Step 3 Preparation

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mwl

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I finished my Step II about 3 weeks ago. Everything seems still fresh in mind and I plan to take Step III soon.

To people who have taken Step III: your advices would be greatly appreciated. What are the differences between Step II and Step III (i.e. content, depth, focus, level of detailness and etc.)? Is there any extra study needed for Step III? I studied Boards & Wards for my Step II. Will this book also be adequate for Step III? Any suggestions on the best review books for Step III, especially for the simulated cases? Is Kaplan's Step III Qbank helpful for StepIII (I found Kaplan's Step II Qbank to be pretty helpful)?
 
Hi

Step 3 focuses a lot more on clinical management. You won't see those weird rare diseases, but mostly common stuff that you'll have to either diagnose or treat. They won't ask for mechanisms or anything like that. Essentially they'll ask for next diagnostic test, what drug to use etc. Everyone I spoke to found Step 3 to be very very easy, and the scores do not matter anymore.

I bought Crush the Boards for Step 3, but was to lazy to read it, and took the test without studying anything. But that's the book everyone recommended. I passed with a very good score, even though I am finishing my 2nd year of IM residency.

I have not heard of anybody failing it, though.

good luck
 
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