Qbook done

Phew, Qbook is done. Every single question. I can't say that I learns tons, but I feel like I know a bit more than what I started with. For the most part, I was getting mid 60's low-mid 70's on each block of 50. Ok, the odd score in the 50's too. But this ain't going to get me down. Actually, I'm not too disappointed with these scores, considering that I have yet to open a book in surgery or medicine -- just going on plain old intuition for these topics. I think a couple good days studying for these subjects should put me in good shape. My biggest problem is, I have finals coming up for school right now. While all my classmates are cramming for school exams, I have do study for school exams PLUS Step 2 CK AND CS! My days are fun. And no, oddly enough, studying for school does not really help in terms of studying for the steps. Why? Because my school is dumb, we are examined in a way that requires us to regurgitate vast amounts of knowledge in the form 'essays'. Seriously. My days are fun.

Kaplan Qbook Surgery

Ok, am I the only one that is finding the Kaplan Qbook Surgery questions ridiculously tough? A stellar 56% on the first block, followed by an equally amazing 64% on the second block. I guess this is what I get by putting the cart in front of the horse -- I've actually done the questions before reading any surgery resources. I'm hoping that a little studying in the area will do the trick. But will it? See, this is my problem. The textbooks don't tend to tell you what's the next step in management, which is the area I'm finding the most difficulty in. Textbooks are great for telling you epidemiology, pathophysiology and all that stuff that you think you've forgotten, but really have lurking deep, deep inside that thing you call a brain. But I find that my books seem to lack a cohesive treatment plan for these diseases. I need a nice flowchart. A really nice one. Someone make a flowchart. Please?

Which Qbank to use?

With the emergence of USMLERx for Step1, there has been much debate as to which Qbank to use. In Step2, there appears to be much less of a debate: USMLE World, or, as it is lovingly referred to by the masses: "UW". It looks like I'm going to get the one month subscription for $90.00. Yay! More questions, but sadly, less time. No, I don't work for them.