Step 2 CS

I'm taking step 2 CS this weekend.  I keep waffling between feeling completely confident in my ability to rock it, and totally scarred that I'm going to majorly f*ck up somehow and screw myself over.

I did more than fine on my school's OSCE exam.  I did well with all my 3rd year clerkship rotations.  I've had 3 years of practice with standardized patient encounters.  I know how to speak English and have a decent amount of empathy. 

Yet, I haven't touched an actual patient in 2.5 months.  I have no real motivation to study, working through First Aid for CS at a snail's pace... not sure I'm going to finish it before the exam.  Concerned I'm going to forget how to take a comprehensive history, come up with a differential, or write a note.

Ugh!  Medical school = one humbling hurdle and/or act of hazing after another.  I can do this, right?!

Telepathy, divine inspiration, etc.

I'll take it!

I will take any and all information the world wants to throw at me while I take USMLE step 2 tomorrow.  Specifically knowledge relating to pharm, neuro, cardio, and heme/onc.

See you on the flip side where, after a month of intensive sub-i, I will hopefully be back on my political soapbox!

The relative speed of time

It is amazing how quickly each month on rotations flew by.  Especially, in contrast to how slowly this month of step 2 studying is going.  With a week to go until the big day, I'm growing ever more impatient to get back to my regularly scheduled life.  It seems the I should have taken the 2 months, 2 weeks, 2 #2 pencils more to heart when I scheduled my exam... oh well.  Here is to hoping that this extra time will pay off with a higher score. Also hoping that I don't burn myself completely out over the next week as I'm pretty sure that burning out is problematic for my performance.

Step 2 study bubble

I'm currently submerged in the USMLE step 2 CK study bubble.  There is so much going on in the world to blog about: Obama's support of gay marriage, more anti-women's health legislation being introduced across the country, the national discussion on student debt, engagement announcements, friends' weddings, finding out about [multiple] divorces (what?! how am I old enough to have peers getting divorced already?), plans for my upcoming cross country move, preparing for a year "off" doing research, my OSCE exam, etc... but alas, my life is consumed by step 2 studying.

I probably wont get a chance to blog about it, but I'm acutely aware of my 22nd diabetes-versy this Saturday, 5/19/12.  Having had an endo & opto appointment this week, I feel so blessed to be here, healthy, and to be going into medicine.

On the bright side, step 2 studying is much more exciting than step 1 studying was.  I am actually *gasp* kind of enjoying it.  So at least now you know that I am off having fun while neglecting all of you out here in the blog-spher.  I should reemerge after June 1st!

Seeking advice

What resources should I use for step 2 studying?  What should my study schedule look like? 


I feel like there is much less advice circulating for step 2 studying then there was for step 1... and G!d only knows that I need to do better on step 2 than I originally did on step 1!

$1675

USMLE step 2 schedule:
CK- Friday 6/22/12
CS- Tuesday 9/4/12

Onto the next step of med school!

Pondering options

Instead of studying for the surgery shelf like I am supposed to be doing,  I'm starting to ponder my options for taking step 2.  My original thought was to do it in July.  However, I'm starting to think that it might be better for me to take it at the end of April. 
Advantages:
-I'll be done with it before I start stressing about moving for 4th year or my research year (which ever next year happens to be). 
-It'll give me at least 4.5 weeks off to study. 
-I'll be done with it before sub-I in May which is supposed to be intense!
Disadvantages:
-I wont have done psych yet.
-April is earlier than July, giving me less time to do questions prior.
-I'm speaking at a conference 4/13-15, in the middle of the 5 weeks of study time.
In the meantime, i should go back to studying for surgery & stop worrying about the future.