Free Step 2 CK Guide

Why: in Step 1 everyone knows the answer is First Aid. In Step 2, IMGs are genuinely clueless about what to revise from, and that confusion wastes months. Questions go in and knowledge leaks out, because there's no anchor. These notes are the anchor.
How: aiming for 250, my Annotated First Aid (your Step 1 layout with the clinical layer Step 2 tests on top), 16 to 20 weeks. Aiming for 260+, the Inner Circle Notes, 6 months minimum. Pick 1 and never switch. Every UWorld correction and every Mehlman line goes into them, in 1 to 2 lines. And a full notes cycle before every single NBME: worth 5 to 10 points, and almost nobody does it.
Where: day 1 to exam day. On every question, run the NBME MCQ protocol →

Why: free, dense, and the fastest way to close a weak system.
How: under 6 months of prep, 1 day per system, videos while you review your notes. 6+ months, Mehlman and Divine together, 1 system every 1 to 2 days: notes, then video, then audio. Either way, no separate Mehlman notebook: 1 to 2 lines straight into your primary notes.
Where: consolidation, the 2 to 3 weeks after you finish UWorld system by system. How to use Mehlman →

Why: the podcast is enormous, and most of it isn't your priority. This PDF holds all of his high-yield podcasts: the exact episodes worth your last week and last month, with the high-yield risk-factor PDF.
How: system by system, alongside your notes. Play only the episodes the PDF names. If you play the Free 120 episodes, solve your own Free 120 offline first. How I use Divine for Step 2 →
Where: consolidation if you have 6+ months, otherwise the AJmonics and Divine stretch after NBME 12, and again in your last week.

Why: roughly 2-hour videos of about 200 questions per system. Dense, rapid-fire question review.
How: system by system. Screenshot every question or concept you don't know, and file it in a folder for that system. That folder becomes 1 of your 3 final revision resources.
Where: after NBME 12, once the reasoning is already there. Use it late, not first.

Why: concise, high-yield videos built for rapid recall, especially valuable if you feel stuck on a score plateau.
How: plug them into your rotation alongside Mehlman, Divine and AJmonics, system by system. A fast morning pass on the system you're revising.
Where: the revision phases, before your NBMEs and the real exam.

Why: his playlists are on various subjects, and they are basically direct questions and direct advice from CMS forms.
How: if you've already done the CMS forms, watch his videos as refreshers. They're good. Bored in the gym? This is what you put on.
Where: after your CMS forms, through the NBME phase.

Antimicrobials in under 90 minutes, on my UsmleMatch channel. Watch it once when you study infectious disease, then again in your last week. How to use it →

200 concepts that keep reappearing, plus the high-yield vaccines, risk factors, quality improvement and communication plans. Run them in the last month, after NBME 14, not the first. And use AMBOSS early for biostats and ethics, because UWorld's coverage isn't enough.

The closest thing to the real exam. Don't touch them until UWorld is finished. Do them properly and review harder than you do them. Save some CMS 10 questions per system for after your full assessments. How to review a form →

Built from NBME 9 to 16 and the Free 120, across 16 systems, with a filter for the 18 question types the NBME asks, like next best step and most likely diagnosis. In your last week, you revise all of the cards. The week before Step 2 CK →

Already in the University section of the Vault, free, next to the free PDFs further down this page.

I recommend Step 2 after Step 1, while your visual memory of First Aid is still fresh. And don't take a long break between the Steps, because that is where 18 months quietly disappear. Dr. Sabha had 7 months between Step 1 and a 259 on Step 2 CK. The speed didn't cost her the score. It's what produced it. All 3 Steps in under 12 months →

Decide your target first, because it decides your notes, your timeline and your resources. 250: my Annotated First Aid, 16 to 20 weeks. 260+: the Inner Circle Notes, at least 6 months. Pick 1, commit, and don't switch at month 3 because someone on Reddit recommended something else.