The next stage

Well, I've finished my internship (the remainder of this month is vacation time).
It's been a tough year but I made it.
Internship in the US was defintely a lot harder than the one I did in the UK. Although, it was probably the most exhausting year of my life so far, I feel proud that I got through it.
I feel that I learnt a lot about managing common medical conditions and about medical ethics in the ICU setting.
I made some wonderful friends, which is probably what I will remember most about this year.
I am finally going to start my anesthesia training. It feels as though I have been waiting for this moment for years.

Let the next stage begin.

Residency news

I've been working now for about 3 weeks. So far, it's been a lot of fun. It feels great to be working again after my break from clinical medicine.
One of the major differences that I've noticed so far between hospital medicine in the US versus the UK is how much quicker stuff gets done here(CTs, Ultrasounds, Consults, Endoscopies etc.)
The amount of teaching is also vastly greater here. We get 2 hours per day (morning report and noon conference).
However, work hours are significantly greater than in the UK, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to adjust to this.
That's all I can come up with for now.
Good luck to all those preparing for the USMLEs and the upcoming Match.
Regards,
Brumdoc

Match Week 2006

This is definitely an exciting week.
Anyone else waiting for the big news on Thursday?
Brumdoc

Any more useful links?

Thanks AW for the great Opthalmology and Dermatology links.
If anyone knows about any other useful websites that I could add to the links section, please let me know so that I can add them on.
Thanks,
brumdoc

The end of my USMLE journey ( I think)

Well I finally sat Step 3 (I should get the results in about 3 weeks).

This has got to be the longest exam in the world- 16 hours spread over 2 days! Even though I wasn't properly prepared, I can't help but feel immensely relaxed and happy now that it's over. I'm hoping that I'll pass, but am not expecting a stellar score since I basically didn't study very hard.

I used:
- Boards and Wards
- Crush Step 3
- did some of the USMLEWorld mcq's
- read roughly half the USMLEWorld CCS cases
- did the NBME practice exam

Will post my score when I get it, and hopefully won't have to do another USMLE for the rest of my life!

The 2006 Match

Well, I finally submitted my application through ERAS on the 18th, 19th and 21st of September (a tedious and time consuming experience).
I now seem to have developed OCD since I can't stop checking the ADTS system to see which programs have dowloaded my application!
So far no invites or rejections, but I do have 4 letters of 'acknowledgment'.
It kind of feels like when I was applying to Med School through UCAS.
I guess I'll just have to patiently wait to see what happens.

Any other UK medics in this year's match?

Preparation material for Step 3

I've started looking into studying for Step 3. Books/material that have been highly recommended are as follows:

-Strong Medicine for Step 3
-Crush Step 3
-Kaplan Q Book for Step 3
-NMS Question book
-Kaplan Q Bank
-USMLEWorld Question bank

Anyone know of any other useful material?