New Changes to USMLE Step 2 CK Exam

[usmlemission]

Change in number of USMLE Step 2 CK Exam Question items
(346 instead of 352)

Starting on or around August 3, a transition period will begin in which the number of items in current forms of the Step 2 CK examination will change from 352 items to 346 items.
This means there will be 6 blocks with 43 questions and 2 blocks with 44 questions each.
Although the transition will occur quickly at many test centers, there may be some locations where the changes take slightly longer to complete. The overall transition period will likely last approximately 6 weeks.

Please note that:

• Scores on new and old forms will be comparable; the decrease in the number of items per form will be accounted for in scoring the examination results.
• The length of the examination day will remain unchanged.


Delay in score reporting for Step 2 CK

Most score reporting of Step 2 CK results occurs within four weeks of testing. However, because of the change in timing described above, as well as routine modifications to the test item pool, there will be a delay in score reporting for most Step 2 CK examinations administered from August 3 through mid-September. The target date for reporting Step 2 CK scores for most examinees testing during that time will be Wednesday, September 28, 2011.



New question formats in Step 2 CK Examination starting August 2011
(Drug Ads and Article Abstracts)

Items with an associated drug ad or abstract will be introduced into the USMLE Step 2 CK Examination beginning in August 2011. Each drug ad or abstract will appear as a 2- or 3-item set*; examinees will see no more than 5 of these item sets in their examination. A description of the purpose of these new item formats is provided in the Comprehensive Review of USMLE update.

Updated Step 2 CK Orientation and Practice Materials are available here. Instructions for practicing with these new item formats are provided in the tutorial.

Introduction of these formats has resulted in the following minor changes to the Step 2 CK Examination structure:

• Because item sets with an associated drug ad or abstract may require more time to answer than other multiple-choice items, exam blocks that include an abstract or drug ad item set will contain fewer items. A screen will appear at the beginning of a block alerting examinees if a block includes a drug ad or abstract item set so that examinees can monitor their time accordingly.
• The tutorial provided in Prometric centers on exam day at the beginning of the Step 2 CK has fewer screens and less detailed information than the tutorial available as part of the Step 2 CK Orientation and Practice materials on the USMLE website. In the exam-day tutorial, the screens describing some of the navigation features of the test delivery software have been consolidated into fewer screens. In advance of testing, examinees should review the more complete tutorial available in the Step 2 CK Orientation and Practice Materials that are available at the USMLE website.

* An “item set” is a drug ad or abstract and the two or three questions that accompany it.

Reference:
http://www.usmle.org/General_Informa...x?contentId=66

[examsmasher]

This is insane.They cant do it just at the match time

[docnas]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How the hell are they making such drastic changes so suddenly? this cant be right, there was no previous notice and these are major changes and the timing is crazy. This cant be right , guys tell me this is a joke!

EDIT : I just went to USMLE.org and its there this info is real guys i say we all complain and raise a fuss this aint right they cant be allowed to make such changes so suddenly i personally am sending a letter to


General questions or questions for the USMLE Secretariat: [email protected]

I hope more people can also do the same and talk some sense into them.

[bassatom]

I admit its quite a sudden change.. But since i am not looking forward to a 2012 match its not eating my head much

[docnas]

yes for you its not a problem it seems but for me and im guessing all the others in the same situation as me of giving it in august it will be a big problem. Dont they usually give a years warning before actually making major changes like this?

[chamarezka]

This is exactly what they did last year. The announced a delay in CK in the last minutes before the match.
See StepTaker announcement last year here
http://www.usmle-forums.com/usmle-ne...step-2-ck.html

[laithbv]

IMGs taking the CK after August 3rd won't have good chances in the match this year.
A score on September 28 is quite late, specially for IM/FM IMG friendly programs.

[Alli]

what is an abstract or ad drug item? can anyone make this clear for me

[examsmasher]

Yeah, They are doing this every year at the same time. They might want to filter off some students even before applying, I guess. Not fair at all.

So, if the target date is Sept 28, does that mean all the students will get their results only on Sept 28 or it can be before? Since it is happening for many years, I guess somebody will answer this.

[vienna4u]

Originally Posted by Alli

what is an abstract or ad drug item? can anyone make this clear for me

I saw on the orientation material that it is an ad for a drug like a proper advert

you are supposed to answer questions about what the ad conveys and which test would be suitable to confirm and stuff

The ad itself would be okay, but the answers from the ad seem to be a bit random in how they interpret it.

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by Alli

what is an abstract or ad drug item? can anyone make this clear for me

For examples of drug ads and how you should interpret them correctly read this very useful page from the FDA
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesFo...ng/default.htm

As for abstracts, this means they will give an article abstract and you then have to judge whether the research/study is good or bad. This is mainly biostatistical data interpretation, like you should know stuff like the P value, risk ratio, confidence intervals, validity, ...etc

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by examsmasher

So, if the target date is Sept 28, does that mean all the students will get their results only on Sept 28 or it can be before? Since it is happening for many years, I guess somebody will answer this.

All those who will take the exam between August 3rd and mid-September will have their results on September 28 2011 (no one will get it earlier than that date). This is what happened last year, nobody got their score before Oct 3rd 2010.

[examsmasher]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

All those who will take the exam between August 3rd and mid-September will have their results on September 28 2011 (no one will get it earlier than that date). This is what happened last year, nobody got their score before Oct 3rd 2010.

Thanks for the reply

[laithbv]

I think the reason why they reduced the number of questions is the introduction of the new items.
Abstract questions would definitely need more time to solve than the other usual stuff.
This means that the number of New Items would be six. Perhaps 3 drug ads and 3 abstracts.

[usmlemission]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

For examples of drug ads and how you should interpret them correctly read this very useful page from the FDA
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesFo...ng/default.htm

As for abstracts, this means they will give an article abstract and you then have to judge whether the research/study is good or bad. This is mainly biostatistical data interpretation, like you should know stuff like the P value, risk ratio, confidence intervals, validity, ...etc

Thank you that's what I was looking for .

[b.abid]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

All those who will take the exam between August 3rd and mid-September will have their results on September 28 2011 (no one will get it earlier than that date). This is what happened last year, nobody got their score before Oct 3rd 2010.

Is it Agu 3rd sharply? my exam is on July 25th! Do you think my score will be delayed ?

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by b.abid

Is it Agu 3rd sharply? my exam is on July 25th! Do you think my score will be delayed ?

No. You won't be affected. You will fall into the regular 3rd/4th Wednesday rule.

[examsmasher]

Just now spoke to my friend who got 99(both 260+) and he was invited to take the practice exam before implementing these changes.
He said that abstract questions are very difficult to interpret for who do not have prior research experience.
Ads are relatively easy

[Alli]

oh! alright! to steptaker -> thanks for answering my question. the website is very useful too.

[Alli]

does anyone know any review material or any website (aside from the one posted by steptaker) that can teach us how to answer these type of questions?

[docnas]

Is anyone beside me thinking of complaining to the NMBE people? If we can get enough people to complain they might delay the changes

[prettyface]

Hey my exam is on Aug 2nd, and I was worried when I saw these changes today...and I even tried to find a date at the end of July...there was nothing...what are the chances that my score will be delayed?:sorry:

[drarnab]

Originally Posted by examsmasher

Just now spoke to my friend who got 99(both 260+) and he was invited to take the practice exam before implementing these changes.
He said that abstract questions are very difficult to interpret for who do not have prior research experience.
Ads are relatively easy

i was invited too , and let me tell you that the drug adverts and abstracts are quite easy to interpret if you just dont panic. there were several "other" type of questions, which if ever introduced into the USMLE are going to increase the difficulty by a magnitude of 10.

[dr-ahmed]

What about Kaplan Qbank and UW ??

Will both have a chance to update their materials to fit the new changes ??

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by prettyface

Hey my exam is on Aug 2nd, and I was worried when I saw these changes today...and I even tried to find a date at the end of July...there was nothing...what are the chances that my score will be delayed?:sorry:

You should be fine. They specifically mentioned August 3rd onward.

[Hokolesqua]

Originally Posted by dr-ahmed

What about Kaplan Qbank and UW ??

Will both have a chance to update their materials to fit the new changes ??

Kaplan Qbank already introduced few of these items.

[dr-ahmed]

Originally Posted by Hokolesqua

Kaplan Qbank already introduced few of these items.

Are you sure about that ? ,, The announcement was just published today ,, How could you be so sure ?

[b.abid]

Originally Posted by dr-ahmed

Are you sure about that ? ,, The announcement was just published today ,, How could you be so sure ?

Actually there has been some talking about these changes since a while. It is just the official announcement that came out today

[Hokolesqua]

Originally Posted by b.abid

Actually there has been some talking about these changes since a while. It is just the official announcement that came out today

Yes, am sure.
The announcement today is that it will be implemented. But the plan for that was announced over a year ago. Read this June 2010 announcement here
http://www.usmle.org/General_Informa...06-Update.html

[Jenny]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

All those who will take the exam between August 3rd and mid-September will have their results on September 28 2011 (no one will get it earlier than that date). This is what happened last year, nobody got their score before Oct 3rd 2010.

So this means, if i take the exam on august 3rd or rather take the exam lets say on september 15, both scores will be released on September 28?

[asmi]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

You should be fine. They specifically mentioned August 3rd onward.

**** i am so scared now... my exam is on 27th july,,, hopefully the result will come on time,,, i will try to call and if i get some information,, will def tell u guys also

[prettyface]

Originally Posted by asmi

**** i am so scared now... my exam is on 27th july,,, hopefully the result will come on time,,, i will try to call and if i get some information,, will def tell u guys also

Oh my God yes...I freaked out too...I only found out about it because I found this thread on facebook...I am a lot more scared because mine is scheduled Aug 2nd..a day before the changes are supposed to take place...but in the very first line it says "on or around Aug 3rd!!" I looked to switch it to a week earlier and I found no spots whatsoever!!

[asmi]

Originally Posted by prettyface

Oh my God yes...I freaked out too...I only found out about it because I found this thread on facebook...I am a lot more scared because mine is scheduled Aug 2nd..a day before the changes are supposed to take place...but in the very first line it says "on or around Aug 3rd!!" I looked to switch it to a week earlier and I found no spots whatsoever!!

i was hoping to postpone my exam by a week, but after reading this ,,it is impossible, hv to give it on 27th only, anyways i tried calling nbme to ask whether our result will be on time, but nobody picked up, will try agn on monday, but please if anybody finds out anything ,,, let us know....

[drmuh]

This cant be logic at all !!! Since when changes like this are announced 1 month before the change! And why just before Sep cutoff time to introduce this, is it that urgent that it cant be done after Sept, they know all people managing to get into the match next year is working to be done this time of the year and they come to introduce these changes and make delays, why they didn't announce months ago ?!!!
My CK exam is on the August the 3rd! And for a month I was trying to find a place at end of July but there is no spaces available. I don't know what to do now, all the year effort is going to be evaporated now and I need to lose a year bcz of 5 questions introduced to the exam 1-2 months before the time applying to the match !!!

[ambition4]

Hi every one

How will be the abstract drug question in CK?

Thank you

[samstar]

wow..as if the steps were not difficult enough...it's getting tougher and tougher

[jorgemorales]

Originally Posted by StepTaker

You should be fine. They specifically mentioned August 3rd onward.

I know this is picky and probably you don't know, but if I take exam, lets say September 15th, will i get my score September 28th?, or will I have to wait 3 or more weeks anyways?

[b.abid]

Originally Posted by jorgemorales

I know this is picky and probably you don't know, but if I take exam, lets say September 15th, will i get my score September 28th?, or will I have to wait 3 or more weeks anyways?

I know you did not ask me specifically, but if this would help, I strongly believe that no one can get his results before at least 3 weeks, for two reasons : first : last year there was a similar delay and some people I know who took the exam during this period had their results no sooner than 3 weeks. second : it is mentioned somewhere in USMLE.org that they need at least 3 weeks after you take the exam in order to standardize and compare your results and assure quality. So i guess for a step 2 exam taken at Sep 15th you would expect the results to be out no sooner than Oct the 7th or so ... even later

[jorgemorales]

Originally Posted by b.abid

I know you did not ask me specifically, but if this would help, I strongly believe that no one can get his results before at least 3 weeks, for two reasons : first : last year there was a similar delay and some people I know who took the exam during this period had their results no sooner than 3 weeks. second : it is mentioned somewhere in USMLE.org that they need at least 3 weeks after you take the exam in order to standardize and compare your results and assure quality. So i guess for a step 2 exam taken at Sep 15th you would expect the results to be out no sooner than Oct the 7th or so ... even later

Thank you for your input my friend.

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by jorgemorales

I know this is picky and probably you don't know, but if I take exam, lets say September 15th, will i get my score September 28th?, or will I have to wait 3 or more weeks anyways?

Am not sure, but probably you'd have to wait for the regular 3rd/4th Rule (See USMLE Exam Results).

-

[StepTaker]

Originally Posted by ambition4

Hi every one

How will be the abstract drug question in CK?

Thank you

There are two types of newly introduced items;
Drug ads (these are pharmaceutical company advertisemenst and you have to analyze them)
Article/Research abstracts (these are abstracts of research studies and you have to analyze them)

Refer to my comment above

-

[dr.rishikasingh]

my exam is on 1st august. will i get the new format? it says on or arnd 3rd.....

[add1]

Thanks guys for this update. Very useful. And for steptaker for explaining drug ads and abstracts.

[dsd9]

My exam was on Aug 2nd and i had new format...does any1 know when will i get my result? on reg 3/4 weeks or Sept-28.....website says people giving exam after 3rd august will get result on 28th sept....bt what about people who gave exam on 2nd aug. with new format....i know many people had new format step 2 ck on 2nd Aug.

[b.abid]

@ dsd9: read this, i just received this email from ERAS today

All examinations that include the drug ad or abstract format will be affected by the previously announced score delay. The target date for reporting Step 2 CK scores for most examinees testing during that time will be Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

However, the relatively good news is :

This score delay does not affect your ability to apply to residency programs of your choice via ERAS. All residency program directors participating in ERAS will be notified of this Step 2 CK score delay. International medical graduates participating in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) 2012 Main Match will be required to meet the NRMP's examination requirements.

[dsd9]

hmm...tht means for an IMG like me all chances of matching and even applying for step 3 exam are gone for this year.....wish i wd have given exam 1 day earlier for saving 1 yr....

[b.abid]

Yea I guess you are right about step 3
But you still have a chance for the match! If you have a good profile other than this I think you will be considered by some programs !

[dsd9]

well what would you suggest to apply after step2 ck results or on sept.1 ...
rest of profile is okey lik very less usce(1 month only)... cs in first attempt and step1 score abv mean.

Thanks for reply..

[b.abid]

well i am no expert, but if i were you i would apply sep the first and then try to email all the programs that I applied to once my score is out and I am certified

[dsd9]

thnx for the Input

[prion.pk]

dont worry for step 3...it can be taken as early as november even if we are certified in oct due to ck delay...forget about the 2nd sept deadline....