Advice for COMLEX III

[DO_Surgeon]

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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[Slevin]

I would have preferred a Colonoscopy without sedatives everyday for 3 months than that exam. But now the wait begins for results

 

[digitlnoize]

They're up everyone. Passed!!!

 

[Marthea007]

Passed!! Score was about 20 points lower than COMSAE. Sooooo happy I never have to deal with the NBOME again!!

 

[dav86]

Level I: 566
Level II: 536

Studied about one month, did COMBANK finished with 72% avg. Read about eight chaps for USMLE step 3 book. EM resident, felt residency has prepared me well for most of the questions on the exam. Read Savarese the day before and did all of the OMM questions in COMBANK. Took exam 4/30 and felt apathetic about it. Finished in about 6 hours and just didn't care much, just wanted to pass.
The next day got my inservice score back and did terrible and became nervous with this test. Luckily things worked out and just need to study more for the inservice.

Level III: 643

Glad to be done with COMLEX forever!

 

[digitlnoize]

I should add: I was a very average student. Med-low step 1, 550 on step 2, 550 on step 3.

I didn't study much really. Watched Conrad Fischer Kaplan Step 2 Videos. Read a tiny bit of Dr Fishers Step 3 book. No QBanks. Focused on high yield. Cards, Neuro (my weakness), ID (another weakness of mine), etc. only did OMM green book on day before test.

Oh, and I'm a psych intern.

It's really not that hard a test. Most people should do fine. Easier than step 1 and 2, I thought. Less thinking required for the questions.

 

[bigdoc12]

read master the boards step 3, comquest step 3 qbank, savarese once - total study time about 4 weeks on and off

Step 3 -> 860 (didn't know it went that high!?)

ADIOS NBOME!!

PS: to all of you that think you may have failed after the test, I honestly had no idea if I even passed coming out of it, thought I did the worst on this one out of the 3...

 

[singinfifi]

Bye bye NBOME!




yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

I did combank and comquest and used some of the kaplan videos (but they wern't that good).

done done done

 

[Shuredoc]

Has anyone scheduled for a June, July, or an August date? There doesn't seem to be any available. I checked about 6 testing centers.

 

[desijigga]

Took it yesterday. Had been doing studying off and on for last 3 weeks, had a week off before the test. Did mostly Master the Boards, boards and Wards, sarvese OMM book. Did not do a qbank, maybe I should have. Don't know if it really would have helped though.

- Test was spread out evenly, had lots of IM which was good. More heavily on peds than ob/gyn. Surprisingly alot of surgery questions too. Ya the OMM on there was not the simple what is the viscerosom levels like first 2 steps. These were pretty specific treatment questions, and random stuff I had not heard off.

for IM it was heavily on Cardiology, lots of murmurs. Then evenly spread out on rest of the subjects. Overall it was the typical comlex style test. Every section I had like 15-20 were there could be two correct ans, or maybe even three. I narrowed it down as best as I could. Kind of was running out of time in the morning session.

Hoping to pass, thought I got rocked walking out of it. But nothing I can do now...

 

[JamesPhilly]

Took step 3 on 6/30/2013 (a Sunday), 2 days before residency started
Results back on 7/23/2013 at 17:12 EST

Passed!

Studied as if I was taking step 2: read boards and wards once over, Savarese, and did almost all the Combank questions (62% avg). Studied probably 40 hours total, I'm not a good test taker so that was the right amount for me. Got a 372. I'm a psych resident so I was extra afraid of the exam

So happy!!! Good luck to you all, life after the nbome is fantastic!

 

[wc0921]

PGY1 Internal Medicine resident. Took COMLEX Level 3 on 6/15 2 weeks before residency. Scored 712/92 on Step 3!

I used MTB, about half of UWorld with a 67% avg, about 25% of COMBANK with an 80% average and thoroughly read Savarese once. Understanding basic OMM concepts, such as Viscerosomatic reflexes, will go a long way. Level 3 was by far the easiest of the 3. Good bye COMLEX!

 

[desijigga]

Took it yesterday. Had been doing studying off and on for last 3 weeks, had a week off before the test. Did mostly Master the Boards, boards and Wards, sarvese OMM book. Did not do a qbank, maybe I should have. Don't know if it really would have helped though.

- Test was spread out evenly, had lots of IM which was good. More heavily on peds than ob/gyn. Surprisingly alot of surgery questions too. Ya the OMM on there was not the simple what is the viscerosom levels like first 2 steps. These were pretty specific treatment questions, and random stuff I had not heard off.

for IM it was heavily on Cardiology, lots of murmurs. Then evenly spread out on rest of the subjects. Overall it was the typical comlex style test. Every section I had like 15-20 were there could be two correct ans, or maybe even three. I narrowed it down as best as I could. Kind of was running out of time in the morning session.
Hoping to pass, thought I got rocked walking out of it. But nothing I can do now...

Passed!!!

No practice tests, did not use a qbank, read MTB. Had one solid week 3-4 hours a day to study.

Done with the Comlex, did the best on level III.

 

[jace's mom]

Passed!!!

No practice tests, did not use a qbank, read MTB. Had one solid week 3-4 hours a day to study.

Done with the Comlex, did the best on level III.

Congratulations! I'm so glad you posted, because I thought my score wouldn't be out yet. I was going off the score release date on the website, which said they had only released scores through the end of June. When I saw your post, I rushed to check - PASSED!

So glad to be done!

 

[pianoman511]

Took the test 8/17, good mix of questions, agree with previous posters that audio/video didn't help too much and in a few cases I should have just ignored it instead of figuring out what it was. Finished in about 3.5 hours and just powered through. Did about 25% of COMBANK, ended up not studying anywhere as much as I was intending to, EM resident.

Step 1: 491
Step 2: 524
Step 3: 686

No more NBOME !!!

 

[Altruist]

Took the test 8/17 as well, early in my first year of EM residency since my "easy" rotations were front-loaded on my schedule; and I did ok on the first 2 steps so was pretty confident I'd pass. Got comquest but only went through around 200-300 questions, read Master the Boards for Step 3, especially hitting the micro section since I was rusty as hell on that stuff. I was/am a mediocre OMM student and just reviewed the sacral torsion stuff before going in.

Audio/visual questions not involving OMM were ok. The ones that showed OMM made me laugh since most didn't add anything to the questions. They didn't go crazy with chapman points for the right iris or anything crazy like that, thankfully. I took almost the full time given, which was overkill. I guess I got into "test-taking mode" once I sat down.

level 1: 600 and change
level 2: 600 and change
level 3: >900 (Yup, nine hundred something. Dragonwell posted a score like this a page back, otherwise I'd have been convinced this was an error.)

So... my opinion: If you did ok on the previous steps, odds are you'll do ok on this one. Get a good night's sleep before the test, if you can swing it. I think that was the best thing I did.

 

[thepoopologist]

You broke 900? I didn't even know that was possible.

 

[Vita]

Just took it this past Sat (9/21). Thought the first half wasn't that bad, second half was more random. I walked out feeling similarly as I did for the other two - unsure if I passed it or not.

Felt I had a pretty even distribution among the specialties. There were only a few oddball OMM questions, which is much different than Step 2 for me. I had many questions that seemingly had two possible answers and I had trouble figuring out which one they were going for. Decent amount of Peds, but not nearly as much OB as I had hoped.

I felt like many of the questions were so similar to something that is traditionally included in the qbanks, but then would be slightly off. For example, I studied cat bites, and then dog bites came up.

The videos were kinda funny. I felt most of the questions associated with them were fairly straight forward but I felt like they might be experimental (since I thought videos were fairly new). I had about 10 questions in the first block that had either audio or video. It was nuts.

I'll update when scores are released.

 

[iowafarmstud]

Just took it this past Sat (9/21). Thought the first half wasn't that bad, second half was more random. I walked out feeling similarly as I did for the other two - unsure if I passed it or not.

Felt I had a pretty even distribution among the specialties. There were only a few oddball OMM questions, which is much different than Step 2 for me. I had many questions that seemingly had two possible answers and I had trouble figuring out which one they were going for. Decent amount of Peds, but not nearly as much OB as I had hoped.

I felt like many of the questions were so similar to something that is traditionally included in the qbanks, but then would be slightly off. For example, I studied cat bites, and then dog bites came up.

The videos were kinda funny. I felt most of the questions associated with them were fairly straight forward but I felt like they might be experimental (since I thought videos were fairly new). I had about 10 questions in the first block that had either audio or video. It was nuts.

I'll update when scores are released.

Just curious--what Qbank(s) did you use? I used UWorld for the first two, but feel that will be an overkill for this test! Hope you did well!

 

[Vita]

Just curious--what Qbank(s) did you use? I used UWorld for the first two, but feel that will be an overkill for this test! Hope you did well!

I did COMQUEST and COMBANK. I learn best from doing questions so that is primarily how I studied. I guess I'll have to wait and see if it worked.

 

[iowafarmstud]

I did COMQUEST and COMBANK. I learn best from doing questions so that is primarily how I studied. I guess I'll have to wait and see if it worked.

Ahh, you did both. Nice! Did you like one over the other or was it pretty equal across the board? I agree, multiple questions are the key...in the past I did UWorld + COMBANK or COMQUEST, but I won't have the time to get through that many. Anyway, if you felt one prepped you better than the other I would appreciate the advice. Thanks!

 

[Vita]

Ahh, you did both. Nice! Did you like one over the other or was it pretty equal across the board? I agree, multiple questions are the key...in the past I did UWorld + COMBANK or COMQUEST, but I won't have the time to get through that many. Anyway, if you felt one prepped you better than the other I would appreciate the advice. Thanks!

It is a toss up. I felt that COMBANK has more random questions that had tidbits in them that you might not see anywhere else, but COMQUEST is written more like the actual exam.

Overall, if I had to do just one I would pick COMQUEST.

 

[ZDawg826]

Hey Guys,

Just finished up COMLEX III yesterday. Man was that test brutal.

Prep started 5 weeks ago while on service (currently an Intern):

-casually completed most of UWORLD and ready HY OB in about 2.5 weeks
-took COMSAE and scored 568
-skimmed through most of MTB and read Savarese
-completed most of the important sections on COMQUEST on tutor mode (~82%)
-Last 2 days I took just skimming through stuff I wasn't too confident with, memorizing peds developmental charts and vaccine schedules and memorizing all OMM related stuff (chapman, counterstrain, treatment positions).

The actual test:
1. OMM - there was quite a bit. 1/2 easy if you read Savarese, the other 1/2 just guessed through. They actually want you to know heel lift protocols. Some of the presentations were really confusing. You can tell they were trying to see if you can get the answer with as much little information given (extremely unrealistic). Lot of sacral diagnosis that presented in a way I'm not used to, so I found myself guessing on those.

2. IM - pretty spread out. Seemed basic enough; however, once again, I feel like they were trying to give as little info as possible and see if you can figure it out. A lot of hemophilia.

3. Peds - there's just no point in studying. The most heaviest section on this test. Besides meckel's which showed up twice, everything else was just too random. No reading of any review book will help you. Just take your best guess and move on (maybe 1 obvious vaccination question).

4. OB/GYN - I think HY did a great job preparing for the OB on this test. Not as heavy as I was expecting though. Not too many STD's. Focused more on women with bleeds and pregnancy. Most of the situations were weird and not at all straightforward, once again found myself guessing.

5. Psych - I'm a psych intern, so I definitely noticed the psych. A good 10 questions I would say. Used whatever I knew already from experience and was comfortable with my answers.

Everything else I can't remember being represented heavily. Overall, the test blows. Felt like I was guessing the whole way through with an occasional confident answer here and there. Don't waste your time with UWorld or COMSAE. Both do absolutely nothing for this test. I didn't use COMBANK, but I felt like COMQUEST did as much as a test bank can to prepare you for this randomness.

I'm a terrible test taker, so I'm hoping I just passed this one. The wait begins...
Anyone else take it recently? Thoughts?

 

[thepoopologist]

Took it today. Typical Comlex test

 

[Vita]

Update: Scores up for 09/21/13.

744/93.

Considering I walked out of it not knowing if I passed, I am pretty thrilled.

No more adult medicine!!

Edit: I did the COMSAE about a week before my exam and got a 511.

 

[dhp98]

I am a OBGYN resident 4th yr--->took test on 9/26
I studied while on nightfloat x 5wks. Used to comquest
and kaplan questions I got from a friend with Saverese.
I ended up with a 440 just go results back. I did not
kill myself studying---but its definitely doable. I scored
worst on psych and omm, which i figured. Use atleast
one qbank do all the questions and review saverese x 1 wk
and you wll pass. That's my honest assessment from a guy
who is not a great test taker unless its OBGYN lol

 

[Special Delivery]

My wife is a 4th year Med Stud, and was just wondering about level 3. Anyone have any information on BBC for level 3? She used them for level 1 and 2 and was thinking about it for level 3.

 

[JamesPhilly]

My wife is a 4th year Med Stud, and was just wondering about level 3. Anyone have any information on BBC for level 3? She used them for level 1 and 2 and was thinking about it for level 3.

Boards boot camp specifically for this would be a waste

I used boards boot camp for step 2 for step 3 and it worked perfectly. Unlike the USMLE, COMLEX 3 is essentially step 2. Just tell her to study as if she was studying for step 2, maybe even reuse her BBC step 2 material

Good luck to her!

 

[cateyezz]

hey guys... so i took a comsae today for step iii ... scored 414 on it... not a great test taker ... completed comquest and repeated the ob and peds section again and was reading my step 2 FA since it has more information then MTB imo ... my test is dec 2nd... i just wanna pass this stupid test... not sure what i should do ... should i extend my date? any thoughts ?

 

[docstudent123]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to know if studying from Saverese, MTB 2/3 and COMQUEST/COMBANK will be enough for COMLEX 3? Do I need USMLE World as well?

Thanks!

 

[WernickeDO]

I'm glad to read all these posts about people walking out of the test feeling like they failed only to find out they passed. I am having some major anxiety about this exam. I just took it yesterday and felt like I was guessing at half of the questions. I did 85% of COMBANK and was getting between 75-85% on my question sets, scoring above peers every time. I used MTB 3 and FA to fill in the gaps, and Savarese for OMT. I feel like that COMBANK work was for nothing, because those slam-dunk questions they feed you on COMBANK were no where to be found on level III. I can't imagine any review book preparing you for this exam, unless you were a family doc with 10+ years experience. I spent the majority of my time studying FM, IM, peds, and OB/GYN, with OMT right at the end. Right now I feel like I studied all the wrong things.

This test was brutal. I just hope I pass.

 

[cbtk18]

I definitely feel like I failed. Pretty positive actually.

How long is it taking for scores to come back?

 

[maz200]

I definitely feel like I failed. Pretty positive actually.

How long is it taking for scores to come back?

Hey guys I took it November 23rd. I just got an email from NBOME saying scores are up. I thought I did terrible but I passed with about a 550. Good luck to everyone!

 

[Makati2008]

Hey guys I took it November 23rd. I just got an email from NBOME saying scores are up. I thought I did terrible but I passed with about a 550. Good luck to everyone!

So would anyone recommend taking the exam prior to residency? Also what's the earliest after graduation we can take it? I'm wondering due to having the month of April off and studying mid April til graduation in May. Taking it and being done would be nice. Also would board and wards, comquest for step three and OMM review be enough to pass?

 

[p30doc]

Typical COMLEX. Loaded with ob/gyn, decent amount of peds, OMM, cardio, and tox. Tons of obscure topics/vagueness. Have no clue where I would even find the answers plenty of the q's. Had some videos, sound bites and even a drug ad.

I Completed COMBANK with a score right around the peer average, mostly in tutor mode. Did ~70% of the qbank in the final 2 weeks preceding the test. Read a few random sections of master the boards step 3 including ob/gyn and peds. Spent one day browsing step up to step. 2. Spent one day reading saverese. Nothing I would do differently, a ton of the material on the test you will not find in any review resource that I know of.

I don't feel great about my performance but hopefully I passed. I'll update whenever they decide to release the scores.

 

[JamesPhilly]

In response to makati2008:

Check out my previous posts/thread on this very subject

I am VERY glad to have finished comlex early before residency. It gave me a huge boost; let's face it, doing these qbanks and memorizing innervations doesn't have any real world applications. So just get it done especially since (a) this is like step 2 but easier (b) 4 th yr after the match is a joke and you have plenty of time to casually study and beat this thing and (c) you will have better things to do with your time in intern yr than memorize tip of t12=appendix like, say, spend time with family or sleep

You cannot register for the test until you have graduated school, but then you can take it whenever. So I spoke to my school, the academic affairs office, and said it was urgent thy mark me as graduated on graduation day so I could sign up for the test. Which is what I did, and in May there were plenty of dates open in June. Residency started for me in July so it was perfect

I thought I failed, and my score was bad, but my goal was to pass which is what I did. If you want to score great then study more, the comlex is so random I think anyone who says more real world experience = better step 3 score is full of s***.

Good luck!

 

[primadonna22274]

I've been wondering about taking it early in intern year as well just to get it over with. Like Makati I am a PA and found level 2 a piece of cake compared to level 1. Barely studied for level 2 and very happy with my score. I don't know enough about the structure of level 3 yet to know whether I could/should approach it similarly. Also my school graduates VERY late (June 1, ick!) so barely any time between that and orientation for residency.
So if anyone can comment whether similar management concepts to level 2, heavier emphasis on xyz, better know this/that/etc, would appreciate it. Thanks

 

[BigSib]

... So if anyone can comment whether similar management concepts to level 2, heavier emphasis on xyz, better know this/that/etc ...

More emphasis on management and diagnostic technologies. Question stems have more laboratory values, vitals, and information to mull through. If you have a good intern experience you should be fine - most people just want to pass anyway.

 

[Howdy800]

Dec 3rd scores are up!! Thank God done with the COMLEX!!!

Now that I have my scores back, I am PGY II in IM, studied on / off for 4 weeks MTB step 2 / Savaresse (mostly all the other subjects not IM), completed 1/2 of combank and just reused my study notes from step 2. Did the comsae and scored 522 a few days before and got 614 on the real exam. Good luck guys and gals!

 

[primadonna22274]

More emphasis on management and diagnostic technologies. Question stems have more laboratory values, vitals, and information to mull through. If you have a good intern experience you should be fine - most people just want to pass anyway.

Doesn't sound very different from level 2 to me. I guess I'll flip through a review book and see.

 

[p30doc]

Typical COMLEX. Loaded with ob/gyn, decent amount of peds, OMM, cardio, and tox. Tons of obscure topics/vagueness. Have no clue where I would even find the answers plenty of the q's. Had some videos, sound bites and even a drug ad.

I Completed COMBANK with a score right around the peer average, mostly in tutor mode. Did ~70% of the qbank in the final 2 weeks preceding the test. Read a few random sections of master the boards step 3 including ob/gyn and peds. Spent one day browsing step up to step. 2. Spent one day reading saverese. Nothing I would do differently, a ton of the material on the test you will not find in any review resource that I know of.

I don't feel great about my performance but hopefully I passed. I'll update whenever they decide to release the scores.

780!!!! Lol wtf! Glad I passed and am done with this. Wish my score meant something now!

 

[WernickeDO]

Passed, and that's all that matters. I had so much anxiety about this, but now it's behind me! Goodbye NBOME!!!!

 

[koojo]

I thought it was actually a pretty easy test, compared to the first two. Don't get me wrong, the COMLEX still holds true to asking completely random questions, but this time, there were few of them. Other than the power going off for 6 hours and having to finish the exam at 10:30pm, I think it was very doable. I did COMQUEST, skimmed Sevarese and read Master the Boards Step 3 a few times (probably 4 passes, last one was just skimming the important info I starred), and I got a 751/94. Good luck, you got this!

 

[RustedKOD]

Took it 2/1. Random. 10 Murmur questions. OMM, Peds, OB. Medical Law questions I have no idea about. Felt like I didn't know anything.

 

[Hokie06]

Took it 2/1. Random. 10 Murmur questions. OMM, Peds, OB. Medical Law questions I have no idea about. Felt like I didn't know anything.

took it yesterday as well. only studied using comquest x 3 weeks. no books. finished 81% first pass. felt like i didnt know anything on the exam and guessed on 2/3 questions. sigh..

 

[koojo]

I'm sure you guys did great. Just wondering, why did you use only a bank and no book?

 

[RustedKOD]

I did both COMBANK and Comquest. I would beat the avg by a few points every time. I always feel this way in some form or fashion probably because I worry about the ones I was debating on or have no clue what so ever on. Guess we will know in 4-6 weeks. Hopefully earlier.

I got done with the test by 2:30. Started at 8:30. Couldn't take reading more and more questions. I didn't take the lunch break either.

 

[Hokie06]

I'm sure you guys did great. Just wondering, why did you use only a bank and no book?

I was so busy on service that I didn't have time to dedicate a 300-400 page book. I could of forced it in and read through it quickly but I don't think I would of absorbed much of it. I did comquest and found myself doing reasonably well and thought that would be enough. we'll see in a few weeks. Most people I know did the same and did very well.

 

[younggscholar]

COMLEX LEVEL 3: January 20th- I received my score couple days ago and I got a 628!! I used COMBANK (do it twice if time permits), COMQUEST w/ Kaplan text/flashcards (PRN) and dedicated 2 days to Saverese... oh and my Diagnostic from the NBOME COMSAE was a 301-COMSAE DONT MEAN JACK!!! lol

 

[AnesThrow]

COMLEX Level 3: Taken February 19th; felt terrible after the exam.
PGY-1 in Internal Medicine
Did:
Comquest (71% avg) all random, timed blocks
Combank (72% avg) all random. timed blocks
Read most of Master the Boards Step 3
COMSAE one week out: 757
OMM Cram Pages day before exam

Real exam: 787!!!

 

[koojo]

COMLEX Level 3: Taken February 19th; felt terrible after the exam.
PGY-1 in Internal Medicine
Did:
Comquest (71% avg)
Combank (72% avg)
Read most of Master the Boards Step 3
COMSAE one week out: 757
OMM Cram Pages day before exam

Real exam: 787!!!

Nice!! I did about the same as you did and also used MTB3. Honestly I think it's key to doing well on this exam.