Studying for Step 2 CK

I just finished Step 2 CK on Wednesday! It's so nice to have that completed which means now only 4 elective rotations stand between me and graduation.

There has recently been changes made to Step 2 CK. There are a total of 8 blocks, 1 hour each and having a maximum of 40 questions in each block, possibly less. Just like Step 1, you have an hour to split up throughout the day for breaks.

Unlike Step 1, there is not a all encompassing book for Step 2 CK. I started with DIT and didn't enjoy it (I've never been one to like videos much), I then mainly focused on Step Up to Medicine for the Medicine topics and supplemented the other non medicine topics with Kaplan. UWorld is a must for a qbank and the more times you are able to get through the questions, the better you will be. I didn't believe UWorld was similar to my Step 1 questions but I felt they were very similar to Step 2. Some people really like Masters the Boards Step 2 CK, I think it's a great book too! Just find a source you like the best and stick with it.

One thing I learned while I was studying is don't get bogged down in reading. If it's taking way too long to read sections in a book and you feel like you aren't accomplishing as much, then switch to questions. If you really read all the explanations in UWorld, you will learn a lot!

*Another little note about UWorld, I never knew there was a notes section in UWorld! Up at the top right, it says "notes" in each question, you can then type whatever part you are having difficulty with and then UWorld combines them all and you can organize your notes by Peds, Medicine, Psych etc or even by subspecialty: GI, Endo, Repro etc. You then can save it as a pdf and print off. I found this much more convenient than hand writing notes on UWorld. Can't believe I didn't know this was a feature for Step 1!

Lastly, I did take a couple of NBMEs. I didn't think they were accurate at all. For Step 1, the NBMEs were right on target, for Step 2, my NBME score was not even close to my day of score (in a good way!) I also took the UWorld Self-Assessment but it was early in my studying so can't really say if it was super accurate or not.

Biggest recommendation for those still in your 3rd year, study hard during each core rotation and make great notes so you can revisit those when it comes time to start studying for Step 2 CK!

You will do great! Stay calm! Be confident in your knowledge and answer each question with certainty!

If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to contact me via the "Contact Me" tab! Happy studying!