maria.b
Forum Senior
Topics: 17
Posts: 57
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ok.....i'll briefly write down my experience of CK
i took my CS april 25 th 2005,rite after i started studying for CK........i had a baby girl in nov 2004,so my mom came over to Pakistan to help me take care of the baby while i got thru my steps.
it took me around 5 months to prepare for Ck....i took it on september 26th 2005.i would say though i'd count that as 3-3and a half months as yes there were lots of inevitable breaks in between......try to be consistent when studying cuz it takes lesser time and less effort too........
materials i used were Kaplan notes, i had the videos too.....but i didn't have time to watch all of them.the ones i did watch were medicine...........Conrad Fischer was amazing on them..atleast try watch him for medicine........he covers cardiology infectious diseases and hematology and does a darn good job....i also watched OB/GYN........kinda enjoyed those..........infact Ob i had watched during my pregnancy and had taken pointers........gyne........i found pretty good too.......physciatry,surgery and pediatrics i did not watch........as someone told me watching peads is almost like reading thru it so y waste time....whereas for surgery the guy reads out the vignettes u can read urself.........physciatry i figured i'll cover on my own.yeah for epidemiology and stats i listened to Doherty........cuz he made a lot of sense to me for step 1 too.........
ofcourse i read all kaplan material cover to cover........evrything is covered very decently.......
i'd say maybe ppl out there might want to supplement ortho a bit if they wanted for surgery....but honestly not too much ortho showed up on my exam.........
peads i found was weak in kaplan......but as i did not want to take up too many books i basically did stick to kaplan ..but just supplemented cardiac and renal peads from blue prints....that is a good book.if u have the time....read it.
medicine i found was ample.......i mean when u also do questions u learn new things u can add on to the study material..that should be the basic strategy...its ok to have fewer study materials...but learn from your question solving......rhematology i learnt a lot from usmle world questions.......for cardiology i went back and revised my basics...hearts sounds murmurs ......cardiac cycle from i think ridiculously simple physio.......i found it pretty helpful......EKGS i did from a book called "the only ekg book you'll ever need".......i just went thru some basic ekgs in there.......for acid base balance i read thru secrets for nephrolgy.i also read thru the various electrolytes in there..Ca......Na....K........cuz i was hearing they were big on exam......rest was more than enough on kaplan notes....my neuro notes in the book were different from wat was on the videos.........but i kinda made myself a commbo of the 2 and it served me good.
ob /gyn i found enough esp when supplemented by videos........
physiciatry was fine in Kaplan.i found combining high yield with it great for a quick review........
so much for my materials.........for questions i only did usmle world.........all the questions one time.......my cumulativescore was 58%
it takes a bit to get thru ur first read..average,..abt a week a subject.maybe less for physc.and maybe upto 10 days for medicine......took abt one a half month for the first read....some things i read thru too fast i had to redo again.for me it mattered that i took my time when i read but took the matter in.........even then after i was done with everything it felt like ..."hey do i know this stuff"...it seemed"not yet"....i think i took up UW for around 3 months ...started doing it on and off after first read...but i was doing pretty poor in the beginning.and it was very demoralizing.......i figured i just need to go thru the stuff again.and so i did......little by little...supplemented by videos.made my notes here and there........and tried each topic after i studied...i wasn't exactly scoring too great at UW.......but i figured i need to learn from my mistakes and learn Now what i don't know.........hmm........its tough for me to give up on books and just do questions all day long.......ideally i should have......i always thought i lacked enough knowledge.......i guess i had enough for starters....i had to build up on it with question practice.
so i did manage to speed thru UW and finish off all questions.......but to be honest there'd be times i would not read thru explanantions..........i'd strongly suggest that ppl PLZ DO.......i erred....should have..i found it too it me consuming and figured i can raise my scores by doing my notes over one more time.........
i think i finished UW around 15 days before exam......i also had this great fear descending on me as the exam approached......i let it get the better of me.....i always felt so underprepared for this exam......i wanted to try the NMBE...but was scared of scoring too low.......and was scared it'd just lower my morale.........i relied to heavily on my books than on my questions........i personally think..if i could have had the time to go thru UW one more time reading thru each and every expalnation........i'd have been more sure of myself.......i tried doing my notes one last time before my exam.....and then wanted to take up one subject each day during the last week..and go thru the essentials so they r fresh in my head for the exam.......yes at times the material is overwhelming!!
last week i killed myslef.....studying ungodly 14 hrs or more every day....trying to go thru notes and questions and evrything at the same time.......here i did find secrets as a very good resource for last week read thru.wish i had stuck to just that instead of trying to read each and evrything over....i burnt myself out before exam day........couldn't relax the nite before........woke up several times.......was trying to get up at 4 am again......my husband got pretty upset and put me to bed.........i was a nervous wreck!!!!!......usually i am that way befor exams........i always study till the last minute and when i finally sit down for my exam i tend to calmm down and perform decently.........
THIS TIME IT BACK FIRED!!!!!!!!
my first question on my step 2 ck........and oh God i didn't know wat they were asking...i knew it was something to do with osmolality and DI....but wait the serum and urine values weren't there....how am i supposed to answer this question???????...........I PANICKED!!!!!!!! big time........i took time out skipped the question...took deep breaths.went at it again.......i did ok for a bit.......but i was on my first block and alreday tired....my eyes were burning already..and i just didn't want to sit thru this exam........it was the worst exam of my life......and my time management it was pathetic........when i was practising questions i always did them timed...and didn't really have too many problems.......on this exam........i missed on an average of 5 questions per block........SCARY!!!......didn't help when i was already having a hard time remembering stuff and calm myself down.....i was missing questions..i was missing points right and left!!!!!!!
second break i came out very tearful and called my mom........plz pray for me.....i can't get a hold of myself........getting that done i returned to the next block......it went slightly better i was able to answer question and really get an idea that ok i am doing this right.............BUt one big problem for me was that....i would get stuck on questions and didn't move on.i would think and rethink.trying so hard to get it right..........WRONG APPROACH GUYZ!!!!!!........guess and move.....guess and move.......i know i know ,..........i knew i should have but somehow i couldn't make myself move faster...........i don't know wat i did.how i did,............clicked here......clicked there.........missed a couple........felt good abt some.........and so it was over.......AND YES FOR ME IT WAS "A MONSTER OF AN EXAM!!!".......and i know y ......cuz i let it be a monster for me....i let the fear of this exam overcome me so much that i just didn't perform like i should have.........and yes i have done step 1 before this.and i was fine thru it..........this exam was a disaster!!
frankly speaking,looking back....the content of the exam is not that tough...more or less everything we all know i got quite a few questions on SOB...which covers cardiology respiratory and trauma.......i had some questions regarding shock and cardiac index..etc.i found it nicely covered in secrets......otherwise, pretty much allof it.peads ......i had some immuno questions........some biochemical genetic squestions too....ob gyn was easy......i didn't get too much surgery or trauma as i was hearing from ppl.enough endo though .and knowing ur endo helps with ur gyne.......i didn't get any poisoning questions.......physiciatry i thought i did ok...ethics they really get you..............another thing i noticed was that near the end of the block the questions were just lengthier atleast the last few...and with less time in ur hand u just tend to miss them........most of them were physciatry too.i think i missed a whole bunch of them cuz my score report shows physc to be lower performance,.......
BOTTOM LINE:Study everything...review ur basics before u go in.......and last but not the least......KEEP UR COOL!..it is indeed an exam of not just ur knowledge but ur endurance.......i think it'd be really IDEAL if u can take the day befor ethe exam off......and just relax......and don't let it become a monster, its very doable........if u work hard enough u'll definitely score good........i did work hard....an did really want to get a score in 90s.......but i guess it wasn't meant to be.
3rd wednesday after my exam i tried the Oasis trick and it let me register......so i figured i had failed.......it was devastating cuz i have been a good student thruout my life, never having to meet with failure.......but u gotta face wat u gotta face........so made a new study schedule and figured it'd take me one and a half month to review it again......i came onto the forum looking for advice where i luckily found out that it means nothing if Oasis lets u register if ur score has not been reported.....well.......i figured i just got my second chance.......maybe next wednesday (technically thursday morning) when i register i might see better news......i kept my fingers crossed but i was prepared for the worst..i prayed hard but i told myself i should be able to handle watever circumstances i have to deal with........and well.....come thursday morning.....Oasis said i passed....i was so happy.........!!!
then ofcourse the wait for the scores........nothing showed in my mail on sat.......so i had to wait till monday to get my hands on the much "awaited ECFMG envelope"........
and finally:::::::::
85/208.............not bad..........i always wanted more..........but i am sooooooo thankful........and yes happy......mine is not a 99..........and yes i don't have a residency yet..infact i ma working on my applictaions now...got too scared to be able to apply earlier.....but its good to know........i am getting there........and so my story goes on.........
so for all those aiming high.......and working hard........my best wishes r with u....if u read thru my post i hope it helps u figure out.........WAT NOT TO DO IF U WANT 99........
now i hope pray and focus onto a new path.......i wish every success to everyone......whichever level they r at right now,working towards that dream of working as a doctor in the US.
May God bless us all. ..........keep working and don't give up no matter what!
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M.B
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| chemamr
Moderator and PGY2
Topics: 703
Posts: 4,442
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 congratulations Maria.b., you passed it and you got >200, thatīs good, as far as I know!.
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Any time something is written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself.
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| ARJ
Forum Guru
Topics: 133
Posts: 792
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Congratulation
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| nisha
lil monkey
Topics: 146
Posts: 919
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Congrats and thanks for your insightful experiance...........I am sure you'll get the residency of your choice.....and good luck for all your future endeavors! (please keep the rest of us exam goers in your prayers) 
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| drkpp
Forum Guru
Topics: 45
Posts: 882
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congrats maria for your wonderful experience. hope u match at the place of yr choice and definately this post is gonna be useful for a ot of ppl....
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"Where there is a will there is a way!"
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| PT+MD
Forum Senior
Topics: 0
Posts: 36
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Congratulations!!!
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| kingsofke
Forum Guru
Topics: 24
Posts: 715
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congratulations. Its a really great post.
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In Life there are neither rewards nor punishments, just consequences.
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| frontal
Forum Guru
Topics: 53
Posts: 421
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Congrats Maria. It was great that you shared your experience.
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| LisaM
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
Posts: 321
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Thank you for sharing your CK prep and exam experience in detail, Maria. Congratulations! I see your daughter is almost a year old. What a delightful time for a mother! All the best for a bright future.
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lisa
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| cam
Forum Senior
Topics: 24
Posts: 115
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congratulations!
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Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal
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| karyosome
Forum Senior
Topics: 19
Posts: 88
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congratulations!
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| NicoToscani
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 32
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What a story! Congratulations, Maria, and "God luck" on applying for residency!
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| ciap2211
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 42
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Hi every body.
I just took, the Step 2 CK last Dec.7 and i dont know what to do now.I didn't feel very well with my experience.The questions were too large!!!!
I am from Cuba, but live in Puerto RIco now and it has been very hard for me to study alone in a foreign language for the firts time.Before Puerto RIco, i lived in Argentina for 3 years and before that in Chile for 9 years.I also has to pass examens there, and i did ( there were in spanish..so very easy ) but now...is not very easy for me!!!
But i pass the Step 1, so i feel encouraging with the step 2.
IT WASNT THAT GOOD.!!
Do you think i should start studying all over againg? I did Usmle CD, kaplan q book and usmleworld for 3 month. Or perhaps just wait for the score report ?
Please help here!!!
thanks
ciap2211
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" Carpe Diem "
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| ciap2211
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 42
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Hi to everybody!!!
I just got my score, and i PASS!!!! my Step2 CK., with 86....I AM SO HAPPY!!!!
now i have to prepare for the CS.Any suggestions?? Is the usmelworld website as got as for Step 2 Ck?? What about the FA ??
Thanks
ciap2211
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" Carpe Diem "
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| Observalship
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 6
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congratulations
that is a amaizing history.....)
dr david
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