Dear friends 2 days ago i finished my step- 3 exam and would like to share my experience may be it would help all the other who is trying to get good score;
1.it is very long and tiring exam so please make sure to take plenty of fluids/juices/energy drinks and snacks.
2. time management is a must as most of the questions are lengthy and you got to rush quickly skimming through the questions while making mental note of what could be the problem, it is better you read the last line of the question and glance through the answers and you will know whether they are asking diagnosis or investigation, then go through the whole qs skimming finding the right answer.
3. on day one you have only mcqs of 7 blocks, 45 minutes break, if are well experienced with the uw qs it is better to skip the introduction so u will get 15 mins for the break
4. on day 2, 45 mins of 4 blocks of 36 qs then 13 cases of ccs, both the days are tiring and draining, ccs cases are sometimes straight forward you may finish early so you may get extra 10 min or 5 min break depending how fast to you show your right skill in managing each case.
5. preparation; you nearly need intensive 2 months of prep, if you want to get good score, i did vaguely for 2 months,I used UW, MTB, kaplan step-3 videos of cases and here and there crush step-3 and premier review. for me it is uw and mtb helped me much, some extent kaplan videos, you must revise 2 times both of uw and mtb, you definitely will get through this exam.
5. what you need to know: step 3 is all about making a diagnosis and initial test, most specific/accurate/ confirmatory test and treatment. you got to know treatment for each and every case which is there in the MTB and UW, please make some notes of these.
will continue in next post....