Rutwik Shah USMLE Step 3 Experience
Got my Step 3 results last week. Passed with a score of 229. Satisfied with my score and would like
to thank everyone on this forum.
Preparation time- 3.5 months.
Study material- Uworld Qbank (was scoring 65%), Uworld CCS, MTB3, Archer videos, Crush CCS,
Kaplan Qbank (50%)
Mock tests- UWSA I- 198, UWSA II- 210, NBME 5- 490. Both UWSA underpredicted my scores, the
same thing happened during Step 2 CK.
Exam days- I spaced out the two test days by 12 days and would recommend having at least one
week in between the two days. I had to space out my dates because of work but this way I focused
on CCS prep mainly in the days in between.
Day 1- Like everyone has mentioned, lots of Step 1 style questions for Pharma Mech of Action and
Microbiology. Got only a couple of drug related questions. Biostats questions were conceptual
and didn’t have to do calculations. Most of the clinical questions and ethics questions were
straight forward.
Day 2- Got a lot of prognosis related questions which I wasn’t sure of. This is one area not covered
well in Uworld but would advise everyone to read up on key factors affecting patient outcomes.
Other clinical questions were fairly simple.
CCS cases were a mixed bag. I was able to finish the 20 min cases ahead of time but couldn’t do
finish some of the 10 min cases well on time. Please practice more 10 min cases. The exam
software is slightly slow compared to the one on Uworld so that’s something to keep in mind.
Overall impression: Passing on Step 3 is not difficult, if you have studied well for CK. Advisable to
take it soon after taking CK. Spend time practicing CCS well, do not neglect that part. This will
improve your score if you don’t do the other section well.
Three key differences between CK and Step 3 are: 1. Conceptual biostats questions. 2. Prognosis
and outcome questions 3. Some Step 1 style questions for Microbio and Pharm. Make sure to
read through these topics before the exam.
Good luck to everyone for Step 3 and the Match!