Step 3 CCS prep

[newbieme]

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I have got to say......I don't think the Usmleworld ccs prep for step 3 is all it's cracked up to be.

I still can't gauge my performance on it!


On the real exam are we expected to do all those things that USMLE world suggests b/c when I compare the explaination from the USMLE website with the ones in USMLE world they only list a few things as important to showing that the patient has received optimal care compared with the much longer list of things shown in USMLE world.

Can anyone shed some light on what I should or should not be doing (besides the patient needing to remain alive during the case).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bhop]

I have got to say......I don't think the Usmleworld ccs prep for step 3 is all it's cracked up to be.

I still ca't gauge my performance on it!


On the really exam are we expected to do all those things that USMLE world suggests b/c when I compare the explaination from the USMLE website with the ones in USMLE world they only list a few things as important to showing that the patient has received optimal care compared with the much longer list of things shown in USMLE world.

Can anyone shed some light on what I should or should not be doing (besides the patient needing to remain alive during the case).

Any help would be appreciated.

I went through the 52 USMLE world cases and read through the explanations and thought it was really helpful for the actual exam. It helps with comfort level on the real thing. It may seem as overkill at times, but I think going the extra mile on CCS is an easy way to bring your score up since it counts at 25% of the exam.

 

[Margo]

I went through the 52 USMLE world cases and read through the explanations and thought it was really helpful for the actual exam. It helps with comfort level on the real thing. It may seem as overkill at times, but I think going the extra mile on CCS is an easy way to bring your score up since it counts at 25% of the exam.

I second that. I would just add that on a real test I did not do nearly as much counseling as listed in UWorld: very thorough and appropriate in real life, probably an overkill for the test. Still did very well.

 

[newbieme]

Thanks guys for all the advice. Your comments have really helped. I really appreciate it.

 

[gman33]

+1 for UWorld.
Do as many cases as you have time for.
Just reading the scenarios is good as well.

Amazingly similar to the real thing.

 

[Knicks]

Good thread.

So UW CCS cases are good preparation for the real Step 3, right?

Anyone else care to chime in so we get a bigger sample size?

 

[JacobMcCandles]

The UWorld software and the real thing are basically exactly the same.

 

[quique2]

IMHO, UW CCS was great for learning the software, developing speed and efficiency when ordering tests or advancing the time, and learning the management of some basic cases (I have no prior training). However, most of the cases on my test (8-10) were definitely not in the UW cases.With the principles of management that you learn in the UW CCS practice cases, and with a good fund of medical knowledge, you can get by. It was extremely useful, but with only 52 cases on UW, it's hard for the makers of UW to cover everything you could possibly get on the test.

(My recommendation? Do UW CCS and read the explanations. Let some time pass and do the cases again, trying to remember the orders and suggested management)

In my case I felt I did pretty well, but will post back in the results thread next week.

 

[bubbleyum]

so i took the exam this week, and one thing i have to say that was VERY DIFFERENT from the usmle world practice was that when you ordered consults on usmle world, the answer was always "the consult does not have any further recommendations at this time, please proceed with your orders" yada yada. so you had to order whatever surgery the patient needed yourself to make it happen. now on the real thing, i ordered a couple of surgery and obgyn consults, and lo-and-behold the pop-up said "the consult has been done and your patient will be scheduled for surgery. please proceed with any orders you may need to do at this time" or something like that! i was really surprised. maybe everybody else knew about this but me? anyways, i was kinda confused at that point, not sure if i should order the surgery/procedure myself after that or if that meant i did not have to... i ordered it anyway just because i am paranoid like that. but then after the exam was over i was wondering if that was the wrong thing to do and if i would get points taken off for ordering an unnecessary procedure. i dunno...

 

[NewYorkDoctors]

can the interactive cases on UWorld be repeated over and over?

Or is it like the qbank... you can only review what you put in afterward?

 

[Margo]

can the interactive cases on UWorld be repeated over and over?

Or is it like the qbank... you can only review what you put in afterward?

Yes, you can practice the cases as many times as you want.

 

[Knicks]

so i took the exam this week, and one thing i have to say that was VERY DIFFERENT from the usmle world practice was that when you ordered consults on usmle world, the answer was always "the consult does not have any further recommendations at this time, please proceed with your orders" yada yada. so you had to order whatever surgery the patient needed yourself to make it happen. now on the real thing, i ordered a couple of surgery and obgyn consults, and lo-and-behold the pop-up said "the consult has been done and your patient will be scheduled for surgery. please proceed with any orders you may need to do at this time" or something like that! i was really surprised. maybe everybody else knew about this but me? anyways, i was kinda confused at that point, not sure if i should order the surgery/procedure myself after that or if that meant i did not have to... i ordered it anyway just because i am paranoid like that. but then after the exam was over i was wondering if that was the wrong thing to do and if i would get points taken off for ordering an unnecessary procedure. i dunno...

Can someone address this please?

Seems like a significant issue.

 

[RestoreSight]

so i took the exam this week, and one thing i have to say that was VERY DIFFERENT from the usmle world practice was that when you ordered consults on usmle world, the answer was always "the consult does not have any further recommendations at this time, please proceed with your orders" yada yada. so you had to order whatever surgery the patient needed yourself to make it happen. now on the real thing, i ordered a couple of surgery and obgyn consults, and lo-and-behold the pop-up said "the consult has been done and your patient will be scheduled for surgery. please proceed with any orders you may need to do at this time" or something like that! i was really surprised. maybe everybody else knew about this but me? anyways, i was kinda confused at that point, not sure if i should order the surgery/procedure myself after that or if that meant i did not have to... i ordered it anyway just because i am paranoid like that. but then after the exam was over i was wondering if that was the wrong thing to do and if i would get points taken off for ordering an unnecessary procedure. i dunno...

Yah this is true. The right consult ordered will sometimes end the vignette. Its a little different from qbank. I say order consults early on the real thing because that can end the vignette quickly

 

[newbieme]

Thanks for all your suggestions about UW CCS. I took my exam the first week of February so I got my scores back and THANK GOD, I PASSED!!!!

The cases I had were not from the 52 cases in the UW CCS prep but I think the practice using the software was good. You still need to have a good understanding of various medical illnesses and how to treat them which is key but knowing how to navigate the system was useful. So if you want more practice on the CCS cases than the USMLE CD offers then the UW CCS portion for practice is good.

Good luck to everyone