step III-->anyone else feel like they failed it?

[factoid]

howdie

well took the exam. it was horrible and pretty hard. i don't know if i passed it, though i did really well on steps I and II. i think perhaps i might have had a chance of passing it if it wasn't for the stupid case simulation section. i think i royally screwed up at least 3/9...anyone know how much this section counts and did anyone feel like they really screwed it up and still passed?

thanks

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[cjw0918]

I am so glad you posted this. I took it a week ago and feel very similar. Many of the MCQs were just so awkward...I don't know how else to describe it. Several times I felt like none of the choices were good options. I had a question about a postal worker with cough and the choices were all weird bacteria/microorganisms. I finally figured out that they wanted me to pick Anthracis bacillus, because he was a postal worker. WTF?
As for the CCS cases, mine kept ending very abruptly- I know there's a million things I was supposed to do that I didn't. I left off a lot of ancillary stuff like IVF, changing IV to PO meds, and other, smaller stuff like that. I had one guy who was having a panic attack and I probably should have worked him up/treated for MI but I did not. I think I just got an EKG and cardiac enzymes and ruled him out. One inpatient clearly had sepsis and he kept deteriorating so I changed his Abx and Foley (urosepsis), and then it just ended. I'm sure that wasn't exactly the right thing.
Hopefully we both did enough to pass. I don't think anyone comes out of this test feeling too good. And if they do, I question what version of the test they had. I swear there are easier and harder versions that are graded accordingly. Just my own theory. Best of luck.

 

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[Tappat]

howdie

well took the exam. it was horrible and pretty hard. i don't know if i passed it, though i did really well on steps I and II. i think perhaps i might have had a chance of passing it if it wasn't for the stupid case simulation section. i think i royally screwed up at least 3/9...anyone know how much this section counts and did anyone feel like they really screwed it up and still passed?

thanks

Totally felt like I failed. However, I didn't feel so great coming out of the first two steps, and I did fine. This time I am worried by my lack of clinical experience (I just graduated, going into pathology so no internship for me). I did some things right on the cases but know there's a lot I left off and felt like I just missed the point entirely on a couple of them. The multiple choice, too ... yuck! I agree about there being some for which I didn't like any of the options, including one I felt like I should have been able to answer based on personal experience/reading about the issue. Well, I'm trying to keep in mind the very high overall pass rate. If you didn't have any trouble passing the first two steps, there's really no reason why you should be in special danger now. Also, keep in mind that, for example, pediatrics residents won't have thought about the adult stuff in a long time, internal medicine residents won't have thought about peds or ob in a long time, etc.

 

[ekydrd]

I hated how the cases ended abruptly as well. But what I learned from the CD they sent me when I registered is that if you cover all of the expected parts of the case... i.e. order the expected tests to r/o MI, do cultures and change out lines in suspected sepsis, order head CT and tox screen in a guy who was depressed, got drunk, known to have sedatives available, and was found unconscious... and the case may end before the alotted 10 minutes. In other words... it is probably a good thing if a few of your cases ended early... may mean you got it all right immediately.