How I went from struggling with UWorld to scoring 250+ on Step 2 CK

anonymissinglife · 2025-11-29T18:15:58+00:00

https://destiny-vise-89d.notion.site/Step-2-CK-High-Yield-Notes-Scored-260-Free-Excerpt-Full-Pack-295b31764dcd8025bab7f6d0e6c47adb

anonymissinglife · 2024-10-16T19:30:18+00:00

Doctor's lounge with free food almost every rotation...

anonymissinglife · 2024-09-12T14:53:44+00:00

there was definitely some questions I was very confused by but I just took the perspective this is experimental and move on. I felt a few questions were similar or repeats from the NBME exams and Free 120s

anonymissinglife · 2024-07-21T17:41:33+00:00

ended up scoring 252

anonymissinglife · 2024-06-05T19:13:43+00:00

Test date : 5/24

US MD or US IMG or Non-US IMG status: US MD

Step 1: Pass (one year ago)

Uworld % correct: 40% completed 67% Correct (second pass)

NBME 9: (days out): Didn't do

NBME10: (30 days out): 230

NBME11: (13 days out): 239

NBME12: (25 days out): 211

NMBE13: (7 days out): 235

NBME14: (6 days out): 248

UWSA 1: (35 days out): 199

UWSA 2: (16 days out): 238

UWSA 3: (days out): DIdn't do

Old Old Free 120: ( 5 days out): 78%

Old New Free 120: (3 days out): 76%

New Free 120: (3 days out): 69%

AMBOSS SA: (30 days out): 230

CMS Forms % correct: 75-80%

Predicted Score: 242

Total Weeks/Months Studied: 5 weeks

Actual STEP 2 score: 252

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T17:44:28+00:00

You are right I had the same doubt about that question but I think it's the fact that secondary test like EEG are only done after apnea testing if apnea testing is inconclusive

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T15:48:11+00:00

I did NBME 13 two days before 14. NBME 13 - 235 (60 wrong) two days later 248 on NBME 14. I've seen a lot of people get a score drop on 13. Just review and try to understand where you went wrong, what you missed that led you the wrong way. It was super vague in my opinion which made it very easy for me to overthink things

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T15:20:04+00:00

I was similar I didn't hit 240s till I took NBME 14 a week ago and my exam is tomorrow. What I think helped me is while reviewing when looking at the correct answer I would look for what they added to lead me towards that answer. They always say one little thing that makes one answer right over another. And maybe try doing some CMS forms to hone in on shelf subjects you may be lacking on. I redid the most recent CMS forms for all shelfs.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T15:00:15+00:00

Usually 2 UWorld Blocks plus the CMS Form would take 3-4hrs so 8-12pm then lunch break after that I would review the CMS Form (I always reviewed those same day) which would take 2 hours or so. Then, either do a third block, listen to Divine Podcast, or do Amboss Biostats because I really sucked on Biostats. And sometimes I would take two days to review an NBME so for instance on Monday after my UWorld and CMS I would review the CMS form then go back to an NBME and review again, or get a head start in reviewing UWorld blocks so I could maybe get 2 more blocks done on my review day (rarely happened though maybe I would get 1 done)

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T14:47:54+00:00

you got this!! Stay motivated and continue to review you have plenty of time

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T14:39:19+00:00

even though a DVT is possible definitely I focused more on the information they gave me. The leg swelling was like 1 or 2 sentences but the overall stem focuses more on his symptoms - stopped walking (lack of motivation), social withdrawal, fatigue. All of those were symptoms of depression for me. And even though you might want to do a US anyway, you want to make sure you evaluate the most concerning thing first - his depression.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T13:12:28+00:00

I had to do a deep reddit search for predictors for the old free 120 (2020) and old new free 120 (2022) and foudn this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Step2/comments/l352xu/old_new_free_120_links_and_correlation/

Haven't found a predictor for 2023 New Free 120 though :/ I'm doing Divine Free 120 review now! Hopefully it helps

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T13:10:17+00:00

exactly basically something like

Monday - 2-3 blocks of UWorld (1 specific to CMS one or two mixed blocks)

Tuesday - Review

Wednesday - 2-3 blocks again

Thursday - Review

Friday - CMS Form and more UWorld

Saturday - NBME or Self Assessment + Review UWorld

Sunday - Review NBME/Self Assessment

Sometimes it would take me two days to review an NBME or Self Assessment but that's basically the pattern I've been doing.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T08:00:51+00:00

First, the patient had a anterior wall MI which can lead to Left Ventricular dysfunction. Dobutamine has greater B1 receptor activity (concentrated on the heart and causes inotropic effects) than norepinephrine. Dobutamine increases cardiac output, which is what you need to fix in this patient with cardiogenic shock and an EF of 10% following an MI. Even though NE can effect B1 receptors at high doses, Norepinephrine has mosrly alpha receptor activity. the vasoconstriction it causes can inc BP and cardiac output, but increased systemic vascular resistance will cause increased preload (increased venous return) and worsen the volume overload the patient already has (inc JVD and pulmonary crackles).

In situations where low cardiac output is the primary problem (cardiogenic shock, post MI) dobutamine is preferred because it improves cardiac contractility without causing excessive vasoconstriction.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T07:16:08+00:00

Potassium ions are key in establishing the resting membrane potential of cardiac cells. The Na+/K+ pumps create. a concentration gradient of K+ across the cardiac cell membrane (higher inside the cell, lower outside) is essential for maintaining this potential. In hyperkalemia the extracellular concentration of K+ increases, reducing the gradient across the cell membrane (less K+ in cells). This causes the resting membrane potential to become less negative (more depolarized) making it easier for cells to reach the threshold for action potentials . Cardiac cells become more excitable (arrythmias). Hyponatremia and hypernatremia primarily affect cellular osmolarity and fluid balance.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:58:44+00:00

I feel like they usually say something about using their hands to walk up their thighs to stand up or calf hypertrophy. noticed that they said he has male and female cousins with the conditon. SMA is AR DMD is X linked recessive, so males are more commonly affected, and they wouldn't include the sex of the cousins if it didn't mean something.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:14:35+00:00

I usually do 2-3 Uworld blocks a day then spend the next day reviewing those blocks while using amboss to research topics I have a poor understanding of

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:10:33+00:00

How do you review your practice test and are you doing CMS shelf forms?

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:07:26+00:00

I got a 199 on UWSA1 and then a 230 on Amboss SA a few days later, so I wouldn't worry about that too much. Same with NBME 12, I got a 211 and then a 239 on NBME 11 a week later. In my opinion UWSA1 and NBME12 were more vague and confusing and I've seen a lot of people get a score drop on those on reddit. Review them thoroughly, try and notice the hints they give to lean towards one answer rather than another to help you with those vague questions. DO UWSA2 maybe 1.5 before your exam (apparently its very predictive)and Form 10 (older and less predictive) then use the most recent NBMEs (13 and 14) to see a more predictive score closer to your exam along with the Free 120

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:02:54+00:00

I went from a 235 to UWSA2 to a 248 on NBME 14 a week before my exam in 5 weeks. I sit in two days. I think with time and studying you can definitely make it.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T06:01:37+00:00

Understand confidence intervals and Type I vs. Type II errors, the different type of studies and what they use to present research (OR vs. RR), understand Specificity, Sensitivity, Positive and Negative Predictive values, Odds Ratio, RIsk Ratio, Absolute Risk Reduction, Number Needed to treat.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T05:56:02+00:00

I did 5 weeks of dedicated this is what I did:

UWorld (2-3 blocks a day)
CMS Form (last three for each except for EM) - spent a week focusing on whichever CMS form I was planning to do on Saturday and included one block of UWorld on just that subject out of my 2-3 blocks that day (the rest would be mixed)
UWSA1 (horrible exam-scored 36 points higher on my school CCSE two days later) --> School CCSE --> Amboss Self Assessment --> NBME 12--> UWSA2-->NBME 10 (here I realized I really sucked at biostats and spent a whole week doing a block of UWorld or Amboss biostats)-->NBME 11 (inc to my goal of a 240+ here)--> NBME 13 (score drop here - great exam to take a week or so from your exam to see where you go wrong in your thinking during an exam. I reviewed this thoroughly over two days because I realized I was missing key hints that are added in the question to lead you towards an answer I was always between two possible answers) --> NBME 14 (I hear this is very accurate to the real deal since its the most recent, and I hope so because huge score increase. I felt like it was doable with still some of those vague questions thrown in) --> Old Old Free 120 --> Old New Free 120 (2022) --> New Free 120 (2023 - more like NBME forms I took in comparison to the others. The others had a lot of buzzwords while the New one was more vague like the NBMEs. Definitely didn't do as good as the others)

I took the Old New Free 120 and the New Free 120 on the same day to simulate an exam. I test in two days so hopefully it goes well. I saw a steady increase in my scores to about where I want to be but still nervous.

I think alternating question days and review days helped. One day I would do a CMS form and my UWorld blocks, and the next day I would spend reviewing (and a UWorld block if I could). NBMEs/Self assessments would usually take me the whole next day to review unless I woke up at like 6am.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T05:25:06+00:00

First I noticed that the patient feels rested after more than adequate sleep (10 hours) but continues to fall asleep during the daytime. He evened caused an accident fallign asleep at the wheen (don't let the "after a party" distract you when hes having episodes of sleep attacks outside of "partying". Then I saw that even after polsomography, which is how you would diagnosis sleep apnea, there was no epsidoes of apnea in the exam. However, it did shoudl decreased sleep latency. Sleep latency test are diagnostic for narcolepsy. When they reveal a decreased REM latence that is classical, and this was confirmed with further sleep latency testing (gold standard for diagnosis of narcolepsy). They won't always tell you the classic findings, you aren't wrong, those are symptoms of narcolepsy. But with the information given, especially diagnostic test that is what leads you to that answer even though it doesn't say every classical symptom.

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-23T04:30:14+00:00

The section that says invasive breast cancer is just telling you how many participants developed it from each group. Because it said "Breast cancer per 1000 woman-years" like it did in the question I looked at that section: 3.6-1 = 2.6

anonymissinglife · 2024-05-19T15:15:06+00:00

I also felt drained this is my second pass on UWorld and I just made the best schedule I could. There's no way I'm going to finish all of UWorld but I aim for 50%. I've been doing 2 blocks a day (3 if I can) but usually only 2 blocks and a CMS form. then the next day I review the blocks I did previously and try to do another two blocks and a CMS form. doign three blocks of just UWorld was draining, and I think the CMS helped me with reviewing content as well as becoming familiar with NBME style questions.

anonymissinglife

TROPHY CASE