CS preparation: necessary?

[Gute]

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american medical student, no issues with my ability to communicate (native English speaker, grew up near test site and can understand virtually every dialect of American English including Boston, ebonics, southern). no issues with performance in med school or other board exams.

what do I really need to do to assure that I will pass CS? Is it a sure thing that I will pass going in with zero prep aside from familiarizing myself with the format of the exam? I would hate to waste time studying at all for it when I'm swamped with other important things to do.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

american medical student, no issues with my ability to communicate (native English speaker, grew up near test site and can understand virtually every dialect of American English including Boston, ebonics, southern). no issues with performance in med school or other board exams.

what do I really need to do to assure that I will pass CS? Is it a sure thing that I will pass going in with zero prep aside from familiarizing myself with the format of the exam? I would hate to waste time studying at all for it when I'm swamped with other important things to do.

If you want to pass, you still need to prepare some. American students fail when they don't take the exam seriously, don't perform requested tasks, don't fill out a complete HPI, PE, etc.

All you need is to read First Aid for Step 2 CS, review the differentials, and practice some cases with a friend. Should only take a couple days.

You can chance it if you want and not study, but it's expensive to retake and embarrassing when you have to explain to residencies why you failed.

 

[DrAwsome]

If you want to pass, you still need to prepare some. American students fail when they don't take the exam seriously, don't perform requested tasks, don't fill out a complete HPI, PE, etc.

All you need is to read First Aid for Step 2 CS, review the differentials, and practice some cases with a friend. Should only take a couple days.

You can chance it if you want and not study, but it's expensive to retake and embarrassing when you have to explain to residencies why you failed.

Agreed. It's sufficiently simple that most people can pass with some effort, but it is definitely expensive to have to take again. I used First Aid for step 2CS too, I thought it was pretty good prep, and really all that you need.

 

[Gute]

started reading FA tonite and this test seems suprisingly straight forward.

are the cases you see in the SPs difficult? or are they all pretty typical presentations of common disease?

 

[LifetimeDoc]

started reading FA tonite and this test seems suprisingly straight forward.

are the cases you see in the SPs difficult? or are they all pretty typical presentations of common disease?

Not difficult. You just have to get the expected checklist points, be complete, do everything you are supposed to do like counsel the pt, etc. Common cases.

 

[Gute]

Not difficult. You just have to get the expected checklist points, be complete, do everything you are supposed to do like counsel the pt, etc. Common cases.

sweet...g/l w/ those scores...mine may be coming tomorrow as well!

 

[DrAwsome]

sweet...g/l w/ those scores...mine may be coming tomorrow as well!

Make sure you are polite, shake hands, use patient's name, wash hands, and counsel the patient, as well as respond to any questions the patient may have.

 

[Osteoimperfecta]

american medical student, no issues with my ability to communicate (native English speaker, grew up near test site and can understand virtually every dialect of American English including Boston, ebonics, southern). no issues with performance in med school or other board exams.

what do I really need to do to assure that I will pass CS? Is it a sure thing that I will pass going in with zero prep aside from familiarizing myself with the format of the exam? I would hate to waste time studying at all for it when I'm swamped with other important things to do.

Nothing more terrifying than thinking you failed CS for 8 weeks, even if you end up passing. Beware, prepare and save yourself the stress and potential embarassment. Read FA twice, practice PN, and PE. Shake hands, smile, drape, appear concerned.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Actually, please don't study. Residency is competitive enough, and people who don't take stuff seriously need to be taken down a few pegs. 🙄

 

[Gute]

Actually, please don't study. Residency is competitive enough, and people who don't take stuff seriously need to be taken down a few pegs. 🙄

Is this a defense mechanism?

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Is this a defense mechanism?

Lol, no sense of humor.

 

[Gute]

Lol, no sense of humor.

lol im guilty

 

[metallo]

started reading FA tonite and this test seems suprisingly straight forward.

are the cases you see in the SPs difficult? or are they all pretty typical presentations of common disease?

Not all of the cases are obvious, but I'm pretty sure that's by design. They want you to be able to generate a list of up to five differentials and appropriate lab tests to aid you in diagnosis. Remember that you don't even have to get the correct diagnosis (since you can't actually order the labs) -- just have something reasonable on your DDx list. For AMGs, it should be a VERY straightforward exam -- most people could probably pass without any review, but why take the chance? I think only ~3% fail, which makes it look really bad if you're in that group. If I were a residency program director in a specialty where residents see a lot of patients (basically anything besides rads or path), I almost definitely wouldn't rank someone who failed CS.

 

[deleted311769]

Not all of the cases are obvious, but I'm pretty sure that's by design. They want you to be able to generate a list of up to five differentials and appropriate lab tests to aid you in diagnosis. Remember that you don't even have to get the correct diagnosis (since you can't actually order the labs) -- just have something reasonable on your DDx list. For AMGs, it should be a VERY straightforward exam -- most people could probably pass without any review, but why take the chance? I think only ~3% fail, which makes it look really bad if you're in that group. If I were a residency program director in a specialty where residents see a lot of patients (basically anything besides rads or path), I almost definitely wouldn't rank someone who failed CS.

I don't think the cases are about getting it right. At all. I think they are about knowing how to figure out how to get to the right answer. The SPs don't care what you tell them the differential is at the end. They just care that you explain what you are thinking. The notes aren't about getting the right answer, they are about having a list of possible right answers and thinking about what tests to order. And they don't have to be good ideas. They just have to be ideas.

If you are an AMG at a med school that has frequent SP encounters, you will likely think these cases are more straight forward (they can only have 1 disease at a time. They rarely have a significant or long PMH).

I think it's more about the potential embarrassment of being that one person in your school who fails that drove me to "study." And by study, I mean read first aid. Fast. In one sitting. It's more about familiarizing yourself with the format, and knowing that doing a full neuro exam counts for the same one point as summarizing your thoughts, so it makes more sense to summarize if you are getting to the end. I don't think i learned anything or did anything differently from reading through the cases, but I got a sense of what to expect, and got a sense of the kinds of things to write for the differential and tests that they would be interested in (and knowing that "pelvic exam" goes in the test section).

 

[Hercules022]

Skim through FA for CS and focus on the challenge questions / tough scenarios... that is a large portion of what you are graded on. If you mess up or forget to counsel someone on their EtOH drinking, etc they will definitely notice... if you forget part of a physical exam or miss the dx a few times its not as big of a deal (at least in my experience with the test). At the end of the day, this test is not about medical knowledge but about ideal behavior in different medical scenarios.

 

[arielred]

I'm a very recent UK graduate and I just scheduled my CS exam. I've looked around at these 5 day prep workshops though and they are ridiculously expensive. How hard is CS for a native English speaker but still foreign grad?

 

[Xtrasystolic]

I'm a very recent UK graduate and I just scheduled my CS exam. I've looked around at these 5 day prep workshops though and they are ridiculously expensive. How hard is CS for a native English speaker but still foreign grad?

I'd say not too hard. I'm not a native speaker, foreign grad and didn't go for any of the prep courses (like you said, too expensive). Make sure you go through the intricacies of the grading process, the First Aid should suffice.

 

[Golding]

I'm a very recent UK graduate and I just scheduled my CS exam. I've looked around at these 5 day prep workshops though and they are ridiculously expensive. How hard is CS for a native English speaker but still foreign grad?

Being in that category, I can say it's not hard. What Kaplan offers best is structure for how to pass the CS just about for sure, and it eases the mind a bit better compared to simply going through First Aid and doing what you can. That said, for most people simply going through First Aid will suffice. But it's a shame to fail CS and have to go through the process all over again (let alone have it on your application).

It's all a matter of how lucky you feel.

 

[jtlc2345]

I'm a very recent UK graduate and I just scheduled my CS exam. I've looked around at these 5 day prep workshops though and they are ridiculously expensive. How hard is CS for a native English speaker but still foreign grad?

I did CS this summer after finals and there were a few misundertandings with the accent but it all ended up fine in the end. It's more about getting used to the lingo because the clinical method is pretty much the same.

Jonathan