Step 2 Cs Fail How to Schedule Again
If y'all're a Northward American allopathic medical student, with difficulty. And yet several hundred students fail their showtime attempt at this "English language" test every year. SDN and the like are full of stories nigh students with massive Step 1 scores who fail Stride 2 CS, which makes anyone reading think that no one is condom (or that people who do extremely well on MCQ tests are robots [or both]).
Y'all tin ever finds the passing rates for USMLE Stride exams from usmle.org performance information. Here are the passing rates for the most recent 2 years (note the section breakdown at the end):
Examinees from U.s.a./Canadian Schools | 2010 – 2011 | 2011 – 2012 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number Tested | Percent Passing | Number Tested | Percentage Passing | |
Doctor Caste | 18,294 | 98% | 17,118 | 97% |
1st Takers | 17,852 | 98% | sixteen,662 | 97% |
Repeaters | 442 | 91% | 456 | 92% |
DO Degree | 67 | 88% | 46 | 87% |
1st Takers | 67 | 88% | 45 | 87% |
Repeaters | 0 | N/A | 1 | † |
Full | eighteen,361 | 98% | 17,164 | 97% |
Examinees from Non-U.s./Canadian Schools | 2010 – 2011 | 2011 – 2012 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number Tested | Per centum Passing | Number Tested | Per centum Passing | |
1st Takers | 11,899 | 79% | 11,515 | 80% |
Repeaters | 3,143 | 67% | 2,265 | 65% |
Total | 15,042 | 77% | 13,780 | 77% |
2010-2011 | 2011-2012 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ice | CIS | SEP | ICE | CIS | SEP | |
All US / Canadian Schools | 98 | 99 | > 99 | 98 | 99 | > 99 |
All Non United states / Canadian Schools | 87 | 89 | 95 | 86 | 89 | 97 |
* Please note that neither of these years takes into business relationship the new changes in the differential diagnosis department of the patient note, which began in June 2012. Information technology'south not known at this time how the change (detailed beneath) has afflicted passing rates, if at all.
If yous attempt to await upwardly Footstep 2 CS tips, a lot of the traffic online is from strange students. Most US allopathic students tend to accredit to the "it's an English test" conventionalities and go out their review to a quick read through of Kickoff Aid for the USMLE Stride 2 CS and their cumulative experience with standardized patients/OSCEs/etc. For the vast majority of students, that seems to be working out just fine. So once again, over 300 Us Physician students in 2011 failed. The rate for DOs is worse. No ane wants to be that guy; it's likewise an expensive mistake. Here is the breakdown of the sections and the skills they test.
So start by reading the USMLE Step two CS manual; follow up past giving First Aid a expert eyeballing. Merely know that on game day, you lot can forget to practice a lot of things. Anybody leaves the test (and each come across for that affair) with a list of things they forgot to ask. That'southward okay. If you have a solid framework, and then the individual elements you forget hither and there don't add upward. The goal is non to do everything; the goal is to do a reasonable and relatively thorough job.
Spoken English Proficiency (SEP)
Contrary to pop stance, SEP is the least likely crusade for failure across all groups. Now, the wrinkle here is that all non-The states schools are grouped together, which means that native-speaking IMGs (eastward.g. the Caribbean schools) and non-native speakers are all-lumped together. Less than ane percent of U.s./Canadian of grads fail this portion.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills (CIS)
And then ane in a hundred people fail CIS, which is essentially a failure of acting. It can be hard to go into character. Y'all accept to pretend to be a physician, yous have to "be" empathetic, you have to inquire questions like they're real patients, deal with their emotions, assist them brand choices, and answer their special brain-buster questions (they all accept one): am I going to die, what'due south going to happen to me, tin can I run in my race tomorrow, should I take ginseng? Be professional: introduce yourself, wash your hands, open-ended followed by direct interviewing, explain your logic, offer closure. If y'all can pretend this is a real person, so you'll practise well on this portion.
Integrated Clinical Encounter (ICE)
two% of people fail Water ice (which is nigh 2/3 of all failures). Ice is the combination of data gathering (request questions of patients and doing an appropriate physical exam) and data interpretation (your note). Data gathering isn't just about getting the diagnosis—it's about [fake] patient care. You need to know if people are smokers, if people are drinkers, if they do either to backlog. You need to ask the review of systems that helps you figure out that the patient with the yeast infection actually has undiagnosed DM2.
The best way to set up for the note is to look through First Aid and the official Pace two CS transmission. Getting a feel for these notes will help y'all be efficient when it counts, fifty-fifty if you don't spend whatever time actually writing them in preparation. These notes are not hard (sample outline), but y'all need to call up near writing nether pressure and time constraints, which you are likely not used to doing. You need to have differentials on mitt for common complaints (headaches, chest hurting, abdominal pain, vertigo, syncope, etc).
As of 2012, you also need to understand which factors in the history and physical go forth with which diagnosis. This new chemical element is surely designed to give some people trouble, but chances are if you know what questions to inquire, you as well know which answers get where. On the plus side, you just have to write up to 3 items on your differential instead of five, which is much ameliorate, since sometimes you'd rack your brain trying to get to 5 reasonable diagnoses for a clear-cut example. Most resource for the exam take not taken this change into account nevertheless, just y'all need to be aware of the change. When in the examination room, you lot need to be tailoring your differential based on your history and physical anyhow; now, yous simply have to be able to account for the rationale y'all're already using intuitively.
A word about scheduling
Information technology'southward also worth noting that the filibuster in registration and the difficulty in getting last minute spots means that you lot should register for Step ii CS every bit soon as you tin can. If y'all take it in the summer or early autumn of fourth year, you would have time to fail, re-register, and take it again before rank lists are due. Taking it in the wintertime ways y'all may need to pass it on the showtime try in social club for some programs to rank you. How much does failing hurt you if y'all're 1 of the unfortunate few? At that place'due south no manner to know. Some program directors accept conspicuously stated they don't intendance about the test. That said, without a pass on record by match time, some may non be interested in giving a spot to someone who might not be able to start on fourth dimension.
The itch between your shoulder blades
Even though the vast majority of students pass this exam, the fact that information technology's not possible to brute-forcefulness your way through a few 1000 questions, know you'll pass, and just wonder exactly how your score will turn out is unnerving. Even after taking it, well-nigh everyone wonders if they'll pass in a fashion that is often more irritating than for Step one or Step two CK. It'll be a huge relief when you detect out you passed (and that your English language proficiency is above-average).
Even so, for those who accept done their share of OSCEs and a night or two with First Aid, taking it seriously and doing your best in and of itself is probably enough for almost anybody. Don't blow it off. The SPs can odour a poor sport.
Updated July 2013.
Source: https://www.benwhite.com/medicine/how-do-you-fail-the-usmle-step-2-cs/
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