USMLE Step 2 CS

DeadlyTwig

Hey all,

I'm planning on doing my Step 2 CS exam just before I get back to study in September. Just wondering, what test centre did people do the exam in and how did they find it?

Thanks!

Ryder

DeadlyTwig wrote: »

Hey all,

I'm planning on doing my Step 2 CS exam just before I get back to study in September. Just wondering, what test centre did people do the exam in and how did they find it?

Thanks!

Chicago. Great city. Direct train from the city to the centre and back.....thats it really. I suspect all of them are set up like that so pick whichever city you would like to visit

DeadlyTwig

Any advice on when best to do the exam in relation to jet lag??

Ryder

ive never found the jetlag to be bad going from ireland to the us. in any event, i had the exam on a thursday and arrived on monday so that i could be a tourist......

dunno what stage youre at, but i did the cs about 10 years post graduation. not a hard exam. just need to be courtous and tick the various boxes - it will be obvious what the standardised patients are trying to do, ie being obviously rude or frightened to gauge your response. the exam definatly needs some respect, but i dont think that you will need to worry about it very much

DeadlyTwig

Thanks for the advice! I'm just heading in to my final year but am aiming to train over in the States so trying to get Step2 done asap.

I heard Irish graduates tend to do pretty well on the clinical skill portion of the exam, did you past first time (if you don't mind me asking!)

Ryder

no problem. i passed first time, but i do have 12 post grad years of experience.....
the standard is reasonable and i think that the average final medical student should find it okay. everyone says that this is the easiest of the exams, and it is, but do some work for it. i just did the first aid book and found it more than good enough. do the practise questions in the usmle book. they put a lot more weight into stds etc than we do so dont forget to ask. also they have a load of weird tick diseases that you always need to consider. they mark you for washing hands, attitude etc and they stick to the script.....i wouldnt try to 'charm' them as they clearly have a list of symptoms/emotions to convey so they will mark you on those.

other than that, dont turn your back, make eye contact etc. get used to typing as you have to type up a note after each case. good luck

DeadlyTwig

Solid advice there! Thanks a million.

I will need to get on to practicing typing and note writing, we don't do a lot of that as med students.

Fingers crossed all will go well!

Thanks!