i just took step 2

[pacman]

i took it last week. it was quite difficult. timing was a big problem.

format: many questions (with the answer choices) filled the entire screen. only 1 or 2 were longer than that, though (where you need to click on "more" or scroll down in order to see the rest). many had more than 5 answer choices. each block had around 3 "pairs" of questions (where the answer choices are the same for each question). i don't remember if there were any instances of 3 or more questons being "joined", but it could have happened once or twice tops. there were no questions where more than 1 answer had to be chosen (as Qbook, e.g., has).

content: i don't know what percentages each specialty was tested (i'm always amazed when people say "IM was 70%", e.g. - did they take tabs and do a calculation?). i had several gross images, several CXRs, and 1 CT scan, as far as i remember. i also had 1 EKG which had S1Q3T3 (if you're not sure what that means, i'll be happy to explain). a few questions were on stuff i hadn't seen since step 1, e.g. lesch-nyhan syndrome (pt. was self-injurious) and chediak-higashi syndrome (pt. had patches of vitiligo).

how i prepared: i used the kaplan notes and crush step 2 for theory. for practice questions, i did the entire Qbook, NMS book, kaplan simulated CD, released items, questions in the back of the IM blueprints book, and a few of the questions from the kaplan notes. and for the released items, i read the explanations that kaplan puts out on its website.

my advice: take a kaplan course, but study on your own (and do some practice questions, if possible) beforehand a little bit so that you can get the most out of the course. a good way to do this is to read through crush step 2 quickly before the course because it's a good all-in-one book. then do either Qbook or Qbank. i didn't have time to do Qbank, but i assume it's similar to Qbook, which is very realistic as far as question difficulty and length. make sure you can finish each block in an hour (although it has 50 questions per block while the exam has only 46). if you can't, you need to practice reading faster. then do the NMS book, which is about the same in terms of difficulty, but not realistic in terms of timing (lots of one-line questions, which can be done much faster, of course). it's still a good book to do, though, because it has great explanations. also, i suggest that when you're doing all these questions, take notes on and highlight the ones in which you learn something new or something is clarified or corrected, so that later on you can read those explantions again. i did this for slightly over half of the questions, and was able to reread them quickly in the week before the exam. if you don't do this, you'll forget what you learn. i think it's better to do 1,000 questions and review them than to do 2,000 questions only once.

one more thing about timing: this might be obvious to you all, but the way the testing software works is that the block you're working on does not end until you answer the last question you're on. therefore, if you're short on time, you can take extra time for the last question. let's say there are less than 2 minutes left in the block and you have 3 more questions to do. take a quick look at all 3 and pick the longest one to be the last one you'll do. then answer the other 2 with the time you have remaining, and when there are only a few seconds left, switch to the one you picked. then relax and read it slowly and carefully. the block won't end until you click on "next", "previous", or "item review", so make sure you don't switch to another question before you're done. the only catch is that the extra time is deducted from your break time. i did this on every block of the exam.

[Anonymous]

hey, thanks for ur message, it was good to read that much of detail especially since i'm takin step 2 next week, i would however like to ask u to clarify what the SQT and all that meant,lol.
thanks for also mentioning about the time, i thought it was just the cd that had that extra time stuff...
thanks again,
.........................

[pacman]

you're welcome.

S1Q3T3 = deep S waves in lead I, Q waves in lead III, and inverted T waves in lead III. it is suggestive of a PE. (i don't remember what the question asked, though.)

i should also add that although many people say that step 2 is easier than step 1, i don't think it is. take the advice of adam brochert in the intro to crush step 2, that the 2 exams are of equal difficulty. (perhaps the reason that so many people say step 2 is easier is because it used to be so?) do not underestimate this exam.