COMLEX II DONE! Any thoughts on it?

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VentdependenT

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I thought that this test sucked totally and completely without equivocation. I don't know where the hell they came up with those questions (tonail trepination for subungual hemorrhages, not exactaly covered in review books if you see my point). The most ambigious ways of asking questions so that any sort of deductive reasoning flew out the door about 33% of the time. I just hope I passed.

For those of you who have to take it next year I'd like to say that about 25% of the questions include vaginal bleeding/discharge and pregnancy issues (GDM, Eclampsia, ectopic, fetal well being). Lots of chest x-rays. Weird neuro stuff. Know your head trauma and stroke patterns like a champ. Become an std master as that was a HUGE part of the test. Lots of preventative medicne stuff. Use swanson's for family practice to hit up the things which aren't included in CRUSH or BOARDS and WARDS, there were a lot of FP geared questions (managing FP stuff). Cover peds, ob, and womens health in swansons and that should gain you about 60 questions at LEAST.

OMM stuff: sympathetic parasympathetic and sacral/pelvic diagnosis made up almost all the omm. Lots of GI emergency management. Uhh...what else? Forget using pretest medicine or anyother pretest stuff for this one, it won't help. Best last minute resource which SAVED MY ASS was High Yeild OBGYN...fly over the case senerios. Pure gold. About 8 ekg's, not to difficult. But man there is a LOT of weird medical trivia which would have been difficult to prepare for. Hope this helps for those of you up in august.
Endo was composed of entirely Adrenal, Thyroid, and of course diabeties (huge!). Lots of ER consult poop in there.

Do all this and you should at least pass. Good luck in 2004-5.
Vent.

Can't talk longer, beer and sedatives kicking in.:)

EDIT: Landed a 92% on it. You guys can definitely do it if I pulled it off. Best of luck future DO's.

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It seemed to me that they kept testing the same subjects over and over.....positional diagnosis, the 800 ectopics. It sucks with the cases that if you did not know what the diagnosis was, then you end up missing all 3 or 4 questions associated with that case. And what was up with all the stupid cranial tx questions?! The scores from this thing could be scary!! Thank god for the matching portions.....only part of the books I felt decently comfortable with.
 
Still lubricating from that exam...

For those of you taking it next year...

1) Study OB/GYN, Peds Blueprints, MEMORIZE it...

2) Swanson's FP Review will save your ass too

3) Where the hell did all that CRANIAL crap come from???????

4) Know all screening exams/criteria well

5) A foot matching section, do I look like a Podiatrist?

6) Lots of neuro, CTs, hematomas...CXRs, EKGs

7) A good bit of derm, optho, ortho...

8) Study EMTALA and Law

9) Remember take the test and realize it has nothing to do with anything you'll ever see...
 
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Haha, I remember those days of last year... the frustrations following Step 2... but you're not alone. All students of every year get that feeling with COMLEX II. I felt the exact same way... and I thought I had done horribly, because, as you said, if you miss the initial question, you're SOL.

But I ended up scoring 99%, so fear not.

I woudl advice against using Swanson's... had a friend who used that for the majority of his studying and he failed Step 2.

Q, DO
 
With fewer people taking Step II in January, do you think that there is any chance of getting our scores sooner than 8 weeks? I don't really think it is likely. Anyone else know otherwise?

As far as the test goes, I thought it was better than the first time I took it (August). There were no EGD's, herbal treatments, caloric values of different dietary ingredients etc. I was very surprised not to get a single sacral diagnosis question. I guess they decided cranial was a little more important LOL. I was also surprised to not have any vitamin deficency questions (except for thiamine in alcholics). I agree with the above poster about disliking questions which had follow up treatment questions. That type of series (where you miss the follow ups if you missed the diagnosis) should be eliminated IMO. I had 2 back to back series of muscle energy diagnosis/treatment. If you some how miss the diagnosis, you sure as hell arent going to get the treatment right upon reversing your incorrect diagnosis. That type of deal sucks. Why not follow up with a question that asks for the muscle energy treatment setup of a dysfunction in another body region providing the diagnosis. That way you test the student's knowledge of dianosis in the first question and treatment in the 2nd, without penalizing for misdiagnosis. Oh well, I did get those 2 series correct.

I would recommend to other students taking the test in the future:

-Study up on concussions and when an athlete should be able to return to his or her sport
-Ob/Gyn- placental abruption, placental previa, endometriosis, STD, adenomyosis, fibroids, ectopics etc
-Radiology- Know what to order for each presentation (for instance, ultrasound for gallbladder)
Microbiology-very high yield. Know your bugs
Neurology- hematomas, hemorrhages, palsies, meningitis, neuropathies
Ethics- make an effort to review some basic ethics terminology. It definitely helped me out this time around
Cards- murmurs, AV blocks, know where an MI is located given an EKG
OMM- Savarese, don't skip cranial
Preventative medicine- Know when to start cancer screening.
Urology- types of incontinence and their treatment, BPH, UTI's, nephrolithiasis


Good luck
 
The consensus at my school was that the 4th booklet was by far the toughest. However, I thought the pictures were much better that what we saw on Step 1. There weren't any handdrawn images like we had in on Step 1.

I must protest that the first test booklet was the "sample" test booklet consisting of questions being "statistically validated" and not counting in our actual scores. My knowledge base was highest on the first exam booklet, and dropped as the exam went on due to tiredness and lack of giving a crap anymore.
 
Can you expand on the first test not counting? How do you know that? I do agree that the first test on both days was easier.
 
I just tried to find some info on the NBOME website pertaining to the "sample"booklet, but I was unable to find anything. I am certain I remember reading something before Step 1 that talked about 1 booklet being used for statistical verification of future questions, but it could be from one of our instructors named Paul Evans. He did the study which "validated" the COMLEX as a statisically valid examination comparable to the USMLE. I will do more research tomorrow and see what I can find.

We found at my school that test booklet 1 was the only booklet in which we received different questions (and believe me, we actively discuss questions between booklets). Thank goodness I didn't have the 1st test booklet asking about selenium, mangenese, zinc, and copper....or the crazy questions about the bones of the foot. My only knowledge of the foot is that is is more stable in dorsiflexion.
 
I think I had the same examination series as one of the fellow posters.

-Study up on concussions and when an athlete should be able to return to his or her sport
-Ob/Gyn- placental abruption, placental previa, endometriosis, STD, adenomyosis, fibroids, ectopics etc
-Radiology- Know what to order for each presentation (for instance, ultrasound for gallbladder)
Microbiology-very high yield. Know your bugs
Neurology- hematomas, hemorrhages, palsies, meningitis, neuropathies
Ethics- make an effort to review some basic ethics terminology. It definitely helped me out this time around
Cards- murmurs, AV blocks, know where an MI is located given an EKG
OMM- Savarese, don't skip cranial
Preventative medicine- Know when to start cancer screening.
Urology- types of incontinence and their treatment, BPH, UTI's, nephrolithiasis

I would also add Psych into the mix also. Luckily I think its one of my strong pts in medicine but there were easily 30 questions in this category.

Studying for the boards I would recommend Boards & Wards, know it backwards and forwards, Blue Prints is always good but may be a little more in depth than nessesary for a test which you never know whats going to be on it, OMM...hit it hard...I didn't which hurt me but didn't kill me...not a single sacral question but inomminates and cranial where there

Hope all passed, not long before your a physician, good luck
 
Bumping to ask you guys...when did you start studying for step 2 of the COMLEX? I have been told not to bother to study a lot because the test is poorly written (just like step 1). Does the "2 months, 2 weeks, 2 number two pencils" rule apply?
 
I loved the series of questions about analyzing kidney stones by their shape and having a management plan for them. I know I've spent a lot of time looking at urine under a microscope these last two years.

I've found COMLEX to be so frustrating. You cram the USMLE review books to solidify what you've learned, but this affords you limited benefit for the COMLEX, why? I don't understand why USMLE review books seem to be related to their review materials where our exam is in left field.

I found book four especially difficult. We had two picture books in Jan.- the 1st and the 4th. Everyone let out a big sigh when they saw book four with pictures too. One person even said, I got the wrong book, I've already had my picture book.
 
I had about 70% of crush and 80% of B&W memorized before I went into the COMLEX II. Reviewed surgery (lawerence essentials= GI section, trauma section), HY psych, BP medicine & peds (lots of overlap with medicine). I started about 2 months before the exam. But my studying was LIGHT. No 10 hour sessions like step I. I'm talking a few hours here and there. Then I crammed obgyn and peds hard two days before the exam. It really was dependent on a lot of recall from rotations however which helped the most.

I agree with what Boomer said about studying. There is nothing you could have studied in any efficient way to get a decent proportion of these questions...but reviewing board books and essentials books will help for the USMLE II (and more importantly your medical knowlege on the whole) if you are going to take it.
 
So for those of who said they thought they failed Step II...how many of you passed (if you've gotten the scores yet).

I'm trying to decide whether I should take the exam in August or January. I barely passed Comlex I and don't want to take a chance of failing in August as it would be a detriment to getting into residency I think.

What happens if I fail it in January after I find out I already matched into rotating internship? Can you start the internship and hope to pass the next August?

UGH!!!
 
COMLEX II = :scared:

I can't wait until the test is over. Two weeks from now thet test will be DONE! :clap:
 
I would like to know the answer to this question.

TreeOfLife said:
So for those of who said they thought they failed Step II...how many of you passed (if you've gotten the scores yet).

I'm trying to decide whether I should take the exam in August or January. I barely passed Comlex I and don't want to take a chance of failing in August as it would be a detriment to getting into residency I think.

What happens if I fail it in January after I find out I already matched into rotating internship? Can you start the internship and hope to pass the next August?

UGH!!!
 
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