tolito
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OH MY GOD!!! that is the only way to describe my experience. the question were difficult. on the whole, i will say that 30% were straight forward adn easy, 30% were tough but you could work out the answer, 30% were so twisted and appeared to lack any clues and you wonder how they could imagine a fresh graduate would know the answer and 10% were 'just choose your favourite alphabet'.
i left the exam place feeling so numb. i kept saying to myself, so this is it? a big anticlimax.
i had not less than 25% of the questions based on step 1 knowledge. i had obs question like 20%, psych 20%, cardiology 20% and the rest was scrambled amongs the other specialties. different kinds of pregnant women, differnt kinds of psych illnesses in some wierd portion of dsm that does not fit into any of the ones in kaplan, pediatric cardiology of every form. and aah drugs galore. think of the drug, and i got it. from aspirin to warfarin, heparin, beta blockers, antibiotics, anti migraine, antihistamines, anti asthmatic, anti malarial, DMRD. all manner of drug interaction.
in terms of diseases,
all bleeding in pregnancy
fetal monitoring
counselling in pregnancy
calcium hemostasis
respiratory alkalosis/acidosis in every form possible
pneumonias
pneumococniosis
fractures
cong bone problems
all the murmurs imaginable ( dont forget murmurs of the right heart)
problems in elderly
gall bladder
alcoholism and any problem it may cause
depression in all forms
and some more i cannot even remember
ok. now what about question style
here is a typical form ;;; a 66yr old woman presents with cough and chestpain which is worsened when she climbs up the stairs. she is a known case of COPD. her father died at 40 of MI, her sister is asthmatic, her husband has COPD, her mother had ovarian cancer diagnosed at 50yr. she lives in a house with a dog and a cat. on examination ( they give you along list of lab results. the only thing wrong is her hematocrit!!!) then the question follows. what drug will you prescribe
1. aspirin
2. nitrate
3. ipatropium
4. warfarin
5. co T
6. fe sulphate
7. home oxygen
so convoluted. worse than UW. nothing prepared me for the kind of questions i got. they mostly appeared like board questions to me.
i dont want to scare you folks but just be vigilant. there is always one choice that looks so good and it is always going to be your first choice. but wait, look at it again. ask yourself, what is wrong with this choice? go back to the question to find a reason why you should NOT choose that answer. if there is none, then you can rest assured that it is the right answer. dont pick the first OBVIOUS answer. please check to see what may be wrong with that choice and be satisfied that nothing is wrong with it before you take it.
by and by, it was doable. i dont think i did so well and i am getting worried i may not even pass it but then, i keep my trust in God.
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| just do it
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Topics: 24
Posts: 139
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Dear Tolito
I think every test-taker has a similar kinda feeling of numbness after this exam. I accept that--it is easy 2 say this, than really feeling ur actual state. But, your positive thoughts and trust in God will take you to a gr8 score.
You have really worked hard. It is time to relax.
Wishing You Good Luck with ur residency matching !
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| sheeezooo
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Topics: 30
Posts: 343
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dont worry tolito u,ll get high scores ..whoever think exam was very hard ..they r getting 99..so u,ll for sure also u was workin really hard..good luck for ur results after few days u,ll be really happy..INSHAALLAH..
can u suggest anything for those who r takin step 2 first..??
thanks
good luck
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if u hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truely thankful,u are blessed because the majority can, but most do not..
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| mazinger
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Topics: 46
Posts: 917
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Tolito buddy so you finally did it.. Its time to relax and take it easy for a while, as I said be4 I admire your courage buddy so good luck for the match ahead..
keep in touch..
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| star1
Forum Guru
Topics: 93
Posts: 826
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congratulation on finishing ur CK. about difficulty remember friend if you have been given difficult Q they will score accordingly ...I have seen ppl who exam was very easy and they got fail and some one whose exam a much difficult but surprisinly they got 99
dont worry you will get 99 INSHALLAH
thanks for sharing ur test
Good luck for a decent score
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| JH
Forum Senior
Topics: 19
Posts: 76
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yah, definately you will get a wonderful score.
Good luck!
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| vanshita
Forum Guru
Topics: 23
Posts: 824
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Don't worry definately you will get good score
GOOD LUCK for your score
Thanks for sharing with us
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
Posts: 2,164
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thanks for your wellwishes. i have been sleeping 14hrs a day since the day after the exam. i have also started a 'caffeine detox' program for myself.
sheezoo, doing step 2 first for an img will be tough except you just graduated cos there is a lot of step 1 material in the test. so way forward, check out royal george's site. he has listed some pertinent stuff to read. http://royjacob.blogspot.com/
and i think a few other people have written suggestions. if you have the goljan notes, you may read thro the systemic notes just to have a better knowledge of the pathol basis of the diseases. it helped me a lot.
i wish you all good luck.
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| sheeezooo
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thanks tolito..i already was tryin to atleast cover the topics by royal george belog..and try to put them on a thread..but did,t finish all of them..i have goljan patho notes book red n gray one..r u talkin bout that book n i have very short period of time remainin..
thanks
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if u hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truely thankful,u are blessed because the majority can, but most do not..
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| brucella2007
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Posts: 72
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dear tolito,
very few people, fewer than step 1 are contented with the exam experience, but do amazingly in the end. i hope u r one of those.
cud u please mention if u did derma from anywhere besides kaplan and UW. was it questioned frequently?
also radiographs...did u have a lot? and were they supportive of the clinical case or were ur answers based on the diagnosis?
thanx in advance.
GL
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| infliximab
Forum Guru
Topics: 22
Posts: 320
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u ll do just great
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| robin082006
Forum Hero
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COngrats for done with step 2 CK,
Good luck with your score. You will get great score tolito.
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| USMLEGladiator
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u will score well tolito.do not worry.i also passed step1,awaiting score.
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scores are just up to how high we aim and of course the amount of effort and time we put into it
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 119
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thanks all.
i was talking about the goljan 500 in particular the systemic notes. dont bug yourself down with too much path cos it is more of a clinical exam but you need the path foundation.
i did not use any other resources apart from kaplan and UW for derma. i think the cases were pretty straight forward. they sometimes dont give any history. they just show you the lesion. as per radiology, i had a fair number of ct scans, plain chest, mri, plain limbs too. it is 50/50. sometimes you can make a diagnosis without looking at the films but a lot of times, you had better look closely at the films cos they always have a diagnosis based on clinical which is different from the radiol. the chapter on radiol is good in kaplan. also try and keep a separate note of the typical findings of conditions like pneumonia, silicosis, absestosis, copd and the likes. know how the typical pneumonia present from the atypical. know cold the clinical findings in pleural effusion, vs pneumothorax, vs consolidated lung.
with regards to cardio, i had probably 50q. very prominent were the different kinds of murmurs and clicks, s3,s4 i had a lot of padiatric cardiology. i felt kaplan was adequate for me to answer the questions.
i also had a lot of q on infections. know your antibiotics well. and the causative organisms.
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| ALS
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tolito,
Now it is time to relax. I am sure after a couple of weeks we will hear a great news from you
I wonder if the kalpan notes and UW questions are enough for this exam?
Thank.
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
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Posts: 2,164
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thanks ALS. i honestly cannot give any advise on resources until my results are available. all i can say is to ensure that you understand every scenario possible with each conditon you study and to pay particular attention to areas of high yield.
all the best.
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| doc68
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goodluck
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| ALS
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Thanks tolito. Good luck with your score!
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| mjl1717
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Thank You tolito. I know you did well!
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| female doc ny
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good luck u will rock it
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| npas
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Thanks Tolito
Ur exam experience has awakened me from the slumber.
And I wish you a great score.
lets hope for the BEST
npas
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| tolito
Forum Fanatic
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i think i am a week away from hearing the results and i am already getting butterflies in my stomach!!!f
wish you all the best.
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| vanshita
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GOOD LUCK
Don't worry everything turned out GOOD
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| 26malik
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Dear Tolito
Good Luck for result
Inshallah you will hear good news
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There is always hope
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| ALS
Forum Senior
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Dear tolito,
Keep our fingers crossed for you!
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