Thread: My internal medicine rotation ends Aug 2nd- will that affect my step 2 exam date?

Hello,

I recieved my clinical rotation schedule and found out that my last two core clerkships are psych and internal med. I really wanted medicine to be sometime in the middle of the year so that I would have experence before taking the step 2 cs or ck exam.

Pscyh is from April-May 2013
Internal Medicine - May to Aug 2nd of 2013

Should I speak to my coordinator to see if I can have medicine scheduled earlier? Or should I take my step 2 ck exam during psych? I'm an average student and really needed my full 2 months to study for the step 1 exam. I

'm not sure about the entire time frame and worried that if I wait to take 3 weeks off to study for step 2 after internal med then my application will be late for september. Can any upper classmate give some advice if this is true or how should i go about handling this?

Thank you

First, what are you applying for? I didn't get my application in until mid-October and was fine for family medicine. I also didn't apply to the northeast. Psych rotations are usually pretty chill, I would use that 6 weeks to study. My psych rotation I was home by noon everyday.

Originally Posted by Crispy

First, what are you applying for? I didn't get my application in until mid-October and was fine for family medicine. I also didn't apply to the northeast. Psych rotations are usually pretty chill, I would use that 6 weeks to study. My psych rotation I was home by noon everyday.

Thanks for the reply Crispy. Yeah I heard psych is a great time to study for the boards. But I have psych BEFORE i have internal med. My concern is taking the exam before Internal Med rotation is complete because the bulk of step 2 is medicine. I don't know what I will be applying for yet, but so far it looks like Internal Med/Family Med.

I also don't see any space in my schedule to take 2 weeks off for Step 2 CS. All the core clerkships sent by my clinical coordinators have dates back to back. So how do people take some time off to take step 2 cs? I also know many who take the "CK" exam before Aug to have the scores on time for Sep. How do those people schedule a 3 week off period to study for the exam on May or June??

use psych to study for ck and keep studying throughout your IM rotation. Step up to Medicine is a great book not only for your IM rotation but also CK. If you really study for IM during your IM rotation and have gone over everything else during psych you will be good. Get First Aid for CS. That is the only book you need. Take it at another location besides Philly (I heard that it was harder there). You don't need 2 week to study for CS. I took mine in Houston and the cases were right out of the book.

If you are at a clinical center, then your 3rd year schedule is really just the luck of the draw. I'm not sure that you would be able to reschedule IM even if you wanted to.

You might want to get some advice on scheduling from some students that are in the Aug class like you. They will be able to give you more input on what their experience was and when they plan on taking CK and applying.

For Step 2 CS I didn't take any time off to study, I took it during my psych rotation. Half of my track was taking CS during the same week of psych, so we'd just practice with each other doing cases out of the book for a couple weeks. We all took CS in Philly (and I'm pretty darn sure we all passed taking it there too).

Originally Posted by Salama

If you are at a clinical center, then your 3rd year schedule is really just the luck of the draw. I'm not sure that you would be able to reschedule IM even if you wanted to.

You might want to get some advice on scheduling from some students that are in the Aug class like you. They will be able to give you more input on what their experience was and when they plan on taking CK and applying.

Yeah I guess I'll have to take CS during psych.

I did contact them an hour ago Salama, pretty much the words were "no way no how." One of my friends mentioned taking Aug off to study for the boards. I just feel that the score will come late september then and put me at a disadvantage. I need to stay in nyc so that's not looking good for me. I'll figure something out.

Originally Posted by Scylin

For Step 2 CS I didn't take any time off to study, I took it during my psych rotation. Half of my track was taking CS during the same week of psych, so we'd just practice with each other doing cases out of the book for a couple weeks. We all took CS in Philly (and I'm pretty darn sure we all passed taking it there too).

When was your psych rotation Scylin? Was it more towards the end of 3rd year?

Originally Posted by TheGreatWhite

When was your psych rotation Scylin? Was it more towards the end of 3rd year?

I'm in the January class, so it was about 2/3 of the way through my 3rd year. My track had completed surgery & medicine and some our elective time, but we hadn't done OB/GYN or peds yet.

you have a whole year to study, since you posted 2013 as dates. I suggest you take CS during some down time (really only takes a Sat and Sun with partner to study for this) and take it on a Monday. Most all rotations will give you a day off for a Step Exam. After that study during rotations, honestly studying for that rotation while in it is a great way to start. Then add in a little IM from one of the review books. The Step while drawing a little from clinical experience will be much more about reading the book yet again. This is because not everyone approaches certain patients one way, they might have something they like to do which is not how the Step tests. The step tests how it's done according to the Step so even if you did IM you would have to study the books and learn it for the Step again anyway. I hope this ramble makes sense.