bikerdoc
Forum Senior
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Posts: 110
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So I finally gave my Step 2 CK. First let me give you my prep details
Step2Ck notes KAPLAN 05-06 (3 times)
UW World Questions (100% at 61% overall all Tutor Mode - revised explainations 2X)
Boards and Wards (last week....absolute great resource for a ULTRA FAST REVIEW)
Kaplan Qbank (75% found it too easy after UW - Scored avg 77%)
NBME 1 (2 months before exam scored 360....got demoralized did not do again)
TOTAL PREP TIME - 4 months 22 days
I was pretty confident with my prep but wasnt sure how twisted the test was going to be. I had read some horrifying examples by some readers on here and was expecting the worst.
Well the first block was easier than a cake walk. No question was more than 5 lines and the choices were pretty straight forward. Now naturally I though they are tricking me but I read the question almost two times for all red herrings but there were none. Loads of Internal med not a whole lot of psychiatry ( I HATE THAT SUBJECT) but some that were there were doozies.
So the second block - 5th block.....pretty much the same....pretty small questions (I finished all blocks with at least 3 minutes to spare) starightforward answers on most questions. Now it was not all easy but that was not because those questions were tough but that I blanked out on the answers. Like I knew what the treatment was but it was not cming back to me.....ah well. So So far NO QUESTION was like What the hell are they talking about...it was more like yeah well I know what that is now if only my brain would ratify what I knew was 100% correct.
Now 6-9 is where the hard ones starting popping up. STILL only lke maybe 20 questions that were long (and NO I DID NOT HAVE TO SCROLL DOWN IN ANY QUESTION)....and were tough. Now it felt like a NBME exam. Yet they things were recognizable and that made it much much easier than the NBME or UW. The last block was toughest more because I was too exhausted. My eyes were burning and my head shut down. I was on autopilot for the last few questions.
LOTS OF SETS QUESTIONS......I found them to be easiest. Like for Following causes of HEADACHE name the diagnosis....and they had choices like Cluster Headache, Migrane, Tension, SAH, Meningitis etc. The case were pretty straight forward with loads of buzzwords....I finished faster due to these set questions because you ahve already read the choices once so when you finish reading the questions you already know the answer. Saves a ton of time cumulatively.
EXAM DAY:
2 Blocks - 5 min break
2 Blocks - 10 min break (lunch)
2 Blocks - 10 min Break
1 Block - Exhausted 5 min break
1 Block - yippeeeeeee done
MY OPINION: Easier than NBME (at least in my case) Easier than UW.....(VERY VERY USEFUL TO DO UW). Tougher than KAPLAN definitely. Dont waste your time and Money on KAPLAN Qbank seriously. Just do UW and Boards and Wards.
NOW I HAVE NOT PASSED YET SO DONT KNOW IF THE JOKE IS ON ME YET......IT WAS DOABLE and I would be really surprised if I fail or score bad. Yet you never know so keeping my fingers crossed. Last exam and now I am goin for the match and relaxing for at least the next 21 days waiting for OASIS to update.
ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE LET ME KNOW. All the ebst to you guys and thanks a ton for this forum for helping me out on this endeavour.
Edited by bikerdoc on 02/16/07 - 04:41 PM
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| ing
Forum Guru
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Good luck to you!
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Never give up!!
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| zkelani
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
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Bikerdoc,
Good luck on your score it sounds that you will get a 99!
The question that I have is what was the majority of questions from. I have heard that ob/gyn and psych, but reading your post I guess that is not true.
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| hallachi
Forum Junior
Topics: 11
Posts: 63
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hi...congratulation on giving ur exam and good luck for the scores...u will get ur dream scores inshallah
i have some q regarding the prep...i did kaplan notes 1 time ...will plan to do UW from monday ...plan to do in time mode random blocks...plus plan to do my second read with UW after that give NBME ....cud u please give me some ideas is that a good plan and how u augment ur kaplan reading with UW...
second is regarding reding the qs strategy ..u said u first read options then read the q...cud u please coment on that ...
thanks in advance
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| mazinger
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 916
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bikerdoc its good to see a more realistic perspective of what the test should be....
GL
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| robin082006
Forum Hero
Topics: 471
Posts: 5,125
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Thanks for sharing,
Good luck for your score.
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The Key to Succeed is Patience.
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| goodyear
Forum Guru
Topics: 16
Posts: 409
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Good luck w/ your score! Now you can relax..
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| dr_sam
Forum Newbie
Topics: 4
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wow I WISH MY EXAM IS AS EASY AS YOURZ. I PRAY THAT U GET A GREAT SCORE.
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| CocaCola
Forum Guru
Topics: 35
Posts: 908
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Thanks for sharing your experience bikerdoc... you give me hope!!!
Good luck on your score!!!
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There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can give all our attention to the opportunity before us!!!
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| vanshita
Forum Guru
Topics: 21
Posts: 814
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Thanks for sharing your experience with us
GOOD LUCK for your score
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| snake0613
Forum Elite
Topics: 88
Posts: 180
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thanks and appreciate your precious experiences.
so I want to know ,except kaplan notes,what else did you used?
what do you recommend ?
thanks
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| bikerdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 110
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At SNAKE0613 - I used Boards and Wards in the last 4-5 days....its a very qucik read and cover almost everything that comes in the exam. I also did start to use FA but kinda lost interest ---- Kaplan is mainly what I used. I did not have the extra time or resources to study more since I worked full time.
At VANSHITA, COCACOLA, GoodYEar, Robin AND ING - Thanks for the wishes....I am sure I will not ace it or anything but I only wanna pass with a 80+ and I will be over the moon...I aint a big overachiever...lol....all the best to you too.
AT HALLACHI: Sounds like a good plan. I would recommend NOT doing UW as timed slots but as tutor mode so that you are doing questions and learning at the same time. Timing for an exam is usually not a problem expecially if you ahve given Step1 before. I am usually a fast on-screen reader and I have found after the two steps completing in time has been the least of my problems. So dont practice doing a test in time....but learn the prinicples behind UW well...
When I studied Kaplan first time around I made flash cards for ALL the subjects and then I used to revise that. I have learnt over the years when I write down notes for something I remember them better. I also wrote down notes for the entire UW. But thats just me.
AT ZKELANI : LOL......I hope you are the wizard of OZ and whatever you say will come true. Yet I know that I will not score that much. I know I said the test was EASY but that doesnt mean I may have done well......I usually end up making too many silly mistakes when I do tests so i dont usually score that high. I had a 85 in Step1 and I thought my Step1 was easy too...lol. Anyways I am just hoping to clear before Feb 21st so that I am match eligible since I am going in for a match this year and my scores really dont matter at this point......Cheerio
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I AM TOTALLY FREE TO ANSWER ANYTHING......YEAH FEELS GOOD TO HAVE THE SWORD OF GHIDEON OFF MY HEAD>...!!!! Well at least till Feb 15th.....
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| sugandhna
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
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Hey bikerdoc! I am a newbie. Would you please help me by telling me everything I need to study about USMLE
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| ling
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 46
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hi bikerdoc,
can u please tell me whatz boards&wards ?whoz the author and where can i find that one.
good luck for ur score and thanx for posting ur experience
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| MRMAVERICK
Forum Guru
Topics: 40
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best of luck
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| Ancylostoma
Forum Guru
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Best of luck
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| xavecor
Forum Junior
Topics: 6
Posts: 75
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Excellent post bikerdoc, good luck with the score!!!
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| bikerdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 110
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Thanks all Xavecor, ancylostoma and Mrmaverick for all the best wishes.....hope your wishes come true. Right now am just relaxin and chillin out till Match day...good luck to you all guys studying for any step.....
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| mrdowntoearth
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 10
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hey bikerdoc,
did you have a lot of OB/GYN questions in your exam? I heard Step 2CK is filled with tons of OB/GYN questions. Is this true?
mrdowntoearth
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| paviraj
Forum Senior
Topics: 1
Posts: 59
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Good luck 2 u. My exam on march 8.can u advice something regarding last month preparation?Now i am doing UW in tutor mode only bcz i too feel the same to learn concepts.apart from uw,what else u recomend? I want Isbn no of boards & wards.
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| bikerdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 110
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Hi DOWNTOEARTh : Actually thats what I had heard and I was sweating bullets all night before since my weakest subject is OBGYN and PSYCH. Surprisingly my exam had very few if any OBGYN (well outright OBGYN) questions. There were a lot of dirty psych questions and I am so sure i got all of them wrong.....but the sheer volume of questions is so much that it doesnt matter if you get all your OBGYN or PSCYH questions wrong.....just concentrate on medicine specially cardio, resp and loads of renal (acid base and stuff). 85% of my exam was IM to my knowledge and PEDIA. One thing I might add never go by what I or any of your "friends" mention........STEP 2 CK exam is written and made by professionals who know their job. They WILL NEVER REPEAT PATTERNS......NEVER REPEAT QUESTIONS TYPES OR NEVER REPEAT STYLES......so what I got prolly you will never ever see. So go by your prep rather than WHAT IS ON THE EXAM FOR YOUR FRIEND OR ME. Just prep hard...do a lot of questions.....and pray that you get less twisted questions....the rest they say is history.
HI PAVIRAJ : Here is the site that sells the book and has all the details on Amazon.......hope this helps. This book is MUCH MUCH better than FA.....I read the whole book in three days flat and retained most of it. There are awesome small little tables of various things like Vaginal Discharges, Acid base balance algorithms, Resp diseases, Arrythmias....and easy to go over just before exam day. Also sicne its a small book it doesnt overwhelm you and you can just read it leisurely sitting on a couch or at a coffee house and grasp everything. Well but thats just me .....I say go to a local Barnes and Noble check the book out by flipping it and you will know.
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| bikerdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 110
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http://www.amazon.com/Boards-Wards-Review-USMLE-P...
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| doc.jay
Forum Senior
Topics: 18
Posts: 81
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bikerdoc~
congrats on being done. I really like your plain and simple prep formula. I'm sure you'll have a good score.
I just have a quick Qs: I know that you did the Boards and Wards book for review, but do you have opinions/idea on using the Crush-Step-3 as a review book?
I've heard from many that FA-Step-2 and Crush-Step-2 are both quite useless .... I just wanted to get your feedback on whether you've had any experience or have any opinions on using the Crush-Step-3 as a review book for Step-2-CK??
Look fwd to hearing back from you.
Thanks!
Jay
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| bikerdoc
Forum Senior
Topics: 7
Posts: 110
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Well you know I had read a lot about Crush Step 3 and I had actually sauntered off to the barnes and noble to actually buy the Crush Step 3.....instead when I flipped through Crush....I found that the material was like blah.....I mean it wasnt laid out in a matter that I liked. Now its not a comment on the book itself (I am sure its a great review)....just that when I looked at Boards and Wards and flipped through the tables and neat diagrams.....I loved it. Hence came home with the latter. So I guess it was something I was MORE comfortable with not necessarily the BETTER book. I am sure ALL these review books essentially have the same materials but where one book scores over the other is the presentation.....and I fell IN MY PERSONAL VIEWPOINT...the boards and wards was presented BETTER. So there you have it.....hope it helps and good luck for the steps.....Man I dont even know where my last year of life went.....I am just picking up the pieces......jeezus and now the residency will finish off whatever is left....lol
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| alosh_2
Forum Junior
Topics: 22
Posts: 53
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I am beginning my prep for step 2CK and plan to take it in june. so I have about 4-5 months for prep.
I was wondering, how long did your first reading of kaplan notes take you, you mentioned that you made flash cards during your first reading, i am assuming it took you some time to get thro the first reading esp. when it takes time to make flash cards.
I would like to get atleast 2-3 readings done of kaplan notes and then start questions in may probably .... sound doable to you??
anyway.. GL on your results... I am sure you will do well.
al.
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