CS exam freak out-Help please!

[anothermedstudent12]

Hi guys: freaking out about CS exam! can anyone tell me what they think
Mistakes:
-First room ran out of time... i was in the middle of closing and i just said "it was nice to meet you" and walked out
-Worst mistake i think is that for most encounters I put only two ddx. I just didn't have enough supporting factors for most of them to write a third and I had read in so many forums that is worse to put a ddx with evidence than to not write anything. Some of the complaints were so vague I couldn't just put a third ddx without enough supporting factors
-Another room completely messed up dx. I just blank on the anatomical name and ended up writing something completely different. I just can't believe I did that
-Another room didn't ask important questions that would have led me to a third and probably more likely diagnosis.
-Last case I swear on my life I had no clue what the guy had. He literally answered NO to all my ROS questions. Like I wanna believe that was an experimental case or something.
- I forgot to do a cardiac exam in someone with cardiac symptoms( i know, brain fart) She just had way too many complaints and I was rushing it because I was gonna run out of time.

What I did right:
-Smiled, show a lot of empathy.
-Washed my hand, counselled in most of them( i think i missed one cousenlling)
-Try to answer the challenging questions as good as I could
-Offer water to pt coughing
-Did PE to the best of my abilities
-Notes I think werent too bad other than the fact that most only had 2 ddx
-I asked Obgyn hx to Females pts, I CAGE drinking pts

Im freaking out so much! i can't believe I have to wait until June. This is the first time I post in a forum, thats how stressed out I am. Any thoughts???

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[W19]

Made a lot more mistakes than you. Had only 2 differentials in over half of my cases. Starting residency in July.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

Made a lot more mistakes than you. Had only 2 differentials in over half of my cases. Starting residency in July.

hey thanks for replying. I honestly think that only for two cases I put a third ddx, the rest I only put two. I think thats whats worries me the most! And the fact I ran out of time in the first room, and really messed up one of the differential.

 

[W19]

hey thanks for replying. I honestly think that only for two cases I put a third ddx, the rest I only put two. I think thats whats worries me the most! And the fact I ran out of time in the first room, and really messed up one of the differential.

You will pass with flying colors... Just like you, I had no idea what was going on with my last case... The SP answered 'no' to everything. c/c was vague, also believed that case was experimental. My first 3 cases went horribly wrong; I was so nervous.

No physical findings to support my diagnoses in most of my cases.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

You will pass with flying colors... Just like you, I had no idea what was going on with my last case... The SP answered 'no' to everything. c/c was vague, also believed that case was experimental. My first 3 cases went horribly wrong; I was so nervous.

No physical findings to support my diagnoses in most of my cases.

Yeah its the 2 ddx part that is freaking me out, and some of the cases that I really missed important things. Also, English is my second language and while I speak fairly well, my accent is somehow pronounced and worsens when Im nervous. And also now they raised the bar so its a little more difficult to pass. Thank you for your feedback

 

[Dr. Smurph]

Just to back up what W19 already said, I also only had 2 ddx for all of my cases with the exception of one, and made some dumb mistakes (I kid you not, to this day I'm not confident I even introduced myself in my first case). I'm also starting residency next month, so don't stress it. Empathy, English proficiency, and a somewhat coherent thought process demonstrated through passible notes is all you really need to make it through that exam. You'll be fine.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

Just to back up what W19 already said, I also only had 2 ddx for all of my cases with the exception of one, and made some dumb mistakes (I kid you not, to this day I'm not confident I even introduced myself in my first case). I'm also starting residency next month, so don't stress it. Empathy, English proficiency, and a somewhat coherent thought process demonstrated through passible notes is all you really need to make it through that exam. You'll be fine.

Thank you for replying. I keep thinking about it and the more I think about it the more I remember things I did wrong or didnt do. Im glad to hear that someone else only put two ddx and pass. I think I did really bad in three rooms. Like in one I completely said the wrong diagnosis. Its like you wanted to say mouth cancer and you say ear cancer. I wrote and said the wrong anatomical name. You could tell the SP looked at me like what?! . And didnt even realized it until I had the next break.

 

[MudPhudHopeful]

To address your concern about the number of differential diagnoses: what matters is quality over quantity. You're right in that it is better to have only 2 diagnoses compared to 3 where one is poorly supported. You will lose points for the latter. They state this on their website and in their instructions. You can get a feel for the number of supporting items they consider sufficient support for a given diagnosis by reviewing their sample notes with comments that are contained in the instructions. As a case in point, in my case, which I took in Philly btw, I didn't have three differentials for any case! Half of my notes had only one diagnosis, while half had two. My rule of thumb was if I couldn't think of at least three supporting items for a diagnosis, I wouldn't put it down as a possibility. I think too many people needlessly stress about the number of differential diagnoses.

I passed all three sections with SEP extremely far to the right and ICE and CIS in the high performance range with no stars in the borderline or lower performance sections. I will also be starting residency this July.




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[anothermedstudent12]

To address your concern about the number of differential diagnoses: what matters is quality over quantity. You're right in that it is better to have only 2 diagnoses compared to 3 where one is poorly supported. You will lose points for the latter. They state this on their website and in their instructions. You can get a feel for the number of supporting items they consider sufficient support for a given diagnosis by reviewing their sample notes with comments that are contained in the instructions. As a case in point, in my case, which I took in Philly btw, I didn't have three differentials for any case! Half of my notes had only one diagnosis, while half had two. My rule of thumb was if I couldn't think of at least three supporting items for a diagnosis, I wouldn't put it down as a possibility. I think too many people needlessly stress about the number of differential diagnoses.

I passed all three sections with SEP extremely far to the right and ICE and CIS in the high performance range with no stars in the borderline or lower performance sections. I will also be starting residency this July.

Hey, I took it in Philly too. Same thing, I had a few cases with only 1 ddx, and only 1 or 2 with 3 ddx. I also messed up in a few rooms like I mentioned in my original post. I’m stressing about that a lot. I keep having flashbacks to the exam and its driving me nuts. This wait is the worst part. I appreciate the feedback. Thank you for replying!

 

[anothermedstudent12]

Hey, I took it in Philly too. Same thing, I had a few cases with only 1 ddx, and only 1 or 2 with 3 ddx. I also messed up in a few rooms like I mentioned in my original post. I’m stressing about that a lot. I keep having flashbacks to the exam and its driving me nuts. This wait is the worst part. I appreciate the feedback. Thank you for replying!

 

[NRP]

For the first two stations I put down zero physical exam findings. That's right. Zero. For the first box that's supposed to be all HPI and PMH I only put down the HPI and for the physical exam box I put in all the PMH, FH, SH and all that. Why? B/c I got to the test center for sign in 5 minutes late (I was on time for the actual test) and my mind was racing and I completely forgot to read what to put in each box. Also, I definitely missed a PE diagnosis. I passed with nothing in borderline.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

For the first two stations I put down zero physical exam findings. That's right. Zero. For the first box that's supposed to be all HPI and PMH I only put down the HPI and for the physical exam box I put in all the PMH, FH, SH and all that. Why? B/c I got to the test center for sign in 5 minutes late (I was on time for the actual test) and my mind was racing and I completely forgot to read what to put in each box. Also, I definitely missed a PE diagnosis. I passed with nothing in borderline.

Thank you for replying too!! Im glad to hear you passed; that gives me hope. Do you mind me asking you how long ago you took it? I know things have changed recently and they raised the passing bar.

 

[NRP]

Thank you for replying too!! Im glad to hear you passed; that gives me hope. Do you mind me asking you how long ago you took it? I know things have changed recently and they raised the passing bar.

I took it two days after they increased the cutoff points last year.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

bump

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi guys: freaking out about CS exam! can anyone tell me what they think
Mistakes:
-First room ran out of time... i was in the middle of closing and i just said "it was nice to meet you" and walked out
-Worst mistake i think is that for most encounters I put only two ddx. I just didn't have enough supporting factors for most of them to write a third and I had read in so many forums that is worse to put a ddx with evidence than to not write anything. Some of the complaints were so vague I couldn't just put a third ddx without enough supporting factors
-Another room completely messed up dx. I just blank on the anatomical name and ended up writing something completely different. I just can't believe I did that
-Another room didn't ask important questions that would have led me to a third and probably more likely diagnosis.
-Last case I swear on my life I had no clue what the guy had. He literally answered NO to all my ROS questions. Like I wanna believe that was an experimental case or something.
- I forgot to do a cardiac exam in someone with cardiac symptoms( i know, brain fart) She just had way too many complaints and I was rushing it because I was gonna run out of time.

What I did right:
-Smiled, show a lot of empathy.
-Washed my hand, counselled in most of them( i think i missed one cousenlling)
-Try to answer the challenging questions as good as I could
-Offer water to pt coughing
-Did PE to the best of my abilities
-Notes I think werent too bad other than the fact that most only had 2 ddx
-I asked Obgyn hx to Females pts, I CAGE drinking pts

Im freaking out so much! i can't believe I have to wait until June. This is the first time I post in a forum, thats how stressed out I am. Any thoughts???

You’ve gotten far more responses than most people get. I bet you passed with super high score in SEP, a high score in CIS, and a higher performance/borderline performance in ICE. Good job.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

Hi guys: freaking out about CS exam! can anyone tell me what they think
Mistakes:
-First room ran out of time... i was in the middle of closing and i just said "it was nice to meet you" and walked out
-Worst mistake i think is that for most encounters I put only two ddx. I just didn't have enough supporting factors for most of them to write a third and I had read in so many forums that is worse to put a ddx with evidence than to not write anything. Some of the complaints were so vague I couldn't just put a third ddx without enough supporting factors
-Another room completely messed up dx. I just blank on the anatomical name and ended up writing something completely different. I just can't believe I did that
-Another room didn't ask important questions that would have led me to a third and probably more likely diagnosis.
-Last case I swear on my life I had no clue what the guy had. He literally answered NO to all my ROS questions. Like I wanna believe that was an experimental case or something.
- I forgot to do a cardiac exam in someone with cardiac symptoms( i know, brain fart) She just had way too many complaints and I was rushing it because I was gonna run out of time.

What I did right:
-Smiled, show a lot of empathy.
-Washed my hand, counselled in most of them( i think i missed one cousenlling)
-Try to answer the challenging questions as good as I could
-Offer water to pt coughing
-Did PE to the best of my abilities
-Notes I think werent too bad other than the fact that most only had 2 ddx
-I asked Obgyn hx to Females pts, I CAGE drinking pts

Im freaking out so much! i can't believe I have to wait until June. This is the first time I post in a forum, thats how stressed out I am. Any thoughts???

Anyon

bump

Anyone else has any new experience that can share? I’m freaking out so much.

 

[Oso]

Im freaking out so much! i can't believe I have to wait until June. This is the first time I post in a forum, thats how stressed out I am. Any thoughts???

Keep yourself busy and forget this test ever existed for the next month.

Plenty of people feel this way and then find out they passed. All you are doing right now is stressing yourself out even more.

 

[Donald Juan]

Anyon



Anyone else has any new experience that can share? I’m freaking out so much.

Why ask for more experiences? Everyone who responded only gave support, saying they felt similarly and had a similar experience and passed without worry. You should take that advice and stop reading now.

Well, I passed without worry, but I also had at least 3 ddx for every patient. I was clear about which ones were much more likely. I also made fewer mistakes than you.

A close friend of mine was going into ob/gyn, took the test in January and had prepped well. He thought he did fine, knew about a couple mistakes but wasn't worried. He failed and didn't match because of it. He scrambled into an IM spot and retook the test in April and he failed again so he couldn't start residency. That was 2 years ago and me and the rest of us that were friends have lost most touch with him. He's sort of become a recluse. He is very personable and nice. Honestly, he's smarter than me, better looking than me, and most people seem to like his personality more than me so I have no idea what went wrong. I keep waiting for the day I find out he's killed himself, or to see him working stocking shelves in costco.

I'm sure that won't be you, though.

 

[anothermedstudent12]

UPDATE: I PASSED!! Thank you everyone that encouraged me and answered my questions. I passed SEP with high performance, CIS with 2 starts on the boardline performance and ICE with 4 starts on the borderline performance. Soo happy!! I hope this post helps students that are freaking out waiting for the score. I sure made a lot of mistakes and still passed, you can read above and see.

 

[shortcoatdream15]

Why ask for more experiences? Everyone who responded only gave support, saying they felt similarly and had a similar experience and passed without worry. You should take that advice and stop reading now.

Well, I passed without worry, but I also had at least 3 ddx for every patient. I was clear about which ones were much more likely. I also made fewer mistakes than you.

A close friend of mine was going into ob/gyn, took the test in January and had prepped well. He thought he did fine, knew about a couple mistakes but wasn't worried. He failed and didn't match because of it. He scrambled into an IM spot and retook the test in April and he failed again so he couldn't start residency. That was 2 years ago and me and the rest of us that were friends have lost most touch with him. He's sort of become a recluse. He is very personable and nice. Honestly, he's smarter than me, better looking than me, and most people seem to like his personality more than me so I have no idea what went wrong. I keep waiting for the day I find out he's killed himself, or to see him working stocking shelves in costco.

I'm sure that won't be you, though.

Yo..why not just reach out to this friend? Wtf...

 

[Donald Juan]

Yo..why not just reach out to this friend? Wtf...

Reached out plenty of times, me and several others. When people get into that situation they often recoil and won't respond, or if they did they won't talk about what is really going on. Wtf indeed

 

[shortcoatdream15]

Reached out plenty of times, me and several others. When people get into that situation they often recoil and won't respond, or if they did they won't talk about what is really going on. Wtf indeed

Heartbreaking

 

[BarcaBest23]

never really understood how CS can be frightening or a problem for any US med student. I can see issues for foreign/non native speakers. You ask where the problem is, you examine said area, and write down diagnoses for what could be possibly causing it. Counsel them on any social habits detrimental to health and all while hopefully proving one is not a psycho path. Boom, done