“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I took your wonderful class in June 2010.
I just open USMLE step2 score result, and I want to let you know good news,I PASSED at first attempt.
I thank the whole team and the experience at C3NY.
Sincerely,
”
Panupong Jiamsripong, MD, Thailand, Video Testimonial
“Dear Anna & Dr. Swartz,
Yesterday I got my exam result and I passed!!! I am so happy as you can guess.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I don’t know what else I can say altough I do want to say a lot…
I am so grateful to all of you, and will come and visit you when I come back to NYC.
I am very grateful to you and your lovely team, and I appreciate all your efforts for our success, so I’m very willing to do anything I can to share my magnificent experience of C3NY workshop that should not be missed by anyone who’s planning to take Step 2 CS. I am so honored to have met you, and I’m looking forward to see you all again.
My best wishes for you both and of course for Charles 🙂”
Bahar Budan, MD, Turkey, Video Testimonial
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Miss. Lank,
I took Step 2 CS exam on September 16 and received my result today: PASS!
I took your course in August; it was wonderful! Because of other time issues, I took only your workshops, and I worked on the patient note and practiced with a friend 2-3 days during the last week before the exam.
I am really glad that I passed. And I give all the credit to you both who prepared my mind so well for the exam. You also helped me understand the main idea of this exam. Thank you so much. I say this from the bottom of my heart. I do not know so many fancy words to be able to tell you how grateful I am to both of you.
Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
”
“Hello Anna,
This in Rahsan from Santa Barbara, CA. I attended the C3NY workshop in March, and I wanted to let you and Dr. Swartz know that I received my report and I passed.
I am so happy and relieved at the same time. It was one of the best decisions I made to attend C3NY, you helped me so much to put all together and make the time worth. I thank Dr. Swartz and you again and again for that.
I am sure you must be accustomed to hearing success stories, but I wanted to share one more with you:)
Thanks a million.”
“Hi Doctor Swartz,
I am Mustafa from Turkey. I took my exam on 3rd of June in Philadelphia, and I got my results recently. I passed…
As you know I took the May C3NY workshops, and I tried to apply all things you said in the workshops. Before I took the workshop, I had a very different understanding about the exam. I was dwelling too much on details like the differential diagnoses and the details of patient note etc…and I was thinking that they could be important. After the workshop, I understood what the exam is all about: it is more of an assessment of communication than an assessment of my medical knowledge.
You are an excellent teacher, and I really learned a lot about communication and medicine. I will always remember you.
I am happy with the result, and I thank you, Mrs. Lank, and Ginny for your help.
Wish you all the best in life.”
“Hi Doctor Swartz,
I am Mustafa from Turkey. I took my exam on 3rd of June in Philadelphia, and I got my results recently. I passed…
As you know I took the May C3NY workshops, and I tried to apply all things you said in the workshops. Before I took the workshop, I had a very different understanding about the exam. I was dwelling too much on details like the differential diagnoses and the details of patient note etc…and I was thinking that they could be important. After the workshop, I understood what the exam is all about: it is more of an assessment of communication than an assessment of my medical knowledge.
You are an excellent teacher, and I really learned a lot about communication and medicine. I will always remember you.
I am happy with the result, and I thank you, Mrs. Lank, and Ginny for your help.
Wish you all the best in life.”
“Dear Anna Lank,
I took my CS exam and passed it at the first attempt.
I took my exam in Chicago. It was more difficult than my expectation.
I benefited from your course in many ways. You have a good foundation of knowledge of how the exam looks like. I think practice would make a big time difference. I want to say that a student who eager to pass this exam, wants to hear his/her own weakness and solution for that, even the reality is harsh. Thus, your student evaluation is so important.
I want to thank you for your help and valuable contribution to my study and the result I got.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I passed CS on my first attempt due to your excellent teaching ability and Anna’s perfect communication styles. C3NY tought me to evaluate the patient as a whole being, not just as a headache, arm pain, or any other complaint. This is what I learned during the 3 short days of your excellent program. And it is the key of success!
And as Anna said, if you really listen your patient as you listen to him in coffee shop, you will be successful. I was inspired with this great communication style and gained confidence by C3NY.
Thank you so much and good luck to Step 2-CK candidates.”
“Dear Friends at C3NY,
Hello, it’s been quite some time since our class April 20th/2009, but I wanted to share some great news that I passed Step CS. I took it in April 29th and want to say a Big “Thank You” to Dr. Swartz and Anna for training and feedbacks that helped me pass.
Thank you very much. I will always be grateful to you guys.
”
“Dear Anna Lank
I took exam in August 2010, 2 weeks after completing C3NY workshop and I pass it!
I think that C3NY was really helpful for me and I have recommended it to all my friends.
Thank you!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
My name is Giang Ngo. I am a Vietnamese student who enrolled in your course in October 2016. I am emailing you to let you know that I passed the exam, and I want to say thank you for all the information you gave me.
Last time I took it at Los Angeles. This time I took at Philadelphia. I know I made the right choice by taking your course.
It was a great honor to be one of the first Vietnamese students there.
Wish you all the best.
Thank you very much.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I am Zung Hoang, a student in June 2008 workshop. I took my CS in July 17th in Philly and got my result on October 8, 2008. I passed the exam for the first time.
My point of view about your course: It was a good start for me. It gave me the knowledge of how the test would be, the information about the test. However, with my own background as a IMG not learning medicine in English, the course was just a starting point for me. After your course, I had to practice a lot and took two more courses, one in New Jersey and one in Philly. The disadvantage of running around was that I found many confusing points, but I kept following what Dr. Swartz lectured. However, these courses gave me the experiences of how a real test encounter was and helped me to build up the skills to manage time, coming up with probing questions and control my anxiety during the encounter.
I wish you a very happy holidays and more success in your course in the future.
Sincerely,
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
We passed CS!!!
Thank you so much for all the help. We are so happy we had the C3NY course before our electives, and also had standardized patient Skype sessions before the exam.
I think C3NY improved us in all 3 parts for the exam, but the CIS was a guaranteed part. We both had the same high performance in the CIS part. At the end of the course, the advice we got was to practice, so we practiced the ICE and SEP together and by Skype with your standardized patients. The CIS concept you implanted into our mind at the very beginning of the workshop WORKED!
Thank you again for your teaching and the feeling of support. C3NY not only gave us knowledge, but also the confidence that we can do it.
We are very happy to have had you and Anna last summer. That was a precious memory for us!
Thank you very much 🙂
Thanks to you both and the standardized patients again…thanks for all your help! Big hug to you both!
Yours,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Just let you know that I received my CS result yesterday and I passed!!! I am so happy about it. I was in your June workshops, and the class is very valuable for my exam and also for my future career.
Thank you for providing this wonderful course for us. Everything you said works well in the exam.”
“Dear All:
I just checked the ECFMG website and learned that I passed. I am so happy. I took Dr Swartz workshop in June and really helped me a lot. Took the test in July 14 in Chicago test center. The workshops were great and worth it to fly to NY for Dr. Swartz workshop. It paid off. Hope that is helpful to all others.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna:
I’ve just learned that I passed Step 2CS. I took exam in Philly and luckily most of my patients were nice ones. But knowing that I was prepared for the worst, your workshop gave me the calm and confidence, and most importantly, it taught me invaluable communication skills that would benefit me in the future.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much!
Thank you for helping us fulfill our dreams, and wish you the best!”
Ran Zhang, MD, China, Video Testimonial
“Dear Anna and Dr. Swartz,
After 8 long weeks of waiting, I finally got my CS result, and I passed!
I attended the July workshop and took the test 1 month later. I feel the course prepared me well not only for the test, but also for my future career as a physician in this country.
Thank you very much!”
“Dear Ms. Lank and Dr. Swartz:
This is Mao. Please accept my sincere appreciation for all you have done for us! I just received my letter: I passed the CS exam!
Without your outstanding instructions and kind help, I could not have passed this test in such a rushed and stressful environment that occurs during the exam. I took the test on Sept. 26 (Los Angeles ) and received the result yesterday, Nov. 7.
With your preparation, I found the exam to be not so very hard; your course really prepared me well.
Many thanks again!”
“Dear Everyone at C3NY,
First, let me tell Dr. Swartz, Anna, and all SPs the good news: I passed!
Second, I need to thank you all! I found your program to be very helpful for my preparation for the Step2-CS . Furthermore, I will highly recommend your program to anyone who wants to pass the Step 2-CS.
I found Dr. Swartz’s lecture to be very insightful, and the SP’s are very accurate….. The knowledge I gained while attending this program is not only useful for passing the Step2-CS exam, but also useful in my further medical career in the USA.
Thanks SO MUCH again!
P.S. 96 I PASSED ON FIRST TRY!
”
“Dear Ms. Lank and Dr. Swartz,
I took the exam on March 16th in Chicago. I was very nervous at the exam; afterwards, I felt very bad. It was the most scary moment when I opened the envelope containing my result. I got a Pass!
Thank you very much for the C3NY workshops. I really appreciate your efforts of delivering this education to FMGs.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I attended your C3NY workshop 20 days before my CS exam, which was taken on May 15th, 2006. The result is back today. I passed!
I felt lucky that among so many Step2-CS workshops, I chose C3NY, which fit my needs the best. Step 2-CS was the first ever USMLE exam I took. During the workshop, we clearly learned what the exam is about and how to face it. I benefited a lot from the “tricks” you showed us, which might have taken me much longer or never to figure out by myself.
I want to take this chance to thank you, Anna and all the SPs!
All the best!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz, Anna and Ginny:
I took your class in March 06 and took the test in June. I just got my score two days ago and I passed! I would like to say that your class was a great help. Thank you all!
If you have any programs for step 3, I would like to visit New York again. :)”
“Hi Dr. Swartz:
I am glad to tell you I passed CS. The exam was easier than the cases in your workshop just as you told us, but it was really helpful to practice on harder cases.
I attended C3NY CS workshop 6/19-6/21/06. Thanks to Dr. Swartz who suggested that I postpone my exam date to practice more. That suggestion made me feel depressed at first, but it really helped also. I postponed my exam date to 7/12. With this pressure, I practiced harder. I cannot believe I passed, and my English is much better than before. Now I feel confidence to go ahead.
I cannot image the result if I didn’t attend your workshop. I know my language is not good, but I was never tested in it before. You Dr. Swartz are an expert, my respected and trust teacher so I believed what you said.
So I tried my best. On the exam day, I had no bad feeling, no nervousness, no excitement; I just believed it was my regular clinic day. I didn’t care what the SPs looked like, and I even forgot that I was an IMG. It didn’t matter if the diagnosis was unclear. I controlled the time well, and counseled the patients.
After the exam, I felt not good. I felt that I made a number of mistakes. When I saw the results, I could not believe!but it was true, I PASSED! After double checking the letter, my eyes filled with tears.
I want to say thank you, Dr. Swartz. Thanks for you giving me shock at the beginning and confidence later. What I learn from you is not only knowledge but also the characters of how to be a good doctor. This will effect all my life in my medical career.
Thanks again and hope that the C3NY CS workshops can help many more people like me.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
First thank you so much for helping me pass the Step 2-CS exam. Your workshop is not just for passing an exam, it also is one of the best medical education program that I have ever had.
It specifically helped me in the following ways:
1) finding my weakness which I couldn’t notice by myself
2) building up my confidence to approach patients
3) learned a lot from Dr. Swartz and from other participants as well
4) the last day of standardized patient cases was extremely helpful. The real exam cases were, however, much easier compared to your cases. But that’s what you told us.
Overall, the C3NY Workshops were an unforgettable experience for me, and I would recommend your workshop to any of my friends who will take Step 2-CS.
Thanks again and best wishes
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
You may forget which student is me. I took C3NY in April. I am the student with very red eyes because of seasonal allergy.
I just wanted to tell you: I passed CS, am certified, and am preparing for interview.
Like many IMGs, particularly those from Asia, I have some kind of performance anxiety. As we know performance anxiety is a kind of phobia, which requires behavior therapy. Although I have been in US for over 10 years, I swear I have never had the courage to look into anyone’s eyes over 10 seconds. First I am a shy person. Second our culture is different. In my culture if I look into someone’s eyes several seconds longer, he/she will say: “what’s wrong with you.” However, everything has changed since April’s C3NY course.
On Day 3, my case was No. 4. When I entered the room, the SP suddenly yelled at me. HE WAS A REALLY ANGRY PATIENT!!!! His voice was so loud and I was completely overwhelmed. My heart was beating so fast, my hands were shaking, my mouth was drying, my eyes were looking into his eyes….. I finished the case within 8 minutes.
“How do you feel?” asked Dr. Swartz after I finished. “I told you I have performance anxiety. I forgot everything,” I said. Then both Dr. Swartz and Anna said: “actually you did very well.” I still remember the Indian girl sitting in the front row said:”you did great. you always looked into the patient’s eyes.” Oh my God, it was not because I wanted to look into SP’s eyes but because I was so scared and overwhelmed that I did not know what to do and even did not know how to take notes!!!!!!!!
What was also surprising is that my first case in my CS exam was an ANGRY SP. Compared with angry SP case in C3NY, this case was real a piece of cake. Many many IMGs are nervous during their first encounter. I am very proud to say that my first encounter was the best among my 12 cases.
Besides the well-trained SPs (they are beautiful !!), I enjoyed both Dr. Swartz and Anna’s way of teaching. Both of you always encourage us and give us confidence. Many of the teachings are “life-time teachings” since we deal with real patients the same way as we deal with SPs. Yes, many of us just want to pass CS now. That’s fine. Just follow Dr. Swartz and Anna’s advice, you will pass: do not rush patients and let them finish; whenever patients give anything postive, follow it; stay calm, even if you pretend to…..most, if not all, is gold.
The only other thing I want to tell future CS takers is: organize your thoughts well. C3NY can not teach much medicine in such short time.
Thanks go to C3NY.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Thank you for this wonderful workshop. It is definitely worth it. I didn’t know half as much before on how to interact with the patient. I learned new techniques of talking to the patient that I definitely wouldn’t have learned on my own. Even with not-that-good notes and not being able to ask all the questions and finish all the physical examinations, the new technique on how to interact with the patient that I learned made up for it, and I passed my test.
Again, thank you for all your help preparing me for the exam. I really appreciate it.
Please send my best regards to all SPs.”
“I have great news to share with you: I passed the Step 2CS!
I was at the workshop of 2007 February. Thank you for your wonderful teaching. Without your great help, I do not think I could have passed. I really believe the experience will benefit me in the future as well.
Thank you again and please pass my best regards to your great SPs!
”
“I am Dr. HONG CHEN. I was in Dr. Swartz’s April 15 Step 2-CS training class.
I just got my CS results, and I passed the exam! Thank you and Dr. Swartz for your excellent training program.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Thank you and your team for helping me pass this “scary” test. I was a student in your workshop in April 2007, and I took the test after 2 weeks.
The best thing of this workshop is that it corrected a lot of mistakes I had or I might make. Also it gave me confidence. During the test, the only unexpected trouble is that I am too short to reach the SP’s eyes while checking their fundi!
Many thanks.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz:
I am Hongbo Liu, and I participated in your C3NY workshop in April. I gave my CS on May 7th and received my CS score report today. I am very excited to say that I passed.
Thank you so much for your help and instruction. You are right…CS is mostly a communication test. In addition, I think it is very important to budget the time reasonably. Hope everything goes well with you.
Thank you again.”
“Dear Anna,
I took the CS exam on May 19, and I passed.
The C3NY workshop was very helpful, and the cases in the real exam were much easier than those we practiced during the last day of the workshop. I called my husband and told him “I am going to pass” the moment I walked out of the test center… Thanks again.
”
“I am a Ph.D student in Cornell and MSKCC studying pharmacology. To pursue my career in medicine in the U.S, I took tests along with my study.
Step 2CS is unique that it is not MCQ based but highly subjective. We don’t have NBME feedback for us to know where are we and how good we are for the test. Some of us use family or friend to practice, but they don’t know the exam, which makes the feedback not as real as you want it to be.
Dr. Swartz’s C3NY workshop is so great that I don’t want to use any descriptive words, just be more clear and beefy. HE TAUGHT ALL YOU HAVE TO KNOW BEYOND FA AND USMLEWORLD.
There are many subtle details about U.S culture and clinical encounter that none of us could have known if not going to medical school here. Like how to say names and drape patients, not to say how to deal with SP with various emotions and tempers. You learn many details that are so easy to operate but not easy to know from him. If you choose to do it your way, you lost many easy points that put together can let you through the exam or fail you.
Plus, he told you what the exam is about, there is a saying in ancient Chinese Culture:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” from the Art of War from Sun Tzu.
He obviously knows the test and how it is designed and executed, so knowing the exam from inside is not something we can learn from the books, but easily achieved in his day 1 lectures.
He had this amazing practice session that you have to see and perform before him and fellow students, so others can see you and tell you what you are doing in the exam. He also gave suggestions about what you are good at and what not, believe me, he saw more CS takers than lots of people in the field, so he can be really neutral about telling you what to do and what not.
In essence: C3NY lets you know CS, know yourself and know things you can’t learn from the books. I paid little over 1,000 and was very happy that I don’t need to pay twice for CS, if I didn’t take C3NY, I know I would have to.
My experience is C3NY plus help from my lovely wife+ FA+ Help from divine side made me pass. I know Dr. Swartz doesn’t like FA, but I would say C3NY should be a word you know about CS as important as FA.
What to say in the last? He should increase the fee and have more complete training (including PE) sessions and got more students.
Thanks to Dr. Swartz and Anna and the SPs, you will learn how helpful they are when you took the CS yourself.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz:
I took CS on June 27 one week after C3NY class. I felt very bad after the exam. I made some mistakes and did not finish the first case, also rushed though a few cases. I was so worried about result. But I got result today, and I passed!
I got so much encouragement from your workshop although I was sad to have to stay extra day in NY for the third day workshop (CS case), but it turned out that group practicing helped me a lot especially in physical exam.
Thank you and Ms Lank for the hard work.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I got my CS score this morning. It is a Pass. I am very happy I attended your lecture in June. It changed my view of the test and gave me a lot of confidence.
Thank you again!!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I am Gary Lu who took the C3NY Workshop in June.
I am very happy to tell you that I passed my Step 2CS exam. I am very appreciative for all your help from this three day training.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
I was a student in your class held in June. I’ve just got my result for CS, and it’s PASS!
I am very happy about the result, and I would like to thank you and your SPs for the excellent help and advice. The class totally changed my view about the exam and every piece of advice is really useful not only for the exam but also for real practice in the U.S.
Thank you again and wish you the very best!
”
“Dear Anna and Dr. Swartz,
I attended your clinical skills workshop in June 2008, and I passed my Step 2CS test taken in Atlanta on Aug. 18th.
I would like to thank you and SPs for all your help. You helped me through the test; and many things I learned from you will be very helpful for my future career development as well. Thank you very much.
”
“Dear Anna,
Thank you for the email. I took my Step 2CS in December 2007, and I passed on the first attempt.
I think the course is very helpful in terms of teaching me the communication and interview skills as well as the physical examination.
”
“Dear Anna,
I am sorry for not getting back to you as soon as I got my CS result. Yes, I passed.
I found the C3NY workshops prepared me well for the challenges of the exam. I cordially thank you, Dr. Swartz and all the SPs for your most helpful training.
Thank you very much once again.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I participated in your workshop this June. I got my CS result on Wednesday and passed!
I want to thank you for the wonderful teaching. This experience helped me pass my exam and will certainly help me with my future practice.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I got my CS score today and I PASSED!
Thank you so much for your help and support! I really appreciated all the SPs who worked so hard with us.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I have passed the exam. I attended your course in October.
Thank you, thank you so much! The waiting was a torture, but the outcome is good!
All the best to your course and your future students!
Happy holidays to both you and Anna!
”
“Dear C3NY,
I attended the course on June 29, and now I passed the exam.
Thank you very much for your help.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
I would like to let you know that I have passed step 2 CS exam. I was feeling really bad when I left CS center in Philly, although you told us that would be pretty normal if examinee felt upset. Finally, attending your workshop, practicing with my wife and my daughter and praying make the difference. I would not say C3NY is a must for IMGs, but it works for me. I will never learn this kind of thing from any textbook.
I am an old IMG from China. Practicing medicine and working with patients a little bit caused me a lot of stress and anxiety during my preparation for this test. It is you, Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank, who teach me how to approach American patients in a professional manner.
There are many CS workshops in this country, and the reason I chose C3NY is that I found some familiar names in the testimonials. Please feel free to forward my contact information to anyone who wants to know a real experience about this workshop and this exam.
Please give my appreciation and thanks to Charles, Emily, the lady wearing different color socks, the gentleman who was angry and my encounter, the African-Amerian lady who presented with abdominal pain. Please pardon me I forgot their names.
Cheers!”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
Did you remember one student didn’t say anything for one case in your practice session last Dec course? Dr. Swartz encouraged me and Ms. Lank helped me find English tutor in Maryland. I passed my exam on June at first attempt.
Thank you very much for everything both of you did!!
Best wishes to you and your family
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Anna,
I was in your April Workshop at NYC. I took my exam on 12th of July in Chicago, and I learned on 4th of August that I passed Step 2-CS. Thank you very much for the guidance and help in preparing me for the exam.
I want to tell you my feeling before and after the exam: I have to say the class was great, and I learned very important stuff in your class. Since this was my only clinical experience that I had in the States, I trusted whatever you said about the exam, but I did have a little doubt about it. I went to the exam, and I kept the flow of the communication, showed empathy, followed to wherever the “money” was, and so on. During my three-week waiting, I tried to forget the details of the exam and kept telling myself that I followed Dr. Swartz’s protocol, and I wished that you were right. You were…I passed!
If anyone is considering attending the C3NY class, I will tell them to go for it!
Best wishes,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Just let you know that I received my CS result yesterday and I passed!!! I am so happy about it. I was in your June workshops, and the class is very valuable for my exam and also for my future career.
Thank you for providing this wonderful course for us. Everything you said works well in the exam.
Best regards,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
Thank you for helping me pass the Step 2-CS test. I took your workshops in April and took the exam in Phili on May 22. Learned today that I passed.
The most important thing I have learned from your workshops is that I know how to interact with patients confidently. There are other things I learned that will benefit me in my future career.
Thanks again.”
“Hi Anna:
I took step 2 cs in LA on April 26, and I got the result by mail yesterday,I passed. Thanks to everybody in C3NY workshop for the invaluable help! C3NY and Dr. Swartz prepared me not only for the exam, but also for my medical career later.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
Thank you for helping me pass the Step 2-CS test. I took your workshops in April and took the exam in Phili on May 22. Learned today that I passed.
The most important thing I have learned from your workshops is that I know how to interact with patients confidently. There are other things I learned that will benefit me in my future career.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Anna,
I was in your April Workshop at NYC. I took my exam on 12th of July in Chicago, and I learned on 4th of August that I passed Step 2-CS. Thank you very much for the guidance and help in preparing me for the exam.
I want to tell you my feeling before and after the exam: I have to say the class was great, and I learned very important stuff in your class. Since this was my only clinical experience that I had in the States, I trusted whatever you said about the exam, but I did have a little doubt about it. I went to the exam, and I kept the flow of the communication, showed empathy, followed to wherever the “money” was, and so on. During my three-week waiting, I tried to forget the details of the exam and kept telling myself that I followed Dr. Swartz’s protocol, and I wished that you were right. You were…I passed!
If anyone is considering attending the C3NY class, I will tell them to go for it!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I just learned that I passed the CS exam.
I would like to thank you for providing the workshop. This is a very informative workshop and is definitely worth taking. Not only did you give me the confidence to pass the exam, but also I believe what I learned in the workshop will help me tremendously in my future practice in the US.
The cases in my exam were simpler than the practice cases in the workshop, but you prepared me for the worst. And I also learned how to communicate efficiently with difficult patients in the real world.
I would strongly recommend this workshop to any people who are preparing for the Step 2-CS exam, especially IMGs.
Again, thank you very much!!!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Hope you are all doing well.
Just received my CS score last Saturday with great news: PASS, PASS, PASS, PASS! I had waited for more than 2 months to get it…now I’m the happy man!
Wow, what a relief! As an IMG, I had little idea about the CS exam before taking your CS workshop in May, 2005. The workshop was really intense and informative. I was very impressed with Dr. Swartz’s manner of teaching and his smile throughout all the 3 days of training. Anna’s tips for taking CS were like a magic potion. All in all, the workshop was tiring but fun. I am the lucky one who had the honor to be trained by Dr. Swartz and Anna.
I must admit that CS is not difficult if you pay attention to all those little details as instructed in the workshop. You made it simple for us. I liked Dr. Swartz’s manner during PE because he often told us to ask “Are you comfortable?” Very soothing, man!
What makes me feel great is: I’m climbing up the “Totem Pole” now!
Thanks you so very much for your help. I’m glad your CS workshop is becoming more and more popular!”
“Dear Anna & Dr. Swartz,
I am so glad to let you know that I passed my step2-CS exam from the ECFMG system, even though I have to wait for several days to receive my official score report. I took my CS exam on May 9th.
I really appreciate you because your workshop well prepared me for the exam, especially the communication skills. The art of medicine that I learned from your workshop not only gave me big help for the CS exam, but more importantly will also help for my future career. Now in my daily activity, I can feel the importance of good communication skills every moment. Thank you very much for your wonderful teaching.
Thanks for all the SPs and Ginny for their excellent job too.
I am very impressed by your devotion to the students. I am very grateful.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna:
I am a member of C3NY Workshops in September 2005. I took my test on 22nd OCT. After almost three months’ waiting, I received my PASSED result.
Thanks Dr. Swartz, thanks Anna, and thanks everybody. You all gave me lots of encouragement. The C3NY workshops were very helpful, and I am so glad I took them.”
“Dear Anna and Dr. Swartz:
I attended the Dec. 05 workshop and took the test on Jan. 26. I got results last Friday, and I am happy to let you know that I passed. Thank you for everything you have done for us. It was a wonderful experience in the workshop, and it made me confident in the real test.
Thanks again to you, Ginny, and the SPs.
”
“Dear Dr Swartz and Anna,
I am glad to tell you that I passed the CS. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
The class let me know what the patient encounter looks like and made me feel confident.
Also, for me, the most important sentence I learned from Dr. Swartz is that “do whatever you do as in your daily clinic”. This was exactly what I did during the exam.
Thanks again.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
I am very happy to tell you that I passed the Step 2 CS in 18 May, 2006. The C3NY Step 2-CS preparation course was wonderful and made me understand what this exam was all about. During the exam, I kept remembering what Dr. Swartz taught us and kept it in mind!having a good communication flow with SPs. Without your teaching, I cannot imagine I could have passed the exam.
Passing the exam was a big relief to me. I thank both of you very much and please convey my thanks to other SPs and faculty, especially the SP “Charles” and my SP Ms. Drda.
”
“Dear Anna,
I am very happy to tell you that I passed the CS test I took in June. There is no doubt the workshop I had in May at C3NY was a great help. Sincerely thank Dr. Swartz, you, and all the “patients”.
Thank you very much for every effort you and Dr. Swartz have put into this workshop. I learned a lot more than what I initially expected.
The following is a part of the content that I wrote to my friend “and I found it is very helpful, not only for the CS exam, but also for the daily communication with people who speak English. It more or less teaches you when and how to confront nasty people, how to conform an upset or angry person, and how to be more polite and easier to be accepted when you are giving advice to someone or trying to change someone’s topic in a way that fits American culture. It is one of the best workshops I’ve ever had. I really enjoyed it.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank:
I’m Xue. I’m very happy to share with you my great news: I passed CS which I took on July 11, 2006, in Houston. I passed on my first attempt after taking your course. I’m so happy about it! Both my partner and I took your course; we both passed on our first attempt.
Thank you so much, Dr. Swartz, Anna and all SPs. All of you prepared me with so much confidence before the exam. I was comfortable during the exam, although after exam, I was very confused about my performance.
Dr. Swartz, the clinical skills you taught in the course not only prepared me well for the CS, but also will benefit for me so much in my future clinical practice in US.
I appreciate so much for all your effort, patience and commitment to C3NY course.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
I took the Step 2 CS on July 27. After waiting for more than 2 months, I finally got the result yesterday. I passed it.
I used to be confident for any test I took, but I failed Step 2 CS last time. I felt shameful and ridiculous, because I knew that I spoke good English, and I wrote the patient notes well. But after attending your seminar, I realized I failed to deliver what they really expected from me. So you helped me to hit the target.
I must say that the 3 days at the seminar were memorable and enjoyable. I thank both of you very much!
”
“Hi Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I passed the exam.
Regarding the workshop experience, I think it helped me to understand what is expected and how to interact with patient. I had very good leaning experience.
”
“Dear Ms. Lank,
I want to thank everyone in the C3NY workshop, especially Dr. Swartz; all of you form a great team.
Yes, I passed the exam, and I feel free now; thank you very much for your help.
Your workshop is really worth every single dollar that I spent there. I should have done it from the begining but I was not familiar with your workshop.
I want to say for Dr Swartz that you are completely right: this exam is not about how much you know, it is about how to show your empathy to a human being not just a patient.
I did what you told me and I passed! But you told me that I will be unsure about the result. This was the only thing that I don’t agree with you, because after this workshop I knew that I am going to pass the exam. After I gave my exam I was completely sure that I will pass it, and I did it.
At the end, I want to thank all the team of the C3NY Workshops, especially Dr. Swartz . You are a very, excellent team.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
Thanks to your great C3NY workshop, I have passed Step 2CS.
I attended your C3NY workshop in Sept. and took the test in Oct. I am very glad that I went to your workshop without knowing much about Step 2CS beforehand, since your workshop had taught me all the RIGHT things to know and to do for the test. I felt confident when I took the test because I knew what to expect and how to respond. By using the strategies you had taught us in class which was great, I did not panic even after I realized I had made mistakes.
Your SPs are great regarding acting and giving feedback. They were very helpful when practicing cases with us. Please forward my best wishes to them as well.
I would highly recommend your workshop to everybody who is planning for Step 2CS. I only wish you could open the same workshop in more locations which may benefit more test takers.
Have a great new year and best wishes!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I’m very glad to inform you that I passed the CS exam.
I took your course in December 2006. I had a tough time to deal with an angry patient on the 3rd day of the workshop. From this case, I learned how to show empathy to the patient and establish rapport at the early stage of the interview. Although there was no angry patient in the real exam, the techniques learned from difficult cases are very useful.
Taking your workshop was the best decision in my preparation for this exam. I just want to thank you two and all at C3NY for your help. My special thanks go to Charles.
”
“I just checked my CS result. I passed! Thank you, Dr. Swartz and all other people in C3NY for your kind help.
”
“Dear Anna & Dr. Swartz:
Greetings! I am a student in your CS class of December, 2006. I took the exam in March, 07 in Atlanta and got the results back last Friday. Very pleased to know that I have passed.
It was a big moment of relief and I could like to thank you all for the nice work and I have no doubt that the 3 day intensive workshop is priceless. Even though I had clinical experience in other country, I feel my biggest achievement was starting to learn how to approach patients in US, the importance of which is far beyond the exam itself. I have not started the residency here yet and can not say much about it, but do believe that the interaction skill I learnt will benefit my later training tremendously.
I will certainly highly recommend this workshop to my international medical graduate colleagues who have no previous clinical experience in US.
Best regards and thank you again. Please also give my thanks for those standardized patients who did a fantastic job.
”
“Hi Anna and Dr. Swartz:
Yes, I took my CS exam in Houston on the last day of June. I just got the results by email yesterday with a PASS score.
I think your workshop indeed was helpful for me to prepare the exam and pass the CS finally.
The test is not easy and I am still not sure of some cases I encountered that day. Anyway, I did learn what I need to know from C3NY workshop to pass the exam.
I was impressed by the excellent team, the nice people from your workshop and your great enthusiasm to teach.
Best wishes.”
“Dear Ms. Lank and Dr. Swartz:
I just got me result and I PASSed. Thank you so much for your help and the workshop is great and I am sure I’ll benefit from it not only for the test but also for the future practice.
Thanks again.
”
“Dear Anna,
I passed Step 2CS. I took the exam on Dec 31, 2007, and received the score report in early February. Sorry I didn’t write earlier.
Please pass my regards to Dr. Swartz. I enjoyed his lectures and found them to be very helpful. His lectures were also such a good education for me to get familiar with American culture in the medical community. I really appreciate all your efforts.
I would also like to thank you and all the SPs in November class. You all did a great job.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Anna,
I was a participant of the February 2008 workshop and took my exam twelve days after the class. I just learned earlier today that, despite all the mistakes I made, I passed CS! What a relief!
I want to thank you and all the SPs for the great help you gave me. The course was an eye opening experience for me. Without it, I could not imagine of passing CS. It also helped me to have a better understanding on practicing medicine in US.
Again, thank you very much!”
“Dear Ms. Lank,
I just get my Step 2CS score report one hour ago!thank God I passed.
I didn’t feel good right after taking the test, I thought I would fail it, however I passed.
Again, thanks a lot for your help.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
Thank you so much. As I emailed Anna earlier, I’m really glad that I made the decision to participate in C3NY’s workshop to prepare for Step 2 CS.
I had been using FA to prepare before the workshop started and was “First Aided”. Your lecture broadened my horizon and made me realize what this exam was all about. It was particularly important to me because I couldn’t afford to fail this exam, record wise (now that it’s getting progressively competitive to match). I remember using some of the techniques I learned from your lecture during my exam. I’m sure they helped me enormously, even though I don’t know about SPs’ check lists.
Again, I would highly recommend your workshop to my non-native-English-speaker friends who are preparing for CS.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz, Ms. Lank and Mr. Mayer,
I took your class in May and CS test on June 12. I passed.
Thanks a lot for your help. Dr. Swartz gave us a clearer picture of what would be tested. Instead of knowledge from textbook, people to people communication is the first and foremost. Put others first will always lead us to success.
C3NY indeed has a wonderful program.
Many thanks from the bottom of my heart.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I am your student from the April group this year. I just got my results and I passed!
Thank you and Anna so much for your effort.
Your course not only helped me to pass the test but also taught me how to better practice medicine in the USA. This is even more important especially for IMGs. We will never become better doctors simply by only reading textbooks.
God bless you!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I attended the C3NY April class and took the Step 2CS on May 5th. I passed it!
I thank you and Anna so much for the wonderful workshops. I didn’t do well during the class practice. I even didn’t finish the case. However, I felt the feedback from you, Anna, and the SPs were very helpful and important. By the way, my two other friends also passed their test (they probably have already emailed you).
You are such a great teacher and so patient with all the students. You spent hours after the class and answered millions of questions from us. I really appreciated it a lot. If anything I can help, I’ll be more than happy to do it. Wish you the BEST!
Thanks again!”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I attended C3NY June workshop. The last day in the workshop I was so terrified. I couldn’t even say a complete sentence. After the workshop, I bought your book, followed what you and Anna taught us and worked very hard to practice with my friends. The exam day, I was still a little nervous, but I knew I can do it. I did!
Thank you for answering my questions even after workshop, thanks Anna and all sps so much. I couldn’t pass without the C3NY workshop.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Anna:
My name is Yuan Rong. I attended your workshop in March, 2009 (March 8-12, 2009). As I have promised if I passed Step 2 CS I will let you know. I checked my ECFGM account (Oasis) yesterday (June 24, 2009) and found my score report is available, and I passed the exam.
Thank you so much your help. I think C3NY is a very good workshop for international medical graduates preparing Step 2 CS. I was from China.
Thank you again for your great help.
Best wishes for C3NY!
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I want to share my happiness with you that I passed CSA at my first attempt.
I took CSNY course in early June (June 1st to 4th). And the most benefit I obtained from this 3 days workshop is the confidence to take care of American “patients”. I took the test two weeks after the course, and I sweated a lot in the first two encounters but I was fine with the rest of them because I know I could handle them :).
After two month painful waiting, I got my score–PASS! my patient note scores very low probably because of my poor hand writing or incomplete information; my CIS scores pretty good especially the professional manner and rapport; and my spoken English is fair.
I appreciate your tutoring greatly,and I strongly recommend your program to my friends who are taking CS recently. Thanks very much!
Best wish to you and Anna as well.”
“Dear Anna and Dr. Swartz,
I am JingBo Wu. I took the C3NY course in September 2009. I took the CS test on Nov 23, 2009. I have passed the CS.
I cannot describe how I felt before the result was out. And I cannot describe how happy I am right now. What I can do is to say “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU…..” to you all. Especially, Mr.Anderson, he taught me the English. Without C3NY, it would be impossible for me to pass at this time (second attempt). There was a big change after the C3NY course. I remember what Dr. Swartz said to me “be confident, your problem (failed spoken English before) can be fixed”. And then Anna recommended Michael Anderson to me. He is an excellent teacher. I studied with him for two months (twice a week, three times a week when close to the test). It is a miracle!
By the way, thanks to all the Standardized Patients.”
“Dr. Swartz & Anna,
I am pleased to inform you that I passed my CS exam although this is my second shot.
I really appreciate your help and think your course is best for training the examinee to pass this most notorious exam for foreign medical graduates.
I think many students will enjoy this course as me.
”
“Dear Anna,
I just received my test report results; it is a Pass! I am happy to see that.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and Dr. Swartz for the excellent guidance that you give during the C3NY CS (Dec. 8-10) prep. class. I had some improvements in all three sections of CIS compared to last time.
Let me know if you have any questions.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Anna,
My name is Ran Zhang, and I took the workshop at Feb, from Feb 13th to Feb 15th. And I just got my CS result – PASSED!! As promised, I am writing to you immediately, really want to share the happiness, and express my appreciation!!
I got the email saying my score is available, and I logged in and downloaded the pdf file of my result. Before opening it, I had severe tachycardia, even arrhythmia maybe, and then I saw the word. I thought a lot in the past 5 minutes, and the scenes of the 3-day C3NY workshop re-appeared like showing a movie.
I did everything you taught me in the exam, 3 deep breaths before each encounter that Anna told me, communication, comfort, sympathy, even I was nervous and maybe panic a little bit, but I followed your instructions tightly, and that’s why I passed. (And also everything you said and expected was true, I felt terrible after exam, and even worse when closer to the the score report period, I thought I lost many things, skipped a bit in physical examination, et al. Although Dr. Swartz said that was normal, I could not convince myself before knowing the results.)
Couldn’t say thank you more! It’s hard for me to express how much I appreciate your help and support! I am only one case of your thousands of students, but the other way around, your help provided solid foundation leading to the success for me!
Thank you so much,TRULY and DEEPLY!!
”
“Dear All:
I just checked the ECFMG website and learned that I passed. I am so happy. I took Dr Swartz workshop in June and really helped me a lot. Took the test in July 14 in Chicago test center. The workshops were great and worth it to fly to NY for Dr. Swartz workshop. It paid off. Hope that is helpful to all others.
”
“Hi Anna:
I took step 2 cs in LA on April 26, and I got the result by mail yesterday,I passed. Thanks to everybody in C3NY workshop for the invaluable help! C3NY and Dr. Swartz prepared me not only for the exam, but also for my medical career later.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all.”
“Good morning Dr. Swartz,
Today is the first day of the CS score report for the period I took the exam. And I just learned that I passed. I am so excited about this and cannot wait to share with you. I just did what you and Anna told me during the workshop in May, 2017.
So happy and thank you very much.”
