Can I take MCCQE1 during residency?

[StressyAndDepressy]

Hi team, I'm a graduating 4th year CMG. I planned on taking my MCCQE1 before graduating, but I don't feel anywhere near ready and was hoping to postpone the exam to August. Was wondering if anyone had experience with taking their MCCQE1 during residency, and if there are any consequences for me? I've heard that I won't be able to sign orders on my own if I don't take the MCCQE before residency. Is that true? Would I still need a co-signature from staff/fellow residents? Thanks so much!

[Snowmen]

You can but I wouldn't recommend it since you won't have more time to prepare once in residency (quite the opposite in fact). You don't need the MCCQE1 to be able to prescribe independently though.

Another thing to consider is that it's a dumb exam which you can't really feel prepared for because of how dumb it is. Also, most CMGs easily pass on their first try.

[StressyAndDepressy]

Thanks Snowmen! I’m scheduled to take it in 13 days and I haven’t studied as much as I’d like. Just completely overwhelmed.

If I take it in mid-August with lots of time in June to prep for it, do you think it’s doable? I have the entirety of June off. July will probably be tough with residency starting, but I can always do a few of the MCC practice exams when I can that month.

[frenchpress]

5 minutes ago, StressyAndDepressy said:

Thanks Snowmen! I’m scheduled to take it in 13 days and I haven’t studied as much as I’d like. Just completely overwhelmed.

If I take it in mid-August with lots of time in June to prep for it, do you think it’s doable? I have the entirety of June off. July will probably be tough with residency starting, but I can always do a few of the MCC practice exams when I can that month.

I found the first few months of residency almost totally overwhelming, as did many of my peers. I would have found studying then nearly impossible, and having the exam hanging over my head would have been miserable. 

I only studied for part 1 in a dedicated way for about 10 days, and retrospect what I did was overkill. Snowmen is right that most CMGs pass pretty easily. If I was in your situation I would just buckle down and focus on prepping for the next week and a half - you’ll probably be more than fine. 

[indefatigable]

Yeah I would also agree with the idea of doing it asap rather than later during residency.  I think having June off to move and get settled is a much better alternative than studying and having it hanging over your head.  

There are threads that discuss prepping - but usually people find doing some official practice material (exams or mcq/cases) and reviewing high yield areas like ethics to be all that's necessary.  

[jb24]

Just get it over with. If you passed medical school exams you will pass MCCQE1. I reviewed OB-Gyn (because I avoided it like the plague after 3rd year, so needed to spend some extra time brushing up on the big topics), Peds, and a tiny bit of testable IM/FM (ie. big topics like diabetes, hypertension, CKD etc).  Most of it is pretty basic clinical reasoning...If you survived on the wards you'll be fine. I used Toronto notes.

You just need to pass, so don't sweat it. But you'll pass, almost all CMG's pass.

Oh and do at least one practice test from them to get a feel for it.

[StressyAndDepressy]

Thank you so much friends! Alright, you all convinced me to just stick with it and enjoy the rest of my summer instead.

Final question though: would it be worth it to invest in UWorld at this point? Was going to wait to June to start doing them, but I guess I might as well do it now.

[Snowmen]

2 hours ago, StressyAndDepressy said:

Thank you so much friends! Alright, you all convinced me to just stick with it and enjoy the rest of my summer instead.

Final question though: would it be worth it to invest in UWorld at this point? Was going to wait to June to start doing them, but I guess I might as well do it now.

I think it would be a bit short notice to rely only on question banks. As others mentioned, I would review the high yield chapters in Toronto Notes like psychiatry, OB/GYN, pediatrics, public health and ethics. If you have some leftover time, Kaplan's prep book for internal medicine for the USMLE Step 2 CK is gold but honestly, surgery and internal medicine are just too large to cover in depth anyway.

Also, again as mentioned, the best prep for the MCCQE1 was medical school and especially clerkship.

[indefatigable]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:46 PM, StressyAndDepressy said:

Final question though: would it be worth it to invest in UWorld at this point? Was going to wait to June to start doing them, but I guess I might as well do it now.

UWorld is a good learning tool, but slightly tangential and overkill for MCCQE-1.  UWorld questions rely a lot more on lab and image interpretation and often emphasize connections with basic sciences which is not necessary for MCCQE1 (e.g. immunodeficiencies).  And even if you did all the UWorld Qbank, there will be curveball questions that aren't covered and aren't in Toronto Notes either.  I actually think Canadian schools "teach to the test" to some extent so reviewing any areas that you may be less comfortable with (but think you should know), plus doing (and reviewing) official practices is probably sufficient.  I also find ethics and public health more emphasized on MCCQE-1.  

[JohnGrisham]

On 4/8/2022 at 3:01 PM, StressyAndDepressy said:

Hi team, I'm a graduating 4th year CMG. I planned on taking my MCCQE1 before graduating, but I don't feel anywhere near ready and was hoping to postpone the exam to August. Was wondering if anyone had experience with taking their MCCQE1 during residency, and if there are any consequences for me? I've heard that I won't be able to sign orders on my own if I don't take the MCCQE before residency. Is that true? Would I still need a co-signature from staff/fellow residents? Thanks so much!

Just get it out of the way now. You still have lots of time until the exam, arent there sittings in June? Even if not, 13 days is still doable - its not like you havent come across the material before during 4 years of MD.  It is not a difficult exam, it is just a badly written exam. You will never feel ready. Just focus on the higher yield topics, cover your bases and do the official MCC practice exams and get it done with.

If you fail, you can just retake in residency...but dont plan on just NOT doing it now. Thats just delaying it for not a good reason, when you can make time for it now and most likely pass.