A Day off inbetween...

[mgdsh]

I don't think this has been asked before, but I was just curious to what other people who've taken the test and those who are taking the test think.

In your opinion would a day off between day 1 of Step 3 and day 2 be significantly helpful?

I know its possible to schedule a test on a Saturday and a Monday for example. But would that day in between be helpful, especially to review CCS cases or even just rest their fried brains? From what I know most people take the day off before Step I / II.

I plan on doing the same for Step III, but at this point my schedule is some what flexible and I'm wondering if its helpful at all to have that day off in between your 2 sessions, or if its just better to power through it 2 days in a row.

Thanks for the feedback.

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[Smurfette]

I don't think this has been asked before, but I was just curious to what other people who've taken the test and those who are taking the test think.

In your opinion would a day off between day 1 of Step 3 and day 2 be significantly helpful?

I know its possible to schedule a test on a Saturday and a Monday for example. But would that day in between be helpful, especially to review CCS cases or even just rest their fried brains? From what I know most people take the day off before Step I / II.

I plan on doing the same for Step III, but at this point my schedule is some what flexible and I'm wondering if its helpful at all to have that day off in between your 2 sessions, or if its just better to power through it 2 days in a row.

Thanks for the feedback.

I've done step III....personally, I think it's better to do it two days in a row and get it over with. Otherwise you're prolonging the agony. You've been through steps 1 and 2, but step 3 is 2 days long instead of one, but the second day is a shorter day with the CCS cases (once you finish the goals of each case, the system will kick you out, so you make up a fair amount of time this way). A day in between to study and obsess is going to turn into a day of wondering why you didn't just do it back-to-back and end the pain.

 

[mgdsh]

I've done step III....personally, I think it's better to do it two days in a row and get it over with. Otherwise you're prolonging the agony. You've been through steps 1 and 2, but step 3 is 2 days long instead of one, but the second day is a shorter day with the CCS cases (once you finish the goals of each case, the system will kick you out, so you make up a fair amount of time this way). A day in between to study and obsess is going to turn into a day of wondering why you didn't just do it back-to-back and end the pain.

Thanks. You've given me feedback in the direction I was headed

 

[andwhat]

Thanks. You've given me feedback in the direction I was headed

most definitely agree with above, one extra day in between seems lucrative, but its really detrimental. You increase your anxiety, and prolonging the time makes your mentation suffer.
Just do it back to back and go home and rest. Actually they did a poll or something on usmle.net long back, and more people failed with a day in between -- as opposed to going back to back.

 

[Blade28]

Agree with the above - just take it on two consecutive days and get it over with. By the second day, you'll definitely be moving at a face pace to be done with the damned thing!

 

[Chandler]

I'm an intern and sat for Step 3 in late July (registered for Step 3 in June before residency). I can tell you for a fact that I did not have an option to take the exam on Saturday and Monday. The scheduling software will not allow you to do this even if a saturday and monday block is available.

You will also not have an option to do this.

So this is a moot point.

I don't think this has been asked before, but I was just curious to what other people who've taken the test and those who are taking the test think.

In your opinion would a day off between day 1 of Step 3 and day 2 be significantly helpful?

I know its possible to schedule a test on a Saturday and a Monday for example. But would that day in between be helpful, especially to review CCS cases or even just rest their fried brains? From what I know most people take the day off before Step I / II.

I plan on doing the same for Step III, but at this point my schedule is some what flexible and I'm wondering if its helpful at all to have that day off in between your 2 sessions, or if its just better to power through it 2 days in a row.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[mgdsh]

I'm an intern and sat for Step 3 in late July (registered for Step 3 in June before residency). I can tell you for a fact that I did not have an option to take the exam on Saturday and Monday. The scheduling software will not allow you to do this even if a saturday and monday block is available.

You will also not have an option to do this.

So this is a moot point.

Quite the contrary actually. Maybe its because of your location, and you don't have testing centers open on Saturday &/or Monday, but for example if I was willing to take my test this Saturday at a few centers around here, my 2nd test day would not be until Tuesday, as Monday is Labor Day.


I still also have my print out for a center I was registered to take the Exam on Saturday August 25th and Monday August 27th. I could take a picture and post it if you'd really like. But I'm sure you get the point.

Anyhow, as mentioned above, I've opted for 2 days in a row: Tuesday September 4th & Wednesday Sept 5th

 

[Chandler]

As a busy intern, it is advantageous to take the exam on Saturday and Monday because most interns get either Saturday or Sunday off in a given week. This allows one to use one personal day/vacation day rather than two vacation/personal days.

Therefore I had every incentive to find a Saturday/Monday test date. ALL PROMETRIC centers have calendars in which you can sign up for Step 3. The calendars show which days are available. I examined 5 different states and went through over 30+ testing centers and I can tell you that Saturdays and Mondays were available on almost all of them. I chose Saturday on most of them (with concomittant Monday availability) and I was not able to choose Monday as an option.

Perhaps you are lucky because you have this option. All I know is that majority of Prometric centers offer Saturday test days and I went through 30+ centers with OPEN Saturdays and it did not allow me to sign up for Monday. Maybe it is regional.

In the end I took the exam on Friday and Saturday. And to be honest with you, one day of extra studying on Sunday would not have made a difference in hindsight.

Step 3 is a potpurri of questions in which you cannot prepare for by studying review books. 1/3 of the exam is touchy feely questions based on how you talk to a patient. Answer choices are given in quotation marks.

If you must study it is something that is best studied by paying attention during outpatient clinic and memorizing risk factors and prognosis of common diseases. Risk factors and prognosis are generally not found in review books.

But hey no one really has an incentive to score 250+ on this exam. I fell over 50+ points from my Step 1 score and still passed comfortably

I say take it early and pass. That is all you need. That is unless you are gunning for Cardiology or GI.

Quite the contrary actually. Maybe its because of your location, and you don't have testing centers open on Saturday &/or Monday, but for example if I was willing to take my test this Saturday at a few centers around here, my 2nd test day would not be until Tuesday, as Monday is Labor Day.


I still also have my print out for a center I was registered to take the Exam on Saturday August 25th and Monday August 27th. I could take a picture and post it if you'd really like. But I'm sure you get the point.

Anyhow, as mentioned above, I've opted for 2 days in a row: Tuesday September 4th & Wednesday Sept 5th

 

[njbmd]

I'm an intern and sat for Step 3 in late July (registered for Step 3 in June before residency). I can tell you for a fact that I did not have an option to take the exam on Saturday and Monday. The scheduling software will not allow you to do this even if a saturday and monday block is available.

You will also not have an option to do this.

So this is a moot point.

If you schedule the test over a Monday holiday, you can end up with two days in between testing sessions. It really doesn't make that much difference because you are not going to learn anything useful in one or two days if you didn't already know it. Take the two days together and get this nuisance of an exam out of the way as soon as you can.

 

[Blade28]

I took it on Thursday and Friday but it counted for 2 of my days off that month.

 

[Chandler]

I stand by my original assertion.

For July 2007, I was not able to schedule Step 3 for Saturday and Monday. It might have been possible in the past, but when I registered I did not have this option.

 

[dadr]

I took it on Thursday and Friday but it counted for 2 of my days off that month.

Cruel that they would make you take vacation days to take an exam that is required to become a licensed physician. Why not just wait until a consult/outpatient month where they might allow you to take the two days rather than using up 50% of your entire month's free time during a call rotation?

 

[Blade28]

Cruel that they would make you take vacation days to take an exam that is required to become a licensed physician. Why not just wait until a consult/outpatient month where they might allow you to take the two days rather than using up 50% of your entire month's free time during a call rotation?

(1) I didn't know it was going to count as my days off
(2) Consult/outpatient months? In General Surgery? Surely you jest!

 

[Museless]

Actually they did a poll or something on usmle.net long back, and more people failed with a day in between -- as opposed to going back to back.

I didn't read the study, so have no idea if they attempted to control for this, but I would bet those most likely to try to space it out with an extra day to study would be those least confident in their abilities, and thus perhaps more likely to fail anyway.

 

[Samoa]

(1) I didn't know it was going to count as my days off
(2) Consult/outpatient months? In General Surgery? Surely you jest!

AKA Plastic Surgery months.

 

[Blade28]

AKA Plastic Surgery months.

Must be different for you guys. Our Plastics rotation is brutal.

 

[Samoa]

The plastics service here has very reasonable hours, despite a pretty significant case load. Most procedures are outpatient or limited stay, and only the big reconstruction cases stay for more than a day. So there are usually less than four patients in house.

The week I took step 3, we sent our only patient home Monday morning, signed off our consults, and didn't have another inpatient till Wednesday afternoon.

 

[Blade28]

That's pretty sweet!

I think I worked 90 hours/week on my Plastics rotation, including Q4 call for 3 weeks and Q3 call for one.

 

[Samoa]

Yeah, I could live at the hospital this week and still not average >80 for the rotation. Which is handy, because there ARE some days when cases don't end till midnight or later. Although as an intern I usually get sent home when it becomes clear the case is one of those.

 

[Blade28]

Yeah, I could live at the hospital this week and still not average >80 for the rotation. Which is handy, because there ARE some days when cases don't end till midnight or later. Although as an intern I usually get sent home when it becomes clear the case is one of those.

Sounds like you're at a friendly program.

 

[Faebinder]

I have arranged it such that I have 4 days off between day 1 and day 2. It will give me a chance to pound the CCS in 4 days. I'll let you know how it works out for me.

Heh.

 

[Samoa]

Sounds like you're at a friendly program.

Yeah, but I feel like both my brain and my stamina have atrophied from lack of use. And my next rotation has notoriously long hours.

 

[Blade28]

Yeah, but I feel like both my brain and my stamina have atrophied from lack of use. And my next rotation has notoriously long hours.

Long as in 80 hours/week, or long as in 100-120?

 

[Samoa]

I hear it's more the latter, although I have no firsthand experience. At this point, though, even 80 seems like a lot. I can't stand my own wimpiness right now.

 

[JKP]

In NY you can sign up for late December for day 1 and then ... day 2 in January. They shut down the Prometric centers first 2 wks of Jan!!!

 

[chemistryguy]

What do you guys think the best amount of time is in between day 1 and 2? Or do most people think going two days straight and getiting it out of the way is best?