"I took STEP 2 during my MPH year and focused solely on using UWorld and Sketchy. I took a practice test at the end of each week and checked it immediately. My family and friends were kind enough to check in with me periodically. When I felt that the work was getting too heavy, my sister would join in on some UWorld review sessions and I would practice explaining the concepts to her to make sure that I understood them. Preparation can get very tiring, but just remind yourself that all it takes is small positive steps and you will get where you need to go."
-Applied into Adult Neurology
"I took step 2 right after step 1. I would not recommend taking one right after the other, because I was quite burnt out while studying for step 2. That was okay since I did well on step 1 and I just needed to do okay on step 2. However, now that Step 1 is Pass/fail, I feel like the step 2 score is going to matter more, so dont do what I did lol.
That being said, I used the standard study materials. So UWorld, Anki, First Aid, and NBME practice exams. I studied for about 6 weeks and did a little worse on Step 2 than 1. It felt like that was enough time, I was just tired from Step 1. "
-Applied into Internal Medicine
"I used AMBOSS and UWORLD and made a study plan. Did questions during my clerkships, everyday which also helped me study for my shelf exams. Took Step 2 and Comlex 3rd week of January 4 days apart. 3 weeks of dedicated did a full length every weekend and the whole week just did questions."
-Applied into Dermatology
"I took 4 weeks of dedicated period during the first half of my fourth year around June. I mainly used UWORLD and supplemented it with online MedEd. I did not study very much during third year using questions banks, so I went into dedicated with only my rotational experiences as my foundation. I made it through about 80% of the question bank and managed to score in the 250’s"
-Applied into Internal Medicine
"I took step 2 mid August, I had a 7 week dedicated because I struggled with step 1, I wanted sufficient time, I had an incredible increase of about 35 points. I made my own flashcards from questions and reviewed them for 2 hrs every morning before starting 2-3 40 blocks of questions. I had already completed a first pass of Uworld during third year, so I completed about 50% of Uworld for a second pass focusing on IM and surgery. "
-Applied into Family Medicine
"I studied for Step 2 using mostly UWorld. I did reference First Aid in the areas I was weakest in.
I studied for about 5 weeks. I structured it by taking an NBME to see my weakest areas, and then i structured my studying based on my weakest areas first. My goal was to focus on internal medicine organ systems since it made up a large portion of the exam. Then tackle the areas that make up less of the test. I would do about 80-100 U World questions a day, and would select the systems that made up the largest portion of the exam.
Then I would review the questions & look at what it is about that question that I did not know that would have helped me get the question right. I would turn this into q&a style note of the question. For example if there was a question about the next steps in a patient who experiences extreme pain that started from their belly button and moved to the right lower quadrant, and the question asked what would be the next step. If the reason I could not answer the question is not because I do not know next steps, but because I did not know the illness, then I would make my note q: what presents with extreme pain from the belly button and moves to the RLQ. A: appendicitis. I would review these notes the next day before starting my questions. It was a way to fill in my knowledge gaps.
And taking weekly NBME and USMLE exams is key to track progress."
-Applied into Internal Medicine