Your Step 2 CS Experience

[RaraBovis]

I've gone through the exam description but would really appreciate some first hand accounts. How challenging were the diagnoses? Was time management an issue? Exam day advice?

And... how did you prepare? I looked at the UW CS demo...didn't seem to be great help. Are there any Q banks that have demo videos? I think that would be most beneficial.
Are 10 days a reasonable amount of time to prepare? Again..I can't exactly figure HOW to prepare for this. Guidance will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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[OveractiveBrain]

I've gone through the exam description but would really appreciate some first hand accounts. How challenging were the diagnoses? Was time management an issue? Exam day advice?

And... how did you prepare? I looked at the UW CS demo...didn't seem to be great help. Are there any Q banks that have demo videos? I think that would be most beneficial.
Are 10 days a reasonable amount of time to prepare? Again..I can't exactly figure HOW to prepare for this. Guidance will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Painfully easy. If you've passed an OSCE, you'll rape CS. Personally, I overstudied. Granted im pretty proficient at clinic, having volunteered as a 1st and 2nd year preceptor in my fourth year, but holy crap... I read FIrst Aid Step 2 CS with my girlfriend on the drive to the test center. 5 hours. Went through every case. Thats it. Everything I did was to the right of average, except the data collection, because i was gentle with the physical exam (BECAUSE THEY TELL YOU TO BE). Literally rape their bodies and **** 'em. Do what youre supposed to do and you will dominate CS.

 

[Prop]

I took the test in April and passed. It was pretty straigth forward, for most cases the diagnosis couldn't be missed. I only had 2 cases were I felt unsure and ended up asking a lot of irrelevant questions. Time wasn't a problem - I finished most encounters with 2-3 minutes left, giving me some extra time for the patient note (which I totally rocked). I passed with most components having a little asterixs on the right side, only spoken english was in the middle of the above average section (and I'm not a native English speaker, living in Scandinavia all my life).

I prepared for a total of 7 days, reading through First Aid for step 2 CS once, and then doing all cases once. I didn't have a practice partner, so I just sat an alarm for 15 minutes, wrote down all the questions I would ask, and all the examination stuff I would do. When time was up, I read through the anwers for the case, and then I sat the alarm for 10 minutes and wrote the patient note. For the last 2 days I used the camera on my computer to record what I did, talking out loud, pretending to do the different maneuvers I would do (e.g. auscultation, palpation etc), and then watching how I did.

I felt well prepared on the test day, eventhough I've never tried and OSCE exam before. I did watch the video provided on the USMLE website, but that's also shown on the test day, so nothing to gain from that.

I think 10 days should be more than enough for you, and you should be able to pass it just using FA and all the knowledge you gained through med school.
Good luck!

 

[RaraBovis]

Thanks for the replies. I'm an IMG.

What is OSCE?