take step3 before starting PGY-1 year?

[oompaAPD]

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hey everyone. So i just finished my 4th year and starting prelim year in medicine in july. I have a lot of free time on my hands and was considering taking step3. I scored 238 on step 2 which i took less then a year ago. Good idea/bad idea?
thanks

 

[Tapout]

This can be done but it would serve you well to get the majority of a year of internship under your belt since the exam is basically all management of a diagnosis which you have to make from each vignette. There is no rush to take this thing, you will have time during intern year or even after (I took mine late into second year). I would take your time off before internship starts and get in all of the relaxation and fun you can fit in. In the end you will have to study MUCH less if you wait until the end of intern year to take this thing, because you will have managed many of the cases yourself. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[njbmd]

hey everyone. So i just finished my 4th year and starting prelim year in medicine in july. I have a lot of free time on my hands and was considering taking step3. I scored 238 on step 2 which i took less then a year ago. Good idea/bad idea?
thanks

I took Step III the Feb of my PGY-1 year. I spent the first part of my PGY-1 year working on my in-training exam. To tell you the truth, I don't think, that my time spent in my PGY-1 year before this exam made any difference in my score (I passed easily and effortless). My advice is to take this exam (huge PITA anyway) as soon as you can and get it out of the way. Just don't sacrifice studying for your in-training exam to study for Step III. Your in-training exam is more important in the long run.

 

[gleep and gloop]

I'm in a similar position, and would love to get this thing out of the way. As far as I can tell, however, it can't be done - you can't register for the test until you have your degree in hand (mid-May for me, I think it's similar for most U.S. grads), and with the processing time for registration and the range of dates that they give you to take the test after you've registered, there's just no way to actually take the test prior to starting your intern year.

If I'm wrong and people have set this up in the past, please let us know.

hey everyone. So i just finished my 4th year and starting prelim year in medicine in july. I have a lot of free time on my hands and was considering taking step3. I scored 238 on step 2 which i took less then a year ago. Good idea/bad idea?
thanks