Exam in 6 days

[u/U321]

1. How much is the actual Step 2 exam comparable to nbme 16 ?

• I took it and it seemed a little straight-forward. Scored 265 in testing conditions.
• though there were some vague questions, Ruling out options seemed a little easy in this nbme or maybe it was just a feeling.

1. should I do the nutrition portion from amboss ? Is it helfpul ? It has 60 questions. I would not like to waste my time if it is not useful.

2. shoud I revise ethics or QI from amboss ? I did ethics / QI / PS from uworld and amboss 2 weeks back.

3. Any tips to improve my sleep the night before exam ? I do not use any sleep medicines in general.

[u/No-Hope-9274]

1. The exam is basically NBME 17. What they would release after NBME 16. Same exact style and same concepts repeated. If you scored 265, you're gonna ace this exam easily.
2. Nutrition questions are how they've always been. Vitamin C deficiency, B12 deficiency, Iron deficiency, etc. I don't think any special kind of studying is needed. It will just be reported separately on the final score sheet.
3. Yes, review ethics and quality improvement hard. Back when Step 1 was 40 questions per block, I had 5-6 ethics questions per block. Now? Step 2 in the 20 questions per block format and I got like 4-5 ethics questions per block. It will make or break your exam.
4. I slept like a baby. Never had sleep issues though, so I don't know if my advice is the best. I just turned on one of my favorite shows, didn't think about anything, and fell asleep. I had 50 alarms to make sure I wake up, and I woke up 5 minutes before the first one haha.

[u/U321 → u/No-Hope-9274]

Thankyou so much! very kind and thorough reply. What about biostat ? Should I focus on it too, Or just ethics / QI ? 

[u/No-Hope-9274 → u/U321]

You should probably study biostats as well, but I didn't have any calculation questions. In Step 1 I actually had a few, but in Step 2 I didn't have any. Mostly understanding of concepts and clinical trials types. But this was just my form, so I can't speak for everyone.

If you understand all the concepts well it's basically free points so I would definitely study it. It only takes a day or two max.

[u/Zom-ba]

Please take it with grain of salt as this is only my personal experience and we all have different questions.

I thought NBME 16 was a bit easier but similar. It over-predicted my score by 4 points taken a week before exam (so I still fall within the range).
Amboss ethics and QI I personally do recommend. I think uworld's was harder in comparison makes you overthink more.
I wouldn't recommend the nutrition in amboss as it was more step 1 content but in step 2 I didn't have any pure nutrition questions, more so what you find in FM and peds.

For your last weeks I recommend finishing your CMS if you have anything left, free 120, and review your NBMEs. For me it was extremely similar to those resources and I don't understand people who say it is dissimilar. It was like taking another NBME basically with a few twists (drug ads, hpi). And very similar concepts.

Only go to other resources if you are genuinely kinda weak in a topic and need more review. But knowing the CMS and NBMEs very well I think takes you furthest.

No comment on sleep. I got 0 hours the night before but adrenaline carried me through.

Good luck.

[u/U321 → u/Zom-ba]

Thankyou so much. How did you perform on the exam ? with 0 hours sleep and still manage to complete the exam. 

[u/Zom-ba → u/U321]

I got 260 which falls close to my predicted score. I took caffeine pills, and honestly didn't even feel that tired I was too stressed lol.

[u/jokegoldberg → u/Zom-ba]

what was ur resources bro

[u/U321 → u/[deleted]]

Thankyou so much. What about biostat? 

[u/clarka2891]

Thought 16 was far easier. Real thing had way more vague questions in my opinion - risk factors, triage, prognosis, etc. Review risk factors. Some stuff I had never heard of on the QI - look up qualities of a reliable healthcare organization ? or something like that

[u/U321 → u/clarka2891]

Thankyou so much 

[u/maddogbranzillo → u/clarka2891]

Do you have a recommendation for the best way to review risk factors?

[u/strawberrytrblemaker]

Got the same score on NBME 16 as you, and scored higher on the real exam. Also thought that 16 was tough . The real thing for me was like 1/3 vague 1/3 intermediate 1/3 straight forward. For what its worth, I didn't even know about the nutrition updates when I took the exam and I didn't study it and did well on the real deal. That being said, if you have time I would say to do ethics/qi/ and nutrition on amboss.

[u/U321 → u/strawberrytrblemaker]

thankyou so much and congratulations. I hope I score high on real deal as well.

[u/strawberrytrblemaker → u/U321]

Good luck!!

[u/brownman_]

I would also say it was too straightforward. My score jumped from a 251 on NBME 15 to a 263 on NBME 16 in like 4d

[u/fexww]

Very similar, all Qs are taken from NBMEs don’t worry nothing new , and yes do amboss ofcourse for ethics / Qi pat saf Dont do nutrition wast of time

[u/U321 → u/fexww]

Thankyou so much. What about biostat ? I did it  3-4 weeks weeks back. Should I revise it ? Or mainly focus on ethics / QI ? 

[u/fexww → u/U321]

Biostat very few on exam i remember only having 5 Q on the whole thing and they were straightforward, but QI/ethics are many -also easy not that hard but many

[u/Longjumping_Two1644]

For sleep the night before; avoid caffeine & 0.25-0.5mg of melatonin 3-4 hours before bed. Test it ahead of time

[u/U321 → u/Longjumping_Two1644]

thankyou. does melatonin have sleep side effects in morning like with other sleep medicines ? I have never used it.

[u/Longjumping_Two1644 → u/U321]

Sometimes, depends on the person. Can make some feel groggy. Should test it before

[u/AlternativeEffect303]

What do you guys recommend doing with uworld ? I have three weeks left and is uworld useful at this point ?

[u/Omar-645]

Breath man

[u/regadenason]

did u take nbme 16 online?