dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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hey I am new to this form, I did visit it few times as a guest. I just took the exam last week. I know everyone gets different exams. like I know couple of my friends took it & they said they got lot of ethics like 10/block & lots of peds & surgery along with int med but one has more stress on peds, another more on surg. but my exam was mostly int med, & barely any ethics, I did have psych questions but of very high yield topics like OCD, PTSD, schizo, SE of psychotic drugs but very few questions. They made it confusing like I remember one q really well, the kid was 8 yr old seemed like he had ADHD as he was hyperactive in school and home, he answers his q before anyone, interrupts others & cant sit still but also he was obsessive as scenario mentioned that he likes everything in certain order, he straightens his books at his desk at school & at bedtime he has to arrange his school books in certain manner which takes hime nearly 2 hrs, he checks that bathroom door is locked 10 times also he was obese with snoring problems & had occasional night terrors. & choices listed tx of ADHD, OCD, Sleep apnea etc. i picked OCD tx, clomipramine, wasnt sure at all though
Peds was practically missing from the exam although thats my fav & best anyways whatever peds I got was orthopedics: 1 Ewing sarcoma, 1 scoliosis, 1 slipped capital femoral epiphysis, 1 hip dysplasia. Couple of q on Meckels. I didnt get any vaccination or milestone questions.
In surgery, 2-5 gunshot wounds to chest or abdomen or neck, hematomas, again not much surgery.
Basically no obstetrics which I was quite happy about but lots of gynecologic questions but not so hard. All kinds of vaginal infections, gynecologic CA, couple of slides, one which I thought was secondary syphilis with a guy showing his hand next to his genitalia which appear normal but the hand had money spot lesions. Another one with molluscum contagiosum. All kinds of STD & their tx, few HIV prophalaxis q.
Now Internal Med which was heavily tested & I thought my first two blocks were diff dx of hypotension & dyspnea. Every q was about hypotension or dyspnea or both in same scenario. the first two blocks had very long q & the pt has everything mind u. Mostly pts age ranging from 40-70 with CAD, DM, hypercholesterolemia, CHF, Afib, sometime for fun they threw in cirrhosis, COPD or personal or family hx of thrombosis or some endo condition or even some skin disorder in same pt. but in the end the question was bout how come this pt has hypotension, or how would u tx his hypotension or y this pt has dyspnea or whats the cause, whats the best next step to tx hypotension/dyspnea or some tx was already given in still had hypotension, what to do next, what will b more specific at this time, what will help u make definitive dx or what test is both specific n senstiive, well u get the point in every combination possible these q were given. So know diff dx of hypotension and dyspnea. Even in these scenarios, I felt mostly were hinting at cardiac tamponade with couple of them describing beck's triad. Others pericarditis, pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism etc
I got one CT which I thought was showing polycystic kidneys, pt hx helped with fam hx of berry anerysm. One EKG with Vfib post MI but q was not about that, they said they already treated the arrythmia appearing on EKG & pt was stable in ICU so whats the followup on this post MI pt?
I got one barium enema which seems like achalasia with bird beak appearence but the q seemed like the description of esophageal CA with a 68yr chronic alchoholic & smoker with dysphagia of solids & liquids so that was a bit confusing but I answered CA anyways .
I got one xray of simple pneumothorax as there was no trauma hx.
Another block, I think my fourth one was about vertebral problems, cervical stenosis, lumbar disc herniation, impingement of vertebra for whatever reason: trauma, CA, infect n u have to figure out what sensory or motor loss & at what level. spinal cord problems. basically the whole block was about cervical or lumbar problems that includes traumatic, sensory, motor. I think that was really confusing n hard for me.
Lots of Headache q, those were pretty easy for me. Few lung CA tx q. Some fungal skin infections, diff dx of diarrhea (mostly i felt it was the same question in different blocks bout some pt who ate at an outside garden party which served custard, egg salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, rice n some ppl drank from a pond near by & choices were same : Ecoli, Staph, Shigella, Vibrio, Salmonella, Giardia. But the only thing different was time factor, in 1 q pt got diarrhea 3-5 hrs later, other got the next day n another even later)
Couple of pheochromocytoma q but it wasnt that typical becoz they added some familyhx of other CA so keep MEN syndromes in your head.
Lots of hypokalemia & hypocalcemia questions, there were 3-5 in every block. Mostly it was their tx, next best typed q. In other electrolyte problems, there were some Conn synd, SIADH, DI.
Couple of retinal artery occlusion, some uveitis but paired with other things so either in Ankylosing spondylitis or Behcet synd or IBD.
Some different pneumonia scenarios, typical n atypical but q were about their tx, so know your antibiotics. None of the choices were off in these pneumonia q so i felt all those antibiotics can be given but u have to pick one. Some LP/CSF findings was broken down n i thought i got three q on TB meningitis n 1 bacterial. Q were about next best step.
I cant think more although there r many more things, if I remember I will post again. I studied from kaplan so i thought that help, also Crush was quite useful.
But problem with hard questions was whatever you learn didnt help, I felt even if i had these books open in front of me, I wont be able to answer this q as all the clues of 2-3 different disease r in one pt n I had to pick one. If q was easy, they made choices harder, like the choice I was looking for, was not even there.
Anyways concentrate on high yield stuff from whatever material your r studying from & know it by heart. There is not much time to think bout anything, you have to be fast. I dont know if I pass, i had a really good feeling after last blocks but the first two left me confused & exhausted so I hope I pass & good luck to everyone out there.
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| Mleian
Forum Junior
Topics: 7
Posts: 36
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hi dxtxpx...
thanx a lot for the input...hope u score welll......that was a real detailed exp ..!
just a bit more.>!....plz tell the books u used for step 2 as well as your time table.!
cheers
thanx
Mleian
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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I used kaplan highlight lectures & kaplan detailed lecture note books (except for ob/gyn), Crush the boards step2 & additional tables of Crush the boards step3. I read blueprints Ob/gyn (too detailed but it was my weak area so I did that but It really didnt help alot as I didnt get much Ob but I didnt know that before hand. I did Qbook, Q bank, Kaplan cd, Mock exam, NMS cd, pretest of int med, peds & preventive. Yeah I tried to stick with just this much material & concentrate on knowing it well. I am not sure If i am gonna pass but I certainly hope so.
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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O yeah about my schedule, I studied for 6months 6 days a week for about 6-10 hrs. I mostly studied for 10 hours from Monday-Wednesday & 6 hours from Thursday-Saturday. I took Sundays off except for last month, I was studying every day to ward off anxiety. I know they suggest to relax in the end but I couldnt relax & kept reviewing.
To start off, I listened to kaplan highlights video the first week over & over again. Next, I read Internal Medicine kaplan book in 3 weeks slowly making notes & questions. Next, I read Peds & Psychiatry books in 2 weeks each, again making notes & questions. I read surgery in 1 week, didnt make notes or questions as half of kaplan surgery is in question format. Did make copies of the question section & kept as notes. Next, read Ob/gyn from blueprints in 2 weeks, didnt make notes or questions of this one either. I just dont like this subject at all. Next 1 week of becoming familiar with my notes & q. I did half of Q book, scored 60%. Then I read Crush for 2 weeks. Did the next half of Q book, scored 70%. Made notes from Q book. Did Q bank, made notes. Then I kept reviewing all my accumulative notes. Finally did all kinds of Mcq that I mentioned before hand. So then I just kept repeating the same cycle of doing kaplan notes, Crush, Highlights till the end.
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| no more a loser
Forum Guru
Topics: 140
Posts: 580
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thanks for your input. hope u pass with good score
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| alice8
Forum Guru
Topics: 37
Posts: 643
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its a really detailed one,thanks,hope you score high
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Dream on 'til your dream comes true.
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| lucky
Forum Guru
Topics: 23
Posts: 505
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hope u score well. this is really helpful
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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lucky i have already passed it long time ago, its been months. i am about to take step 1 in coupla months. i have another post about my step2 score on the step2ck support forum
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| FAT_GOITER
Forum Senior
Topics: 18
Posts: 110
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Great Review doc. I am impressed with the way you have described your expereince. Everyone should note that this is THE WAY to desribe your experience of the exam (if you honestly want to help others and not mislead which many "fake tough cookies" enjoy doing).
Doc dxtxpx: If there are any more topics which you want to list please go ahead and do it because I gonna make a hard copy of your comments and will try to cover things atleast which you have mentioned....thanks
Fat
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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i posted this message early on after taking the exam. i mean when u write it a bit later, its hard to remember things from the exam.
well also i think ppl should write their experience the way they feel comfortable writing, that way its more original. i dont want anyone to follow any specific pattern, everyone should do whatever suits them, just my humble opinon :oops:
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| docdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 20
Posts: 104
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Just a thought came to mind reading your msg...
Did you check for Pimozide or resperidone in the choices ??
I mean Tourette syndrome - school going kids with symptoms of ADHD and OCD at the same time???
Anyway very informative message. Thanks and good luck for Step 1. Hope you ll do even better there.
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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well thats y i posted this when i took the exam, its hard to remember the questions 4 months later, there is no way i remember the choices. but i am sure whatever choices i saw, i reasoned them on basis of my knowelge of those topics at that time (which was pretty good if i say it myself ) anyways sorry dont remember much now. good luck to all
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| asmi
Forum Hero
Topics: 1043
Posts: 4,609
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Thanks DXTXPX ,
That's a great help indeed for all of us .
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| Dr_kholioo
Forum Junior
Topics: 9
Posts: 74
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hi dxtxpx,
i guiess u did well in u r exam hoping that u got a great score .. i tried to look for the score u got an u messages but did find any.. so ... how much u got in step 2 ??.. hope u got what u want .
___________________
“We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There's really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer.” Arnold Schwarzenegger
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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dr.kholioo i got 228/92 on step2ck.
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| panky
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 8
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hi
u did great in u r step 2
did u take usmleworld step 2 questions
did u do nbme ccssa form 1 & 2
kindly reply why u took them & if not why didnt u took them
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| panky
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
Posts: 8
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hi
u did great in u r step 2
did u take usmleworld step 2 questions
did u do nbme ccssa form 1 & 2
kindly reply why u took them & if not why didnt u took them
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
Topics: 259
Posts: 1,233
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panky i didnt use any of the material u mentioned. For step2 practice questions: i used kaplan step2 q bank, q book, kaplan simulated cd, ecfmg cd, nms q cd, part of kaplan step3 q bank cd (just cuz it was available)
kaplan simulated cd was most similar in difficulty and scores. i got few questions straight from ecfmg cd (those were matching type questions). nms cd was quite helpful too.
hope this helps
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| Dr_kholioo
Forum Junior
Topics: 9
Posts: 74
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thats a great score.. congratulations 
___________________
“We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There's really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer.” Arnold Schwarzenegger
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