This medical student scored a 281 on the USMLE Step 2 CK. You can, too

Once a minor hurdle on the road to Match Day, the USMLE Step 2 CK is now required by many residency programs before ranking applicants. For those with low Step 1 scores, Step 2 CK is even more critical, as it represents a student’s only opportunity to compensate for Step 1 performance. I was happy with my Step 1 score but planned to take Step 2 CK well before applying for internal medicine residency and ultimately pursue a highly competitive subspecialty, gastroenterology. I knew I had to make my Step 2 CK score count. Four weeks after my test day, I received my results, and I was shocked. I had scored a 281. While many with high scores will say that the key to their success was sheer time and effort, I took a more strategic approach, which I believe allowed for my success on test day. Make every rotation count Proper preparation for shelf exams during rotations is key to establish a solid foundation for Step 2 CK. This can be challenging because what you learn on the wards may not have any relevance to how you are assessed on the shelf. It may seem obvious, but it’s pretty important to recognize that test-taking requires a fundamentally different skill set than actually practicing medicine. If you think about it, what you see and are taught on the wards is fairly random. When you get a tricky question right on a shelf exam, you often find yourself saying, “I’m lucky I saw that one time!” But you won’t excel if you leave content mastery, a key component of test pr...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs