Step 1 is arguably the most important test in a doctor’s life.
However, if you want to match into a competitive specialty or you need to make up for a Step
1 score that you’re not happy with, it is essential that you crush Step 2CK.
I’ll show you how I secured a top score and how you can do the same.
What's going on guys, Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Let me start by saying that my approach is
a little unorthodox, but it definitely delivered results.
It requires consistency and diligence with your study routine and work ethic, more on
that later.
Using the techniques in this video, I scored highly competitively on Step 2CK.
I cannot guarantee a certain score for you, but by following the tips in this video, you
should be in a good spot.
First, let's dispel some common myths.
Some people believe you must take medicine as your last rotation during third year to
make sure you have general medicine fresh in your mind in order to crush the exam.
After all, most of Step 2CK is going to be covering internal medicine.
However, I took medicine as my first rotation during my third year and I still achieved
a top score.
There is no official documentation breaking down the percentage by subject area.
However, USMLE does tell us that 1-3% is based on general principles of foundational science,
85-95% is based on organ systems, and 1-5% is based on biostats, epidemiology, and interpretation
of the medical literature.
Remember, to achieve a top score, it’s important to be proficient with all aspects, even biostats.
Now, again while it may be helpful to schedule your internal medicine rotation last for the
sake of your Step 2CK score, it is certainly not necessary.
Depending on what specialty you’re going into, you may need to schedule internal medicine
earlier in the year, and that’s totally fine.
I, for example, was strongly considering gastroenterology and therefore I had internal medicine first.
I ultimately went into plastic surgery, but that is another story.
Let's talk about when to take the test.
If getting a high Step 2CK score is a priority for you, then I recommend you take the exam
at the end of your third year.
Most of the material was covered in your clerkships and having this material fresh in your mind
will definitely serve you well.
While its not impossible to score well by taking Step 2CK later such as during your
fourth year, I personally do not advise that route.
Now, as for the study schedule, there are two time periods that we all need to cover.
First, your third-year clerkships, which are creating your foundation of knowledge, and
second, your “dedicated” period.
I say dedicated in quotations since it’s not truly a dedicated period like you have
for Step 1.
However, it would behoove you to take an easy rotation, such as a research block, leading
up to your test, allowing you to create your own semi-dedicated period.
Okay, so first, let's cover your third-year clerkships.
This is where my own study strategy was a bit unorthodox.
During this time, it’s important you not only shine on your evaluations, but you also
crush your shelf scores.
The more familiar you are with the material and the better you perform on your shelf exams,
the better off you’ll be for Step 2CK.
The core of your clerkship studying should focus around UWorld.
Each clerkship has its own high yield materials, such as Pestana’s notes for surgery, but
the specific materials for each clerkship is beyond the scope of this video.
If you want me to create a video on the high yield resources for each rotation, let me
know down in the comments so I can gauge interest.
A crucial factor that helped me achieve a top score was creating my own Anki deck.
As I went through each rotation, studying from UWorld or other resources, I added high
yield pieces of information to my Anki deck.
There was only one deck, which I called Step 2CK, and I only used a handful of tags.
I tagged the rotation I was on so that I could separate surgery from internal medicine, from
psychiatry, et cetera.
Here’s the kicker though, I regularly practiced the whole deck.
So when I was in my surgery rotation I didn’t just do the surgery tags, I did everything.
I created new surgery cards, which were obviously reviewed each day, but so were those older
cards from internal medicine, and psych, and peds.
Now, this is the unorthodox part, but I think was crucial in helping me achieve a top score
and it's also not nearly as time-consuming as you may think.
Remember, cards that you have seen multiple times should be easier, and the intervals
will be much longer.
Therefore, even though I was reviewing my entire deck most of my Anki cards were testing
knowledge from the current rotation versus previous rotations.
I would estimate that maybe for every one hour I did of Anki, 45 minutes were for the
current rotation and 15 minutes were for reviewing older material.
This ultimately kept knowledge from older rotations fresh in my mind.
You can download my Anki deck on the MedSchoolInsiders.com Website.
I'll have a link down in the description below.
Quick Disclaimer, it is not complete as I only started this strategy midway during my
third year, and my skill in creating Anki cards was not quite as finessed as it was
during my fourth year of medical school or during my first year of residency.
Now the cards and this deck is a good place to start but I definitely recommend that you
make your own.
Now, let's jump to the time leading up to the test.
I personally took about three and a half weeks to study for Step 2CK.
I was on a research month and only did minimal research actually, maybe 5-8 hours per week.
The rest of the time I was focused on exercising and studying for Step 2CK.
As for my day-to-day schedule, I wasn’t nearly as structured as I was during the Step
1 dedicated period.
If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the Step 1 video and download my Step 1 schedule
excel document.
The majority of my time was spent taking UWorld practice blocks and reviewing them thoroughly.
I also spent about an hour or so every day reviewing my Anki deck.
I did not use any other resources in those three and a half weeks leading up to my test,
and ultimately this strategy of Anki plus UWorld served me very well.
Again, you can download this Anki deck on the Med School Insiders website link is down
in the description below.
Let me know what other test you would like me to cover.
I'm considering doing a Step 2CS video and possibly even revisiting the Mcat series I
created from the beginning of this channel.
As always, thank you all so much for watching, shout out to my patreon supporters that help
make videos like this possible.
If you like the video make sure you press that like button.
New videos every week, so hit subscribe if you have not already and I will see you guys
in that next one.