step 2 experience -

[ArchivalUser]

am - am@kos.com

i think there are a lot of junk people like you in this site that send greetings to each other and deceive innocent people.ass
hole let me tell you something,q-book easier than Q-bank ,how did you get with first review 84 in q-bank and 84 in q-book with the second review?

[ArchivalUser]

mk

Hi PBV,
Is Kaplan Surgery enough?Do I need to know like BillrothI and II and diff surgical proceedures?
I am also using only kaplan books and I have one month to go for the exam.

[ArchivalUser]

PBV

to am:
I´m not lying, it´s just like that, before I got started for my step 2 preparation I took Kaplan diagnostic analysis and scored 80%, so I realized that I was in good shape for my preparation and decided to take it in two months (besides that I had just taken step one and had that knowledge very fresh), then I read only twice the books, and found that Qbank and Qbook are very similar and since I was scoring the same in both tests I realized that I was ready for the exam and that I didn´t need more time for preparation because I wasn´t improving my scores anymore.
And finally, how can you explain that after scoring 80% in kaplan diagnostic analysis before I got started, 84% in both tests, and 93% in the USMLE CD, I just scored 81% in Kaplan CD??, There´s sometimes just no explanations for some facts, my friend.

[ArchivalUser]

PBV

To mk:
As you may know exams change, but in my case I didn´t find any question related to technical surgical procedures, however you do have to know the postoperatory complications of each or those (dumping syndrome, bacterial overgrowth, malabsorption, etc...)
With respect to your second point, I think in overall the surgery notes are good (not excellent like G/O), specially the trauma notes.

To samira:
In my opinion, both Qbank and Qbook questions are pretty similar to the real exam, and I think that the G/O kaplan notes are just excellent and very complete.

To Talli
I don´t know the usmleworld Qbank, therefore I can only recommend you Kaplan qbank, because it`s the only one I know

[ArchivalUser]

Samira

thank u PBV
are there any lab values that you'd suggest learning them by heart instead of looking them up during the exam ? are all of them available?
thanx

[ArchivalUser]

PBV

Yes Samira, I recommend you to memorize the following values (in case you can´t do it, don`t worry because they´re all available) :

Na, K, Cl, Ca, P, Mg, Hb, Ht, Leucocytes count(specially neutropenia and eosinophilia), Platelets, PT, PTT, and they ask about Immunodeficiencies, so if you can memorize the normal Immunoglobulin values too, it will save you extratime.
I remember that I had to use the Lab values item only to check the Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, IgG and IgE).

[ArchivalUser]

Samira

thank u so much , that will help
could u please tell me where else than the usmle CD i can find these values ?
i appreciate it
Samira

[ArchivalUser]

Samira

ok i found it in my Cecil book ...'
thnx anyway

[ArchivalUser]

PBV

BLOOD, PLASMA, SERUM REFERENCE RANGE SI REFERENCE INTERVALS

* Alanine aminotransfer(ALT,GPT at 30c)............8--20U/L.............................8--20U/L
Amylase,Serum.........................................................25--125U/L...........................25--125U/L
*Aspartate aminotransferase(AST,GOT at 30c)............8--20U/L ............................8--20U/L
Bilirubin,Serum(adult) total//Direct...................0.1--1.0mg/dL//0.0--0.3mg/dL.........2.17Mmol/L//0.5Mmol/L
Calcium,Serum(ca2+) ........................8.4--10.2 mg/dL......................2.1--2.8mmmol/L
Cholesterol,serum..............................................Rec:<200mg/dL.......................< 5.2mmol/L
Cortisol,Serum.........................................0800h:5--23Mg/dL....................138--635nmol/L
1600h:3-15Mg/dL......................82--413nmol/L
Creatine Kinase,Serum.............................Male: 25--90U/L...........................25--90U/L
Female:10--70U/L............................70U/L
*Creatinine Serum............................0.6--1.2mg/dL.....................53--106Mmol/L
Electrolytes,Serum
Sodium(Na+)..................................136--145mEq/L......................136--145mmol/L
Chloride(cl-)....................95--105mEq/L.......................95--105mmol/L
*Potassium(k+)..................3.5--5.0mEq/L.......................3.5--5.0mmol/L
Bicarbonate(HCO3)................22--28mEq/L.........................22--28mEq/L
Magnesium(mg2+)..................1.5--2.0mEq/L.......................1.5--2.0mmol/L

Estriol,Total,Serum(in Prreganay)
24--28wks//32--36wks.....................30--170ng/mL//60--280ng/mL...........104-590//280-970nmol/L
28--32wks//36--40wks.....................40--220ng/mL//80--350ng/mL............140-760//280-1210nmol/L
Ferritin,Serum............................Male:15--150ng/mL....................15--200Mg/L
Female:12--150ng/mL.......................12--150Mg/L
Follicle-stimulating hermone,Serum/Plasma..Male:4--25mI/U/mL.....................4--25U/L
Femaleremenopause 4--30mIU/mL....4--30U/L
&nbs