USMLE Official step 2 cs results on 3rd of february.

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Did anyone get the email saying their scores will be released today? That usually seems to precede the score by a few hours, but nada....
 
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i am an IMG and i usually got my step scores after 8 AM ( colombia / NY time) on oasis webpage from ecfmg
but today nothing so far, i took my exam on 16 of december at chicago, if i fail im not taking it again, that would be a dealbreaker for me...
good luck all.
 
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Passed! Took it in December.

Prep: Read through First Aid CS over the week before the exam. Didn't do any live practice, but when I went through the cases, I pretended like I was the doctor and thought of what questions I wanted to ask and the PE I wanted to do for the CC. For 2-3 cases I used the sample note form on the USMLE website and timed myself writing a note based on the info they provided in the case.

My school also requires a practice CS early in 4th year, which is much harder than the real deal (harsher grading). I did pretty well on that, so at baseline I felt ok.

The money is in reading the first half of FA where they go over counseling and everything you don't want to miss in the CIS part. I felt like I would have missed a lot of points if I hadn't read through that and understood what they were looking for.

Test Day: I'm usually a nervous wreck for exams but the little bit of confidence I had really helped, as I was able to keep a level head throughout the whole day. Once I finished the note for a room, I forced myself to forget about it and just focus 100% on the next one. I acted like I was excited to be there, which I also think helped with the nerves.

I didn't run out of time in any room, but I do wish I had a couple more minutes on a couple of the notes, but that was mainly because I got a ton of information from the patient and had to triage what needed to go into the note because I had no room. I do remember sacrificing some PE stuff in favor of counseling and closure. My PE was very very very focused, I always examined the system(s) in question, but I always felt like I was missing something or not giving the PE enough consideration.

After Test Day: I felt good with my CIS performance, I felt like I counseled for almost everything that needed counseling, had good closure, etc. I was worried about ICE, mainly because of (what I felt was) my rushed PE in several rooms. I also couldn't remember if I used any pertinent negatives to back up my diagnoses, in fact I'm pretty sure I didn't. Each day I would think of something I forgot, and a couple times I thought I forgot something I later realized I did (I thought I didn't ask sexual hx on ANY patient, but after thinking longer, I'm sure I did). This made for an agonizing 2 months, and reading the horror stories on SDN didn't help 😛

Score report: Passed. High performance in CIS and SEP, but the leftmost X in ICE is touching borderline, which I expected to have lower performance on that.

Best of luck to everyone!
 
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PASSED! Took mine Nov. 24th in ATL. All above borderline shaded area (SEP* > CIS > ICE). They literally sent the email a minute before the scores posted. My hands were shaking I was so nervous - these 2+ months of waiting are brutal lol sigh. Good luck and congrats to everyone who passed!

...ok now that I've done my celebration dance all over my apt, here are some thoughts/answers to some Frequently Posted Concerns (FPCs if you will):

Test Prep: 2 weeks with 12 days pretty casual and the last 2 days more "intense." Used First Aid for Step 2 CS, Practiced writing notes timed in the online app on the USMLE website, read the actual Step CS exam manual, and a few youtube videos on how to arrange the blue note sheets on test day.

Actual Exam Day Advice:

ICE (all X's to the right of shaded area):
-Spend 30 sec-1 min organizing your thoughts outside the room, using the popular mnemonics, to help guide your questioning once you begin the interview. Remember: Efficiency is KEY.
-Physical exams do not have to be perfect or extremely thorough to do well. Again, efficiency.
- You can absolutely combine HPI/ROS/super pertinent PMH & FHx etc. into your initial paragraph, just like you would in real life. I did a first-liner as well. Then I sectioned out any less relevant history into appropriate sections.
- Not including general appearance in your PE writeup will not cause you to fail. I forgot to in ALL of my cases and still did relatively well. Try to remember to include vitals though.
- As long as you have on average 2 good DDx with good support, you'll be fine. If the 3rd one is a stretch or wrong, it will be ok. If you didn't add a 3rd Dx when there could have been a solid one, it will be ok.

CIS (X's to far right on chart):
- Good intro, good summary, empathy, respectful exam, support, and solid closure. Dassit, dassall.
- Ask the patient what he/she thinks is going on right before sharing your thoughts. It can help guide your closing and address questions/concerns - two birds, one stone = efficiency.
- Counsel as soon as you hear a lifestyle concern if appropriate, so you don't forget at the end. If you forget to do so in one or 2 cases (like I did), YOU WILL BE MORE THAN FINE.

SEP: Idk, speak english/articulate well? I don't even think regional accents cause issues...

Anyway, I know it's hard not to worry, but try to find some solace in the fact that with a 96% first pass rate for AMGs, the odds are in your favor. *Cue Hunger Games whistle*
 
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Exam Dec 29 in Atlanta....PASSED!!!!!! For those in need of hope, see my multiple other posts about being sure I failed. Will post links when I get to a comp.

Now we KNOW this test has no validity... Only way I could have done worse was to moon the SP and/ or offer them some PCP! Lol
 
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Passed!!! Thank you God!!! Took the exam on Dec 30th in Philly and literally studied a week before for it cause of my chronic laziness. Couldn't finish step 2 cs first aid cases (did about 2/3)and didn't practice on anyone by myself. Had stars on CIS (always reassured every patient they were in good hands in the middle of every case as per Phloston's guide) and SEP. However, ICE performance was borderline which really reflected my lack of preparation in differential diagnosis and what tests to run.

Don't do what I did but remember around 96% of US MD students pass on their first attempt so don't crazy stress out either!
 
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PASSED!

Was pretty worried I might not have. I took a year off and did this Nov. of my 4th year. Didn't get to study for this at all as I was on a non-clinic rotation and the only studying I did was when my BF drove me up to ATL (~2 hrs with us talking quite a bit not about the patient). School requires us to take OSCE and a similar test like it but like I said it'd been over a yr since I had taken or reviewed anything remotely close to this. Test day was hectic and I was super nervous bc I wasn't confident in my preparation. Nevertheless, pushed on and did my best and half way thru was in a good groove. Wasn't prefect by any means, missed a lot of PE stuff but kept it professional and stuck to my system of HPI, PMH, PE, Summary. Kept it relevant. Had like 3 cases where I was very shaky and 1 where I had NO idea what to put for DDX. Got flagged for pre-writing my history outline while standing in front of the door (I think it's called irregular behavior, guy just came over and told me I had wasn't allowed to do it and took my sheet of writing from me). So I was also afraid bc of that. Was seriously worried bc I hadn't done clinic in 1 yr+ and had only looked at outlines of what to include as a history and process to do my physicals. Slept only 3 hrs the night before but popped a caffiene pill the morning off and a combo of that and adrenaline kept me focused.

My advice: Take it soon after your 3rd year ends, whether you're taking a year off or not. Doesn't take much study, spend a few hrs a week of afternoons going thru FA and Uworld. You will pass and get this monkey off your back. You can always say you'll take it after you take CK or you don't wanna take it while studying for CK but that's a trap. This is just a very very annoying hoop to jump thru so jump it and get it off your back and move on to CK. Dates fill up quick so start wayyy early (like march) to get your date and keep it no matter what.

Passed with high in SEP, the other one and some borderline stars in the ICE (most commonly failed section by IMGs and AMG, the part of writing the note and coming up with a differential). My notes weren't that bad, I just didn't have a good system and didn't make the time to practice one. Practice the PE part of the note so you don't forget anything and it's the same everytime.

EDIT: AMG BTW.
 
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I'm an AMG but I do have a subtle yet noticeable accent, so I found it surprising to have my SEP score off the charts - perhaps they adjusted for ethnicity lol.

ICE was average and CIS dipped into the borderline.

This exam is worthless and there needs to be a reform in testing for med Ed.
 
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Romeo00 said:
Have you seen results posted after noon? Or is it more likely I have to wait another sleepless week?
Click to expand...
No clue. No one received results until 11 and it doesn't seem like anyone else has since. Maybe another batch of results will be released at noon? I'm wondering if it just takes longer for IMGs?!
 
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IMG vs. AMG is irrelevent. It is more likely that testing location, and date of testing play a role in delayed score release.

I'm an IMG, took it Dec 22nd in Chicago. Have not received my score yet. Don't expect I will today. Step 1 and CK both came well before 11am for me.
 
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endoffouryears said:
IMG vs. AMG is irrelevent. It is more likely that testing location, and date of testing play a role in delayed score release.

I'm an IMG, took it Dec 22nd in Chicago. Have not received my score yet. Don't expect I will today. Step 1 and CK both came well before 11am for me.
Click to expand...

I would assume that would be the case but I took mine much earlier than a lot of those who posted earlier that they got their scores so I thought maybe IMG/AMG had something to do with it.
Nov 18th ATL
 
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Passed! Took it in Philly the week of Thnxgiving. Got a notification at 11:50AM telling me results were posted at 11AM. Thanks for the reassurances from everyone. Honestly, I felt like I was going to throw up on my keyboard while I was waiting for the results to download =P.

ICE had 1 star into the borderline, my communication was way above. I truly felt like I messed up a lot (missed clear dx and put bs differentials in without any real support) and it turned out OK, so I'm sure everyone else will be good =)
 
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Chicago Dec 23rd. Just got results. Passed pretty comfortably in all subsections. I felt pretty badly after this exam and can think of at least 15 things I messed up (differential, labs, counseling, and I even forgot to wash my hands once). Just try not to let it stress you out. Everyone makes a ton of errors.
 
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Took my exam in Philly on 3oth dec, still waiting for the results !!! Is there any IMG who got their results today ?
 
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Ranno12 said:
congratulations when did you get your result ?
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I got it about 10 minutes ago. Did much better than expected with my SEP all the way to the right and ICE/CIS far to the right as well.
My test was Nov 18th in ATL. The last few months of waiting were so brutal! I have a close friend who failed and is from the US with Step1 score of 250 so I was terrified!!!
 
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Pass!

Since I was a total neurotic mess about getting my score I thought I would post about my prep and test maybe for some reassurance, reading posts where people listed mistakes and still passed on here definitely helped me!

Prep:
-My school does an OSCE which is supposed to be harder. To prep for that, I used the practice note template and timed myself with some made up cases. I tend to be long-winded so I knew getting the timing down was important for me. Did fine on the "ICE" part, but for the "CIS" part, I got marked down because the actors said I wasn't confident. Ended up talking to the doc in charge b/c I have never gotten comments like that on my actual rotations but it happens to me every time I have an OSCE. We decided it was because I have a soft voice and the people are actors so they expect me to project and thought I was just being shy, when literally the only way I can "project" more is if I start screaming which I don't want to do lol! If there is ANYTHING weird about your behavioral component on OSCEs definitely talk to someone! We decided for CS that I would walk in the room and tell the actor, hi I have a soft voice, please let me know if you can't hear me and I can move closer or try to speak up more. That way, they would know it wasn't me freaking out about the exam or something. IRL, I would only say that if it's relevant like I usually mention it with elderly patients or if I notice someone has a hearing aid or something loud is going on outside, etc. But there might be something you can modify just for the OSCE/CS, just like all the things it tells you to do in FA.
-Was on a clinical rotation so I didn't really sit down and do practice patients
-Case prep - I read maybe half of the cases in FA. Eventually, I found it was more efficient for me to just go through each symptom (e.g. SOB, CP, fever, etc.) and list my differential for that symptom and what tests I would order then check it with the book. I was able to do this on my downtime during my rotation and it just covered more ground than going through the cases individually. Then when I wasn't sure about a certain area, I would go back and read the cases to get more practice
-I think I practiced with the note template a few times again just b/c it had been a few months since the practice OSCE
-Read the chapters in FA about what you are supposed to do in each encounter, and the counseling suggestions, 2 or 3 times. I reread parts of it the night before the test just so it was fresh but otherwise didn't study the night before.

Test - this is what I would recommend and what I started doing after my first patient:
-Set up a routine. For me this meant writing down on my sheet of paper, "History-Wash Hands-Physical-Summarize-Explain-Counsel" as well as my standard 4-box template (HPI/Past Hx/Family/Social). I don't really use mnemonics for the history, but if that helps you I would write those down too. I did that all before I went in the room. It really helped to ground me to write the routine down so that I didn't forget one of the steps and for timing
-Tried to come up with a Ddx right off the bat before entering the room, based on the chief complaint. If I didn't have any idea, I would at least try to come up with key questions I needed to clarify. I'd scribble some notes down but not spend forever on this. (This is what my school recommended and it worked well for me on the OSCE so I did it again for the actual test.)
-For the note, I started at the bottom and filled in the history and exam last. I feel like I tend to write a TON about the history IRL, and sometimes it can definitely be cleaned up haha. So that way I made sure I got the differential, supporting points and tests in. Then, when I went to write the H&P, I had that outline to make sure I hit up my supporting points in the H&P part too. If I got cut off and didn't get to fit in the patient's alcohol use when smoking history was really the key social history element, it was ok.
-Always did heart and lung exam, this gave me more time to think if I wasn't sure what exam to do; otherwise, my exam was focused.
-Always asked people if they had any more questions and if there was anything I missed that they wanted to tell me
-Tried to do everything FA recommended doing like how you introduce yourself, etc.
-Went in with a smile and pretended it was a real patient. I actually got along really well with many of the patients and that helped it feel more normal.

I made SO many little mistakes and I guess it's really OK. Some of what I didn't do: missed a big/scary diagnosis on one of the patients (thought of it the minute I finished the note lol); totally had no clue what was going on with another patient despite extensive history, ROS and physical; got cut off during counseling for another patient; on my first patient got so nervous that I forgot to wash my hands and went way too long on the history; accidentally bumped a patient with a tool (I apologized buuuut freaked out); didn't do a key part of one physical; didn't pull the leg rest out for a patient; missed an opportunity to ask a patient why they were anxious; didn't get to put any supporting physical findings in my first note (after this I decided to start at the bottom); forgot to list a physical exam finding in my H&P; etc. I guess it's more of an issue if you have one area you consistently mess up on? I really have no clue how this test is scored but I was so worried about all these mistakes, so if you did similar things, try not to freak out.

ETA: I got CIS>ICE but both above borderline.
 
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