Live CS Intensive Training

Live In-Person CS Training In Chicago, IL (Only $2497)

This Program Is Right For You If You Want In-Person Step 2 CS Prep With One Of Our Physicians!

What Is It?

Our Step 2 CS Intensive Training is designed to provide you with everything you’ll need to know to successfully navigate the USMLE Step 2 CS exam. When Dr. Paul & Dr. Stavros sat down to create the curriculum for the live in-person 3-day program, their sole goal was to create the best USMLE Step 2 CS prep program possible, and with their combined 20 years of training students for their Step 2 CS exams, they’ve accomplished that goal. The program includes three components: 1) A Pre-Program online training program (self-paced) that will introduce you to everything you’ll need to know prior to day 1 of class, and 2) 3 Days of Live, In-Person CS Training, and 3) 2 live-online 3 & 4-case assessment exam to gauge your readiness. You will take these virtually (online) and will book them on the final day of your live in-person class. The combination of pre-program self-paced training, the 3-day live intensive training, and the 2 follow-up virtual mock exams will ensure that you’re 100% prepared for your exam in as little time as possible. Additionally, going through our online pre-program training protocol will ensure that you get the most out of your time with us live in-person.

The goal of the “pre-program online CS training” is as follows: 1) Expose you to all of the foundational principles that you MUST know in order to successfully navigate the USMLE Step 2 CS exam. These foundational principles will be thoroughly explored during the pre-program component and reinforced with a variety of exams & quizzes. The following components are discussed at length during the pre-program online training component: 1) Mastering the ICE (exploring every sub-component that gets you points for the ICE component), 2) Mastering the CIS (exploring every sub-component that gets you points for the CIS component), 3) Patient Note Mastery (exploring the ins-and-outs of the patient note, what makes a good/bad patient note, and how to effectively create a strong note), 4) Sample cases (Dr. Paul walks you through a variety of sample cases so you know what strong encounters should look like prior to starting your live program), 5) Physical exams (Dr. Paul walks you through all of the physical exams you need to know & master in order to successfully navigate the PE portion of your exam). Ultimately, the goal of this 1st component is to ensure that when you arrive at our center on day 1 that you’re already a very strong student and only need to be fine-tuned.

The goal of our “Live In-Person CS Training” is as follows: To further build on the foundational principles that you learned and mastered during the pre-program online component and to sharpen & fine-tune your CS skills. The 3-day intensive training will ensure that there is not a single situation, circumstance, or challenge that you won’t be ready to tackle. We’ll continue to perfect each component of your encounter (entrance, interview, physical exam, & closure). We’ll work to sharpen and perfect your patient note writing skills, differential diagnoses, and overall patient note quality. By the end of day 3, you will be ready to take your exam.

When Should You Take Your Exam Following Completion of Our Program? The way we’ve setup this program (pre-program and program training), we’ll have you ready to take your exam by the end of our 3rd day together. As long as you follow the program protocol (ie. Do the pre-program training, attend the in-person training), you’ll have been exposed to everything you need to be ready to write your exam right away. It is highly recommended, however, that you book your exam at least 1 week out from the live in-person training so that you can fit in both of your virtual assessment mock exams.

Our Philosophy:

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Simplify & Systematize

90% of the CS exam is repetititive… We train you to recognize the patterns of repetition so that you can devleop a fast & easy system to implement with each encounter, thus ensuring that you gather maximum points in a repeatable and predictable fashion. This requires you to memorize less so you can focus more on the patients!
93% of communication is non-verbal… Thus, we give you world-class communication skills training, paying attention to what you don’t say as much as what you do say. By mastering your non-verbal communcation skills, you can gain a huge advantage over students lacking those skills (which are most)
25% & 39%… The percentage of IMG 1st-time test-takers who fail and the percentage of repeat IMG test-takers who fail. These values are directly related to a lack of clarity and understanding of what it takes to pass the exam. Our provens system of trainign students will ensure that you do not fall into either of thes categories.
The CS Exam is beatable by anybody… We’re confident that with our ground-up appraoch to CS training, we can help absolutely anybody pass the exam as long as they have the will and desire to do so.

Day-By-Day Curriculum:

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Day 1 Itinerary:

– Pass out all materials (case book, PN book course books)

– Review all pre-program online training material

– The 4-step encounter (tutorial session)

– The 4-step encounter (practical practice session)

– Diagnostic cases (each student performs 1 diagnostic case to assess for strengths & weaknesses)

– Assessment period (assessment of each student’s intro/interview/PE/closure/counsel/challenging question answering skills/PN)

– Review of each student’s strengths/weaknesses/areas of concern/areas to be focused on (ie. We’ll outline your strengths, weaknesses, etc and outline the strategy we’ll implement over the 3 days to improve those areas)

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Day 2 Itinerary:

– ‘Introduction’ Pratice (several rounds of each student’s ‘encounter introduction’ skills with assessment/feedback)

– Review & pratice the condensed Mini-Mental Status Exam

– ‘Interview’ Practice (each student will perform an interview for each system and will received detailed analysis & feedback of skill level, strengths, & weaknesses)

– ‘Physical Exam’ Practice (each student will go through each system’s physical exams & will receive correction, feedback, recommendations, etc)

– ‘Closure’ Practice (each student will perform encounter ‘closures’ for a variety of different types of cases & will receive feedback, recommendations for improvement, etc)

– Review of mnemonics list (to ensure that you understand exactly which mnemonics should be used and when, followed by mnemonics drills to solidify your understanding of how/when to apply each one)

– ‘Phone Case’ Introduction (Examination of the phone case, how it should be performed, how to maximize your phone case point accumulation, etc); followed by individual practice & feedback period.

– ‘Consultation’ Case Intro & Practice (Examination of the newer ‘consultation’ case; how to approach it, how to document findings, etc)

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Day 3 Itinerary:

– System-specific case practice (each sudent will perform 1 case for each system – to be followed by detailed analysis, feedback, and recommendations)

– Phone case practice (each student will perform 1 phone case – to be followed by detailed analysis, feedback, and recommendations)

– Consult case (each student will perform 1 consultation case – to be followed by detailed analysis, feedback, and recommendations)

– Review of all patient notes (review + detailed analysis of all notes submitted on day 3 + progress report)

– Q&A period (open Q&A period for all students until end of the day)

– 1-on-1 sit-down assessment (We sit down with each student 1-on-1 to discuss progress, current strengths/weaknesses, and a plan moving forward to continue making improvements)

– Follow-up call schedule (We’ll schedule a phone or zoom call with you so we can give you some last-minute pointers/tips/tricks a day or two prior to your exam)

Our Money-Back Guarantee:

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How To Qualify:

Qualifying for the Passing Score (Money-Back Guarantee) Is Easy

Step 1) Perform the required pre-program work (Videos, patient note submission – should take ~20hrs)

Step 2) Attend all of the live in-person sessions

Step 3) Pass your final assessment (performed online via our Zoom webinar software 3-5 days after your class ends)

Step 4) Submit required post-program patient notes (if necessary)

* If you perform the required work and fail, not only will be give you a full refund.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Live In-Person Training Program

What's The Difference Between The Live In-Person & Live-Online CS Training?

The main difference is that the ‘in-person’ training is held in our Chicago office, whereas the ‘live-online’ training is done online through our virtual training classroom. Both options allow you to train live with an actual MD, however the live-online can be done from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. Additionally, the Live In-Person Training is 3-days in length, while the Live-Online training is held over the course of 5 days. The live in-person training will range from 24-30hrs (depending on the number of students in the class), while the live-online program is 15hrs in length (plus additional time for assessment exams).

Why Is There No Mock Exam On The Final Day?

This is a common question because most programs out there perform a mock exam on the final day, and some programs actually build their entire curriculum around performing ‘mock exams’. The truth is that after our combined 20 years of training students for the CS exam, we’ve come to realize that performing a ‘mock’ exam at the end of the program is NOT an efficient way to gauge a student’s readiness. What a mock exam on the final day of a session does, in the overwhelming majority of cases, is it creates additional stress and anxiety because most students will have some degree of deficiency, no matter how strong they are. If you perform a mock exam and are told that you aren’t ready to take the exam or that you still have deficiencies in one or two particular areas, it will almost certainly ruin your week. The time spent performing a ‘mock’ exam on the final day is much better allocated to working on your skills and making sure that they are exactly where they need to be in order to successfully pass the exam.

We take a much different approach… Instead of performing full mock (assessment) exams on the final day of class, we actually use that full day to further hone, fine-tune, and perfect your skills so that you leave us on the final day with 100% confidence and competence to pass your exam. Based on our curriculum’s format, we are constantly evaluating, fixing, and re-evaluating your skills in every area of the exam, thus ensuring that no weakness goes unrecognized and fixed. Instead of wasting 4hrs of your day and then telling you that you’re not likely to pass, we use every single minute of our live class to perfect your knowledge & skills, which means a much higher chance of passing the Step 2 CS exam. If you leave us on the final day and still want to perform an ‘assessment’ exam, we can certainly organize one for you the following Monday or Tuesday, however our goal is to assess you first, then fix your weaknesses during the program.

How Does The Live Training Work?

We limit it to 4 students max and you will train with either Dr. Stavros, Dr. Paul, or both. For a fully detailed look at the daily itinerary, please scroll to the top of the page.

What Is The Live In-Person Schedule?

The Live In-Person training is held every week (except 2 weeks in December) and runs from Wednesday – Friday from 7:30am until approximately 7pm (depending on class size).

Where Is Your Live Training Center Located?

Our Live Center is located in Lincolnwood, IL. This is just a few miles north of downtown Chicago.

Do You Have A Money-Back Guarantee or Provide A Refund If I Fail?

Yes. If you do all of the work (ie. All of the pre-program online training, take all of the required quizzes, attend all of the live classes and submit all of the required patient notes), we offer a passing score or your money back guarantee. Please see our Terms & Conditions page by scrolling all the way down to get the exact, up-to-date requirements for the money-back (passing score) guarantee.

Will I Receive Course Books For The Online Component?

You will receive downloadable PDFs for your ‘pre-program’ online training component. You will receive physical books to the Live In-Person training on day 1 of class.

What's The Cost of the Training Program?

The Live In-Person CS Training Program (3-day intensive + pre-program training) investment is $3497.

How Many Hours Should It Take Me To Complete The 'Online Training' Component of the Diamond Program?

It will take you around 10-15hrs to complete the pre-program training component. Thus, be sure to give yourself at least 1 full week prior to the start of your Live In-Person training so you can complete all of the required work.

I Think I'm Ready To Start. Can I Speak With Someone?

Absolutely! Just click the ‘Text Us’ button at the bottom of this page and one of our representatives will be ready to answer all of your questions. If you prefer, ask for a callback and either Dr. Paul or Dr. Stavros will call you back.

I'm Ready To Start. How Do I Register?

Scroll down and fill out the registration form. Once received, we’ll email you to confirm and send you the login information for your pre-program online training component.

Which Days of the Week Is Class Held?

Classes are held from 7am-5pm Wednesday-Friday of each week. We may occasionally run classes from Friday-Sunday.

How Many Students Do You Take Per Session?

We limit enrolment to no more than 4 students per session.