My Step 2CS experience in Atlanta

[glykon]

I just got my Step 2CS results today and I passed!!!
I wanted to share my experience from the moment I walked out the prometric center in Atlanta, but I wanted to make sure I give good advice on the prep. So here goes:

Total prep time: 1 1/2 months
-I think it is important to know urself and allocate enough time for the exam prep, just in case anything comes up,it doesnt take u by surprise.

Prep material (retrospective):
In the order of their importance for the exam:
1. FA- 75% of cases were similar (not identical)
2. UW- just the videos are very high-yield for the exam
- the questions&strategy were nice
- the cases were very low-yield on my exam
3. I bought the videos of Dr. Virginia, but it was such a waste of time and money because:
a. the exam room is nothing like the one in the video
b. she is unfriendly with patients, not really professional (including the clothes) and sucks at basic physical exams
c.the patient notes are poorly written+with capital letters,which are very aggressive on the eye of the reviewer (take it from someone who passed the CS with an asterisk in that section)
-I guess the only indication to buy it is if ur English is not great because u can practise asking questions (which can be a valuable asset)

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[glykon]

Study strategy:
1. read usmle brochure to see what they want
2. read the first pages in FA with questions for the patient
3. created my own questioning format:
a.for disease symptoms- I created the initials in my own language (because I dont think in English, I figured it would be easier for me to remember what to ask based on my own language and this paid off- my ICE section was with an asterisk
b. PAM HUGS FOSS WADE- added WADE so I never forget to ask:
W=weight
A=appetite
D=diet
E=exercise
And that proved helpful.
4. started to prepare with a study partner via Skype and she helped a looot!!! we prepared for 8h/day for 2weeks.
-she was a U.S.-IMG and because her English was great, I felt like I learnt a lot from studying with her
-she took her exam earlier and passed as well
5. when I came to U.S.,I went through the UW videos and prepared with my spouse for 2 weeks.
-I cant stress enough the importance of getting a live study partner after going through the material once with the online study partner.
- we did timed cases from FA, 4-5 at once -break-4 again (+writing all PN on the usmle site).
-we never got to do 12 cases, tough I wish we would've.
-I notice that I had pbs finishing on time, always had the impression there was so much more I could've done, always critic toward my PNs.
-I used to go through the cases again with my spouse to see what I missed and always did more than 85%right.
-the next day, I would go through the PNs with FA, correct my English with better formulated sentences and add whatever I left out. Then I would rewrite the PN 2-3 times to make sure I finish it in 10min (didnt have the time to do this for all PNs, but the ones I did proved very helpful)
-at this time, I noticed that the lenghty FA PNs do NOT fit the spaces allocated byUSMLE and concluded that no one can finish a note and get A+ (FA PNs are still the best format for the exam,in my opinion,so stick to them!)

 

[glykon]

The days before:
My exam was in Altanta and I found so little info about experiences in there.
I arrived in the city 2 days before the exam and stayed in a hotel 5min away from the Prometric. That was a good call, the Prometric is next to the airport and u can only get there by car or walk on the side of the road and hope no car hits u- which is what we did
But I didnt want any surprise on the morning of my exam We went to the prometric the day before and it proved kind of well hidden (there's no arrow saying Step 2CS-HERE) so that was a good idea as well.
The people in there were so nice- and I mean all of them, even the actors!

The exam:
- it went sooo fast, I didnt have much time to think about the previous case(s)
- practice with the instruments before the exam begins- I had trouble finding the tongue depressor in one case because they were put in a funny different place
- I took about 1min to write down the info from the door and my plan for asking the qs
- dont forget to drape the patient before the physical exam begins
- I cant say anything about my cases, but I didnt have any difficult patients (no screaming, threatening or whatever else they say to scare u)
- I had just one strange case where I couldnt figure out what was wrong, but would've had 3-4 more had I used just FA for my prep.
- keep in mind that u are not allowed to talk to ur fellows about the cases-> keep it to urself and understand that everyone in that room thinks they could've done better given more time.
- by the time I was hungry, the first break began. The food was good I also had a small Listerine with me to use after the meal.
- the last cases were more difficult because we were all tired
- finished the exam around 3pm and left the center as fast as we could- most of us were frustrated& unsure if we pass/fall. Keep in mind it's normal to feel like that.
For the next 2 days, I had nightmares that I would fall the exam, then managed to put it behind till yesterday. It's hard to wait for the results for 2 months, but it's good when u see the PASS on ur exam report
I found this forum very helpful so I am happy to answer any qs within the limits allowed for this exam.
Good luck to all who are receiving their score report today and to those preparing for Step 2CS!

 

[Jimmy B]

man I felt the EXACT same way after I took it in Atlanta-for 2 days straight

 

[glykon]

man I felt the EXACT same way after I took it in Atlanta-for 2 days straight

Jimmy, when did u take ur exam? Did u find out the result?

 

[Jimmy B]

I took it on Nov 28th so I won't know anything until Feb

 

[glykon]

I took it on Nov 28th so I won't know anything until Feb

What resources did u use? How did it go with the cases?

 

[Jimmy B]

I used FA for step 2 CS and made sure I read all the cases in it-I also read the mini-cases section the day before the test. The cases are very similar to the ones in the first aid book-there were 1 or 2 weird ones but they weren't that bad.

 

[glykon]

I used FA for step 2 CS and made sure I read all the cases in it-I also read the mini-cases section the day before the test. The cases are very similar to the ones in the first aid book-there were 1 or 2 weird ones but they weren't that bad.

That's a good sign for you and I wouldn't worry too much about passing. UWorld says u have to do >60% right in each section to pass. My study partner had a similar experience with u and she passed