STEP 2CK: 267
US MD PhD student.
Med 3 NBMEs:
Surgery: 85%, ObGyn: 81%
Psych: 90%, Neurology: 86% IM: 85%
Pediatrics: 90%, Family Med: 85%
I used Anki decks that I found online for the clerkship but usually stopped doing the cards after the clerkship.
During med 3, I completed all of my UWorld questions for the respective clerkship. On weekends, I would do one block of random questions from all subjects to keep my learning broad. Importantly, I
marked only correct questions that I thought was complicated or I did not know all of the answer choices. I marked
none of the incorrect questions. This kept my completed questions in two separate pools.
At the end of med 3, my
first pass UWorld score was 72% correct. My average for the first three months was closer to 65%, but this steadily improved. By the end of med 3, I had marked about 600 questions. In February, I also opened a Kaplan Qbank to supplement my learning on topic-specific questions, but I only used about 200 questions by May.
Dedicated Studying.
I completed all of my incorrect questions on Uworld at a rate of ~70-75% correct. I marked
only correct questions that I did not fully feel comfortable with. Then I completed my "Marked Correct" questions (~75-80%). I then finished any last incorrect questions that came from completing the ~600 "Marked Correct" questions. Only then did I reset the question bank, ~15 days before my Step 2 exam. I took a 5-day break from the Uworld Qbank and exclusively focused on the Kaplan Q-bank at about 65-75% correct.
In the final 5 days before my exam, I did Uworld all, random, timed and was
scoring >90% correct each block. By this point, most questions seemed easy and I was finishing blocks with >20minutes to spare, but I was also recognizing questions from previous attempts. I knew the Uworld Qbank so well that these questions were diminishing margins of return, so I decided to devote more time to my Kaplan Qbank where I was scoring around 70% instead. I continued Zanki cards (~300/day) throughout this.
STATS
Step 1: 252 (2013 before PhD)
Uworld first pass: 72%
Uworld (after reset): 93% (only 400 questions completed)
Kaplan 2CK:
70% (only 800 questions completed)
Free 120Q: 85% (August)
UWSA1: 260 (October 7th)
UWSA2: 252 (October 20th)
NBME8: 259 (October 24th)
Actual STEP 2 CK: 267 (Oct 28th)
- Worst subjects: MSK/Skin/SoftTissue, Female Reproductive
- Best subjects: Immunology (PhD on this subject), Nervous system (matching into NSG)
How much dedicated time did I devote to Step 2CK?
Approximately 4 weeks of interrupted time. I studied Uworld in between neurosurgery subinternships throughout the summer. After my final subinternship, I was looking forward to 3 weeks of dedicated preparation, but October interviews interrupted my second week of studying. I originally planned to take Step 2CK on October 31st (Halloween), but I got an interview invite for that day so 7 days before my planned Step 2CK, I moved UP the exam by 3 days so I could make the interview. That was stressful, but I knew I was ready to do well. I only sacrificed a few days on Zanki and probably ~320 Uworld and Kaplan questions.
TL/DR: Mark your correct answers but do NOT mark your incorrect answers. Kaplan Qbank is a decent secondary resource once you master Uworld. I over-performed from my practice exams.
AMA. Good luck!
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