NEW Step 3 Exam - Experiences

[futuredoctor10]

anyone take the new Step 3 yet? Thoughts/experiences particularly how well UWorld qbank prepares you (and) how much basic science on the exam?

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[shiftingmirage]

Thanks!

Can you take the exams in any order, or do you have to do one part before the other (e.g., take FIP before ACM or take ACM before FIP)?

You have to do FIP before ACM.

 

[Psychotic]

You have to do FIP before ACM.

Just looked it up, and in addition to the 14 day max interval and this info, you have to sign up for both exams at the same testing center, and sign up for both exams at the same time.

 

[yayforscrambling]

sorry - one part before the other, i.e. FIP on the first day then clinical medicine on your second day.

Again, when you schedule it through Prometric, you'll see what I mean, i.e. you can't schedule your long day until you've scheduled your short day...

 

[yayforscrambling]

oops just realized question's been answered

 

[yellowcar]

Just got my score today. I'm a pgy3 neuro resident (forgot to take it two years ago) and spent about 6 weeks doing world sporadically. I finished uworld with a 60%. Didn't look at ccs until after finishing day one, so I had a week to prepare.

day one was awful. Walked out feeling like I had failed.
Day 2 was about the same, but I was so fed up that I finished most blocks early.
It was a miserable experience.
Ended up with a 238. So glad to be done.

 

[classof2014]

anyone take the new Step 3 yet? Thoughts/experiences particularly how well UWorld qbank prepares you (and) how much basic science on the exam?

Just got my score today too, passed.

Ran through Uworld first time, timed and random mode ~60%. I tried to go through second time, only did 4-5 blocks. CCS twice, first time I learned what I didn't do right, and second time to nail the details (2 days before day 2). I also used USMLE biostat review, and I thought it was a nice, less complicated than Uworld, but solid on basic concepts.

I had Master the Board, I agree with many people that it was vague, but again, it did provide substantial review in subspecialties surgery/ped/ob/gyn (I really don't know where else to get those review materials). There are tips along the book margin that I thought were helpful. If you have no time, I would recommend Uworld over MTB (more details, and most of my friends did Uworld only).

I'm in Internal Medicine, and I have a little advantage in seeing the bread and butter of medicine, but this exam was broader than I expected. I am not a great test taker, I spent really 3 weeks buckling down to study the exam, and 2.5 months to finish Uworld the first round.

Day 1: Echoing what everyone else had said, tons of biostat or interpretation of biostat excerpts. Rare disorders like IBEM that completely caught me off guard (I haven't seen them since Peds shelf exam as MSIII). In contrary to many people, I barely calculated any numbers, it was all about interpretation. Walked out first day like I failed.

Day 2: 6 blocks of management questions were straight forward. CCS 11/13 cases ended early for me (I was confident on those), and I had 2 cases that I made stupid mistakes on, one of which I ran out of time. In reality, those cases are super straight forward. On most of cases, I did not have time to put down final dx (I used those 2 min to straight out orders and counsels). I thought second day was my saving grace.

As it turned out, my first day was solid, and second day was slightly worse.

UWorld self assessment: 234 (never took Uworld assessment as med student, it must has some power of estimating, considering Uworld had no CCS)
NBME form #3 410 (definitely some correlations between real exam and break down of NBME, for instance ethics was weakest area on both exams, ob/gyn were weak on both exams)
Real Score 231

This is my first post on sdn, and probably the last. I am so glad to be done with USMLE, although I got the IM board in two years. Still happy to be done for now. Good luck everyone, the exam is definitely do-able!

 

[DrZzZz]

Background/Studying:
I'm a PGY1 Categorical Anesthesia resident. Intern year has been a mix of everything from ED, IM, Surgery, Peds, Electives, ICU, etc - sort of a transitional year style I guess. Studied for Step 3 using UWorld MCQs and CCS cases, nothing else. No books, no NBME or self assessments. First run through Uworld all timed, random/unused, 43 Q's at a time - scored about 63-65% I think. Marked any question I either a) got wrong or b) was not confident in my answer (regardless of whether I answered it right). Then I went through all the marked questions several times, keeping anything I got wrong again marked. Did each CCS case once. Took some brief notes for each case on what I missed/did wrong. Reviewed those notes in about 15 minutes the night before the test. Total time spent studying: about 2 months while on a night float rotation and an ambulatory (relatively light M-F) rotation.

Thoughts on exam:
Didn't really notice much difference in difficulty between day 1 and 2, unlike what most others say. Definitely a TON of biostats on day 1. Also, I'm usually pretty quick, avg'd 10-15 mins spare time each block on previous steps. Most blocks (both days) on Step 3, I only had 1-5 mins to spare. Had much more time to spare during Uworld tests. Not sure if due to longer stems, taking questions more seriously (being the real exam vs. Uworld), or questions being more difficult. No block where I had to guess at answers because of lack of time, thankfully.
CCS overall was a joke. I had 1 case where I had no idea what the diagnosis was, and thus, spent the entire 20 mins running a bazillion tests trying to figure it out. Patient never improved, didn't get worse either. Was starting to figure it out by the end, but had no clue how to treat the suspected diagnosis. Other than that, I was almost 100% positive of the other diagnoses and felt confident with each case that I wasn't missing too many tests/treatments. Most cases ended WAY early (20 min cases ending in ~5 mins) after I did some stuff right and patients improved.
Overall - definitely less confident than on previous Steps, but I wasn't really shooting for anything other than a "comfortable" pass and thus studied less intensely than I did for previous Steps. Was mostly confident I passed after all was said and done, but still felt a relief when I actually did get my passing score.

Score: 238

 

[yayforscrambling]

Been getting (literally) every practice biostats/epi question wrong. I'm starting to lose my mind. If someone has any advice on how to learn this crap within the next few days (besides going through my m2 notepack), I am all ears. Thanks in advance.

 

[momgracea]

Been getting (literally) every practice biostats/epi question wrong. I'm starting to lose my mind. If someone has any advice on how to learn this crap within the next few days (besides going through my m2 notepack), I am all ears. Thanks in advance.

I swear there were at least 10 easy questions on specificity/sensitivity and PPV/NPV. When you sit down to take the exam, draw out the chart. Of course, there's more than that but the other questions were scattered.

If you haven't done it, get the biostats review on Uworld. I went through that the day before the exam. If their explanations are too confusing, try using this:
http://practice.sph.umich.edu/micphp/epicentral/index.php.

Helped me!

 

[yayforscrambling]

I swear there were at least 10 easy questions on specificity/sensitivity and PPV/NPV. When you sit down to take the exam, draw out the chart. Of course, there's more than that but the other questions were scattered.

If you haven't done it, get the biostats review on Uworld. I went through that the day before the exam. If their explanations are too confusing, try using this:
http://practice.sph.umich.edu/micphp/epicentral/index.php.

Helped me!

that's awesome, thanks so much!

 

[2015MD]

Took step 3 in Feb '16. Did U World all Qs & all cases. Didnt feel UWorld was completely representative of the real thing. Day 1 had basic science Qs like what drug works at what receptor but not how the receptor works. For ex albuterol works at what receptor kind of deal. Day 2 the 6 MCQ sections was weird only because some sections, I was running out of time & on other sections I was done 9 mins earlier. Cases were simple & there is enough time for them. results in May.

 

[EEDOC]

Took step 3 in Feb '16. Did U World all Qs & all cases. Didnt feel UWorld was completely representative of the real thing. Day 1 had basic science Qs like what drug works at what receptor but not how the receptor works. For ex albuterol works at what receptor kind of deal. Day 2 the 6 MCQ sections was weird only because some sections, I was running out of time & on other sections I was done 9 mins earlier. Cases were simple & there is enough time for them. results in May.

How many days apart did you schedule the 2 exam days?

 

[DermResident]

Bumping this useful thread

 

[EndoN]

I took the new format USMLE Step 3 on 12/8 and 12/15. I am an American-born, foreign-trained, 3rd year psychiatry resident and had never taken Step 3 before. Needless to say, I am a procrastinator. I was an average medical student. Step 1 - 203, Step 2 - 234. Over the course of 2 months (while working full-time) I read Conrad's Master the Boards 2nd Edition cover-to-cover - I wish I had not wasted time reading it cover-to-cover and instead used it as a reference for things I had forgotten or never learned. In that time, I also completed UWorld in un-timed tutor mode and redid all of the questions that I missed. As a psychiatry resident almost 3 years out of medical school, I thought I would need the extra time. I was wrong. By the end of 2 moths I was overcooked. 2-4 weeks would have been more than adequate prep time. Here's my impression of the exam after having done the above:

Day 1: Long stems with a bunch of superfluous information and etc....

This is exactly how I hope my exam goes next week. good confidence booster. I'm not reading any more forum posts after this one. Thanks

 

[playingfrombehind]

Background/Studying:
I'm a PGY1 Categorical Anesthesia resident. Intern year has been a mix of everything from ED, IM, Surgery, Peds, Electives, ICU, etc - sort of a transitional year style I guess. Studied for Step 3 using UWorld MCQs and CCS cases, nothing else. No books, no NBME or self assessments. First run through Uworld all timed, random/unused, 43 Q's at a time - scored about 63-65% I think. Marked any question I either a) got wrong or b) was not confident in my answer (regardless of whether I answered it right). Then I went through all the marked questions several times, keeping anything I got wrong again marked. Did each CCS case once. Took some brief notes for each case on what I missed/did wrong. Reviewed those notes in about 15 minutes the night before the test. Total time spent studying: about 2 months while on a night float rotation and an ambulatory (relatively light M-F) rotation.

Thoughts on exam:
Didn't really notice much difference in difficulty between day 1 and 2, unlike what most others say. Definitely a TON of biostats on day 1. Also, I'm usually pretty quick, avg'd 10-15 mins spare time each block on previous steps. Most blocks (both days) on Step 3, I only had 1-5 mins to spare. Had much more time to spare during Uworld tests. Not sure if due to longer stems, taking questions more seriously (being the real exam vs. Uworld), or questions being more difficult. No block where I had to guess at answers because of lack of time, thankfully.
CCS overall was a joke. I had 1 case where I had no idea what the diagnosis was, and thus, spent the entire 20 mins running a bazillion tests trying to figure it out. Patient never improved, didn't get worse either. Was starting to figure it out by the end, but had no clue how to treat the suspected diagnosis. Other than that, I was almost 100% positive of the other diagnoses and felt confident with each case that I wasn't missing too many tests/treatments. Most cases ended WAY early (20 min cases ending in ~5 mins) after I did some stuff right and patients improved.
Overall - definitely less confident than on previous Steps, but I wasn't really shooting for anything other than a "comfortable" pass and thus studied less intensely than I did for previous Steps. Was mostly confident I passed after all was said and done, but still felt a relief when I actually did get my passing score.

Score: 238

I second this statement

day #1: lots of biostats and a grab bag of random questions from all medical fields, for me IM heavy
day #2: no biotstats another grab bag but IM heavy
CCS cases - not easy but doing all UWORLD cases not just the software ones is very helpful. The non-software cases are harder

 

[EndoN]

Just took day 2, gonna write this while my memories are still fresh. But clearly I don't know if I passed yet so who knows...maybe my opinion doesn't count yet haha.

Day 1: The stems are not that much longer than uworld as people are claiming. They are definitely do-able. There are plenty of biostatistics definitely go over that. Go over the trial phases also. I was able to finish every block in the given time, I was even able to go back and check a few answers. But you cant do the questions at a totally relaxed speed, you have to be on the ball, same as the rest of the steps. Overall, this day is not too bad.

Day 2: The 6 blocks of 30 were not very difficult to solve, I can not say that I finished all of the blocks much earlier as some people claim. There were some head scratchers but overall pretty straight forward, just like uworld. The CCS cases, you gotta calm down... If you are not thinking straight ur gunna forget stuff. I would think of stuff while im reading the case intro and forget some of the differential by the time I was doing physical exam, maybe thats just me. The cases are mostly covered by uworld, this includes the 41 printout cases. Overall, a long exhausting day but I finished it more than an hour early.

Study resources (this is where i'm gonna get picky):
uworld qbank: This is the ultimate tool, use this for sure, go through all the questions. Do all your wrong questions again. Just keep doing the questions, read all the explanations at least the first time through.

Kaplan qbank: These blocks were timed faster and it was good for getting my speed reading up. BUT, and this is a big but... I have a list of stuff I didn't like about kaplan qbank.
- When you answer a questions, many of them have insufficient data to tell you how other people answered, even though the question has been in the bank for years.
- Some of the questions say they were last updated in 2011....what the hell, they claim they are updated more often, but I fail to believe them as some questions don't even follow modern recommendations. They are not totally off, but they don't even provide sources of data like uworld...Fail
- The software sucks, scrolling is annoying, it freezes mid question, doesn't work in full screen...they need a serious software makeover.
- Questions were written badly compared to uworld and the real exam, not saying they didn't have good into in the explanations sometimes, but the way it was written frustrated me.
- No biostats, you cant divide the questions into day 1 and day 2 like in uworld.
- Overall, I think, as long as you pay them the money for the bank they are milking all of you. Clearly they are not investing this money or time into making a higher level qbank
What I liked about kaplan:
The self assessment showed me where I had some weaknesses which correlated with other self assessments. Helped me focus in on what to study.

uworld CCS: This was great, definitely use it, go over all the cases and all of the read out cases. This may be all you need to pass this part of the exam

Archer: I think the Dr.'s name is Dr. Red. He does a good job of explaining the software and giving you tips on when to do things, on which screens. If you have time I would recommend it, you just get to know the way you should manage everything better. The downside is: There are so many hours of this stuff...you can not watch it at a speed any faster than real time. Unless you have months, there is just no way a normal person is going to watch it all. I emailed him about this and apparently he is working on making the video player and software better, hopefully there will be the option to play the videos faster also.

uworld biostats: This is a great resource and it covers everything you need to know on the exam. But, I almost broke everything in my room a few times. I found at least 2 mistakes on calculations, blatantly wrong...wrong formula, wrong explanation....unbelieveable. I'm paying them to teach me statistics and I need to send them an e-mail with corrections. They eventually corrected it to my suggestion, but, They gave me no response, no thank you, no discount...nothing....capitalistic. Thats the reason I'm outing them, because they didn't say thank you after I provided them with corrections on material which hundreds of people are using to pass the exam. Shame.

Kaplan MTB 3: Forgot to mention this one. I read this probably twice...I knew I forgot something. Its a good resource to get a base of knowledge. If you know everything in this book you know enough for sure. But, there are some inconsistencies and some recommendation are out of date and don't coincide with current recommendations, These things probably won't make or break you on test day though.

OnlineMedEd: Jesus....I just watched the free videos. I wish I knew about this a long time ago. This stuff is just amazing. If you have time, or even if you are taking a break. Go watch these videos. Freaking awesome. Im gonna watch them even after the exam just so I am more competent as a doctor. Hats off to them.

Do the uworld self assessments, and the NBME form for sure. They tell you were you stand and where you need to improve. You might as well do the Free 150 or whatever they are called from the USMLE website.

Of course in retrospect this exam seems do-able. I don't know If I passed or not, I really hope I'm done with this once and for all. Goodluck to all of you.

 

[alpinebrook]

Of course in retrospect this exam seems do-able. I don't know If I passed or not, I really hope I'm done with this once and for all. Goodluck to all of you.

You sound totally on the ball and like you rocked this exam! I'm sure you did great. You even provided corrections for biostats -- wow! I hear you though, I've sent several comments/corrections (non-biostats) and never received a thank you. I liked how the First Aid qbank gave me Amazon gift cards for taking the time to send feedback.

 

[EndoN]

You sound totally on the ball and like you rocked this exam! I'm sure you did great. You even provided corrections for biostats -- wow! I hear you though, I've sent several comments/corrections (non-biostats) and never received a thank you. I liked how the First Aid qbank gave me Amazon gift cards for taking the time to send feedback.

Thanks Yah, I would have appreciated that. I need to buy some ACLS books now and that kind of "Thank you" could have helped!

 

[doc0610]

How horrible can you do on biostats and still pass this exam? Any one have any inputs?

 

[psychEpath]

I just took NBME form 4. Score 600 (mean 500 and SD 100). Anyone know what that means? I just wanna pass at this point. I'm reapplying to psych, hoping passing step 3 score will help.

 

[alpinebrook]

I just took NBME form 4. Score 600 (mean 500 and SD 100). Anyone know what that means? I just wanna pass at this point. I'm reapplying to psych, hoping passing step 3 score will help.

I can't say for sure but I've read on various forums that getting above a 400 on the NBME means you are "safe" to take Step 3. Getting a full SD above the mean is a very good sign. Keep up the good work!

 

[amilewide]

Anyone have any advice on day 2 MC questions? does one have to do all 1000 UW questions? any high yield reviews on ACM/day2 MC? thanks

 

[amilewide]

Thanks, Mike Larry, your day 1 feedback was amazing; would love to hear your day 2 feedback!

 

[Mike Larry]

Thanks, Mike Larry, your day 1 feedback was amazing; would love to hear your day 2 feedback!

One step ahead of you bud.
Scroll up!

 

[69usmle69]

Lots of helpful info Mike L, goodjob;, ccs it seems not so complicated, however with timed and stress and fatigue, it looks like some important things can be forgot here and there, for some examinees, for me it seems at least. Also people that say or write they feel like they failed after taking exam is ambiguous, how many times especially in this website do you see the exam was crap and then later report scores in 230-250s(almost always history of similar high scores in Step1 and or Step2)?..if the test taker doesn't know enough, didn't prepare adequately, not a good standard test taker, etc, then probably fail. anyway good job helping out here Larry, sure you killed the exam

 

[Mike Larry]

...if the test taker doesn't know enough, didn't prepare adequately, not a good standard test taker, etc, then probably fail...

I feel like I'm in all of these categories! Oh god. I just want my grade back. I just want to not fail. This is torture.

 

[69usmle69]

^ok, M Larry so you feel like you're in all those categories; but do these apply to you also?: FMG, old graduate many years removed from med school, no quality US post grad training,etc..or even US trained 3rd, 4th yr residency but in something like Psych, Surgery, Pathology,etc? .if not then your chances are that you more than likely passed...just look at the passing rate statistics and many of the posts on this website. Some very few with fail, but majority passing, with many average /above average scores. Again, many on this website say or write feel like failed but end up with 220-250, just saying. However, the only actual one very disturbing thing I see on the various usmle forum sites are test takers that feel like CCS went well for them w /pts improving etc, but end up with fail exam or barely pass. Thanks again for the input.

 

[psychEpath]

I just finished day two. The cases are very, very weird. I feel like the uworld cases are far too easy. I felt like I was just stuck on many of them and I didn't know what to do. Some of my patients simply did not get better. I would forget to order some simple stuff. I felt so much better about the multiple-choice. I went in there with in an Nbme practice score of 600 last week. Those cases, oh my God.

 

[psychEpath]

I totally feel like I failed

 

[69usmle69]

I totally feel like I failed

CCS can be frustrating, but I agree with the post from other member earlier, the practice score you have and your confidence on actual exam should virtually see you through in any case, unless it's some unbelievably low low CCS. I think pts not improving on CCS isn't necessarily a poor indicator of CCS score as well....

 

[69usmle69]

Also how can one really practice CCS besides the 6 or so official examples from usmle? And I don't mean for example buying mapping CCS, UWorld, studying Crush CCS or back of FA cases kind of crap either...

 

[AtuljainMD]

I took the new format USMLE Step 3 on 12/8 and 12/15. I am an American-born, foreign-trained, 3rd year psychiatry resident and had never taken Step 3 before. Needless to say, I am a procrastinator. I was an average medical student. Step 1 - 203, Step 2 - 234. Over the course of 2 months (while working full-time) I read Conrad's Master the Boards 2nd Edition cover-to-cover - I wish I had not wasted time reading it cover-to-cover and instead used it as a reference for things I had forgotten or never learned. In that time, I also completed UWorld in un-timed tutor mode and redid all of the questions that I missed. As a psychiatry resident almost 3 years out of medical school, I thought I would need the extra time. I was wrong. By the end of 2 moths I was overcooked. 2-4 weeks would have been more than adequate prep time. Here's my impression of the exam after having done the above:

Day 1: Long stems with a bunch of superfluous information and unnecessary lab values. I got close to not finishing 1 block (only because I was stumped on a MCQ and did not recognize that fact soon enough).The composition was 70% IM with a difficulty level mild-moderately below that of UWorld. The IM portion was divided into equal parts Cardio, Endo, Nephro, Gastro, Ob, Pulm, ID, and Allergy/Rheum. There were at least 5 MCQs from each topic that I could not answer using my knowledge base or UWorld/MTB - a bit of micro, some technical immuno, a few weird endo, and technical heme/onc that were beyond my training. Thankfully, most of the exam was the same material and presentation as Step 2 CK but taken to the next level. They want you to know how to screen for a particular disease, the best next and most accurate way of diagnosing a particular disease process (those are often 2 very different things), the associated sequelae, treatment options, prognosis, and prevention of the most common diseases. Of the above categories, I wish I had looked over Zoonoses and 3rd world illnesses that are listed nicely on a just a few pages in First Aid for Step 1. In addition to the above, there were 5-10 straight-forward questions each from Neuro, Radiology, Surgery, EM/Tox, and Derm. Peds was 10%. Psychiatry/Ethics was 10%. Biostats was 10% - shorter and easier questions than most seen in UWorld. I also had 4 drug ads each with 2-3 questions - 2 were easy, 1 difficult, and 1 was not decipherable to me.

Day 2: This was just like UWorld but easier. There were six 45 minute blocks. I finished every one early. The topics are distributed in similar proportions to UWorld as well, except there were no biostatistics MCQs. All but one of my CCS cases had a similar UWorld counterpart. I have no clue what this kid had but he did get better with admission, routine orders, and broad-spectrum antibiotics. All of my other cases went smoothly and ended early in the obviously good way. I got out 1 1/2 hours early feeling much better about the whole experience... and promptly made my way to the bar. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Keith,

Thanks for that input. Congrats on being done with it! Since you took the test, one question I have for you is if each section consists of same material. Like for example, in the old version of Step 3 on day 1, section 4 and section 7 dealt with ER/Inpatient questions and the rest of the sections were outpatient/clinic based. Is the new version like that as well like one section is Advanced Clinical Medicine and the next section is Foundations of Independent practice, or are both of these sections combined into one section with a mixture from both of these areas. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

AJ

 

[Tapepsi]

I think pts not improving on CCS isn't necessarily a poor indicator of CCS score as well....

When I was taking it I felt like the majority of cases were designed in such a way that once you reach a certain point in the diagnostic work up and treatment it shuts off the case. I had cases where it never got to the point of telling me "patient improved" but instead the case just ended. Now cases where I didn't know what was going on the case would drag on and it would say "patient not improving/symptoms persisting" and time ran out with the case never ending.

But ending early doesn't necessarily mean you did well either. I also think the program scores you on how many correct exams/labs/studies/meds/etc... you included. I know some people who told me they had cases end early almost all the time but they ordered the minimum studies and treatments and overlooked many things and ended up getting lower CCS scores (all of them passed though except for one who failed by 1 point).

So basically, you really don't know how well you did on CCS until you see your score. Cases could've dragged on but if you ended up ordering most of the right things for most cases you probably did fine.

 

[psychEpath]

Thanks for encouraging words. I am not an intern or resident, reapplying to psych. I can see how actually having the experience on wards can help on CCS. I feel so stupid having fumbled through cases (no one died, but I stupidly ordered a test family refused) that in hindsight weren't so bad. I feel I ate it on 4 cases just because I was so frazzled. The multiple choice part, I feel, there's no advantage actually being a resident. All I hope for now is a pass.

 

[69usmle69]

^I have to agree with examinees that feel much of this test is about stamina, test taking speed, reading compression, etc..., like some of these things you would perhaps do lesser mistakes in study prep, but in actual testing day, stuff(bunch of crammed material facts crap) can come undone quick when focus is off even just a little bit...

.for good measure, is the software program message that pt/family refused test actually detrimental? Is there scenario that this is something that's scored positive earning points, like something you should or are supposed to ask or do?

 

[psychEpath]

Now that I'm not frazzled, I know the test I ordered was absolutely not appropriate. I think for sure this a case that I will be dinged. I missed doing even simple things during ANOTHER case and then ordered that thing I missed initially, case ended almost immediately after I ordered that. The whole time I didn't order that, patient complained of pain even with morphine.

 

[Tapepsi]

Thanks for encouraging words. I am not an intern or resident, reapplying to psych. I can see how actually having the experience on wards can help on CCS. I feel so stupid having fumbled through cases (no one died, but I stupidly ordered a test family refused) that in hindsight weren't so bad. I feel I ate it on 4 cases just because I was so frazzled.

It's hard to not think the worst. I remember thinking about all the things I did wrong and thought I failed. Ordering a test that someone refuses likely means you ordered the wrong one. I don't know if they really take that many points off though if you ended up getting to the right diagnosis and ordered the right test. But like I've said in previous posts there were 3 cases I didn't feel good on and I definitely killed a patient in one case and still ended up doing well on CCS so keep that in mind.

 

[psychEpath]

Thanks to everyone for the words of support. I'll report back in a few weeks when scores come back. Until then.

Good luck to everyone preparing to get this out of their life too.

 

[4thQTHailMary]

Would be curious to know how the cases are scored and how they figure in to the numerical score. Seems like a lot of moving parts

 

[69usmle69]

Would be curious to know how the cases are scored and how they figure in to the numerical score. Seems like a lot of moving parts

I agree, has anyone contacted fsmb/usmle/nbme to discuss this? Because, suppose CCS is low for repeat /multiple repeat test takers, how do you know what to fix to avoid making critical mistakes over and over again? Or else it is a serious flaw in overall knowledge base; or something else like unecessaary or invasive tests are being ordered and done but doesn't realize these errors, and examinee as a result seems to be unfit or not qualified to be safe physician. ...either way how do you know what to fix, besides just studying Archer, uworld, etc.?

 

[alpinebrook]

how do you know what to fix, besides just studying Archer, uworld, etc.?

I'm kind of thinking that since the vast majority pass this exam, if you truly study for CCS and have been a reasonable medical student / physician all along, you shouldn't have a problem. I agree, for those very few people who keep failing or something, they need some kind of guidance. Because what would be obvious to us is not obvious to them.

 

[psychEpath]

Just to give people a little hope, I am done with piece of **** USMLE exams for good!!!

Step 1 215, Step 2 CK ~ 230, Step 3 203

I did UWorld 2.5x (60% 1st time, 80-90% 2nd time), Kaplan (exactly 60% 1 time), UWSA 196 (2 weeks before), NBME 600 (1 week before). Based on my NBME, I probably should have done better. My CCS was absolutely AWFUL. I felt like I bombed 5 out of the 13 cases and my performance was borderline with several Xs to the left of the middle bar. With that said, it seems like there is some cushion even if you bomb CCS and do reasonably ok on the multiple choice. I don't recommend blowing off the cases though. And study biostats. Good luck everybody else!!!

 

[mastmastdonan]

Wow that was a very uncomfortable exam...

I am a Caribbean IMG currently in my 2nd year of residency in Family Medicine.

Kept putting off Step 3 because intern year was pretty busy plus I got married towards the end of it so had no time to study. Finally got a few relaxed outpatient rotations in second year and studied about 2 months, mostly on weekends. Only used UWorld qbank and CCS and had old edition of MTB Step 3 from Step 2 studying days but honestly did not read it much. I had about 100 q's left on Qbank so almost finished it. Took NBME 4 1 week prior and got 500 which they said is exactly average.

Day 1 was very annoying. A lot of biostats, drug abstracts, psych q's -- basically all those annoying things we all hate all dumped into one day. Walked out feeling like I failed.

Day 2 MCQ's were much better, more medicine oriented. Still a lot of tough questions but felt more fair; felt like I was taking Step 2 again.

But CCS cases are what have me really worried. I did not study that hard for them; just went thru UWorld CCS once. But I felt like I did not order that many labs and stuff. And all of my cases ended really early. I'm talking like 20 minute cases were done in 6-7 minutes sometimes and 10 minute cases done in 4-5 minutes sometimes. I got the right diagnosis in all but 2; one of them I had no idea what was going on and another I'm not sure of diagnosis but patient did get better. Pretty much all of them patient got better but I'm just worried my cases ended really fast. And also worried that I should've been ordering more things. I dunno, I don't feel good about the cases at all. Also didn't help that by the time you get to the cases you are pretty tired and annoyed and just want to get it all over with. Big time test of stamina for sure.

Anyway, another 4 weeks (4th Wednesday right?) of anxiety and hopefully I will have good news afterwards. Will update this post with more detail if I pass. Honestly wouldn't even know how to study differently if I fail. Hopefully I passed :-(.

 

[Bazinga1983]

.

 

[lulu1538]

IMG graduated in 2014

Time of preparation: 3 months of dedicated study, 8 hours at day, 6 days per week.

Material used: MTB 3 ( 2 times), Conrad 100 ethics case (1 time), UW q bank (2 times), Kaplan q bank (1 time), UW biostatistics course (3 times), Uworld CCS (2 times).

Scores:

UW q bank: 64% (First time), final score after 2 times in the 80's.

Kaplan q bank: just one time 69%

UWSA: 10 days before test: 210.

FRED: 84%

Real score: 209.

 

[Midwestern Blot]

Wow that was a very uncomfortable exam...

I am a Caribbean IMG currently in my 2nd year of residency in Family Medicine.

Kept putting off Step 3 because intern year was pretty busy plus I got married towards the end of it so had no time to study. Finally got a few relaxed outpatient rotations in second year and studied about 2 months, mostly on weekends. Only used UWorld qbank and CCS and had old edition of MTB Step 3 from Step 2 studying days but honestly did not read it much. I had about 100 q's left on Qbank so almost finished it. Took NBME 4 1 week prior and got 500 which they said is exactly average.

Day 1 was very annoying. A lot of biostats, drug abstracts, psych q's -- basically all those annoying things we all hate all dumped into one day. Walked out feeling like I failed.

Day 2 MCQ's were much better, more medicine oriented. Still a lot of tough questions but felt more fair; felt like I was taking Step 2 again.

But CCS cases are what have me really worried. I did not study that hard for them; just went thru UWorld CCS once. But I felt like I did not order that many labs and stuff. And all of my cases ended really early. I'm talking like 20 minute cases were done in 6-7 minutes sometimes and 10 minute cases done in 4-5 minutes sometimes. I got the right diagnosis in all but 2; one of them I had no idea what was going on and another I'm not sure of diagnosis but patient did get better. Pretty much all of them patient got better but I'm just worried my cases ended really fast. And also worried that I should've been ordering more things. I dunno, I don't feel good about the cases at all. Also didn't help that by the time you get to the cases you are pretty tired and annoyed and just want to get it all over with. Big time test of stamina for sure.

Anyway, another 4 weeks (4th Wednesday right?) of anxiety and hopefully I will have good news afterwards. Will update this post with more detail if I pass. Honestly wouldn't even know how to study differently if I fail. Hopefully I passed :-(.

FM intern here. Felt the exact same way, just finished up today.

 

[Dr. USMLE]

You guys probably did just fine. Most people feel like that right after the exam.

 

[Hemichordate]

Felt like crap after exam.

Actual score: 220.

 

[mastmastdonan]

Wow that was a very uncomfortable exam...

I am a Caribbean IMG currently in my 2nd year of residency in Family Medicine.

Kept putting off Step 3 because intern year was pretty busy plus I got married towards the end of it so had no time to study. Finally got a few relaxed outpatient rotations in second year and studied about 2 months, mostly on weekends. Only used UWorld qbank and CCS and had old edition of MTB Step 3 from Step 2 studying days but honestly did not read it much. I had about 100 q's left on Qbank so almost finished it. Took NBME 4 1 week prior and got 500 which they said is exactly average.

Day 1 was very annoying. A lot of biostats, drug abstracts, psych q's -- basically all those annoying things we all hate all dumped into one day. Walked out feeling like I failed.

Day 2 MCQ's were much better, more medicine oriented. Still a lot of tough questions but felt more fair; felt like I was taking Step 2 again.

But CCS cases are what have me really worried. I did not study that hard for them; just went thru UWorld CCS once. But I felt like I did not order that many labs and stuff. And all of my cases ended really early. I'm talking like 20 minute cases were done in 6-7 minutes sometimes and 10 minute cases done in 4-5 minutes sometimes. I got the right diagnosis in all but 2; one of them I had no idea what was going on and another I'm not sure of diagnosis but patient did get better. Pretty much all of them patient got better but I'm just worried my cases ended really fast. And also worried that I should've been ordering more things. I dunno, I don't feel good about the cases at all. Also didn't help that by the time you get to the cases you are pretty tired and annoyed and just want to get it all over with. Big time test of stamina for sure.

Anyway, another 4 weeks (4th Wednesday right?) of anxiety and hopefully I will have good news afterwards. Will update this post with more detail if I pass. Honestly wouldn't even know how to study differently if I fail. Hopefully I passed :-(.

Well happy to say I did end up passing. Very tough few weeks; anxiety and stress was at an all-time high.

I was most worried about CCS part and thought I did best on day 2 MCQ's. Turns out I did best on CCS and worst on day 2 MCQ's lol go figure. I really do not know what advice to give as I did not feel confident at all taking this exam. I will say that I really did nothing but UWorld to prep for this exam. It has MCQ's, biostats review and CCS and that's all I used. I did have MTB 3 but I'd be lying if I said I read more than a few pages. My score ended up being right on target with the NBME, I was 2 points above average score.

So in summary if you feel like absolute crap after this exam apparently that's a good thing. But I would definitely take the NBME maybe 1 week prior to exam just to make sure you are in the safe zone to pass.

 

[PsyYaYaYaYai]

Like many, I'm sweating the CCS I did this week. Definitely mismanaged one patient. For another, the case shut down early accidentally because I hit "continue" out of habit, when the message basically said "FYI, patient crumping fast." oops

fingers crossed I guess?