PATH MS4's taking STEP 2 CS

[med2B]

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i've heard the comments too often now from other medstudents who've taken step 2CS that it's a joke, and that you'll pass as long as you know and speak English.

I'm having trouble relating to this people's comments b/c mind you, most are going Int Med or Emerg Med, and a whole day of clinic w/basic-type probs and situations is totally bread-and-butter for these people.

BUTT, as ms4's going into PATH, and for those who've taken Step 2 CS, tell me, how easy (if at all) was it really??? How was your experience? How were the cases?

(and, specific question):in regards to the OB part of OBGYN, what if any sort of stuff was there? (i've been hearing it's just pretty much GYN scenarios, no preg ladies type situations).

 

[yaah]

Well, I didn't take the CS but I would have done fine with it I assume, because my school required us to do innumerable standardized patient exams and I always did very well.

The thing is, no matter what specialty you go into you are taking the same 3rd year med requirements as every other specialty. Your electives might be slightly different in 4th year, but there are still requirements. The type of scenarios they present I would hope you would be pretty comfortable with if the med school you go to is halfway decent.

From what I have heard - some people have trouble with the step II CS because they are rude to the patients. So be nice!

 

[Doctor Zaius]

Hey...I took the test in Philly and I'll give you my 2 cents...
the cases weren't anything weird that you haven't seen 100 times before in surgery, fp, and IM rotations so coming up with a diff dx and further workup shouldn't be too hard for you.

Over the course of M3 and M4 years though , the thorough, comprehensive H and P's we've all learned how to do as M1s and M2s have gotten attenuated and sloppy, at least in my case. So just review the thorough exam for all the systems. The 15 minutes they give you to see the patient is more than enough.

The other thing to remember is that the test is graded on three scales:
1)english proficiency-no problem unless you're an IMG

2)your clinical skills and medical reasoning - just do a thorough h and p and be thorough in you're questioning

3)Interpersonal and communicaation skills - the trickiest, b/c it seems very vague and subjective to me....I guess you should pretend to be concerned and engaging, feign concern, ask how the problem is affecting them, etc. Basically a load of BS made all the more difficult by the fact that the fake patients are so amazingly unconvincing and it makes the whole interaction very awkward

Remember you have to pass all 3 sections to pass the test.
If you've been in med school for the last 3.5 years, it shouldn't be too hard if you just do some review of physical exam and workup of common complaints, ab pain, chest pain, syncope, etc. And remember to kiss the fake patients' a$$e$

hope this helps


As for Ob...there is none. No overt gyne either in my cases....and another important thing...be sure you pull the extension on the exam table out for the patient and drape them during the exam...they made a big deal of both these points.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

CS wasn't that hard...it was more of a pain in the ass. I agree with Zaius's assessment though. It seems like more than half the test is being nice. How stupid!

 

[cookypuss3]

I think being nice, as difficult as it may be for some of us, is the key to passing the CS. I swear every actor was trained to look extremely despondent, look the student right in the eye and go, "Doctor... is this [cancer/a stroke/a heart attack/where you tell me I have two weeks to live]?" One of my classmates actually did tell said patient that they did have cancer. Whoops! Two points....

It was a massive hassle to go to Philly, stay there, deal with careless airline personnel.... much worse than the silly exam itself.

 

[yaah]

Cookypuss! 😍

I am so happy I didn't have to take that miserable exam.

 

[Logos']

...

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Cookypuss! 😍

I am so happy I didn't have to take that miserable exam.

settle down yaah.

see, you have no difficulty showing affection on an online chatsite. now if you did this in real life, L would be yours!

 

[yaah]

settle down yaah.

see, you have no difficulty showing affection on an online chatsite. now if you did this in real life, L would be yours!

Where is that "she's running away screaming in terror and then laughing behind my back" smilie when I need it, hmmm?

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Where is that "she's running away screaming in terror and then laughing behind my back" smilie when I need it, hmmm?

I'm gonna pretend that you didn't say that, Mr. I see the bottle 3/4ths empty!