Done with Step 3!

I will write about my week on call shortly. But for now, Step 3.

First of all, the basics: This is a two-day test, with seven hours of material each day. Most of it is multiple-choice, but there are some clinical cases toward the end where you are given a patient and you decide how to proceed (what tests to order, what treatment to give, etc.). You get feedback on what's happening after you make a decision (test results, change in patient's condition). It's pretty neat, though the cases had a nasty habit of cutting off right before I felt I finally had a good grip on what to do.

Now, like Step 2 and (kinda sorta) Step 1, this is a test of clinical medicine. Unlike those tests, I did not have a month off to study. I did manage to read First Aid once and do about 400 practice questions. Studying more would have helped a good bit, I'm pretty sure, but regardless, I can say this: The test stunk.

I really had no idea what was going on maybe 20% of the time. Now, I haven't completely forgotten clinical medicine -- I graduated back in May -- but even if I'd taken this test at the end of my third year, I would have balked at some of the questions. No, I don't know what symptoms result from mistletoe ingestion. No, I don't know which of these weirdo tests to order when the patient clearly needs an abdominal CT. No, I don't know which of my four slightly different options for a translator is best. (The psychosocial questions in particular were completely off the wall.)

A lot of the time, I was able to get the choices down to two possible answers, both of which sounded really good. And a few dozen times during the test, I stared at the answers, fully aware that I once knew the correct choice but now just have a hazy recollection of half the details.

I am glad the test is over. From what I've heard, the grading is pretty lenient. Some of the upper-level residents in my program told me they took it years out of medical school and passed just fine. I just want to put the two days and $670 behind me. Past this point, all my standardized tests will be pathology-specific. All I have to do now is learn pathology ...