Step 3

[NPEMTIV]

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Around what time first year do most residents take step 3? Any consensus or suggestions as I try to schedule my electives for next year?

 

[Law2Doc]

Around what time first year do most residents take step 3? Any consensus or suggestions as I try to schedule my electives for next year?

There's not really going to be a consensus. Take it deep enough into intern year that you get some benefit of having exposure to stuff, but preferably at the end of a light rotation in which you have time to do a decent amount of problems/reading. If there's a gap between first and second year (ie a prelim that ends early and an advanced program that starts late) that's also sometimes a nice time to get it done with. There's a USMLE board on SDN that would be a better place for this question.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Around what time first year do most residents take step 3? Any consensus or suggestions as I try to schedule my electives for next year?

I took mine the last week of June at the end of intern year

 

[Winged Scapula]

Around what time first year do most residents take step 3? Any consensus or suggestions as I try to schedule my electives for next year?

1) as others have noted, the answers would be all over the board (I took my at the end of second year; we couldn't go on to 3rd year without it)

2) its an easy exam, even for those of us who took it 2 years out in a non-PC specialty; I wouldn't think you need to be concerned enough to try and schedule an elective around the test dates

 

[Law2Doc]

...

2) its an easy exam, even for those of us who took it 2 years out in a non-PC specialty; I wouldn't think you need to be concerned enough to try and schedule an elective around the test dates

Whether it's overkill or not, most people like to try to get through a good chunk of World and maybe read crush or MTB before taking it. Assuming you plan to do this, I would make sure you take it at the end of a lighter elective.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Whether it's overkill or not, most people like to try to get through a good chunk of World and maybe read crush or MTB before taking it. Assuming you plan to do this, I would make sure you take it at the end of a lighter elective.

Really? Perhaps the test has changed but most of my fellow residents and I just skimmed through Swanson on a weekend before and looked at the CD provided by NBME.

 

[smq123]

Really? Perhaps the test has changed but most of my fellow residents and I just skimmed through Swanson on a weekend before and looked at the CD provided by NBME.

For the multiple choice questions in Step 3, I probably COULD have done this, but I didn't actually feel comfortable doing it. Just in case.

I personally found the clinical case scenarios to have a very confusing format - just learning how to correctly do those cases took me a couple of days. The cases themselves are fairly basic, but the interface that they use is not intuitive.

 

[Winged Scapula]

For the multiple choice questions in Step 3, I probably COULD have done this, but I didn't actually feel comfortable doing it. Just in case.

I personally found the clinical case scenarios to have a very confusing format - just learning how to correctly do those cases took me a couple of days. The cases themselves are fairly basic, but the interface that they use is not intuitive.

Its obviously been a long time since I've taken it and I don't remember the format of the clinical cases. I guess this is the first time I've heard people recommending an easy elective for the purpose of studying for Step 3.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Its obviously been a long time since I've taken it and I don't remember the format of the clinical cases. I guess this is the first time I've heard people recommending an easy elective for the purpose of studying for Step 3.

WS, there should be a time limit after which you're barred from giving board exam advice. You took Step 3 when? 1989? haha. I joke!

Yeah the consensus these days is to take it during a lighter month. UW questions, the CD and possibily a light review of FA or the equivalent has produced passing scores for most these days.

 

[Buzz Me]

Really? I just spent a weekend preparing for it...skimmed First Aid, did the official CD-ROM with practice questions, took the test on Monday/Tuesday.

 

[G-Man82]

Around what time first year do most residents take step 3? Any consensus or suggestions as I try to schedule my electives for next year?

As per the above posts, lots of opinions about when to take Step 3 out there. My personal opinion, given my circumstances, was to take it a few months into intern year. Currently I'm prelim medicine for Anesthesiology and I need to have it finished before entering PGY-2/CA-1 year. It's a pretty broad exam, so I figured the earlier the better to take advantage of what's still somewhat fresh in mind about ob/gyn, surgery, EM, primary care, etc. It's also more about management, so I wanted a little of my intern year completed before taking it. I opted for November. Did the UWorld questions (about 80% of them completed) and ran through some of the UWorld clinical case scenarios which are formatted exactly like the actual test and ended up doing well. Overall study time was about 2 weeks. I chose to study during an easy elective and take the test during the 1st 2 days of my vacation. I've been chilling the rest of the year since 😎.