I would like to congratulate Goat99 for passing the USMLE Step 1 recently with a score of 91/219 which she took last April. Goat99 is a member of the June 2009 batch of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course. We wish her well as she prepares for the challenges of USMLE Step 2 CK. If you . . . → Read More: Congratulations Goat99! USMLE Step 1 Score 91/219
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Click here to access Askdoc’s USMLE Step 2 CS Prep Course. The USMLE Step 2 CS is probably the most neglected examination in the USMLE. It is usually taken as an afterthought, with very little preparation taken before the exam. And in relation to the other bigger exams, Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3, maybe it is not as “important”. Unlike its bigger cousins, USMLE Step 2 CS is a pass/fail exam. So performing really wells serves no other purpose than to feel good about yourself. Of course, over preparing can also insure that there is no chance you will fail. However, it is important to realize that although USMLE Step 2 CS is relatively simple, if you are unfamiliar with the methodology of the exam you can fail. For most AMGs this is not a problem since simulated patient exams are part of their normal curriculum. However, for most IMG’s it is a rather novel experience. Therefore, the key to doing well in the Step 2 CS exam is to be so familiar with the methods that it becomes second nature to you. This includes doing a relevant medical interview, performing a focused physical examination and writing a legible and coherent patient note. All under time pressure. You also need to dress, act and speak in a professional manner. And all this takes practice. The most important thing in preparing for Step 2 CS is practice. Practice, practice and more practice. Askdoc’s USMLE prep course currently consists of 30 practice cases that you can use to sharpen your mastery of the methods. An additional 30 cases will be finished in the next few days to bring the total number of cases you can practice on to 60. Continue reading Askdoc’s USMLE Step 2 CS Prep Course Now Open for Enrollment I read Kaplan notes once, FA twice and doing Qbanks now. Is that enough for Step 1? A frequent question asked in forums and in my blog but misses the point entirely. It is never a question of how much effort you put into preparing for the USMLE that determines the final result of your prep, but how well you have retained and are able to recall the information you have studied. Although a certain amount of effort is required in order to achieve this, how much time and effort you put in to achieve equivalent result depends on the skill and intelligence you put into your prep. It is not so much studying harder as studying smarter. In the forums, you see a lot of people studying the same things in the same way and results range for high 99′s to failing. So something else must be at work to explain the variety of results achieve using what is essentially the same study plan. And that something is the level of mastery achieved by different people using the same plan. It has to do with the different methods people use to study the material. As some people have asked time and again. When you say you have revised the material 2 times, do you mean you have read the materials twice, or you have tried to memorize the material twice. And therein lies the difference in results. For the purpose of the USMLE, what you cannot recall in a minute or so, you do not know. It is not enough for you to have read Kaplan, or FA or whatever, but you should be able to recall what you have read. If you cannot answer a question, it is because: 1. you do not know the concept because you have not read it Continue reading Why You Need to Master the USMLE Step 1 I would like to announce that you do not have to enroll in the full course to listen to Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course Live Lectures. You can now choose to attend the Live Lectures only for US$ 200. If you decide to enroll in the full course within the next 2 months, you are entitled to a credit of US$100 from the price of the full course. What is Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Live Lectures? Unlike other courses, my live lectures concentrate on teaching you how to study for the USMLE Step 1, rather than what to study. It is composed of 6 1.5 hour lectures, presented live over the web. The lectures includes the following:
People have been badgering me for sometime now on writing more about how to prep for Step 2 CK. Some even wants me to start a Step 2 CK prep course. However, due to time constraints and the Step 1 Prep Course, it has not come to pass. Lately there had been too many people asking questions about their Step 2 CK preparation and problems they are encountering. Although I still don’t have time to write a full article on it, I have decided to tackle the 4 most common reason that people do poorly in the Step 2 CK. I am also reposting an article about “What to do for Step 2 CK” an older post that needs some rewriting but is still relevant 1. Not Studying Enough Detail. The most common mistake people make in studying for Step 2 CK is not studying enough detail. You see so many reviewers in the market that purport you can ace the exam by studying the little material it contains. That is a lot of bull. Medicine is a very broad subject and Step 2 CK covers all the most common and even some rare cases.Those little reviewer just does not give you enough detail to do well in this exam. An exception is Kaplan Notes. Very good detail. However, you need to know 85% of it in order to know enough to pass. Higher if you want a higher score. And that is impossible to do unless you do a minimum of 3 revisions. I will discuss the various study materials you can use in another post. Continue reading Most Common Mistakes in Step 2 CK Prep *note: I wrote this way back in 2007 and posted it in prep4usmle. I am reposting it here because many people have been asking about how to prep for Step 2 CK and I am busy to write one. Although this may need a rewrite, it will do until I actually finish and post a new article. The purpose of this post is to help people prepare for Step 2 CK. I purposefully did not title this as ‘How to get a 99 in Step 2 CK’ even though I got one using these preparation techniques. The reason is that it takes more than knowing how to prepare to get a 99. How much sacrifice and effort you put into your preparation is most important. Some of you may already know me, from my post on how to prepare for step 1. I posted it in answer to a question on ‘What to Do’ in Step 1, and it’s purpose is to guide people in how to prepare for step 1 rather than how to get a 99 even though, again, I got one using those prep techniques. I’m posting a link to that thread: For those who don’t. I am an Old IMG from the Philippines. Graduated way back in 1989 at the top medical college in my country. I took Step 1 last April 24, 2006 and got a 99/256. Took Step 2 CK last November 20, 2006 and got 99/258. Back in late 2004, when I started this journey and like most of you dreaming of 99′s, whenever, I see someone posting that they got 99′s, 2 things always pop up in my mind, wishing that it was me and wondering how it’s done. And always, when I read what they write about how they did it, it talks of what books they read, what lecture they listened to and what QBanks they used. Of course, the problem was, everybody seems to be doing the same things and most of them are not getting 99′s and some are even failing. So the only conclusion I can make is the secret does not lie in the preparation materials rather in how you used the preparation materials. And since different people have different starting points and different capabilities, their preparations and the materials they used must be adjusted accordingly. Someone once asked in this forum if the reason I know so much about USMLE is I had taken it before. The answer is no, this is the first time I am taking all Steps. The reason I seem to know a lot about it is that it has always in my nature to know as much as I can about any task set before me. I have never failed an exam in my life and even though USMLE is supposed to be really tough especially for old Grads, I’m not about to let this be my first time. So, I set out to discover as much as I can about the exam, analyzing it and planning out what I hoped was a coherent well thought out study plan taking into consideration my special situation (a very old graduate) and my own prep capabilities. It is not enough to study hard, one has to study smart too. I believe that with proper prep and hard work, anyone can pass this exam, hence this “what to do”. It is also my belief that with proper prep and really hard work, most can get high 80′s and even 90′s. Someday I’ll probably write a post about how to get double 99′s but for now I’ll stick to proper preparation for Step 2 CK. Continue reading What to Do in Step 2 CK Hello Everyone, this is actually my first time to try posting videos in my blog. So please excuse the effort if the quality is not too good. Hope to get better at doing this in the future. A lot of people think that all they need to do in order to do well in the USMLE Step . . . → Read More: How to Master the USMLE Step 1 – an Introduction I would like to congratulate Pouya for successfully passing the USMLE Step 1 Exam with a score of 92/222 which he took last December 1, 2009. He is part of the April, 2009 batch of enrollees in my prep course for Step 1. He is currently continuing his medical studies and will be sitting for Step . . . → Read More: Congratulations Pouya! USMLE Step 1 92/222 I would like to congratulate Logik15 for passing the USMLE Step 1 recently with a score of 92/221. He is the first member of the February batch to report back with his scores. I wish him well in his future endeavours I am still awaiting the results of two other members of the February batch who have . . . → Read More: Congratulations Logik15! USMLE Step 1 92/221 It’s been over a year since I first published “NBME Self-assessment Tests and USMLE Review.” Little did I know it will become the most popular of my post with over 14,000 pageviews in the past year. Since that time a lot of things have changed, hence this update. If you have not read the previous two posts on this topic, please do so as I will not be repeating what I have said there in this post. You can access Part 1 here and Part 2 here. How well does NBME predict your USMLE Score? That has been the number one question asked of me since I wrote about this topic. My answer is still the same. Fairly well. Although correlation is never 100% more like 70 to 80%. However, certain development in the past few years have made the assessment tests less reliable for some people. Continue reading NBME Self-assessment Tests and USMLE Review – An Update  40 comments  Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK, USMLE Step 3  correlation, nbme, nbme assessment tests, nbme self assessment, NBME self assessment tests, predictability, predictor, score, self assessment tests, step 1, step 2, usmle, usmle scores, USMLE Step 1 Self Assessment, USMLE Step 2CK Self Assessment, usmle world, USMLE World Self Assessment I would like to announce that I’ll be accepting applications for the September Class of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course which will start on September 1, 2009 and end on March 3, 2010. This is the 5th batch of enrollees for this course. Please click on this link to go to the Home Page for . . . → Read More: September Class – Accepting Applications for USMLE Step 1 Prep Course I would like to congratulate Marlene for successfully passing the USMLE Step 1 with a score of 88/213 which she took last March 27, 2009. She is part of the first batch of enrollees in my prep course for USMLE Step 1 which started last September, 2008. For those who were visiting the blog since last . . . → Read More: Congratulations Marlene! USMLE Step 1 88/213 *Note: Enrollment for September Classes have started. Please go to this link I would like to announce that I’ll be accepting applications for the June Batch of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course which will start on June 1, 2009 and end on November 30, 2009. This is the 4th batch of enrollees for this course and again due to experiences with the previous batches, changes are being implemented to the program for this batch. As you may well be aware, the first batch started last September, 2008. No fees were collected, however, the applicants were required to have failed Step 1 at least once. Tong, the first to take the exam from that batch has passed with a score of 97/232. The second, Marlene just passed with an 88/213. Most of you may know Marlene. She was the one who was ardently negotiating a position in the prep course on this blog last July to August when I first announced the course. Well she finally made it. You can read more about their exam experience here. The February batch is mostly on schedule to take their exams in June and July, except for two who have requested to be move the June batch and one who is MIA. So a total of 4 will be taking their exams soon. Continue reading June Class – Accepting Applications for Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course I wrote part of this post in answer to questions from my readers and students. After 2 emails and one answer to comments, I have decided to elaborate and write in more detail as a post that I will share with everyone. So what do you do on the day of the examination? The day you sit for the USMLE is the culmination of months of preparation. It may seem unfair that no matter how well your performance were in those countless q banks and test simulation, the only performance that really counts is the one you do on exam day. Therefore, it makes sense to maximize your chances of performing well for that date. Your preparation should begin way before the date of your examination, when you schedule the examination. It is a known fact that during review, people do reach a plateau and the best time to take the exam is just before or just after you reach your peak. Earlier or later than that can result in lower scores. When you review, immediately after learning and memorizing your lessons, you immediately start forgetting. Normally, the amount of medical concepts you are memorizing and retaining is growing faster than you are forgetting them. However, there comes a time when you reach your peak and eventually plateaus. Afterwards you will go into decline and forget more than you are learning. Most people go into plateau in about 6 to 8 months, therefore the ideal review time is around that long. That is why my prep course is around 6 months long. Continue reading What to Do on the Day of the USMLE Exam 3 comments Articles, Study Methods, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2CK, USMLE Step 3 accuracy, Bank, best time, forum, good chance, high yield, last minute, maxim, nbme, Q Banks, reason, score, Step, step 2, step 2 CK, Step 2 CK. USMLE step3, step 3, study, test takers, usmle, USMLE Step 1, usmle step2 CK *Enrollments for June Classes already started and will be open for the whole of May, 2009. If you are interested in enrolling please click on this link. Thank You Hello everyone, I will now be accepting applications for the April batch of Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course which will start April 1, 2009 and end on September 30, 2009. This is the third batch of enrollees for this prep course. As you may well be aware, the first batch started last September, 2008. No fees were collected, however, the applicants were required to have failed Step 1 at least once. The first to take the exam from that batch has passed with a score of 97/232. You can read more about him here. The second batch started on January 26, 2009 and currently with 7 members. They paid a fee of $100 but this time around, everyone was accepted but on a first come, first served basis. Currently 4 are doing very well and 3 are doing poorly, not in terms of scores but in terms of progress. You need to be committed to finishing the course, and in order to do that you need to show up. Therefore some modification to the programs need to be done which I’ll discuss later. Due to my experience with the first and second batch, I believe I have to describe the course in more detail including expectations and the amount of work needed so there is no misunderstanding. 1. The course covers USMLE Step 1 which is seven subjects all in all. The course is 6 months long. Therefore telling me that you do not have enough time to finish 1 subject in 4 to 6 weeks means you won’t have time to finish the course period. Therefore please be ready to invest the time needed to do the course. Nothing less than 4 to 6 hours a day at least 5 to 6 days a week is needed. If you are unable to commit this time, then this course will not help you. 2. The reason you would want in on this course is that it will teach you how to prep for the USMLE in the proper way. Therefore you must be prepared to follow instructions. You would be surprised at how many people insists on following their own methods of studying rather than those outlined in the course. If you will not follow the course’s review methodology, why bother enrolling? Continue reading April Class – Accepting Applications for Askdoc’s USMLE Step 1 Prep Course
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