The two most important resources for passing the Step 2 CS

If you disrespect any of the step exams you will fall short and fail the exam. The most important thing for these exams is to prepare in the right manner. My focus for now will be on the CS examination. I will give you the two basic resources to pass the CS exam.

The first thing use is the right book. There are a few books out there. The two most commonly used books used are the Kaplan CS and the First Aide Cs books. I used first Aide to study.

I found First aide to be more than sufficient as a resource. It is divided in a way that covers all the necessary aspects of the exam. If you use First Aide in the right way you should have all the knowledge needed to pass the examination. If you are interested in me writing about how to use first aide let me know in the comments or via email. 

The second most important thing for the exam is… Guess. If you said fish and chips you are wrong. Lol. Just kidding. It is having a LIVE practice partner. The key word is live. You want to run through the whole clinical encounter, from taking history to doing the physical examination, as realistically as possible.

This is where I went wrong. I studied on my own and did not give this exam the respect it deserved, as a result I failed my first attempt. I rectified this and got multiple LIVE partners. I would drive for miles just to make sure I had someone to practice with. On a few occasions, I would drive to a friends place early in the morning, and wake him up to practice. I had to make the effort to practice. If I did not put in the effort, I would not have a practice partner regularly, and if this resulted in another fail I would have only myself to blame.

During my second attempt at the CS, it was difficult to find a consistent study partner. This is the case for most people, and might also be the case for you as well. I had to be creative. I used multiply people to practice. I worked with some for only one day. Luckily for me, I had multiple friends around. All that was necessary was to make the effort to go to them. I did this. 

Finding a book to use is easy, finding a consistent partner is hard. Knowing this I started to help others by serving as their practice partner. I first worked with friends and then with other people as a practice partner. I share with them what worked for me in passing the exam and helped them prepare in the right way. If you are interested call the number in my bio.

Good luck. Crush that step!