took step 2 CS today

[GiJoe]

...and just remembered i've totally missed a ton of shi*!!!

i forgot to ask FH for some pts, i didnt do even 1 fundoscopic exam with my pts with a hx of HTN, there were a few times when time ran out during my pt encounter and i wasn't able to do any counseling or tell them the plan!! and there were a TON of typos when i typed up my PNs... the bastards just don't give you enough time to do anything... and then there were a couple of pts, where im like "WTF?!!? i have no idea whats wrong with you!!" im glad the damn thing is over but I hope to God I passed. I can't afford to take this exam again.

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[Stinger86]

...and just remembered i've totally missed a ton of shi*!!!

i forgot to ask FH for some pts, i didnt do even 1 fundoscopic exam with my pts with a hx of HTN, there were a few times when time ran out during my pt encounter and i wasn't able to do any counseling or tell them the plan!! and there were a TON of typos when i typed up my PNs... the bastards just don't give you enough time to do anything... and then there were a couple of pts, where im like "WTF?!!? i have no idea whats wrong with you!!" im glad the damn thing is over but I hope to God I passed. I can't afford to take this exam again.

You'll be fine. They put in those difficult patient presentations on purpose, to see how well you can work up a difficult case that doesn't have a slamdunk dx. One of my patients had the most OBSCURE pain complaint. I worked it up the best I could with my H&P, and then told them that I honestly had no idea what was going on, but I offered some diagnostic methods (labs,imaging) that would help us figure it out. Remember, the focus of the CS is not on making the diagnosis, but rather all the work leading up to it. Congrats on finishing!

 

[GiJoe]

yea i hope that's the case...but i think my bigger concern is the time issue. there were multiple times where i was cut off before i could tell the pt what tests we were gonna run and what i thought was going on. was this the case with any of you guys? if so how did you do

 

[Stinger86]

One person on this forum mentioned he ran out of time during the patient encounter nearly half the time and still passed. I still think it's more how you perform during your encounter rather than what you perform.

 

[quicksilver2]

You know, I have no idea if it helped at all, but I had a patient on Step 2CS that I really was stumped on -- it was obvious it was a GYN complaint, but I really didn't know where to go with it.

My solution? I told the "patient" that I wasn't absolutely certain as to what the issue was, but there was some initial lab work that I'd like to order and that I'd like to "talk to my colleagues in ob/gyn" in order to see if they had a better idea or if a referral was warranted. I also reassured her that I was taking her issue seriously.

I figured, a lot of the board exams for specialties are largely predicated on the concept of "let's make sure this person isn't dangerous" -- if you know enough to say "I need to speak with a colleague who has more training", that's better than BS-ing your way through. I have _no_ idea if that strategy worked, but the SP seemed to be perfectly happy with my answer. I didn't have to use this strategy more than once, but I was prepared to if need be.

Oh, and I passed, so even if it didn't work, it didn't hamper me.

 

[Peeshee]

I was just wondering - do they also have a checklist for grading the patient note, or do they just check it for being logical,organized, and having a good flow????
thanks!