passed CS!

[internalmed09]

ok fine i know it's an easy test, but what a relief that i dont have to take that stupid test again!

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[UCLAstudent]

Me toooooo!

 

[Dr McSteamy]

did you guys fux anything up? a lot? a little?

I took it in los angeles too

 

[UCLAstudent]

did you guys fux anything up? a lot? a little?

I took it in los angeles too

I didn't finish one encounter (was at the end of the physical exam when the bell rang). On two notes, I only filled in 2 - 3 differential diagnoses. Forgot some physical exam maneuvers throughout the day and got flustered/stumbled over one of the "challenge questions." I was not confident about the diagnosis on a few patients.

 

[OddNath]

For one lady with some sort of ear problem (I don't even remember), I didn't look in her ears. I just did cranial nerves and called it a day.

Thank God I passed!

 

[drguy22]

I didn't finish one encounter (was at the end of the physical exam when the bell rang). On two notes, I only filled in 2 - 3 differential diagnoses. Forgot some physical exam maneuvers throughout the day and got flustered/stumbled over one of the "challenge questions." I was not confident about the diagnosis on a few patients.

uguys are giving me hope......i messed up...but i just took my exam...

 

[jayboyadams]

What a relief, I passed also!! Congrats to everyone else that did, and to those that didn't, I feel for you, but its not the end of the world, it wont keep you from becoming an MD or DO, you will have to see where you went wrong, and work at it to correct it.

Looking back, I probably should have taken the test a little more seriously, I think I slacked off a little bit and was not on my game on a few of the encounters. I could have smiled more. I should have given more counseling, I felt I barely did that for any of the encounters. I could have explained better to the pt what the differentials were, many times I felt I only gave them 1-2 differentials, my physical exams were not great, mostly felt like I was just doing heart/lungs/abdom and not much else maybe a few special maneuvers here and there, but overall it was not my strong point. Most of the time, I answered each pt's "question" with a "I'm not sure what you have yet or how bad it is or if it will keep you from going on vacation. After going thru the H&P and running some tests, we'll have a better idea of how to treat you." That is if their question was along those lines, which I think was the case in many of the encounters.

Even after all this that I could have done better or differently, I still passed, so I am not complaining! Just very relieved !!!

 

[radiomedicine]

the wait is killing..

 

[stillpremed]

on a lot of the patients i explained my differential and work up for 1 minute hurryedly (i cant even spell too) and still passed. YAY

 

[UNFADABLE858]

I just passed the Step 2 CS

I did miss a lot of things but they know you are running on a limited time slot and you are gonna miss things. I forgot to ask so many questions and missed physical exam maneuvers. The notes I failed to mention things that I did in the physical.

But I still passed.


Just keep smiling and if they are rude just remain pleasant.

If they yell or scream, just remain calm and cool and be confident with what you are doing and saying.

good luck to all

 

[Dr McSteamy]

man. I have the worst luck. haha. I failed CS. embarrassing

I got piss poor data gathering. like off the charts lower end with an asterisk *.
That's the checklist the SP fills out. I failed that big time.

The only thing I excelled at was spoken english. all my other stuff was around borderline. i guess i didn't summarize enough and ask enough open ended questions. damn

So no, just smiling and speaking proper english isn't enough to pass.

phuk me...


did you guys get a score breakdown performance profile?

 

[drguy22]

man. I have the worst luck. haha. I failed CS. embarrassing

I got piss poor data gathering. like off the charts lower end with an asterisk *.
That's the checklist the SP fills out. I failed that big time.

The only thing I excelled at was spoken english. all my other stuff was around borderline. i guess i didn't summarize enough and ask enough open ended questions. damn

So no, just smiling and speaking proper english isn't enough to pass.

phuk me...


did you guys get a score breakdown performance profile?

how do you think u did on ur data gathering?...... i think i was VERY disorganized....i sometimes jumped back and forth...blah...the worst part is i have to wait till DEC 3!!!!

 

[Dr McSteamy]

how do you think u did on ur data gathering?...... i think i was VERY disorganized....i sometimes jumped back and forth...blah...the worst part is i have to wait till DEC 3!!!!

i dunno. i thought i did a passable job. but i guess i didn't nail the majority of crap on their checklist. (Come to think of it, the checklist was the one thing I didn't pay much attention to while reading First Aid.)

for example, 18 yo girl with racing heart beat. she tells me when it started. I suspect drug use, so that is my 2nd question- "have you used drugs recently?" she tells me she snorted cocaine last night.
blah blah. Then i ask about pmh, social, family, and so forth as outlined by first aid. and then go to the PE. Obviously there's not much to examine- a quick HEENT, cardio, abdomen, and that's it.

i tried to make it more of a focused data gathering. and i was out of the room 5 minutes before the time limit. Lesson learned. next time I won't leave the room so fast. I'll do the full OPQRSTUVDSDFSDF.

According to NBME:

Questioning skills - examples include:

* use of open-ended questions, transitional statements, facilitating remarks
* avoidance of leading or multiple questions, repeat questions unless for clarification, medical terms/jargon unless immediately defined, interruptions when the patient is talking
* accurately summarizing information from the patient

oops. I shoulda read that before taking the real test. Now that I think about it, I really only summarized for maybe 2 pts out of the 12.

 

[radiomedicine]

well i guess just pray hard after the exam..

 

[drguy22]

i dunno. i thought i did a passable job. but i guess i didn't nail the majority of crap on their checklist. (Come to think of it, the checklist was the one thing I didn't pay much attention to while reading First Aid.)

for example, 18 yo girl with racing heart beat. she tells me when it started. I suspect drug use, so that is my 2nd question- "have you used drugs recently?" she tells me she snorted cocaine last night.
blah blah. Then i ask about pmh, social, family, and so forth as outlined by first aid. and then go to the PE. Obviously there's not much to examine- a quick HEENT, cardio, abdomen, and that's it.

i tried to make it more of a focused data gathering. and i was out of the room 5 minutes before the time limit. Lesson learned. next time I won't leave the room so fast. I'll do the full OPQRSTUVDSDFSDF.

According to NBME:


oops. I shoulda read that before taking the real test. Now that I think about it, I really only summarized for maybe 2 pts out of the 12.

im sorry man ...for that example..did u ask hyperthyroid questions? or just drug use Q's?

 

[JelicMD]

yay passed the darn thing!!! I seriously think I forgot to ask almost all the patients if they had allergies!! yikes!

 

[Dr McSteamy]

im sorry man ...for that example..did u ask hyperthyroid questions? or just drug use Q's?

well yeah. i ask all pts about past medical illnesses (open ended question right?). I don't remember if i asked about the thyroid, but I usually asked closed ended questions related to my ddx.

anyhow, based on my performance score sheet, I sucked at data gathering.
I think the main reason was that I almost ran out of time on the 1st pt, so from then on, I sort of got lazy or complacent, and did a halfassed data gathering job for the remaining 11 pts. I got false reassurance from friends saying that everyone passes as long as you smile and wash your hands.

i'm not concerned much about CS. But what sucks the most is that now I won't be able to make Match 09. because there are no test dates until March.

 

[drguy22]

well yeah. i ask all pts about past medical illnesses (open ended question right?). I don't remember if i asked about the thyroid, but I usually asked closed ended questions related to my ddx.

anyhow, based on my performance score sheet, I sucked at data gathering.
I think the main reason was that I almost ran out of time on the 1st pt, so from then on, I sort of got lazy or complacent, and did a halfassed data gathering job for the remaining 11 pts. I got false reassurance from friends saying that everyone passes as long as you smile and wash your hands.

i'm not concerned much about CS. But what sucks the most is that now I won't be able to make Match 09. because there are no test dates until March.

that cant be rite!? u cant match for 09? there has gotta be a way...just for one test...doesnt sound rite

 

[Dr McSteamy]

that cant be rite!? u cant match for 09? there has gotta be a way...just for one test...doesnt sound rite

all the programs that i know of need passing CS score by rank order deadline, which is end of feb 09

 

[drguy22]

all the programs that i know of need passing CS score by rank order deadline, which is end of feb 09

dude..u freaked me out...lol...i asked my registrat...and she was like...no ...i can still fail and retake and graduate and match in 09!

 

[flumazenil]

I passed the damn exam after studying less than 30 hours total, majority was in the hotel the night before. Underestimated the exam, but still passed it. I goofed up almost every case from not using the leg left, to not proper draping to having the sh*tt*est physical exam on every patient. But the reason i passed was because i was a human being. I acted like i was the doc and was chill and laid back when the situation warrented it. My progress note sucked ***** too. I am thoroughly convinced this test is about how "nice" and "appropriate" you are.

 

[Dr McSteamy]

I passed the damn exam after studying less than 30 hours total, majority was in the hotel the night before. Underestimated the exam, but still passed it. I goofed up almost every case from not using the leg left, to not proper draping to having the sh*tt*est physical exam on every patient. But the reason i passed was because i was a human being. I acted like i was the doc and was chill and laid back when the situation warrented it. My progress note sucked ***** too. I am thoroughly convinced this test is about how "nice" and "appropriate" you are.

along with your pass, did you also get a score profile with the XXXXXX's?
cuz if you didn't, you wouldn't know how much your goof ups were worth.

I did all the things you claim to have messed up on. but clearly those things weren't worth the points to pass.
I was "nice' and 'appropriate', and my rapport was around borderline performance.

 

[flumazenil]

did you pass? it just said pass pass pass pass under overall and the 3 other categories so i have no idea what is worth what..but i dont wanna know..its a useless exam

 

[jayboyadams]

along with your pass, did you also get a score profile with the XXXXXX's?
cuz if you didn't, you wouldn't know how much your goof ups were worth.

For everyone that passes, the next page is blank except for a message saying, "If you passed, this page is blank," i.e. people that pass have no idea how well they did or not on each section. Sorry about your grade, for next time I would definitely look at those checklists in FA. Memorize them for each case, that's pretty much what I focused on during my studying. Dont get me wrong though, there are numerous questions that I forgot to ask that are on those checklists, but you should be ok if you ask the majority of them.

 

[internalmed09]

i'm not concerned much about CS. But what sucks the most is that now I won't be able to make Match 09. because there are no test dates until March.

DrMcSteamy,

I'm sorry to hear about your score. If I were you, I would start giong through first aid right away and set an email notification for CS exams avail through certain dates. I don't think it's a problem with the match for 09, but if you're worried about ti, I am sure you can get a date. I got my date within 1.5 weeks of my test!

Good luck!

 

[taurus70]

well yeah. i ask all pts about past medical illnesses (open ended question right?). I don't remember if i asked about the thyroid, but I usually asked closed ended questions related to my ddx.

anyhow, based on my performance score sheet, I sucked at data gathering.
I think the main reason was that I almost ran out of time on the 1st pt, so from then on, I sort of got lazy or complacent, and did a halfassed data gathering job for the remaining 11 pts. I got false reassurance from friends saying that everyone passes as long as you smile and wash your hands.

i'm not concerned much about CS. But what sucks the most is that now I won't be able to make Match 09. because there are no test dates until March.

Keep checking the scheduling site several times a day and be ready for a spot to open up at the last minute. if you are lucky and ready to fly at the last minute, you may be able to fly out at the last minute. Don't lose faith yet. Just be ready for the next time. I thought I was going to fail too, and it definitely doesn't reflect on how good a doctor you are going to be.

 

[onemoretime]

I passed!!!

I was super paranoid about this exam cuz i really thought i made too many mistakes to pass...i only listened to one area of the heart and whipped through most other aspects of the PE, virtually never counselled patients, missed huge chunks of info on some histories and almost always finished the encounter 5 mins early...but i did allow the patient to speak without interrupting, always started with an open ended question and made sure to summarize what i understood from the history. i found first aid very useful for structuring the patient note. all the best

 

[flumazenil]

hey Dr. Mcsteamy , sorry to hear your news. YOu DEFINATELY have a chance to take it before the deadline- you just have to be ready to travel within 2 day period. I also remember you writing on this forum that you spent close to $5500 on residency applications- OUCH! use that as motivation and get the CS over with before feb 09

 

[SFAJess]

So I took CS on July 15 and the reporting schedule stated that results would start being sent out on Oct 8. I haven't heard anything yet and I compulsively check the NBME website to see if my results have been posted.

I'm freaking out! I feel like we all forget to ask some questions and do parts of PE, but I guess it's the degree to which you miss these things and who's grading.

I sure hope I passed. The day before I took it, our IMED clerkship director was telling me 1-2 people fail it from our school each year and it's people they don't expect to fail it at all. I was like "Gee, thanks for telling me this the day before I take the damn thing!"