USMLE Step 3 December 2016 Experience

[step2tutor86]

So I wanted to share my experience on Step 3. I took it this month and wanted to share my preparation and what I thought about exam. Since I just took it yesterday, it is pretty fresh...I have not taken the second part so when I finish in couple days, I will post update on the second day (I could not get consecutive days to take it).

So I used a lot of things to prepare and probably did not need to. I am a 3 rd year resident with step1 score of 22os, step 2 score of 250s (I don't remember exact numbers). So take my advice with caution...the same advice may not apply to you if you are ob/gyn resident in 3rd year and taking it....as Step 3 is mostly a medicine exam than surgery/ob/peds...that being said, if you are a medicine resident, don't make the mistake of not preparing because the exam has fair amount of peds and ob/gyn to lower you score. lol.

So overall I used the following to prepare: Preparation time --1.5 mo. (I had easy rotations so got lucky).
1) I used STEP 3 board review by Kaplan company for only chapters on Ob/gyn and peds. I will say I read it once but I don't know how much I retained, I had to look up a lot of things that I had forgotten. That said, I reviewed the chapters on these subjects twice. Once before as passive reading and second time after I had done ton's of Uworld.
2) I did all of Uworld Step 3 Qbank (~1500 questions). I also took notes on the Uworld q-bank in the note section--if you don't know about this, look into it because you can print all your notes later. So I had written like about 1200 questions in notes section and basically the things I know I would forget like when to do oral grisofulvin versus oral terbinafine versus topical therapy and for what condition. LOL. I think everyone knows what I am talking about (if you are not a derm prelim)....And then I printed about 200 pages of all my notes and reviewed it again so it is kind of like going through Uworld twice. I tried to do Uworld qbank second time but realized it was pointless because I was getting every question right second time around...so better off just reading my notes in interest of time.
3) I bought Step 2 Uworld qbank as well because I did not feel even after step 3 question bank I had enough handle on ob/gyn, peds, and biostats. So yes, I went a little too much. I did all of step 2 Uworld for peds, ob , gyn, and biostat. A part of reason for doing this was that I can get a solid grasp of ob/gyn stuff and biostats that I need to know for internal medicine boards anyways....so it was win, win. Oh, i forgot, I also did surgery. I skipped psych and internal med. questions
4) I also made index cards off of the tables in Step 3 Uworld Qbank.. I reviewed these like 3 times throughout my study and I am glad I did because during my exam, I could recall seeing my index card with the exact information....lol.
5) Lastly, I had made notes on step 2 q-bank on ob/gyn and biostats and peds and I reviewed these notes like twice to solidify everything.
6) Practice UWorld step 3 exam x 1

Actual Exam Experience
So I think it was on the level of uworld. Things you just cannot answer no matter how much knowledge you have. I think it is to just make sure the bell-curve shaped score goes into effect and to make sure no one gets perfect score. I mean there were things from Step1 and DEFINITELY had basic sciences. But I don't think it is worth studying for basic science as if you did a good job in med school you will remember majority of it.

Biostats was heavy. About 8 questions per block. So you really have to know your biostat. I am so glad I did step 2 biostats questions too because I felt like a beast on the exam. I probably got every biostat right except one question. This includes drug ads....those are ridiculously easy too. Just need to know what they are asking. I was kinda amused taking the exam.

The medicine questions were a bulk of exam. If you are a medicine resident and have done at least half of intern year, you should be fine, assuming you didnt score below mean on step 1 and 2. Honestly, the secret is reading between the lines. I kept asking my self on difficult questions, what is the test maker asking me? what does he or she want me to identify? With this in mind, I was able to come up with the answer or narrow it to two choices.

Ob / gyn, I actually felt very comfortable after my preparation to point where I feel I can do ob/gyn residency, just kidding. lol. The questions were pretty straightforward.

Peds had a lot of weird archaic questions as well as typical bread and butter peds. Definitely felt uworld step 2 and 3 helps. But I think step2 helps more for this.

Hope this helps everyone

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[NoSurprise]

I had a similar experience to the OP. December 7th was my 2nd day. WooF.

If someone told me I scored in the 90th percentile, I would say "Yup, makes sense."
If someone told me I scored in the 5th percentile, I would say "Yup, makes sense."

I'll let you all know when I get my score back, buuuuuuuut, yeah... No. Friggen. Clue.

UWorld first time: 65%
UWorld Second time: 90%

Hopefully that's enough -- I didn't do anything else.

 

[Zareh.md]

I second your experiences guys, i took it 6 and 7 of december, was hoping for results tomorrow but i guess its coming next week

 

[NoSurprise]

Looks like the scores are coming out Wednesday. I can no longer print my permit under the permit tab and it has changed to "complete" on the candidate website. Unfortunately, it still says "Approved" under the FSMB site, but it doesn't have a link to re-apply, so perhaps all is still well. I heard about a score trick, but it seems as though my case doesn't apply to the case scenarios I've read (good or bad). I'll post back when I find out Tuesday night if I got the Pass. Good luck everyone!

 

[Zareh.md]

Looks like the scores are coming out Wednesday. I can no longer print my permit under the permit tab and it has changed to "complete" on the candidate website. Unfortunately, it still says "Approved" under the FSMB site, but it doesn't have a link to re-apply, so perhaps all is still well. I heard about a score trick, but it seems as though my case doesn't apply to the case scenarios I've read (good or bad). I'll post back when I find out Tuesday night if I got the Pass. Good luck everyone!

Same here bro, but the approved supposedly changes to expired tomoroy 12:00am and if that moment we don have a new apply button we most likely passed. We still have to wait for wednesday haha GL man

 

[FUSTEP3]

Same here bro, but the approved supposedly changes to expired tomoroy 12:00am and if that moment we don have a new apply button we most likely passed. We still have to wait for wednesday haha GL man

still says approved... wtf is this crap

 

[Zareh.md]

Changed to expired some minutes ago... now the 24 hour countdown till our score!!!! Best of luck my friend

 

[FUSTEP3]

Changed to expired some minutes ago... now the 24 hour countdown till our score!!!! Best of luck my friend

Did it say "Your Step 3 application has expired. You may begin a new Step 3 application at your convenience." ?

What was the trick to see if we passed again?

 

[DTmadeKCpaid]

Took exam 1st week of Dec

I thought the exam was hard AF!
I did biostats like crazy for 8 hours a day before Day 1.
Then did like 3/4th of the CCS cases in 3 days and read through 3/5 of master the boards for the first time the day prior to Day 2.
Scored a 186 on my NBME 5 prior to sitting for exam, but w/o finishing review for OB/gyn and w/o reviewing any biostats, so I decided not to move my date. I was scared ****less and studied like crazy till the test!!
UW percentage 59% first pass only
no UW assessment (though I wish I did this over the NBME)
Studied off and on for about 3 months

I've been nervous as **** since I took it hoping I passed. I had the same feeling coming out of the exam that I had after step 2 (230's).

Best advise: Use MTB early as a quick review to familiarize yourself with material, and do another quick review prior to day 2. I scheduled my exam about a week apart which allowed me time to work on CCS cases. I was on IM the month prior to my exam, so I didn't have a lot of time to study. I thought NOT scheduling it on back to back days was key for me.
Also, take NBME about a 3 weeks out to scare yourself if you need an extra push to study hard. I kinda started slacking prior to the last week.
Buy Uworld Biostats for $25, This was the best $25 ive spent all year!!! I promise!!
For CCS cases, develop a good approach that you for each type of case. And practice, practice, practice!! I watched some YouTube videos and read through like half the practice cases prior to doing the interactive cases.

Day 1: I felt like I was guessing throughout the MCQs, but narrowed the choices down to 2 on most of the exam. Like everyone else, Day 1 was saturated with biostats. It was probably about 20% of questions on day 1, but I felt very well prepared as I reviewed a **** ton the day before. Day one was super long.

Day 2: MCQ sucked the life out of me on day 2, and it was refreshing to start the CCS portion. The CCS cases were not easy, but were not impossible. I stumbled on a few, but for the majority of cases I finished early and the patient got better. It kinda reminded me of step 2 CS but on a computer, so order tests and treatments to get all your points!

Summary, if I passed I think CCS and biostats saved my ass!

From hours of sifting through the internet...

No link under the grey box, so I assume I'm in the green!!!

Good luck to everyone. Midnight cannot come any quicker!!!! C'MON!!!

 

[NoSurprise]

I went to bed at 8pm and I randomly woke up, so I checked on my phone here.

220 - Passed! (Not a dream I hope)

I think my lack of sleep on both exam days was more of a factor than studying.

I hated this exam -- may you all pass by closing your eyes and randomly clicking!

 

[DTmadeKCpaid]

Passed with 219, thank GOD!

And CCS did not save my ass, MCQ did. Who would have thought lmao!

Screw USMLE and their twisted exams. I'm out this B.

 

[Ansuya]

Took it last week of December.
Prep: 6 weeks
MTB + First Aid
Uworld + Kaplan Qbank, both completed, averaged about 58-59%
I started to do Uworld again, but shortly stopped as I was getting 90%, mostly due to memory of the questions.
For CCS - went through Crush cases and Uworld cases, ~70%

Day 1:
Ugh....demoralizing. Not sure if it's ever possible to prepare enough. Lots of biostats, and plenty of questions that I wasn't sure if were too easy or too hard. Fatigue at the end of the day was a huge problem.
Hated the ads, too much to read.
Ran out of time on at least 4 blocks and guessed the last 3-4 questions.

Day 2:
Questions were "ok," felt like they were repetitive on testing the same concept.
CCS: WTF....Majority ended early, and not because the patient was getting better. Was hoping to get standard: PE, MI, Ectopic pregnancy, etc... but got quite a bit of primary care patients.

Left the test feeling certain that I did not pass. I feel the same now.
Should be getting the result at the end of this month, but already preparing to study again for a second round with plans to take at least 2 months to prepare.

 

[dr alanine]

Took it last week of December.
Prep: 6 weeks
MTB + First Aid
Uworld + Kaplan Qbank, both completed, averaged about 58-59%
I started to do Uworld again, but shortly stopped as I was getting 90%, mostly due to memory of the questions.
For CCS - went through Crush cases and Uworld cases, ~70%

Day 1:
Ugh....demoralizing. Not sure if it's ever possible to prepare enough. Lots of biostats, and plenty of questions that I wasn't sure if were too easy or too hard. Fatigue at the end of the day was a huge problem.
Hated the ads, too much to read.
Ran out of time on at least 4 blocks and guessed the last 3-4 questions.

Day 2:
Questions were "ok," felt like they were repetitive on testing the same concept.
CCS: WTF....Majority ended early, and not because the patient was getting better. Was hoping to get standard: PE, MI, Ectopic pregnancy, etc... but got quite a bit of primary care patients.

Left the test feeling certain that I did not pass. I feel the same now.
Should be getting the result at the end of this month, but already preparing to study again for a second round with plans to take at least 2 months to prepare.

I had a friend who complained the same

So did you pass

 

[Ansuya]

Anyone else take the test last week of December? Assuming the results will come out on the 28th and from what I've read, Sunday before, if permit link disappears and expires, this means you passed?
If different, please correct me, the nerves are getting to me. Truthfully, I feel I didn't pass and preparing for a 3 month study sabbatical to retest.

 

[Ansuya]

I had a friend who complained the same

So did you pass

Not sure yet, I took it last week of December, so have a ways to wait.

Are you guys getting your scores on 3rd or 4th Wednesday?

 

[ramzax]

When I took CCS I was never prompted to enter a diagnosis at the end. Is this the typical experience?

 

[BnL]

When I took CCS I was never prompted to enter a diagnosis at the end. Is this the typical experience?

I think you have to click to end case at the bottom of the screen before your 2 mins is over, then a dialog box pops up to enter diagnosis. Writing your final diagnosis is not scored according to USMLE

 

[Trefoil]

Not sure yet, I took it last week of December, so have a ways to wait.

Are you guys getting your scores on 3rd or 4th Wednesday?

Took mine around the same time. I was trying to utilize that "trick" that people reference all the time to see if I passed, but I just have a grey box...I think people say it usually updates the Sunday prior to score release, so it may be 1-8 days too early.

When I took CCS I was never prompted to enter a diagnosis at the end. Is this the typical experience?

You have to click end case in order to put your final diagnosis. I don't really think it matters. My time altering orders ran out before I could put in a final diagnosis on 1 or 2 cases. Probably not factored into the score or it would be given more emphasis.

 

[Ansuya]

Not sure yet, I took it last week of December, so have a ways to wait.

Are you guys getting your scores on 3rd or 4th Wednesday?

--update: no longer see permit link on nbme site, now says "complete." on FSMB site, still says approved, no link to reapply....so maybe I passed? Hopefully will get results this Wed. Anyone else chewing their nails this week?

 

[GqBaller]

--update: no longer see permit link on nbme site, now says "complete." on FSMB site, still says approved, no link to reapply....so maybe I passed? Hopefully will get results this Wed. Anyone else chewing their nails this week?

I thought the Registration status has to say "expired," which would then mean that you would be getting your result this week and then you look for a link?

 

[dr alanine]

--update: no longer see permit link on nbme site, now says "complete." on FSMB site, still says approved, no link to reapply....so maybe I passed? Hopefully will get results this Wed. Anyone else chewing their nails this week?

Same here link disappeared and still says approved

 

[Thom1986]

Mine also still says "approved" on FSMB site and link is gone on interactive site.

 

[CaliAtenza]

So I wanted to share my experience on Step 3. I took it this month and wanted to share my preparation and what I thought about exam. Since I just took it yesterday, it is pretty fresh...I have not taken the second part so when I finish in couple days, I will post update on the second day (I could not get consecutive days to take it).

So I used a lot of things to prepare and probably did not need to. I am a 3 rd year resident with step1 score of 22os, step 2 score of 250s (I don't remember exact numbers). So take my advice with caution...the same advice may not apply to you if you are ob/gyn resident in 3rd year and taking it....as Step 3 is mostly a medicine exam than surgery/ob/peds...that being said, if you are a medicine resident, don't make the mistake of not preparing because the exam has fair amount of peds and ob/gyn to lower you score. lol.

So overall I used the following to prepare: Preparation time --1.5 mo. (I had easy rotations so got lucky).
1) I used STEP 3 board review by Kaplan company for only chapters on Ob/gyn and peds. I will say I read it once but I don't know how much I retained, I had to look up a lot of things that I had forgotten. That said, I reviewed the chapters on these subjects twice. Once before as passive reading and second time after I had done ton's of Uworld.
2) I did all of Uworld Step 3 Qbank (~1500 questions). I also took notes on the Uworld q-bank in the note section--if you don't know about this, look into it because you can print all your notes later. So I had written like about 1200 questions in notes section and basically the things I know I would forget like when to do oral grisofulvin versus oral terbinafine versus topical therapy and for what condition. LOL. I think everyone knows what I am talking about (if you are not a derm prelim)....And then I printed about 200 pages of all my notes and reviewed it again so it is kind of like going through Uworld twice. I tried to do Uworld qbank second time but realized it was pointless because I was getting every question right second time around...so better off just reading my notes in interest of time.
3) I bought Step 2 Uworld qbank as well because I did not feel even after step 3 question bank I had enough handle on ob/gyn, peds, and biostats. So yes, I went a little too much. I did all of step 2 Uworld for peds, ob , gyn, and biostat. A part of reason for doing this was that I can get a solid grasp of ob/gyn stuff and biostats that I need to know for internal medicine boards anyways....so it was win, win. Oh, i forgot, I also did surgery. I skipped psych and internal med. questions
4) I also made index cards off of the tables in Step 3 Uworld Qbank.. I reviewed these like 3 times throughout my study and I am glad I did because during my exam, I could recall seeing my index card with the exact information....lol.
5) Lastly, I had made notes on step 2 q-bank on ob/gyn and biostats and peds and I reviewed these notes like twice to solidify everything.
6) Practice UWorld step 3 exam x 1

Actual Exam Experience
So I think it was on the level of uworld. Things you just cannot answer no matter how much knowledge you have. I think it is to just make sure the bell-curve shaped score goes into effect and to make sure no one gets perfect score. I mean there were things from Step1 and DEFINITELY had basic sciences. But I don't think it is worth studying for basic science as if you did a good job in med school you will remember majority of it.

Biostats was heavy. About 8 questions per block. So you really have to know your biostat. I am so glad I did step 2 biostats questions too because I felt like a beast on the exam. I probably got every biostat right except one question. This includes drug ads....those are ridiculously easy too. Just need to know what they are asking. I was kinda amused taking the exam.

The medicine questions were a bulk of exam. If you are a medicine resident and have done at least half of intern year, you should be fine, assuming you didnt score below mean on step 1 and 2. Honestly, the secret is reading between the lines. I kept asking my self on difficult questions, what is the test maker asking me? what does he or she want me to identify? With this in mind, I was able to come up with the answer or narrow it to two choices.

Ob / gyn, I actually felt very comfortable after my preparation to point where I feel I can do ob/gyn residency, just kidding. lol. The questions were pretty straightforward.

Peds had a lot of weird archaic questions as well as typical bread and butter peds. Definitely felt uworld step 2 and 3 helps. But I think step2 helps more for this.

Hope this helps everyone

So how much of Step 1 stuff/basic sciences was there? I'm thinking about preparing for and taking Step 3 before I start residency (I sort of suck at the USMLE exams, but I passed both Step 1 and 2 on the first go).

 

[dr alanine]

Any news guys
Still status approved not expired despite the link in candidate website disappeared
So it's tomorrow or not

 

[ShenMeYiSi]

Any news guys
Still status approved not expired despite the link in candidate website disappeared
So it's tomorrow or not

Just checked mine as well - approved on FSMB despite eligibility expiration, no link on bottom of page, and no link on candidate website. Tonight midnight? or next week. I took mine before Christmas.

 

[dr alanine]

Just checked mine as well - approved on FSMB despite eligibility expiration, no link on bottom of page, and no link on candidate website. Tonight midnight? or next week. I took mine before Christmas.

How eligibility expiration
My eligibility November 1st till January 31 and didn't change

Also midnight you the results will come or just that approved will change to expired only?

 

[GqBaller]

Just checked mine as well - approved on FSMB despite eligibility expiration, no link on bottom of page, and no link on candidate website. Tonight midnight? or next week. I took mine before Christmas.

mine says "complete"...no link to apply. Does that mean anything? did your say "complete" first then changed to "approved?"

 

[ShenMeYiSi]

mine says "complete"...no link to apply. Does that mean anything? did your say "complete" first then changed to "approved?"

On the candidate website, it says completed, and gives the dates I took the exam, and the box where it says "score report date" is blank, and that's the place where I had gone to reprint my scheduling permit. No active links anywhere on that page to apply for the exam. on the FSMB page, it says "approved" and there's no link at the bottom. my eligibility ended on 12/31/16 and it still says "approved", I was expecting it to say "expired"

 

[GqBaller]

On the candidate website, it says completed, and gives the dates I took the exam, and the box where it says "score report date" is blank, and that's the place where I had gone to reprint my scheduling permit. No active links anywhere on that page to apply for the exam. on the FSMB page, it says "approved" and there's no link at the bottom. my eligibility ended on 12/31/16 and it still says "approved", I was expecting it to say "expired"

Thanks for the reply! Can you please specify where exactly do u see "approved?" I can't find that on the candidate page anywhere. I see the score slot being empty.

 

[FOLFOX6]

Score came out today--I'm a PGY3 medicine and Took it mid december, Step 1/2 250s, Did 1/2 of Uworld (scoring 69%) and skimmed the cases. Real deal 238.

 

[Thom1986]

Received passing score today. For future test takers: status never changed on from "approved" ahead of time on FSMB site, it changed to "scored" at the same time the interactive site changed to show a score link. It was a holiday week so things may be different for me, but the trick definitely did not work this time.

 

[dr alanine]

--update: no longer see permit link on nbme site, now says "complete." on FSMB site, still says approved, no link to reapply....so maybe I passed? Hopefully will get results this Wed. Anyone else chewing their nails this week?

What did you do in the results

 

[Bazinga1983]

I loathe everyone of you.

 

[Ansuya]

I passed! Wohoo! I had the same experience as Thom1986:
Monday of the week that you'll get results, your permit link will disappear.
On Tuesday night: 9pm-midnight (depending on your time zone) FSMB status will change from "Approved" to "Scored."
You access your score from NBME by clicking on "Print Score Report" link.
I took the test on Dec 27th & 29th and got results 3 weeks after.

This was my second time around. Studying for a retake was a painful, but much needed humbling experience.
First time around, I got really cocky and applied pencil #2 approach, thinking that because I passed all previous exams on first time around with relatively minimal studying, I didn't have to put any work into Step 3. That was incredibly stupid on my part as it put everything on hold: job interviews, paying off student loans, moving back home.

My advise is to do at least one Qbank, if time permits, do another one rather than repeating the same Qbank. I did mine in tutor mode, untimed and spent the time reading all of the answer explanation, then referring to FA/MTB.

Do ALL CCS cases from at least one source. If I had not put the time into CCS, I don't think I would pass.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[CaliAtenza]

I passed! Wohoo! I had the same experience as Thom1986:
Monday of the week that you'll get results, your permit link will disappear.
On Tuesday night: 9pm-midnight (depending on your time zone) FSMB status will change from "Approved" to "Scored."
You access your score from NBME by clicking on "Print Score Report" link.
I took the test on Dec 27th & 29th and got results 3 weeks after.

This was my second time around. Studying for a retake was a painful, but much needed humbling experience.
First time around, I got really cocky and applied pencil #2 approach, thinking that because I passed all previous exams on first time around with relatively minimal studying, I didn't have to put any work into Step 3. That was incredibly stupid on my part as it put everything on hold: job interviews, paying off student loans, moving back home.

My advise is to do at least one Qbank, if time permits, do another one rather than repeating the same Qbank. I did mine in tutor mode, untimed and spent the time reading all of the answer explanation, then referring to FA/MTB.

Do ALL CCS cases from at least one source. If I had not put the time into CCS, I don't think I would pass.

Good luck to everyone!

Did you use both FA and MTB? I just did a few sample questions from UW last night and it seemed like CK stuff all over again. How much basic science/Step 1 stuff did you have on the exam?

 

[Ansuya]

Did you use both FA and MTB? I just did a few sample questions from UW last night and it seemed like CK stuff all over again. How much basic science/Step 1 stuff did you have on the exam?

I used both:
While doing Qbank and reading explanations, I used FA. The following day, I reviewed similar chapter in MTB which was more succinct, but forced me to review rather than rush ahead.
I don't recall much of basic science/Step 1, perhaps couple of questions. Feel that majority dealt with standards of practice + annoying drug ads.
MTB was very useful for CCS strategy vs multiple choice "right" answer.

 

[dr alanine]

I was following the thread for someone I am an attending already
He got 191/196
His CCS was in the bottom he said many cases didn't improve and ended early
He did uworld cases twice studied step 3 for a year


He thinks ccs happened because she has zero clinical experience

He also used archer videos but didn'tfinish it only 1/4 the cases

 

[CaliAtenza]

I used both:
While doing Qbank and reading explanations, I used FA. The following day, I reviewed similar chapter in MTB which was more succinct, but forced me to review rather than rush ahead.
I don't recall much of basic science/Step 1, perhaps couple of questions. Feel that majority dealt with standards of practice + annoying drug ads.
MTB was very useful for CCS strategy vs multiple choice "right" answer.

Did you use Crush or Archer at all for CCS? I'm using both and so far both have been good. It's early days in my studying though. I find the CCS software a chore to use (can only order one thing at a time, etc) so I hope it's not gonna be an issue on the real day.

 

[Ansuya]

Did you use Crush or Archer at all for CCS? I'm using both and so far both have been good. It's early days in my studying though. I find the CCS software a chore to use (can only order one thing at a time, etc) so I hope it's not gonna be an issue on the real day.

I used just Crush and then practiced Uworld cases. I haven't looked at Archer, but I feel that Crush prepared me well. Yeah, CCS software is a bit clunky, but on real test day, you can just type in all the orders at once, and then confirm each one. By far, CCS was my strongest area performance wise (even though it did not feel that way during the test) so it pays well to spend time familiarizing yourself with sequence and then reviewing before second exam day.

I guess so long as you finish at least one source, you should be fine. Best of luck to you!

 

[CaliAtenza]

I used just Crush and then practiced Uworld cases. I haven't looked at Archer, but I feel that Crush prepared me well. Yeah, CCS software is a bit clunky, but on real test day, you can just type in all the orders at once, and then confirm each one. By far, CCS was my strongest area performance wise (even though it did not feel that way during the test) so it pays well to spend time familiarizing yourself with sequence and then reviewing before second exam day.

I guess so long as you finish at least one source, you should be fine. Best of luck to you!

Oh sweet, that's good to hear that I can type in all the orders at once on test day and then confirm each one. That certainly isn't the case with the practice software though :/.

 

[Oktoberfest15]

I used just Crush and then practiced Uworld cases. I haven't looked at Archer, but I feel that Crush prepared me well. Yeah, CCS software is a bit clunky, but on real test day, you can just type in all the orders at once, and then confirm each one. By far, CCS was my strongest area performance wise (even though it did not feel that way during the test) so it pays well to spend time familiarizing yourself with sequence and then reviewing before second exam day.

I guess so long as you finish at least one source, you should be fine. Best of luck to you!

How did you first time score compare to your second time score?
Anyone tried Step3 secrets as a review? I found MTB 2 not very informative so was hesitant to buy MTB3. Any thoughts?

 

[Oktoberfest15]

So I wanted to share my experience on Step 3. I took it this month and wanted to share my preparation and what I thought about exam. Since I just took it yesterday, it is pretty fresh...I have not taken the second part so when I finish in couple days, I will post update on the second day (I could not get consecutive days to take it).

So I used a lot of things to prepare and probably did not need to. I am a 3 rd year resident with step1 score of 22os, step 2 score of 250s (I don't remember exact numbers). So take my advice with caution...the same advice may not apply to you if you are ob/gyn resident in 3rd year and taking it....as Step 3 is mostly a medicine exam than surgery/ob/peds...that being said, if you are a medicine resident, don't make the mistake of not preparing because the exam has fair amount of peds and ob/gyn to lower you score. lol.

So overall I used the following to prepare: Preparation time --1.5 mo. (I had easy rotations so got lucky).
1) I used STEP 3 board review by Kaplan company for only chapters on Ob/gyn and peds. I will say I read it once but I don't know how much I retained, I had to look up a lot of things that I had forgotten. That said, I reviewed the chapters on these subjects twice. Once before as passive reading and second time after I had done ton's of Uworld.
2) I did all of Uworld Step 3 Qbank (~1500 questions). I also took notes on the Uworld q-bank in the note section--if you don't know about this, look into it because you can print all your notes later. So I had written like about 1200 questions in notes section and basically the things I know I would forget like when to do oral grisofulvin versus oral terbinafine versus topical therapy and for what condition. LOL. I think everyone knows what I am talking about (if you are not a derm prelim)....And then I printed about 200 pages of all my notes and reviewed it again so it is kind of like going through Uworld twice. I tried to do Uworld qbank second time but realized it was pointless because I was getting every question right second time around...so better off just reading my notes in interest of time.
3) I bought Step 2 Uworld qbank as well because I did not feel even after step 3 question bank I had enough handle on ob/gyn, peds, and biostats. So yes, I went a little too much. I did all of step 2 Uworld for peds, ob , gyn, and biostat. A part of reason for doing this was that I can get a solid grasp of ob/gyn stuff and biostats that I need to know for internal medicine boards anyways....so it was win, win. Oh, i forgot, I also did surgery. I skipped psych and internal med. questions
4) I also made index cards off of the tables in Step 3 Uworld Qbank.. I reviewed these like 3 times throughout my study and I am glad I did because during my exam, I could recall seeing my index card with the exact information....lol.
5) Lastly, I had made notes on step 2 q-bank on ob/gyn and biostats and peds and I reviewed these notes like twice to solidify everything.
6) Practice UWorld step 3 exam x 1

Actual Exam Experience
So I think it was on the level of uworld. Things you just cannot answer no matter how much knowledge you have. I think it is to just make sure the bell-curve shaped score goes into effect and to make sure no one gets perfect score. I mean there were things from Step1 and DEFINITELY had basic sciences. But I don't think it is worth studying for basic science as if you did a good job in med school you will remember majority of it.

Biostats was heavy. About 8 questions per block. So you really have to know your biostat. I am so glad I did step 2 biostats questions too because I felt like a beast on the exam. I probably got every biostat right except one question. This includes drug ads....those are ridiculously easy too. Just need to know what they are asking. I was kinda amused taking the exam.

The medicine questions were a bulk of exam. If you are a medicine resident and have done at least half of intern year, you should be fine, assuming you didnt score below mean on step 1 and 2. Honestly, the secret is reading between the lines. I kept asking my self on difficult questions, what is the test maker asking me? what does he or she want me to identify? With this in mind, I was able to come up with the answer or narrow it to two choices.

Ob / gyn, I actually felt very comfortable after my preparation to point where I feel I can do ob/gyn residency, just kidding. lol. The questions were pretty straightforward.

Peds had a lot of weird archaic questions as well as typical bread and butter peds. Definitely felt uworld step 2 and 3 helps. But I think step2 helps more for this.

Hope this helps everyone

How did you do? I don't think I ever found a follow up post. Thanks!