Step 1 vs Step 2 CK shelf-prep: one workflow that handles both

The overlap nobody tells you about

Step 1 is heavy on mechanism (pharm, path, physio, biochem). Step 2 CK shifts to clinical reasoning (next-best-step, most-likely-diagnosis, management). Most M2s think of these as two separate exams with two separate study plans. They aren't.

About 60% of Step 2 CK content has a Step 1 mechanism underlying it. If you understood why a beta blocker reduces afterload, you've already done 70% of the work for the Step 2 question about which drug to start in a stable HFrEF patient. The clinical decision rules are layered on top of mechanism, not separate from it.

One workflow, two deliverables

For every M3 didactic or shelf-prep lecture you process:

1. The study guide covers what the lecturer said. Use it for next-week shelf prep.
2. The AnKing tag list spans both Step 1 and Step 2 CK roots. The Step 1 tags are your mechanism scaffold; the Step 2 CK tags are your clinical scaffold. Drill both.
3. The gap-fill deck catches anything your lecturer added that the AnKing taxonomy didn't have a slot for: usually attending pearls, recent guideline updates, or board-style traps.

This is the same set of artifacts you'd produce for an M1 anatomy lecture. The difference is what you drill from it.

Calendar layout

M3 weeks: process every didactic the day-of. Drill the gap-fill deck and the Step 2 CK tags that night. Weekend: review the system-level parent tags across both Step 1 and Step 2 CK roots. By the time you sit Step 2 CK, your AnKing repetition history covers both layers because you never separated them.