NBME Explanations

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NBME Explanations

STUDY MATERIALS for CK !

Discussion in 'USMLE Step 2 CK' started by vanib, Aug 2, 2015.

  • by vanib, Aug 2, 2015 at 12:46 PM
  • vanib

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    I am confused by the various suggestions regarding, the books to choose while preparing for CK. could you please suggest me some goods book and other resources that is essential?
    kindly give us, review of new edition of MTB 2 as well? thanks
    I am currently using MTB2 for med and MTB3 for rest, and uworld online questions.
     
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Comments

Discussion in 'USMLE Step 2 CK' started by vanib, Aug 2, 2015.

  1. orthopod
    MTB2 and MTB3 are common resources used by med students who study for step2.

    I think that MTB is a great resource, but the management descriptions should be taken with a grain of salt. The book really focuses on 'the first step,' but the real exam may already give you the first step, and ask you for the step after that. What I mean is that you should know all steps from a-z in how to manage patients with specific symptoms or disease processes, and MTB doesn't do a perfect job of explaining that. UpToDate is a terrific resource for fully understanding management and detailed descriptions (but is often too over the top).

    Depending on your timeline, MTB should be fine (I don't think you need to purchase the new version of the book). I personally enjoyed First Aid, mostly because I was used to it from Step1 and I knew going in that there were no perfect resources for Step 2. Once I started FA, I dropped MTB and only used FA/UW.

    UWorld is the most commonly used resource, and for good reason. Make sure you get through as much of it as you can. Wiseone provided a good overview of study techniques and tools in the exam experiences thread, found here. His study suggestions may be a little excessive unless you have months to study. But if you have a good foundation from step 1 and can get through UW quickly, you should be fine with about a month for study time.

    Let me know if you have any other questions!
    vanib likes this.
  2. vanib
    THANK YOU THIS MAKE S ME FEEL CONFIDENT!!
  3. vanib
    forgot to ask ! how is usmle secrets for step 2
  4. orthopod
    I only read about 20 pages of it, and felt it didn't provide anything additional. Everything I was reading I already knew or I had seen it before in UW/FA. So, I don't really recommend it.

    With that said, you could probably read through the entire book in 3-5 days so if you have time, it can't hurt to use it as a rapid review. Pages are small and it's a very easy read.

    Make sure to let us know what resources worked best for you to help all the others too!
  5. vanib
    THANKS AGAIN @orthopod ILL DEFINITELY POST AFTER AM DONE WITH THIS!
  6. bmed99
    Hi orthopod! Thanks so much for this site and all your help! I have ~4wks of prep time and took our school administered NBME for baseline and was right at the cutoff in passing. There was no obvious high or low system from the report profile in where I was respectively strong or weak in. I would say it was an equal distribution of everything down the middle.

    I was impressed with your "Approach to questions" guide here as well! http://www.testpirates.com/index.php?threads/how-to-approach-questions.584/ and will be surely trying that strategy!

    I have used parts of UWorld during 3rd year but not fully and averaged mainly in the 50%-60%'s. Step 1 was 215

    I have a fresh new subscription for Uworld now and am wondering how to maximize my subscription usage and learning during this dedicated period. I don't have any other obligations and will be at home. I read some older experiences of making sure to redo the incorrects and to look at all the right/wrong answer choices on everything which I will do. Some people did everything randomly to simulate the perception of how the exam is whereas others did it by IM/Peds/Surg/Psych/Obgyn. Or others to where they selected all the main core subjects and did questions by selecting the system that covers all the main cores (e.g. cvs, respiratory, gi, etc).

    In your opinion, it better to do UWorld by tutor and system or by random? I'm using it to learn more from but whether to do that randomly or by system is of doubt. In case of the latter, I've read mixed reviews of not seeing CVS questions for a few weeks and forgetting them. Surely there's bias in knowing your in a system but if you're not testing yourself, that's another thing I guess. Timing was not too much of an issue on the school NBME and from past tests and I think your test question approach guide link will help even more. I'll try to take 1-2 NBME's 1x in the 2nd and 3rd weekend and UWSA in the last weekend before the week of the test.

    I also purchased the new First Aid Step 2CK 9th edition book and wondering how to read that in parallel to UWorld. I don't think I have time to do a cover to cover read but maybe X# of pages per day. Another thing is the benefit and time available to take notes in dedicated. I think I'm ideally trying to aim for ~100-130 questions a day which probably will take the whole day! Fitting in First Aid 2CK, not sure when to include that.

    Goal CK score of 230-235. 240 would be a dream come true. Applying to primary care :)

    Thanks again for your time and help!
  7. orthopod
    @bmed99, thanks for your post! 50-60% on UW for step 2 while you're not doing dedicated studying is actually pretty good for the score range you're shooting for.

    Most people go on to score higher on step 1 vs to step 2. Most of that is because you are comfortable with the baseline information tested on step 1. However, there is a ton of new information that you need to understand rapidly to score well.

    I recommend that you do as many UW Qs as you can between now and your exam, even if it means repeating the Q bank twice more. You will find that many of the questions are familiar, and you remember the right answer, but don't let that bother you. Remember, you're using UW as a learning tool not a testing tool. Make sure you know WHY an answer is the correct answer.

    In that regard, I am a big proponent of doing you world in random, timed, because it will train you to analyze different types of questions rapidly and come up with the right answer. My strategy sometimes differs for step 1, however, but that's a different discussion.

    There are not as many NBME practice exams for step 2 but it would not hurt to take NBME 4 as a baseline or after studying for a week or two. I felt that UW self assessment for step 2 was not as good as it was for step 1 but it is basically extra UW questions, so do them!

    I really like first aid and feels that it does a good job covering the necessary info to do well. You will find that first aid for step 2 and step 1 I have a lot of overlap but I highly recommend you set aside time to read every day. The more you memorize from FA, the better your score will be.

    The last thing I'll mention is that you need to speed up your time spent reviewing your UW questions. I told another user that your goal should be to maximize efficiency and minimize time spent to allow for more time reading and learning more information.

    Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck studying!
    bmed99 likes this.
  8. bmed99
    Thanks for the extensive reply and support orthopod! It's quite motivating :)

    Being that my Step 1 was on the lower side than average, would you suggest coupling the respective First Aid Step 1 system chapter with First Aid 2cK or just stick with the latter? I do have First Aid Step 1 on hand but flipping through it, it'll be a feat to cherry pick and ignore non-Step 2CK relevant things. The book certainly has every disease in some capacity of description. As to whether it'll help in seeing or re-applying it to a question vignette, that's another story. One of the biggest mistakes and challenges I've faced (as others may have too from your experience), is knowing the facts but seeing it as a case vignette, total 180 at times. Interesting to see your stance on still memorizing things from first aid (2ck +/- first aid step 1) to boost scores even higher.

    The total alternate to using first aid texts was to purchase DIT for CK since they in a way present topics in a systemic fashion. However excluding cost factors, word on the street was it can tend to drag on some areas and miss out on other areas altogether and possibly, cause more confusion and doubt as to what exam one is studying for. That would be a rough 50-60hrs of video time from their website details to incorporate into the day.

    Anyways, with roughly 4 weeks (a few days less than 28 if taking 1 day off and for any unscheduled emergency day prior to the real deal), I can set aside 10-12hrs to study, 6-7hrs to sleep and the rest for food, exercise, etc.

    Just to get a better idea to make and adjust with, how many full blocks with uworld review of every explanation should I aim for per day? And then for how many hours set aside for reading pages from First Aid 2CK (and maybe First Aid Step 1)? I'm hoping if there's nothing else to sacrifice with for this milestone dedicated study period of our lives, then anything is possible to take home that trophy of a pass! :)

    Lastly, your closing statement regarding maximize efficiency vs maximizing time spent to read and learn more info. I take some of that is with my former comments above on First Aid reading and possibly reading from Uworld explanations? If I was off or misunderstood that, would love to hear a bit more of what you were implying.

    Thanks again for all of this. Haha, you are really the Team Pass USMLE coach :) Will have to tell others to check the site out!
  9. orthopod
    Thanks for the kind words. Glad to help, and would definitely appreciate it if you passed the word along to others.

    1. I wouldn't spend time with first aid step 1. All the relevant stuff will come up again in the CK edition but will include more clinics details. Just stick to CK edition.
    - the reason I emphasize memorizing facts is that it goes with my recommendation to do a ton of questions so you can master the clinical correlation of those facts.

    2. Many people love DIT. personally, I'm not a huge fan, just because I like to set my own schedule and I think they have a lot of extraneous info, which can slow you down. If you used it for step1 maybe it isn't the worst idea to stick with it, but I couldn't stand the endless hours of video. Also, check out onlinemeded.org. Nice free videos of overviews of everything.

    3. I would start with 1-2 blocks a day and ramp up to ~3 a day. Make sure to spend time reviewing your correct and incorrect answers. This should also leave plenty of time to read first aid

    4. Do questions. Understand why a questions is asked, and why answer is correct/incorrect. And then read first aid. Key is to be efficient about all of it so you can balance reading/memorizing first aid with doing questions.
    bmed99 likes this.
  10. raymondcyu
    Hi guys, I'm new to this forum.
    Been trying to read all your posts. I was wondering if I should bother with step up to medicine as suggested from other forums. Also I read someone recommends subscribing to UptoDate? How do you use that as a reference?
    I'm currently using MTB2 and 3 for my reference and doing uworld.
    I will have around 6 to 7 weeks before taking the exam.
    What do you guys think? thanks
  11. orthopod
    Thanks for your question! As I previously mentioned, I'm not a fan of step up to medicine, mostly because I find it to be not in depth enough and a lot of the material just scratches the surface of what you need to answer questions correctly on the exam. I'd recommend just sticking to the resources you have already started using, add first aid if you need any supplemental info, which I doubt as master the boards should cover most of the same material.

    I believe UTD is a phenomenal resource as it gives reference-based information and even offers algorithms and images to help guide your studying. Anytime you come across a question that you need more explanation on looking it up on up-to-date will provide in-depth information that I believe will allow you to truly understand the topic. UTD should be free if you're affiliated with any university or academic center. Basically go to a school library and you should have free access

    Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!
  12. Subrina Sundil
    hello doctors,i need all the information from A to Z .which book should i follow and how many time i need to uworld. anyone please comment.Help is much appreciated.
  13. ChinaPaw
    I received your email and many thanks indeed for this kind help You are a gent as ever It is also good to hear I have a decent study plan.

    I live in Hampshire now, so are you guys close by as perhaps a study group could be on the cards?
  14. ChinaPaw
    That sounds like a comprehensive plan to me Stuart. I basically revised the J04 and J05 study materials and did as many case study example questions as possible.

    Also, I have 7 past papers which I have emailed over to you.
  15. ChinaPaw
    I have the following study materials,

    The gordon west theory book
    the 6 set gordon west audio series
    The question and answer book

    all for extra class, if anyone wants to borrow them let me know, the question pool is good until July.

    Once you are done, you have to come back in here and post that you are done, and make it available for other people. I hope that we can do this for all classes of licenses and help people get the materials they need to pass the exam.
  16. Geraldces
    I dont know of any specific textbooks, but study the following: Start with discrete mathematics. Programming experience would be helpful - especially C, Python. Some networking would also be helpful.
  17. ChinaPaw
    i have an advanced student studying mainly to ace the toeic in japan. his listening is hovering around 400 and he needs some good self-study materials, any ideas? thanx, scott
  18. ChinaPaw
    I just started to dig in. The assessments that the units of study give you can be accessed through a code that is given to you when you open the new units. Heinemann
    They are quite lengthy lessons...but the first unit is only 20 sessions so, my colleagues and I plan to spend two days in each session.
  19. ChinaPaw
    I just got back from TC last night. I attended the 5 day workshop on reading. I came back with some Units of Study for my school. Super excited about implementing this year

    The UOS are grade specific and have a scope and sequence. They cover 4 units in detail and give you references to ideas for the other units. Although quite verbose as usual you can glean out the teaching points from each unit.

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