Let's Step 2 it!!

It is getting close to Step 2 dedicated time and since I had ample time (2am night shift problem) so I went ahead and created my step 2 dedicated plan.

Schedule at a glance:

Monday April 29: Start dedicated

uWorld SA1 (baseline): Fri 5/3 (week 1)

CCSSA 10: Thurs 5/9 (week 2)

CCSSA 11: Thurs 5/23 (week 4)

CCSSA 12: Thurs 5/30 (week 5)

CCSSA 14: Thurs 6/6 (week 6)

CCSSA 13: Tues 6/11 (week 7)

uWorld SA: Thurs 6/13 (week 7)

Free 120: Tues 6/18 (week 8 test week)

STEP 2 6/20

COMSAE 2.2 Sun 6/23 (week 8)

COMLEX 6/25

The Plan of Attack:

Week 1-2: 120 questions/day, system focused, Dr. High yield and OME as I go

Week 3: I will be on a family vacation in Belize :) 40 questions/day (hopefully)

Week 4-5: 160 questions/day, subject focused, continue content review

Week 6-8: 180 questions/ day, completely random

I got the skeleton of this plan from this reddit post. The user talked about how helpful it was to separate questions based on system (cardiology, GI, nephro, neuro, OB etc) first to help figure out question structure and build knowledge. Then they did subject focused (medicine, surgery, peds, OB, psych) for 2 weeks to continue building on that knowledge based. Finally in the last 4 weeks, they suggested doing everything completely random and working in incorrects. I really resonated with this plan as I really like system based approaches to questions because it just helps things stick!

Resources:

uWorld: I plan to finish most of uWorld by the time I start dedicated. So I will be resetting the questions and starting over. This will be my primary way I will be studying. I learned from Step 1 studying that broad content review does not work for me. I will be using practice questions to guide my studying and find gaps in content. And review those as I go. There are 4081 total questions (83 questions a day to finish in 49 days).

TrueLearn: I will be using this for comlex style questions and additional content review! I did not try TrueLearn for step 1 and struggled with comlex questions so I am looking forward to integrating it into this dedicated! If you are interested in trying TrueLearn, you can use code MEDICINEGAL for $25 off a subscription of 90 days or more! Use this link https://truelearn.referralrock.com/l/medicinegal/

Content Review

Online Med Ed: I loved this resource for base knowledge during step 1 and looking forward to using it again as a knowledge base for step 2!

Dr. High Yield youtube videos: These videos were my lifeline during shelf studying and I will continue to use them for quick subject reviews.

Goodnotes: This is my favorite notes app! I have a working notebook that I write all of the information I learned from my practice questions. This dedicated period I will have a special notebook that I only include the really really really important stuff that I either keep missing or is super high-yield for me to review regularly!

Day-to-day:

I plan on doing 3-4 40 question blocks a day which will obviously be the bulk of my study time. The first few weeks I plan on keeping it on tutor mode and reviewing questions as I go. Towards the end of dedicated, I will start doing timed and testing blocks with reviewing time afterwards. I plan on integrating content review throughout the blocks as I need it!

It's super important to me that I take time for myself. I will be taking 30mins-1 hour lunch everyday. Stopping around 5pm when my husband gets off work, and doing light work throughout dinner time. I'll end my day with uworld questions as needed. Since I am taking 7 weeks, I will be more chill during my days and be graceful with myself!

I also take a 1/2 day off before every practice test and review the practice test either the same day or the day after depending on how I feel. I don't learn if I'm burnt-out, so avoiding that is actually priority number 1. I also love dedicated studying in the summer time because I am always able to step outside and take a lil walk, breathe some fresh air, and take time for myself in my favorite type of weather!

Week 1 and 2 sample schedules:

I am actually excited for this dedicated time of my life <3 Step 1 dedicated was actually such a pleasant experience because I put myself and my health first. And it really paid off (I passed!)

Questions? Suggestions? Comments?

Let me know!!