Step III M2 - Step 3

[qw098]

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Was looking online at the practise questions.. they seem very familiar to M2 material that I should know.. but for some reason I can't come up with the answer and I am stressing about this. I feel as if I am not learning my M2 material properly.

Is this normal?

No, I am not trolling.

 

[Apoplexy__]

Step 2 Q's appear very similar to Step 1, but are deceivingly different. You may completely recognize the vignette and know what's going on, then be asked about a subtlety or step in management that you couldn't possibly know as an MS2.

While I can't speak directly regarding Step 3, they say Step 2 and 3 are very similar in question style and content, while Step 1 is the outlier.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Step 2 nd 3 are very similar however you are expected to know how to do a reasonable workup and management.

 

[Lavan]

Step 3 is very similar to Step 2 CK, the main difference being that Step 2 CK has diagnosis > management and step 3 has management > diagnosis.

 

[operaman]

You can often intuit Step 2 and 3 answers from M2 knowledge, but most of what you need to know you haven't actually learned yet. You will also learn to switch your vignette strategy to pay attention to things that may not have been so vital for step 1 material. You may be able to read the question and dx that the patient has acute cholecystitis, but may not yet understand what in the vignette would guide you to doing cholecystectomy vs cholecystostomy. You have a vignette about a pt with claudication, but be a bit uncomfortable knowing when to do lifestyle mods vs cilostazole vs endovascular repair vs fem-pop or other bypass vs amputation. You may not yet know the workup to distinguish between the above and other causes of claudication. That's the kind of stuff you'll deal with next year.

For now, just focus on crushing step 1 by making sure you understand the basic science of disease and the mechanisms involved. Plenty of time later to flesh out the nuances of management.