Finally Passed!!

So I've struggled with this exam for the past year. This was my 3rd attempt and I finally passed with a score of 210. (12 & 13 Aug) 1st attempt-196 2nd attempt- 195

Day 1 Filled with Biostats, Ethics, and Drug Ads, Micro & Pharmac questions.

Biostats- Mostly Theorotical questions. Learn all your Biases. I got 3-4 question on bias itself. Unfortunately I knew only the ones that were in first aid but these guys had options for the biases that some Extra-Terestrial creatures use. So try to learn all of them even the ones not in the First Aid. I only had 2 questions that needed calculation. I feel Uworld biostats and Randy Neil videos are enough.

Drug ads- "Didn't even bat an eye." Marked randomly and moved on. They are so lengthy that in previous attempts every time I tried to solve them it cost me atleast 5-6 questions in that block. I would recommend mark random options flag them and come back if you have time left.

Ethics- I prepared Ethics from Mehlman notes. It helped me a lot in the exam.

Micro- You need to know the structures of all bacteria and viruses.. cocci, baccili, gram +ve/-ve, aerobic/anaerobic, RNA,DNA, Single or double stranded.

Pharmac- Learn the Mechanism of Action, the receptor they act on. No question will give you straightforward name of the medication. Its always the mechanism of action.

I mostly concentrated on the clinical vignettes. The vignettes are lenghty, difficult, and after ruling out you'll be left with 2-3 options. I would say that try to follow your gut instinct and don't 2nd guess. If the options sound more like "Harry potter spells" try to mark the ones that you are most familiar with.

Overall Day 1 was really bad. For a lot of questions I was clueless about the diagnosis so there was no way I could rule out the options. The vignettes are lengthier than Uworld questions. I still feel like there's nothing I could've done more to prepare for Day 1.

I felt like I would fail again and it really broke my will to fight for the exam. I felt like giving up. But still I tried to study for the next day.

Day 2 The question stem were shorter. 30 questions each block with 45 mins on the clock. Day 2 was High on Prognosis, Next best step in Management, a few risk factor questions and a lot of Pediatrics. I was able to understand what the vignette was asking but still options were too confusing. Felt like any of them could've been the right answer. Again I would like stress on "GO WITH YOUR GUT INSTINCT" Somehow made it through the MCQs.

"THE BEST RESOURCE FOR DAY 2 IS DIP" This guy drops a lot of knowledge that would help you sail through Day 2. I also did Mehlman's risk factor pdf. And all the Dr. High Yield Videos.

CCS cases were doable. This is the only part of the exam that you have full control over. I just did the top high yield 80 cases made some notes. And came to notice that some systems included the same pattern of tests that needed to be ordered. All the steps have trained us enough to know the treatment. Address each risk factor with Preventive measures and screening. Approaching CCS cases with Mnemonics would help you a lot to quickly solve them. For eg: "MONA C BASH" for MI Tx. I had a lot of time left after each CCS case.

I had 1 case where I flunked and didn't know what the patient had as every test turned out to be negative and the time ran out. So I didn't gave any treatment. Just ordered screening tests and preventive measures. As this was my 1st case it scared me to death, but still somhow I pulled through and tried to do my best in each case. After that I sailed through the rest of the exam.

Overall even after day 2 I wasn't sure if I'd pass but to my surprise I did.

Just trust yourself, study the materials, show up to the exam and give your best. Don't overthink about it and leave the rest to the Universe. You're a freaking Doctor! That's enough evidence that you have brains and skills to pass the exam.

Those who want to know what changes I made in my 3rd attempt here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Step3/s/OOsn0urfog