2002tii
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Ok, I've been reading everyone's experiences, so I figure I'd share mine. I'm in a slightly different boat than most here, since I am a US student just going through the program like normal.
My preparation: This is where we differ. I've been doing clerkships all year long; so including that, then 1 year of studying (with a lot of work interspersed). About 3 months prior to my exam I had some free time during a 2-week radiology elective, so I went through the Mock Step 2 Exam question book by Brochert. About 4 weeks before the exam I took NBME form 2. Then finally our clerkships ended, Peds was my last. This left me with about 1.5 weeks of actually devoted Step 2 study time. Basically I just went through every question in QBook, and carefully read most of the explanations. If there were concepts I wanted to double check I'd just look them up for a few minutes in any one of the review books I had used throughout the year. I had Boards and Wards, First Aid for Medicine, BRS for Ob/Gyn, Surgery Recall, Blueprints for Peds, but nothing for Psych or Family. I finished Qbook with a few days to spare. So I first took the practice questions on the CD, then I went through Mock Step 2 one more time to compare. For me, confidence building was a big part of the preparation. If I have confidence, it seems that I just get a whole lot more of those debateable questions correct.
The Exam: I woke up early, not by choice. Just had a nice small breakfast and took off to be at the testing center at 7 am. Questions didn't seem too bad. Some sections easier, some harder. I tried to not get caught up on the questions that seemed ridiculous, just tell myself that hopefully it will be an experimental question. One thing I noted is that it is necessary to make sure to completely read the entire question stem. Sometimes they would sneak in a quick "chest x-ray is normal." Then the question would ask what the next step is, and chest x-ray would be an option, that would have been correct had not it already been done. Anyway, I felt that distribution was pretty even for me. Just a handful of pictures, maybe 2 EKGs, 2 fetal stress test strips, 1-2 CTs, 1 U/S. I went through the first 3 sections back-to-back, took a short break, then did 2 more sections. Took a short lunch, came back and did 2 more sections, short break, and one final. I was done by 3 pm. It was pretty bad since I am in Southern California in the midst of the heat wave, and the electrical company had reduced power to the testing center. So probably around noon there was no more air conditioning. Those last couple of sections were pretty bad, had to have been close to 90 degrees in the room by the time I left. IT was 113 degrees outside when I left.
My Expectations/scores: This is totally up in the air. My subjective feeling after an exam is rarely indicative of my true score. On the NBME I had absolutely no idea where my score would fall. Our school also gave us a similar type test, but it used the older 2-digit score system, with a mean of 70 and SD of 8. So here are my scores:
NBME form 2 (6/26/06): 700 (256)
NBME CCSE (7/11/06): 91 (~265) - they based the mean at 200, so I just added 15 points
Brochert's Mock Exam: 80.5% 3 months prior, 91.5% during last week
Qbook: didn't keep track, but probably ~80%
USMLE CD (7/18/06): 43/42/40
If anyone is interested I can share subject exam scores...
So obviously I have fairly high expectations right now, which is bad because I don't think I can do as well as some of those scores predicted. Last year my step 1 wasn't quite as good as had been expected, but was still pretty decent at 240/97.
I don't know if this is helpful to anyone, but it at least got it off my chest, since I am currently pretty obsessed about it and don't have much else to do. Please feel free to leave questions or comments.
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| drk1980
Forum Guru
Topics: 147
Posts: 1,038
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ur at the right place for obsessing;o)
Ur scores gonna be rocking, going by ur NBME form 2. i dont know much abt CCSE..is it just as tuff?
All the best with the results! keep us posted.
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| brokenhearted
Forum Senior
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Posts: 68
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sit back realax & u'll rock the boards....& do let us know when u get the results!..
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| 2002tii
Forum Senior
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I think the CCSE is just an older version of the CCSSA. Overall I think the questions were of a fairly equal caliber; some simple, some off the wall, most requiring some thought in order to figure it out. We took it as a written (scantron) test, which was painfully long; 168 questions without a break. Like I said, they base the mean at 200, with a SD of 20. So for the conversion chart they give the max score listed as >250. Hoping for a good score...at least within 1 SD of predicted.
Off topic and just out of interest, it seems that IMGs are more interested in two-digit scores, is there a reason for this?
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| drk1980
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2002tii, i wondered abt tht myself...but thts only coz 99 is so common nowadays, the only thing tht sets candidates apart is the 3-digit, wch shd be the focus instead. wht are ur views on it though?
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| 2002tii
Forum Senior
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Posts: 80
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That is exactly my view, drk1980. To me the 3-digit score is far and away more important. For one, this is the more consistent scale. You know exactly where you stand based on it. The mean and standard deviations are based on the 3-digit scale, so I view it as the primary system. Also, I have never heard a residency program director refer to a 2-digit score, so they don't seem to pay too much attention to it. If they are going to set minimum requirements it will be based on the 3-digit score. For example, at my institution you need a 230+ for them to even look at your application for radiology.
That said, I'll still be hoping to see a 99, but it won't really matter since I'll really care about the 3-digit. The two-digit score only seems to add unnecessary confusion. Far too many refer to it either as a percentage or a percentile, neither of which is true.
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| study_ing
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 180
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2002tii..thanx for sharing ur experience...im starting my prep 4 step 2..i was wondering as to y u didnt do the usmleworld online q bank? or is the usmle cd the same thing...?
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| 2002tii
Forum Senior
Topics: 5
Posts: 80
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Honestly, I hadn't heard too much about usmleworld before coming to this forum (which I didn't do until a few days before my exam). I was just being pretty cheap and lazy about my prep for step 2. Having just finished my junior year clerkships I felt I was pretty well prepared; and those practice exams clinched it for me. My total study time devoted to just step 2 was in the range of 1.5 weeks, so it also may not have been worth it to invest in usmleworld for such a short time. I had been fortunate enough to find .pdf versions of mock exam and qbook, which provided enough questions for my study time.
The usmle cd is just a set of 138 practice questions with no explanations. It isn't that useful as a learning aid, but better used as a self-assessment tool.
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| FarEastGrapplerMD
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how did you like "mock exam and qbook" as far as questions go? which was more helpful/similar to the real exam for you?
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| 2002tii
Forum Senior
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Qbook is definitely more similar in style and format to the real exam. The question difficulty was probably pretty similar as well. It also has pretty good explanations for both the correct answer as well as the incorrect answers.
Mock Exam is good as a learning aid, and just to test your overall knowledge. I've heard that it is good when used as an adjunct to Brochert's books, such as Crush. It has a lot of question formats that will not show up on the real exam; such as "which of the following is false", and 6 question segments where you choose between, for example, increased in pregnancy, decreased in pregnancy, and unchanged. Overall I think the questions were on the easier side, but I'm glad I went through it. If anything it might help as a confidence booster, which is nice to have when taking a mentally exhausting exam.
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| 2002tii
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Well, my score was released today. This morning I got a page from one of our deans. I was kinda concerned that I got a page...what did I do? Thankfully she was calling to congratulate me! Told me I got a 262!! Just waiting for the score report to come in the mail so I can frame it.
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| study_ing
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 180
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VVVOOOWW
many many congrats!!!
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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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| dapsyn
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 6
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please, can anyone tell me when to expect the oasis update. took the step 2 ck on the 19th of july. someone please help!!!!!!!!!!
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| drbee29
Forum Elite
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Congratulations buddy! When did you take your exam again?
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| 2002tii
Forum Senior
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Posts: 80
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Took it on July 21, so I was surprised to hear it had come in today. Dapsyn, have you checked today? I'd assume the NBME and OASIS should update at the same time... I had checked before going in to the hospital today, and it hadn't updated yet; so within a couple of hours the results had come in.
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| dapsyn
Forum Newbie
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congrats 2002tii. just checked oasis now and it as not been updated.
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| dapsyn
Forum Newbie
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Posts: 6
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the oasis system just got updated and thanks to almighty ALLAH it worked in my favor. thank you guys for all your postings. the postings have been more than inspiring to me
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