NEW Step 3 Exam - Experiences

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futuredoctor10

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anyone take the new Step 3 yet? Thoughts/experiences particularly how well UWorld qbank prepares you (and) how much basic science on the exam?

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Make sure you know your 2x2 contingency tables because at least on mine there was a lot of epi and biostats.
 
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I passed the old Step 3 but am curious what you guys think of the new one. For those who read the "old" scores/experiences thread: still relevant? Would figure it didn't change that much.
 
I'm guessing most people haven't taken both so it'll be difficult to compare.

I passed the old Step 3 but am curious what you guys think of the new one. For those who read the "old" scores/experiences thread: still relevant? Would figure it didn't change that much.
 
I took the new format USMLE Step 3 on 12/8 and 12/15. I am an American-born, foreign-trained, 3rd year psychiatry resident and had never taken Step 3 before. Needless to say, I am a procrastinator. I was an average medical student. Step 1 - 203, Step 2 - 234. Over the course of 2 months (while working full-time) I read Conrad's Master the Boards 2nd Edition cover-to-cover - I wish I had not wasted time reading it cover-to-cover and instead used it as a reference for things I had forgotten or never learned. In that time, I also completed UWorld in un-timed tutor mode and redid all of the questions that I missed. As a psychiatry resident almost 3 years out of medical school, I thought I would need the extra time. I was wrong. By the end of 2 moths I was overcooked. 2-4 weeks would have been more than adequate prep time. Here's my impression of the exam after having done the above:

Day 1: Long stems with a bunch of superfluous information and unnecessary lab values. I got close to not finishing 1 block (only because I was stumped on a MCQ and did not recognize that fact soon enough).The composition was 70% IM with a difficulty level mild-moderately below that of UWorld. The IM portion was divided into equal parts Cardio, Endo, Nephro, Gastro, Ob, Pulm, ID, and Allergy/Rheum. There were at least 5 MCQs from each topic that I could not answer using my knowledge base or UWorld/MTB - a bit of micro, some technical immuno, a few weird endo, and technical heme/onc that were beyond my training. Thankfully, most of the exam was the same material and presentation as Step 2 CK but taken to the next level. They want you to know how to screen for a particular disease, the best next and most accurate way of diagnosing a particular disease process (those are often 2 very different things), the associated sequelae, treatment options, prognosis, and prevention of the most common diseases. Of the above categories, I wish I had looked over Zoonoses and 3rd world illnesses that are listed nicely on a just a few pages in First Aid for Step 1. In addition to the above, there were 5-10 straight-forward questions each from Neuro, Radiology, Surgery, EM/Tox, and Derm. Peds was 10%. Psychiatry/Ethics was 10%. Biostats was 10% - shorter and easier questions than most seen in UWorld. I also had 4 drug ads each with 2-3 questions - 2 were easy, 1 difficult, and 1 was not decipherable to me.

Day 2: This was just like UWorld but easier. There were six 45 minute blocks. I finished every one early. The topics are distributed in similar proportions to UWorld as well, except there were no biostatistics MCQs. All but one of my CCS cases had a similar UWorld counterpart. I have no clue what this kid had but he did get better with admission, routine orders, and broad-spectrum antibiotics. All of my other cases went smoothly and ended early in the obviously good way. I got out 1 1/2 hours early feeling much better about the whole experience... and promptly made my way to the bar. I hope this helps. Good luck.
 
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Just finished Step 3 today...

Background:
Step 1 245; Step 2 265
Used UWorld Qbank and CCS, and supplemented a little bit with Step 2 Secrets and Step 3 First Aid.
Studied for ~3 weeks while intermittently working in the ER, which was a little difficult but doable.
UWorld - finished 90% of the questions at 65% correct; all untimed tutor mode
CCS - worked through 50% of the cases night before Day 2, read ~70 of the 100 cases in FA

Day 1 - tons of Biostats, Epidemiology and Ethics; I was wondering where the real medicine questions were. Some questions used some terms I had never heard of. Slightly harder than UWorld maybe but overall about the same. Felt meh.
Day 2 - these questions were a lot simpler and shorter, no biostats but many questions that you could narrow down to 50-50 and have no clue.
CCS - cases were straightforward and I think I did okay (was kind of freaking out the night before because it's just odd) but all of my cases ended after 9-10 minutes max, even the 20 minute ones. For the most part I was almost done with my management. The patient was always feeling better or had complete relief immediately before the cases ended so I hope that's good? It was just odd that the cases never let me finish the time.

We'll find out in April... will probably forget about it by then. Just need to pass.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone. Did you think doing the 52 Uworld computer simulations was enough to do well on the CCS portion, or should I also spend time reading, in detail, the 42 cases on the Uworld website? Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone. Did you think doing the 52 Uworld computer simulations was enough to do well on the CCS portion, or should I also spend time reading, in detail, the 42 cases on the Uworld website? Thanks in advance.

More than enough for the old one to just do UW itself. Can't imagine that's changed much.
 
For those of you who've taken the NEW exam, can you please comment on the level of "step 1" stuff on the new step 3?
 
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For those of you who've taken the NEW exam, can you please comment on the level of "step 1" stuff on the new step 3?
would like to know the answer to this question. And whether the new uWorld (they say adapted to the new exam format) reflected your test in terms of content/types of questions
 
i recently took the new Step 3 and had many of the same questions before I took it. I did not notice many Step 1 "basic science" questions if any. There were a few questions about mechanism and side effects of drugs so I suppose that's a little like Step 1 pharmacology.

I felt really meh after day 1 because the medicine questions were hard and there was a ton of biostats/epidemiology/ethics as well as quite a few random derm questions that you're expected to know by looking at a picture. Day 2 questions were easier and all of my CCS cases ended within a few minutes except one that just wouldn't get better. Even though most are bread and butter I had two unexpected cases that Uworld CCS did not cover although you can kind of figure your way through it by doing a thorough work up.

Hopefully I find out in April that I passed.
 
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i recently took the new Step 3 and had many of the same questions before I took it. I did not notice many Step 1 "basic science" questions if any. There were a few questions about mechanism and side effects of drugs so I suppose that's a little like Step 1 pharmacology.

I felt really meh after day 1 because the medicine questions were hard and there was a ton of biostats/epidemiology/ethics as well as quite a few random derm questions that you're expected to know by looking at a picture. Day 2 questions were easier and all of my CCS cases ended within a few minutes except one that just wouldn't get better. Even though most are bread and butter I had two unexpected cases that Uworld CCS did not cover although you can kind of figure your way through it by doing a thorough work up.

Hopefully I find out in April that I passed.

I basically felt the same way you did. I have to say I was pretty annoyed with the CCS. I don't know if it was the software or if I was just doing something completely wrong. For one I had to order all of my labs STAT, hopefully that's not a big deal. The more concerning part was that many of my cases (even the 20 minute ones) ended within 5 minutes of real time. I'll use PE case just as an example. Say the patient obviously had a PE, I would do things like order oxygen therapy, then physical exam, then STAT BMP, CBC, ABG, CXR. Patient is still in ED. Once BMP came back with normal renal function, then I would order a STAT CTA. Boom, next thing I know I get the End of Case warning, place final orders. WTF? I didn't even get to see the results of the CTA. So I would frantically scramble to put in Lovenox and warfarin orders. This happened with multiple cases (probably like 8 or 9).
 
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I noticed a few basic science questions. Most of them seemed to be focused on statistics/epidemiology and anatomy (which came out of left field, I felt).

The CCS cases were weird. Most of mine ended early, especially if it was a surgical case and I consulted surgery and ordered the actual procedure. But then there was an ID one that I could not for the life of me figure out how to end. Didn't help that I couldn't remember the name of several antibiotics.

It sucked, I walked out feeling horrible, and I'm half expecting not to pass, despite the assurances of everyone that this feeling is normal and that I most certainly will pass. Ah well, here's to the wait.
 
Recently took the test.

First day: Harder than the second day like everyone else has said previously. The biostat portion was surprising how heavy it was. The "basic science" questions were very few. Maybe 4 the entire test. Drug ads were quite long and just consumed so much time working through. The actual "medicine" questions ranged from very easy to complex which is what I expected.

Day 2: CCS cases are just odd. You work them up and then all of sudden it ends way before the allotted time. None of them from what I could tell were odd cases but it is difficult to know how well you did on them. The other questions on day 2 are much more clinical such as "which is correct treatment?"

Now wait till April...
 
I agree with above..I took my exam 2/25 & 2/27/15: first day there was a lot of biostats (maybe 20-30 questions spread through the blocks). And on my exam, the 2x2 tables were mostly not given so you had to sit there and make the table:-/ There were a few basic science questions such as receptor and neurotransmitter questions (4-5 max); nothing more in depth than that. The medicine questions on the first day were probably the best part and on mine there was some ethics as well.
Day 2: The questions were MUCH more straightforward than the first day, no biostats or basic sciences as you all know. But even the medicine itself was much easier. The cases were strange - most of mine ended within 12-13 minutes, and one almost lasted the whole 20 mins. Hard to tell how I did on them; all of them "improved". I listened to archer and just did the basic orders, even on the two cases I didnt really know how to manage.
I am a second year psych resident and I just wanna be done with USMLE forever!! Hopefully I will hear good news in April....the wait is the worst part. Please share your experiences- it really helps the people who havent taken it.
 
Just finished taking the exam yesterday. On my CCS section, I could never choose between "stat" or "routine"- ordering stat was the only option. So even in the office I'd have to order stat and then have the patient come back in a couple weeks for results. Since this was different than uworld it kind of freaked me out. Was it like this for everyone who's taken the test?
 
I have to say I was pretty annoyed with the CCS. I don't know if it was the software or if I was just doing something completely wrong. For one I had to order all of my labs STAT, hopefully that's not a big deal.

On my CCS section, I could never choose between "stat" or "routine"- ordering stat was the only option. So even in the office I'd have to order stat and then have the patient come back in a couple weeks for results. Since this was different than uworld it kind of freaked me out. Was it like this for everyone who's taken the test?

Was for me...
 
Scores from November to late February will be released this Wednesday the 25th. Good luck everyone!
 
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Did they give a specific time that the scores would be released?? Any idea why they are coming out early?? I thought they said April?!??
 
I passed. So happy. I'm done with Usmle.

I'm such a bad test taker (barely passed Step 1; repeated CK). I was so nervous about this result.

"Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed..."
 
I passed. So happy. I'm done with Usmle.

I'm such a bad test taker (barely passed Step 1; repeated CK). I was so nervous about this result.

"Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed..."
What did u use to prep?
 
I didn't know scores were coming out today so was surprised to get the email. Passed as well! Scored much better than my USMLE World assessment. Pretty much relied on Uworld Qbank and CCS cases only.
 
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I passed!! Barely at 197 but still a pass. I have such a longstanding history with the USMLE with failures in the past so to pass on my first try, while working 60-80 hour weeks is such a relief.

I echo what everyone else said: Day 1 feels awful. A lot of questions seemed very ambiguous and not diagnosis/management. Lots of biostats, epidemiology and "what are the risk" kinda questions. The long pharm ad questions were time consuming so keep track of time. Day 2 felt much more manageable with more reasonable diagnosis/management questions. What saved me was the cases. I would definitely not have passed if I hadn't worked through all the world cases.

My prep was 2 months between wards. I finished all of uworld (timed); half of kaplan (timed); all the uworld cases. I got a 203 on the uworld assessment 2 weeks before the test. I reviewed my weaker areas in MTB. I would advise to finish through MTB, do all the cases, and do Uworld at least once. I feel like none of the qbanks are up to date with the new format but hopefully they'll be updated this year. Good luck!
 
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I passed!! Barely at 197 but still a pass. I have such a longstanding history with the USMLE with failures in the past so to pass on my first try, while working 60-80 hour weeks is such a relief.

I echo what everyone else said: Day 1 feels awful. A lot of questions seemed very ambiguous and not diagnosis/management. Lots of biostats, epidemiology and "what are the risk" kinda questions. The long pharm ad questions were time consuming so keep track of time. Day 2 felt much more manageable with more reasonable diagnosis/management questions. What saved me was the cases. I would definitely not have passed if I hadn't worked through all the world cases.

My prep was 2 months between wards. I finished all of uworld (timed); half of kaplan (timed); all the uworld cases. I got a 203 on the uworld assessment 2 weeks before the test. I reviewed my weaker areas in MTB. I would advise to finish through MTB, do all the cases, and do Uworld at least once. I feel like none of the qbanks are up to date with the new format but hopefully they'll be updated this year. Good luck!

Can I ask how "what are the risk" questions are not management questions? Doesn't understanding risks play a big role in your management of a patient?
 
Score back, pass! To add to the previous posts about the new test and its format. I also felt the same way about day 1, simply awful, with barely enough time to finish. Its more of a test of mental fortitude than anything. The first few blocks went okay, but the last 2-3 I struggled with time. Long stem questions, drug ads that are consuming, although quite easy I felt. A lot of random/ambiguous biostats questions, Epi and ethics. I also felt there were a lot of "what are the risks" kinda questions, some are pertinent to medicine, others not so much. I felt I got a lot of medicine though, compared to other people I have discussed this test with. Day 2, MUCH better! straight forward medical questions, shorter blocks. The CCS cases were odd, they all seem to end pretty early, like they have said in other posts, this could be either good or bad. I did fairly well on the CCS cases, so don't freak out if they end early, just make sure you go through general motions. I forgot a few basic things, and still did fine, ie, I forgot to order type and cross for a patient going to the OR. A lot of the time, I would consult the surgical specialty, and it would immediately tell me the patient is going to surgery, and just end.... weird.

I prepared for about 4-5 weeks. I am on research so I had the time put in some extra hours of studying, which was much needed given I am a PGY-4 and forgot most things. I studied about 6 hours a day, roughly, with a day off. Toward the end, I studied through weekends. I spent about 2.5 weeks reading MTB. To be honest, was not very helpful. I should have read it carefully once and then stuck with questions. After MTB, I did UWORLD for about 3 weeks mixing it in with random review of articles or MTB to expand on anything that I didn't understand or know. Did 98% of uworld, average about 58% (anywhere in between 55-65% most of the time, with the occasional 40 or 80%). Got a 218 on UWSA and a 215 on exam. My goal was to pass, and I did. Fortunately. Good bye USMLE!

My final advice: if you are an intern, stick to questions, uworld is more than enough. If you have not studied the material in >2yrs, MTB or any other review book to grasp the basic concepts of peds, ob/gyn, etc, and then uworld for the bulk of you studying. All the new junk they added should be added to the question banks soon, hopefully. Good luck!!!
 
Can I ask how "what are the risk" questions are not management questions? Doesn't understanding risks play a big role in your management of a patient?
Lol, so petty. Yes, "what the risks" are part of management and I'm sure more seasoned test takers like yourself were prepared for it all. My personal experience with UWorld and MTB was that the diagnosis and management portions didn't cover as much of those particular type of questions. Clearly, I figured it out but, I shared my personal experience for those that may have a similar reaction/experience
 
EDIT: I passed! 234. So I would say the UWSA (which put me at 229) is pretty accurate.

I’ve found people’s descriptions of their process helpful so I will add my own. I will update this post with my score when I get it.

Background: I crashed and burned on Step 1 – got a 222, 20 points lower than my last NBME. Don’t know what happened there. I got >90 on all shelf exams, most of them >95. I started out strong studying for Step 2, using mainly the UW q bank and First Aid, but only really studied very part-time for 2-3 weeks. Got a 248.

So I’m a pathology resident. I haven’t seen patients in a year. I got a 3-month subscription to the UW q bank, CCS software, and practice test. Again I started out strong, was doing UW questions every day for about 10 days, but then I got too busy with actual work and dropped it completely. Then I had to reschedule my test. 2 weeks before test day I realized I should probably study, but my q bank subscription had run out. So I just did the practice test and got 550/229 and figured that was enough to pass (which is all I care about really). I then did the CCS cases 2-3x each over the next two weeks.

My experience was the opposite of most people's. First day of the test was a lot easier than I expected after reading this thread. There was a huge amount of biostats and a ton of drug ads (all for a drug with the same name, which was mildly amusing). Really not that many ethics-type questions. A smattering of basic science questions thrown in. By the last block I was beat, not being used to sitting at a desk all day taking a test. The biostat questions were all pretty easy. There were several questions I could narrow to 2 choices but then couldn’t decide on. A fair number of 2-3 part questions requiring submission without going back. I finished all except the last block early, some with a lot of time left.

Second day kicked my butt. I felt like I was guessing on 75% of the questions. The management questions were harder than any of the practice ones I’d done (which, granted, wasn’t many). I had trouble finishing the blocks in time, although I did finish all of them. I felt like I was getting throttled all through the MCQs and by the time I got to the CCS I was already exhausted. I kind of panicked on the first CCS and did something weird with it but ended up with the right management in the end. Some of the others were harder than any of the practice ones I did…I think I almost killed one kid but she lived in the end (case finished before I could kill her I guess). I knew the right diagnosis but had no CLUE how to manage it! A few were ridiculously simple and I was wondering what I was missing. One 20-minute case took me about 4.5 minutes, but in retrospect I can’t think of anything I would have done differently.

So now I’ll just wait to see if I passed. I’m not entirely sure that I did, and the thought of going through this again is kind of sickening. My main advice is if you are a non-clinical resident (pathology, later years radiology long after internship) study drug choices a lot. I couldn't even figure out what some of the drugs were. I don't exactly do much prescribing.
 
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I’ve found people’s descriptions of their process helpful so I will add my own. I will update this post with my score when I get it.

Background: I crashed and burned on Step 1 – got a 222, 20 points lower than my last NBME. Don’t know what happened there. I got >90 on all shelf exams, most of them >95. I started out strong studying for Step 2, using mainly the UW q bank and First Aid, but only really studied very part-time for 2-3 weeks. Got a 248.

So I’m a pathology resident. I haven’t seen patients in a year. I got a 3-month subscription to the UW q bank, CCS software, and practice test. Again I started out strong, was doing UW questions every day for about 10 days, but then I got too busy with actual work and dropped it completely. Then I had to reschedule my test. 2 weeks before test day I realized I should probably study, but my q bank subscription had run out. So I just did the practice test and got 550/229 and figured that was enough to pass (which is all I care about really). I then did the CCS cases 2-3x each over the next two weeks.

My experience was the opposite of most people's. First day of the test was a lot easier than I expected after reading this thread. There was a huge amount of biostats and a ton of drug ads (all for a drug with the same name, which was mildly amusing). Really not that many ethics-type questions. A smattering of basic science questions thrown in. By the last block I was beat, not being used to sitting at a desk all day taking a test. The biostat questions were all pretty easy. There were several questions I could narrow to 2 choices but then couldn’t decide on. A fair number of 2-3 part questions requiring submission without going back. I finished all except the last block early, some with a lot of time left.

Second day kicked my butt. I felt like I was guessing on 75% of the questions. The management questions were harder than any of the practice ones I’d done (which, granted, wasn’t many). I had trouble finishing the blocks in time, although I did finish all of them. I felt like I was getting throttled all through the MCQs and by the time I got to the CCS I was already exhausted. I kind of panicked on the first CCS and did something weird with it but ended up with the right management in the end. Some of the others were harder than any of the practice ones I did…I think I almost killed one kid but she lived in the end (case finished before I could kill her I guess). I knew the right diagnosis but had no CLUE how to manage it! A few were ridiculously simple and I was wondering what I was missing. One 20-minute case took me about 4.5 minutes, but in retrospect I can’t think of anything I would have done differently.

So now I’ll just wait to see if I passed. I’m not entirely sure that I did, and the thought of going through this again is kind of sickening. My main advice is if you are a non-clinical resident (pathology, later years radiology long after internship) study drug choices a lot. I couldn't even figure out what some of the drugs were. I don't exactly do much prescribing.


thanks so much for taking the time to write about your experience. Very helpful.
 
I’ve found people’s descriptions of their process helpful so I will add my own. I will update this post with my score when I get it.

Background: I crashed and burned on Step 1 – got a 222, 20 points lower than my last NBME. Don’t know what happened there. I got >90 on all shelf exams, most of them >95. I started out strong studying for Step 2, using mainly the UW q bank and First Aid, but only really studied very part-time for 2-3 weeks. Got a 248.

So I’m a pathology resident. I haven’t seen patients in a year. I got a 3-month subscription to the UW q bank, CCS software, and practice test. Again I started out strong, was doing UW questions every day for about 10 days, but then I got too busy with actual work and dropped it completely. Then I had to reschedule my test. 2 weeks before test day I realized I should probably study, but my q bank subscription had run out. So I just did the practice test and got 550/229 and figured that was enough to pass (which is all I care about really). I then did the CCS cases 2-3x each over the next two weeks.

My experience was the opposite of most people's. First day of the test was a lot easier than I expected after reading this thread. There was a huge amount of biostats and a ton of drug ads (all for a drug with the same name, which was mildly amusing). Really not that many ethics-type questions. A smattering of basic science questions thrown in. By the last block I was beat, not being used to sitting at a desk all day taking a test. The biostat questions were all pretty easy. There were several questions I could narrow to 2 choices but then couldn’t decide on. A fair number of 2-3 part questions requiring submission without going back. I finished all except the last block early, some with a lot of time left.

Second day kicked my butt. I felt like I was guessing on 75% of the questions. The management questions were harder than any of the practice ones I’d done (which, granted, wasn’t many). I had trouble finishing the blocks in time, although I did finish all of them. I felt like I was getting throttled all through the MCQs and by the time I got to the CCS I was already exhausted. I kind of panicked on the first CCS and did something weird with it but ended up with the right management in the end. Some of the others were harder than any of the practice ones I did…I think I almost killed one kid but she lived in the end (case finished before I could kill her I guess). I knew the right diagnosis but had no CLUE how to manage it! A few were ridiculously simple and I was wondering what I was missing. One 20-minute case took me about 4.5 minutes, but in retrospect I can’t think of anything I would have done differently.

So now I’ll just wait to see if I passed. I’m not entirely sure that I did, and the thought of going through this again is kind of sickening. My main advice is if you are a non-clinical resident (pathology, later years radiology long after internship) study drug choices a lot. I couldn't even figure out what some of the drugs were. I don't exactly do much prescribing.


Similar experience.

First year EM resident here. Took the exam about two weeks ago. Studied for about 4 weeks on a light rotation, consisted only of UWorld Qs and CCS. Nearly finished the Qbank (~1400 questions done), did all the CCS (1 time). Avg on the QBank was a 65% on random, timed (UW said that was 73rd percentile). Didn't read any books. Didn't do any NBMEs or UWSA. Step 1 249, step 2 245. Felt like the first day was fine. Long question stems, but straightforward. Very few antibiotic questions, lots of biostats that was straightforward. Felt pretty good after the first day except towards the last block i was pretty tired of being there.

Second day -- much tougher. Felt like i straight up guessed more on each block than on the entire first day. Sometimes I felt like I knew the answer but could not convince myself any of the ambiguously worded answer choices fit. other times I was struggling to even make the diagnosis in the stem. The stems were shorter than the first day, but i spent a lot more time scratching my head. On the plus side the CCS was totally fine (UWorld CCS is great prep for this part of the exam).

I have to think I passed, which is all I really care about, but it's a tough test and I don't think i crushed it by any means. I guess I'll be getting my score in the next week or so. I'll update my post then.
 
Similar experience.

First year EM resident here. Took the exam about two weeks ago. Studied for about 4 weeks on a light rotation, consisted only of UWorld Qs and CCS. Nearly finished the Qbank (~1400 questions done), did all the CCS (1 time). Avg on the QBank was a 65% on random, timed (UW said that was 73rd percentile). Didn't read any books. Didn't do any NBMEs or UWSA. Step 1 249, step 2 245. Felt like the first day was fine. Long question stems, but straightforward. Very few antibiotic questions, lots of biostats that was straightforward. Felt pretty good after the first day except towards the last block i was pretty tired of being there.

Second day -- much tougher. Felt like i straight up guessed more on each block than on the entire first day. Sometimes I felt like I knew the answer but could not convince myself any of the ambiguously worded answer choices fit. other times I was struggling to even make the diagnosis in the stem. The stems were shorter than the first day, but i spent a lot more time scratching my head. On the plus side the CCS was totally fine (UWorld CCS is great prep for this part of the exam).

I have to think I passed, which is all I really care about, but it's a tough test and I don't think i crushed it by any means. I guess I'll be getting my score in the next week or so. I'll update my post then.

Passed with a 252. Didn't see that coming.

There's gotta be some sort of unbelievably generous curve on this test.
 
I also updated mine above. Passed with a 234. Fine with me after a year without seeing patients!
 
Got my score and passed. My thoughts on the exam and a few very basic pointers to those still prepping. I wrote most of this right after taking the test to vent a little bit, but figured I'd hold off posting till I had my scores to see if my study strategies worked or not.

I guess I'm in the minority here but I found the Day 2 multiple choice every bit as difficult as Day 1. For reference, I finished the UWorld QBank mostly timed tutor (and went through ~400 questions a second time) and their 52 CCS cases. That was the entire extent of my Step 3 studying for the past 2 months outside reading 6 pages of Biostats from First Aid Step 3.

As far as Day 1, I crammed a bit of Biostats the night before (First Aid Step 3 section along with reviewing UWorld) so I think that helped a bit. Outside that, there are some basic science questions that range from pathology, pharmacology, and even a little biochem (one question was rattling off some enzyme names I don't think I've seen since prepping for Step 1). If there's one basic science area I'd review right before the test, it would probably be MoA of Antibiotics.

Drug Ad questions are frustrating mainly for the timing involved to digest the material. UWorld really should add more of these as they are a pretty significant part of Day 1, and don't seem very heavily emphasized in their QBank.

Day 2 I was hoping would be more straightforward, but the questions still felt very challenging. A lot of "which is the single most important risk factor listed below", "which is the most concerning factor for poor prognosis". A lot of those "all of these choices are valid but one is a teensy bit more appropriate given the context of the question", which tempts you to double back and read the question stem more carefully. Of course, with a very limited time frame, there's only so much of that you can do before getting pressed for time at the end of the block. To me, the questions felt different than UWorld; the stems felt quite a bit longer and more meandering. At least half the blocks, time became a big factor for me.

Also the UWorld Step 3 QBank had no audio questions from what I recall, while there were a couple on the real exam. So that's something to keep in mind.

As far as CCS, that's one area where UWorld was truly on the mark. I felt I had a solid foundation on each case, and while there was probably some things I missed (or didn't do optimally), I came out of that part actually feeling like I did ok.

The only comments I'll make on the CCS is the 10 minute cases for the most part didn't actually feel less involved or simpler than the 20 minute ones, so I actually did push up close to the time limit on some of those 10 minute cases. I finished most of the 20 minute cases early, to the point I banked a lot of break time by the time I hit the end. Honestly, it was a bit frustrating to see all that time left over at the end when I badly could've used it earlier in the day on the multiple choice.

Other thoughts: the multi-part questions where you lock in your prior answers are back. I'm sure some folks like them as it can potentially give a nice confidence boost to have a confirmed right answer. But if you get one wrong, and multiple series of them wrong, it's hard to not let that get to you a bit unless you're the most stoic person in the world.

All in all, I walked out of the Step 3 the same way I did Step 1. Not all that confident that I passed as there were so many questions I had to venture a "best guess" on, on top of time becoming a big issue. Ultimately I got the same result of passing so take that as you will. If I had more free time I would have read through MTB, but getting through the gargantuan UWorld QBank and doing the CCS questions is a feat onto itself when you're working full time as an Intern.
 
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I'm confused... just finished completing form 2 (NBME self-assessment) and it just gives you a score that is out of 800, without giving you a table to convert that score to a real life score. Has this been the experience of everyone here? How do you know you're ready to take the real thing? thanks!
 
Guys are the handout cases of CCS necessary to go over or will the 52 cases (interactive) suffice for the CCS portion ?
 
I'm confused... just finished completing form 2 (NBME self-assessment) and it just gives you a score that is out of 800, without giving you a table to convert that score to a real life score. Has this been the experience of everyone here? How do you know you're ready to take the real thing? thanks!

Not familiar with that practice test, but as far as knowing when you're truly ready, well, you'll certainly have have me beat if you can figure that one out. For all the USMLE Steps, I had a deadline of when I needed to take it, and I organized my time to get through UWorld before then. Did I really feel close to 100% ready for the test after that? Honestly no. Every block of UWorld I'd go over it seems like you're learning something new (or relearning something long forgotten). By the time I finished all the questions my scheduled test date was right there so I never had time to contemplate whether I knew enough. At some point you probably get fatigued by all the studying and perhaps have to come to terms with the fact that "I probably know all that I can reasonably cram into my brain for now" and take it from there.

Guys are the handout cases of CCS necessary to go over or will the 52 cases (interactive) suffice for the CCS portion ?

Yes, from my experience, the 52 UWorld CCS cases are all you need to prepare. Read their explanations very carefully. Personally, before the real CCS, I took one of the provided papers and wrote down all the standard orders they expect for ED/Admit cases (which UWorld reinforces with those cases), so I made sure I didn't forget something trivial.
 
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Not familiar with that practice test, but as far as knowing when you're truly ready, well, you'll certainly have have me beat if you can figure that one out. For all the USMLE Steps, I had a deadline of when I needed to take it, and I organized my time to get through UWorld before then. Did I really feel close to 100% ready for the test after that? Honestly no. Every block of UWorld I'd go over it seems like you're learning something new (or relearning something long forgotten). By the time I finished all the questions my scheduled test date was right there so I never had time to contemplate whether I knew enough. At some point you probably get fatigued by all the studying and perhaps have to come to terms with the fact that "I probably know all that I can reasonably cram into my brain for now" and take it from there.

haha :)

word
 
Similar experience.

First year EM resident here. Took the exam about two weeks ago. Studied for about 4 weeks on a light rotation, consisted only of UWorld Qs and CCS. Nearly finished the Qbank (~1400 questions done), did all the CCS (1 time). Avg on the QBank was a 65% on random, timed (UW said that was 73rd percentile). Didn't read any books. Didn't do any NBMEs or UWSA. Step 1 249, step 2 245. Felt like the first day was fine. Long question stems, but straightforward. Very few antibiotic questions, lots of biostats that was straightforward. Felt pretty good after the first day except towards the last block i was pretty tired of being there.

Second day -- much tougher. Felt like i straight up guessed more on each block than on the entire first day. Sometimes I felt like I knew the answer but could not convince myself any of the ambiguously worded answer choices fit. other times I was struggling to even make the diagnosis in the stem. The stems were shorter than the first day, but i spent a lot more time scratching my head. On the plus side the CCS was totally fine (UWorld CCS is great prep for this part of the exam).

I have to think I passed, which is all I really care about, but it's a tough test and I don't think i crushed it by any means. I guess I'll be getting my score in the next week or so. I'll update my post then.

Do you (or does anyone) know the maximum number of days you can have between scheduling day 1 of the exam and scheduling day 2, e.g., can you take day 1 of the exam on day 1 of the eligibility period and day 2 of the exam on the last day of the eligibility period (extreme example)?
 
Do you (or does anyone) know the maximum number of days you can have between scheduling day 1 of the exam and scheduling day 2, e.g., can you take day 1 of the exam on day 1 of the eligibility period and day 2 of the exam on the last day of the eligibility period (extreme example)?

Edit: correct answer in posts that follow, but both exams have to be completed within 14 days at the same testing center and signed up for in the same online scheduling session.
 
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Do you (or does anyone) know the maximum number of days you can have between scheduling day 1 of the exam and scheduling day 2, e.g., can you take day 1 of the exam on day 1 of the eligibility period and day 2 of the exam on the last day of the eligibility period (extreme example)?

you can have a maximum of 2 weeks between the 2 test days. Once you click on your first test date on prometric, it won't even give you the option to go further than 2 wks for the next date.

So, to modify your extreme example, you'd take day 1 exactly 14 days before your eligibility period ends, and day two on the day your eligibility period expires.
 
you can have a maximum of 2 weeks between the 2 test days. Once you click on your first test date on prometric, it won't even give you the option to go further than 2 wks for the next date.

So, to modify your extreme example, you'd take day 1 exactly 14 days before your eligibility period ends, and day two on the day your eligibility period expires.

Thanks!

Can you take the exams in any order, or do you have to do one part before the other (e.g., take FIP before ACM or take ACM before FIP)?
 
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