step 2 cs

[daisy78]

I just got done with my stupid clinical skills exam in Houston today. It was annoying because after I exited the room, I would remember these waves of questions I forgot to ask or would remember that I forgot to do a physical exam maneuver. I did this the whole test basically. I was just wondering, for those of you who have passed the exam, did you feel this way too. Or, am I in danger of failing the ******ed thing? I'm a little bit nervous, Please help.

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[vanelo]

the ******ed thing?

Almost fell off the chair laughing. Such bouts of spontaneity amuse me

 

[surg2005]

I just got done with my stupid clinical skills exam in Houston today. It was annoying because after I exited the room, I would remember these waves of questions I forgot to ask or would remember that I forgot to do a physical exam maneuver. I did this the whole test basically. I was just wondering, for those of you who have passed the exam, did you feel this way too. Or, am I in danger of failing the ******ed thing? I'm a little bit nervous, Please help.

daisy... that is completely normal if not expected... I forgot to ask alot of questions as well as perform some maneuver. Actually it took me literally 5 minutes for most H&P's an 5 minutes to write the note. That was why I was so nervous about failing... but I did'nt.

I wouldent worry.. ofcourse thats easier said than done.

 

[pbmax]

I felt the same way after the exam. I think I even blew one case where the presenting case wasn't what the standardized patient actually had, but I still passed.

The test was especially irritating since my medical school through virtue of grades and evaluations has basically said I'm competent to see patients yet we had to spend a $1000 on another hurdle.

 

[txdoc2b]

Daisy-I felt the EXACT same way as you (and it's funny I took it the day before you did, also in Houston)
Anyways, I forgot lots of questions (some of them very important ones) and forgot lots of physcial exam manuevers...remembered them as soon as I left the room, and my main problem....I think I forgot to order lots of tests that were needed. I think my mind just wan't there. And it's not like this happened in 1 or 2 pts, it was like most of them. There were also some where I didn't know what was going on, or where I think I was completely on the wrong track

So I am also VERY worried about this. Do yall know (maybe those who have their grades) how are the mostly grading this thing. Is it mostly about whether you can communicate in English, write a good note, be considerate and caring for your patient etc. or is ot mostly about if you ask the right questions and order the right tests? Thanks

And the more people who can tell me they felt the same way and passed, the better I will feel!
....

 

[pbmax]

Hi, I'm an American 4th year student at a very good northeastern medical school.

I passed CS although I too had my doubts about passing afterwards.

On one patient, I totally had no idea what was going on - I think the presenting complaint was a throw-off and I was supposed to figure out the patient was here for something entirely different. On another case, the diagnosis was obvious but I put two stupid diagnoses above the obvious one on my differential. And on a third case, I concentrated my physical exam on only one organ system when I should have examined two others. These are things I know I did wrong - I am sure I made other mistakes.

After doing all these things wrong, I still passed. Have faith...

 

[Zeffer]

Daisy-I felt the EXACT same way as you (and it's funny I took it the day before you did, also in Houston)
Anyways, I forgot lots of questions (some of them very important ones) and forgot lots of physcial exam manuevers...remembered them as soon as I left the room, and my main problem....I think I forgot to order lots of tests that were needed. I think my mind just wan't there. And it's not like this happened in 1 or 2 pts, it was like most of them. There were also some where I didn't know what was going on, or where I think I was completely on the wrong track

So I am also VERY worried about this. Do yall know (maybe those who have their grades) how are the mostly grading this thing. Is it mostly about whether you can communicate in English, write a good note, be considerate and caring for your patient etc. or is ot mostly about if you ask the right questions and order the right tests? Thanks

And the more people who can tell me they felt the same way and passed, the better I will feel!
....

I took mine on the 8th in Chicago.... I feel the exact same way.

 

[cjbrown5]

Daisy,

I felt exactly the same as you did. In fact, I took it in Houston not too long ago too. All day I thought that I was screwing up the cases. I actually saw one of the SPs during the lunch break. I broke down and asked her how I was doing, and she told me that I did pretty good! Then she laughed and said, you should have been here yesterday when this Indian girl from with a purple school badge missed all of my diagnoses. She went on to mention that the this girl's physical exam "maneuvers" were all messed-up. It made me feel alot better. The proctors went on to mention, that most people that don't pass are going into anesthsiology

OK Joking aside:

Everyone forgets stuff, I forgot ALOT of things and screwed up many parts of my physical exam. We just gotta hope that more people forgot more stuff than we did, palpated things too deeply, speeled more words incorrectly, and spoke worser english than we did.
Buena suerte!

 

[vyness]

Hi,

I also feel horrible after taking the test last week (Feb 11, Houston). I forgot to ask so many things and flubbed my way through the histories and physicals. This test does not reflect real patient encounters in any way, shape, or form. I mean, if I forget to ask something or need to do something on a physical exam in real life, I can easily go back in the room and talk to the patient. This "once you exit the room, you cannot go back in" is a total load of crap.

One time I actually realized in the middle of the exam that I forgot to wash my hands and a wave of panic hit me. I finished my less than adequate exam and washed my hands at the end, hoping to smoothly make it look like I'm one of those people who wash their hands AFTER each pt encounter. I hope they bought it!

After reading about some of the US grads who failed this thing, I am really freaked out. I know my pass/fail won't affect the match because the scores take so long to come in, but will we have time to retake this stupid waste of money before starting residency?

Aaarrgghhh!!!



UPDATE: Whew, I passed! Apparently, you can screw up a lot and still pass the thing.

 

[supertigger]

just to throw is my 2 cents......

i took it in december, forgot some questions, forgot some maneuvers, and passed. my understanding of the thing is that it's about communication, i.e. eliciting information from the patient as well as explaining to the patient what you think is going on, communicating with your colleagues (the note), and, of course, speaking english. try not to forget that the test was originally designed for foreign/international graduates whose native language isn't english. they just make US grads take it for ****s and giggles.

that being said, i would worry more about forgotten questions than maneuvers. but don't worry too much. odds are you got the majority of the information that you needed to pass.

 

[tiffin25]

hey guys, i too need some help... i just took the cs exam and felt like i did ok except for one encounter. i didn't have time to explain what i was going to do and did not explain what tests i wanted to run. time just ran out because i took too long on my history and physical... i know that this is bad, but is it REALLY bad... any thoughts to alleviate my fears would be greatly appreciated!

 

[txdoc2b]

hey guys, i too need some help... i just took the cs exam and felt like i did ok except for one encounter. i didn't have time to explain what i was going to do and did not explain what tests i wanted to run. time just ran out because i took too long on my history and physical... i know that this is bad, but is it REALLY bad... any thoughts to alleviate my fears would be greatly appreciated!

That's the only thing you think you did wrong? You will pass with flying colors! I forgot lots of PE maneuvers, forgot to order SO many tests and probably was wrong on whole lines of questioning on a couple of the encounters (see my post above)...and I surprisingly passed. So I would definately not worry about messing up 1 encounter. you will be fine! Hope that helps

 

[tiffin25]

Thanks man... that's the only thing i keep focusing on... of course, i probably messed up on other things as well. hopefully it all goes well. on another note, i really think all of us should band together and really boycott this thing. i was annoyed before taking it, but now i am supremely annoyed. whatever.

 

[txdoc2b]

on another note, i really think all of us should band together and really boycott this thing. i was annoyed before taking it, but now i am supremely annoyed. whatever.

I'll join that boycott! What a rediculous waste of $1000 and a whole day that I can never get back!

 

[tom_jones]

I just got done with my stupid clinical skills exam in Houston today. It was annoying because after I exited the room, I would remember these waves of questions I forgot to ask or would remember that I forgot to do a physical exam maneuver. I did this the whole test basically. I was just wondering, for those of you who have passed the exam, did you feel this way too. Or, am I in danger of failing the ******ed thing? I'm a little bit nervous, Please help.

I forgot to do a goddamn neuro exam on a pt whose cc was HA. I messed up a couple of other encounters too. Hopefully they throw out those cases. Does anyone know how they pick the cases to throw out?

 

[scootad.]

I forgot to do a goddamn neuro exam on a pt whose cc was HA. I messed up a couple of other encounters too. Hopefully they throw out those cases. Does anyone know how they pick the cases to throw out?

I think I forgot to do a neuro exam on that patient too! who can remember to do everything in such a short amt of time??

And then there was that pt (my last SP for the day) who gave me an attitude - I just wasnt having it.

Oh lord - i really hope i didnt fail this. Another $1000 down the drain is an outrageous thought. And I'll be getting my results any day now.

 

[tom_jones]

I think I forgot to do a neuro exam on that patient too! who can remember to do everything in such a short amt of time??

And then there was that pt (my last SP for the day) who gave me an attitude - I just wasnt having it.

Oh lord - i really hope i didnt fail this. Another $1000 down the drain is an outrageous thought. And I'll be getting my results any day now.

There haven't been any posts on this stupid exam in a while, so I just wanted to remind everyone that Step 2 BS BLOWS!

 

[El Duderino]

Yeah, I just did it, too, and I would agree that it is just insane that they force AMGs to do it. I just don't see the point of having a pass/fail exam for something so basic. If they scored it like step 1 and 2ck, I would see the purpose of it, but on the other hand, how the heck could you score it?

I think it's justified for IMGs (I'm one, so don't flame me), especially as a substitute for the TOEFL, depending on how autistic they are while scoring it. Some SPs just wait for a keyword, until you say that word they will basically deny any symptoms.

So in essence I guess it could be a good exam, but it depends on how it's handled wrt scoring. That said, the proctors were very professional and everything went very smoothly. The lunch wasn't too bad either, although the price tag was kind of hefty...

 

[posternutbag]

hey guys,
I had heard from someone before that there was some trick to find out whether you have passed step 2 CS before you actually get the score report.
SInce I have not yet received my score, and am starting to get a bit nervous, especially after reading all these posts, anyone care to share this little trick?
Thanks

 

[ccarnel]

Anyone here make any big flub ups like me and pass? I forgot to wash hands on the first two patient encounters. One patient encounter i did not get to discuss possible differential diagnosis and possible testing. I felt ok about the rest of my performance on the exam (though that may not mean Jack Shi$)

 

[scootad.]

woohoo! lame ass me just got my score back from test in philly from late feb. and relieved to see a PASS!

I almost forgot to wash my hands on the very 1st patient. I started to feel his neck for LAD and then said "shoot!" turned around and washed them. I felt like I remembered to do most of the other things, except a neuro exam on a pt. my last patient was giving me attitude and i wasnt having it.

 

[klubguts]

Anyone here make any big flub ups like me and pass? I forgot to wash hands on the first two patient encounters. One patient encounter i did not get to discuss possible differential diagnosis and possible testing. I felt ok about the rest of my performance on the exam (though that may not mean Jack Shi$)

I ran out of time on one patient also (was working on a really disorganized neuro exam and didn't discuss jack s$*t with 'em) and managed to pass. I've heard several others mention forgeting to wash their hands once or twice and getting by...don't worry to much, hopefully it will all work out for you.