I failed in philly. I never want to take it there ever again lol. You know what, though, everyone thinks they've failed. What do you think you did wrong. Maybe I can give you some insight. I failed in the ICE portion. And after some serious research, i think i know why i failed the ice portion. At least 5 of my cases were pretty vague. I wasn't able to pinpoint a dx right off the bat. So take away two because they don't grade two anyways. So that's like 3 cases that i completely screwed up with the main dx. Now i know that I put the dx somewhere in the differential. BUT it seems that they really want you start to be able to get the right dx. If you look at announcement page..."As described in the Step 2 CS Content Description and General Information booklet, examinees should record pertinent medical history and physical examination findings obtained during the encounter, as well as initial differential diagnoses (maximum of three). The diagnoses should be listed in order of likelihood, most likely to least likely. Examinees should also indicate the pertinent positive and negative findings obtained from the history and physical examination to support each potential diagnosis.
To clarify previous language about USMLE expectations for examinees completing the patient note: while it is acknowledged that it is important for a physician to be able to recognize the findings that rule out certain diagnoses, the task for Step 2 CS examinees at this time is to record only the most likely diagnoses along with findings (positive and negative), that support them."