Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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hi crowd,
the idea to start this journal emerged basically because i am insomniac due to jetlag (and drunk...did anyone try the new absolut100? the guy sitting next to me had it with him on the plane...50vol%...) - just returned from 2months clinical elective at mount sinai medical center new york... and i loved it, i just don't see myself living anywhere else in the long run - that's my major motivation to study hard for 2ck. it won't be easy cause i'm in an MD/PhD program here in munich, and it's not like i have a lot of time to study. that's why i found this forum very inspiring, cause it seems a lot of you guys have excelled despite full time work and even family.
this forum already helped a lot when i took my step1 in july 2006 (97, just thanks to you guys) and i am aiming for nothing less than that for 2ck.
it's just not so easy to get started (again). from what i have read here i think i will go for kaplan qbook (can i find kaplan ln on 2ck somewhere??), blueprints, and at some point usmleworld.
i will start out by reading through FA.
still insomniac, but feeling a little more confident about my goal... hope to meet you guys along the way. i'm not too much a daily-basis-study partner - person, but i would appreciate discussing my progress with someone in a similar situation, say, once a week or so. over skype or in this forum.
in any case, i will try to post what i am doing for my prep on a regular basis. i hope you guys will all do awesome in your steps.
best wishes...
j
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| nany
Forum Guru
Topics: 13
Posts: 1,055
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welcome on-board Janka 
best of luck with your preparation
___________________
" You Are Limited Only By What You Think " .........Dr.Sharvil (99er forum member)
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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thank you nany...
as i still can't sleep i have designed a schedule (i like excel tables) that foresees studying with kaplan ln medicine and surgery, respectively, for the next month. i hope to be done with that by nov01st. i have this nice palm that i will use to study while on the train to/from school/work. as i proceed with ln, i will take notes in fa. that's what really helped me on step1.
maybe i should try to get some sleep, anyhow.
good night (or good morning...)
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| beiwen
Forum Elite
Topics: 21
Posts: 212
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Best of luck!! Welcome to the 2CK Expressway! Enjoy the ride!
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BW
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| Ivonne
Going for step 3/99
Topics: 50
Posts: 1,396
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Janka, welcome to cklandia . i am sure you will ace this exam too. Good luck with your prep.
___________________
If you beleive you can do it then you WILL DO IT!! (by Mymeghhi)
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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thanks guys for the warm welcome
today was my first day back at work (phd in neuroimmunology), and i am still quite desoriented... but i started to read through kaplan surgery ln while taking notes in fa. it's a good feeling to get started!
best wishes to you all...
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| steps2heaven
Forum Newbie
Topics: 3
Posts: 36
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Hi Janka!
Ugh, I'm starting now too. I have no motivation and I'm really lazy. I should start my jurnal too to keep me motivated. Good luck to you.
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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hi guys (steps, very cool avatar!!)
soo, after a few days of no-motivation-whatsoever i actually went to the library (YES, the L-I-B-R-A-R-Y! me!) today and studied for 6hours...
my progress: slow but very thorough studying (intense reading+ taking notes in FA) of the first two chapters of kaplan LN Surgery and the first chapter of kaplan LN Medicine.
...
besides, everyone keeps telling me that 2CK is a lot easier than step1. so guys, if we made it through step1, we'll all ace 2CK!
ok, enough studying for now, i'll go and have dinner with a friend. have a good night (or day?), everyone. 
J
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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OMG! guys i know you probably thought i gave up or something,
i haven't been writing for months... but here's what i accomplished in the meantime:
i passed the neuro,psych,orl,derma,ophtalmo and preventive med end-of-semester-exams at my medschool STUDYING ONLY WITH USMLE2CK PREP material instead of the german books that are generally recommended! so i am not bad at these subjects right now i hope.
to test myself i am using various q&a resources (i.e. lange q&a, the questions in blueprints books...)
now medschool is over for the next two months, so i'll have more time to prepare...
and *drums* i have scheduled with prometric for May 26, 2008! i know it's soon, and it's also quite early for me in general (still didn't do peds and obgyn rotations) but same went for step1 back in 2006 when i had practically no clinical experience and everyone told me i was crazy and everything went well in the end. so i guess i'll just do my thing again )) somehow...
hope you guys are doing good and keeping it up! cheers Janka
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| Feyza
Forum Guru
Topics: 48
Posts: 1,436
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hi back Janka 
___________________
O my Lord! Open my chest for me ( grant me self-confidence ) and ease my task for me.Ta-Ha 25-26.
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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some update: i now have a great load of books thanks to my indian friend vijay who went to visit his family and came back with the newest editions of all the recommended step2ck books! awesome! (we don't have such a good access to the latest editions here in germany, and delivery takes long).
so i'm now going through NMS surgery (pretty big book, but i like them like that) and take notes on the margins as i read the text. i find that very helpful and hope to be done with it in the next few weeks (again, i do this only part-time, i.e. while waiting for my experiments to work).
good luck you guys! J
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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so, in the last weeks i have been working on improving my UW scores. my weakest areas are obgyn and peds, and i am very happy to announce that i just scored 69% in a block of pediatrics qs. there is indeed some light in the end of the tunnel!!! thank you guys so much for this forum, i don't post too much, but reading some of the prep experiences and journals is a great motivation.
happy and liberating passover to those of you who celebrate it, by the way
going to bed now, but not without listening to some kaplan lectures.
good luck to all of you out there!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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this is great, i really feel things are getting better now. scored
68% in UW obgyn,
72% in kaplan dermatology,
68% in kaplan obgyn and
68% in kaplan hematology.
going through the kaplan highlights lectures, extremely helpful. it's only a month until the exam but compared to a few days ago when i scored so badly in NBME form 1 (only 390) i feel much more confident about it. thank you guys so much for your inspiring posts. we can do it!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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hi guys,
sooo in the past few weeks i have been studying hard, despite meschool, phd and many other issues (family and so on).
my progress:
nbme form 1 on april 17 was 390 (before starting uw)
uw so far about 50% of q finished, average 60%
nbme form 2 TODAY 450 !!!! yea!!!!... i'm really hoping for the best now!....will try to work on my weaknesses now...
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| hir
Forum Newbie
Topics: 0
Posts: 157
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wow!!!!!!!!!! u did gr8 in nbme-2 considering that u r done with only 50% of uw..........good job, u r definately gonna do very well in ur real test
all d best!!!!!!!!!!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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thanks so much hir for your support!!! hope to further improve in the next two weeks, in particular my weak areas obgyn and peds.
still, kinda stuck @60% in uw for the past 10 or so blocks... hope to move further up soon...
good luck to you guys!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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wow, this was a tough day. 12h library. some 200 uw questions. now stably achieving scores over 60%, like 63-65%. but still a long way to go until being really prepared. still discovering diseases i've never heard of before. still being surprised by best next steps in treatment.... but that's what keeps it interesting i guess...
good night guys!
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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k... today i decided to start by doing a block of incorrect questions on uw. was really frustrated to see my score of 47%. how am i supposed to improve if i don't even remember the concepts behind the questions i got wrong once already. 
of course i could see it this way: i went from 0% to 47% in these particular questions... but... no, that doesn't really help.
i'll better go to work now, will continue in the evening. wow, only 12 days left. how scary is that.
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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only 10 days left... and still like 700 q on uw unanswered... 
can't seem to focus properly...plus i've been stably getting 60% for the last zillion q. no improvement whatsoever.besides, i can't focus whole day on my prep with studies and labwork... trying hard not to get frustrated... i know 60% is not so bad, but i don't seem to be able to do better than that.
aside of uw, i've read a few chapters in the nms obgyn book - in particular, the malignancies - reread some chapters in secrets, and did some blocks from kaplan (really hard q, like pediatric cardiology - every second q about a condition i was unaware of before...scary...)
on top of everything, i seem to have fallen victim to food poisoning (probably staph aureus toxin) and spent the whole day yesterday in bed with n/v. another wasted day.
will try to move on with uw...don't feel too great about all this step2 thing.
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| Janka
Forum Senior
Topics: 23
Posts: 109
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ok... it's two am... managed to get trough 200 uw q despite the fact that i started only in the evening...which is good...but still not improving my scores...which is bad... some things i seem to be doing wrong over and over again...
like electrolyte imbalance q, labor management q, murmurs q... over and over the same mistake...
should get some sleep now... hope you're all doing great out there...
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