really need advice/support

[paintstick]

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Hi all,
Just got back from taking CS this weekend in Chicago and all in all i would say the exam went well, but i realized i made what i am fearing is a critical mistake. Upon reflection i am realizing that I hardly counseled anybody on smoking cessation or condom use (probably appropriate in about 5 cases). I think the rest of communication skills were pretty strong, but now i am absolutely terrified that i will fail the CIS portion based on the lack of smoking cessation/condom advice.

For every case I did the obvious things (knock, hand-wash, etc...), i would say that i was very nice with each patient, did a strong closure with ddx and answering all hard questions, showed empathy - but i am so worried now that it wont mean anything since i did not ask about quitting smoking.

Anyone with past experiences in which they did not counsel a bunch of people and still pass? I really hope that i did not fail this thing and compromise my match this year.

Any advice is truly welcomed, i really hope i dont have to feel this stressed for 2 months.

thanks in advance

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Smoking and Sex are generally the "Critical Fails." You dont fail cause you messed them up, but unless you did a pretty rock solid job on the rest of it, its going to hurt your score (assuming you were actually supposed to do the counseling on those patients). If you want Derm, panic, If you want Medicine, and that was your only fault, dont fret it

 

[tfom08]

If you want Derm, panic, If you want Medicine, and that was your only fault, dont fret it

What does this mean? CS is pass/fail, no?

 

[Frugal Traveler]

Nobody really knows what the exam wants... ~ 97 % of US grads pass on the first attempt... plus they throw out certain cases randomly.

All in all, you have a 3 % chance of failure. Sit tight... you cannot change how you performed. If you failed the test, you have to take it over again... but you have a 97 % chance of passing... go enjoy your life and stop worrying about the exam.