Thread: Sharing Uworld Qbank and late starting clinical rotation

I'm in 4th term right now and my friend asks me to share one year UWorld Qbank. I have no idea how it works. Is there anyone in here who has shared the Uworld Qbank? I want to make sure it works in sharing, likes both of us are using the same time in different laptops.

Second question about hospital placement for clinical rotation, I want to study 3-4 months for the step (I know the advice is 6-8 weeks is the max, but I also know how good/bad I am). Does anyone know any hospitals that will waive to submit the score before starting? I will definitely take the Step before starting rotation, but it will take 3-6 weeks for grade processing and sending to hospital. Otherwise, can I ask the clinical department put me on the hospital which starts on Oct or late Sep? Please gimme the hospital names if you know some. I don't think it's too soon for me to talk about it. If there were no hospital like I thought, I would start to study for the Step during this winter break and find the other way to balance term 5 and step 1.

Thanks for all the answers.

Originally Posted by firsttermer

I'm in 4th term right now and my friend asks me to share one year UWorld Qbank. I have no idea how it works. Is there anyone in here who has shared the Uworld Qbank? I want to make sure it works in sharing, likes both of us are using the same time in different laptops.

Second question about hospital placement for clinical rotation, I want to study 3-4 months for the step (I know the advice is 6-8 weeks is the max, but I also know how good/bad I am). Does anyone know any hospitals that will waive to submit the score before starting? I will definitely take the Step before starting rotation, but it will take 3-6 weeks for grade processing and sending to hospital. Otherwise, can I ask the clinical department put me on the hospital which starts on Oct or late Sep? Please gimme the hospital names if you know some. I don't think it's too soon for me to talk about it. If there were no hospital like I thought, I would start to study for the Step during this winter break and find the other way to balance term 5 and step 1.

Thanks for all the answers.

You can share Uworld, but only one of you will be able to choose the question and answer it as a question, while the other only sees question and answer. In addition, if you both log in at the same time, UWorld would detect that and cut off your subscription. In short, its not worth it sharing, especially during the real time of studying for the step
Regarding 3-4 months to study for the step, if you are an August student finishing 5th term in May, taking 3-4 months for the step will guarantee you to delay your residency a yr. SGU may be able to start you in Oct (not even sure they can do that, rotations follow a strict schedule), but even starting in Oct is nearly impossible for you to get everything in (step 2 cs + ck, all your core rotations) in on time for the residency applications. Remember, if you study 3-4 months for step 1, how long are you going to take for step 2 CK? another 3-4 months? I'd say if you are an aug student and you start rotations later than the NJ start dates of around Sept 7th, you can expect to miss the match as Sept 7th is already fairly late, and NJ people already is hard pressed to finish everything on time to apply for residency on time.

Originally Posted by Anastomosis

Regarding 3-4 months to study for the step, if you are an August student finishing 5th term in May, taking 3-4 months for the step will guarantee you to delay your residency a yr. SGU may be able to start you in Oct (not even sure they can do that, rotations follow a strict schedule), but even starting in Oct is nearly impossible for you to get everything in (step 2 cs + ck, all your core rotations) in on time for the residency applications. Remember, if you study 3-4 months for step 1, how long are you going to take for step 2 CK? another 3-4 months? I'd say if you are an aug student and you start rotations later than the NJ start dates of around Sept 7th, you can expect to miss the match as Sept 7th is already fairly late, and NJ people already is hard pressed to finish everything on time to apply for residency on time.

Thanks for your answer. On the other post, kananaskis_girl said that we didn't need to finish all the cores before matching date. We have to finish all the cores before Jun 2012 in order to graduate. So I suppose that after graduate on June till the hospital starts (I have no idea when it starts), I will have couple months to study for step 2. I'm not quite sure, but I remember that kananaskis_girl told me that she took the step 2 (cs?) right after she finished term 3 (required cores). I also have another question, do the hospital have our step 2 grade when they process residency application? I don't think so. If I'm right, I think I don't worry about Step 2 grade, just need to pass.

i dont know what kanaskas girl was talking about... you need to finish 3rd year before you take step 2 CK, and for the great majority of programs for us IMGs, they won't even consider you without a step 2 CK score. If you start on Aug 16th in NY, you finish 3rd year end of July, take a month to study for Step 2 CK and take it late Aug, and start up 4th year again on September 1st. ERAS opens on september 1st for uploading applications, and your application won't be complete till step 2 CK score comes out, which takes about a month, so your application won't be complete till late Sept/early October. From that.. you can already tell you are somewhat late already compared to US students, as most US schools start rotation at latest beginning July.
Now if you start on Sept 7 for NJ students, that puts you finishing 3rd yr at late August.. so that puts you taking step 2 CK late September. Start 4th year in October (rotations usually start 1st of every month, so you actually have like 5-6 wks to study for step 2 CK, vs 1 month if u started in NY), and your application won't be complete till late october/early november. You are at a distinct disadvantage right there compared to US students. People do it all the time and get away with it, but its just like application to medical school, the earlier the better. If your application is strong, programs will still find ways to interview you.
Now if you wanted to start in October.. thats just almost out of the question. Your application will be completed so late that it may not even be worth it.

step 2 CS, you can take that whenever you feel comfortable with patient interactions. You do not need to finish all your cores to take it. It is a pass/fail, and you just need to pass. You are confusing that with Step 2 CK, which is just like step 1, and almost just as impt as step 1 for IMGs.

The best thing I would do if I were you is plan on being in NJ. This yr clined started placing people early Aug, and placed people without a passing score if they meet certain requirements (pass BSCE2, pass NBME, >2.5 GPA + maybe a couple other things). If you take your step 1 before they start placing people, you will be okay and will start in NJ. Do not plan on pushing your step 1 and starting clinicals in Oct, unless you plan on sitting out a year. That gives you approximately 10 wks to study for step 1, which is more than enough. Remember, the longer you study does not guarantee a higher score. Google "failed step 1", and see how people do 2nd or even 3rd time taking step 1, after taking months again to restudy for step 1. Their score increases are minimal. It is a combination of how smart you are, how hard you worked in med school, and the amount of knowledge you started off with before studying for step 1. Time of studying past 6-8 wks is of minimal benefit, and can actually be detrimental.

Originally Posted by Anastomosis

step 2 CS, you can take that whenever you feel comfortable with patient interactions. You do not need to finish all your cores to take it. It is a pass/fail, and you just need to pass. You are confusing that with Step 2 CK, which is just like step 1, and almost just as impt as step 1 for IMGs.

The best thing I would do if I were you is plan on being in NJ. This yr clined started placing people early Aug, and placed people without a passing score if they meet certain requirements (pass BSCE2, pass NBME, >2.5 GPA + maybe a couple other things). If you take your step 1 before they start placing people, you will be okay and will start in NJ. Do not plan on pushing your step 1 and starting clinicals in Oct, unless you plan on sitting out a year. That gives you approximately 10 wks to study for step 1, which is more than enough. Remember, the longer you study does not guarantee a higher score. Google "failed step 1", and see how people do 2nd or even 3rd time taking step 1, after taking months again to restudy for step 1. Their score increases are minimal. It is a combination of how smart you are, how hard you worked in med school, and the amount of knowledge you started off with before studying for step 1. Time of studying past 6-8 wks is of minimal benefit, and can actually be detrimental.

Your answer is really helpful. Yeah, I don't actually plan 100% that I will take 3 months for step 1. I'm not 2.5 GPA student, I think 6-8 weeks is enough for me to prepare the test, but I would like to set the plan which has more time in case. As you said, I would pick (if I could) the NJ hospital. If I get it, when will I have to take the Step 1, mid July or 1st week of Aug (in order to get the grade before starting)?

Other option, do you know any hospital which waives the grade for couple months, so I can take the step just one week before it starts? In NJ, NY or FL, wherever.

Every year is different. In the past, the put final placement as a first come first serve basis, meaning whoever comes up with a step 1 score first will be placed, so in the past, if you take it late, there is a good chance you will be bumped out of your preliminary.
This yr is the first time they did it differently. It doesnt matter when you take it, as long as you have taken it before they started giving permanent placement (late july, early august), it doesn't matter when you take it. Now if you were to take it after they have started giving out permanent placement, then your preliminary placement is in jeopardy. So assuming they will keep this the same, take it late july the latest to avoid complication, but Im sure they will change things around.
Only NY allows students to start rotation without a passing score, but as Dean W. has mentioned, they are very careful with that as a failing score during rotation causes many problems. From what I have heard, they do withold final placement on some students even though they meet all the requirements. One could speculate that those are high risk students that the school forsee as having a good chance of failing.
NJ on the other hand, you have to have a passing score to start rotation. No way around it. They may give you a final placement, but if you fail, you cannot start.
Step 1 scores take approximately 1 month from the time you take it to get the score.

Originally Posted by firsttermer

Thanks for your answer. On the other post, kananaskis_girl said that we didn't need to finish all the cores before matching date. We have to finish all the cores before Jun 2012 in order to graduate. So I suppose that after graduate on June till the hospital starts (I have no idea when it starts), I will have couple months to study for step 2. I'm not quite sure, but I remember that kananaskis_girl told me that she took the step 2 (cs?) right after she finished term 3 (required cores). I also have another question, do the hospital have our step 2 grade when they process residency application? I don't think so. If I'm right, I think I don't worry about Step 2 grade, just need to pass.

correct, you can do Ob/Gyn as your very last rotation of med school if you want to and you can still match that year. I took CS during my third core rotation (didn't have surgery, psych or peds prior to taking it). I took CK after I finished all my cores however. When you apply for residency as an IMG it is always better to have your CK scores uploaded so they can see them, it will give you a better shot at matching, if you were an AMG it probably wouldn't matter much.

Originally Posted by Anastomosis

i dont know what kanaskas girl was talking about... you need to finish 3rd year before you take step 2 CK, and for the great majority of programs for us IMGs, they won't even consider you without a step 2 CK score.

no, you don't....it's probably better if you do, especially if you're one of those "sitting onthe fence" students as far as scores go, but having all your cores completed prior to taking CK is not mandatory from the USMLE standpoint....

Originally Posted by kananaskis_girl

correct, you can do Ob/Gyn as your very last rotation of med school if you want to and you can still match that year. I took CS during my third core rotation (didn't have surgery, psych or peds prior to taking it). I took CK after I finished all my cores however. When you apply for residency as an IMG it is always better to have your CK scores uploaded so they can see them, it will give you a better shot at matching, if you were an AMG it probably wouldn't matter much.

Hi Kananaskis_girl, can you tell me what core you finished before taking Step 2 CS. From what you said, it liked you had just finished Medicine core, and what-else? You took CK after finished all your cores... you mean only required cores (3rd year) or included elective cores. From what you said, it seems you didn't have CK by the time you submit to ERAS.

Originally Posted by Anastomosis

ERAS opens on september 1st for uploading applications, and your application won't be complete till step 2 CK score comes out, which takes about a month, so your application won't be complete till late Sept/early October.

So, as Anastomonis said, ERAS needs CK to finish the application. Can you tell me when you finish the CK, Kananaskis ?

Originally Posted by Anastomosis

Only NY allows students to start rotation without a passing score, but as Dean W. has mentioned, they are very careful with that as a failing score during rotation causes many problems. From what I have heard, they do withold final placement on some students even though they meet all the requirements. One could speculate that those are high risk students that the school forsee as having a good chance of failing.

Can you tell me when NY hospitals start? So far, I got only one B, not sure about Path and Micro this term. So, I don't think I'm in the high risk of failing group. However, English is not my first language and I've just been on the States + Grenada 6 years so far. Believe it or not, I hadn't studied English before. It took me one and half year to finish the ESOL. I have no idea how US hospital + med school run. I need extra time for Step 1 because I can't speed up my reading faster. I still try to max my reading speed. Other students do 100 questions everynite within 1 hour, while it always takes my like 2 hours to finish the questions + explanation. So do you think I can ask SGU put me into NY hospital and waive the score for the couple months? As you said, all NY hospital will consider it, or SGU will consider and all NY hospital accept it. Who is the one to make decision whether I can be waived?

Originally Posted by firsttermer

Hi Kananaskis_girl, can you tell me what core you finished before taking Step 2 CS. From what you said, it liked you had just finished Medicine core, and what-else? You took CK after finished all your cores... you mean only required cores (3rd year) or included elective cores. From what you said, it seems you didn't have CK by the time you submit to ERAS.

good lord, become familiar with the ClinEd website and clinical requirements. Obviously, if I hadn't finished surg, psych or peds, I HAD finished medicine and Ob/Gyn....

4th year requirements are not lumped in with "core rotations", I took CK after finishing third year. I was January class, hence, finished third year by May, so yes, CK scores would have been in prior to residency application

Originally Posted by firsttermer

So, as Anastomonis said, ERAS needs CK to finish the application. Can you tell me when you finish the CK, Kananaskis ?

No, Anastomosis said your application won't be "complete" without your CK score, you can go ahead and apply without it, just like you can apply without having a pass on the CS, but since you are an IMG your chances won't be as good as if you do have it. Many US students put off their CK and don't have it when they apply, but they are US grads and they don't have the competition that we do.

Originally Posted by firsttermer

Can you tell me when NY hospitals start? So far, I got only one B, not sure about Path and Micro this term. So, I don't think I'm in the high risk of failing group. However, English is not my first language and I've just been on the States + Grenada 6 years so far. Believe it or not, I hadn't studied English before. It took me one and half year to finish the ESOL. I have no idea how US hospital + med school run. I need extra time for Step 1 because I can't speed up my reading faster. I still try to max my reading speed. Other students do 100 questions everynite within 1 hour, while it always takes my like 2 hours to finish the questions + explanation. So do you think I can ask SGU put me into NY hospital and waive the score for the couple months? As you said, all NY hospital will consider it, or SGU will consider and all NY hospital accept it. Who is the one to make decision whether I can be waived?

I suggest you become familiar with the ClinEd website, NY hospitals start in May and in August. You can waive your Step score for the NY hospital system for 12 weeks (read up more on why this is on the ClinEd website), this decision is made in conjunction with ClinEd and the hospital, partly based on your previous SGU performance (grades and BSCE exams) and partly based on whether or not they think you will actually pass it and whether they have the additional placement spots. You can ask for SGU to consider you for a NY placement, but they may not guarantee this spot because there will be other students with passing scores who will be wanting those spots, you will be taking a risk. You can also take a Leave of Absence if you really need the extra time and defer your placement with the next class (this will set you behind one year for residency).