Usmle Step2CK experience write up
I have read many experiences from this forum which helped me alot.I am posting this hoping someone will benefit.
Exam date: 8/7 and got my score on 8/19.
Background:non-US IMG
YOG-2017
Graduate of Addis Ababa university,Ethiopia
I studied the basic sciences really well during my step1 prep and I believe this enormously helped me for step2ck.
Step 1 score:252
Study duration:7 months.During the first 2.5 months ,I had a full time job and I was studying on and off .
I was full time studying during the last 4.5 months of my prep.I did 10-12hrs/day,every single day and I took every sunday off.This saved me from burning out.
Resources: I call it the sandwitch method i.e Amboss(total of 2400Qs) qbank in between 2 pases of UW. UW(total of 3500Qs)is the gold standard prep material for step2CK. In my case,I did amboss in addition to UW.Amboss basically has questions with similar concepts with that of UW but they twist questions in a way to give them another flavor.
-Other resources-amboss library and Uptodate(I mostly use it whenever I feel like UW is deficient on a certain topics ).
-OME videos:only the Gyn/ob section once
-divine intervention podcasts :I did most of the shelf reviews,military and risk factor sections:it is a good resource to consolidate and revise CK material.
-I didn’t use books or CMS
Daily schedule: On my first pass of UW, i could do on average 60UW questions a day,system wise in timed mode. From amboss I did 120 random questions a day in timed mode. This time I was making my own flash cards and started revising them every single day while adding new cards daily.
On my second pass of UW, I did 3 blocks (120 questions)a day. This time I was doing 400 anki cards a day of which 150 are new cards. This helped me know UW concepts really well. I kept up with my anki reviews until the last day before my exam and I was able to mature 95% of my anki deck.
My percent corrects of Q banks: UW first pass(84%), Amboss first pass(83%), UW second pass(96%).
My Self assessment scores in order
NBME 7: 259(10 wks out)
NBME6:290(4wks out,The easiest of all NBMEs Imo)
NBME 8: 275 and
old Free 120:93.3% (3wks out,back to back)
UWSA1 :274(2 wks out)
UWSA2: 272(4 days out)
New free120(2 days out): 85%
Real deal:273
Exam day: slept for 4-5hrs the night before(couldnt shut off my brain). I had a total of 8 blocks containing
- 316 questions(2 blocks with 38 questions each)
*most of the questions’ stem length lies b/n UW and NBMEs.But there are some very long and few very short questions too. So time is better manageable compared to UWSA2.
*I marked on average 10 -15 questions per block as there are handful of “biggest risk factor,complication” and weird questions on ethics . I felt some psych questions were vaguely presented and required me to know diagnostic criteria of some common disorders .Psych also had one or two low yield disorders as well.There were 2-3 questions from step1 basics of pathology. And I had at least 5 questions on primary immunodeficiencies. - I had 3-4 ECGs which were doable(know the common ECG features of common pathologies)
*I had 3 heart auscultaion questions which were okay.
*I had 2 sets of abstract questions(3questions each) .The questions we not difficult but time consuming in my experience.You really have to save time for these questions to do them at the end.
*I had two questions with very long stems where both patient hx and PE are provided.They are not as bad as they look.They were easier than most questions.Amboss has few questions in this format.
The exam was tough and tiresome as expected. I didn’t feel good coming out of the exam and I couldn’t really say how I performed for sure. After waiting for 12 days, I got my score back and I was very happy.God blessed me with 273!! Glory to God!
Many thanks to my family and friends who supported me throughout my journey. You guys are awesome! To my fellow friends out there: You are more than what you think you are! Do whatever works for you best . Persistence always pays off!