Although Step 2 CS is not really very hard to pass. One thing it needs is practice. If you are fresh grad, fresh from the clinics, or have been practicing medicine the past few years, you probably could do it in 2 weeks. But if you are an old grad out of medical practice for sometime, it may not be that easy. Also very important is if English is your language of instruction or not. You can still get interviews with Step 2 CS pending so long as you have good Step 1 an Step 2 CK scores although it is still best to have all 3 steps finished by September.

Askdoc

I have posted on the relative importance of each subject and the percentages that usually appear in the exam. You can find a discussion in my forum under Askdoc’s method of USMLE Review at http://forums.askdoc-usmle.com. Your order is right except for behavioral science which is very high yield. I would put it a the level of physio. However, as it is hard to study for medical ethics questions rather than using qbanks, it does not merit as much book study.

The problem with the video is that the percentages given were fixed. Different people get different percentages in the actual exam. That is why I always give a range of numbers. For example, some people have exam heavier in Pharma, others in Micro, others in Physio. Some have almost no neuro, while others will have more neuro. So it is not exactly the same percentages for all exam. It depends on which exam set you get. What is uniform is that Pathology is tested heavily. The USMLE emphasizes integration of subject. It wants to know if you have integrated all the subjects in your head. Since Pathology, Pharmacology and Micro/Immuno are what I call integrated subjects, they are most heavily tested. However, you need to draw on what you know in physiology, biochemistry and anatomy in order to answer those questions. That is why they are considered integrated topics. In my prep course, my students are told to concentrate heavily on integrating the subjects during their second revision precisely because of this emphasis on integrated topics by the USMLE.

Askdoc.

Sorry for the late reply. Started the first ever live online lecture in my course and that took a lot of my time to prepare. 6 online live lectures on Study methods and Test taking strategy for the September batch of my course. Anyway, to learn concepts you need to study textbooks or attend lectures. The reason is that in order to understand concepts, they need to be explained and that is best done in narrative form. Plus multiple examples need to be given to illustrate the concept. BRS and Kaplan notes are not textbooks. They are review books. The hallmark of review books are they are shorter, with less explanations. Usually they are composed of bulleted lists, tables and illustrations. The reason is they presume you know the concepts. What you need is to memorize them and with limited memory, you need to compact the information so you can store more information in your head. You need to both understand the concept and memorize them as well. A lot of questions in the USMLE require you to remember enough detail in order to be able to answer them. Understanding the concept is not enough although also very important to score high. So first, read textbooks to understand concepts, use review books to memorize details. This is actually discussed in great detail in my online live lectures on the course.

Askdoc

Thanks for your great advice. If my goal is to learn the concepts, what type of books should I use? Are the brs book equivalent to kaplan notes? I would like not only to pass the usmle step 1, but to score above average as well. I have about 8 months, and I need to devise a plan.

em101

First, what books depend on whether you are learning the concepts or reviewing the concepts. The type of books are different depending on your goal. Next, there is no one book that will cover everything tested in the USMLE. There are books that cover the highest yield concepts (Those that are most likely to come out in the exam although they cover only about 60 to 65% of the questions in the exam). There are other books that cover both high yield and lower yield concepts like the Kaplan notes (but barely enough for you to hit high 90′s or 99′s) Again depends on what are your goals.

Askdoc

The Kaplan q book is good for evaluation of your mastery of each subject. They are easier than the qBank and contain less low yield stuff. They are ideal to use after you finish revising each subject to see if you’ve mastered enough material before moving on to the next subject. There is so far as I’ve noticed no repeat of the exact questions from the Kaplan q Bank. In my own prep, I used both. The qbook after I finished revising each subject. And the qbank after I have finished all my revision just before the actual examination

Askdoc