USMLE STEP 3 EXPERIENCE

I am a resident who took Step 3 towards the end of intern year. I took a rather unusual course to actualize my residency dreams as I did USMLE Step CS first around July 2008 and I was about to max out on the seven limit to pass all USMLE steps that most state medical Boards stipulate. I decided to schedule my Step 3 exam in June 2015 so as to beat the looming deadline.
As an intern,I was rather busy and the time to study was not there as there was a ton of stuff to do clinical wise and preparing for didactics. I was given 5 days vacation to finalize my reading and during those 5 days I read like my life gonna to end.

Prior Step Scores
UW cumulative 56%
USMLE Self assessment 204
Real deal 217

Study
- UWorld Qbank: I was only able to go through the entire questions once and I was not able to go over the questions that I got wrong. My average cumulative was 56% which made me a bit concerned as I was aiming for 60% so as to be on the safe side.
- UWorld CCS Cases: Did about 10 cases in earnest and read the answers to the OB/Gyn and Peds cases the day before the test
- MTB Step 3: Read most of this focusing on OB/Gyn, Peds, Surg the week before the test
-I did USMLE world self assessment test about three weeks before my test and I scored 204 which was relieve that I passed but I was till worried about the low score

Things I did not do
- I did not do NBME or Kaplan questions


Step 3 Score: 217

Yes, my score went up significantly from my USMLE Self assessment test. 

My advice for test takers - Your money is on doing the CCS cases and going through MTB's suggestions so you are thorough on the cases and ordering the little things you take for granted. Ie. NPO before surgery, IV placement before giving fluids, COUNSELING, etc.

If you are doing residency try to study on slower rotations or do some cases/questions gradually on hard rotations.

What I wish I knew before
- Focus on studying the areas you are weaker on and learning the format of the CCS portion of the test.
- The CCS cases portion of this test is only 20-30% of your total score which is a huge chunk thus if you fail the CCS part then you fail all of Step 3. The USMLE CCS cases and the cases on USMLE website has most of what you need to pass and If you want to overkill the CCS,the Archer can also help.
- SKIP the stupid drug abstract questions as they are so time consuming and come back to them at the end of the block with remaining time. to ensure you retain your sanity
- Separate your two test days by up to a week, so that you can take some time to nail the CSS portion.

I am glad to be done with USMLE Steps

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN FINALLY PASSES AWAY

Finally the long drawn out health saga regarding Bobbi Kristina Brown, the 22-year-old daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston ended today as she has passed away after her long stay in a Hospice.

The family was said to have allowed nature to take its course which must have been a very tough decision to take after all the initial tests have revealed that there is no hope for survival as she has developed extensive brain damage. 
A Houston family representative said in a statement ' Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away Sunday July,26 2015,surrounded by her family,'' the statement said. ''She is finally at peace in the arms of God.We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months.'' May her soul rest in peace.

BRIDE FAILED TO SHOW UP AT WEDDING

Confusion As Bride Shuns Wedding Ceremony in Lagos.

**Groom waiting in vain in the Ado Ekiti church with relatives and friends.

It was confusion yesterday at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Okesa, Ado Ekiti as a bride refused to turn-up for her wedding ceremony. The groom, his friends and relatives waited in vain for the arrival of the bride until they found out that she was not coming.

The infuriated groom and his friends were said to have visited their anger on the lady’s residence in the capital city. Sources said indications that something was wrong first emerged when the Cathedral Administrator, who had gone out earlier in the morning got back to his residence at the time the wedding was to take place, changed his clothes and went out again.

“Then we knew that something was wrong and people had been coming here since around noon and we have been telling them that the wedding has been postponed,” the source said.

According to the source, the problem, which could not be identified had to do with the bride, adding, “only that we suspect that it must be a family issue as we gathered that the lady’s parents are dead.”

Another source said the lady, an indigene of Ado Ekiti, had already been living with a man, who she had been saying was her relation. Unconfirmed sources also said the matter was taken to the palace of the Ado Ekiti monarch, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, for intervention.

INCONSISTENCIES IN THE STORY OF SAMBO DASUKI AND SSS

Matters Arising From The Different Press Statements by Sambo Dasuki & The DSS.

Two sides to a story:

This is what is left of Sambo Dasuki's Asokoro residence after the siege by the DSS.

In a Press Statement by Sambo Dasuki the embattled ex-NSA, 9 cars, 3 rifles and $40,000 USD was confiscated by the DSS operatives who stormed his house in Asokoro, Gestapo style.
The SSS has also put out a Press Statement. In their submission 12 exotic cars out of which 5 are bullet proof, 7 high calibre assault rifles, military vests, gears with several incriminating evidence were recovered from Sambo Dasuki's house in Asokoro. 
Naijaman feel that there is a lot of inconsistencies in the story peddled by both sides:

1) $40,000 mentioned by Sambo Dasuki in his press statement was curiously missing from that of the SSS? Does it mean that the money has been appropriated by the goons from SSS or is Sambo Dasuki lying.

2) Sambo Dasuki said 9 cars were taken away from his house while the SSS said they removed 12 exotic cars, 5 of which are bulletproof. Is it that Sambo Dasuki does not know the number of cars he has or did the SSS in its magnanimity elected to bequeath him extra vehicles? 

3) Sambo Dasuki said they took 3 rifles from his house whereas the DSS said that they recovered 7 high calibre assault rifles from Sambo's house. 

Naijamans take regarding all this brouhaha is that ,if security operatives comes to your house with a search warrant, by law they are supposed to conduct the search in your presence. Before they remove any incriminating evidence from your house, they must itemise the item(s) and both party must sign that these item (s) were taken away from your property. 

So why are there two different manifests of the items seized from Sambo Dasuki's Asokoro residence by the SSS? Didn't they follow simple procedure and agreed convention for conducting and executing a search warrant? 

Sambo Dasuki and the DSS operatives who carried out the search on his property should please compare notes and reconcile their discrepancies! They ought to be on the same page in order not to be seen as attempting to obstruct justice! 

PRESIDENT BUHARI ARRIVES IN THE US

President Buhari arrives in the US ahead of his talks with the US authorities. See more pics below

FIGHTING BOKO HARAM WITH MEDIEVAL METHODOLOGY

With Boko Haram using innocent kids as suicide bombers in the northern part of Nigeria, sight like this though understandable is a rather painful reminder how Nigerians have allowed religion to be used as a weapon of destruction. The Northern elites should be held accountable for how they have used Islam as a political tool and their lack of tolerance for other faiths to lead us to this uneccessary quagmire.

The question that baffles Naijaman’s mind is that what if the kid was strapped with a bomb? Won't the Security personnel frisking the little dude with her hand be blown to oblivion?  As we start of this new regime in power, its time to ask what was done with all the billions of dollars that was expended under the name of security.

It appears that all the money expended on bomb detectors and detonators were all siphoned off to the pocket of the ruling rogue elites.

BOKO HARAM,THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Northern governors should hide their heads in shame because of what is happening in the north. 
They thought that they could use Boko Haram to cripple the then government of Jonathan because they thought it was their inalienable right to continue to rule over the rest of Nigeria despite the fact that, they have de-industrialized and pauperized their states. Emphasis was placed on using Islam as a tool to cripple the minds of their people who is mostly gullible. Sharia law was imposed as a sort of opium to keep the average northerner to believe in the fathom utopia that religion was supposed to offer while the few rogue elites with their friend in power continued to plunder the north to the detriment of the masses. Its rather weird that the average northern elite will send their kids to the best schools both in Nigeria and abroad while they try to cripple the rest of the masses with the fact that all will be well so long as they attend Islamic schools and wreck religious havoc at the slightest provocation. It was the norm in the north that if there are religious riots,properties and churches are destroyed with the slightest whim while the northern elites looked the other way.