re: step 3 CCS: help me! please!

[mbanos]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I prepared with usmleworld for the ccs and the qbanks, went over the material 3 times and missed passing by 8 points , have no residency experience, did my best-now i am conflicted about using usmleworld again, as one,i am sure i have memorized certain answers on the qbank part, as far as the CCS goes, i didn't find their software very clear to work with, several times, i had to call the staff to alert them about my pc freezing up after downloading their program-and also having issues with certain cases that froze-so all in all the CCS was a disaster, i failed in part due to this portion of the exam, all my mcq's were skewed to the right, the CCS was skewed gravely to the left-i have researched some options, not sure if they will be a waste of my time, efforts and energy, such as : exammaster, there is a tutorial service, anyone ever hear of them? they use their qbanks, i have always heard that kaplan or uworld are the BEST for this mcq section. i keep reading about dr red/archer, both are the same thing, to take their pay per view videos for prepping the CCS, of course no sample for me to consider purchasing...and finally bumba: www. usmle3bumba.com has no evidence of a workshop yet since too early in the establishment, but a bit skeptical as can be understood...i personally have been using kaplan qbook and ez pass for ccs-i need serious feedback that is not overwhelming, all over the place! thanks in advance!

 

[sf1991]

Wow, so sorry to hear about your troubles. I used USMLE world for the exam, thought the CCS questions were very helpful. I feel that if you do all of those scenarios, know them well, I refuse to see how you cannot pass. I think the key, however, is to understand the scenarios, understand when it is important to be more aggressive in your management (stat labs, orders prior to performing PE), when to transition to a higher level of care, what the appropriate management is for the scenario... You cannot just memorize. To be frank, the one disadvantage you have is that you are not in residency. Unfortunately, so much of the decision making involved in the CCS cases flows more easily when you have personal experience on which to relate. Do the cases with understanding in mind, not just memorization, and you will succeed. Best of luck.