Alhamdulillah,I have managed to pass finally......feel so great.I have been a regular but silent visiter of forum,I failed last year(bad preparation and wrong advice of some of my friends) and changed my id as I was ashamed.I passed this CS in 2nd time.I am from Cairo and have good step 1 and ck scores,but last year I fail in cis+spoken english.I prepared long time for this time,2 and half months.As i can't take another chance on this test.After exam last time I knew I will have failed,but this time my feeling was better after the exams.


My main source is the First Aid(few cases)+UWorld(gold standard)and I took 1 course with Dr Puma(21 days) which was terrific for me(www.drpuma dot net,just google ''dr puma usmle'' .Dr Puma taught me how to approach this exam,as after my first failure,I was shocked and scared too much .He is a very postive person and motivated me.I am grateful to him for his efforts with me.In addition i saw many videos on youtube and free videos on drpuma's website and i did cases on skype with 4 partners,thanks to dr A,J,W,H.(i can't take the names,but am sure thet know when they read this posting.)

I could not find live partner so I did the exams on my husband,he is not a dr .and i practiced 3 cases daily on skype,I also practiced 30 or more patient notes according to the samples give by dr puma and the corrections he made were very helpful to me.I got good score on all,SEP was bit low,but i dont worry as I passed.Thanks to Allah.All in all I will say practise at least 2 times all cases in FA+uw and follow a good protocol.Know what is your weakness points,go and then correct them.

In nutshell:-
do prepare for 3-4 weeks,dont take it lightly,get professional coaching,follow UW orFA(both if time permits).Record you cases so that you can see if you are fluent.Do 4-5 cases on skype with friends,be very good in PN typing(Dr Puma helped in thiss too),make list of all common dd and lab tests.And don't lose hope.

Now I am applying this match in september,people please wish me luck,thanks to all friends i make on this great forum.To people who fail this exam,don't lose hope ,be brave and take this exam with best preparation again.
edited by RiRi39633134 on 8/18/2011

Hi All,
I just got my CS result and passed! This forum had some very useful exam tips that really helped. For those interested in knowing what I did:
1) I used first aid and uworld only- Give yourself enough time to prepare. Uworld has good exam vidoes, and helps you with examples of how to phrase questions with non-medical terms. First aid is quite comprehensive, and know that for each case, you will not necessarily ask all the questions first aid lists. You have to leran to tailor (focus) your questions to the differentials you are thinking of. This brings me to my next poit.
2) Form the habit of thinking up a list of differentials once you have a sypmtom. Not in isolation, but in relation to gender, age, and even race. With a list of differentials, you will then know which question you want to ask to rule in/out various diagnosis.This will also help you know which sytems you need to examine.
3) It is important to manage time!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough, and practice makes perfect.
when typing patient notes, please start with writing out your diffs, and inv, then exam findings and last, HPI, etc. be sure that your PE findings and HPI support your differentials and inv (which should be in order of likelihood)
4)If you have absolutely no idea what is wrong with patient and your clerking seems to be getting nowhere, relax, and just ask routine questions, using PAMHUGSFOSS, or any other thing that works for you.
5) you may feels you did badly in an encounter. Drop it once you leave that station, so your next performance is not adversely affected.
6) it is important that the SP understands you. I am an IMG, I speak fast and have an accent even though I think I speak English fluently. So practice with native speakers, especially with common words you will likely use in the exam. example you would be amazed that the way you pronounce say "sputum" will not be understood by native speakers.
7) if all else fails, you must practice pleasant bedside manners. addres SP by name, use transition sentences, show sympathy/assist patient, ask permission to examine, WASH HANDS, and DO NOT forget to summarize and counsel.Observe everything the SP does (did they yawn?, seem in severe pain? anxious? excited? etc), and enquire even if it seems unrelated to what you are thinking as a diagnosis.
8) Above all know thyself before going for this exam, and trust GOD.

Cheers All.

Good day, guys! I just received my results and I passed! I have to say the time of waiting was the hardest time..) I prepared with Dr Puma course. I took 6 days course. It was 2 weeks before my exam. I tried many courses (online mostly because I could not fly anywhere for life courses) and I was not satisfied. I felt like that teachers/coachers they did not care about me. I do not want to give names of such courses to avoid any problems. But I can say that Dr Puma is an amazing teacher and person. He tought me online, 2 hours each day, all his attention was with me. He explained me how to approach the exam. And honestly I am very grateful to him. If my post will help to anybody I will be very happy as I found information about him on forum myself. All the best!!!
edited by tatiana8 on 4/24/2013