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I took my exam in LA on 5th of Jan. that was 12 weeks ago. during this period, i was able to continue with normal activities, waitin for the result. but the last 2 hrs, i will never forget, waiting for the result. i was scared to my bone marrow! then i read on the forum someone saying an insider said they;ve reviewed d checklist and d exam may be tougher to pass now. that only increased my anxiety.
just got the result now and i just want to give all the glory to God, i passed. what a relief!

for people that are yet to take d exam, it is doable and the easiest of all the steps (i must confess here that i'm saying this retrospectively)...pls don't misunderstand me, i'm talking abt the amount of time required to prepare for the exam. i feel it is the ONLY step u can wake up one day and give d exam with just 2 weeks of preparation. how do u prepare for the exam? there is nothin new to say. people have said it all on the forum. i just want to say for emphasis: the secret to passing the step2cs is GOD plus PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE). that's it. intensive practice of maximum of 2 weeks is enough. the other aspect i want to lay emphasis on is TIME management. u master that as well only through PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE!

for those that are still waiting for their results, best of luck.


The exam experience:
i was d only IMG in the morning session on dat day. i did not allow it to bother me.
all my cases were from the FA (i read both FA and UW but only practiced with FA cases).
my first 3 cases, i could not close at all. i mean the final announcement was comin as i was concludin my PE. i improved on the 4th case, i started d closure but could not finish. i was able to close d 5th one completely. then i went for my break. i became scared of my poor time management. but thank God, i remained composed, i didn't panick. i gave a pep talk to myself. thank God i was able to close completely the remainin 7 cases. analysin why i cudn't close d earlier cases: my MISTAKE was i was asking too many questions in the history of presenting complaints, trying to rule out so many differential diagnosis. i was able to cut down d number of my questions in the rest. bottomline, for those that are anxious because they didn't close 2 or 3 cases, u can relax ur mind, i didnot close 3 and half cases and i passed.
i thank God i typed my PN. i have a bad handwriting. my typing speed reduced greatly during the exam coz of d exam environment but most esp i think coz of d keyboard. i was used to typin on my laptop keyboard where d keys r very flat. my fingers could not adapt immediately to d keyboards there. but no regrets. i thank God i chose to type. advice for those that want to type, try to inprove on ur typin speed b4 u go for the exam because during ur exam u will be typin at a speed lower than ur usual speed.

Best of luck to everyone. thank God!

I agree with u d secret 2 passing is GOD and then Practise,practise,practise.

Congratssssssssssssssssssssss
You made it!

My 4 Q for you:

1-I like to prepare only with those 40 cases from UW.
Is this enough?

2-Sometimes it is difficult to explain every differntial diagnosis but from my understanding it does not matter much since nobody is asking you about why did I choose the particlular diagnosis...Right? It is enough to write them down

3-SO basically if I write the HPI
ROS, Allergies, Med, PMH, SH, FH, neuro

PE
VS, HEENT, Neck, Chest, Heart, Abdomen, Extr,


DD
Diagnostic work up


This should be fine?

4- Do I have to do a systematic PE by each patient?
5-At what time do I have to be at the center?
When does the test start and ends?


Thx a lot,

hi oao
what do u mean didnot 3 closures at all
even the counselling???
thank u

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hiii oao

sorry for late replies. just finished from work.

@Sunshine2009:

ur first question: i feel that the 40 cases from FA are enough but that's my personal opinion. others may think otherwise.
2nd question: u may be right, i'm not so sure but i once hear that when they r markin d PN, if ur no 1 diagnosis is d same as d one on their own list, u get a point for that. i don't know how true dat is. d fact remains dat u shd reduce no of questions u ask so as to have time for the CIS components.
3rd question: ur write up will be fine, except that put d neuro under the PE (guess dat must hav been a typo error)
4th: u don't hav to examine all d systems. what they r askin for is focused PE. u don't hav d luxury of time but be systematic about the way u do it. it's better to leave some things out of the PE, so u can have enough time for d closure.
best of luck.

@dr99insteps
i actually meant that. i had to leave the room immediately after PE in my first 3 cases due to my poor time management. thank God, i still passed. i only said that to encourage those that are anxious coz they didn't close 1 or 2 cases. of course my not closing 3 cases at all reflected on my report. under d CIS component, my information sharing subcomponent was on the low pass side. i'm sure dis information sharing subcomponent has to do with closure. so pls don't take closure lightly. it is very important. it's better to close all the cases.

Thank u oao
i already taken the exam
i didnot do 2 closures but did the counselling in the encounter
and third case i did just teh summary and counslleing
it was about time management, that scaring me too bad
Thank u again best of luck

Congratulations to you...
thanks for sharing your experience.
Can you pls send me the patients list of LA, my exam in May.
dr.hope80
GL