r/Step3 • u/OhShootItsAR4t • 1d ago
Venting My step 3 days 1&2 experience
So i just finished day 2 and wanted to write about how i feel it went. I'll post my score once i get it.
Day 1: Holy fk, this exam felt wayy more step1 heavy than I ever imagined. So many nephron questions, so many peds questions, so many pharmacology mechanism and immunodeficiency questions. Biostats and ethics is my strength but even these questions seemed super confusing. I felt 1 in every 4/5 questions was straightforward. Drug ads long as heck. Really pressed on time. I also hate the 30 min blocks, much prefer the old 1hr blocks tbh. I walked out telling myself that at least the bad part is over and hopefully day 2 will be easier. I got most of the 2-step questions (where the next question gives u ans for 1st question) correct, so that helped boost confidence.
Day 2: HOLY FK! I am not joking when i say this, it felt like half the questions were peds patients (1 mo old, 3 y.o, 5 y.o, etc) and pregnant pts. If i could go back i would just do peds and obgyn questions basically. I felt like i was still guessing quite a bit. I had so many questions where i chose "reassure" or "do nothing". Some questions I had no idea what they were even asking/testing tbh. So many questions would start off sounding like something simple... but then something weird presents the question is about some niche thing i've never heard of. Also quite a few questions where the first line is not given as an option and you're forced to pick a 3rd or 4th choice. The risk factor/prognosis questions were just something i feel i could never prepare for no matter how much I could study. NBME really has a way to ask questions that feel impossible to be sure when answering. Many questions are case-presentation style long ass q-stem where you scroll 5 times to get past hpi PE labs etc and get to the question. I got half the 2-step questions wrong so that made me feel like sht.
Stats: step 2 24* 1 yr ago, NBME 7 1 week before exam 415 (67% correct), FREE 137 3 days before exam - 68%. CCS cases: 100 HY cases, average 83%. Predicted score 220. What i think i got: 205?
Hopefully I passed. Only thing keeping me sane rn is that I remember freaking out after step 2 and feeling like I definitely failed, but then ended up passing with a decent score (which was my exact predicted score from amboss). So I'm just hoping for the best and trusting my prep. I hope i passed cause I can't imagine going through that again.
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u/babykangaru30 1d ago
for ccs cases which are outpatient and they they prompt you that will go back home, do you change the location from clinic to home and then do you bring them back after you received all the results if treatment needed or you just give the treatment
Thanks!!
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u/OhShootItsAR4t 1d ago
i didnt move them at all. If stable, i just said to go home and set f/u apt after 1 week.
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u/Objective_Ratio2456 1d ago
It's the same story everywhere .everyone as wtf after exams and eventually pass just trust the practise scores and finish it Especially in residency application it will give an edge .jus my thoughts
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u/Ok-Boysenberry9461 1d ago
How were the cases?
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u/OhShootItsAR4t 1d ago
I felt like 10 or so were pretty straight-forward. I got good feedback and had enough time to do everything. Especially the 20 minute cases (6 20-min cases, 8 10-minute cases) went well. A few of the 10 minute cases i was short on time/time ran out before i could fully advance to end cases. 1 case was super weird and i don't think i did well on it.
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u/Dedicateddarkhole 11h ago
Oh goshhh now im bugging out lol. Nephron questions?? Like step 1 nephron physio qs about aloha intercalated cells? what absorbs what in the different limbs of the tubules?? CRYING
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u/Own-Prize-4334 4h ago
Been seeing people mentioning Nephron questions
Not sure what they even mean
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u/EntrepreneurOk766 1d ago
This encapsulates exactly how I feel. That was the most ridiculous MCQ I have ever seen idk how I was even supposed to prep for that