Is UWorld enough to pass Step 2 CK?

Simply put, because I scored a 254 with very minimal studying. Honestly, at that point in the process we are all so burnt out.

The decision to go all in and get >260 is one you have to make, but in all fairness if you did good on the USMLE Step 1, then your foundation is built. The Step 2 CK tests a lot more clinical applications of your knowledge, but there are still plenty of step 1 “esque” questions.

This guide is meant to walk you through resources, and then at the end break down all the resources into a planned attack for studying.

If you are interested in knowing what resources to use, how to use them, and how to rock your USMLE Step 2 CK, then read on.

Table of Contents

Before we dive into the specifics, we need to address a few common questions first.

Chapter 1: Common Step 2 CK questions

How much time do you need to Study for Step 2 CK?

With clinical rotations, you just don’t have that much time. Some students only have one week of dedicated time, while others have more.

Honestly, if you put in the work throughout the year on each clinical rotation, then 1-3 weeks is all you need.

That is why there are only 1-3 week plans above. Anything beyond that, and you start to burn out.

What should I study for Step 2?

There are a ton of resources, and we will go into detail on videos, books, and other resources out there.

For step 2, you should be using a combination of multiple resources, we will get into that below.

What is a Passing score on Step 2 CK?

A passing score on the Step 2 CK is a 209

The score has a range between 1 and 300.

The mean is typically around 245, with a standard deviation of 15.

A “good score” is >250.

Can you retake Step 2 CK if you pass it?

No, if you pass the exam that is your score. You can retake the exam if you fail it, but you cannot retake Step 2 CK if you pass it.

If you score 209 or higher, that is your score, no retakes.

Chapter 2: Practice Questions for Step 2 CK

Is UWorld enough for the Step 2 CK?

UWorld is absolutely enough for the Step 2 CK, lets talk about why.

It goes without saying, the best Q-bank out there for your Step 2 CK prep is UWorld.

The representation of not only the topics in their Q-bank, but also of the style and difficulty of the questions is so realistic to the real deal.

If you are only wanting to do one Q-Bank, then UWorld is the one you need.

When to do the questions

My mantra has always been early and often when it comes to doing practice questions.

A great way to utilize UWorld is to do it twice, once throughout the 3rd year clinical rotations to prep for your COMAT/Shelf exams. Then again the month or so leading up to your USMLE Step 2 CK.

Doing it this way, really allows you to dig into the tutor mode during rotations, and then mimic the difficulty of the Step 2 CK before test day.

How to do the questions

Early on, the goal should be to do the first pass of UWorld alongside your rotations in preparation for the COMAT/Shelf.

When doing it this way, you should be doing the questions in tutor mode and annotating your explanations into a Step Journal.

As you are a month out from your USMLE Step 2 CK, then reset the Q-Bank and start doing 40 question blocks that are in timed test mode.

How many Practice Questions should you do

Early on, during your first pass a good goal is to do 15-20 questions in tutor mode every day. This is a pretty good amount of questions, and if you are doing them according to the rotation you are on, then it isn’t such a daunting task.

This means that if you do 20 questions a day, and you have a 4 week rotation then you should be able to complete around 600 questions in 4 weeks.

That is a good amount of questions!!

After you reset UWorld then the focus turns to more of a testing mode.  This means you can easily do 40-60 per day, since it will be in test mode and timed. Then you can review the answers while you eat lunch or as you lay in bed.

In summary:

• Early on (first pass): do 15-20 per day
• Later on (second pass): do 40-60 per day
• The approach successful test takers with questions
• Those that do well on the UMSLE Step 2 CK, make questions central to their prep.
• The importance of practice questions, can’t be understated.

Not only do practice questions lead to increased understanding and retention (Link), but they make it so you are basically practicing what you will be doing.

Reading is great, but at the end of the day you won’t be evaluated on your reading ability on the USMLE, you are being evaluated on how well and how correct you answer questions about complicated medical topics.

Practice questions prepare you for this.

Ultimately, those that are most successful on all of these standardized board exams recognize that practice questions are the way to absolutely own these exams.

Step 2 CK Questions Plan

Doing questions during each rotation is important. Since questions are one of, if not the best way to learn for your board exams, doing them during rotations in preparation for the COMAT/Shelf exams helps you achieve this.

Do them early and often.

Shoot for 15-20 questions per day in tutor mode until 1 month before your Step 2.

If you are on the Internal Medicine rotation, then you should be doing questions from the IM section of UWorld, same goes for the other rotations.

When you get 30 days out from your exam do this

Daily

• Do 40-60 questions on timed test mode, this simulates test day
• After they are done, spend 2-3 hours reviewing them
• If you have time, do another 40-60 questions that day
• Review them again for a few hours

It really is that simple. If you have dedicated prep time, then doing questions the 30 days before as mentioned above leads to 8 hours of studying a day, with 2 hours of questions.

If you really want to push yourself, then do 40 question blocks, and do 3 of them back to back to back.

This simulates test day, and helps with timing. Now, doing up to 120 questions in a single day won’t leave a lot of time for review, that is why this method is best left for the second pass of UWorld.

Chapter 3: Text Books

Step up to Medicine

How to use it

This book is broken down into medical topics. There is cardiology and all the major topics.

A great way to use it, is to dissect it down into those individual topics.

If you notice when doing practice questions that you are struggling with cardiology, then it is time to bust out the Step up to Medicine book and go through the cardiology section with a fine toothed comb.

This also served as the place where I annotated the material from Uworld.

If I got a complicated topic on Cardiology then I would put the extra information into the cardiology chapter.

Why it is the best

Step up to medicine is the best  book for your clinical rotations because it is full of good details but also presents all the details in a straightforward and easy way to understand.

Compared to the other options out there, this one is the best one hands down.

How much should you read

This depends on how deep your foundation of knowledge is at the start of clinical rotations. Make it a habit to read atleast 5-10 pages a day at a minimum though. This is a small amount and it is totally doable, that overtime will add up to quite a bit.

Also, remember you are reading during your practice questions. Because of this you will ultimately end up reading a lot more than the 5-10 pages per day.

The important thing is that the content you are reading is focused on your weaknesses and that you read it during your practice questions sessions. Reading and coorelating your text to your practice questions helps you retain it so much more.

Pocket Medicine

Why it is awesome

This book goes into the weeds a lot more than Step up to Medicine does. This book covers the topics so well, and is actually one that I have kept using throughout residency.

If you want a book that is a great summary of nearly all things medicine, then this is the book to get.

The issues with it

It can be too detailed for clinical year purposes.

The clinical years are tough, you are trying to impress preceptors, get good grades, study, and maintain a little bit of your life outside of medicine.

Sometimes we just don’t have the time to worry about the extra details that this book has.

There are times when we just need to make it through and learn what we can.

If you have extra time, read this book. If not, don’t sweat it.

How to use it

As briefly mentioned above, Pocket Medicine should be used after you cover the simpler stuff found in Step up to Medicine, and do plenty of practice questions.

Once you know if you have time, then you use this to dive into the details and really get a deep understanding, that your other colleagues just wont.

Master the Boards

Why it is awesome

It is an even more simplified version of what you need than Step up to Medicine is.

I personally didn’t use it, but I knew a lot of other students that used it.

They all said that it was a great book, and it did the job for them. I would recommend that you use this book in a similar way that you would use Step up to Medicine.

All in all, what makes Master the Boards great is that it is just a really simplified text and only gives you the bare bones of what you need to know.

Issues with it

The main issue with Master the boards is that it is just too simple. That can come in handy if you don’t have time or already have a large foundation of knowledge.

Overall though, it is a great book from what my co-students said.

When to use it

Use Master the Boards, the same way you would use Step up to Medicine as above. Read a little bit each day, and annotate your practice question explanations into it.

This book is best used all throughout both 3rd and 4th year, but primarily during 3rd year before step 2.

First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK

Why it is great

This book is great because of a few sections.

The first is the pediatrics chapter. This has some great tables and details on the milestones that make it very easy to memorize that real quick and get some easy points. Other than that, the book is laid out in a very similar manner to Step up to Medicine, and that layout and organization makes it a great tool for you to use in your studies.

Issues with it

It lacks detail. This is 100% the brand  you turn to for USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 to serve as your guide.

For USMLE Step 2 CK, and COMLEX Level 2 CE, it falls short. The details just aren’t there and it lacks good explanations in it as well. 

It just doesn’t have the details you need.

This book is worth it alone though for just the peds chapter.

When to use it

Use it during peds.

This book should be purchased for the peds chapter that includes some pretty awesome and decently organized tables with milestones and development in it.

What book is the best?

Step up to Medicine: This gets the #1 choice for best book for the USMLE Step 2 CK. It is the most well rounded book out there, it just lacks a decent peds section.

First Air for the USMLE Step 2 CK: Get this for the Peds Section

Pocket Medicine: Pick this up for 4th year reading and keep it through residency.

Chapter 4: Videos for the Step 2 CK

Online Med Ed

Why this is awesome

This video resource is a great way to study and build a stronger foundation. The videos are short, sweet, and to the point.

The videos also offer a lot of helpful ways to remember the details that take your test score to the next level.

Online Med Ed covers all the important topics. It follows a similar outline like the texbooks above do. All the specialties are in there. It covers everything from pulmonology to obstetrics.

The nice thing about the videos is that if you are okay with ads, then they are free.

How to use it

Obviously it would be nice to use these questions every day. Truth is, you just don’t have the time to do questions, read Step up to Medicine, and do these daily.

If you want to try and do it all, then a great plan would be to use these videos when you don’t have to be at the hospital or in clinic, such as on the weekends.

If you plan on using all three resources, then focus on this one over the weekends, and read Step up to Medicine throughout the week.

Then on the weekends go over the same topics just in the videos.

How long does it take

This allows you to speed the videos up, since the guy teaching them does talk kind of slow.

These videos can be time consuming for sure. Get yourself the video speed chrome extension.

If you get the chrome extension, then it shouldn’t take longer than 30-60 minutes per day of watching these.

Get the Notes

Having the notes is a must with this! They serve as a great outline, and if you annoatate good enough, you don’t have to watch the videos over and over again.

That is the key with any video resource, take good enough notes so you don’t have to watch all of the videos over again.

If you get the notes, I would argue that you don’t need Step up to Medicine, because then the notes serve as your textbook.

Emma Holliday Videos

These are a great series of high yield videos. They are about an hour in length each and are an absolute gift to medical students!

How to get them

You can just search “Emma Holliday peds” or whatever the specialty is on youtube.

I also, have found them for you and the links are below.

• Emma Holliday IM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oARp9g0db-0
• Emma Holliday Peds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFF-WlLuQU
• Emma Holliday Surgery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAmX6o7GPuY
• Emma Holliday Psychiatry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzK0PDENoOU

Why they are great

These videos hit the high yield points of all four specialties. Dr. Holliday has done an amazing job of only talking about the pertinent details and talking about them in such a way that you can’t help but remember them.

These videos are not all inclusive, but they do cover quite a bit of what you need to know. I wouldn’t depend on only these, but in a pinch they would likely get you to pass the COMAT or Shelf.

When to use them

These videos should be used a few days before you USMLE Step 2 CK, and honestly the day before your COMAT or shelf.

They are great summaries and if you can go through them and feel confident about everything that Dr. Holliday talks about, then you can rest assured that you are ready for the exams.

Chapter 5: Anki for the USMLE Step 2 CK

My disclaimer

I did not use Anki.

I personally am not a huge flash card person, but I know that Anki has saved a lot of you out there, so I included it here.

This section will be brief, since I have limited experience with it, but I will provide you with some links and places you can go to get the information you need.

Best Decks reviewed

All of these decks from what I can tell appear to be very comprehensive and they have all helped multiple students get fantastic score son their exams.

• Zanki
• Dorian
• Anking

From what is seems, Anking is the most comprehensive of them all.

If any of you awesome people out there that use Anki regularly have any additional information, please mention it in the comments below.

I am very much an amateur when it comes to Anki.

Resources for how to properly do Anki

Anki Palace is a fantastic resource for all things related to learning about Anki. They have fantastic tutorials and after you go through their material you will be confident in your skills.

Also, I can’t help but notice most of them are form my home state of Utah, which is awesome!

Chapter 6: Practice tests for the USMLE Step 2 CK

NBME’s

What are they

These are a decent option when it comes to practice tests. Trouble is, they don’t offer explanations for the right and wrong choices.

They are still valuable though because they are questions that are written by the same people that write the real deal, so you know they will be similar.

You get access to these the same way you got access to the ones for Step 1.

When should you do NBME’s?

If you are on the two week plan, then honestly one of these at the start of dedicated prep for you would be enough. If you have more time, then shoot to do 1-2 practice tests per week.

We will go over the details of each plan below and when to incorporate these exams, but stick to the plan of doing 1-2 practice exams per week.

UWSA’s

What are they

These are UWorlds practice exams. There are two of them, and they can be purchased through UWorlds website.

These are touted as the scoring representing the real deal very closely. The questions are a slightly different style, but when it comes to scoring, if you get a 250 on UWSA #2, then you can bet you will be pretty close to that on the real deal.

The reason for this is because nearly everyone takes these exams, so you are being scored against an average of everyone, just like the real deal.

When should you do them?

If you are on the two week plan, do UWSA #1 in the first week, and then UWSA #2 in the second week. If you are on the longer plan, then save these two exams for the 10 days leading up to your exam.

Chapter 7: Detailed Study Plans

1 week Study plan

Questions:

• Hopefully you did UWorld throughout your clinical rotations.
• Reset UWorld
• Do 80 Questions per day on Timed/Random, Test mode, this is 2 blocks every day.
• After doing the questions, take about 3-4 hours each day to review them.
• This will help you with pacing, and will get you ready to sit for 2 hours straight doing questions so your stamina is up.
• You won’t learn a ton from the questions at this point, but you should have already learned what you need to.
• Questions on the 1 week plan are for stamina

Videos

• Go through your notes from the videos you watched throughout your clerkships.
• Don’t do all of it, just do the ones that you are obviously weak in.
• Videos can be time consuming, if you have notes from OME or other videos throughout clerkships then watch them.
• Make sure to watch each Emma Holliday video throughout the week.

Reading

• Read easy to memorize charts, like the First Aid for the Step 2 CK  milestones and immunization charts each day. This should only take 30 minutes or so.
• Other than that, read your video notes as above, and only go though Step up to Medicine or similar books inn your weak areas.
• Reading book is of least importance at this point, just go through those tables that are easy to memorize to make sure you get some of those easy points.

Practice Tests

• USWA #1 on the first day of the week of your prep
• UWSA #2 2 days before the exam

In summary:

• Do 80 questions per day in timed, test mode, this is for stamina, not for learning
• Read your notes form videos (only your weak points)
• Watch 1 Emma Holliday video each day
• Go through the milestone and immunization charts in First Aid, or watch the immunization video below.
• UWSA #1 on day #1, and UWSA #2, two days before your exam

Check out the video here

2 Week Study plan

Questions

• Do UWorld
• Do 80 questions per day in Timed test mode
• Spend 3-4 hours each day reviewing them
• Focus on developing your stamina

Videos

• Focus on your notes you have already taken from watching OME and other videos during clerkships. Videos are time consuming, so if you have notes, go over those instead.
• If you are particularly weak in a subtopic of something then watch those videos for sure. You will know your weak points at this stage. Focus your efforts on those.
• There isn’t time, or reason to try and watch all of the OME videos at this point.
• Watch the Emma Holliday videos twice. You have 14 days, so if you watch one every day you will have a few days left over if you want to watch one or two of them again.
• These are more important than OME if your study time is this short.

Reading

• Read your notes.
• Spend maybe 30-60 minutes each day in Step up to Medicine reading your weak points.
• If you are weak in pulmonology, you don’t have to read all of it. Hone in on the areas within the topic you are weak.
• If you struggle with COPD, then focus on that and ignore asthma.

Practice Tests

NBME’s

• Do 2 of them in the first week.
• Doesn’t matter which ones, just do one on the first day of your prep and then on the 6th day.
• This will help you know the style of the NBME and it will help with stamina in answering questions.

USWA’s

• Do both of them.
• On day 9 of your prep do UWSA #1, spend a few hours reviewing it.
• On day 12 of your prep do UWSA #2, then spend a few hours reviewing it.

Summary of the 2 week Step 2 CK study plan

• Questions: 80 UWorld questions per day in timed test mode. Spend 3-4 hours reviewing them. These are for stamina, not for learning.
• Videos: Focus on the notes you have taken from videos you watched in your clerkship. Watch Emma Holliday videos twice.
• Reading: Only read your weak points. Other than that, read your video notes. Read the charts in Frist Aid for milestones and vaccinations, or just watch the video in the 1 week section for immunizations.
• Practice tests: Do 2 NBMES, one on the first day and one on the 6th day. Do both UWSA’s, #1 on the 9th day and #2 on the 12th day.

3 Week Study Plan

Questions

• You can turn it down a little bit with the 3 week plan.
• Do 60 questions per day, this turns out to be 1.5 blocks each day.
• This will build good stamina, and leave you more time to review.
• Plan on 4 hours per day reviewing these questions.
• Do UWorld in timed test mode.

Videos

• You have time, so watch the OME or other videos you know you are weak in.
• Still though, the focus should be on the notes you have already taken. That is a quicker way to review videos, and quicker means you can do it more, and more means better retention.
• With three weeks, you have time to watch maybe 2-3 of your weak videos each day if you need to.
• This should only take an hour or so each day.
• Watch the Emma Holliday videos twice, and the Internal Medicine one 3 times.
• IM is the biggest portion of Step 2.

Reading

• Read your notes from videos, and go over weak subtopics in Step up to Medicine.
• You don’t need to go crazy with the reading, but with 3 weeks you do have time to go over some sub topics in detail if you need it.
• The focus is more on questions, but if you need it, then do some reviewing in Step up to Medicine and definitely go over your OME notes.

Practice Tests

NBME’s

• Do two of them.
• One at the beginning of your prep and then another about 6-7 days later.
• These are good for establishing a baseline and also for knowing the style.
• Don’t fixate on them though.

UWSA’s

• Do #1 on day 12 and then do UWSA #2 on day 18.
• This gives you plenty of time to review them.
• Also, if you want to do more practice tests but don’t want to buy NBME’s, then you can build 40 question blocks in UWorld and do them in timed test mode, back to back to back.
• This gives you three hours of questions, and is a better use of your time then buying more NBME’s.
• If you choose to do this, then build them into your plan so you have a simulated practice exam every 4-5 days throughout the 3 week period.

3 week Step 2 CK study plan Summary

• Questions: Do 60 UWorld questions per day in timed tutor mode. Spend 4 hours reviewing
• Videos: Watch Emma Holliday videos twice, then watch the IM video 3 times. Make sure you watch your weakest points in OME. Don’t watch all of pulmolology for example, just watch COPD if that is your weak point.
• Reading: Go over your weakest topics in Step up to Medicine, and if you aren’t going to watch the video below on immunizations then read and memorize the charts for immunizations and milestones in First Aid for the Step 2 CK.
• Practice tests: Do 2 NBME’s, one on day 1, and another on day 6-7. Do both UWSA’s, on day 12 and day 18. If you want more, then use UWorld questions in 40 question blocks and do 3 of them back to back to back. This is better than more NBME’s.

Bonus: Tips for doing well on test day

Plan your breaks

You have 1 hour of break time on the USMLE. You get to use it as you see fit.

There are 7 sections. If you take a break after 2 sections, this means you can take 20 minute breaks every 2 hours.

20 minutes is more than enough time to go to the bathroom, eat some food, and take some ibuprofen and caffeine pills!

Basically, plan your breaks. Know what you will do each break. Know that after 2 blocks you take a break each time.

Take plenty of food

Take a couple sandwhiches, take some crackers, and take water.

Drink minimal water, you don’t want to have to pee all day.

In this category is meds too.

Don’t forget your Rx meds if you have any.

Also, take ibuprofen, Tylenol, and caffeine pills to get you through the day.

You don’t want a stupid headache causing issues with this test.

Looking up your questions

On your breaks, don’t look up the answers to questions you think you missed.

Just roll with it, eat your food, and take a breath.

Look up questions after the exam, not during your breaks, this will mess with you more than you think, especially if you got it wrong.

The conclusion

Whew, that was a long article.

If you stuck with me then you have a TON of information about designing your own step 2 CK study plan.

I hope this has been helpful for you, and I apologize that I didn’t include much about Anki, I just don’t know much about it.

Is UWorld Step 2 CK hard?

Is UWorld similar to Step 2 CK?

What is a good UWorld score Step 2 CK?

Should I do UWorld twice for Step 2?