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What are the pros and cons of taking Step 3 prior to starting an internship/residency? Thank you.
Step 3 Before Internship/Residency - Pros and Cons
- Thread starter medsRus
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I would know the same thing!
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Pros:
- Excellent review for intern year.
- Get it out of the way while you have time to study for it
- Step II is fresh in your mind
Cons:
- You have to study for it. If you take it later, you could probably wing it and do just fine.
- You waste perfectly good vacation days on a meaningless exam.
- You have no clinical experience, making the exam more difficult -> lower score in theory
In the end, I would say if you're going into something clinical, you might as well wait as long as you can to take it, so you don't have to study as much and will likely score better. If you're going into something nonclinical, I would say take it as soon after Step II as you possibly can.
- Excellent review for intern year.
- Get it out of the way while you have time to study for it
- Step II is fresh in your mind
Cons:
- You have to study for it. If you take it later, you could probably wing it and do just fine.
- You waste perfectly good vacation days on a meaningless exam.
- You have no clinical experience, making the exam more difficult -> lower score in theory
In the end, I would say if you're going into something clinical, you might as well wait as long as you can to take it, so you don't have to study as much and will likely score better. If you're going into something nonclinical, I would say take it as soon after Step II as you possibly can.
N
njbmd
Step III takes NO study unless you have been brain-dead during your fourth year. It's a nuisance of an exam and counts for nothing. Some states require that you have graduated from medical school in order to take the exam and thus, if you don't have to use that time between graduation and start of PGY-1 to move and get your new crib in order, take Step III and get it done.
It's a meaningless test that eats up two days of your schedule. My fellow surgery PGY-1s took this test before we started our PGY-1 year or right after ABSITE our yearly in-training exam). Don't wait as things start to pile up and definitely you want a pass and nothing more beyond pass unless you haven't matched. Studying for this exam (unless you are an unmatched FMG/IMG) is useless.
It's a meaningless test that eats up two days of your schedule. My fellow surgery PGY-1s took this test before we started our PGY-1 year or right after ABSITE our yearly in-training exam). Don't wait as things start to pile up and definitely you want a pass and nothing more beyond pass unless you haven't matched. Studying for this exam (unless you are an unmatched FMG/IMG) is useless.
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Are a lot of people just planning on taking Step 3 right after they graduate? I was checkin the FSMB website, and one of their req's is that you you have your Degree or ECFMG certification at the time you submit your app. Am I just missing something here???😕
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although studying may be "useless" for some people, one should definitely practice with the CCS cases, and get used to the LONG blocks of questions again. Going in without familiarity with the CCS format is asking for trouble.
QofQuimica
Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....
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No, you're not missing anything. Realistically, it doesn't seem to be possible for most American grads to take Step 3 that early unless you have a gap year between med school and residency or you start residency in January instead of July. As you pointed out, you can't even apply to take Step 3 until you have your degree. Assuming you graduate in May like most people do, and you start orientation in mid to late June, you're going to be cutting it really close to get your paperwork in order fast enough to register for the test and reserve a spot to take it. Even if you manage to register quickly, all the seats could already be reserved up to the time you start orientation, and then you could be screwed if your schedule is front-loaded with tough rotations.
What seems to make the most sense to me is that once you get your intern year schedule, you sign up to take Step 3 at the end of one of your lighter rotations so that you can study for it. Whenever in the year that is, so be it. Of course, I am assuming that residencies don't give you dedicated time off to take Step 3. If your program does, that makes choosing when to take it pretty easy.
