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Step 3 is known to be the easiest USMLE you will ever take. But, that does not mean you shouldn’t study for it. Because although it may be “easy”, it is still a long exam consisting of two days (7 hours & 9 hours). And for many, this exam will be taken during residency which means finding ways to study and making sure you’re ready for exam day.

Dedicated study period:

So as I’ve mentioned, many will not have a dedicated study period because they will be working and simply do not have weeks/months of free time to solely study for Step 3. I know many residents who would try to do UWorld whenever they had some down time or they would make it a routine to get 1 block of questions done each day. This doesn’t seem like a lot when we compare it to Step 1/Step 2, but these blocks do add up. And it is also important to remember that during residency you will be learning a lot on a day-to-day basis.

So why have this section then? I’ve included this section for IMGs, such as myself, who have finished medical school and have a few months before starting residency. For incoming interns who want to get the exam out of the way or feel that they may need a dedicated study period for this exam.

I spent about 2 months studying. But, these two months were not full blown studying like what I did for Step 1. I would study for a few hours every day and spent the rest of the day doing other things. There were days when I would study more and then days when I felt so out of it that I put everything aside and focused on myself. So, if you are planning on studying for this exam during your free time, do not think you need to be studying for 8 hours everyday.

Resources:

UWorld: It’s pretty clear at this point in our journey that UWorld is gold for USMLE. I purchased the package that came with the Step 3 QBank, CCS Cases, Biostatistics Review, & UWSAs. Although I didn’t use the CCS Cases from UW, everything else was worth completing. I decided to do one round of UW. Although I initially wanted to go through my incorrects, I decided to focus on the practice exams once I was done with round 1.

NBME: There is only one NBME available at the moment for Step 3 but it’s worth purchasing. As I always say, practice exams will help you gauge you performance and there’s always information on there that is not present in UW.

Free 120: It’s free. It’s straightforward. And it’s a great resource to use during the last few days before exam day.

Randy Neil Biostats Review: His videos are available on YouTube and I cannot express how useful they were! As someone who has always struggled with biostats, this was the best biostats review I’ve came across. His videos are short & concise but he also explains everything in a simple way. I felt confident solving the biostatistics questions on test day and did not have any doubts with my answers.

CCS Cases: I used http://www.ccscases.com to practice the sim cases. These are so much better than UW cases because they offer better feedback and also a score. The other benefit of practicing with these is that it shows what cases are high yield in case you are on a time crunch!

Overall experience:

The exam was not bad overall but there were definitely questions that threw me off. Day one had a lot of mechanism of action type questions and you also need to know your biostats. Day 2 was much easier in comparison because the blocks were shorter and the CCS Cases go by super quick! Do keep in mind that when doing the cases, if you are putting in the correct orders, the case will end sooner. So, do not panic if this happens with you. I personally had a couple 20 minute cases that ended in 5-8 minutes.

The last thing I want to mention is that it is a long day. Be prepared with snacks & water/coffee/energy drinks. And know when to take your breaks! And if you are anything like me and hate long exams, you will be better off taking a break after each section (believe me, it will keep your brain more refreshed instead of feeling drained).