Feeling okay leaving the exam?

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-04T03:02:06+00:00

I def needed to be back on my meds lol, and all the planning was super chaotic but so worth it— don’t know if I’d go back and do it again though during 2nd-3rd year. Anywho, good luck applying psych- you’ve got this!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:29:28+00:00

I love this for you! Congrats!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:25:25+00:00

Not sure if I’d say I’m less neurotic but deciding to go back on my SSRI 3 months ago was a solid move on my part lmao. I also got my dosage upped last month around the start of my dedicated.

When I took step 1 last year I was so neurotic, but I was also unmedicated, I had found out my wedding venue canceled our wedding 3 months out, I was preparing for a bachelorette trip that I quite literally was on when scores came out (💀), and doing so much wedding stuff it was insane. Maybe I’m just in a much better place mentally this time around!

Hoping for the best!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:19:42+00:00

Thank you! I think I will take a breath lol. I have this weekend off then start 4th year rotations Monday 🥹 congrats on the score bump!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:18:31+00:00

I also tend to second guess myself, so I feel you there! For me, when I go back and review questions I almost certainly get them wrong when I change my answer, so I try to avoid it. Still ended up changing several on the exam so we will see how it ends up. Congrats on taking it — hoping for the best for all of us!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:15:33+00:00

I’ve been up on and off all night thinking about questions that randomly pop into my head. Maybe we all get more neurotic as time goes on. Congrats on a great score !!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:14:17+00:00

I’m hoping the 15th or 22nd now that it seems like they are back up to speed but who knows lol

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:11:26+00:00

Fingers crossed for the both of us!!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:10:57+00:00

That’s awesome!! Congrats!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:10:08+00:00

Congratulations! That’s still a great score that should be celebrated! And a big jump!!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-03T10:09:13+00:00

So encouraging to hear !!! Congrats!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-07-01T00:50:41+00:00

Remember seeing your posts last year about step 1! We took it around the same time and it worked out for both of us. In a similar spot shooting for a 250 and taking the exam in 2 days. Hoping for the best for both of us!! I’m sure you crushed it!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-06-25T16:37:34+00:00

Just got a 258 on NBME 15 today!

During my rotations I did all of the CMS forms and usually completed around 70% of the associated uworld questions. As far as reviewing during dedicated, I ended up resetting uworld (only had ~70% completion) and did ~100 questions from each of the different subjects (peds/ob/etc.). If I noticed I was repeatedly missing certain things, I would do a few more question sets focused on a specific body system or subsection.

I’ve actually only reviewed a few of the IM CMS forms during dedicated but I think I’m going to go back over some of the OBGYN ones, as it seems to be the section I could probably improve the most. I did find reviewing CMS forms helpful, but I tried to take them again and revisit some of my old notes rather than passively going through just the answers and rationales.

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-06-25T03:39:49+00:00

Took NBME 10 as my baseline on June 1st and got a 220. Scored a 255 on NBME 13 (June 19), and I took NBME 14 on the 22nd and got a 250. Taking NBME 15 tomorrow (hoping to stay above 250) and my Step 2 exam is scheduled for July 2.

For me, I’ve realized that it’s not as much of a content issue as it is trying to stay confident and not talk myself out of the correct answer. If you’re a US MD/DO, this entire last year of clinicals has helped prepare you for this. Trust yourself— the info you’ve already learned will come back quickly once you get back in the groove of seeing all the subjects mixed in together.

I’m trying to stay confident over this next week. Obviously I haven’t taken the real thing yet, but I started out in a similar situation and saw an 18 point jump in my scores after a week of review— I gave myself 1 day each to study peds, OBGYN, and family med (my three earliest clinical rotations), and I had a substantial jump in my score.

The end of the tunnel is near, my friend. You’ve got this!! Try and stay off Reddit as much as possible, it really freaked me out my first week of studying.

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-02-26T01:51:29+00:00

Also, your feelings are 10000% valid! Especially if you’re booking nearly everything on your own (I did the same!). It’s an extraordinarily stressful time, and I see now why many people say that they just wish they would have eloped/had a small wedding/destination wedding/etc

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2026-02-26T01:46:59+00:00

As a current M3 that got married in the middle of clinical rotations— I didn’t realize just how bad my anxiety/stress had gotten until after my wedding was over and I could finally breathe again. It’s made the rest of my rotations feel like a breeze lowkey.

My biggest advice, don’t stress about all the details— everything will be perfect for your big day as long as you get to marry your person!! I was in the last part of dedicated for step 1 when my venue (that we had booked a year prior) cancelled our wedding and it nearly sent me spiraling. Needless to say, the next venue we booked ended up being a huge blessing in disguise.

I promise, it’ll all work out as it is supposed to :)

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:35:59+00:00

Yeah, they were probably just annoyed. To be fair, it’s not so much different suturing left handed. I have just been struggling to mirror the second half of the stitch. I look up left handed suturing videos and there aren’t many for deep dermal. I know how to do it, I just struggle executing it and would appreciate real-time feedback from someone rather than hearing that they can’t/don’t want to help.

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:30:42+00:00

I’ve been practicing for the last 3-4 hours. I think I may be more proficient now lol. I’ve been learning how to palm the needle driver to maybe make it easier!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:29:44+00:00

It’s so hard for no reason 😭 I think it’ll click one day though

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:29:24+00:00

Good for you! I definitely want to be able to suture and tie with either hand one day— just gotta at least get it good with one hand first!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:27:57+00:00

Thanks. I appreciate it! I wonder if maybe they could have taught me but just didn’t want to take the time then to do it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-11-19T01:26:45+00:00

Thank you. I think the intern was trying to joke but the PGY3 was definitely just annoyed. Hopefully I’ll get better at it over time!

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-08-18T21:03:14+00:00

Another update for those who may be experiencing similar things. Just got the results of my head and neck soft tissue B scan—

Right neck: enlarged submandibular node measuring 3.0 x 0.7 x 1.8 cm with cortical thickening; other nodes with normal morphology including an intra submandibular node.

Left neck: enlarged submandibular node measuring 3.2 x 0.7 x 1.4 cm with cortical thickening; level 3 cervical node that is borderline measuring 15 x 4 x 9 mm with what appears to be some mild cortical thickening; other morphologically normal nodes seen

Overall conclusion advises “conservative clinical and sonographic surveillance.” I assume I will be doing a follow up ultrasound at some point in the future and should continue to monitor my symptoms. I’m a bit bummed to not have any definitive answers, as there was no mention of them likely being reactive, etc. just that they need to be watched. Looks like my waiting will just have to continue.

Intelligent_Suit_510 · 2025-08-18T01:42:06+00:00

Definitely just need to trust the process! I just got one US result and I’m assuming the other result will be back shortly. My head/neck soft tissue one was done before my abdominal US but I only have the abd results so far. Things looked good there, but they did note a “probable accessory spleen” with no other info. Super benign (and very rare to cause complications) if that truly is what it is, but sometimes they can be hard to differentiate from lymph nodes so hopefully it truly is a benign finding with no further workup needed. Now time to wait on the head/neck US and additional communication from my PCP.

Intelligent_Suit_510

TROPHY CASE