[kingcurious]

The option to do Step 1 first isn't there and so wanted to hear how it can be done if this was your situation.

Is MTB CK out of date for the exam for management and treatment guidelines? Or should I use the latest MTB 3?

Also, if I revise only with Kaplan Lecture Notes + First Aid Step 1 + MTB CK or MTB 3 + UW, will that help cover knowledge gap from missing Step 1?

I can also refer to Goljan Rapid Review.

Thanks for any help!

 

[spasemaster]

I did step 2 CK before step 1. I got 233 on my exam (september 2014).

Used MTB 2 for internal medicine topics and MTB for non-internal medicine topics eg. Gyne, peds,etc..

Also I did uworld 2.5X (that's what got me from 190-233, BUT I took too long to finish it and was slacking back, so I did it in 5.5 months.)

What mistakes did I do?
I didn't incorporate any notes from kaplan videos or books into my MTB! So, Always Annotate missing diseases and things mentioned in the videos that are NOT in your MTB.
Do Kaplan along with MTB, ie. Neurology kaplan along with neurology in MTB and annotate and write notes. Uworld will get you to 235-240 w/o even reading MTB or kaplan (If you can fully grasp the knowledge in it) BUT if you're looking for a higher score then you gotta do the extra miles of annotating and incorporating.

Tips:
One final thing that would make you SUUUUUPER is Goljan, BUT that would take loooooots of time from you. Let's say a month maybe. And reading Goljan without annotating from it is kinda useless (that's why it takes along time to finish it).
Advice, don't do Goljan, but INSTEAD do Kaplan Qbank and that shall raise your score as much as would GOljan do but in a shorter period of time.

ONE additional thing:
Doing step 2 before step 1 will boost your score in step 1 later on BUT will not shorten the period for studying step 1. Doing step 1 then step 2 will boost your score in step 2 and ALSO will shorten the time period for studying for step 2

 

[kingcurious]

Thanks so much spasemaster for replying! How does kaplan qbank (for ck yes?) provide a better advantage to goljan? I am trying to make a better understanding of what you meant. Does the qbank give all the essentials from what goljan teaches there or more that qbank ck covers basic sciences better?

I will do the mtbs like you said. If I don't have scheduling time to the videos with time for questions, if I read all the kaplan lecture notes + mtb 2-3, will that help with enough baseline knowledge from step 1 and things for ck?

Did you do uw x 2.5 in a subject order or random? If subject, did you break down all the internal medicine topics by individual division like infectious diseases, electrolytes, endocrine, gastro, etc?

Taku from step 1 forum also answered with their comments

Hello. I got 255 in CK before taking step1.
I used FA Q book, Kaplan's q-book, Kaplan's Q bank (on-line), UW q bank, some pre-test series.
I've been working as a physician, so I started studying for CK first.
I guess, threre is no major disadvantage to begin from step2 CK.
You should start from your familiar topic.

Good luck.

http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-s...here-pass-ck-without-step-1-a.html#post727898

:

 

[spasemaster]

What I meant by when I said that doing Kaplan Qbank is better off than reading Goljan and annotating it. Why? b/c thre's just toooooooooooooo much step 1 knowledge in Goljan that it will overwhelm you, it does have some step 2 knowledge BUT it will be a killer and would take lots of time (maybe 3-6 weeks). So, you can do Kaplan Qbank in those 3 weeks, It won't cover basics as Goljan but it will give you the low yield facts that Uworld didn't give you, it will also be a great revision, also it will be a great way of checking how well you've grasped the knowledge from Uworld.

Uworld I did random and timed. Why? Because everything I do is a prep for the exam (the exam will be timed and random). And even on my last month I would do 3-4 blocks in a row with 2 minutes breaks in between to simulate the exam. Did that help? OOOHHHHH YEAH, Solving questions during the exam was nothing different from solving questions at home AT ALL.

BTW, pure step 1 material isn't heavily tested that's why I'm saying Kaplan Qbank is better off. It will give you Step1 material and step 2 material in question forms (which is better for retaining information)

 

[kingcurious]

What I meant by when I said that doing Kaplan Qbank is better off than reading Goljan and annotating it. Why? b/c thre's just toooooooooooooo much step 1 knowledge in Goljan that it will overwhelm you, it does have some step 2 knowledge BUT it will be a killer and would take lots of time (maybe 3-6 weeks). So, you can do Kaplan Qbank in those 3 weeks, It won't cover basics as Goljan but it will give you the low yield facts that Uworld didn't give you, it will also be a great revision, also it will be a great way of checking how well you've grasped the knowledge from Uworld.

Uworld I did random and timed. Why? Because everything I do is a prep for the exam (the exam will be timed and random). And even on my last month I would do 3-4 blocks in a row with 2 minutes breaks in between to simulate the exam. Did that help? OOOHHHHH YEAH, Solving questions during the exam was nothing different from solving questions at home AT ALL.

BTW, pure step 1 material isn't heavily tested that's why I'm saying Kaplan Qbank is better off. It will give you Step1 material and step 2 material in question forms (which is better for retaining information)

Hmm that sounds like an interesting observation spasemaster about doing the questions randomly and also for retaining information.

This is a stretch, but* tell me what you think. If I purchase UW for step 1 but do not actually solve the questions but end the test in random or organ system so that I can just read through the explanations and read it like a book like that, how would that be?

I was maybe thinking of doing UW CK at the same time in the day, maybe 1/2 each for step 1 UW, reading only the explanations + and to timed tutor random for UW but solving the question and reading the explanation.

I did look at the first aid step 1 2015 but it's too much of an outline for me to really pick up on the pathophysiology/basic background stuff.

I'm getting a better plan of things to consider from your input and thank you again!

 

[spasemaster]

If you're gonna do Uworld step 1 then you might as well take both exams together. Don't overdue yourself.

My advice, After finishing MTB and Uworld for step 2CK do an NBME, it will tell you where your weakness points are. Now, those weak points you can read from Goljan or do from Uworld step 1 to strengthen your background on those topics. Otherwise just don't go doing all of goljan or all of uworld step 1 as that's just unrealistic (you're better off taking step 1 before step 2 then!)