USMLE 2 – Five Ways to Ensure You Are Adequately Prepared For Your Exam
Posted in New Goals on 01/03/2012 07:45 pm by AlfredWith the medical profession becoming tougher and tougher to break into after medical school, it is imperative that every one of your USMLE exams are taken very seriously and that you treat each as if it was going to make-or-break your career.
Do you want to match into a tough specialty? If you said yes, then it is essential that you get a great score on the Step 2 exam!
Do you simply want to match into a primary care specialty? If you said yes, than you should realize that simply passing the USMLE exams these days is NOT a guarantee that you will match into something like family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics.
Because of the increasing competitiveness for even the less desirable specialties, you must make sure you are 100% ready and prepared to take each of the USMLE exams. So are you ready to sit and take your USMLE Step 1 exam? Use the following checklist to ensure you have done everything you can in order to be completely prepared.
Preparation tip #1 – Study hard in your basic sciences
If you have worked hard in the first couple years of medical school, then you already have a leg up on the competition, if you have not, then before you do anything else, dive into your detailed class notes for a month or two and brush up on EVERYTHING.
Preparation tip #2 – Do as many question as you can
There is a catch to this however, and it is that you do them properly, don’t just do them to say you did them. Some people will just rush through a question bank, but to get the absolute most out of it, you should use the “study mode”, and take thorough notes on everything. When you do it this way, you will get the most knowledge out of everything, and you will be adequately prepared.
Preparation tip #3 – Use a study guide that is beyond just the “facts”
There are three ways of approaching your study guide types, there is the very superficial study guide, which gives you the basic superficial facts, this type of study guide is too basic and it is recommended that you avoid it. The second type of study guide is the type that covers absolutely everything, and is often a series of books. If you have worked hard in your basic sciences then this is simply too much for a “prep” guide, so it is advised that you avoid this as well. The third type of study guide is the guide that is a nice balance in between both of these, more information and more in-depth information that the average study guide, but not so much that it is loaded with useless facts that you will never see on the exam. Finding a study guide that is between 450-600 pages is ideal and just the right amount of material for your USMLE preparation.
Preparation tip #4 – Take a practice exam before your real exam
There is a type of test you can do to see where you stand in your USMLE prep, and these tests are usually quite accurate in determining how well you know your material. It is advisable to do one or two of these tests before sitting for the real exam, and if the results are favorable then you can rest assured you will do well on your exam. If the results are less than favorable, you can use this as a guide to your weak areas and then you can go from there.
Preparation tip #5 – Take a break right before the exam
The day before the exam, and ideally two days before the exam, you should sit back and relax, watching movies and resting your brain. This will ensure that you are adequately rested and that your brain is it’s absolute freshest for when you sit for the exam. Do not study right up to the minute before the USMLE Step 3 test, as this only increases stress and disturbs your quality of well-being before the big exam.
Follow these preparation tips to ensure that you are completely ready and rested for your big exam, and you will reap the rewards of all your hard work.