|
|||||||
| Step I Discuss strategies and issues for the USMLE and COMLEX Step 1. | RSS: |
![]() |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
|
#1 |
|
Member
|
SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)
I am taking COMLEX I on June 25th, and I'm getting a bit nervous because I feel disorganized and don't have a solid plan. If I come across good suggestions, I will post them here right away. ![]() Thanks for everyone's help, and I hope we all rock this test!!!
__________________
*****The more I learn, the more I realize how little I actually know!!! *******
|
|
|
|
|
|
#2 |
|
Senior Member
|
Agree with you, I am so disorganized its not even funny... any input would help... comlex seems like such a wierd test to study for... like i feel i could put a full into stuff thats completley not high yield for the exam... and i want to minimize that... i just took COmsae A, i didnt realize how heavy teh anatomy was on it... is that test predictive at all?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#3 |
|
Member
|
Is there embryology on COMLEX? The bulletin of information doesn't seem very specific about which topics are covered, and the combank doesn't have embryology questions. I feel like it's hard to know how to prepare for this test.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#4 |
|
Senior Member
|
An upperclassmen said to me there was No embryo, biostats and biochem was very little also, like 4-5 questions on their exams. But who knows for sure right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#5 |
|
Senior Member
|
I'll be taking it next Friday 6/1, any thoughts from recent takers about last minute things to focus on would be appreciated.
Ill be sure to post my thoughts on the test for others sometime after next Friday. As far as prep, I did almost a complete pass through FA before starting DIT, I've done DIT in the past few weeks and I have COMBANK and USMLERX I have been using for a while. I am reviewing FA and Saverese and cranking out as many questions as possible in these last week or so. I took COMSAE B about a week ago and scored in the low 500's. Hoping to be at least there on the real thing. |
|
|
|
|
|
#6 |
|
Junior Member
|
Teacherman84, may I ask what your COMBANK average is?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#7 |
|
Senior Member
|
In the mid 60's...but I havent done much yet and most of that was before DIT/any OMM review, I had been doing more of Rx to reinforce what I learned in DIT/FA but am now focusing more on COMBANK in this last week before my test. So well see how that changes
|
|
|
|
|
|
#8 |
|
Senior Member
|
Took mine today, exactly 1 week after I took the USMLE. Overall, it wasn't too bad.
OMM - easy. Just know chapman points, special tests, sym/para levels. free points Micro - lots of really really really obscure stuff. A few bugs I'd never seen before, ever (ive done kaplan, uworld, and combank). Make sure you know FA micro front to back. May even want to check out some of the more random stuff in CMMRS. biochem - super easy after doing usmle biochem, easy points. anatomy - surprisingly simple, nothing that wasnt on uworld or combank Everyone says that comlex tests random stuff out of left field. I felt that other than some random micro, the test was pretty easy and straightforward. Probably 30-40% are free memorization points; ie. did you remember that pancreatic andenocarcinoma is CA19-9... It is an exhausting test though. The usmle was much better timed, I did 5 sections in the morning, took a lunch, then did 2 in the afternoon. On the comlex you can only do your lunch between sections 4 and 5. So no matter what, you have 4 hours after lunch. Brutal. |
|
|
|
|
|
#9 | |
|
Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#10 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#11 |
|
NYCOM - 2014
|
Question about exam day: I know there are no break times between blocks 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, but are you allowed to get up and take a break on your own time? For example, I finish block 1 in 45 mins, can I take a bathroom break for 15 mins before returning for block 2? Alternatively, I finish block 1 with no time to spare, can I still goto the bathroom at the expense of block 2's time?
If the answers are no, that's a huge problem because my bladder does not last for 2 hours. |
|
|
|
|
|
#12 |
|
Member
|
Has anyone had any of the cranial bulls--t of OMM? I just feel that studying this is a total bullc--p!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
#13 |
|
Senior Member
|
Can someone tell me where to get "Bugs and Drugs" cards? I cant find them on the internet. Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
#14 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
Microcards by Lippincotts Pharmacology Cards by Langes I personally use the Pharm cards by Langes, but as far as Micro, I've been sticking to FA+whatever Uworld adds. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#15 |
|
Senior Member
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#16 |
|
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 33
|
I've also been looking for something to supplement FA with since everybody says the exam is so Micro heavy. Thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
#17 |
|
Senior Member
|
Do you guys think that combank is good enough to pass comsae C ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#18 |
|
Senior Member
|
i get mixed reviews on whether to just use Combank to pass Comlex/Comsae. I would say its possible but Uworld is a good source for learning so if you have time, use it. If not, Combank will regurgitate a lot of facts straight from FA through there questions so its a decent study tool in that sense, and of course has OMM questions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#19 |
|
LECOM '14
|
Taking mine June 1st...
This is what I have done: MMRS, BRS phys, First aid, pathoma, goljan RR, high yield neuroanatomy, Kaplan Qbank, Uworlds, combank, DIT question bank. I flip through pharm cards here and there... Slowly but surely reading green book. I also did 75% of DIT, but this was AFTER I had already finished all those Qbanks and read through all those sources, so the information was kind of basic so I am not going to finish it. I've just been reading goljan RR for my third time, but I don't think I am going to get through it completely. Some of my scores in chronological order: Uworld Sim 1: 236 School given NBME: 220 Comsae A: 600 School given Mock COMLEX #1: 630 School given Mock #2: 680 Uworld Sim 2: 261 Comsae B: 678 NBME #13: 247 (taken today) For those taking usmle: Yes Uworld sim exams WILL overshoot your score. I have heard this from previous students; NBMEs are more accurate. I am not going to take the usmle ( going for ortho), but I figured the more question the better. Talking to previous successful students.. they tell me the COMLEX is hit or miss ( some luck is involved?). I set my goal to get a 650... but I will be happy with anything above a 600, but at the same time won't be surprised if I don't. I'll post my experiences after my exam, and will post my score when I receive it to see if there are any correlations. Good luck to everyone! Last edited by frankyazz; 05-25-2012 at 06:49 PM. |
|
|
|
|
|
#20 |
|
LECOM '14
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#21 | |
|
Member
|
Quote:
![]() ![]()
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#22 |
|
Senior Member
|
There's a good bit of cranial on the COMLEX, so be comfortable with all the major dysfunctions. I'll post a very brief primer; if you glance over it, focus mostly on motion/strains. You'll need visuals from your books/power points to supplement it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#23 |
|
Senior Member
|
Does anyone know what a good indicator as far as a good COMLEX score and a COMBANK percentage? I'm at 80% currently, but I haven't seen anything that might give me a decent idea of how I am looking in terms of the COMLEX.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#24 |
|
LECOM '14
|
I have searched far and wide... as far as I am concerned there are no accurate predictors for COMLEX scores, or I have just not found any.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#25 |
|
Senior Member
|
Took comlex 5.23
The heaviest was micro/pharm/omm/obgyn. Thought micro and pharm were straight forward and easy. FA was definitely sufficient for me. I did five passes of both of those subjects and then three of some sections and two of others. Might have been one micro question that was weird. Pharm was basically MOA or "what would you prescribe for this..". I was surprised by the lack of ADRs. One question that had a diagram asking where the action of the drug was. Omm was mostly chapmans and innervation stuff. Find all of the chapmans points, not just the green book. It doesnt have them all. Obgyn was fine for the most part except for a few questions where i don't know where you'd find the info. Neuro was the next heaviest. Basically lesion type stuff. There was a fair deal of trauma. Bunch of concussion, epidural/subdural questions. Only had 3 embryo questions. A bunch of biochem metabolism questions. Three vitamin questions. Only one actual pathway question. Lots of interleukins questions. No immuno disorders. Wasn't a lot of cardio which was disappointing. A few ekgs. One murmur. Good amount of respiratory, but not that heavy. Few bleeding disorders. Two anemia questions. One cml question. Endo was pretty straight forward. Felt like renal was my Achilles heel. Mainly physio questions. Should have gone through it a third time. Few questions on anion gap. Lots of gi path that was straight forward. Only four genetics questions that I can remember. Marfans syndrome, then asked the inheritance pattern. Another diagram with a weird translocation pattern. One pedigree. Few biostats questions. One specificity calculation. A couple ethics questions. One sleep stage question. That's all I can really remember. It was very vague and always felt like I wanted more info. A bunch of wtf questions. Hopefully they were experimental. Definitely think you can get by with just FA and combank. It's all I used and I felt very good. It's all my friend used last year too and she scored a 667. I did listen to all of goljan audio though. Did both comsaes. Mine was most like B. I heard good and bad things about using uworld. Stayed away personally just because the friends I had that used it an just did comlex felt like they studied too much detail and not broad vague concepts like the comlex tested, and then felt like they were over thinking everything. I think you just have to know your style and what works for you. I always did random times questions from the beginning. Good luck everyone!
__________________
*PCOM Class of 2014!*Last edited by Lewist02; 05-26-2012 at 08:45 AM. Reason: No brain power and lots of spelling errors |
|
|
|
|
|
#26 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
I hope you do really well!!! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#27 |
|
OMS III
|
UWorld gets you thinking....COMBANK, not so much.
__________________
GA-PCOM c/o 2014 "Did you know I couldn't walk for a year after I was circumcised?" |
|
|
|
|
|
#28 |
|
LECOM '14
|
Agreed. Uworld is just all around more difficult, so you really learn the material. It is also a good resource with tons of information. With combank it was just mostly straight regurgitation without any thinking involved.
I just bought the new comquest step 1 qbank...I've done about 120 or so questions this morning, and it is pretty similar to combank. Actually, my final percent correct on combank almost matches up with my current comquest percent correct, and the cumulative average score for all users are basically identical (63%)..... hmmm. |
|
|
|
|
|
#29 |
|
Junior Member
|
How many questions are on the new comquest level 1 qbank? I'm taking my comlex level 1 this Wednesday, but was thinking about doing some new questions before test.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#30 |
|
LECOM '14
|
I think I read somewhere it was about 1400
|
|
|
|
|
|
#31 |
|
Senior Member
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#32 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
This post confirms it, I will stick to Combank completely till the 22nd, and after i will revert back to Uworld. Is FA Biochem sufficient, do you think doing Kaplan Biochem is necessary? The reason I ask is because I am sorely deficient in the understanding part of Biochemistry. Also, I heard no mention of Biostats. As for the embryo, is it embryo from the embryo section of FA or more clinically relevant embryo like Meckels or something. Thanks for the post! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#33 | |
|
LECOM '14
|
Quote:
I am just doing it because I finished combank a while ago, and I figure the more the questions the better.The "style" of questions are similar, but there are definitely some concepts being hit in comquest that were not hit in combank that I feel like are pretty important. The more questions you do, the more information you are exposed to, so the better! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#34 |
|
Senior Member
|
I also agree with this. Its been awhile since I took the COMSAE our school gave us, but it also seems like the interface from COMQUEST mirrors that of a COMSAE and I'd assume the COMLEX. Definitely the more questions the better. And be sure and check with your SOMA officers at your school if you are a SOMA member. Makes a HUGE difference in the cost.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#35 |
|
Senior Member
|
thankss guys! im 50% done with combank. ill purchase comquest next
|
|
|
|
|
|
#36 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 41
|
Can anyone describe how in-depth the questions will be regarding pathology? I've been annotating pathoma with various sources but I'm not sure if I can have it down by my COMLEX exam date.
Is going through FA sufficient? Any suggestions? Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
#37 | |
|
Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#38 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#39 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#40 |
|
LECOM '14
|
I have done a little over 800 questions, and in my opinion comquest is superior. Overall, I feel as though the questions are a bit more challenging, and there is a broader spectrum of questions covering more material ( it seems like every other endo question in combank has to do with TSH levels) .
Not only that, but the customer support is excellent. While I was going through these questions, I commented on some of the questions, and before I even finished the block, I was emailed thanking me for the feedback, and that changes have already been made. I've commented on combank a few times, and they have never replied to me. If you can, definitely do both qbanks ( the more questions the better). If you had to pick just one, I'd go with comquest. |
|
|
|
|
|
#41 |
|
LECOM '14
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#42 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#43 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#44 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#45 | |
|
LECOM '14
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#46 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#47 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#48 | |
|
LECOM '14
|
Quote:
![]() I've kind of been neglecting biochem, don't scare me, I have my test in a few days... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#49 | |
|
Senior Member
|
Quote:
Do you know if Pharmacodynamics/Pharmacokinetics is necessary to spend time? Like the Line-weaver Burk plots and all the Vd, half life equations? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
#50 |
|
Senior Member
|
|
|
|
|
![]() |
| Bookmarks |
«
Previous Thread
|
Next Thread
»
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | |
|
|
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:32 AM.







Class of 2014!*
I am just doing it because I finished combank a while ago, and I figure the more the questions the better.






Linear Mode

