Passed Step 3 on just 2 sources!

[ivyleague22ny]

Preparing for Step 3 in your PGY-2 of your specialty year far removed
from internal medicine, ob/gyn, and peds can be very painful,
but what worked for me was simply 2 sources that I went
through in ~6 weeks:

- Premier Review (listened to the audio CD's and read through
the home study notes THREE TIMES)
- usmleworld (only went through half of the bank, scoring
between 60-80% on timed random blocks) and went through
all the computerized cases twice. I must emphasize
that I only did usmleworld questions AFTER I read
through Premier Review at least 2 times.

I can't emphasize how important it is to read through Premier
Review several times. I miraculously scored a 233 on the
exam and I attribute MOST to learning Premier Review
cold.

Good luck to everyone!

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[Tastebuds]

Where did you buy Premier Notes?

 

[ivyleague22ny]

You can buy the Premier Review notes at:
http://www.premierreview.com/step3mainpagekits.asp
under "Home study preparation kit"

Premier Review devotes plenty of information on dealing with outpatient/ambulatory settings that is roughly 70% of the exam. Inserted within the notes are also examples of the possible CCS cases and how to approach them. Listening to the audio CD's are important to listen to as well because the instructors pimp you on over 350 questions that are not written on the notes.

Step 3 is different from Step 2 CK because it emphasizes
continuity of care. Premier Review delves into the important facts necessary to succeed in the Step 3. For example, if a patient is being treated for H.pylori and their symptoms resolve, why should you still continue treatment? Answer is to prevent MALT (lymphoma). Such information is barely touched upon on either First Aid or Crush.

Other than doing well on the Step 3, I also thank Premier Review for making me a more competent doctor on the wards as I feel I have a better grasp of drug interactions, side effects, and handling emergency issues on the floor.

If you have any further questions or are interested in my notes/CDs, feel free to IM me.

 

[Heathcliff]

Congratulations Ivyleague22ny!

I actually bought the Premier Review June 2008 notes at the beginning of my intern year but I have felt too overwelmed with work to begin studying.
Could you describe your study schedule during your 6 week preparation for Step 3?

 

[ivyleague22ny]

Sure. The Premier Review CD's are ~60 hours of lectures, which is a lot esp during the 60-80 hrs/week schedule of residency, so what I did to save time is I downloaded some mp3 accelerator (ie Audacity) so I could listen to that 5 1/2 lecture of Cardiology in like 2 hours.

I made an excel sheet where I had the topics down one vertical column and on the horizontal cells I put (listened, 1st read, 2nd read, 3rd read) and then I recorded the dates I did stuff so I'd have an idea of where I was in studying the material. Estimate that it will take 1.5 weeks to listen to all the CD's (or 5 days if you have time off from work), 1.5 weeks for the 1st read, 1 week for the 2nd read, and then the last 2 weeks I spent doing usmleworld MCQ questions while doing my 3rd read. As you're reading through the notes, you're simultaneously studying for CCS, so when you actually crank through the practice CCS on usmleworld, you can do all 40 cases in 2 nights cause you know the material well and were taught the CCS strategies from reading the premier notes. During my third read, I also re-listened to some lectures that I thought were high-yield for the exam like "Health Maintenance/Vaccinations," and "Cardiology." Also remember to goggle images as you're studying the optho and derm sections as they're also very high yield!

Hope this helps and again IM me if anyone's interested in my notes/CD's.

 

[Abram Hoffer]

How do these compare to Kaplan videos for Step 3 (for anyone who has used both)?

 

[njbmd]

Preparing for Step 3 in your PGY-2 of your specialty year far removed
from internal medicine, ob/gyn, and peds can be very painful,
but what worked for me was simply 2 sources that I went
through in ~6 weeks:

- Premier Review (listened to the audio CD's and read through
the home study notes THREE TIMES)
- usmleworld (only went through half of the bank, scoring
between 60-80% on timed random blocks) and went through
all the computerized cases twice. I must emphasize
that I only did usmleworld questions AFTER I read
through Premier Review at least 2 times.

I can't emphasize how important it is to read through Premier
Review several times. I miraculously scored a 233 on the
exam and I attribute MOST to learning Premier Review
cold.

Good luck to everyone!

The above is way overstudy. I had no problems with Step 3 after 2 weekends with Crush USMLE Step 3 (much cheaper and easier to carry) and the CD that comes when you register for the exam. Don't waste your time and money on this type of stuff that is advertised above. If you are a question person, USMLEWorld will get you through. Score on this nuisance of an exam doesn't matter because you just have to pass. Just get past this exam and get your license. No one cares about your score here because you are already in residency. Don't overdo this one.

PGY-2 isn't that far removed from medical school either. The only "pain" is that you even have to bother with this exam. It's a total waste of a good weekend.

 

[ivyleague22ny]

Yes, for some studying 2 weekends of Crush may be enough to get through the exam.

But for others, Crush and First Aid simply repeats basic information that we already learned studying for in med school, but does not go into continuity of care, which would come naturally to those in Family Practice of Internal Medicine but not for those of us who simply do not do outpatient primary care on a regular basis (ie anesthesia, pathology, surgery, psychiatry etc.).

I definitely DO NOT work for Premier Review, but am still thankful for them in helping me ROCK the exam. I'm just giving another option out there to those who need to feel prepared knowledge wise going into this arduous 2-day exam.

 

[grizzler]

I agree with the poster who stated that 2 weekends is probably enough. I did all the questions from USMLERx averaged about 65% correct, did most of the the 40 USMLEWorld CCS practice cases and read First Aid. After doing much better than I ever would have expected or needed, 98,(nearly as high as my Step 1 score) I realized I overstudied a bit. However the other poster is right. Reading First Aid or Crush, (which skimmed for about an hour not a huge difference between the two) really doesn't prepare you for the depth of a lot of the questions. Hopefully you have paid attention during med school and residency to all the boring lectures and have picked up some patient management stuff which seemed to be emphasized. Speaking with a coresident who also took the test we determined that studying First Aid really did not help a whole lot because it doesn't have the depth needed. However I thought USMLERx was useful, I am sure the other qbanks are equal or better (I went for the cheapest). Don't bother with the CCS cases if you feel you have had any outpatient or ER experience. Save your money and get yourself a nice dinner when it is over instead. The CD is probably sufficient.

Hope that helps, good luck to all getting through this very annoying hoop that they make us jump through.

 

[umsami]

How do these compare to Kaplan videos for Step 3 (for anyone who has used both)?

Premier is a 1000x more useful IMHO.... especially if primary care was not your specialty.

 

[irongal]

Sure. The Premier Review CD's are ~60 hours of lectures, which is a lot esp during the 60-80 hrs/week schedule of residency, so what I did to save time is I downloaded some mp3 accelerator (ie Audacity) so I could listen to that 5 1/2 lecture of Cardiology in like 2 hours.

I made an excel sheet where I had the topics down one vertical column and on the horizontal cells I put (listened, 1st read, 2nd read, 3rd read) and then I recorded the dates I did stuff so I'd have an idea of where I was in studying the material. Estimate that it will take 1.5 weeks to listen to all the CD's (or 5 days if you have time off from work), 1.5 weeks for the 1st read, 1 week for the 2nd read, and then the last 2 weeks I spent doing usmleworld MCQ questions while doing my 3rd read. As you're reading through the notes, you're simultaneously studying for CCS, so when you actually crank through the practice CCS on usmleworld, you can do all 40 cases in 2 nights cause you know the material well and were taught the CCS strategies from reading the premier notes. During my third read, I also re-listened to some lectures that I thought were high-yield for the exam like "Health Maintenance/Vaccinations," and "Cardiology." Also remember to goggle images as you're studying the optho and derm sections as they're also very high yield!

Hope this helps and again IM me if anyone's interested in my notes/CD's.

Hi! I am interested in your step3 notes/cd's from premier review. Are you planning to sell them and if so, how much? or are you just giving them away since they already brought you good fortune? Pls. let me know. Thanks!

 

[FirstMANdown]

Preparing for Step 3 in your PGY-2 of your specialty year far removed
from internal medicine, ob/gyn, and peds can be very painful,
but what worked for me was simply 2 sources that I went
through in ~6 weeks:

- Premier Review (listened to the audio CD's and read through
the home study notes THREE TIMES)
- usmleworld (only went through half of the bank, scoring
between 60-80% on timed random blocks) and went through
all the computerized cases twice. I must emphasize
that I only did usmleworld questions AFTER I read
through Premier Review at least 2 times.

I can't emphasize how important it is to read through Premier
Review several times. I miraculously scored a 233 on the
exam and I attribute MOST to learning Premier Review
cold.

Good luck to everyone!

Hey IV League22ny,

How did you do on your step 2 ck examination. I think that the USMLE/NBME try to match the step 3 score roughly close to your step 2 with a larger error of margin. Makes it easier for them to "determine" a fair score for you. The score never really deviates too far from each other unless you really F--- up on the exam. I suspect this is a big part of them determining your score. In other words if you did poorly on the step 2 exam, they will never give you a high score on the step 3 exam no matter how much you know or gained in knowledge between those two times. Any one feels different please add on to the thread. I have always believed that the USMLE/NBME does not exist for your best interest but for there own. ($$$$$)

 

[premed7]

Hey IV League22ny,

How did you do on your step 2 ck examination. I think that the USMLE/NBME try to match the step 3 score roughly close to your step 2 with a larger error of margin. Makes it easier for them to "determine" a fair score for you. The score never really deviates too far from each other unless you really F--- up on the exam. I suspect this is a big part of them determining your score. In other words if you did poorly on the step 2 exam, they will never give you a high score on the step 3 exam no matter how much you know or gained in knowledge between those two times. Any one feels different please add on to the thread. I have always believed that the USMLE/NBME does not exist for your best interest but for there own. ($$$$$)

Are you saying that the USMLE uses your previous score to determine your step 3 score? I would totally have to disagree. This doesn't even make any sense. Each individual score is determined by your performance on that particular test. I went up 32 points from step 1 to step2. If you study hard, you can improve scores. There is no predetermined ceiling based on prior exam.

 

[FirstMANdown]

Are you saying that the USMLE uses your previous score to determine your step 3 score? I would totally have to disagree. This doesn't even make any sense. Each individual score is determined by your performance on that particular test. I went up 32 points from step 1 to step2. If you study hard, you can improve scores. There is no predetermined ceiling based on prior exam.

I hope your right. It just seems to me that when comparing the Step 2 score to the Step 3 score, no one ever hardly deviates too far from the two. I have seen many who have big jumps from a Step 1 to a Step 2 but hardly ever from a Step 2 to a Step 3 score unless they do worse. In any event I would hope that my paranoia is just that. But, it makes you wonder why the USMLE/NBME refuse to give you the full algorithm on how they determine your score. I think either way you crack that egg, you will probably end up opening a big bag of worms.