Step 3 end of 4th year of medschool?

[tripod]

Hey, anyone out there consider taking or has taken the step 3 at the end of their 4th year of med school? I was told by some of my residents that if you are in a state that allows the step 3 without any post grad training (CA is one of a few i saw on the website) then you might consider taking the step 3 after taking the step 2 since it isn't much different. They also added that especially because i am going into gen surg, that my knowledge of other areas of med and the lack of time for studying will probably make step 3 much harder. any thoughts on this from anyone?

 

[Jim Picotte]

If I was in a state that allowed it, I would certainly have taken Step 3 at the end of my 4th year. Unfortunately, Michigan requires 6 months of residency before you can even apply for Step 3, so the earliest you can realistically take it is about 8-9 months into residency. I would say go for it if you have the money.