askdoc-usmle

This started out as a reply to a question asked by dr patel on my blog on how to evaluate one’s readiness for the USMLE and avoid making the mistake of taking the examination and failing it. However, it got a little bit too long, so I have decided to rewrite it into an article.

Failure to properly evaluate one’s readiness for the examination and one’s progress during the whole USMLE preparation process may be one of the most crucial reason not only for failing the USMLE but also for failure to achieve a less than stellar score.

Proper self-evaluation involves not only how to do the evaluation, using the right tool to measure the right parameter but also when to do the measuring to insure maximal effectiveness. Most failures in self-evaluation can be divided into these 2 broad categories.

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We now come to Part II of our discussion on “Preparing for the USMLE Step 2 CS”.  In Part I, we discussed how to prepare for the medical interview part of the clinical encounter. We will now tackle the physical examination part of the clinical encounter,

To answer the first question on a lot of people’s mind. No, you should not do the physical examination while conducting the medical interview. Not only is it rude, you miss the opportunity of building rapport with your “simulated patient”. A question your “patient” is asked is if they would want you to be their physician and depending on the source could be an additional 1 or 2 points for you.

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We begin part 4 of our series on “What to Study for the USMLE”. In Part I, we discussed the need to choose our review material based on what we want to achieve in the exam. We also discussed the use of substituted judgment when we rely on reviewers to know what to review for the examination, and the need to make sure that these judgments are based on the same goals we have with regards to passing, scoring well or acing the exam.

 In part 2, we discussed that the score you want to achieve not only dictates the review materials you choose, but also how much of those review materials should be mastered and not just read through. In part 3 we talked about the various materials you used for review and the need to go back to textbooks for concepts you do not know, since you cannot review concepts you do not know. You have to learn them first and you need textbooks for that.

 In part 4, we will discuss the two types of text reviewers you should be using for your review and how to use the concept of different types of recalls with the reviewers to maximize the amount of material you can store in your head for the exam.

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I would like to announce that Askdoc’s Method of USMLE Review for Step 1 is now available at my prep forum at http://forums.askdoc-usmle.com. As I promised to some of you before, it contains more or less the same instructions available to the participants in my prep course. It includes suggested alternate reviewers and q Books you could use for your review. If you have any questions about the review methods, feel free to post your questions there.

The prep course participants are currently revising pathology so only the pathology review methods are outlined. Once they’ve reached the other subjects, probably around 1st week of October, instruction for the other subjects will be posted there too.

The prep forum is currently limited to Step 1 and Step 2 CS only as it will take time before I can write up enough materials to fill them. However, one feature it has which members may like is a Groups section where members can form themselves into groups and have a place where they can do their group discussion and learning in privacy. Only group members can enter and post in their forum. They could also limit visibility of the forum to their own group. Groups wanting to have their own forum section should sign up at Askdoc’s USMLE prep forum and submit the names of all group members and the name of their group (which will the name of their forum under the Groups forum) via personal message to me. Please include if you want to keep it invisible to the public. Your group is good for 30 days. You can extend it twice at 30 days each time for a total of 90 days by sending me a personal message before the 30 days expire.

Small private groups are handy for discussing Step 1 concepts and even Step 2 CS cases.