mohelgamal
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I took cs today at philly center.
First I didn't perform well. since I didn't prepare well and I never had a partner to study with which turned out to be more important than I Imagined.
the SPs were very professional, they answer adequatelly to correctly asked questions. but very vaguely improper question. they start well with open ended questions but they need to be squeezed a little bit with closed ended question.
many cases were quite vague totaly non specfic. or may be I didn't ask right I don't know but these guys who design all USMLE exams make sure that you don't have a clue if you have done well. nothing is too obvious.
Again The most important part is to find a study partner. that was my biggest weakness. also use memonics well, I usually hate memonics and didn't use any. which made me forget a lot of important questions out there
will I fail May be, I think I did quite well on 3-4 cases and passable on the others except for two that I quite ruined.
the exam center is quite organized and people there is really friendly and enthausiatic to help. definitely one of the most professional yet friendly I have seen. I resisted the urge to hug each of them as I got out. I don't know why
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| Transcriptio
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thanks for sharing. do u get telephone cases or neuros?
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| mohelgamal
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My first case was neuro. I didn't remember most of neuro exam item . it was Really bad case for me.
No phone case but I did have a case of a patient with her clothes sitting in a chair so it is quite similar, the doorway info had a result of pelvic exam and a smear of vag discharge, and I was supposed to explain the result to the patient and discuss treatment
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| Transcriptio
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wow, we have to explain the lab results??? Neither FA nor UW mention anything pertaing to lab results. anyway, thanks for sharing.
in btwn, how long have u prepared? one question about memonics, i personally felt that the symptoms portrayed can be a number of things and if we have memonics memorized, would that really help? i try to repharse another way.. if using memonics, i will tend to ask whatever comes out the list instead of listening specifically to what the SP says.. what's your take on that?
last question, how long does it take you to finish neuro physical exam, including mmse?
thanks very much for your help
dont think too much about what u do.. we tend to remember mistakes we did wrong
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| mohelgamal
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the lab result case were pretty forward. but I don't know what you will get
I prepared ony for 2 weeks with uw and kaplan. with no training partner.
Memonics would have been helpful. in cases of fatigue and weakness and all these non specific complaints. I got 4-5 cases where all the history was I feel weak or I feel tired and no further info. so memonics will help you make sure you asked about every thing
One more thing I forgot to ask about allergies in the first 8 cases which was a quite bad thing to do. so rememeber it also remember to drap the patient as soon as you walk in
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| mohelgamal
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in order to perform a model perfect neuro exam including mmse I think you will need like 30 min so you have to pick what is relevant. in that 1st case it took me 5 min to take history and 5-6 min to examine motor and sensory in limbs and only knee reflex. I also tested optic facial and trigeminal nerves only. after adding 1 min to council the patient and tell her about the invesigation plan. I had 2 min to add to the 10 min for the report writing which was barely enough without being able to read what I wrote
Also I did a stupid mistake . I was writing the history of one patient when I wrote the social sexual & past history. then added the rest of the history after those and I was planing to cut and past later but I couldn't.
Anyway good luck
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| Transcriptio
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mohelgamal,
thank again for your kind replies.. while i was mentally pracising the case myself, do u have to ask past medical probelm specifically? for example, if someone presents with cough, can you ask " do you have any medical problems in the past" or 'do you have TB, pnemonia, sinusitis, asthma, so on and so forth? if you only ask past medical problems, would sp respond by asking like what?
thanks for your furuther clarification.
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| mohelgamal
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well for me I always asked the following question : "have you had a similar episode in the past" & "do you suffer from any medical condition, do you take any drugs" but don't forget to ask about drug abuse specifically.
If the Sp said NO then it is NO but if he said lik what then ask about 2 or 3 you think most relevant to the case. but in my experience they would say what they have
you may have a specific one disease you want to ask about like " have you ever been diagnosed with TB " but not every single disease you can remember
Always remember that the Sp has in his checklist that you started with open ended question. For example if the patient has TB and you asked about asthma, bronchitis, sinisitis you will get no, no, no but he won't tell you he had TB but in an open ended Question he will tell you that he had TB.
remember the SP will not lie or forget a disease he had. but he won't volunteer to tell you info about anything you didn't ask for either open or closed ended questions.
Also remember that you should ask the SP one Question at a time or he will not answer except for the last part. and simply forget to answer the previous " he is told to do that not that he really forgets"
good luck
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| Transcriptio
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mohelgamal,
excellent explanation in detail. i very much appreciate your kind replie. i will ask u again have i had further questions concerning cs.. i plan to take it next month.
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| mohelgamal
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Good luck
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| sridevibandaru24
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hi Mohelgamal! First of all let me say GOOD LUCK for ur result.
I took my step1 two days ago. i did it good. Now, I amplanning to take my step 2cs in January. I dont know whether this time period is sufficient or not. Please advice me on this. Also I would like to know about the books and materials i have to follow for this step. please answer these questions. Thanks.
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| mohelgamal
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thanks sridevibandaru24 ,
if you took step 1 2 days ago the you will receive your score in 3 weeks. and if you take step 2 cs in jan you may get your score report in 28 march or later. you didn't mention step2 ck.
if you mean this year match, I am afraid you are a little late. you can still apply but without scores. The chance of someone inviting you to an interview is really low. and without interviews you can't go for the match. may be you can get lucky in post match scramble but I am sorry to tell you that this remains a very low chance.
but don't worry next year is still there and that time frame you have is very good for it. if you got your certificate by april the new application cycle will start in september. which give you a good chance to get observerships, research and chance for publications. if you get enough you will be a strong applicant next year. any experience in your country will be good.
HOw old are you?? for the referance most 1st year residents in the states are around 30-35 years old. if your country is like mine and you just graduated. then you may be relatively very young.
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| mohelgamal
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as for the materials. I used Kaplan book and usmleworld.com course. I think they are enough
step 2 CS needs more training than knowledge. you should be fluent in English and you should know how to talk like a professional. how to respect the patient and how to do maneuvers correctly. so it is not about reading it is a about training find a training partner
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| eaguin
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My advise, everybody should take step 2 CS as soon as posible...
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| sopranos79
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hey eaguin you are one arrogant poster. i have you noticed you on a number of posts. congrats for passing but man you are the most arrogant person i have met on these posts what the heck is your deal? you make me sick to my stomach
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| eaguin
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Hi sopranos, I don't know if I passed yet. I have to wait the results until january 31 as everybody else. But I am an optimistic person. I want to show to the people of this forum who are going to take the exam soon that not everybody MUST have a bad experience that day. Also, I would like to give the same advise again to my dear FRIENDS, because I love to help people: Take step 2 CS as soon as posible...
SOPRANOS TRY SOME PEPTO-BISMOL...
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| eaguin
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Sopranos, or at least go for a REAL doctor...
It could be serious...
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| eaguin
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Sopranos, or at least go for a REAL Doctor...
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| mohelgamal
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the CS is relatively easy, and the fact that it has no score but pass and fail. make it easier. in general. it is bettee to take it as soon as possible. its biggest problems are that it needs to be booked very early, and that it is held in USA only which cause a lot of visa troubles esp that you may need to get it around the time of the interviews if you can't manage to stay in the US for a long time because of visa or financial trouble. but it is a plus that you are already ecfmg certified by the time of the application instead of having to explain when you will be ecfmg certified to the program directors at the interview
good luck
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| ravi_online
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hi mohelgamal
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
did you got your result? definetely you will pass. How did you asked in lab result presentation.
I am also going to appear for this exam.
thanks again
Edited by ravi_online on 12/12/06 - 09:45 AM
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| mohelgamal
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Dear ravi
I didn't get my exam result yet, according to the reporting schedule. I will get it 31 of jan
the lab result case was simply is that you need to go in, take history from the patient, no physical exam, tell the patient that her lab result is back. and explain the result for her. tell her what other investigation you should order and why. and tell any other advices or recommendation, Remember during the course of the exam you act like a doctor in real life do every thing a doctor should do in this case
I will be staying in philly tell the end of dec ( I am going for an interview on 12-13 dec) then I will be back and I pretty much has nothing to do and have no friends, if you like to meet me through this time period I will be happy
Sorry I can't mention the details because the proctors (exam clerks) were dead serious about not revealing the case, and If it is proven someone did he will get his certificate revoked.
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| mohelgamal
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Sorry ravi. the email address that I have in my file is an old one. I have updated it. so if you want to email me go ahead now
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| ravi_online
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hi mohelgamal
thanks for replying so soon on this post. Right now I am busy in exam. preparation. How is weather in phlly these days?
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| mohelgamal
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hi ravi
right now I am stuck to my laptop because I don't have anything to do,
the weather in philly is relatively good. it went below 0 C. for a one day then bounced back to 15 C. no snow tell now
you can check the weather on Yahoo. just use the zip code 19104 or Philadelphia, PA. but don't believe the forecast for the next few days it is always changing and not accurate at all
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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| mohelgamal
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and I passed the CS exam, waiting for my certificate
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Step 1 - 241/97 , step 2 ck 246/99 step 2 Cs Passed, citizen, graduated from Ainshams Egypt excellent with honor, 6 month research, with 5 publications currently prelim surgery resident. .
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