JACKDANIELS
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syra wrote:
HELLO to everyone in this journal.
JACKDANIELS when do you plan to take your exam. i need to speed up my studies as well. so i was thinking maybe if you are planning to take it in 2 months, i can follow your journal and write here as well.
how long does it take after the submission of application to get the date fro exam?
thanks
Hello syra,
I have taken june 10 as the date but in Mid May i have to take a 10 day break. Thats why I am trying to cover as much as possible soon. As you know, whatever we plan its really hard to keep on schedule so I have made this tight schedule. I think its will be very good for me as well if both of us can follow and keep pace with each other.
After you submit the online application, you have to send Certificate of identification. Within 4 days of receiving the Certificate of identi, the board will approve your application. Atleast 3 business days after that, you will recieve your scheduling permit online at which time you can schedule the exam.
Today I am starting EM from FA and step 2 notes. Goodluck and takecare All.
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| syra
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thank you JACKDANIELS for your reply.
this is so motivating for me to know that u plan to take your exam in 2 months time. i'll try my very best to follow your journal and write here as well.
so far i haven't done much and what ever i've done ,it has been so haphazard.
i'm doing IM UW q's. scoring so poor and getting frustrated. havent done much from ck notes. i plan to finish IM q's and then read kaplan IM ck notes along with step 3 lectures and then move on to other subjects.
i'll take the date for exam only when i feel ready for the exam. but i hope its in june as i want to take this exam before starting my residency.
today i'm reading the explanations of ID q's i did yesterday. 50 more q's are left...i'll do them after reading the explanations.
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| manolok
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Hey everyone and welcome Syra. Sounds like you guys are studying hardcore. Got back on the saddle again and did a block of 48, i got a whopping...(drumroll)...........38% which brought my average down to a 44.. wow, what little i really know. I think that I need to do more reading to balance out the questions. I started step up to medicine, which i read some portions of for CK. Then decided to move to Wash. Honestly, I need to stick to one source and go with that.
I'm debating on just biting the bullet and buying premierreview notes and cd's...keep seeing posts on various websites about these materials.
what are your thoughts?
Jack, got a question on the registration for the exam. What info do we need, just ECFMG certificate number?
Thanks and keep on trucking.. your making great progress.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Hi manolok,
Good to see you back.
For Registration, Yes you need ecfmg number..thats it.
Manolok about your UW score, you just described what I ahve been feeling all along about step3. My idea is if I spend 3 hours reading a topic from step 2 ck and FA, after which I even superficially go thru Wash man, I should score atleast average-above average. But when I don't, I think there has to be something wrong with the way I am preparing for the exam. I dont really know how to do these UW questions...most of teh times I am torn between two options..
I want a perfect preparation...just sharing so that we can all think and come up with a better way to study.
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| manolok
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well, i definitely feel your pain. I got the FA out and I think i need to spend some time with it. i am contemplating on wether or not to do things subject wise but it didn't work for me on step 2 CK. so doing a mix bag comes close to the real exam. you have more than enough time.
I would also like to take it around that time, but not ready to to commit to it. I'm gonna give it a couple of weeks before I register to see if I'm really ready for this thing.
My homework. read more FA then tackle those questions again. Those questions are hard as *hi*
goog luck
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| syra
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I agree with you guys...UW questions are tough..i'm scoring 30-50% and that too untimed using the book form of UW. i've been dragging it for a long time. so i'll just finish the IM q's and then read from books and try to do the wrong q's again...hoping that it helps.
but the best thing is to read first and then try to attempt the q's. i didnt do it because i didnt have the motivation..reading from books is so boring....but scoring so poorly is even worse.
GL
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| JACKDANIELS
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hello friends,
Last night I completed One set of 50 IM qs from qbook got 62%. although the questions weren't difficult
Today I am tackling endo and hopefully rheumat...
Happy studying everyone.
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| manolok
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hey everyone. Jack your making me insecure with your most recent block of questions. LOL, good job and keep it up.
Did another block of questions today and did much better, mixed block of 48questions and got a 50% still below national average for the exam by 6% but at least I'm improving. My average went up to a 46% now so hopefully will keep going up. I'm not going to be hard on myself because haven't done much reading and went straight to questions.
Jack, do you think the washington man is helping you or FA or the combo of the two? seems like you can't go wrong with the washington man. let me know your thoughts.
good luck again, syra.. you should balance both reading and questions unless you want to make questions the primary source of your review. I know alot of people that did and were successful. Personally, I think its a gamble, so I'm gonna read a little more.. with my primary focus on questions. Good luck!
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| syra
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thanks manolok for your advice. i know i should have done reading along with q's. reading books was slowing me down. so i started doing q's. atleast something is better than nothing.
i'm done with ID q's. scored better in the second set of questions. now i'm left with prev med, derma, toxi and miscelleneous q's in IM. hoping to complete them quickly and then read books and revise wrong q's in IM or read UW step 2 notes.
i plan to do q's along with reading for all the other subjects. i just need to build a tempo.
GOOD LUCK to all.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Hi Manolok and Syra,
Welcome back.
Finished reading Endo from Fa and step 2ck. Attempeted 15 UW endo scored 40%.
Now I am going to try something new and its just experimental.
I am almost done reading IM from step 2 notes so would not repeat that again. Not going to listen DVD lectures anymore as that too time consuming. From now onwards (and when i revise IM), I will read the disease etiology, pathophysio from FA only but symptoms, diagnostic investigations and treatment under different scnarios would be mainly from WM. Whenever I feel that WM is going into too much in-depth out of control over my head kind of stuff, i will just skip that part
Lets see how this new strategy works out.
I you guys can come up with some other idea, plase share.
Goodluck.
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| manolok
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hey guys did another block of 48q's this morning wasn't all that great 45% with the rest of the people in the universe getting a 52% on this particular exam. Going to go back to the basics and finally sit down and read step-up for medicine to review step 2 CK stuff since I didn't do all that hot on the CK in the first place/
My peds and psych are high so i think medicine has always been in an issue for me. I've heard that medicine is the bulk of the exam so that is why IM and FP residents do well on step 3.
Sounds like a focused plan Jack. Read a couple of pages in the washington manual but that thing is so dense and the print is so small. It's probably not a good idea to read while at work since its hard to focus. But i think if you you master that book there is no way your going to fail this exam and may end up acing it.
Sounds like your making progress and got a tempo going on syra.. let me know how the review is going
Have fun studying guys!
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| syra
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thats true ,medicine is the bulk of the exam. i want to study hard and take the exam in early june, because if i dont it means i have to take it during my FP residency....i dont know if thats a good or bad thing. but if i dont feel prepared in june i'll definitely take it after few months after reading washington manual or swanson.
today i did derma q's which were relatively easier, so scored 56%. next is preventive med.
manolok dont worry, my scores in IM were really bad. i'll be working on that by reading and doing more questions. i hope what i leaned from my wrong answers its stuck in my mind.
JD i dont have FA or WM with me right now, so cant say much about your plan. but give it a try and see how it works for you.
GOOD LUCK
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| doc-o8
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Hi to every one in this journal.
since you guys all are ahead of me you may help me as well. I wonder why everybody reads step two notes. I bought kaplan step three notes. are they not good enough?should i read step two notes as well? i hope one of you guys will help me.
good luck and thanks to everyone in advance.
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| shely1980
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hi,i m writing in this forum for the first time,i m done with my step2 ck ancs and now i want to take step 3 before applying to the residency,i hope to start my prep soon,i want to ask abt buying step3 materials ie dvds and notes etc,i m concerned abt a website called prousmle.net,should i buy any dvds or notes from them or not,is this website reliable,if anyone has any experience with this website plz let me know,i hope that yu guys will welcome me to this forum and give yur valuable advice,thanx in advance and take care.
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| manolok
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Welcome Shely1980 and Doc-08, both of you are certainly welcome to join this journal and make it ur own too like how myself, Jackdaniels, and syra have made.
I answer Doc-08's question, I think people read step 2 notes as a basic review if they have been away from step 2 material for awhile. from what i've gathered through other's experiences is that there is some overlap betwen step 2CK questions and the step 3 MCQ portion of the exam. So reviewing step 2 info is really on a case to case basis. I think you will be fine just sticking to Kaplan.
Shely1980 I would shy away from review materials that are new. For step 3 people just use either a Usmleworld based review, Kaplan step 3 notes, Kaplan step 2 ck notes or premierreview. People just do a combo of materials with UW as a standard. through in FA for last minute review then you are all set.
I too am taking step 3 before I re-apply for residency.
Good luck.
an hour's worth of reading yesterday with step up to medicine.
that's exactly what i need to do, step it up.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Just got really tied up in personal issues. But yesterday I had a chance to listen to Kaplan's Dr. SAKALA's lectures on OB/gyn. Honestly this old guy can give Dr. Fischer a run for his money. He is excellent. I hope i finish Ob/gyn today.
Goodluck
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| syra
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same here...i had a long weekend with no studies at all.
now i've started listening to IM step 3 lectures and plan to go through CK IM notes quickly. going very slow , lost motivation.
i totally agree with jackdaniels...step 2 ob/gyn lectures were so good. i cant wait to listen to step 3 lectures but i have to complete IM before i move on to ob/gyn lectures.
manolok ,good to see your progress.
doc_08 ,i'll go through step 2 notes because i've heard ppl doing that and getting good score. besides its easier to read from a book which you've read before. i think it will be lacking in management and some other stuff which we need to know for step 3. i hope to cover all that by step 3 lectures, uw q bank, kaplan q bank and if possible WM or swanson.
shely1980, i havent heard of that website so cant say anything.
happy study to all. i hope i dont waste any more time.
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| ipod
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Hey guys,
I just started preparaing for my step 3. Really liked your journal a lot....Can I join your journal???????Its really hard to study all alone. I am planning to write my exam somewhere in june.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Hey ipod welcome here. I was kind of feeling lonely so its good to have company.
Hi SYRA, good to see you back
I read peds from FA, and a little bit from step 2 ck notes, did 20 questions scored 65. Now I intend to listen to peds lecture as the lady is going thru step 3 notes page to page so it probably will be very easy READ.
Meanwhile I also spent 3 hrs revising GIT from FA/step2 I think its a good idea to keep mixing things. Read the first geriatric chapter from swanson which was easy read again..so safe swanson for a time when you ae bored and really don't wnat to study.
Goodluck everyone happy studying.
Tip for UW, Spend time on question with reading every option clearly, previously i wasnt reading the choices and was just picking the one that i already was looking for in the choices, that helps in step2 but step 3 choices are very close so each needs attention.
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| syra
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very good JACKDANIELS , you are doing great.
i listened to neuro lectures. same points which were covered in step 2 lectures. quite boring. these lectures and ck books are slowing me down plus so many distractions.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Once again, I came back to trying lectures, some people are actually good e.g the lady teaching peds is essentially doing page by page of kaplan step 3 notes which amkes it easy to go them and her commanding voice has added benefits I completed almost half of peds UW questions with scoring 68% so feeling somewhat relieved that maybe my preparation is going somewhere.
Something new that I am trying now is doing UW questions in Tutor mode allowing yourself only 60 sec/question AND DONT Cheat by changing answers. Its helping because by reviewing the right answer instanly, we are thinking on the same topic and would know our problem area or mistaken concept right away. Then I am taking notes of any new information to review later. hope this is time efficient.
BAck to studying.
Goodluck everyone and keep posting.
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| syra
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good strategy JACKDANIELS.
i read neuro and rheumatology from kaplan ck notes.
i've already listened to the rheumatology lectures when i was doing the questions before. there were some extra points in lecures.
now started reading nephro but getting bored , so i'll listen to the lectures.
GOOD LUCK everyone
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| syra
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yesterday listened to oncology lectures. some dvd's are not working so i have to get a new set. so i dont have hematology lectures right now.
today trying to finish pulmonolgy lectures, i listened to 2 of them when i did the q's and 2 are left.
read a little bit nephro and pulmonology from ck notes.
GOOD LUCK to all and a nice weekend.
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| JACKDANIELS
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Hi guys,
I have a quick questions regarding UW average score. Do UW people figure in the fact that most of us might repeat questions which can falsely raise the average on the same set of questions? Is the average for the first timer?
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