Breast Feeding Puts USMLE Step2CK on the News

After NBME denied the disabled exam candidate and a mother, Ms. Sophie Currier, extra break time to express milk for her kid on the USMLE Step 2 CK, she went to court. Initially the court denied her a preliminary injunction that would have given her additional break time for her to pump breast milk. But after a appeal, ,the court agreed and granted her the petition. NBME now plans to appeal and reverse the motion.



Here's NBME's official statement on the matter of Breast Feeding during the exam.

- Yes, Breast Feeding during the Exam is allowed
- Additional arrangements are made for disabled individuals - like splitting exam over two days, permission to carry food during the exam, etc.

Ms. Currier presented breast-feeding as a constitutional right that cannot be denied. Hmmmm...


Any thoughts ?

Study Material For Media Clip Questions on USMLE Step 2 CK

As most of you already know, USMLE guys have started experimenting with media clips on the Step 2 CK Tests - both video and audio.

Here's a screen shot of a sample media clip question taken off the 2008 Step 2 CK study orientation material that you can download for free from the USMLE Website



The Media Clips questions would most likely include a specific clinical sign being elicited, abnormal heart and lung sounds or could even include readings of some investigation.


Here are Good free online Resources for Brushing up your skills for Heart Sounds, Splits, Murmurs, Clicks and more:

1. Blaufuss Multimedia Heart Sounds Tutorial : Loved this and This pretty much resembles what the USMLE guys are using !

2. 3M Littman's Heart and Lung Sounds Tutorial

3. The Auscultation Assistant - Not bad

4. Cardiac Auscultation Wav Files - scroll down the page for the files

5. University of Washington Heart Sounds & Murmurs : Thanks to Harshit!



More Good sources are welcome from Readers !
(Leave a comment below along with your name, institution for submission credits)



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Reverse Study Approach For USMLE Steps ?

For the USMLE Steps, a study technique is unique to every individual and depends on several factors like
1. How fresh are you from med school
2. How much time do you have on your hands for the exam
3. Your patience ;-)

I was bored to death reading those dry monotonous notes - which forced me to try a reverse technique - and i loved it !!

Subscribe for the Step 2 CK question bank from either Kaplan or UsmleWorld and start solving the questions in an untimed Tutor Mode - if you know the answers, simply read the provided explanations and move ahead - but if you make a mistake or are not sure of how you got the correct answers - not only should you read the explanation - but also get back to your kaplan notes to read more about the concept.

Try this style especially if you have been away from medical studies for a while or your exam is fast approaching - the confidence it gives you is much more than starting with trying to finishing the huge bulk of notes and forgetting 75 % of it by the time you start solving questions !

After all on the USMLE, studying 80% of everything gives a higher return on investment than studying everything about just 80% , since, your all-round familiarity with concepts in assessed.

Kaplan USMLE DVD Downloads

I don't know if and how this stuff is legal - but I came across a site Mininova.org that does have free downloads for some KAPLAN Step 2 CK DVDs - works on the BitTorrents File-sharing technology, which means you first need to download and install BitTorrent.


Note: I have not downloaded them - neither did I use Kaplan DVDs myself, so I cannot vouch for the quality of the downloads.