Step 3 for Derm Residents

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IzzyMD09

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When exactly in your preliminary years or after did you take Step 3,

and what did you guys use?

I saw asmallchild's post but I don't think he got any conclusive answers!

Thought I would start this thread for the rest of us prelim's dying to finish this year before it even starts so we can dive into derm....

Thanks

Izzy
 
I dont know that it really matters when in your prelim year you take it, just that you get it out of the way. Every derm resident I have ever spoken to that didnt regrets it (you will have enough studying to do when derm starts). I even knew an ER PGY-1 that took step III before intern year even started.... I took mine early spring during the second month of back-to-back electives, which gave me time to study. Most likely the closer you take it to step II the better (since you prob wont see much OB or peds during your prelim year.
 
opencomedo said:
I dont know that it really matters when in your prelim year you take it, just that you get it out of the way. Every derm resident I have ever spoken to that didnt regrets it (you will have enough studying to do when derm starts). I even knew an ER PGY-1 that took step III before intern year even started.... I took mine early spring during the second month of back-to-back electives, which gave me time to study. Most likely the closer you take it to step II the better (since you prob wont see much OB or peds during your prelim year.
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Exactly. Might depend on your prelim year, but your overall knowlege (including peds, ob/gyn, surgery, even outpatient medicine) declines after you start intern year, and instead you can only remember select things like how to replete potassium or manage chest pain. I was forced to take step 3 in the last third of intern year and while studying I realized how much I had forgotten. Other derm prelims I knew took it much earlier (sept-nov) and seemed fairly stress-free. A month or two or three of a medicine year will help, especially if you can do some EM during that time, but take it sooner rather than later to get it over with.
 
oh and just do usmleworld as much as possible for 1-4 weeks prior, also feel free to look at (but not necessarily purchase) a book of your choice: kaplan, first aid, or crush
 
I would take Step 3 whenever you have a solid chunk of time to study for it (an elective month perhaps?) I would disagree with the advice that the earlier you take it, the better. I thought it certainly did help to have a couple of months of internship under my belt. If nothing, just doing admissions/an ER month (especially if you have a computerized system in your hospital) helps greatly with the CCS cases you will encounter on Day 2 of Step 3.

I have a little post too indicating what I used and how I did 🙂 http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=710619

Oh, I'm a girl btw 😛 (I know the Bruce Bowen avatar confuses people)






IzzyMD09 said:
When exactly in your preliminary years or after did you take Step 3,

and what did you guys use?

I saw asmallchild's post but I don't think he got any conclusive answers!

Thought I would start this thread for the rest of us prelim's dying to finish this year before it even starts so we can dive into derm....

Thanks

Izzy
Click to expand...
 
I took Step 3 early (in dec 2009) so that I could have the scores ready for licensing. I did not study one bit for it because I didn't care about the score besides passing and I felt pretty prepared after a couple months of internship and an ER rotation...incidentally I passed.

I think the timing also depends on the licensing requirements and how quickly you would like to get your license. I would like my license early and it takes a while in my state to get the licensing done since I need a license to prescribe...so I wanted to get the requirements done and out of the way.

The test is a total multiple choice circus and don't forget to do a couple test simulations for the case presentations since the interface is totally not intuitive if you are seeing it for the first time on the test.
 
i took in november during a path rotation. used usmle world. wouldn't have changed a thing.
 
bump.

Can anyone who took it recently tell me the price to sit for the exam? Close to $1500 like step 2 cs/ck? I'm considering using my educational stipend to cover the cost. Thank you
 
$705. Just registered for it and it was painful...tax deductible, however. 🙂
 
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