Step 2 study schedule
I know I’ve mentioned this a zillion times already, but studying really sucks without caffeine.
As such, I’ve tried to modify my schedule to work with my weakness. I can’t sit and passively read-write for more than an hour at a time. I have to take breaks between question sets. And with everything, I’m still doing my rotations at the hospital. A lot of people recommend taking a month to study for Step 2. If I could take a month off, that’s what I would do.
But instead of spending 8 hours each day for 4 weeks, I’m spending 4 hours each day for 8 weeks.
As you might notice in the calendars below, I left Saturday open. Either for a break or for spill-over in case a day at the hospital runs late and I can’t get my 4 hours in. Brandon usually works Sundays from 7am-3pm, so I’ve allocated 8 hours on those days and put the bigger subjects there. How I divide up those 4 or 8 hours depends on the subject and the day. It might be 2 hours of reading and 2 blocks of USMLE World questions online. Or 1 hour of reading and 3 blocks of questions. Some days are late (ie: noon) starts at the hospital, so I try to get my hours in the morning. Other days are early (ie: 630am) starts and I save studying for the evening.
May is a work-in-progress until I get authorization that my name change went through and I can firmly schedule the test dates. I’m guessing CS will happen earlier in the month and CK later in the month.
In short, I’m really nervous about this exam. It feels like there’s a lot going on in my life right now and I don’t have time to adequately prepare. I’m nervous about a re-take because we can barely afford the $2200 for the first time ’round.
Then again, I was planning a wedding while studying for Step 1. So I might be just fine.
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March 17th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
you can do it!! you studied and studied for so long- i’m sure a lot of it will come back to you when you see it. congrats on the baby superdocmom! it’s sooo hard keeping a new pregnancy a secret. one of my friends at work told me right after she knew and she’s not planning on letting any other staff or friends know until may so i keep biting my tongue to not give it away. lol. her mom went to med school with four small children and is a pediatrician doing a second fellowship now that her kids are grown up…phew…i feel so lazy compared to you people. hope there’s no more morning sickness!
March 17th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Too bad there wasn’t a way to store information in your baby’s brain while you’re studying. Then during the test, that knowledge can cross the placenta back into your brain. It would be like a fail-proof cheat sheet.
March 18th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Sis-Boom-Bah! You can do it! I love reading how dedicated you are! So inspiring! THANK YOU! :D
March 21st, 2010 at 8:16 am
thanks for posting ur schedule and good luck (:
April 5th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
[...] March has come and gone (insane!) and my study schedule is still on [...]
April 5th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I like Sarah’s idea of utilizing the baby brain in you. I think that is the best idea EVER!! I know if anyone can do it you can do it and I hope that you will let me know anything that I can do to help make it as easy as possible!!
April 6th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I am obviously full of good ideas
October 27th, 2010 at 10:02 am
I might be in the same boat as far as studying for Step 1 while planning a wedding…any advice on that?