Step 3 ruins intern year!

[DD214_DOC]

So probably another vent thread here. I was actually enjoying my intern year and having quite a bit of fun. This all pretty much stopped once I registered for Step 3 and started studying. Now I absolutely HATE being an intern. I HATE having to do anything involving work; I feel that it takes up time I should be using to study for Step 3! I HATE the idea that, were I to fail, I will have to keep doing this **** for countless more weeks.

To top it off, the military is not gentle with people who don't pass. Unlike civilian programs, they give us until June 30 to pass. If we don't pass by June 30, we get put on 90 days of administrative leave to pass. If we have not passed by this date, we are terminated from our residency and force to be administrative officers for the next four years. I have studied, studied, and studied. Then studied some more. I feel GUILTY for feeling burned out and just taking one day to say, "screw it all" and relax. Just when I start to feel comfortable with my knowledge base, I think of something I don't remember well or may be weak in and go at it hardcore again but find that I can't keep it up for long before I start to feel apathetic and just want to stop.

This sucks. Please let it end ....

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[Buzz Me]

One week of cramming (First Aid, especially for those clinical cases) and the official CD-ROM and you'll be good to go. It's so clinically-based that you don't need weeks to study for it (like Step 1).

 

[Gastrapathy]

unless you have an anxiety disorder

 

[J-Rad]

unless you have an anxiety disorder

Umm, this.


Hooah: Seriously, chill out. COMLEX 3 is relatively easy. It's the only major board exam I've taken that I left saying. "yeah, I think I passed that" (not so with steps I&II or my peds boards even though I did pass them all). This was after 3/4 of a hellish year as a peds intern and peds was not the most heavily tested subject on the exam (far from it). Also remember that you are taking a one day exam vs two days for USMLE. Get your anxiety under control...if you are like this IRL, you could use some good counseling (not at all meant to be an insult, but it seems to be that you consistently underestimate your abilities and make yourself sick over it).

 

[DD214_DOC]

Umm, this.


Hooah: Seriously, chill out. COMLEX 3 is relatively easy. It's the only major board exam I've taken that I left saying. "yeah, I think I passed that" (not so with steps I&II or my peds boards even though I did pass them all). This was after 3/4 of a hellish year as a peds intern and peds was not the most heavily tested subject on the exam (far from it). Also remember that you are taking a one day exam vs two days for USMLE. Get your anxiety under control...if you are like this IRL, you could use some good counseling (not at all meant to be an insult, but it seems to be that you consistently underestimate your abilities and make yourself sick over it).

Pretty much. I'm already doing counseling. I was on drugs but they made me completely apathetic about everything and I had zero emotion at all, so I took myself off of them.

I used to be a pretty chill person and nothing really ever got to me. Not sure why this changed the past few years.

COMLEX 3 standards were recently adjusted as well, so more people are getting boned by it. I'm more concerned with the pressure I will be under if I don't pass and have to retake it than I am actually passing on the first attempt. I've put so much work into this exam and am not sure how I would react if I were to not pass.

 

[microscp2]

So probably another vent thread here. I was actually enjoying my intern year and having quite a bit of fun. This all pretty much stopped once I registered for Step 3 and started studying. Now I absolutely HATE being an intern. I HATE having to do anything involving work; I feel that it takes up time I should be using to study for Step 3! I HATE the idea that, were I to fail, I will have to keep doing this **** for countless more weeks.

To top it off, the military is not gentle with people who don't pass. Unlike civilian programs, they give us until June 30 to pass. If we don't pass by June 30, we get put on 90 days of administrative leave to pass. If we have not passed by this date, we are terminated from our residency and force to be administrative officers for the next four years. I have studied, studied, and studied. Then studied some more. I feel GUILTY for feeling burned out and just taking one day to say, "screw it all" and relax. Just when I start to feel comfortable with my knowledge base, I think of something I don't remember well or may be weak in and go at it hardcore again but find that I can't keep it up for long before I start to feel apathetic and just want to stop.

This sucks. Please let it end ....

you can do it , and stop whinning!! here I go, again, giving therapy to a psychiatrist, (My husband is a psychiatrist, and I am constantly counseling him) I am in family medicine, like you, I am also an intern, think about it , as soon as you get rid of this exam, the better. In my program I have until before starting 3rd year. The statistic say the more you wait to take this test, the less chances to pass or it become harder. I decided to register in August, and started studying for it, took it in October and passed !!! You cannot believe how free I feel, now I can put some exercise time in my daily routine, and can read about my patients and be better intern overall, did well in my inservice exam . Get over this test and you will feel like a big weight was lifted from your shoulders.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

you can do it , and stop whinning!! here I go, again, giving therapy to a psychiatrist, (My husband is a psychiatrist, and I am constantly counseling him) I am in family medicine, like you, I am also an intern, think about it , as soon as you get rid of this exam, the better. In my program I have until before starting 3rd year. The statistic say the more you wait to take this test, the less chances to pass or it become harder. I decided to register in August, and started studying for it, took it in October and passed !!! You cannot believe how free I feel, now I can put some exercise time in my daily routine, and can read about my patients and be better intern overall, did well in my inservice exam . Get over this test and you will feel like a big weight was lifted from your shoulders.

Keep in mind, this test seems tailor made for family medicine residents. Well, us and EM.

 

[dpmd]

You need to quit building it up in your head so much. Once you relax you should realize that you already have the knowledge you need to pass (assuming a strong command of the english language, and having done decently on your core rotations). The purpose of the test is to ensure you have a minimum level of knowledge, not to see if you can remember every little detail of every metabolic pathway (or whatever other basic science crap was tested on step 1). Assuming you graduated from any decent med school, they already feel you have that knowledge. Granted my opinion is most valid regarding the USMLE since that is what I took, but I would guess the COMLEX has a similar goal.

For the USMLE step three all I did was flip through Swanson's Family Practice Review and do a few hours of practice questions (hell I didn't even look at the info they sent so that whole computer case simulation thing on the second day was a big surprise-luckily I had a computer game a long time ago that was sort of similar so I figure it out). And I was a surgery intern. A family practice intern ought to have no problem.

 

[Momentum70]

At least yours is only one day. Also as far as the June 30 deadline our program is the same way. We are not allowed to start pgy 2 unless we have passing scores back. As an extra incentive, they reimburse us for the exam if we have our scores back by feb 1. Many of us took it in Dec. Just dont psych yourself out, most people i know just studied a couple of weeks. You still have all that knowledge up there from med school, just gotta unlock it again.

 

[soulofmpatel]

step 3 is a joke. passing step 3 is about as challenging as knowing where your nuts are.

 

[gutonc]

step 3 is a joke. passing step 3 is about as challenging as knowing where your nuts are.

Totally uncalled for.

Also, totally true.

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

For everyone saying it's so easy, I would argue that psych is one of the specialties where I think step 3 is probably hardest... particularly at a program where you only do 2 ward months of IM. Most places also require 2 months of neuro, but for my case I'm not doing those until last (theoretically after I pass step 3). So I'm basically trying to extrapolate from my 2 medicine ward months, and not doing so well on the practice questions. For most other specialties you're required to do IM-ish type stuff most rotations of the year... even in surgery, the surgical intern year (at least here, maybe not elsewhere) is primarily focused on managing the medical issues on the floor while they leave the operating to the upper levels. Anyway, my point is that we have six months of psych, which represents a very tiny part of the exam. So I think it's a bit tougher and requires a bit more studying and reaching back to that med school stuff than it does for most. That said, our interns always pass and I'm sure I will too, but I'll be much happier when it's out of the way and I know that for sure

 

[J-Rad]

Yeah, go back to my post; a peds internship prepared one even less for COMLEX III than even psych (with its 2 mos. of IM). There were only a handful of peds questions...and I argued that the way the asked a good few of them rendered the questions stupid. Overall, my experience was that it was the easiest of all the exams I took.

 

[dstudentd]

Im kind of in the same situation right now but with a different test. I think what helps is making yourself a plan that you follow for example I learn 2hours every day

 

[Psychelicious]

COMLEX 3 standards were recently adjusted as well, so more people are getting boned by it. I'm more concerned with the pressure I will be under if I don't pass and have to retake it than I am actually passing on the first attempt. I've put so much work into this exam and am not sure how I would react if I were to not pass.

How have the standards changed recently?
By the way, I'm studying for step 3 too! What resources are you utilizing?

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

For everyone saying it's so easy, I would argue that psych is one of the specialties where I think step 3 is probably hardest... particularly at a program where you only do 2 ward months of IM. Most places also require 2 months of neuro, but for my case I'm not doing those until last (theoretically after I pass step 3). So I'm basically trying to extrapolate from my 2 medicine ward months, and not doing so well on the practice questions. For most other specialties you're required to do IM-ish type stuff most rotations of the year... even in surgery, the surgical intern year (at least here, maybe not elsewhere) is primarily focused on managing the medical issues on the floor while they leave the operating to the upper levels. Anyway, my point is that we have six months of psych, which represents a very tiny part of the exam. So I think it's a bit tougher and requires a bit more studying and reaching back to that med school stuff than it does for most. That said, our interns always pass and I'm sure I will too, but I'll be much happier when it's out of the way and I know that for sure

I did one ward month by the time I took Step 3. I studied during a BS elective, and did well. It really is pretty much a joke. You just have to know how the cases system works

 

[DD214_DOC]

Well, I passed and actually did really well (above 90th percentile). Good riddance.

 

[Drawn]

In general, would it makes sense to couple Step 3 studying with your inservice exams?

When are the inservice exams usually given, for example, in Internal Medicine?

 

[thesauce]

Well, I passed and actually did really well (above 90th percentile). Good riddance.

Might as well have been 5th percentile for how much it matters.

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

step 3 is a joke. passing step 3 is about as challenging as knowing where your nuts are.

What about the 50% of interns who are not so equipped? (Either due to their XX chromosomes or their emasculating attendings?)

Or how about those of us who have been married for a long time? I know my wife has them somewhere, but she won't tell me where unless it's baby-making time.

I'm just sayin'. 2S4MS