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USMLE SERIES- For Asian/MBBS Physicians.(Part – 2)

Dear Physicians

Here you have some important information’s about every step of USMLE.
It’s although long but I tried to cover all the information of each and every step that, I learned by my research over the years.
I hope it would help you with the preparation.

First of all do not be scared about this exam,

its not as difficult as everyone thinks. It has very good predictability. If someone is well prepared and given enough time, definitely he/she will do better in the exam.
If I compare with FCPS/MS/MD of Bangladesh–I believe it is much easier and very predictable to get into the residency and complete your post-graduation.

Here only the Step 2 CS exam which is about patient encounters, other steps are – MCQ exam.

So no Viva and nothing to be panic.

– If you can get a good score in each step that means, >250 or around that and your graduation year less than 10 years from now, hopefully, you will be able to get residency.

-You can appear in the Step 1 and Step 2 CK exam in Bangladesh.

After that, you have to apply for a Visa for the Step 2 CS exam, which is not difficult most of the time to get.
Though you can appear first in any step accept Step 3, everyone should try to give step 1 first because
In step 2 CK you will get about 50% very basic concepts from step 1, also for step 2 CS exam, you have to have some basic knowledge about some diseases.

Step 2 CK exam is more lengthy and questions will be too long, also sometimes its difficult to reach a diagnosis after reading the question. Students can get panic after finding so difficult questions.

Step1 questions are not so lengthy, after giving this step you will be more used to and be prepared for too lengthy and too difficult questions, especially psychiatry, biostatistics, Ethics.
So I would request all of you to appear step 1 exam first.

If the questions are very difficult, do not be panic because you will get a good score with less percentage of correct questions and, If the questions are easy, you need to correct more to get the same score. Try not to make a mistake in easy questions which will make your score low. If you miss a very difficult question, considering making correct the common concepts, your score will be up to the Mark.
For Step 1 exam :

Materials you need to study
Anatomy–Kaplan.
Physiology-BRS physiology
Biochemistry-Kaplan
Microbiology and immunology–first aid and the world will be more than enough
Pathology-Goljan pathology, Pathoma,
Pharmacology-Kaplan
Psychiatry, Biostatistics, and Ethics–BRS behavioral science, 100 cases, MTB 2 and 3 Ethics part, Uworld Biostatistics separate question bank, Uworld for step 2 CK.

For all subjects you need to go through–First aid and online Uworld for step 1.

Overall 70% of questions will be very easy for you if you know the materials very well. About 15% of questions will be a little tricky and lengthy, for which you need to give a little more time than the easiest questions. Another 15% of the questions will be very difficult, no matter how much you study.

To reach your score of about 250, on average you need to make about 80% questions correct, to get 240, you need to make about 70-75% questions correct.

You will get an equal number of questions from every subject, except sometimes you might get too many questions from one subject, so be prepared for that, 1 or 2 blocks could be very very difficult, to make you panic. But if you can keep your nerve strong, definitely you will do better.
Try to keep good concentration even in the last block. For that, you need a lot of practice.

In most of the questions you can easily exclude most of the options except 2, where you will get stuck, to reach the correct answer, you need to have a very good concept about each and every disease process.

Step 2 CK exam:

Materials
U world will cover about 70% for this exam.
The rest will be covered by first aid for step 1 and MTB 2 and 3. I would suggest you read MTB 3 only.
Also, study relevant concepts from step 3 U world.

You will get about 25% of questions from biostatistics, psychiatry, Ethics. Which will determine whether you will get a very good score or not.

About 50% of questions will be too long, in that case–read the last line and first-line, then go to the lab, then read the rest of the questions.

You will get about 50% concepts from very basic, which will be covered by your Step 1 knowledge from first aid for step 1.

Step 2 CS :

  1. Try to be efficient in speaking and understanding English.
  2. Be empathetic when you encounter the patient, I believe this is the most important part of this exam.
  3. Know which part carry more marks, also increase your communication skill.
  4. Try to increase typing speed. Otherwise, you will not be able to finish patient note
  5. Definitely try to finish each and every case within 15 minutes’ time. Most people do badly in the exam because they cannot finish a few cases within the time
  6. Before going to the exam make sure we were well prepared, otherwise, you might get failed.
  7. Try to appear in the MOCK exam, otherwise, you will not know where you are and where you need to improve.
  8. Always try to practice the cases with the partner live face-to-face.

Step 3:

Materials-

Uworld for step 3
Uworld for CCS cases
CCS mapping.
First aid for step 1.

It will be a 2-day exam, on the first day, mostly you will find basic questions. For which you need to go through the first aid for step 1,

On the second day, there would be 2 parts,
-First, there will be MCQ, followed by CCS cases.
-If you do good in CCS cases your score will be very high

Conclusion message:

# Biostatistics, Psychiatry, Ethics matters for every step. Be prepared well in that.

# You need to be strong in every subject, if you do bad even in 1 subject, the score will be Low.

# Do not try to appear without enough preparation. If your scores are low, it will be very difficult to get into the residency.

# Try not to be overconfident for any exam, which may make your result worse

N.B. if you have any questions/concerns, do not hesitate to text me in my email.

It would be my pleasure to help you.
For More: USMLE
For SOP- Please check this SOP-Physicians
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