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It's day one of Step 3.
I'm just about to head out.
First, packing my bag.
So, of course wallet, headphones, in case I want to listening to something during the
break, wet wipes, several earplugs, Clif Bar, Protein Bar, some cuties, banana, utensils
and then a lunch as well.
You got to make sure you eat enough during these things.
Your brain's burning through a lot of energy as you are doing this test for, you know,
whatever, seven, eight, nine hours.
So, always better to pack a little extra food than not enough.
So, I just got here to Prometric.
Dropped the kids off, if you know what I mean.
Got a little checked in and I'm about to head in and start Step 3 day one.
Let's go!
Block one is done.
Taking my first break.
Downed the cliff bar, having some water, using the bathroom.
Going to head back in, I don't want to waste too much break time early on in the day.
[Music]
Break two.
Break three.
Break four.
Break five.
[Music]
And that's it for day one.
So, I ended up going straight to the gym right after the test.
A great way to decompress and also get myself tired so that I can sleep well tonight.
It's the end of day one.
I actually ended up going straight to the gym right after finishing at the Prometric
Testing Center.
I figured, if I came back home I'd be too tired to go to the gym afterwards, so went
straight, got dinner, came home.
I've just been relaxing.
Again, between test days I'm not trying to stress myself out by studying more.
Trying to let my brain just decompress, recharge and then do the same thing tomorrow.
[Music]
Day two.
More or the same.
Break one.
Day two, break two.
Break three.
Break four.
Break five, last one.
I can feel my focus waning in these last few blocks.
So, I am going to take a longer break and go for a brief walk around the building.
Let my mind reset.
That's it for day two.
This is like a marathon.
I'm really excited to be done tomorrow.
Yeah, so end of day two and I can feel my brain getting a little bit less focused towards
the end of the day.
I think it's usually best for me to try to stay active, so I got a quick home workout
and healthy foods.
So, I'm not you know, I'm not going to celebrate yet.
So, as for my recommendations, if you do have a test that's multiple days or if you're just
day before the test, generally speaking, you want to get to bed earlier than you normally
would.
What I'm making sure that I do is getting plenty of rest.
So, I'm sleeping you know, seven, eight hours every night.
I'm giving myself plenty of time to get there in the morning and to pack my food and things
like that.
And, yeah, not doing anything too crazy, not like coming home and studying really intensely.
Just relaxing, eating, talking to some friends, working out, nothing too crazy.
Anyways, I need to start winding it down because it's getting close to my bedtime.
So, I'll see you guys tomorrow for day three.
Day three, home stretch, almost done.
I'm really juiced to get this over with.
Let's get going.
Day three, break one.
Day three, break two.
[Music]
And we're done!
[Laughter] So, that's it, officially done with Step 3... and It feels really good.
Now, what I want you guys to take away from this, first of all, Step 3 is not nearly as
important or as difficult as step 1 or Step 2.
So, the way I handled this may have been a little bit more relaxed than how I normally
would have handled it.
Normally, it's a two-day test where you do - I think eight hours the first day and nine
hours the second day.
But because of my Crohn's, I request additional break time because I'm more likely to need
to use the bathroom.
They give me more break time but then it doesn't fit into two days, so then they split it out
over three.
So, I actually took Step 3 over three days.
Wednesday, Thursday and now Friday.
Overall, not too bad.
The first two days were multiple-choice questions and then this last day was a series of cases,
where you actually get presented a patient and then you put in virtual orders, get virtual
results and you walk through it like that.
And that actually went a lot quicker than I was expecting.
So, anyways, I finished really early.
I'm excited, I'm done, it's a winter break now.
Life is good.
Life is great.
So, the main things when it comes to taking standardized tests is number one, make sure
you get rest.
Get adequate, good, high-quality sleep before each test day.
Don't be studying, you know, late into the night the night before that.
It's just going to stress you out.
How much are you really gonna learn in that period of time versus how important is it
for you to be relaxed and in a healthy state of mind, so that when you take the test you
can think critically and put your best foot forward.
So, that is key... don't spend too much time studying.
Make sure you are in a good healthy mental state.
In the mornings, I always like to go with a smoothie.
I pack in a lot of calories like 800, 900 calories.
These are pretty large smoothies.
Not for everyone but whatever you eat make sure it's not too heavy, it's not going to
keep you running to the bathroom.
Make sure it has a good amount of carbs on it.
You know, keeps your brain going while you're concentrating for prolonged periods of time.
And then also get snacks.
And at each break, I would always eat a little bit, use the bathroom and that was my way
of maintaining a more steady state, whereas if I wait until I get hungry, then I'll be
hungry and crashing during the block.
So, I try to snack a little bit at every break and I use the bathroom at every break as well.
How do I think it went?
I have no idea.
This test was a little bit easier than Step 1 and Step 2.
It's also a lot longer and to be honest, I didn't study that much because Step 1 and
Step 2, while they are very important to where you land up in residency, Step 3 doesn't really
matter because you're already in residency, your fellowships don't really care, your future
job prospects don't really care.
So, it's more important to do well on your in-service exams but as for Step 3, it doesn't
really matter.
So, you just need a pass.
I'm feeling great.
So, how am I going to celebrate finishing?
Well, it's pretty early today, so I'm going to eat lunch, hit the gym, hang out with some
friends tonight, I fly back home tomorrow morning.
And I'm just gonna enjoy time with family and friends.
Simple as that.
What test do you guys have coming up?
We've already made the MCAT video series on the Med School Insider's page.
We're gonna continue to update that and step one is gonna be coming out soon as well.
So, let me know what tests you guys are taking in the near future.
If you liked the video, make sure you press that like button.
Hit subscribe if you haven't already, and I'll see you guys in that next one!
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