How a Syrian Doctor Got 284 in USMLE Step 2 CK
MY Step 2 CK Experience
Dear (future) Doctors,
I am Medhat Farwati, a Syrian graduate from Aleppo University, Faculty of Medicine. At this moment I share with you my experience with Step 2 CK.
1. Score:
284
2. Self-assessments:
- UWSA 1: 273 (2 months out)
- UWSA 2: 276 ( 1 week out)
- NBME 7: 277 (1 week out)
- NBME 8: 280 (3 days out)
3. Preparation time:
After I was done with Step 1, I moved to the US as a postdoctoral research fellow. As such, I realized it is going to be challenging to navigate my research duties, US rotations, Step 2 CS exam, and Step 2 CK preparation. Collectively, the actual preparation time for CK was 12 months with an average studying time ranging from 4 hours a day for the first 10 months to 8 hours a day for the last 2 months before my exam.
4. Materials used:
- UW Step 2 CK (x3)
- UW Step 3 (x2)
- Kaplan Q bank (x1)
- Internal Medicine Essentials Q bank
- De Virgilio (surgery textbook)
- Up to date and Medscape
- Google, YouTube, and Siri 😊
UW Step 2:
Your baseline. Most people preparing for CK regard UW step 2 as the most vital resource to focus on.
UW Step 3:
If time permits, I highly recommend you incorporate UW Step 3 into your preparation plan for the following reasons:
- It is a UW product with high-yield and credible information.
- You might need to do it anyways when you are going to prepare for Step 3.
- A new Q bank further advances your problem-solving skills.
Kaplan and Internal Medicine Essentials Q banks:
Solving more questions is always something you want to do. Occasionally, you will encounter some
badly-written, low-yield questions with unclear educational objectives. However, as long as you are able to filter those out, these two Qbanks can be excellent additions to your resources.
De Virgilio (surgery textbook):
I came to know this resource through the experience of a student who scored 278. The information is
presented in clinical cases. This textbook contains a total of 50+ cases covering high-yield topics in
surgery. Overall, it is useful but less valuable when compared to UW 2 and UW 3. If you are short in
time, you can look at the summary at the end of each case.
Up to date and Medscape:
I used those as last resort when everything else fails to provide the information I am looking for. Please note that the level of details in Up to Date, for instance, is way beyond the scope of Step 2 CK. That being the case, it is critical not to waste your time digging deep into such resources. Preferably, have a clear question in mind, find an answer, and run!
5. Comments and recommendations:
For those of you who already gave Step 1, it is important to note that preparing for Step 2 CK is going to be somewhat different. While for Step 1 First Aid serves as the ultimate resource to rely on, such materials for Step 2 CK are lacking. Furthermore, resources with up-to-date valid information are not easy to find. As in Step 1, however, in-depth understanding of most of the concepts you learn is key. Remembering scattered pieces of factual information alone is much less helpful. Try to focus on the big picture for each condition starting with risk factors and ending with treatment and prevention.
6. Pitfalls to avoid:
- I did not find master the board series useful at all for CK preparation. Frequently, the information there is too simple for the boards type of questions, outdated, or invalid. However, I could also be a bit biased since I already gave my Step 1.
- Doing only one Qbank over and over again. In my opinion, this can provide a false sense of reassurance as you see your percentage of correct answers is going up with each round. While you can be actually improving, the most likely explanation here is just that you recall more questions than before.
Again, and I cannot stress this enough, solving more NEW questions is the single best advice I can give for someone who is preparing for Step 2 CK.
In the end, every person has his/her own way of studying, and there is no perfect studying method. But I also, advise you to ask about others’ experiences and make good use of them.
Lastly, try to “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”
GOOD LUCK
MEDHAT FARWATI
By: Medhat Farwati
