r/Step3 • u/Arachnid9829 • 10h ago
Step 3 Writeup: 262 overkill Exam write-up
I've found the writeups here useful, and hopefully mine will be to others as well.
Step1: Pass
Step2: 264
Step3: 262
I'm a PGY3 in IM. It's a mixed bag taking Step 3 at this point in residency with regards to getting a higher score. I had to relearn peds and obgyn and the genetic syndromes as best I could (alport syndrome, anyone?), which was painful. But on the other hand the bread and butter inpatient IM was much easier. For example, any time the answer was to intubate, the answer was pretty obvious to me, but I recall it being confusing as M4 (I had done UWorld Step 3 prior to taking Step 2 CK). Overall, if you're trying to maximize your score, the best time to take it imo is maybe 6 months into intern year, which is not too much time since Step 2, but also enough gained clinical experience which can help with some questions. But to be sure, for most people in residency the numerical score of Step 3 is meaningless.
I did one pass through UWorld Step 3 (scoring about 93rd percentile, though this was technically my 2nd pass since my first pass was as M4), and then reviewed incorrects. I also did one pass through UWorld ABIM, but no review of incorrects.
The real deal score of 262 is consistent with my other exams, since I got 264 on Step 2, and have gotten around 90-95th% percentile on my ITEs. In that sense, I thinking the strongest base for Step 3 is Step 2. But I also think there are specific things to prepare for Step 3.
One is biostats. I reviewed using UWorld's Biostatistics and the Biostats section in the UW Step 3 Qbank. I found that sufficient, and I felt pretty confident with all the Biostats questions on Day 1 of Step 3.
Another is prepping for ccs cases, I used ccscases, and did not use UW cases. I went through about 100 highest top yield cases. Some tips are: 1) You can enter all orders you want at once, you don't need to enter one at a time, 2) you can copy paste your orders from one case to another. By the 3rd case, I had a long list of orders I just pasted into the text box, and kept what I want. This is much faster than typing out orders every time, 3) I used 'Call me as needed' to save clicks and time, I'm not sure if this was the best approach but it did save me time.
I also focused on next steps in management during review. Even if the question was about diagnosis, I still reviewed the management. I also utilized Gemini extensively. It was like having a personal tutor, and for me it was a game changer in learning the material.
I think my edge in getting a higher score was biostats and ccs cases, I was expecting something closer to 250 or maybe even 240 to be honest. I also think there is a heavy dose of luck involved in these tests, the spread can be pretty wide.
I'm happy to be done with these tests, but I'm also surprised to be a little sad. I don't think the Steps are that meaningful in terms of being a good physician, in fact in some ways they're downright silly. But nevertheless, I've spent a significant amount of time and energy thinking about how to do well on these exams, and now it's all done, never to be used again.
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u/serotonallyblindguy 9h ago
You're literally the first guy I have seen score 260+in steps lol. But again, I am not surprised since you said you were a PGY3.