The curse of Step 2 is the resources. There are too many of them, and almost no clarity about which ones matter or how to use them properly. I went through most of them, so let me try to sort out the ones that count.

I finished Step 1 at the end of December and started Step 2 at the beginning of April.

How it actually went

I started with a crash course, which was fine as a way in. Then I began UWorld system-wise in tutor mode and finished the first round in August. The problem is I was not treating UWorld properly. I was solving for the sake of solving, not for the sake of learning.

I carried on the same way and redid my marked and incorrect questions, and I dragged that out because I could not work out why I was not improving. That stretch was discouraging.

Then I took my first NBME, form 9, on 15 October, and scored 235. I was crushed and could not understand how, after all that time and effort, this was where I was. Especially because I was planning to sit the exam before my emergency rotation started in November. I thought about postponing, but circumstances meant I had to test during internship.

The turn

I still had the CMS forms ahead of me. So I decided to start fresh the next morning with one rule: no matter how tired you are, do not leave a single wrong answer or a single gap in a concept without fixing it.

I started solving and could actually feel myself learning from it. If I got a concept wrong, I made sure I would not get it wrong again. It sounds obvious, and it was the single biggest reason my score moved.

In a month I finished the online forms, and took NBME 10 on 15 November with a 259. Then I carried on with the offline forms and did NBME 11 on 30 November for 251.

I wanted to postpone the emergency rotation but I had to finish internship on time and test during it. I stuck to the offline CMS forms plus redoing mistakes throughout the rotation, but I struggled to find good windows for NBMEs, so those fell behind.

By the end of the rotation I noticed my mistakes were coming from small knowledge gaps. I knew the topic as a whole, but the question would land on a corner of it I had never properly covered.

So I opened the notes, which I had put off for far too long, and went with Inner Circle.

My last two months were notes, Amboss high-yield plans, and NBMEs, while getting used to the exam length and my solving speed, and filling Anki with my own mistakes.

The day before

I did not study. I tried to be genuinely relaxed. Ate something I like, went for a walk, went to the gym. Small things, and they matter more than they look. Decide your break lengths and where they fall, and go in trusting that your work is not going to waste.

Exam day

I was calmer than I was for Step 1, because I already knew the place and the procedure.

Woke up at 5, light breakfast, and off. I was there at 7 and the exam started at 8.

  • First two blocks back to back, then a ten-minute break in my seat.
  • After that, five minutes in my seat between blocks, and fifteen minutes out every two blocks.
  • Take a protein bar. Take an energy drink too, but save it for the last few blocks.

The exam itself felt like the NBMEs, especially form 16. Some questions had odd answer choices. Other than that it was fine, it was not long, and it was full of patient chart questions.

Always remember it is a marathon, not a sprint. If you mess up a block, forget it and reset, you still have plenty left. And when you walk out, pat yourself on the back and forget what happened.

My mistakes

  1. Getting lost between sources. Every time I saw a new resource I tried to start it, instead of committing to one thing until the end.
  2. Doing UWorld without a purpose and without walking away with something concrete.
  3. Neglecting myself. This is the part everyone leaves out. The preparation is long and heavy, and if you are not looking after yourself you will burn out. That is not a risk, it is arithmetic.
  4. Caring about my UWorld score. It slowed me down and wasted time. Get it wrong and learn instead, otherwise you develop a fear of being wrong, and then you get stuck on one question, unable to finish it and unable to leave it.
  5. Being alone. The road is hard. Find a mentor or a study partner.

Golden rules

  1. Always leave one rest day a week whether you feel you need it or not. You have to disconnect.
  2. A minimum chunk every day, no matter what. Have a portion of study that gets done whatever the day throws at you, and on the good days you add to it.
  3. Every mistake matters. Go back over your errors and make sure you understand why you got it wrong and that it will not happen again. This is the most valuable resource you own.

Resources

  1. UWorld. Non-negotiable.
  2. Inner Circle. Great for revision.
  3. Amboss high-yield plans. Useful for plugging gaps.
  4. Anki. Build your own deck.

Everything else, honestly

  • UWorld and Amboss medical libraries: enormous, hard to track your progress in, and they over-explain.
  • Boards and Beyond and other video series: I did not find them useful here. Try to lean on active learning.
  • Mehlman notes: some of them are out of date. Useful for picking up keywords and understanding NBME algorithms, but you can get there yourself by solving repeatedly.
  • Divine podcast: I did not enjoy it and it was not my learning style.

Last thing: always have someone to ask, or someone following along with you. And pick the resources that suit you and that you are comfortable in. There is no wrong method. All of these resources are useful. What matters is how you use them.

My scores

  • NBME 9: 235 (15 Oct)
  • NBME 10: 259 (15 Nov)
  • NBME 11: 251 (30 Nov)
  • NBME 12: 262 (15 Dec)
  • NBME 13: 259 (2 Jan)
  • NBME 14: 264 (7 Jan)
  • NBME 15: 266 (17 Jan)
  • NBME 16: 264 (24 Jan)
  • UWSA 1: 261 (7 Dec)
  • UWSA 2: 264 (11 Jan)
  • UWSA 3: 261 (20 Jan)
  • Old Free 120: 87 percent (29 Jan)
  • New Free 120: 92 percent (2 Feb)
  • Amboss predictor: 266
  • Actual score: 264 (5 Feb)

The exam is a test of thinking, so your preparation has to be one too. Fewer sources, more active recall.

Want this as a plan instead of a story? If you want a day-by-day schedule built around your own exam date and your own weak systems, that is what Dumirieh mentorship does. You can read my full story on the about page.