Advice for COMLEX III

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DO_Surgeon

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I just registered for COMLEX III next month. I am a general surgery intern, and have had the majority of my non-surgical rotations. I just bought crush step 3 and the NMS q book. Anyone have any advice for studying (length of time, books, important topics, etc) What about the new computer format and how many questions do you need to pass?

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The tes is 400 questions, not 800. I disagree completely with your analysis. Comquest is the only way to go for this test; Combank was basically irrelevant in terms of question style and length. Vast majority of my questions today were 3-4 lines long. Only 3-4 "WTF" questions. The quality of this test, I presume, has improved over the last 10 years. OMM was very fair. There was more pathophysiology and mechanisms than what I would have wished for; it seems like those tended to be the questions that really hammered me. I actually used the entire 4 hours for my afternoon 'session' which does have me a bit nervous, given the fact that I was done with COMLEX II about two hours early ( I cored well above the mean). In any case, I don't know what more I could have done.

Did USMLE world most of it,
read Crush 3,
Did Comquest and Combank. Shorter, less number of questions, can go thru quite fast.

Combank is the better question bank. But neither provided a decent preview of OMM questions on the actual test. They are at least couple months behind.

Actual test is 800 questions.
A lot of OMM. Surprisingly only a handful of sacrum, cranial questions. Very few picture questions regarding medical conditions. Lot of 2 set or 3 set questions.
Questions are short for the most part.

If I had to do it differently, I would have read the Green OMM book 3 times end to end. I think the most OMM % out of them all (steps 1,2,3).

the issue about management and stuff is a bit exaggerated in my opinion. It's not like you're typing in a blank slate. It's multiple choice.
 
I just registered for COMLEX III next month. I am a general surgery intern, and have had the majority of my non-surgical rotations. I just bought crush step 3 and the NMS q book. Anyone have any advice for studying (length of time, books, important topics, etc) What about the new computer format and how many questions do you need to pass?

Just took the COMLEX III. Read through and study USMLE first AID for step three, the blue or green Savarese book for OMM, and then DEFINITELY COMBANK for the questions... these were much more focused on actual Comlex step three questions with relevant answer explanations, and bottom line points for a quick review that doesn't take all that much time. It is possible to cram through these two books and the COMBANK in a week or two (especially if you have used the first aid series and Savareese to study for steps 1 + 2).

Do this and you will ace the test. cheers - drNascent
 
I just comlex III as well and for once feel pretty nervous. The first 2 steps I thought were a breeze (scored >600 on both), but this one had a a LOT of random stuff...

differences in medicare A-D?
tons of ethics/medicolegal
medical contraindications for scuba divers
best behavioral test for conduct d/o?
when to start feeding babies baby food
some guy rubs butter on an old burn wound - best test to determine if limb still viable?
ex-lap in lady shows open, oozing vesicles all over her uterus - dx, tx, complications?

******ed questions abound. There's no way to study for this thing.

A recurring theme was PEDS and OB/GYN. Know these topics well. I had maybe over 15 questions on neonatal sepsis work-up. Every teenager had an STD.

I'm convinced I failed - of the 30 iffy questions I remembered to look up at home I answered maybe about 5 right. :xf:

I did Comquest - didn't think it prepared me well at all. I don't know if any question bank can prepare you for this random test which in reality, is intended for primary care people. Good luck all,
Eye.
 
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Evil...I agree completely. I took the same exam. I wish that I could say after walking out that I could have studied A, B, or C for the next go around (if I failed), but honestly, I wouldn't know where to begin. I too scored >600 on COMLEX I and II. I think I marked about 10-14 in each section that I either had it down to two answers, or just wasn't sure. I was surprised by several of the IM questions that were extremely up-to-date in terms of literature; there was one question I looked up and the "gold standard" had not been clearly documented until 5 years ago. I think the Peds residents probably would have made out well on this exam.

Two big questions remain: What percentage will we need to pass? (I've heard all sorts of rumors. I've also heard that up to 2 50 q sections of the exam don't even count as they are 'experimental'. When I was still in school, admin said between 60-65%) Second question is: when will we get our scores? (Looks like it's been taking NBOME 3-4 weeks to get the scores back)
 
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Just got my score back and passed comfortably. It took about 5 weeks to receive my score. It was posted on a Friday.

I had a lot of those questions that you guys are referring to that I had NO IDEA about as well and walked out feeling horrible. I think it's natural for us to remember the 50 bad questions and forget the other 300 -350 questions that we had a good idea about. I suspect that some of those WTF questions either experimental, don't count for much, or I guessed right on all of them because I did better than I did on Step I and II and had more awkward questions on this test. There were far less direct management questions than I expected.

My resources were Savarese for OMT (read twice), Boards and Wards, my old Secrets Step II book, and COMQUEST for questions. Like others have mentioned, there is a lot of material that is tested from COMQUEST that is only in the explanation and not asked directly so I read all of the explanations twice even if I got the answer right. I knew a lot of questions cold just from that. These three resources prepared me well for the questions that I could have got right and the rest of the questions are just too random to prepare for with any preparation out there in my opinion - and don't really matter. All I cared about was passing this test and being done with the COMLEX and I ended up doing better than that so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. I'm pretty sure my score is with the new scale too.

My recommendation is spending about 3 weeks studying for 1-2 hours each night (real studying, not passive) and you'll be fine. If you just took it and feel bad about those WTF questions, just wait til you get your score because you may pleasantly surprised. Time for me to go celebrate.
 
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yeah, it's 400 questions.

I got my passing score back on-line after about 4 weeks, about 1 day later than my colleague who took the USMLE step 3 on the same day as me, but she took 2 days of that test.

Actual mailer came in about 9 days later.

If I had to re-opinion it, I still lean towards neither comquest nor combank being very uptodate with what's on the COMLEX step 3. Some questions were there, I admit. Just do both, they're reasonably cheap, fast, and they don't have that many questions on their banks anyway.

To be honest, I'm not sure if the test is even clinically relevant for primary care.
It had the most OMM, though.

I kept thinking if this was their way of punishing us for not doing an osteopathic residency. I think one of the comquest or combank writers all have CVs stating they are doing ROADS residencies in allo.

Nonetheless, on the paper report I got High performance on osteopathic section. Good luck to all. Final advice is, just do both comquest and combank.
 
and the paper report does not tell you whether or not you did good or bad on ob, peds, im, etc.

Different report from usmle.
 
lastly, the comlex website is down quite often, I'm not sure if that's a temporary thing, but in the wee hours, it doesn't work.
 
For the COMLEX III, spend a lot of time on outpatient medicine and management questions in medicine. Knowing whether to give a medication IM or IV or knowing treatment and techniques in OMM is more important than the basics of OMM. Using MKSAP or Harrison's Q&A will help because the content is more clinical. Pocket medicine is a nice book to carry around and read during rounds. Taking this exam during the end of internship or spring of internship year would help considering you would have learned a lot of medicine by that time. The exam is detail oriented rather than simple clinical diagnosis. Family medicine review books like Swanson are good for topics like Sports medicine. COMSAE can help with knowing the format of the questions and help you with topics.
 
For those that took the May 2010 COMLEX III, scores are up today (13 days turnaround for some of us!)

In any case, I disagree with your assessment, almost in its entirety. The IM on COMLEX III is very BASIC. I will leave it at that. OMM basics is IMPORTANT; if you don't know the basics cold, how can you answer treatment questions? I am a first year psychiatry resident; this is my first time taking the COMLEX III and I suspect that my percentile score (NBOME does not have a percentile calculator for Part III yet) is probably 99%.

For the COMLEX III, spend a lot of time on outpatient medicine and management questions in medicine. Knowing whether to give a medication IM or IV or knowing treatment and techniques in OMM is more important than the basics of OMM. Using MKSAP or Harrison's Q&A will help because the content is more clinical. Pocket medicine is a nice book to carry around and read during rounds. Taking this exam during the end of internship or spring of internship year would help considering you would have learned a lot of medicine by that time. The exam is detail oriented rather than simple clinical diagnosis. Family medicine review books like Swanson are good for topics like Sports medicine. COMSAE can help with knowing the format of the questions and help you with topics.
 
Hey all, I'm a to-be intern about to start a tough ACGME internship year, and my PD wants a passing COMLEX III score by relatively early on in the year. My year starts off with SICU-surgery-surgery-ER, and I'm considering the possibility of taking the exam near the end of my ER month.

1. My only issue with doing this is that I won't have done any internal medicine wards months yet, and I honestly haven't done real, true internal medicine since the very end of M3 year. That said, I know COMLEX III emphasizes peds and OB, neither of which I'm going to do this year. I'm also not looking to knock the exam out of the park, I just want to get it done and out of the way. Is it a bad idea to take the exam without having done medicine? I got right around the average on COMLEX I and II.

2. I'm thinking about doing Crush Step 3, Savarese, and COMQuest all twice. Is that enough, or is there anything I should add, in your guys' opinions?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

--IB
 
Taking COMLEX 3 at the end of your intern year will be a lot easier.
You will learn a lot during intern year.
I just got my score and did very well 618.
The interns that took the exam later in the year generally did better than those who took it earlier in the year at my program.
Your study plan is good. I would do both combank and comquest.
Good luck.

Toughbreak
 
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Everyone that has taken the exam over the past 3 months received significantly higher scores than what they expected; many scored their highest board score on COMLEX III.

In terms of passing, I suspect that 62-66% is a passing score; but we'll never know for sure.
 
I took COMLEX 3 back in mid-April and passed comfortably. Honestly, I could not have care less what my score was so long as it was north of 350.

I had a high degree of anxiety going into the exam due to my institution's recently enacted rule that we must pass COMLEX 3 in order to be promoted as a resident.

My advice to future test takers would be to take it as early as possible, and definitely use one of the online question banks. I used COMBANK, and while it was very helpful, I actually thought it was a little easier than the real thing. Also, I felt HY Ob-Gyn and Crush Step 3 were good. And of course, Savarese for OMT.

You will still get plenty of "WTF" questions. I had some that simply no amount of studying would prepare you for. Don't sweat them.

Now I'm done with the NBOME. I'm just glad we all got this done before the NBOME decides to emulate the USMLE and make the exam into a two-day affair.
 
For those that took the May 2010 COMLEX III, scores are up today (13 days turnaround for some of us!)

In any case, I disagree with your assessment, almost in its entirety. The IM on COMLEX III is very BASIC. I will leave it at that. OMM basics is IMPORTANT; if you don't know the basics cold, how can you answer treatment questions? I am a first year psychiatry resident; this is my first time taking the COMLEX III and I suspect that my percentile score (NBOME does not have a percentile calculator for Part III yet) is probably 99%.

Congratulations on the great score. You mentioned Comquest. Is there anything other source that you used which you felt was beneficial? What about USMLE World Step 3 qbank? I've heard it's almost exactly like COMLEX 2, how true is that statement? How well did the Kaplan Qbank prepare you for this test? Would you do it again if given a choice?
 
Comquest is good for differential diagnosis. Their questions are close in terms of the content and styles of the exams.
 
Congratulations on the great score. You mentioned Comquest. Is there anything other source that you used which you felt was beneficial? What about USMLE World Step 3 qbank? I've heard it's almost exactly like COMLEX 2, how true is that statement? How well did the Kaplan Qbank prepare you for this test? Would you do it again if given a choice?

Hands down, COMQUEST had the best questions. Obviously, a week or so before your exam, I suggest taking the COMSAE; it's nearly identical to the actual exam (but I did not have any questions that showed up on both).
 
is it true what they say that comlex 2 vs comlex 3 is th same exam?

because I know that for comquest and combank their step 2 and step 3 qbanks are identical
 
Hands down, COMQUEST had the best questions. Obviously, a week or so before your exam, I suggest taking the COMSAE; it's nearly identical to the actual exam (but I did not have any questions that showed up on both).

Thanks, I'm going to do that for sure. You stated earlier you did the Kaplan Q bank for step 3. How was that?
 
Kaplan Q Bank was probably overkill. I think the Kaplan Q Book (you can buy a previous edition with only a few missing questions for $2) is the your best bet; make sure to read the explanations. Another series that I SWEAR BY is Deja Review. Make sure to do the entire series including Step II Deja. I also completed the OB/GYN, IM, Surgery, and Peds. These, along with Master the Boards, will get you a long way (plus Savarese).
 
Kaplan Q Bank was probably overkill. I think the Kaplan Q Book (you can buy a previous edition with only a few missing questions for $2) is the your best bet; make sure to read the explanations. Another series that I SWEAR BY is Deja Review. Make sure to do the entire series including Step II Deja. I also completed the OB/GYN, IM, Surgery, and Peds. These, along with Master the Boards, will get you a long way (plus Savarese).

I've been reading the Deja Review books and they've been good. What is Master the Boards?
 
Do you guys think that USMLE World for step 3 is overkill? Useless? I'm planning on using Crush Step 3 (2nd edition) and the USMLE Workd Qbank to study. Any opinions?
 
COMQuest or COMBank as well as USMLERx and UWorld are all good. COMLEX Level 3 is totally clinical. Most questions are about how do you manage this instead of focusing on diagnosis.
 
COMQuest or COMBank as well as USMLERx and UWorld are all good. COMLEX Level 3 is totally clinical. Most questions are about how do you manage this instead of focusing on diagnosis.

Agreed, there was a lot more management on the test. UWorld was better than COMQUEST or COMBANK for COMLEX 3 in my opinion. COMQUEST and COMBANK just repeat their Step 2 questions. There are 1200 UW questions and they had a lot of those WTF type of questions you will see.

On the real test, there are a lot of management questions. For example, I had at least 15 specific ACLS questions regarding management not just asking me to interpret a rhythm strip. There are questions that are easy if you finished intern year or completed a significant portion of it. UWorld had very specific management related questions that I saw on my real exam.
 
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I got my step III scores back this week, and am thrilled that I don't have to ever take a COMLEX exam again. I took my exam at the end of my transitional internship, went through comQuest 1.5 times, and looked up stuff I didn't know from that. I did 100 pts better than I had on step I or II. Probably would have done even better had I done a month in OB/Gyn, but I passed with ample room to spare.

Don't sweat the exam. I was usually scoring in the 60% range on comquest, and I scored in the high 600s on this exam. Comquest is very similar to the real thing in terms of questions and layout. During the exam there were plenty of wtf questions, but you can't prepare for those anyway, so just click "B" and go on with the test.

There are pros and cons to any time you take it... if you take the test early you remember more stuff from peds, surgery, ob/gyn, etc--whichever specialties you won't rotate through during internship. If you take it late, you'll know a lot more info in depth, but may have forgotten some other stuff. Pick your poison and get started on a q bank.
 
Anyone else for tips on preparing for this thing...

I was just going to read my step 2 secrets book, Savarese, and do Comquest..

ive got a little over 5 weeks to prepare for it.

Edit: i may add on Uworld...i used it for step 2..and it was pretty solid
 
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If one has gone through COMQuest for Step 2, is it needed to purchase the one for Step 3 since it is the same stuff? Literally, no difference ...

I have made notes on them, should one just use that and maybe COMBank for step 3??
 
Do I really need a Step 3 book???

I have first aid for family medicine boards and swanson's family medicine review books plus my step 2 secret, saverese, HY peds and ob/gyn ect. I am a 2nd year FM resident and a horrible test taker. I would think I would be okay with the books I already have and tons of questions, or would I be crazy not to get crush step 3??

thanks so much!
 
Im only getting like 55% halfway through it. what do you need to pass without being worried? and is the comsae reliable? LaDoc did you take the comsae?
 
Got scores back from 9/30 test date..PASSED!

resources used: Uworld/Comquest qbanks and usmle step 2 secrets book

My goal was to just get it out of the way early on my intern year..and my goal was to only pass.

got around low 60's in Uworld completing around 90% and reading every explanation, right or wrong. And was around 65% on comquest. The explanations on comquest was pretty awful. I used combank for step 2, and i didnt think that one helped all that much. I sort of feel the same with comquest as well for step 3. However, i do recommend getting at least one of these banks for the OMM questions. The OMM explanations in comquest were semi-OK.
 
Got score back from the 10/28 test

My residency was kind enough to let me take the COMLEX over the USMLE. I thought the exam was poorly written (I felt like I had no idea on what the answer was on 50% of the questions) but at least it is over now and I wont have to deal with NBOME anymore. I thought the test was "random" heavy with a little OB, medicine here and there.

I used the COMBANK, Step 2 secrets, the green OMM book and the small Kaplan Step 3 book (20 bucks on amazon). It's really hard to study during the internship year but I just studied whenever I could and got through them once. The must haves are Step 2 secrets and the OMM book. If you already read secrets and the OMM book for Step2 you should be able to read it again in a couple days. 3 weeks of studying ~2-4hrs per day.

COMBANK average 66% overall (questions were NOT similar on the real test) COMBANK is outdated in my opinion

COMLEX 50Q free test ~70% (the free 50 question block they give you as a tutorial)

Real test: 657/89 (weird because my step 2 had a higher 2 digit but lower 3 digit score)
Although for USMLE Step 3, taking the test at the end of your internship or beginning of PGY2 may help because of the CCS component, for the COMLEX step 3 I would take it ASAP while your step 2 material is fresh towards the beginning of your internship. There's no CCS to worry about on this test and the format is very similar to Step 2. Hope it helps.
 
Took the test 10/8 -- passed comfortably but didn't blow the exam out of the water. Very heavy on ob/gyn, peds, and GI as expected, along with the random impossible things that we all know are classic for COMLEX by now.

Got through Savarese, Crush Step 3, and COMQuest all once and reviewed all of my COMQuest answers once. Recognized a fair amount from COMQuest, and would recommend it. Didn't do COMBank, so can't comment on its utility. Would definitely recommend the other stuff tho -- Secrets vs. Crush is kind of +/- in my opinion, since Brochert wrote them both and they're similar.

If you just want to pass, doing what I did in a couple of weeks is more than enough. Did some questions beforehand, but did most of my actual studying during my ER rotation where I had 19 twelve-hour shifts -- worked out fine. PM me if you have any more specific q's.
 
Took the test 10/8 -- passed comfortably but didn't blow the exam out of the water. Very heavy on ob/gyn, peds, and GI as expected, along with the random impossible things that we all know are classic for COMLEX by now.

Got through Savarese, Crush Step 3, and COMQuest all once and reviewed all of my COMQuest answers once. Recognized a fair amount from COMQuest, and would recommend it. Didn't do COMBank, so can't comment on its utility. Would definitely recommend the other stuff tho -- Secrets vs. Crush is kind of +/- in my opinion, since Brochert wrote them both and they're similar.

If you just want to pass, doing what I did in a couple of weeks is more than enough. Did some questions beforehand, but did most of my actual studying during my ER rotation where I had 19 twelve-hour shifts -- worked out fine. PM me if you have any more specific q's.

Did you just now get your scores back? The Army has this wonderful policy that if we don't pass part 3 by June 30 we get pulled from residency and made an administrative officer for the next 4 years. Probably the dumbest policy ever. Anyways, I want to get an idea of about how many attempts I *could* have if I'm taking it for the first time on January 10. I figure AT LEAST 3, if not more. Is it taking most people 6-8 weeks to get scores, or more like 3-4?

I'm reading through First Aid for Step 3 prior to starting any practice questions. I might dig up my Step 2 secrets book if I can find it. I plan to use COMQuest and possibly COMBank if I have time/money. I'm not trying to get a 700 or anything, I'd be perfectly happy with a 350, I just want to make damn sure I don't end up as an admin type for the next four years.
 
felt like got ran over by or truck or something walking out of that test. So many completely random questions, AND questions that can have 2 equally good answers and the correct one really depend on if you can read minds. I had a lot of baby question. alert baby, not so alert baby, crying baby, babies throwing up, babies not eating, babies not pooping....etc..ALOT of neonates and peds...My least favorite subject..:mad:
It was a weird and frustrating test because there are that you have to read twice because the answer is way too obvious but then there are question that are so vague...much like what I read in one of the earlier post
"patient sick, what's the diagnosis? "......:laugh:

Such an awful feeling to not know....

Anyway, Just wondering about this 350 passing score. Does this mean the average percent is lower for passing step 3 or does it mean there's greaer standard deviations from the mean compared to step 2 and 1 for passing?
 
if we do bad on one subject but great on the rest, is that still a fail?
thanks
 
felt like got ran over by or truck or something walking out of that test. So many completely random questions, AND questions that can have 2 equally good answers and the correct one really depend on if you can read minds. I had a lot of baby question. alert baby, not so alert baby, crying baby, babies throwing up, babies not eating, babies not pooping....etc..ALOT of neonates and peds...My least favorite subject..:mad:
It was a weird and frustrating test because there are that you have to read twice because the answer is way too obvious but then there are question that are so vague...much like what I read in one of the earlier post
"patient sick, what's the diagnosis? "......:laugh:

Such an awful feeling to not know....

Anyway, Just wondering about this 350 passing score. Does this mean the average percent is lower for passing step 3 or does it mean there's greaer standard deviations from the mean compared to step 2 and 1 for passing?


Standard deviation is greater on Step 3. it is 120s compared to 70s on Step 2. So for example, 500 is still the mean but I thin ~610 was 90th percentile for Step 2 but 655 is a 90th for step 3
 
preparation:
UWorld step III cumulative score: ~60%
read over savarese for OMM
took in December of intern year IM residency

prior Comlex I 618 USMLE 228
Comlex II 5?? (forgot) USMLE 223
Comlex III 585 <-----------thought I had failed walking out of the test

Comlex III questions were random, exceedingly frustrating, and nearly impossible to study for at times. Because I had been practicing with Uworld (where the questions are well-written and evidence-based), I essentially set myself up for disappointment, anger and fear during the test and beyond until I got my score back. For your sanity-- try another question bank that has more similar-in-style questions or in addition to Uworld which is a great, thorough study resource.

I was surprised with the number of actual OMM questions on the Comlex- do not blow this off. My particular test had every single GU/GYN problem known to man, UTI, cystitis, STD's galore, prostatitis, etc. Even some urology tests and procedures I had never heard of before. Know your Gyn/GU antibiotics for the outpatient tx of UTI, STD's, etc. The EKG's I had were pretty easy, I also had to listen to a few murmers and connect them to the defect. For peds questions I had all the meconium plug/pyloric stenosis/ duodenal atresia/ merkle's/ etc.

Anyway, good luck with this one. I think the best advice is.... just use common sense? Be prepared for random questions and know you are not alone in experiencing frustration. Do your best and do not give up. Thanks to everyone that posted previously. It really made me feel better to read this forum after my test and see that other people walked out of the test thinking there was a chance they failed (like me) and ended up passing (like me-- thank goodness!!!!).

Good luck, message me with any questions!
 
took my test in the middle of january just got my score back today.

My prep:

Bought comquest 6 days prior to the exam, completed half of the bank. Purchased first aid, and read the ob/gyn and peds sections in it a couple days before. also read savarese.

overall % correct on comquest: 75%.

level 1 score: mid 600's
Level 2 score: mid 500's

my test:

completely random. comquest tested some similar topics and there were like maybe 10-20 exact questions on my test from the comquest.

content: 75% ob/gyn & peds. 3 year old kid with this, 2 month old with that, 45 year old who had vaginal bleeding, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

i wish i could tell you all what to study, but honestly even if i studied for 6 months for this test i wouldn't have felt prepared just because they ask random questions (billing codes for omt??!!!!!). I would advise to just know the meat of most of the ob/gyn and ped and that should get you a knowledge base to make an educated guess for most of the questions.

the material tested in medicine was mostly covered in comquest.

felt that on half the test i was guessing. and not just an educated guess, but a blind guess (usualy had it down to two). honestly felt like i got ruined by this test, was seriously convinced i failed. this is the first time i felt like i walked out of one of these exams and felt like i failed.

Actual Score: Mid 600's.

Overall, this is def. a mgmt test. 75% of the test asked "what would u do next?" The exam is horribly written, by inexperienced, test writers. The test is horribly vague and u feel like pulling your hair out when you are done.

Just remember taht over 90% of people pass on the first attempt, and regardless of how you felt after your exam, you most likely passed!!!

Goodbye AOA/NBOME, i'm thankful to never have to deal with you or your poorly written exams ever again!
 
Got my score back today, went up > 100 points from step 2. I felt I had a lot more riding on this test so I decided to actually study this time.

Books

First Aid for Step 3
USMLE Step 2 Secrets
Savarese OMT

Question Bank

Comquest


I'm a psych intern and had only done one month each of ER, medicine clinic, and inpatient family medicine prior to my exam; everything else was psych.

I studied over the course of about two months, generally on the weekends with some weekends not studying at all. I setup a schedule and divided myself into "blocks" based upon systems (Pulm, CV, GI, MSK, etc.). I also would study during downtime throughout the day (you have a lot of this as a psych intern) and while on call.

For each, "block", I would read the respective chapter in First Aid and take notes. When I was tired of reading, I would do practice questions ONLY FOR THAT BLOCK. One I completed a block in first aid, I would go through all of the questions for that specific topic in comquest. When going through the questions, I would take time to take notes, look stuff up, and actually try to understand both the correct and incorrect answers. I did this for each block topic.

About 1-2 weeks prior to the exam, I had completed first aid along with all of my notes. OMT was the last, "block" I did and I basically went through savarese in two days. For the last 1-2 weeks, I just drilled comquest questions and did high-yield review with USMLE Step 2 secrets. The last two days prior to the test I did nothing.

It worked, as I scored a 640. My test seemed to have a crapton of urology. I do not recall too much NBOME randomness on my test. I thought it was fair and I felt a bit different walking out than I did on prior tests. I was still concerned that I failed, but I actually felt like I probably passed.

Also of note, I have always been stronger in, "clinical stuff". I have consistently been getting "above average" evals for my home and off-service rotations. I've been told I did a better job than some of the FM interns as well. *shrug* Just another factor as I seemed to be a bit stronger in clinical stuff.

At any rate, it's over. Good bye OMT and NBOME.
 
I could not agree with you more! Took it today..........ridiculous context! I walked out asking myself, WTF was that???!
 
Took COMLEX 3 in November. Did half of the USMLE World Qbank and read once through the Crash for Step III. It was the only step I thought I failed for sure because the questions were so random. Got a 640. Definitely better to just do as many questions as you can and take it sooner rather than later.
 
Probably will just do the following:

1. Boards/Wards
2. First Aid for Family Medicine
3. COMBANK/COMQuest
4. COMSAE (if avail)

Hoping to take this bad boy in August...
 
new to SDN. scored 718 on comlex III - what does this mean? i'm a family med resident, but have been considering doing another residency afterwards. would this help to make me a somewhat competitive candidate? thanks.

I really find it perplexing when someone gets a two digit near 99 and asks if this is going to be competitive. Are you just looking for praise? C'mon, man! It's an incredible score. Really? Really? Are you really not confident that a 718 is competitive? C'mon man!!
 
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