Hi guys,
Today I got my result. I passed...I feel so relieved and happy now. I am very much thankful to UWorld, to my forum friends and of course my husband. I am an IMG, I studied for 5 weeks. My study plan in details: 1st week I studied history-taking from 1st aid and Kaplan complex cases, physical exam from Kaplan complex cases and all the mini cases from first aid. The physical exam part is missing in first aid, so I would recommend using Kaplan. In the 2nd week I did all the long cases thoroughly from first-aid, this is 'the' most helpful book in step 2 CS, i also went through all the cases from U world. The differentials given in UW are super handy and helpful, you remember them easily during the exam. In the 3rd, 4th and 5th week till 2 days before exam, I studied with a partner. This was super helpful, the more you practice, the more u become fluent in you speaking as well as in your PE. All my encounters with my study partner were timed, we generally sticked to 13min instead of 15 min as you will definitely lose time during actual exam due to tension. We practiced mainly the long cases of first aid and some of UW cases. We completed the long cases almost thrice from 1st-aid. In the final week of my prep we started discussing on the first-aid mini cases. We alternately would be SP and physician in all our encounters and would mark our mistakes, asked challenging questions and did counseling. Now coming to the PE, PRACTICE with a live partner. My husband became my SP, this part is also important as you can figure out the actual time you spend in performing PE and how fast you can do it perfectly in the actual exam. Now coming to the patient note....PRACTICE till you are able to type it in 9min (in the exam u get only 10min.)
Now coming to the actual exam....the exam is a little bit scary for IMGs as we do not speak fluent English but if you practice enough, you will be able to ace your fear. I did it so can you. Good luck to you all.