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For IMGs whose Step 2 CK is tomorrow or the day after. The eve is where a well-prepared student can still lose the day.
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published
Go into the eve a little tired: if your exam is on the 10th, sleep at 3 am on the 9th and wake at 6 am. From the morning, study only your 1 final note of everything you forgot in the past week. Shut your books at 5 pm. Eat dinner, take a light walk, and turn the lights out at 9 pm, so you get 8 hours right before the exam. Pack Glucon-D, Tang and chocolates before bed.
Read this firstMost students lose the eve in 1 of 2 ways. They study past dinner because 1 more topic feels safer, or they sleep in, feel rested, and then lie awake anxious on the night that counts.
The things in my Step 1 routine are the same for Step 2 as well. Here they are, with the Step 2 parts swapped in.
The eve only works if the week before it did its job. In the last week:
All of those bookmarks go onto 1 singular piece of note. On the final day, you revise just that. You don't have to do much.
Revise the Step 2 CK NBME Booster Anki this weekNBME 9 to 16 and the Free 120, as cards, system by system. Every card you miss goes on your final note.
Open the deck →If antimicrobials are weak, this is the week to watch my antimicrobials video a second time. How to use it →
▶Antimicrobials in under 90 minutesMy video, UsmleMatch channel. Once early in your prep, once in your last week. ▶Divine Intervention · USMLE Step 2CKOnly the must-do episodes from my PDF, on walks this week. Not on the eve.On the eve, you sleep late, very late, and you wake up early. Say your exam is on 10 October. This is what 9 October looks like.
| When | What you do |
|---|---|
| Going into the 9th | Sleep at 3 am on 9 October. Wake at 6 am on 9 October. Short on purpose. |
| Morning to 5 pm | Study only your note: all of the forgetting points of the previous week. You will have enough anxiety to get through it. |
| 5 pm | Books shut. Don't study after 5 or 6 pm, not 1 more line. |
| Evening | Dinner, then a light walk of 45 to 60 minutes. Home by 8 to 8:30 pm. |
| 9 pm | Lights out. |
| 5 to 6 am on the 10th | Wake up after a full 8 hours, and go and give your exam. |
This sleep-late eve is for the real exam only. Before an NBME, sleep normally and keep your normal routine. The night before an NBME →
Another example with the same logic: exam on 30 October, so you sleep at 3 am on the 29th and wake at 6 or 7 am, tired, and you run the same day.
On the eve, make sure all of your supplies for exam day are there: Glucon-D, Tang and chocolates, because that's what keeps your energy levels high. A bottle of Gatorade works too.
Your brain runs on glucose, and Step 2 CK is a long day. Pack it the night before so the morning has nothing to decide.
On exam day, your knowledge is already fixed. What you control is your energy and your pace. The things in my Step 1 exam-day routine are the same for Step 2, and if you've followed the plan, you've already practised them in every NBME you took offline, so they are automatic by the time you walk in.
The Step 1 version of this routine, with the reasons behind every step: The day before Step 1, and exam day → It's also Part 7 of my Step 1 video:
▶How to Pass USMLE Step 1 in 2027 (Day 1 to Exam Day)My video, UsmleMatch channel. Part 7 is the eve and exam-day routine.My 12-month plan says rest the last 2 days. That is what this routine is: no new work, only your note, and your books shut at 5 pm.
The week before Step 2 CK — the 6 things that build your note.
The day before Step 1, and exam day — the Step 1 version, with the 20-question rhythm.
The NBME Review Protocol — where your one-liners come from.
6 steps to more than 250 — the whole Step 2 prep, in order.