Kaplan - Kaplan Medical USMLE Step 2 CK Qbook

USMLE Step 2 CK
Qbook

PUBLISHING

New York

USMLE is a joint program of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Preparing for and doing well on the USMLE Step 2 CK are essential requirements on the road to becoming a practicing physician. The skills needed for preparation and execution on multiple-choice tests have little to do with the day-to-day practice of medicine but are necessary hurdles that you must overcome to advance in your medical career. Take heart-this task is not insurmountable; there have been many ahead of you. It only requires some knowledge of techniques, a little planning, a dash of impertinence, and above all, patience. This Qbook is intended to help you with this process.

• The first chapter, titled Inside the USMLE Step 2 CK Exam, within the Test-Taking and Study Strategies Guide section was developed to help you gain a better understanding of the exam. It includes a thorough analysis of the question subtypes. In addition, it describes the overall purpose of the exam, as well as its structure and design (including the USMLE's new FRED software interface), and offers crucial insights to help you do your best on test day.
• The last four chapters of the Test-Taking and Study Strategies Guide section offer practical suggestions to help you make the most of your preparation time and to avoid common pitfalls in the exam itself. These chapters summarize the key study and test strategies that have helped thousands of students achieve their maximum score. Use these strategies and approaches as you work through the tests in this Qbook. Also, reread the final chapters of this guide as your exam approaches to get great advice on what to do during the weeks leading up to the exam, as well as on test day itself.
• The Qbook Practice Tests contain a total of 850 Step 2 CK-style questions divided into blocks of 50 questions each. These blocks are designed to give you a sense of how the actual exam is constructed. Each test is followed by comprehensive explanations of both the correct and incorrect answer choices. We recommend that you wait until you complete your review of a subject area before taking an exam, that you take each exam in the allotted one-hour time frame, and that you do not look at the answers until you have completed an exam in its entirety. Following each test, review why each answer is correct and why each distractor is wrong. This will provide you with the information needed to answer other similar questions on the same topic. There are two exams each in Obstetrics/Gynecology, Psychiatry, and Surgery; three in Pediatrics; and eight in Internal Medicine. A list of standard lab values can be found for easy reference on .

Best of luck on your Step 2 CK exam.

Kaplan Medical

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) consists of three steps designed to assess a physicians ability to apply a broad spectrum of knowledge, concepts, and principles and to evaluate the physicians basic patient-centered skills.

Step 1 (multiple-choice exam) This exam is designed to test how well the examinee understands and applies concepts integral to the basic and clinical sciences.

Step 2 (two separate exams) The Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) is a multiple-choice exam designed to determine whether the examinee possesses the medical knowledge and understanding of clinical science considered essential for the provision of patient care under supervision. The Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) is a separate, hands-on exam that tests the examinees clinical and communication skills through his/her ability to gather information from standardized patients, perform a physical examination, communicate the findings to the patient, and write a patient note.

Step 3 (multiple-choice exam) This exam assesses the examinees ability to apply medical knowledge and the understanding of biomedical and clinical science essential for the unsupervised practice of medicine, with emphasis on patient management in ambulatory settings.

The results of the USMLE are reported to medical licensing authorities in the United States and its territories (state boards) for use in granting the initial license to practice medicine. The examination serves to provide a common basis for evaluation of all candidates for licensure. The USMLE is sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).

USMLE Step 2 CK is a nine-hour, computerized examination that serves as the clinical science exam of the licensing pathway. Its purpose is to determine whether an examinee possesses the medical knowledge and understanding of clinical science considered essential for the provision of patient care under supervision. As the complement to the Clinical Skills Step 2 CS exam, Step 2 CK consists of multiple-choice questions that will test you on the principles of clinical science that are important to the practice of medicine in postgraduate training.

Step 2 CK tests primary care medicine. Subjects covered on the USMLE Step 2 CK include but are not limited to:

• Internal medicine
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Pediatrics
• Preventive medicine and public health
• Psychiatry
• Emergency medicine
• Dermatology
• Neurology
• Geriatrics
• Surgery

For a detailed description of examination content areas, see the USMLE website (www.usmle.org). Note that the diseases listed in the outline do not represent an all-inclusive list. Questions are generally, but not exclusively, focused on the listed disorders. In addition, not all listed topics are included on each examination. Remember also that categorizations and content coverage are subject to change.

The nine-hour Step 2 CK exam consists of approximately 370 questions, divided into eight blocks of one hour each. Each of the eight blocks contains approximately 46-47 questions from the full range of topics covered on the exam. You will be able to skip back and forth among test questions, but only within a block of questions. Once the hour is up, you will be unable to return to that block of questions. When you start the testing session, your session clock will begin counting down from nine hours. When the nine hours are up, the test will shut off completely.

Within your nine-hour session time, you will have to complete eight, one-hour sections.