Just finished

[megacolon]

Well

Today I finished Day 2 of my exam and wanted to share my thoughts...

I felt the exam wasn't as hard as Step 1, probably about the same level of difficulty as Step 2 given the increased knowledge base I now have as an intern. Day 1 was the hardest...and longest day. Day 2 definitely had overall shorter questions, and less questions per section than Day 1.

The topics I found I got a ridiculous amount of questions on included dementia, delirium, altered mental status. I really had 10-20 questions that started out with the stem of a 75yo man is here in your office brought by their child. The child states that they just seem more forgetful. Get asked all sorts of things, like recognizing polypharmacy, need for placement, the workup of dementia, what to do next when the workup is negative, what to tell the family and pt. regarding the condition, etc, etc.

Also hit hard on my exam were STDs. Man oh man, 3 penis pictures and about 15 other questions about what to do next, what to tell them.

Another was sex ed. So and so comes in with a PMH of XYZ and is concerned whether or not it's ok to have sex with their spouse, what to tell a pregnant woman about having sex while she's pregnant, questions about OCPs, etc.

The case scenarios were pretty easy and straightforward. I felt they were similar to the way the cases were presented during the Step2 CS exam. The only thing is that instead of getting the history, they give you that and expect you to perform the basic management steps and admit when they need to be admitted. My 9 topics/diagnoses that I had on my exam (and since I don't want to divulge specific areas, I will only provide what I felt were the diagnosis of the given scenarios)

1. Iron deficiency anemia
2. ST elevation MI
3. Bacterial Meningitis
4. AAA
5. Hypothyroidism
6. ITP
7. Asthma exacerbation
8. Cystic fibrosis
9. Can't remember the 9th one. I thought I could keep them all in my head after I wrote them down on my little mat.

But you get the idea. The only 2 that tripped me up a little were the AAA (i just read too quickly and then they told me 2 hours after I first saw him his pain is worsening, only to discover that his abd mass is midline and pulsatile...whoops. the other was the MI because it was a guy that came in with n/v that I started working up a different direction.)

Overall...I felt the test was hard, and I hope I passed. I didn't purchase the CD of the guy that posts in every single one of these threads in this forum. I hardly studied at all. I did maybe 200-300 questions out of the Kaplan Qbook since it's cheaper to buy the book at B&N than subscribing online to Qbank. Granted, my training is in med-peds which I think greatly greatly aided me in having a good idea of basic management of most inpatient and outpatient things for kids & adults. I was weak on the ortho & MS type questions (not the best at reading knee films yet). The OB/GYN was reasonable, and the psych stuff was fairly straightforward.

I'll try and post up here how I did when I get my scores back in a few weeks. If I failed...well that would plain suck. So I'll keep my fingers crossed.

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[TheOne_1]

Man, I really envy you...
I was on the 3rd CCS patient when the whole building went out of power & guess what, there was NO back up power supply.
I don't know what is next...
That's just frustrating

 

[StudKnight]

just finished step 3. Agree with the above. I thought the test was hard, especially day 1. The clinical cases were the easiest part. The multiple choice was just grueling. The question stems were extremely long and it took forever just to get to the choices. Most of stem was just a bunch of BS and normals but you had to skim through so you don't miss anything important.

Some of the questions were just poorly written but maybe they were experimental? I hope.

I had lots of peds on my test, more ortho than I expected.

Overall an exhausting experience that passed. Hopefully I will too.

 

[Brian Pavlovitz]

just finished step 3. Agree with the above. I thought the test was hard, especially day 1. The clinical cases were the easiest part. The multiple choice was just grueling. The question stems were extremely long and it took forever just to get to the choices. Most of stem was just a bunch of BS and normals but you had to skim through so you don't miss anything important.

Some of the questions were just poorly written but maybe they were experimental? I hope.

I had lots of peds on my test, more ortho than I expected.

Overall an exhausting experience that passed. Hopefully I will too.

All the best, Studknight; I take mine next week

 

[clueless1]

I also agree with the above experiences...Just finished last Thursday, and I think the first day was head-and-shoulders tougher than the second day. It seemed like the questions themselves were harder on the first day, not just the fact that the 1st day is longer/more questions - I felt like I had whole blocks where I didn't know more than 3-4 questions for sure (I looked back and had marked almost every other one to go back to...). The second day the Mult. Choice questions are shorter, there are fewer of them, and at least on my exam, they were flat-out easier. The CCS's are whatever...who knows how they score those things, so I'm just gonna keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Brian Pavlovitz]

I also agree with the above experiences...Just finished last Thursday, and I think the first day was head-and-shoulders tougher than the second day. It seemed like the questions themselves were harder on the first day, not just the fact that the 1st day is longer/more questions - I felt like I had whole blocks where I didn't know more than 3-4 questions for sure (I looked back and had marked almost every other one to go back to...). The second day the Mult. Choice questions are shorter, there are fewer of them, and at least on my exam, they were flat-out easier. The CCS's are whatever...who knows how they score those things, so I'm just gonna keep my fingers crossed.

I agree. By far, the first day seemed more difficult: longer stems, things I have never heard of. I hope we passed!!

 

[merlenm]

Took the exam just recently, awaiting my scores.

I think it was definitely the hardest of the 3 tests. Cases are not too bad.

 

[irlandesa]

I'm a medicine resident and got WAY too many peds and optho ?'s for my taste, got killed with dermatology as well when I took at the end of this week.. Neurology was bad too. I thought most of the primary care and infectious disease ?'s were straightforward and reasonable; disappointingly few cardiology and ICU ?'s (since I tend to be good @ those). Overall, a bit more difficult than the Kaplan ?'s; I just hope I passed, I am not too good at standardized tests to begin with (I still don't know how in the sam h*ll I got into MD school). I also botched the first 2 CCS completely and didn't order everything I should have on another; the rest of the cases seemed much easier and ended early for me; I hope that is a good sign. I am going to be worried the next 6 weeks; I am scheduled for vacation for the first 2 weeks of April and have made the decision not to go too far in case the worst happens. Good luck to those of you taking Step 3 in the coming weeks; I hope you feel better about it than I did (everyone else in this program seems to)

 

[StudKnight]

just got my scores back and I'm thankful that I PASSED with a 194.

I was very nervous and did not think I had done well. My score pretty much reflects that. I'm just happy I passed.

 

[Anath]

Cooooongrats! Nervous like the dickens -- Did day 1 today, and it was long and miserable. Although I think having gone through at least half of intern year, I was better able to skim the questions and usually finished each block a little early, but I agree ... A lot of the time, I just went back and forth, not certain which answer I should go with -- ie, which test I should order ... man, in real life, usually we order both of those, not just one. baaah hambug!

And what IS the deal with all the 70+ yo's forgetting things? I had the same experience today also -- I had a TON of them, or the 20 year olds who just went to college and have become paranoid/delusional.

Ahhh ... cross your fingers for me -- I think the CCS's are going to hurt -- I've been doing the practice cases, and still get things mixed up -- ie, does it matter when I order a test now, or as in real life, should I order the test after I have the results of another? Should I start the patient on prednisone for what seems like arthritis ONLY after confirming that it's not a septic joint? Know wudimean? ::shrugs:: Ah well. It will be over soon and hopefully, I pass ... that's allllllll I ask for!