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Hi, my results for Step 3 just came back and I failed. This is the first USMLE that I fail. These are some of the weaknesses I have identified and would want some recommendations in terms of how to address them.
1)Timing during the questions (I seem to get stuck some times in questions. I had never left questions in blank on my previous examinations. However, in this test I left a whopping 18-20 questions without answering. One thing I noticed is that passages are a lot longer than Step I and II. I did USMLE world (more than 85 %) so I am not sure what other strategies I should incorporate to read and comprehend quicker. I did time the questions in USMLE World.
2)Ophtalmology questions: First aid or Crush wouldnt help at all with these questions that were asking about intra-tonic(?ocular) pressures and giving me values that I didnt know what the heck meant.
3)Pictures. What Is a good Primary PCP atlas? I was showed pictures of STD's, Derm conditions, and First aid or Crush wouldn't suffice in helping me to answer this questions. Also, I was giving slides with different bacterial organisms and they expected me to know which organism they were talking about. Any good micro books?
4)Pediatric orthopaedics, and trauma: I got slammed with a lot of questions and pictures (Xrays) about this and the First aid and Crush didn't address these issues. Should I get the blue prints? Any other thoughts.
5)Same concept repeated 2-3x during the test. I am not sure what was the intention of the examiner, but I had clinical scenarios that looked very similar with the same multiple choices (ie. Strep vs. Mono). They seemed to be vague and wouldn't give lab data, which would make it hard to cling the description to one particular dx. I know that with strep you expect exudate, lad, sore throat, etc. However, they would mention somehting about a recent kiss which would make u thing of Mono). Once again it looked like they wanted to trick you. Same thing w/ Nasal discharge in baby I wasn't sure whether it was FB or something else. Generally FB is only through one oriifice, but is this always the case?
6) I had lowest performan in initial w/u, Continuing care, Clinical intervention, Office/health center, Nervous system, MSK connective tissue, reproductive.
In terms of patient age I score the lowest for 54 and above (any good shore geriatric books). I do know my dementia w/u.
7) Clinical Scenarios: I just scored average on these. I do have to admit that I didn't invest as much time as I would have wanted for them. Anyway, one thing I realized is that the First Aid and Usmle world just give u hypothetical cases, but any kind of case or condition is fair game for this part. What am I suppose to do in this section to shine above the other people.
Please help and I hope this hasn't bored some of the readers.
1)Timing during the questions (I seem to get stuck some times in questions. I had never left questions in blank on my previous examinations. However, in this test I left a whopping 18-20 questions without answering. One thing I noticed is that passages are a lot longer than Step I and II. I did USMLE world (more than 85 %) so I am not sure what other strategies I should incorporate to read and comprehend quicker. I did time the questions in USMLE World.
2)Ophtalmology questions: First aid or Crush wouldnt help at all with these questions that were asking about intra-tonic(?ocular) pressures and giving me values that I didnt know what the heck meant.
3)Pictures. What Is a good Primary PCP atlas? I was showed pictures of STD's, Derm conditions, and First aid or Crush wouldn't suffice in helping me to answer this questions. Also, I was giving slides with different bacterial organisms and they expected me to know which organism they were talking about. Any good micro books?
4)Pediatric orthopaedics, and trauma: I got slammed with a lot of questions and pictures (Xrays) about this and the First aid and Crush didn't address these issues. Should I get the blue prints? Any other thoughts.
5)Same concept repeated 2-3x during the test. I am not sure what was the intention of the examiner, but I had clinical scenarios that looked very similar with the same multiple choices (ie. Strep vs. Mono). They seemed to be vague and wouldn't give lab data, which would make it hard to cling the description to one particular dx. I know that with strep you expect exudate, lad, sore throat, etc. However, they would mention somehting about a recent kiss which would make u thing of Mono). Once again it looked like they wanted to trick you. Same thing w/ Nasal discharge in baby I wasn't sure whether it was FB or something else. Generally FB is only through one oriifice, but is this always the case?
6) I had lowest performan in initial w/u, Continuing care, Clinical intervention, Office/health center, Nervous system, MSK connective tissue, reproductive.
In terms of patient age I score the lowest for 54 and above (any good shore geriatric books). I do know my dementia w/u.
7) Clinical Scenarios: I just scored average on these. I do have to admit that I didn't invest as much time as I would have wanted for them. Anyway, one thing I realized is that the First Aid and Usmle world just give u hypothetical cases, but any kind of case or condition is fair game for this part. What am I suppose to do in this section to shine above the other people.
Please help and I hope this hasn't bored some of the readers.
