Forum Elite
Topics: 53
Posts: 189
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everybody on this forum recommends kaplan for step2ck but i am finding it somehow quite inadequate. when i do uw questions and try to find the relevant material in kaplan, many times its not given and also not given in 1st aid. so finally i pick up my currents and there it is. my qustion is , its really impossible to do the whole of currents at this juncture. how do i improve my knowledge and be able to do more questions on uw?
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| retroviridae
Forum Guru
Topics: 29
Posts: 871
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currents is great for IM, but not for anything else. UW is tough. Too tough actually. Kaplan notes are quite basic, but they seem to know the minimum amount of info to give you to create a framework upon which to answer questions correctly. If you have the time, sure, use Currents, but if not, Kaplan will be fine.
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| CSobsessed
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
Posts: 144
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I used Kaplan Step2CK notes and videos, Kaplan Step2CK Q-book and Q-bank, Step3 Kaplan Q-bank and IM Kaplan Q-bank. I did not do one question from USMLE world. I got 275/99.
The OB/GYN part of Kaplan notes is more than enough. It was the easiest part for me and I am not the specialist in this field. All the statistical garbage is more than enough in Kaplan. You just answer easier ones and guess-click on tougher ones. Safe time for something you have a chance to answer right. I once wanted to know everything in IM and Pediatrics. Tried to read big books. They give you a lot of information with a lot of right answers when the exam tests the best and the most right, so I returned to basic books because with them you build up a strategy to answer what you know and to make an educated guess on what you do not know. I am second to that Kaplan notes would be enough.
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| usmleed
Forum Elite
Topics: 53
Posts: 189
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thanks retroviridae and csobsessed. both of u are right. and usmleworld is really tough. when i see those exam score threads with so many people scoring 74-75 on uw, i just wonder why i am unable to score that much. but u are definitely correct when u say the big books give too many correct answers and we need to know just one.its impossible to do currents anyways. i'll stick to my kaplan. thanks a million
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| usmleed
Forum Elite
Topics: 53
Posts: 189
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one more question though. where did you people learn reading EKG strips? i mean other than the hospital?
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| CSobsessed
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
Posts: 144
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usmleed, trust me, go easy on yourself: do not spend a lot of time learning how to read EKG for Step 2 CK
There will be a couple at most EKGs on your exam and most of the time you would know the answer even without picture. You can figure it out from the history. You must remember only BIG changes which even my mother can tell;0) Like MI, hyper-, hypo K , hypothermia, Afib, Vtac. Maybe remember P in COPD.
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| retroviridae
Forum Guru
Topics: 29
Posts: 871
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yeah, I honestly don't recall any EKGs on my test, but there must have been something. It is not heavily emphasized on the test. For your own benefit later on, I liked ECG made easy and Dubin's ECG book.
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| CSobsessed
Forum Senior
Topics: 6
Posts: 144
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I had two EKGs, two or three X-rays, a few tables and... those nasty up and down arrows in rows AGAIN;0) But over all there were much less pictures than on my Step1 exam.
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| usmleed
Forum Elite
Topics: 53
Posts: 189
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u guys are so right. i guess i'm just worked up and nervous right now. i need to thoroughly finish kaplan lecture notes. i havent even finished my 2nd reading. maybe thats why those scores are low . and the ecg, u are right about that too.i'm just wasting my time doing that ecg CD i have. i'll try to read kaplan and do atleast 2 blocks of online qbank questions with explanations everyday. does that sound ok? do i need to write some of the stuff from the explanation that i got wrong or are new to me, or is it fine if i just give it a thorough read?
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