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USMLE Acers

Passing Step 2 CS 

USMLE Step 2 CS is known as the easiest step among all USMLE other steps. This is correct Hoact21 (1)if you know what you are going to do in the exam. This step is pass/fail exam, means no numerical score for this step. Step 2 CS uses standardized patients ( actors ) to evaluate your ability to take history, to do a proper physical examination and to communicate with your patients. You will be tested on twelve ( 12 ) cases. You will have fifteen ( 15 ) minutes with the standardized patient ( SP )  and ten ( 10 ) minutes to type patient notes for each case. According to my self  experience and communication with those who passed the test and those who failed it, I came up with these 4 steps to help you pass the USMLE Step 2 CS.

1- Read thoroughly everything about the test before you start preparing for it

The best source to know everything about USMLE Step 2 CS is the official site of the USMLE. You need to take enough time to read everything about the exam. For the USMLE  step 2 CS, you don’t need to study too much medicine but definitely you need to study the step 2 CS Bulletin.

2- Practice, practice and practice

The only successfully tested way to pass the USMLE Step 2 CS is to practice, practice and practice. There are different ways to practice. You can practice with another medical student, a friend, a family member, yourself or all of the above. Your partner will read the case first and act as a SP. Judgment is useful in this case, don’t take it as a sin, in fact it is grace. You can repeat the same scenario several times until you are confident. The best place to practice your communication with the SP is in front of  your mirror. Talk to the mirror and repeat several times until you are satisfied that you do the best doctor-patient communication.  You also need a source for clinical scenarios and the best I know so far are First Aid for USMLE Step 2 CS and Kaplan USMLE Step 2 CS Core Cases. 
Also practice typing patient notes. You need to practice typing faster than you used to.   Again the best source to practice patient notes is the practice material on the official site of the USMLE.

3- You need to relax on the day before the test

According to my own and others’ experience, you need to relax the day right before the test. You don’t need to study on that day. Go to the movies…..meet with your old friends…..don’t spend even a minute with a medical student or any medical subject….you need to RELAX. You need to get enough sleep the night before the test. On the morning, you eat your breakfast, do your usual tasks and go to the test station little early. You will have a session before the test on everything you need to do on that day.

4- Treat the standardized patients as human real patients

Knock the door and greet them and introduce yourself ( first impression ). Ask them about the reason of their visit. Be friendly, look at their eyes ( eye contact ). In some cultures, it is rude to look direct to the eyes but you need to train yourself on it because it is very important point in the evaluation. Be gentle during the examination. Remember they are actors and once you touch the area of tenderness, they will show you the signs of pain. Discuss the case with them briefly and tell them you plan for the investigations and management in detail ( last impression ). The most important factor to pass the test is the two impressions ( first and last ).
These are the four steps to pass the USMLE Step 2 CS. If you follow them you will have no chance to fail the test.


.How I scored a 257 on USMLE Step 1
By Michael Frazier 04:2012

In my opinion, before you start really preparing for Step 1, you should have two things clearly in mind: where you are with your score and where you want to be. To determine where you are, you need to take a practice test. You might be scared by this score, but that’s good encouragement to study.



So, before you start studying, set your goal. A passing score on Step 1 is 188. The national average is 221. The most competitive specialties have average scores of around 240. Probably the best resource for what you need to do to match into particular specialties can be found here, the NRMP’s report on “Charting Outcomes in the Match.” It goes into volunteer, research and other activities as well as Step 1 scores for matched applicants in different specialties. If you know what specialty you want, you’ll have a good target for your score.
If you’re not sure what you want to do, you’ll want to score as high as possible. I wasn’t too sure going into the test, so I set a goal of 245. That way I wouldn’t be kept out of any specialty based on my score. I needed to spend plenty of time studying, especially since my first practice test was a 208.
Start studying early
Looking back, I wish I would have been using the resources I used for my USMLE prep throughout first and second year. That way I would have been more familiar with the resources when it was time to really study. That said, it worked out ok without doing that, so don’t get too stressed out if you’re looking at your prep materials for the first time now.
Our school gave us about two months to really study for Step 1 (meaning we didn’t have any classes scheduled during that time). I would recommend starting relatively serious study starting in January of your second year and really serious study for 2-3 months before you take the test. That should give you enough time to get your best score.
Choose the right resources
Choosing the right resources will depend partly on your learning style, but there are a few that are must-haves.
1. A question bank
There’s always the debate about whether Kaplan or USMLE World is the better question bank. I used USMLE World and loved it.
The thing that impressed me most about USMLE World was how similar the questions on the QBank were to those on the actual exam. When I came to the test, I felt as though I was just taking another set of questions from USMLE World.
Also, the explanations of questions are great. They give detailed explanations of why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong.  I learned five or six important concepts tested on Step 1 from one question and its explanation. This made the QBank a very efficient study tool.
I purchased a 6 month subscription to the USMLE World QBank. In retrospect, I would have purchased a shorter subscription. I thought that I would have time to start doing questions before classes ended, but I didn’t. So, I would recommend buying the QBank for the amount of time you have committed solely to your USMLE review (probably 2-3 months). I also purchased two practice tests, but only ended up doing one of them. Our school also gave us a practice test.
I spent a lot of time answering questions and reviewing them closer to my test, but only got through about half of the QBank. In my opinion, if you really study the answer explanations provided by USMLE world, you’ll be able to master the concepts covered by the USMLE exam without having to do all of the questions. That was my experience, anyway. Obviously, however, the more you do, the better prepared you will be for the exam.
As far as how your QBank score correlates with your final score, UWorld questions tend to be a little harder than the actual test. I was scoring in the high 70s on my question blocks before I went into the test and ended up with at 257. My overall was about 60%, but my percentages were getting much higher on each question block the more questions I did.
2. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1
I don’t say this for very many things, but First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 is a must-have.
First Aid is essentially a very condensed version of most of the things you’ll learn in your first and second year of medical school (at least the material that will be covered on the USMLE exam). The more familiar you are with First Aid, the better off you will be when you start using it for your formal USMLE prep. If you use this book during your curriculum, you’ll be able to have a summary of the things you’ve learned, as well as seeing what might not have been covered by your school that is covered on Step 1.
One tip I have is to not spend a ton of time on the biochemistry section of First Aid. Understand the key steps that have to do with certain diseases (e.g. what does lead poisoning or B12 deficiency affect), but don’t try to memorize full pathways that don’t have specific clinical relevance. I spent a lot of time on this and saw very few questions on the test. My classmates had the same experience.
3. Rapid Review Pathology by Goljan
This book is similar to First Aid in that the material is condensed into bullet points. However, it has more information about the “why” of diseases than First Aid. It gives great explanations about pathophysiology and this material is stressed heavily on Step 1.
These are the only resources that I used for my Step 1 prep. As you can probably tell, I study more on my own. Also, I learn best from practice questions. If this is not your style, then this strategy is probably not a good fit for you. If you work better in groups, do that.
My study strategy and schedule
Month 1-2. Monday to Friday I would read a new section in First Aid USMLE and the corresponding section in Goljan’s book. I would read new material in the morning (around 6-8am), new material in the afternoon (1-3pm) and review the material from the day at night (7-9pm). Those hours might go a little longer on some days. The night review would sometimes include QBank questions on the related topics. On Saturday I would review the things that I had studied in the previous days. This would include questions about the topics. Sunday was a day off!
In the middle of this I also took the USMLE World practice test and got a 220. This was encouraging since it was better than before, but lower than my goal of 245. So, I had to keep working.
I would also take breaks at times during my studies to go play basketball, run, or watch TV. I study a lot better when I take breaks between. You might be different.
My main goal in these months was to finish going through First Aid and Goljan twice by two weeks before my test date.
Month 3. This is where I started doing more questions. I had finished most of First Aid and Goljan. Usually I did two sets of questions per day with the same schedule as above.
Test day. I scheduled my test day for the middle of June, a couple of weeks before rotations started on July 1st. Looking back I wish I would have done it a week earlier. That last week probably had little effect on my score but took a week away from vacation that I would haveloved to have before starting my third year of medical school. So, my advice to you would be to take it at the beginning of June.
On test day, make sure you bring snacks and food. It’s a very, very long test. I would also recommend taking all of your breaks. I would run around the building, do push-ups or jump up and down to keep my body and mind refreshed. I’m sure I looked like an idiot, but it worked for me!
So, with all of this, I was able to surpass my target score of 245, with a 257 which made me very happy. Again, this is what worked for me and may not work as well for you. But, USMLE World, First Aid and Goljan Pathology are top notch resources no matter your study preferences. Good luck!
Michael Frazier is a medical student and founder of Medical School Insider.
To share your Step 1 study and success tips send an e-mail to medic-allinc@hotmail.com

Preparing For USMLE Step 1
There are many questions often asked by International Medical graduates(IMGs) who want to pursue residency in the United States. Lets try to answer some of those questions.

When should I take the USMLE? while in medical school?, or during my internship year?

The truth is , exactly when you choose to start taking your USMLE steps depends on a number of factors. It is important however that you are well prepared, in order to score high. To be adequately prepared, many have said you need to prepare and be well acquainted with the materials including question banks for a period of 6 months. It is not adviseable to go ahead and take such a cost intensive exam in which you intend to score high in order to have a good chance of getting a choice placement if not well-prepared. So , basically you want to go ahead and take your steps when you are beyond doubt ready to Ace it.

Do I have to take Step 1 first?

I guess you are aware that you can sit for either Step 1 or Step 2CK first!, each of which are prerequisites to taking Step 2CS. It is true that some of the content in the Step1 exam , will be useful towards your Ck prep, but some believe taking the Ck exam fresh from school could be beneficial, since your last year in school has a largely similar content with the step 2ck.

What are the materials I need to be adequately prepared?



I remember waking up some years ago after I had made up my mind to start taking the exams, and discovered while sorting out the materials I had acquired over the years that I had too many of them to choose from. I began consulting senior colleagues and of course the internet for advice on what materials are best for an IMG like myself. Here are the results of some of my consultations and a speck of my experience.

1. First Aid: This is the spine of your preparation. Read it, annotate it, study it, digest it and own it!

2.Review Books: The Kaplan series has being the most preferred among IMGs and the results speak for it.

3. Goljan for Pathology: Picked ahead of Kaplan's Pathology notes and our old friend Cotran!. You need Goljan's Notes, Slides, Audios.e.t.c.

4. BRS Physiology: Has been tagged "the bible of Physiology" by scholars. Useful book! Gets the slight nod over Kaplan's Notes. I used both though! Kaplan has some wonderful Physiology lecturers!

5.Question Banks: The USMLE Step 1 is an 8 hour exam. You need to be familiar with seeing loads and loads of questions. You are not prepared till you have being totally immersed in questions. Usmle World is key to your preparation. The Kaplan question book is a useful strike partner if u believe in playing 2 strikers.

Enough for one day!

Happy Studying.....ask your questions!

03:08:2014 Medic-All.Inc









Welcome to USMLEAcers


This a platform for individuals interested in pursuing residency in the United States and are hence required to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) in order to satisfy the requirements of the Educational Commission of Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) assesses the readiness of international medical graduates to enter residency or fellowship programs in the United States that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

ECFMG acts as the registration and score-reporting agency for the USMLE for foreign medical students/ graduates, or in short, it acts as the designated Dean's office for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) in contrast to the American Medical Graduates (AMGs).

It conducts three examinations which are are required for residency application:  Step 1, Step 2CK, Step 2CS. The ECFMG certificate is issued to a physician if he or she passes the above the three exams within a time period of seven years.


To gain ECFMG certification, all doctors must have the following:


  • Medical School Diploma Transcripts (in English

Relevant websites:

Great Luck!!!



9 comments:

  1. Nice piece, I wish you all the best. I have a little correction to make however, you CAN take USMLE step 2 CS before STEP 1 and step 2 CK. You can take them in any order except for STEP 3. You need to be ECFMG certified before you can register even register for step 3. To be ECFMG certified, you need to have passed STEP 1,CK and CS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the contribution. Yeah, Steps 1 ,2 CK, and 2 CS can be taken in any sequence.

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  2. Thanks for this article....do u have any article on USDLE programme?

    ReplyDelete
  3. How important is first aid in the USMLE step 1? Can I take step 2 CS before I take step 1? I'm not looking forward to having to take these tests, but I'm studying for them now. Step 2 CS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alex, thanks for finding the information on the blog useful. Yes, you definitely can take Step 2 CS before your Step 1, and in fact you can take the exams in any order you prefer.
      I personally consider First Aid for Step 1 one of the Best Basic Clinical sciences book ever written. It is extremely important to master First Aid for Step 1. I call it the spine of your Step 1 prep. All the best Alex

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  4. Wow. This is amazing. Is it possible or advisable to take step1 in 500 level, that's immediately after my Mb part2 (path & pharm)?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Doc, Glad you find the content here amazing. It is possible to take your Step 1anytime after your Path and Pharm year however it is advisable to take Step 1 or any other step following adequate preparation and mastering of the materials which are quite different from your Nigerian medical school materials. Hope I answered your question . Tell your colleagues about Medic-ALL.

    ReplyDelete

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