Now that you've matched , its time to pass Step 3!

[sohsie]

WARNING: This is an updated repeat of a previous post

Dear new pathology residents,

Congratulations on matching at your respective programs. I am a second year pathology resident who did a post-junior fellowship as well. While you are all thinking about moving and finishing school and taking a vacation, there is something looming which you will be less prepared for than your clinical colleagues but which you are well equipped to deal with.

Start thinking about USMLE Step 3 NOW! You will not be better prepared to take Step 3 than you are right now. Trust yourself, you are prepared. The longer you put it off, the more you will forget and the tougher it will be. I transferred from a program in New York where you do not have to take Step 3 as long as you are a resident or fellow. I have seen a brilliant resident (smarter than me) fail Step 3 because he blew it off until 4th year and had to blow another $600 to retake it. DONT BE THAT GUY/GIRL!

I took Step 3 in October of my first year and passed with plenty of room to spare, and believe me, it is a huge weight off my shoulders.

So what do you need to do?
1) Graduate and get your actual diploma (Im not sure if you still need an actual copy of your diploma anymore).
2) Apply via www.fsmb.org. Don't worry about your particular state's requirements. Just apply to Connecticut (or any other state with no extra requirements). All they require is a diploma, and they dont care where you are doing your residency. You dont have to take the exam in Connecticut. You can take the exam at any Prometric testing center in the US. I was in a training program in New York (a state that requires one year of post graduate training, which I did not have), applied to Connecticut, and then took the exam on vacation in California. Once you pass, you pass, and it counts everywhere. Is it a rational system? No. But who cares?
Be warned that it may take 6 weeks to get your entry pass to sign up for the exam, and once you get it, you have 3 months from that date to take the exam. I have heard that it now takes 2-3 weeks, but I dont know this for a fact.However, if you can't take it in that 3 month window, you can pay $100 for an extra 3 months (I had to do this)
3) Study! I strongly recommend Kaplan QBank. I was a little upset because it seemed to ask the same questions over and over again, but when I saw how many hits it had on the actual exam, I realized what a smart investment it was ($149, and lets be ethical and not "borrow" their questions.) Practice the CCS cases that you can download from usmle.org. I was very scared of the CCS cases since I went straight path, but they are easy and straightforward (I did screw one up, but it was easy, I just choked). Also keep in mind that the computer in the actual exam for the CCS cases is MUCH SLOWER than when you practice on your computer. Other books I liked were Crush Step 3, Boards and Wards, Step 3 made ridiculously easy, and the NMS Step 3 question book.

Congratulations!

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[cytoborg]

Cool. Thanks for the info & advice.

 

[skoller]

Hey sohsie, thanks for the heads up. I just registered for Step 3 but haven't scheduled it yet (it's easy for me, since I graduated last year - prolly shoulda taken it in the fall, actually). Sucks to have to study clinical med when I'd rather be reading up for residency, gunner that I am , but what can you do. Thanks again.

 

[sohsie]

Hey sohsie, thanks for the heads up. I just registered for Step 3 but haven't scheduled it yet (it's easy for me, since I graduated last year - prolly shoulda taken it in the fall, actually). Sucks to have to study clinical med when I'd rather be reading up for residency, gunner that I am , but what can you do. Thanks again.

No problem. You're only 1 year out, so you should be fine. Just make sure you study. Once you get back in the USMLE game, you'll be surprised how much you remember.

 

[pathdaddy]

Thanks for the info. How long do most path residents actually study for step 3? Are we talking days, weeks, months???

 

[impetigo]

So what do you need to do?
1) Graduate and get your actual diploma (Im not sure if you still need an actual copy of your diploma anymore).
2) Apply via www.fsmb.org. Don't worry about your particular state's requirements. Just apply to Connecticut (or any other state with no extra requirements). All they require is a diploma, and they dont care where you are doing your residency. You dont have to take the exam in Connecticut. You can take the exam at any Prometric testing center in the US. I was in a training program in New York (a state that requires one year of post graduate training, which I did not have), applied to Connecticut, and then took the exam on vacation in California. Once you pass, you pass, and it counts everywhere. Is it a rational system? No. But who cares?
Be warned that it may take 6 weeks to get your entry pass to sign up for the exam, and once you get it, you have 3 months from that date to take the exam. I have heard that it now takes 2-3 weeks, but I dont know this for a fact.However, if you can't take it in that 3 month window, you can pay $100 for an extra 3 months (I had to do this)
3) Study! I strongly recommend Kaplan QBank. I was a little upset because it seemed to ask the same questions over and over again, but when I saw how many hits it had on the actual exam, I realized what a smart investment it was ($149, and lets be ethical and not "borrow" their questions.) Practice the CCS cases that you can download from usmle.org. I was very scared of the CCS cases since I went straight path, but they are easy and straightforward (I did screw one up, but it was easy, I just choked). Also keep in mind that the computer in the actual exam for the CCS cases is MUCH SLOWER than when you practice on your computer. Other books I liked were Crush Step 3, Boards and Wards, Step 3 made ridiculously easy, and the NMS Step 3 question book.

Congratulations!

Thanks for the information. I'll be headed to NY for prelim medicine and so your post is especially useful for me, as I definitely want to take it during PGY-1 year. This has probably been brought up before, but what do you think of QBook? Was good for Step 2 and convenient to carry around and review (on the subway, at Starbucks, etc.). Anyway, thanks again for this great post.

 

[deschutes]

Thanks for the timely crack of the whip.

Guess I should get back to work on my Step 2 CK studying..... *gloom*

Is there an OSCE portion to Step 3?

 

[sohsie]

Thanks for the info. How long do most path residents actually study for step 3? Are we talking days, weeks, months???

Not sure about other residents. I originally studied a few weeks in May and June thinking I would take it before med school, but I didnt get my ticket in time. Then I dropped it for a while until September. I spent a few weeks of on the side study, doing QBank questions, reading, then a few days of more intense study during my vacation (intense QBank, CCS cases) followed by a side trip to Vegas, then I took the test the next week. I got a 218, so I could have spent a lot less time and still passed.

As for the other poster, Im not sure what QBook is, but if its from Kaplan, its probably pretty good.

 

[DasN]

step 1=2 months step2 = 2 weeks step 3 = 2 min (formerly bring #2 pencil)

 

[SLUsagar]

WARNING: This is an updated repeat of a previous post

Dear new pathology residents,

Congratulations on matching at your respective programs. I am a second year pathology resident who did a post-junior fellowship as well. While you are all thinking about moving and finishing school and taking a vacation, there is something looming which you will be less prepared for than your clinical colleagues but which you are well equipped to deal with.

Start thinking about USMLE Step 3 NOW! You will not be better prepared to take Step 3 than you are right now. Trust yourself, you are prepared. The longer you put it off, the more you will forget and the tougher it will be. I transferred from a program in New York where you do not have to take Step 3 as long as you are a resident or fellow. I have seen a brilliant resident (smarter than me) fail Step 3 because he blew it off until 4th year and had to blow another $600 to retake it. DONT BE THAT GUY/GIRL!

I took Step 3 in October of my first year and passed with plenty of room to spare, and believe me, it is a huge weight off my shoulders.

So what do you need to do?
1) Graduate and get your actual diploma (Im not sure if you still need an actual copy of your diploma anymore).
2) Apply via www.fsmb.org. Don't worry about your particular state's requirements. Just apply to Connecticut (or any other state with no extra requirements). All they require is a diploma, and they dont care where you are doing your residency. You dont have to take the exam in Connecticut. You can take the exam at any Prometric testing center in the US. I was in a training program in New York (a state that requires one year of post graduate training, which I did not have), applied to Connecticut, and then took the exam on vacation in California. Once you pass, you pass, and it counts everywhere. Is it a rational system? No. But who cares?
Be warned that it may take 6 weeks to get your entry pass to sign up for the exam, and once you get it, you have 3 months from that date to take the exam. I have heard that it now takes 2-3 weeks, but I dont know this for a fact.However, if you can't take it in that 3 month window, you can pay $100 for an extra 3 months (I had to do this)
3) Study! I strongly recommend Kaplan QBank. I was a little upset because it seemed to ask the same questions over and over again, but when I saw how many hits it had on the actual exam, I realized what a smart investment it was ($149, and lets be ethical and not "borrow" their questions.) Practice the CCS cases that you can download from usmle.org. I was very scared of the CCS cases since I went straight path, but they are easy and straightforward (I did screw one up, but it was easy, I just choked). Also keep in mind that the computer in the actual exam for the CCS cases is MUCH SLOWER than when you practice on your computer. Other books I liked were Crush Step 3, Boards and Wards, Step 3 made ridiculously easy, and the NMS Step 3 question book.

Congratulations!

agreed, now that match is over, it's seriously time for us path ms4's to this crappy step 3 OUT OF THE FREAKING WAY.

question though...where to begin? should i register for it? can i even register, not having an md? how long does it take to get stuff back? i know i need a diploma or something, right?
HELP!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I believe we need to gradumacate first and get our diploma. But soon after that, we should be proactive about signing up for step 3. It will probably take about 8 weeks for the registration to go through, according to my roommate. So plan early based on your residency schedule and get those forms in STAT!