COMLEX date and Standardization

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faith100

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A representative from COMBANK or COMQUEST came and spoke to our class concerning COMLEX - he mentioned something about standaridization of the exam scores every 4 or so years for each exam (step 1, 2 etc) - does anyone know more about this and which exam it will be affecting? From the graph he showed us looks like there's a huge dip in avg scores when this occurs

Also, for those that have already taken step 1 - do they always increase the price of the exam starting July 1st?

I'm still debating on whether to take the exam June 28th or July 1st, but I'm concerned it might be a radically different exam on July 1st especially with the price increase....thoughts?

Thanks!

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On "standardized" exams, a standard is a cutpoint (or score) which differentiates between pass and fail. For COMLEX and USMLE, it means it is the minimum score required to demonstrate competency to practice medicine , as determined by NBOME or NBME respectively. For board certifications (ABMS and AOA), it is the minimum score required to demonstrate competency in that particular field of medicine.

COMLEX/USMLE/ABMS/AOA uses absolute standards, which mean a cutoff point is predetermined before you take the exam. Your score must be above this cutoff point to pass. It is only your performance that determines pass/fail. On any given test, if everyone scores above the cutoff point, everyone passes. If everyone scores below the cutoff point, everyone fails. This is in contrast to relative standards, where the cutoff point is based on performance within a group (ie the bottom 20% of examinee will fail, or only the top 20% will pass, etc)

Setting the standards is a complicated process (that has been repeatedly validated in multiple fields) involving surveys and consensus meetings. The modified Angoff and Hofstee methods are used (I won't go into details on these methods) to determine final passing score.

As such, the standards are reviewed periodically. That's why you see the minimum passing score for USMLE change periodically (ie on Jan 2010, the minimum passing score on USMLE was raised from 185 to 188). The NBME is right now revisiting (and reviewing) the standards for passing USMLE Step 1 (they met in Sept 2013). As a result, as of Jan 2014, the new minimum passing score for USMLE Step 1 will be 192. So if you took USMLE Step 1 before Jan 2014, if you score a 190, you pass. If you took USMLE Step 1 in Jan 2014 and scored a 190, you will fail.

For COMLEX, the minimum passing score for Step 1 and Step 2 is always set at 400 (unlike USMLE) so the correct answers needed to reach 400 will change with each new standards. It's 350 for Step 3. So you might need to answer more correct answers (or fewer, depending on how they reset the standards) to reach 400 (or 350 in the case of Step 3) to pass.

For NBOME/COMLEX, they will revisit COMLEX 1 during the 2014-2015 academic year and a new standard will likely be implemented in May 2015.
For COMLEX 2-CE, they are revisiting the standard in this 2013-2014 academic year and will likely implement the new standards during the new testing cycle starting June 2014. For COMLEX 3, they will revisit it during 2014-2015 and the new standards will apply March 2015.



In the case of fees - well, welcome to medicine. Fees will always go up to pay for administrative costs. Everything goes up, not just COMLEX, but USMLE, MCAT, SAT, board examination fees, MOC to maintain ABMS certifications, OCC to maintain AOA board certifications, etc. As of right now, if you sign up to take it before June 30, 2014, it will cost $550 for COMLEX 1. Sign up for July 1, 2014 or after, and it'll be $570.


Hope this answers your questions.

*sources of information includes NBOME, NBME, and friends in the psychometric fields who helped explain this voodoo to me.
 
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Yes, it answers my questions! Thanks so much for your thorough reply :)
 
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