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Passed Step 1. Step 2 ck prep begins now!

3K views 26 replies 10 participants last post by  drpisho 
#1 ·
Passed Step 1. Step 2 ck prep begins now! How's everyone doing? Uworld MTB2/3 and kaplan is what I've been hearing. Share any feedback or advice!
 
#2 ·
congrats. you sound pretty hyped, thats good. you must have scored really well :cool:
i'm the same as u, just starting my ck prep. From what i've seen online so far, it looks like mtb 2 and 3 is the way to go. KLN are also pretty good but only if you have time
i bought the KLN and mtb 2. but honestly, i wish i saved my money and bought mtb 3 instead of kln. they r too long and from what i remember from step 1 prep, i'll probably just go thru them once if at all i can. u mostly concentrate on the one ''concise book'' for the exam (in this case mtb) and uworld.
I hope that helps.
when do u plan on taking step 2?
again, congratulations
 
#3 ·
Hey thanks for your response!
Haaah my score was okay. Nothing special. But I am excited about this new opportunity for step 2 ck. Good chance at redemption.

I am probably going to take it anytime before September 2015. I'll be done with 3rd year by then as well.

Hmm, perhaps you can do Kaplan throughly along with Uworld and save mtb2/3 for the end? I wanted to focus on MTB 2/3 at the end. I've also heard about step 2 secrets and step up to step 2 combination instead of doing MTB2/3 since they cover more info than MTB2/3. I've heard that although MTB2/3 is written well and is longer than secrets and step up to step 2, I heard it doesn't cover everything. I heard it's missing info. On the other hand, Secrets and step up to step 2 combo covers everything. although not in the same depth as MTB2/3 lol. Is this really true?
 
#4 ·
I don't think you should take that much time on preparing for step 2 ck.
Infact 6 months are more than enough to master mtb 2 and mtb3 along with two q banks.

I would suggest you to pass step 2 ck, CS and step 3 before Sept 2015.

Goodluck and congratulation on passing step 1.
 
#5 ·
If ''not covering everything'' is the excuse for not going for mtb2/3 , i would still go for those 2. They would cover at least 98% of d material for the exam i would imagine, and from what i hear, you REALLY learn from uworld.
plus if ure going to use KLN anyway, u'll pretty much learn it all from there.
I would go for the one thats well written and has more depth. i can always write the extra info in the book myself. and from the experiences i've read, most ppl swear by mtb.

BUT
from my experience with step 1, Whatever book u end up picking ( even if its the dreaded ''first aid step 2ck'' ) study it WELL and u'll be fine

i'm talking like i already did the exam, lol. just my 2 cents
 
#6 ·
If ''not covering everything'' is the excuse for not going for mtb2/3 , i would still go for those 2. They would cover at least 98% of d material for the exam i would imagine, and from what i hear, you REALLY learn from uworld.
plus if ure going to use KLN anyway, u'll pretty much learn it all from there.
I would go for the one thats well written and has more depth. i can always write the extra info in the book myself. and from the experiences i've read, most ppl swear by mtb.

BUT
from my experience with step 1, Whatever book u end up picking ( even if its the dreaded ''first aid step 2ck'' ) study it WELL and u'll be fine

i'm talking like i already did the exam, lol. just my 2 cents
You have not taken step 2 ck but I have and I agree with you.
I used only one book for step 1 which is FA and two books for step 2 ck which are mtb 2 and mtb3.
I scored low in both exams because of my bad strategy not because of the books. I could have scored even higher with the same material.

Goodluck:)
 
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#11 ·
1. I was not confident that I can pass usmle exams.

2. For step 1, I did only uworld once. I should have done it twice. Infact I should have done kaplan q bank too.

3. For step 2 ck, I did uworld twice. I also I did kaplan q bank but did it only for practice. I did not read the explanations for kaplan q bank. I missed 15 questions in exam because of time shortage.

4. I took both exams on weekends. I mean I am working full time and did not take vacations for exams. If someone is working then he/she should not work in the last month at least. Infact last one or two months should be utilised only for study.
 
#15 ·
And yes I haven't taken the exam yet but have gone through MTB2 and MTB3 and nearly 60% u-world. I believe MTBs are great books alone. Didn't feel the need for extra material except for surgery (trauma part) but uworld does a great job out there.
its so weird you say that, i was just reading that over the weekend and was looking everywhere online to read about the trauma part of surgery
i'll just learn it well from uworld then
 
#16 ·
Hey guys!.Passed step 1 about 2 weeks ago. I am now preparing for step 2ck. Having done lots of in depth personal evaluation, i have come to the realisation that settling exclusively with kaplan notes is the way to go for me. These notes are detailed enough for you to ace this exam.For me, because the information therein is repetitive, it ends up reinforcing vital info. So for me, its just kaplan notes and uworld, plus personal hand written notes from kaplan and uworld.
Cheers!
 
#25 ·
@pisho

You can totally skip MTB 3 IM section.From what i heard,There are a few points here and dere which is missing in MTB 2 .very little though..so i was adviced to go through it quickly like daily few pages and add those missing points to ur MTB 2 IM section....you can do this in late night when u r done with ur study sched for the day....hope it helps
 
#27 ·
finished MTB2 AND 3

So today finished MTB2 AND 3, so THRILLED!!! Happy-2:))
Starting Kaplan qbank tomorrow annotating in my "hybrid" MTB2/3 folder I made, I bought the 4 week bank so hopefully I will be done in 4 weeks doing as much as I can :plz:, at least want to finish 75%.
then off with UWORLD. and according to this I might be sitting for the test for february (I got a Little behind from working full time)
how are you guys doing?
 
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