CCS cases representative of real thing?

[ranmyaku]

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The world cases seem like there are a lot of steps and things (minutiae) to do. I generally get the gist of the case but sometimes leave out things. Usually non-major things. Like I dont forget to give Abx or steroids to pt's that need them. Or rule out MI or something like that. How good are the CCS cases for the real deal?

 

[Eta Carinae]

Here's a wise piece of advice:

4.) If you want to score high you need to do well on the CCS portion of the exam. It counts for 25% of your grade, and if you do the math, each case is worth about 18 mcq questions. Knowing that puts the importance of the CCS in perspective. The UW practice cases are way overboard, but the first aid cases in the back of the book are great.

 

[MirkoCrocop]

The world cases seem like there are a lot of steps and things (minutiae) to do. I generally get the gist of the case but sometimes leave out things. Usually non-major things. Like I dont forget to give Abx or steroids to pt's that need them. Or rule out MI or something like that. How good are the CCS cases for the real deal?

Yeah, I understand exactly what you mean -- the UW cases, particularly some of the surgery ones involve a LOT, from making the diagnosis to appropriate preop to appropriate postop care. It can be very daunting to try and remember all the ins and outs of those managements, especially if you're in a non-clinical specialty.

The fact of the matter is, the real thing will stop you before you get to all that stuff. It doesn't hurt to know it, but UW is overkill (however still very useful and probably the best resource available). For example, I never worried about the various diets, never once put anyone in the ICU (chose floor instead), and did avg-above avg. Point being, you won't be able to do all of the stuff in the UW cases (not only because you will forget things, but the case will stop itself once you do the "desired function," which is usually less detailed than the UW cases permit.

The 2 surgery cases I had stopped once I sent them to surgery - I didn't have to do postop care in either of them. However, work through the UW cases because every little bit you do enforces remembering that diagnosis. The diagnoses in 3-4 of my real cases were identical to UW and the workup in these cases were pretty much minimalized compared to UW.