Took my CS exam earlier this week and pretty convinced that I failed. I just can't seem to think straight in the room and during my note after. The time constriction ruins me. I did not take this exam lightly and read every case in first aid. I also practiced at least a dozen of them with a partner. However, on test day, it all goes to hell. I forgot so many things and I'm pretty convinced that it will tank my ICE score. I'm mostly writing this to document what I did well and didn't do well for my inevitable retake. Can anyone tell me how bad this is?
Mistakes:
-Missed a few important social history questions. For example alcohol use in a gallstone case (not a real case, I made this up as a comparison).
-Only listed 1-2 diagnoses on almost all of my cases. I hindsight 1-2 of those were way out of left field with only 1-2 supporting evidence. I read the practice note on the USMLE website and saw that they say you will lose points for diagnoses without evidence so I tried to limit what I included. Think this messed me up in hindsight.
-Missed many important diagnostics. Very basic things that just slipped my mind. At least 3 times I missed staple, obvious diagnostics for common complaints. (Think rectal exam for bowel case; again I made this up)
-Straight up forgot to scroll down and fill out diagnostics on one case
-Didn't use medical language a few times on the note because I couldn't think of the fancy names
-Definitely skipped important physical exam pieces in 3-4 cases. Like the additional stuff (not doing Lhermitte in a meningitis case; again this is not real.)
-Several very awkward responses to "challenge questions" and returning to do more physical exam maneuvers during my summaries etc.
-Didn't do heart and lungs on every patient because time was an issue for me. Very detailed histories, but shorter/focused physical exams.
-Accidentally included physical exam findings as supporting evidence under history findings in one case
-Forgot to note physical exam findings that were very relevant on 1 case, but did it in the room.
Good:
-Washed hands
-Used mnemonics and very systematically collected a good history on almost all patients.
-Included positives and negatives in my ROS
-Notes included full history/ROS/PE write up with positives and negatives
-Got many challenge questions and established good rapport with most patients
-Feel like I got the correct diagnosis with lots of evidence for 10/12 cases, but my second diagnoses when included were weak and poorly supported.
