maylea
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Hello all,
Had my exam 3 days ago. The exam was fair, the vignettes looked familiar from the practice qs from UW mostly. Most of the qs were as long as the UW qs, some were even a bit shorter. About 2-3 long qs/block - those ones that take up the whole page. The easiest ones were the matching set, there were usually more than 20 choices to choose from but these were listed alphabetically and qs asked mostly for diagnosis. So if you know the answer it is easy to look for it in the list. At least time management was not an issue for me. I still had at least 3 minutes at the end of each block to review marked qs.
Having said all that, the challenge was choosing the best answer from the final two. It is not hard to narrow down the choices (most qs usually had 5 options) to 2, but it could be very challenging to choose the final answer with confidence. I felt like I was piling one uncertain choice on top of each other although there were a few qs that were straightforward and can be answered with confidence. At the end of the exam I did not find myself shattered as I was in step 1 and that worries me quite a lot!! I just pray to God I pass this exam.
Bottomline is: I think the step 2 CK is a test to see whether we have the knowledge and deductive skills to manage patients in the real world. Be prepared for common clinical vignettes to be presented from different angles (look outside the squate). That's why doing practice qs is so important part of the prep. UW does a very good job.
For the breakdown: IM was the bulk - pulm embolism, mi (had 1 ecg tracing), pancreatitis/pancreatic cancer, lots of derma/musculoskeletal, endocrine (no arrows pointing up or down this time), infectious, neurology. Just about everything was covered.
O/G was manageable. Abortion, preeclampsia, gyne cancers, gyne infections (be wary of a reproductive age woman presenting with R LQ pain - how to differentiate between acute AP and PID), gestational diabetes, normal follow up, ie: suitable screening modalities.
Surgery: mainly post op complications and trauma (I had heaps of MVA victims who were the unrestrained passenger) - pneumothorax, hemothorax/pericardial tamponade, one GSW to the abdomen, one radial fracture.
Paeds - normal development, common infections, immunizations. I had heaps of qs that ask about what vitamin supplement is needed if the child's diet consisted of this or that. Found those qs rather confusing.
Preventive Med/Public Health - had lots of patients coming in for health maintainance checks. Know your screening schedule. Patient might have one or two risk factors...should you screen now or ask patient to come back, that sort of stuff. Had few biostat qs, relatively easy ones, not as detailed as in step 1, thank goodness.
There were also a good number of qs asking for patho mechanisms, side effects of drugs (mostly antipsychotics, anesthetics causing malignant hyperthermia), and etiologic bugs. The photos were not so difficult, you can answer using only the q stem.
That's all I can remember for now. I would be glad to answer any qs. Goodluck to everyone preparing for the exam and peace of mind to all those waiting for their results.
Edited by maylea on 05/09/06 - 01:35 AM
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| kingsofke
Forum Guru
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All the best for your result. I am sure you will do great.
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| cyra
Moderator
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Thanks for posting maylea.Best of luck for your score!
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| aimhigh
Forum Elite
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Hi Maylea, thanks for posting your exam experience! May I know how you studied in the past few weeks before the exam?! many thanks.
Good luck with your score! Based on your clear-minded description of your exam, I feel that you will get a great score!
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Dear King and cyra: thanks for your wishes. I am quite anxious about my results - just hope I pass this exam!
aimhigh: thank you for your positive thoughts. For the last two weeks I went through my weak areas per NBME feedback using Boards & Wards, USMLE Secrets, UW and my UW notes. If you had made notes from UW, it would be nice if you could read through those twice before the exam. Morning before the exam, I read the preclinical primer on FA, browsed through the photos on FA, and Boards & Wards and took the rest of the day off. Very important to give your brain a rest before you tackle the exam. Hope this helps. Thanks again for your wishes for a good score. Pray to God I pass...would accept any score. I just need a pass.
Edited by maylea on 05/19/06 - 04:58 PM
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| aimhigh
Forum Elite
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Thanks, Maylea, for your nice advice!! God bless you! I hope that you will get a score that you are hoping for!
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| Rasul
Forum Guru
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Congratulations, Maylea!
I think You'll get a high score!
Rasul
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Thank you aimhigh and rasul. Goodluck with the rest of your prep and the exam. 
Edited by maylea on 05/09/06 - 01:31 AM
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| som
Forum Guru
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Thanks maylea for sharing ur exam experience. wish u the very best score!!!
can u tell what kinda ecg tracings were asked? also what sources have u used for pictures n images?
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| icycool
Forum Junior
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thanks for telling us about ur experience
this forum unlike the step one has very few people posting exam experiences
all the best for ur result
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
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Hi maylea
nice post. I too feel that even tho I have a pretty clear idea of the content and where it came from, I am not sure of the answers that I finally picked. I guess that goes with the territory.
I am sure you will get a great score!
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"If at any point you feel you cant..... then you MUST"
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Hi som...thank you for your wishes. I only had 1 ECG tracing...I answered Acute MI. I only used the photos in FA and Boards and Wards. Goodluck with the rest of your prep and the actual exam!
icycool: thank you too for your wishes. Goodluck.
Thank Amygdalaa...hope we get a positive outcome in 3 weeks' time! I'm sure you did well.
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| hardhead
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best of luck in your score maylea!
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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thank you very much hardhead. all the best to you too.
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| seri
Forum Senior
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Hi Maylea
Hope you get great scores. Could you tell me if you used First Aid and whether you'd recommend it?
Thanks!
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Hi Seri...thank you. No, I didn't use FA except to read through the Preclinical Primer and browse through the photos. Goodluck with your exam.
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| infliximab
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HI AMYGDALAA & MAYLEA,
HOPE U BOTH HAVE GREAT SCORES, I'M TAKING MY TEST NEXT MONTH. DID CSE LAST MONTH AND EXPECTING MY RESULT SOON. THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE. ALL THE BEST.
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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HI Infliximab: Thank you very much!! Goodluck with the rest of your prep and in the exam!
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| amygdalaa
Forum Guru
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Hi infliximab
Thanks for your wishes. I am sure you will do great in your CS. Do you have any suggestions for me, I have mine in july? Good luck for your CK.
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"If at any point you feel you cant..... then you MUST"
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| prader-willi
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thank u so much maylea for the detailed exam experience and all the wonderful advice.... ....seeing that the bulk of the exam is int medicine, shud i supplement kaplan notes with cmdt??? wat is ur opinion......also was boards and wards helpful for ur prep,shud it be read from the start of the prep or in the last few weeks?.....thanks once again
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hang on in there......u will survive....
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Thank you prader-willi. I did not use the Kaplan lecture notes so I'm afraid I could not comment on whether further reading of cmdt is needed. But I did use B & W extensively...I found it annoying when I tried to read when I was just starting out, but found it very good to sum things up during the last 2-3 weeks of your prep - when you are just concentrating on the materials that really need recall during the exam. Hope this helps. All the very best of luck for your exam.
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| busy_mom
Forum Senior
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Thank you so much for your exam experience, Maylea ! I actually printed it out to go through it again these last few days, marking the things I still need to review. Good Luck for your results !
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| prader-willi
Forum Elite
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thanks a lot.....im feeling the same thing while reading thru boards and wards......im gonna follow ur advice on that one.....god bless u!!!!
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hang on in there......u will survive....
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| maylea
Forum Elite
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Hi busy-mom: thank you for your kind words. Goodluck with the rest of your prep and for the exam.
Prader-willi: you will enjoy the book once you have the 'overall' picture. Goodluck.
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| maylea
Forum Elite
Topics: 4
Posts: 86
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OASIS got updated for me today...took my exam 3rd May. OASIS trick indicates I passed!!! What a relief! Thank be to God.
Thanks to everyone on this forum - your input and encouragement had helped a lot during my prep and whilst waiting for the results. I wish everyone all the best!!
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