Question about Clinical Skills Step 2

[KingofKats]

Ok so I need someone who's taken the test to answer this question for me. The cd I got from the people who run the exam says that you have a choice of either handwriting the patient note or typing it on a computer outside the patient's room. But First Aid for for the CS exam doesn't mention the typing/computer.

Seems like it might be a fair bit easier to type up the patient note than it would be to write it longhand. For a start it would be quicker giving more time to think about diagnoses and work up. Also, it's tought to get the whole history into that tiny space on the sheet and not have it be messy as hell. Plus it would be nice to be able to edit it.

So, are there computers available for typing up the patient note.



I would have put this in the usmle forum but the traffic there is pretty low and I need an answer to this fairly quick. Thanks.

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[Harrie]

You can type it but the space limit is imposed on the computer too. I ran out of room on a lot of notes and had to cut out words to get my point across. After the test, I realized you would actually probably have more space if you handwrote the note since you could write smaller if necessary. Still, typing is faster for me so I think its the way to go.

 

[KingofKats]

Thanks. Is the page on the computer already templated into sections or do you have to do that as you write? I'm trying to work out which will be faster for me, writing or typing. I'd definately like to be able to edit without scratching things out.

 

[pikachu]

I just took the exam last week. The typed note is subdivided into 4 sections: history, physical, differential, and further workup. You can provide no more than 5 differentials and ask for no more 5 tests for further workup. I hope that you are not downgraded based on the number of differentials you provide as many of the problems were so self-evident it was difficult to come up with a long differential. i didn't have any problems with running out of space on the history or physical findings. Unless you are a really slow typist, I think typing is definitely the way to go as it is easier to go back and edit your statements.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to USMLE Forum...