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Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
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Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
USMLE Step 2 CK Experience â An IMG Perspective
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Hereâs my full experience and advice for USMLE Step 2 CK takers in the near future.
Background: Recent Cairo University graduate. Didnât do Step 1 or CS at the time of writing this article.
My Goal: +240
PHASE ONE (more than a year of almost wasting time!)
That was during my âinternshipâ year here in Egypt or what we call according to the British system weâre following to some extent âtraining year as a Preregistration House Officerâ. I just watched the whole 140-hour Kaplan video lectures except pediatrics because I couldnât stand that guy (The Kaplan pediatric book is great but the video lectures are just the author reading his book out loud!). Then I spent about 3 months doing almost nothing regarding my USMLE preparation because of getting married .
So, about this phase: This was a huge waste of time! Donât get me wrong; Kaplan is great and Iâll write about that in details just in a minute but doing one lecture this day and another the next week and then get busy with hospital shifts then go back to do another lecture is just not the optimal way to prepare for the USMLE. 140 hours means about 30 days of 5 hours a day and another 30 days for reading the 1400 pages set of lecture notes. Thatâs enough and much better than what I did, not just because of saving your precious time but also because spreading the studying over a long period of time doesnât help in making connections between information sets youâre learning about. So, the first lesson: study every day for a decent amount of time & donât make gaps in your studying timeline.
About Kaplan Video Lectures: all of the doctors are great (except the pediatrician). Conrad Fischer is great and everything but he tends to drop out a lot of important material, so you have to do an extra effort to understand the chapters explained by Dr. Fischer! On the other hand, you have tutors like Elmar Sakala, Charles Faselis, Steven DaughertyâŠyou wonât really be required to do anything other than listening to them carefully and reading lightly after the lecture is finished.
Bottom line
If you want a solid introduction to USMLE Step 2 Ck do Kaplan videos.
About Kaplan Lecture Notes: They should be your main study material in all disciplines except internal medicine and surgery. Kaplan Internal Medicine is good but not very well organized (I used Master The Board for most internal medicine chapters). Kaplan Surgery book is 2 parts, part 2 is the cases that Dr. Carlos Pestana use in his lectures, those are great. However, part 1 which youâre required to study on your own is so cluttered, not organized at all and lacking a lot of stuff. So, for surgery, you can use a combination of Kaplan surgery book (part 2 only) & Board and Wards surgery section.
PHASE TWO (4 months)
I began this phase by doing Kaplan Diagnostic Test (150 questions) and I got 51% correct answers. That was on the 6th of September, 2015; i.e. 7 months before the exam. Then I started doing Kaplan Question Bank and it took me forever because I was over-annotating my books with every question bank trivial piece of information. So, it took me more than 4 months (to the 10th of January 2016) to just finish 1200 questions out of 3000! I took NBME 3 in late November and I got less than 150! (My test date was the 29th of December so, I extended the eligibility period and delayed the test to the 29th of March) and then I continued to do Kaplan Question Bank and did NBME 6 on the 10th of January 2016 and got 150! So, at this point, I said to myself: enough is enough; and started USMLE World QB.
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
USMLE Step 2 CK Experience by Seeta Chillumuntala
Step 2 CK Score: 261
I am not really one to post on groups however I found that previous experiences were very useful in my prep so decided I would share my experience in case it helps anybody.
This was my first USMLE Step. Prep time â 4.5 months
I started off by doing a bit of UWorld. Then I decided it would be best to solve an NBME to gauge my level of baseline knowledge; so, I solved NBME-4. NBME-4 is thought to be the best predictor of score compared to all other NBMEs. So, thinking back, doing this one so early was not such a good idea cause I scored a 203. However here is my thought on NBMEs â I got 203, with 43 wrong and 157 correct. In the real world, I would actually feel good about that baseline score 157/200 however due to the very complex nature of NBME scoring I ended up with that disastrous score. I was very sad for a few days and had some sleepless nights thinking, my goodness! What does it take to get a decent score, how are the people doing it?
I would like to think it was a blessing in disguise to get such a low score; because I donât think I would have worked as hard.
Nevertheless, I decided to start by focusing on my weaknesses which the NBME score report showed, such as behavioral health and OB/GYN.
I studied for 6-8 hours every day. Iâm not one to take any day off cause I find if I do so it then turns later into 2 days off, then 3 days off âŠ
Resources used
UWorld x 2 (random, timed) highly recommend
Uptodate (excellent for searching updated guidelines on treatment and diagnostic tests) highly recommended.
CRASHes (these are sessions on the Facebook EAMTAR group where a topic e.g. hematology is discussed by the leader asking questions and people posting their answers. I never got to actually take part in the discussions due to the timezone) highly recommend
Kaplan Patient Safety chapter highly recommend
UWorld Step 1 biostats/behavioral science/Immuno-Micro
Osmosis online youtube highly recommend. The drawings really helped me remember the topic
I TRIED few pages of the Kaplan books and MTB but Iâm not so much of a textbook person
CMS self-assessments for major topics e.g. OB/GYN, Pediatrics the more questions the better (average 40/50)
NBMEs one each month.
Assessment Scores
NBME 4 â 203 (beginning of prep)
NBME 6 â 240 (month 2)
NBME 3 â 248 (3)
NBME 7 â 245 (4)
UWSA 1 â 268 (2 weeks before the exam)
UWSA 2 â 254 (2 weeks before the exam)
Keep enough time between solving them and the exam to read the explanations carefully, because they contain new questions not found in the question banks with lots of info.
Average of these two was my Step 2 CK score.
Exam Experience
The day before the exam â I relaxed, didnât do much studying, stayed close to the exam center did not want to have the hassle of traveling from home early in the morning. Went to sleep at 10 pm. Woke up at 6 am had a good breakfast and reached test center by 8 am, the test did not start until 9.30am due to the elaborate security checks.
Block 1 seemed pretty decent, though the questions were not that long compared to uworld
Block 2 tougher
Break 10 min â mistake I made was to go out to drink water, wastes your time when you have to go back to your seat due to the repeat security check to go in
Block 3 tougher
Break 5 min to deep breathe
Block 4 Decent
Break LUNCH eat enough and high energy foods
Rest of the blocks I started to get progressively tired and was taking longer to read the questions so they âseemed longerâ. I was actually tight on time and I didnât have enough time to check through all my answers.
I even started freaking out in the last two blocks and had a mini melt down so I took a few deep breaths and said to myself I must finish strong.
I was very upset after exam but told myself I tried my best and hard work never goes to waste.
Kept checking USMLE forums to see if any others had similar experiences, apparently, it is a common feeling.
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
A mixture of straightforward questions, âhave to think for a bitâ questions and some weird questions.
The exam is doable but very long and tiresome. But trust your prep and assessment scores (to some extent).
Doubts Solved by The Author
Q â How long did you prepare for?
A â 4.5 months
Q â How many times did you study UWorld?
A â Twice
Q â What are the CRASHES?
A â These are the sessions in the EAMTAR group where people ask questions about a certain topic and others answer, you can see the files for past crashes in the files section of the group.
Q â What was your Step 1 score?
A â Didnât do it yet.
Q â What is UpToDate???
A â Itâs a website about all the up to date info on all the medical conditions like treatment and diagnostic tests etc.
Q â Can I have the full name of the website? If you can shareâŠ
A â UpToDate is the name of the website. We could access it via our University. See if you can through yours.
Q â Did you do Kaplan, MTB or UWorld-3 as well?
A â I didnât do any of those books, I did just the Behavioral Science of UWorld-3
Q â I donât have enough time to study all these resourcesâŠDo you think UWorld is enough? this is what I am focusing on now.
A â Yeah, UWorld is good enough.
Q â Why is your NBME-4 low? HOW DID YOU IMPROVE YOUR SCORE?
A â Just studied hard buddy
Q â How long before the exam you took the NBME-4?
A â 4 months.
Q â At which time points did you take the assessments? Like when NBME-3, 4, 6, 7, UWSA? Thanks in advance!
A â Each one month apart except UWSA which was 2 weeks before the exam.
Q â Please can you tell me how many days/weeks between UWSA 1 and 2 you took them? As most people say, final score should be the mean between both.
A â 2 days apart.
Q â What would you recommend for the final 2 weeks?
A â review UWorld notes especially those marked high yield at the end of the question.
Q â Was step one really essential for such a good score?
A â It would help, but if you havenât already taken them, you can go through FA or UWorld for Step 1.
Q â Did you do the NBMEs in the sequence mentioned in your experience?
A â NBME-6, 4, 7, UWSA-1 and then UWSA-2 in my case
Q â How did you study from UpToDate? (not referring to access)
A â Just looked through info on topics I was not sure about.
Q â What other resources did you use?
A â Nothing else.
Q â Do you think CMS really helped your score? or would UW and UpToDate be enough?
A â CMS psych, neuro, and med very useful.
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
Solving the whole Qbank again is a mistake, because youâll remember the questions and answers and youâd be wasting time. Better off: revise the tables and your notes.
This is a hard phase and the questions are long and exhausting, but the quality of your studying is whatâs going to get you the scores.
Other Qbanks are not recommended. Most of the info youâll need are buried inside UW. Revise your notes and revise the tables better than answering other Qbanks.
Studying phase II) Revision
After answering UW and re-answering the wrong questions, itâs time to assess yourself. Assessments are important because they guide you in this important phase. Reading the same stuff over and over again is not helpful. Instead, if youâre weak on something, this is what you should focus on.
Read the tables for the third time together with your notes then take a self-assessment. The score youâll get should give you an idea about the quality of your studying. Which SA you should take? Weâll talk about that later
After taking the SA you should revise your weak spots, read from Kaplan or some other source, use UpToDate if you can in topics you want to look up on, solidify your already studied concepts, revise again and take another SA.
Keep doing these steps until you feel youâre ready to take the test. Donât feel down if you got a bad score, instead; figure out why you fell and work on it. This is better than living in delusions.
This phase is stressful but we all went through with it. Focus on the UW tables and algorithms, they contain the most important concepts youâll need. And work on yourself.
Shelf exams / self-assessments
NBME has a couple of exams, the most predictive is NBME4. NBME 6 is good but is a bit easy. NBME7 some found it hard, including me. Downside is that the questions are shorter than the real exam.
UWSA is more like the exam, but a bit easier. They say itâs the most predictive.
My scores were:
UWSA: 259 8 weeks before the exam
NBME 4 : 254 4 weeks before the exam (19 wrong answers)
NBME 7: 231: 2 weeks before the exam (39 wrong answers)
NBME 6: 1 week before the exam (offline) 16 wrong answers + FRED in the same day (9 wrong answers)
I hated NBME 7. It broke my spirit and shattered my confidence. But I revised it and realized that my problem was anxiety and not reading the stem well. So I worked on that.
CMS are okay. They have no answers so you have to google stuff. There are some groups with very useful discussions, and on the EAMTAR group weâre working on providing explanations for them and some are already done.
I used UpToDate in most of the questions which helped me a lot. Solidified my information and gave me new concepts. CMS questions are not mandatory and they are probably retired questions from old exams. Take them as an assessment of as a source of refreshing your info, also as a means to learn how to think about the questions.
If youâre short on time answer the psychiatry blocks. Maybe ObGyn too.
Now regarding the answers, as I said people are trying to form some reliable answer key. I have some notes for each block that some people might find it useful. Also some UpToDate screenshots from CMS topics. I will upload them if anyone is interested.
Tips and Tricks about the last 10 days:
RELAX. Youâve done your best, now is not the time to panic. Revise the tables and algorithms, donât do MTB.
At least once, answer 8 blocks in the same day to prepare yourself for the big test. I did NBME6 + FRED in the same day which was exhausting but important to do.
Sport will take your mind off things; I used to run every other day. Also try to ditch negative thoughts, I got 231 on NBME 7 which shattered my confidence, but I got over it Alhamdulillah.
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
By now you should have a strategy for answering long questions. For me I read the last line and the answers first, so that I could orient my mind to find the answers.
For hard questions: mark and leave till the last. Spending time on hard questions will take the time from others that you already know. So better off leave them to the end.
Practice taking breaks. For me I took 2 blocks > break > 2 blocks > break > 2 blocks > break > last 2 blocks.
Whatâs important is to stay comfortable. I wanted to take large breaks and drink coffee so I did the two blocks thing.
Also I donât do well with sneakers so I went to prometric with sweat pants and slippers âșïž so try staying comfortable.
Final word
Stay positive, do your best, help others and trust yourself. Itâs not an easy test but itâs doable. Aim high and work for it. If youâre religious; Pray and make Duâaa.
I read Khaled Abd-Elmaksoudâs experience which helped me a lot, hereâs a link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/usmle2ck/1049015498462262/
For the CMS notes Iâve uploaded them into Drop box, together with some UTD threads. maybe someone could find them useful
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/66xx5v2bk5big2n/AADEMhufJ5lsfxE0UVjmv41ka?dl=0
These are some notes from UW that I found forgettable, maybe someone would skim through them after studying
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByZM76SXu2XNT3F5c25aajY5LTg/view?usp=sharing
These are the stuff I always forget âșïž
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByZM76SXu2XNU3NrNFV3ejVoOGM/view?usp=sharing
This is a collection about cancer cervix because I always found it confusing
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByZM76SXu2XNUkJuVHNZbk5LM1U&usp=sharing
Also please check the links at the end of Khaledâs experience
Thatâs it, thanks a lot for reading, ask me if you need anything.
Ayman
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
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Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
Ayman Saeyeldin (Egypt) â 257 Experience â USMLE Step 2CK
USMLE Step 2CK - 257
USMLE Step 2CK â 257
INTRODUCTION:
Dr. Ayman Saey-eldin (also known as Dr. Ayman Abdelraziq) is currently in New Haven, Connecticut and is originally from the Middle East. Like many doctors in Egypt, post â revolution are migrating to the USA to seek greener pasteurs Dr. Ayman has done the same. This is his USMLE Step 2CK experience on scoring 257.. a very good score for the step for an IMG.
In this experience, he dives deep into the multiple phases of his preparation. How he approached each subject for the USMLE Step 2 CK exam. How he used Qbanks in conjunction with books and how he prepared for his exam using Uptodate which is very beneficial to anyone preparing for USMLE as it gives all the information at one place. He also explains how he used NBME and CMS to further solidify his knowledge and understand which subjects he is weak in and which subjects he can score very well in. This experience gives a complete low down of his strategies, the methodology needed to score high on USMLE Step 2 CK and the pitfalls in the process. How to utilize Kaplan for USMLE Step 2 CK is explained here. Also hwo to use UWorld for Step 2 CK is also explained. What NBME to use when..what score to expect with which NBME and which NBME to rely on to be predictive for the USMLE Step 2 CK is explained in this article. This article shows how he used the NBMEs & CMSs to get better score on USMLE Step 2CK. This and more is covered in the article which details on how to score a 250+ on the USMLE.
Dr. Ayman is currently working in the US as a doctor after the end of his USMLE exam series. Use this experience as a guide to preparing for the USMLE Step2 CK exam. đ
Hello everyone, my name is Ayman Saey-eldin, I took my CK exam while I was a GP, and right now Iâm a cardiology resident in Egypt.
I realize there are better experiences with more impressive scores in the files section, but I wanted to write my experience because Iâve made some mistakes that I think you should avoid and it would save you much time that I wasted during my preparation.
I will try to keep it short and detailed, what weâre gonna talk about is the following:
Intro about the CK exam and the STEP 1 dilemma
Sources
Studying phase I) the first read
Studying phase II) the questions
Studying phase III) Revision
Shelf exams / self-assessments
Tips and Tricks about the last 10 days
Final word
Some abbreviations that Iâm going to use:
UW = Usmle World question bank
NBME = National board of Medical Examiners self-assessment exams
CMS = Clinical Mastery series Shelf exams
MTB = Master The Boards review book
FRED = the software that the exam is using, with 150 sample questions, available for free on the USMLE website
Now I think weâre all set, letâs start with:
Intro about the CK and STEP 1
STEP 2 CK exam is about the clinical knowledge. The main bulk of the exam is internal medicine with subsections including (Cardiology / GIT / hematology / oncology / respiratory / Renal / infection / Rheumatology and Neurology).
You also have the Pediatrics / Surgery & Trauma / ObGyn / ENT / ophthalmology / Psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
IM is large and makes up about 50% of the material. 15% is pediatrics, 10% for surgery, 10% for ObGyn, 10% for psychiatry & behavioral and 5% for the rest. So plan your schedule wisely.
That doesnât mean the IM is more important, itâs NOT. With most of your time being spent on medicine concepts most of your problems and weak points would fall in other branches, so thatâs something you should be aware of. I for one had problems with psychiatry and ethics, and with the misc subjects that I couldnât find a good source for them, weâll talk about that later.
Usmle step 2 experinces
Apr 24, 2026, 11:25 PM
STEP 1 is useful yes. My first mistake is that I took a long studying gap between step 1 and the CK test. I often went back to check some of the basis before I went back. I could have saved that time if I started the next test within a couple of months.
Should you start with STEP 1 or the CK; definitely step 1 if you can. Itâs hard and long but it makes up 30% of the concepts and it would help you a lot with your preparation. Many places require both steps right now so thereâs no motive to only take the CK only. And your previous clinical info is helpful, but not like step 1.
So YES, if you can start with STEP 1: YOU SHOULD.
Sources:
So we have the Kaplan books and Kaplan videos. These are the large books.
MTB books are the review books, thereâs the MTB for STEP 2 CK, and the MTB for STEP 3 which is better than the previous in branches other than IM.
Some people mentioned DIT videos, Step up books, medstudy videos. I havenât done them so I wouldnât judge.
Thereâs First Aid for Step 2 CK, but unfortunately itâs not like the great Step 1 book. Mostly basic info with no real orientation. Donât do it.
The most important source is UW. There was some good person who collected the algorithms and tables of UW and put them out there system wise. For me I think this is the most important source of information together with the questions of course.
Kaplan Qbank, I have tried some of the cardiology blocks. Didnât like it, same concepts with pretentious vignettes trying to be smart. Also most people say itâs a waste of time, so I didnât put much thought into doing it.
CMS questions are shelf exams, 4 blocks for each of IM / Neurology / Peds / ObGyn / psychiatry / surgery. Collectively they are 24 exams. They have no answers but they contain some old and new info. Some people consider them a source of info.
Studying phase I) the first read
This depends on your time frame. What I did was reading Kaplan in each subject then reading MTB. This was a waste of time. I ended up wasting time on Kaplan which had some good info but not really helpful with answering questions.
What I suggest is: read each chapter from MTB, then read the UW algorithms and tables very well, and then move to the next subject. If you have a problem with a concept then you can go to Kaplan, but reading Kaplan with everything was my Second mistake.
The videos: they say they are okay, I only watched the ObGyn part, which I could do without. But nevertheless, watch it if you have the time.
MTB 2 is for IM, everything else is from MTB 3. Except for pediatrics which I did from both MTB 2 and MTB 3. This shouldnât take you more that 2 months to finish. The faster you move on to questions phase the better.
For statistics: UW questions. I had an idea from STEP1, but they say DIT videos are okay too. There are some extra UW questions with good explanations that you can do. They are 74 questions and they are NOT easy but theyâd help you if you found yourself struggling with biostats.
Studying phase II) the questions:
UW is the most important source. Try to subscribe for at least 2 months. Before each subject read the tables for the second time and then answer the questions and take your notes.
Itâs important to read the explanations very well, even those questions that you did right. Read the correct and wrong answers explanations and take notes. Invest time in those questions because you wonât have time to answer them again.
Try to solve UW online, and donât take more than two months if you can. Some people tried the offline version first, this is a wrong thing to do because: a) questions are always updated. B) youâre gonna mess with your overall score.
Practice answering questions in a timed manner to get used to the time/block. In the end you can answer the questions you did wrong again. And also you can answer the questions you marked again.
