bluecollarmd
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 2
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After 3 grueling weeks of waiting, this morning I found out that I have passed the USMLE step 3 exam. I have been a silent reader of this board for almost a year now and I feel now is the time for me to give back to it. First off I like to thank God and my ancestors and my family for helping me through this exam. Also my sincere appreciation goes out to all those on this board who had gone through this exam and took time to assist those that are in the process of preparing for it like I was in the last several months such as Arlete, Redd, bssmooth etc. etc.
I myself is an FMG who did my residency in Family Practice. I took this exam prior to the completion of my residency and failed then failed again after taking in again the second time around. With a job now lined up and still no usmle step 3 result to apply for my license I took this exam again on 6/30 and 7/1 in hope third time is a charm in term of passing it which I did.
First this test is not easy. I think it is the toughest among all the steps and a good solid preparation is needed. My preparation the first time is only Fist Aid and briefly the Q book. I did not even get to the CCS. The second time involves First Aid for theory and CCS and 70 % Kaplan questions including the Q book.
In retrospect looking back at the way I prepared the third time for the exam, I use Premier Review which I highly recommend and think it is an excelent source for prep this test. I also use UW both for theory questions and CCS study. In the UW I did 85% questions with a score of 52 %. By the way like Redd said do the UW CCS cases OVER AND OVER AND OVER as this is the way to score easy points and I agree totally. I review those 88 cases for a total of 6-10 times prior to my exam and I got 9 cases where 7 out of 9 mirror the CCS case almost verbatum. With the remaining time I use Kaplan questions via on line Q bank.
This test is hard in term of predicting wether you pass or fail after you just finished it. I didn't feel good but not down on myself either in the latest trial. I also thought I did well in psych and neuro part which are the ones I scored high on the practice questions and feel bad on topic like cardiology as I think I answered a few ekgs wrong but on the score report my cardiology performance is quite high while psych and neuro only are mediyoker. SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS YOU WILL NEVER KNOW UNTIL THE SCORE COMES OUT !!!
I did not do NBME nor practice much theory questions on the USMLE CD. Mainly I used that CD to study the CCS part.
Regardless I have passes and now feel like a brand new person. Thank you all for posting and continue to do so. Your advise actually do impact other people. Now comes the licensing and a real job with real dineros. Good bye all and take care.
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| yendor
Forum Senior
Topics: 22
Posts: 187
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congratulations!
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Keep your feet on the ground, while reaching for the stars!
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| bax
Forum Senior
Topics: 20
Posts: 203
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thanx bluecollarmd for shaliring your experience..
i want to ask you that how useful kaplan q bank for step3???
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| bsmooth7
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 36
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congrats on a job well done!!!!
It is good to know that something I wrote helped you out...
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| arlete
Forum Fanatic
Topics: 50
Posts: 3,602
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Congrats, bluecollarmd! 
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Now it's on God's hands. I've done my best!
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