I passed step 3

[Braveheart1985]

Finally, I am relieved .......I passed (201) and the trick has worked.
Day 1: I felt I did horrible (apparently it is the highest performance in my report) !!! lol
Day 2: I felt that it is close to UWORLD, my performance was borderline on day 2 !

Advice: Study statistics, basics, mechanism of actions for drugs, drugs interactions.
Practice CCS, Uworld is more that enough to practice, I felt I did 10/13 cases well, apparently my performance was borderline in this !!

Best of luck to you all

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[Braveheart1985]

Also would like to add that UWORLD is more than enough to prepare for MCQs, focus on the guidelines for management for all the high yield things: Thyroid nodule, lung nodule, breast mass, GERD..etc and focus on the screening part (very high yield questions) -colonoscopy, pap smear,...etc and vaccinations (especially the adult vaccinations and tetanus). Those topics are easy to get points, and consist roughly 50 questions perhaps.

For the first day, the mechanism of action questions will be like a case scenario, and the question will say: what is the best treatment? the answers will be like ( a drug that modulate bla bla receptor, a drug that activate xxx receptor, a drug that enhance bla bla activity ...etc).........

For drug ads somehow I felt that the questions are so shallow, or I didn't get it right ! there will be a case scenario, and a drug ad. the question will be like why this drug wouldn't be good option for this patient? or do you recommend this drug for this patient? maybe they want to test our ability in interpreting the ads, I am not sure

I didn't put much effort studying, I just did MTB and UWORLD questions, averaged 55% ...didn't do any practice exam.......

If I did it, then everyone can do it....best of luck to all of you and hard luck to those that didn't make it...It is not a big problem if you failed, you can always retake the exam and learn from your mistakes.................

 

[nata723]

I wanted to post my exam experience in case it helps anyone. I passed Step 3 with a 198 (!). It did end up being the CCS and biostats that saved me. Even though these sections did not go amazingly well (got in the middle of the higher half of the score report for these, but no asterisks on the right), it was enough to bring up my really poor performance on Day 2's ACM MCQ's. (I got on the far left with an asterisk for Day 2's MCQ's, and did at least borderline on Day 1's MCQ's.)

As others have stated, the key to doing well on the CCS, in my opinion also, is to do UWorld CCS cases x2 and read Crush Step 3 CCS x2. I've heard people say that if they do these two things, they will have already seen about 75% of the cases on the actual exam.

By far, the best way to increase your score quickly is through CCS and Biostats.

Also, Archer reviews helped me - the lectures I watched resulted in a higher score for those subjects (though I just ended up watching for like 3 of the subjects). I did Doctors in Training but did not find that so helpful for me personally (I needed a more basic teaching of the material, rather than the overview that DIT provided). I also did about 50% of the UWorld Qbank with a score of about 54% cumulative, though I did not get too much out of this since apparently I don't do well learning from questions but rather, from building a foundation of knowledge through watching lectures.

Best of luck to everyone.

 

[copper7]

Congratulation!
There is a few contradictory recommendations in MTB, FA, UW.
What would you do with a thyroid nodule if normal or elevated TSH? What is the next step: US or FNA?

 

[Multiverse]

I wanted to post my exam experience in case it helps anyone. I passed Step 3 with a 198 (!). It did end up being the CCS and biostats that saved me. Even though these sections did not go amazingly well (got in the middle of the higher half of the score report for these, but no asterisks on the right), it was enough to bring up my really poor performance on Day 2's ACM MCQ's. (I got on the far left with an asterisk for Day 2's MCQ's, and did at least borderline on Day 1's MCQ's.)

As others have stated, the key to doing well on the CCS, in my opinion also, is to do UWorld CCS cases x2 and read Crush Step 3 CCS x2. I've heard people say that if they do these two things, they will have already seen about 75% of the cases on the actual exam.

By far, the best way to increase your score quickly is through CCS and Biostats.

Also, Archer reviews helped me - the lectures I watched resulted in a higher score for those subjects (though I just ended up watching for like 3 of the subjects). I did Doctors in Training but did not find that so helpful for me personally (I needed a more basic teaching of the material, rather than the overview that DIT provided). I also did about 50% of the UWorld Qbank with a score of about 54% cumulative, though I did not get too much out of this since apparently I don't do well learning from questions but rather, from building a foundation of knowledge through watching lectures.

Best of luck to everyone.

Thanks for the info! Did you find that the concepts covered in the UWorld MCQ's were representative of what you saw on the exam?

I'm a year out from having taken Step 2 CK, so I'm worried that my clinical knowledge may not be enough for the exam. Also, restudying FA Step 1 seems like a stretch and inefficient in my opinion. Would you recommend it?

 

[Braveheart1985]

Thanks (Copper) and (Multiverse) for your messages
I did see some contradictory information while studying, I would stick to the guidelines mentioned in UWORLD in case if there is any difference from MTB.
Regarding UWORLD MCQs I think they were representative for day 2 of the exam, not same questions, but similar concepts ( prognosis, best next step, best diagnostic test).
Day 1 was kinda weird but ended up having it as the highest performance in my report (as opposed to day 2 in which I have got borderline performance).........I don't recommend reading step 1, actually I can't imagine myself studying it again.....
I would focus on mechanism of actions and side effects for certain medications ( Anti-epileptic medications, anti-hypertensive medications, bronchodilators, immunotherapy, chemotherapy )., and if you have time know which antibiotic is bstatic and which is bcidal *don't waste your time on this if you don't have time)............if you can go over those then they would be sufficient. instead of going over entire step 1 material

Overall MTB and UWORLD are enough for passing scores........... I read a little about statistics, but didn't practice much questions, so this would be an extra thing to read for the exam too........
Hope this is helpful

 

[Multiverse]

Thanks (Copper) and (Multiverse) for your messages
I did see some contradictory information while studying, I would stick to the guidelines mentioned in UWORLD in case if there is any difference from MTB.
Regarding UWORLD MCQs I think they were representative for day 2 of the exam, not same questions, but similar concepts ( prognosis, best next step, best diagnostic test).
Day 1 was kinda weird but ended up having it as the highest performance in my report (as opposed to day 2 in which I have got borderline performance).........I don't recommend reading step 1, actually I can't imagine myself studying it again.....
I would focus on mechanism of actions and side effects for certain medications ( Anti-epileptic medications, anti-hypertensive medications, bronchodilators, immunotherapy, chemotherapy )., and if you have time know which antibiotic is bstatic and which is bcidal *don't waste your time on this if you don't have time)............if you can go over those then they would be sufficient. instead of going over entire step 1 material

Overall MTB and UWORLD are enough for passing scores........... I read a little about statistics, but didn't practice much questions, so this would be an extra thing to read for the exam too........
Hope this is helpful

Thanks for the reply. Why was day 1 weird? Was it heavy on biostats and topics that one can't study for?

Also, I'm not in residency and I'm averaging about 55% on Uworld MCQs, studying biostats, and focussing on CCS. How else should I prepare for day 1? I appreciate your help.

 

[Braveheart1985]

Thanks Multiverse
I just felt day 1 is weird because it is different style than UWORLD, felt that it is not what I have prepared for........I was preparing myself for questions like (best next step, best diagnostic test, treatment of choice, prognosis, what is the diagnosis).....the questions were asking about mechanism of actions, underlying pathophysiological mechanism, some weird ethics questions, and some UWORLD questions.........I answered them based of the best guesses I had, and had day 1 as highest performance in my exam....... I don't want to scare you, but just didn't find better description for day 1 other than (weird).
I think MTB and UWORLD (two rounds of studying ) should be enough............Day 2 is similar to UWORLD, but I have dropped many questions, I don't have good memory, so I am unable to catch up with all topics and master them well with short time of preparation.

 

[eefdaman]

Does anybody know?

If your status on the FSMB website is "scored" without any links to reapply does that mean you passed?

Those of you that already passed, what does the status of your FSMB say when you go to the register page? thanks!

 

[Braveheart1985]

I got this status (scored ) after my exam's report being released, not before.............. 2 days before the exam report, I didn't get any link to reapply, and inside the box my status was: expired ...........anyway, I hope it is good sign for you.......

 

[steveme]

I wanted to post my exam experience in case it helps anyone. I passed Step 3 with a 198 (!). It did end up being the CCS and biostats that saved me. Even though these sections did not go amazingly well (got in the middle of the higher half of the score report for these, but no asterisks on the right), it was enough to bring up my really poor performance on Day 2's ACM MCQ's. (I got on the far left with an asterisk for Day 2's MCQ's, and did at least borderline on Day 1's MCQ's.)

As others have stated, the key to doing well on the CCS, in my opinion also, is to do UWorld CCS cases x2 and read Crush Step 3 CCS x2. I've heard people say that if they do these two things, they will have already seen about 75% of the cases on the actual exam.

By far, the best way to increase your score quickly is through CCS and Biostats.

Also, Archer reviews helped me - the lectures I watched resulted in a higher score for those subjects (though I just ended up watching for like 3 of the subjects). I did Doctors in Training but did not find that so helpful for me personally (I needed a more basic teaching of the material, rather than the overview that DIT provided). I also did about 50% of the UWorld Qbank with a score of about 54% cumulative, though I did not get too much out of this since apparently I don't do well learning from questions but rather, from building a foundation of knowledge through watching lectures.

Best of luck to everyone.

Awesome, congratulations to you both - nata723 and braveheart1985.
And your suggestions are very helpful for us.
Nata723, you are absolutely right. I observed my performance in NBME/ UWSA/ UW Qbank averages went up significantly after watching Archer theory lectures. I was not sure if this was because those particular questions may have already been covered in Archer. But it is very reassuring to hear you saying Archer resulted in you getting significantly higher scores on the actual exam in those subjects you watched Archer. I believe the fundamental concepts are very well explained in Archer. I have been using it as my primary resource.
I always felt Qbanks including UW and Kaplan prepared us inadequately for the exam mcqs. It is very important that we strengthen foundations as many basic concepts are tested on the new Step 3 exam.

 

[iman18]

I wanted to post my exam experience in case it helps anyone. I passed Step 3 with a 198 (!). It did end up being the CCS and biostats that saved me. Even though these sections did not go amazingly well (got in the middle of the higher half of the score report for these, but no asterisks on the right), it was enough to bring up my really poor performance on Day 2's ACM MCQ's. (I got on the far left with an asterisk for Day 2's MCQ's, and did at least borderline on Day 1's MCQ's.)

As others have stated, the key to doing well on the CCS, in my opinion also, is to do UWorld CCS cases x2 and read Crush Step 3 CCS x2. I've heard people say that if they do these two things, they will have already seen about 75% of the cases on the actual exam.

By far, the best way to increase your score quickly is through CCS and Biostats.

Also, Archer reviews helped me - the lectures I watched resulted in a higher score for those subjects (though I just ended up watching for like 3 of the subjects). I did Doctors in Training but did not find that so helpful for me personally (I needed a more basic teaching of the material, rather than the overview that DIT provided). I also did about 50% of the UWorld Qbank with a score of about 54% cumulative, though I did not get too much out of this since apparently I don't do well learning from questions but rather, from building a foundation of knowledge through watching lectures.

Best of luck to everyone.

HI,
I followed your advise and went to this exam by doing biostats and CCS x2 and CRUSH. I really pray to be as lucky as you. One week before the test I scored 180 UWSA. My results will come next week and will see.

 

[survivormd2014]

uwsa 1: 195
uwsa 2: 199

Actual exam: 209

I was convinced that I failed it because I literally guessed 100% of the Biostat and Step 1 questions on day 1, and I also messed up big time in 9 cases, was only able to handle 4/13 ccs cases in the actual exam. Uworld is the only thing I used for everything.

 

[nebuchadnezzarII]

uwsa 1: 195
uwsa 2: 199

Actual exam: 209

I was convinced that I failed it because I literally guessed 100% of the Biostat and Step 1 questions on day 1, and I also messed up big time in 9 cases, was only able to handle 4/13 ccs cases in the actual exam. Uworld is the only thing I used for everything.

How long before the actual exam did you take UWSA 1 and UWSA 2?

 

[survivormd2014]

uwsa1 two weeks prior
uwsa2 one week prior