“Dear Dr.Swartz,
I got my result today and passed the exam.
I owe it all to your course. You taught us to listen to our patients which I believe no other course could teach us that.
Thank you so much for everything. I was a part of your course starting on June 13, 2016.
Warm regards,”
“I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dr. Swartz I passed!!!!!!
Thank you SO SO MUCH!!!!! This would not have been possible without you! I owe you everything!!
The C3NY Workshop was truly an irreplaceable enriching experience.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
Hope all is well with you. I took your Step 2-CS workshops in October, and gave my exam on November 17 th in Philly. I got result today and I passed.
I just wanted to let you know. Thanks a lot for a great course. It really helped alleviate my uncertainty about the exam. The workshop was amazing, very comprehensive and fun at the same time. The SPs you guys use can out do the ones on the real exam any day!! One of the things that helped me the most was the feedback from the SPs themselves, so please do thank them from me again.
Overall, the workshop was a great experience, and I recommend it to everyone who is about to take the CS. Also a very special thanks to Anna for reminding us to breathe before going in … it prevented me from hyperventilating once I actually walked in !!!!!!”
“Dear C3NY,
Thank you C3NY. I took your three day course in June .
Please give my special thanks to Dr Swartz. I will never forget his kindness to me.
I feel myself very lucky to have attended his classes live as I was always consulting his book of Physical Diagnosis, and the workshops gave me a chance to see my long time teacher in person.
Bye for now,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I am writing this to you with immense pleasure that we passed our CSA exam held this March 2007.You and your team comprise small in number, but there is no doubt in my mind that your knowledge about exam outnumber your competitors. I am thankful to you for the special attention and dedication you gave to your students and especially to us.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz & Ms. Anna,
What is the price of confidence?? Of course, it’s priceless. Without this confidence, I was unable to pass this exam. At C3NY, I gained this confidence rapidly, and passed my exam.
Hello, Ms Lank and Dr Swartz. A few seconds ago I found out that I have passed my CS exam. I wanted to tell you guys that it was 20% on my part and 80% on your part that I passed. I can’t possibly thank you and the C3NY team enough for this life-altering outcome. Today marks the day of my rebirth into this new life of medicine. Thanks to you that my ECFMG certificate will be in my hands within the next 2 weeks. I greatly appreciate all of your efforts. I highly recommend this 3 day program to any and all medical aspirants.
Thank you so much for everything from me and on behalf of my family, they all want to thank you too.
God bless you guys.
I’m so happy, I can’t believe it.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I have great news! I passed my CS exam! What a feeling it was to see that “PASS” on my score report, and I owe it all to C3NY, Dr. Swartz, Ms. Lank and Ms. Merrigan. Every single day was a tremendous learning experience. This workshop helped me in learning the correct and the easiest way to approach the exam. The most important thing being, “TO LISTEN TO THE PATIENT.”
It has been a privilege to study under a teacher as great as Dr. Swartz himself. He has truly inspired me, and I hope that everyone gets an opportunity to come to C3NY and try to gather as much knowledge as possible from him. Thank you very much for all your help and guidance.
Lastly, thank you so so much for going out of your way in supporting me through out this time and helping me in making the right decisions.
”
“Dear Dr. Swartz and Ms. Lank,
I took your course in March 2012, and took the CS in April 2012 and passed. I later got an externship and then got busy in the match process. I recently signed on to a pre-match spot for internal medicine. From the experiences I have gained in the past few months, I wanted to share some advice to others who might be looking for a good way to prepare for the CS exam.
To put it plainly up front, I would highly recommend everyone, especially if they are IMG’s, to take this course. Though I did not have problems communicating with others, I did have doubts about my patient interviewing skills. This 3 day workshop completely shifted my approach to history taking and made it one of my strengths as a doctor.
Ms. Lank is the communications expert and during her greeting exercises, she worked with each of us individually. She practiced with us until she pounded away the artificial and robotic formalities, and brought forth a very genuine and caring persona from each of us. She made us much more natural in our dialogue.
When it comes to medical interviewing, simply watching an expert like Dr. Swartz taking histories is invaluable for the doctor in training. He will guide you through his own thought process and approach to history taking and physical exam. Finally on day 3, we got to practice ourselves. The advice was surprising and valuable. Forcing us to do away with lists was more beneficial than I could imagine. Getting rid of these training wheels seemed like a scary prospect, but it unlocked the knots in my mind. Dr. Swartz showed us how to really listen to the patient, showing compassion while simultaneously analyzing the history to figure out what to ask next. I felt as if the gears of medical knowledge were churning in my mind in ways they never had before. I was no longer stunned trying to remember the next question on the list.
Many people pass the CS without taking any course and it is quite doable. You do have to be careful because the CS experience can be very unpredictable if you go in there not knowing what you are doing. Furthermore, I would argue that you need to learn the proper approach to patient interviewing now in order to help your career. The lessons I learned from the course had big benefits beyond the CS exam. During the externship I did later, I would take the histories of all the patients and make the notes for the attending. On numerous occasions patients were so impressed with their interaction with me, that they asked the attending to “hire him”, or asked for me on their next visit. A few thought I was the attending. This was quite a change, as the year before, during another rotation in the US, patients could tell I was someone in training. I also heard several patients complain to me about other doctors who “are rude” and just “fire questions” at them. Yes – this is what happens when you use lists and develop bad habits. They stay with you, and patients would often say “I’m not going back to him/her”. I recently saw a 3rd year resident at the clinic rapidly ask a list of questions from the patient, and I could see the patient rolling her eyes as she noticed how little this guy was actually listened to her.
As for the test I passed on my first try. My nerves did get the best of me as they do on most of my tests. Due to being nervous and some bad time management, I missed a lot of simple things (like forgetting the patient’s name on a few occasions). But using Dr. Swartz’s approach I would get composed quickly in each encounter and forget that I’m even in a test. I did gather good information and received a star and highest performance on the patient note and passed the CS on my first attempt. The “patients” in the CS notice your approach and they respect the fact that it is professional and will reward you for it.
I gained a lot from this course and I really felt the need to give back by passing on some thorough advice to others. Let me make this clear, especially if you are an IMG and can afford it – take this course. It was quite an honor to be able to learn from faculty as distinguished as that as those at C3NY. Good luck to you all and thank you.”
“Hi Dr. Swartz & Anna,
I got my results for Step 2CS score today, and I passed with high performance in CIS.
Thank you for teaching me, encouraging me, supporting me, and also giving me opportunity to practice the physical exam at such a short notice.
You guys are amazing!
Thanks again,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz & Anna,
Just wanted to let you know that I received my CS result yesterday, and I passed !!! I am so happy about it.
I was in your August workshop and appeared for the exam in October 2005 in Chicago. You two did a remarkable job in preparing us for this exam, and I thank you for that. Taking the C3NY course was the best decision I could have made for this exam. I know one thing for sure that after attending your course I was very confident to go into this exam, and you were absolutely right when you said that this exam is not about medicine rather than the exam of one’s communication skills. I am glad I listened to you and focused more on the communication skills rather than to read books all over again.
I think that you and your faculty are doing a great job in preparing IMG’s for this crucial exam. Keep up the good work.”
“Dear Anna,
I wanted to thank everyone at C3NY for their great support and professionalism services provided for CS Exam preparation. I passed my CS Exam last month.
Special thanks to Dr. Swartz for his dedication. What really impressed me was the fact that he never looked at his watch while teaching that really shows his sincerity and honesty to his profession. I learned a lot on those 3 days. I would highly recommend C3NY, especially to IMGs.”
“Hi Dr. Swartz and Anna,
I took my CS on July 25th in Atlanta , after attending C3NY course from July 17 to 19, 2006 . I just want to let you know that I’ve passed my CS with the Grace of God and because of you awesome guys. Thanks a lot in helping me out in clearing this huge exam.”
“Good evening Ms. Lank and Dr. Swartz,
A very delightful news which I received yesterday: I have passed my Step2CS.
I must say here without any compulsion that Dr. Swartz provided not only the broad knowledge and expertise but also motivated and guided to build confidence. Dr. Swartz, I am very much thankful to you from the core of my heart. You have in fact provided the torch for the life.”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I passed!!!!! It says pass, pass and pass!
w0oh0o!
I attended your workshop 3 days before my exam in June. Thank you sooo much Dr. Swartz. There is no way I could have done this without C3NY!”
“Dear Anna Lank,
I am soooo happy now, I can’t even explain it! I just wanted to let you know that due to C3NY course that I took in New York in October, I passed my exam with flying colors. I have higher performance in everything! I didn’t use any lists and did everything that Dr. Swartz told us.
Thank you and Dr. Swartz soo soo much.
”
“Hi Anna,
I got my result yesterday, and I passed! Your teaching helped me a lot!
Thanks to you and Dr. Swartz!
”
“Dear Ms. Lank,
I wanted to inform you that I passed my CS exam.
I got result on the 14th of December! I took the exam on the 5th of October.
I learned a lot from the classes regarding communication and interpersonal skills. This is the subject that I failed in the previous time, and I did quite well in it this time. So, I have to thank C3NY greatly for that. Regarding Data Gathering section, I found out that my learning was a little deficient.
Thank you and Dr. Swartz for all the help.
”
“Hello Anna,
How are you and how is everybody at C3NY? I took your workshops in May. I have passed step 2-cs. The exam was ok. I think I made a few mistakes, but I kept a lot of things you people told me in mind.
The workshops are very very good. I recommend them to everybody. Dr. Swartz has a very interesting way of teaching and he keeps everybody morale up.
Give my very best regards and thanks to Dr. Swartz. He has helped me in a very difficult time.
Take care,”
“Dear Dr. Swartz,
I got my result today and I passed.
Your course really made me to be able to pass the Step 2-CS. I’m really thankful to you and Anna. You are both very nice persons. From the first day when I met you Dr. Swartz, I became energetic after meeting you because I’m so much inspired by you.
Anyway, once again thanks. I don’t have those words to say in favour of you which you really deserve. I will also inform all my colleagues about you and your course.
Regards
”
“Dear Anna,
Today I got my result, and I passed my exam.
Dr. Swartz gave personal attention to every individual and really cares for the doctors. He is a very nice person. He taught us to pass all components of the exam. His feedback and yours during the third day of the course really helped me a lot to improve my weaknesses. Last time CIS was my difficulty.
Please convey my regards, thanks, and best wishes to Dr. Swartz.
Best of luck!”
“I took the test in Philadelphia on June 22nd and got my result this Wednesday. I passed the test with high performance in the SEP and ICE components. I owe my success to the c3ny team. I attended the May/June 2017 session of the workshop and enjoyed it immensely. The workshop helped me understand what the test was all about and eliminated the misconceptions that I had. If you recall, I had difficulty with the CIS component during the 3rd day of the workshop. The feedback from the SPs made me realize that I needed to work on my interpersonal skills and I took 4 hours of skype sessions to do that. In the end, it all worked out and I have no hesitation in recommending C3NY workshop to anyone thinking of taking step 2 CS. It is a complete package with Dr. Swartz’s excellent lectures on the first two days, Ms. Lank’s greeting and breathing exercises, P.E practicum plus the final day when you get to practice on excellent SPs. The workshop prepared me for the test in such a good way that I didn’t suffer from nerves on the test day at all and enjoyed all of my patient encounters. I thank both of you for your excellent guidance. I’d also like to thank Sandra Parris and Stephen Hamm; the SPs that worked with me over skype. All of you deserve the credit for my success!
Best regards,”
“Dear Anna and Dr. Swartz,
Hi, my exam was on April 23 in LA. I received my result today, and I passed. Thanks to both of you and C3NY.
Good luck with your work!
”
