Comlex level 1 2010 experiences

[Dr1216]

I just realized that we haven't gotten one started year (at least I didn't find one with the search). So, for those of you who have taken it already, please share your experiences (subject break down, types of questions, what resources you used and would recommend , additional advice, etc).

Congratulations on being done!

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[passthekoolaid]

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[redwings54]

Now I am confused, I have seen people write they have a 231/99 on the usmle experiences thread?

The 99 doesnt correlate to the percentile. Just like when we get a 450/77, that doesnt mean we are in the 77th percentile. These boards people are weird about recording percentages and stuff. Heck, we cant even find out our COMLEX percentile until we are in residency. Hope this helps.

 

[desijigga]

The 99 doesnt correlate to the percentile. Just like when we get a 450/77, that doesnt mean we are in the 77th percentile. These boards people are weird about recording percentages and stuff. Heck, we cant even find out our COMLEX percentile until we are in residency. Hope this helps.

Ah I see, thanks. Well thats lame why have 2 diff numbers, and not include the actual percentile...

Btw I came across this old thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=637939) for how accurate comsaes were for people, and prions is correct for most people it underestimated their scores by 30-80 points. So don't worry too much redwings54, I think comsae 1C just had alot of weird questions. One person actually wrote they scored 143 points higher on the actual Comlex , albiet this only corresponds to comsae 1a or 1b.

Just effin pissed that I missed the US-Slovenia soccer game (we got hosed), one thing I am looking forward to this coming wednesday finally get to see every single World Cup game!!!

 

[Tourterm]

Just took the COMLEX. It was awful. I'd honestly rather take the USMLE again...

Lots of cranial...too much....way too much. Had 3 different cranial questions or question sets with a baby that wasn't feeding/suckling. Lots of anatomy...especially the shoulder. TONS of OB...most of the female patients on the exam are pregnant or have vaginal bleeding. Lots of ridiculous Micro.

At least 30 (seriously) questions on viscerosomatic reflex levels...usually GI.

Very little good pharm. Some easy path.

All in all the exam is stupid and it sucks. It's an embarrassment to the profession to base licensing on an exam with that much emphasis on things like viscerosomatic reflexes, chapman's points and cranial.

Agreed. I did not take the COMLEX today. Today, I took an OB and OMM exam with a little pharm, and micro thrown in for flavor. I would like the test writers to sit down and take the USMLE, so they can see what an exam is supposed to look like.

 

[blahwhatever]

Where can I find a more complete list of Chapman points? Saverese doesn't seem to cover all of them.

 

[prionsRbad]

Where can I find a more complete list of Chapman points? Saverese doesn't seem to cover all of them.

iTunes has a REALLY good OMT app and it's FREE!!!! Search for "OMM Guide" in iTunes. The Chapman points are all there along with anything else that you need to know for boards and clinicals.

 

[ppatel1185]

I had a quick question about the OMM for the people who already took the comlex...Is knowing the shaded boxes in Savarese enough to get by for majority of the questions?

 

[chaeymaey]

I had a quick question about the OMM for the people who already took the comlex...Is knowing the shaded boxes in Savarese enough to get by for majority of the questions?

I took it today. It's not enough to know the shaded boxes, unfortunately. You need to know foramina for the cranial nerves and a bunch of other stuff that's not in the shaded boxes. I thought the test started off easy and ended easy but there were some brutal blocks in the middle full of management questions about imaging and miscarriages. The micro was also random. I don't know how I would have studied for this differently, but oh well, just glad it's over.

 

[abbycornish]

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[Tourterm]

I think I learned more, and got more done, in the boards study period than I have in any other equivalent amount of time during the first two years. Areas I was weak in during the school year saw marked improvement. The rest got refreshed and reinforced. In this regard, in the grand scheme of things, it was worth it - even if the COMLEX decided to only cover certain areas (and it was obviously a necessity for the USMLE).

As far as the shaded boxes in Saverese are concerned, they are not enough, not even remotely close in my opinion. Likewise, while viscerosomatic reflex and chapman points are a necessity, it is not sufficient for all exams.

And they like to focus on certain topics within the subjects they cover. They like to pick a disease/condition and repeatedly ask questions about it - sometimes even the same question at times.

 

[NYCOMDO]

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[blahwhatever]

iTunes has a REALLY good OMT app and it's FREE!!!! Search for "OMM Guide" in iTunes. The Chapman points are all there along with anything else that you need to know for boards and clinicals.

That's pretty awesome, thanks!

 

[Slevin]

That's pretty awesome, thanks!

Yeah, a guy from my school made it. Quite awesome if I must say

 

[DiverDoc]

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[blahwhatever]

Did anyone see any repeat questions from combank or uworld when they were taking the actual COMLEX exam?

 

[TPBC]

I took the COMLEX on Friday also. I took all three COMSAEs and did well. I also did every question on COMBANK numerous times and consistently scored in the 80s and 90s (timed and untimed). Also used Kaplan Comlex and Qbank. But there was something about the questions (format, writing style??) that I didn't get and felt that it was harder then all the practice material I used. I studied drugs "like there was no tomorrow" and agree with the above posters that the test was very light on drugs and also light on OMM. What is interesting is the number of testable concepts that were not on the test contrasted with the high level of minutiae that was. As we all know, it is extremely difficult to study for the latter.

I went in feeling faily confident but left feeling humbled by this test. I just hope I, as well as everybody else, passed this thing and we can get on to the next phase of our training.

 

[prn2oblivion]

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[prionsRbad]

Did anyone see any repeat questions from combank or uworld when they were taking the actual COMLEX exam?

I had 2 from Combank . . . wish I had more.

 

[prionsRbad]

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[theaznfunk]

Thanks Prion, I was thinking of doing a last minute review of pharm and I'll focus on these topics. Hopefully they're high yield for my test administration as well. I take mine on Monday, OMG!

 

[prn2oblivion]

If I were you I would focus how to treat the hard hit topics. For me these were things like STD's (know Ceftriaxone=Gonorrhea, Penicillin=Syphilis and macrolide/doxy=Chlamydia), BPH (alpha blocker and finasteride), PCOS (spironolactone, OC's, metformin), HTN (when certain drugs are contraindicated), CHF (know what drugs prevent remodeling and improve survivability), Diabetic neuropathy (know ACE is protective), know how to treat things like giardia and other parasites, the molds/fungi and helminths, know about benzo's (which are short acting, which bypass the liver, which receptor they act on), know about psych drugs (mainly their MOA-didn't get too many "what is the treatment" questions on these), know how someone presents with OD of drugs listed in First Aid.
I didn't have ANY questions on chemo drugs or MOA of Abx, but I expected to (so prepare for that in case you get some). Sorry , this was all I could remember that was big on my exam. Good luck!!!!!!!!

Thank for the advice Prions!

 

[PistolPete]

I took my exam earlier this week. Is the usual wait time 6 weeks?

 

[singinfifi]

I took my exam earlier this week. Is the usual wait time 6 weeks?

Yes.

 

[Slevin]

Long time lurker on this thread, first time poster.

Jus took the COMSAE C, scored in the low 400's. COMLEX is on 7/2

My question is this is it true that people typically score 50 points higher at least on the COMLEX than they do on the COMSAE?

Thanks!

 

[PistolPete]

Yeah, people usually do better on the real thing. It even says so on the COMLEX website when you go to buy the COMSAE.

 

[Slevin]

Well crap, I must have skipped reading that part

 

[InTheMaking]

Long time lurker on this thread, first time poster.

Jus took the COMSAE C, scored in the low 400's. COMLEX is on 7/2

My question is this is it true that people typically score 50 points higher at least on the COMLEX than they do on the COMSAE?

Thanks!

Not 50 points... typically ~20

 

[desijigga]

Not 50 points... typically ~20

I have to disagree, I have heard atleast 40 points from quite a few people who took the comlex last year. But it does depend on what kind of test you get though, because IMO Comsae 1C barely had any ob/gyn in it.

 

[karizma098]

i think the comsae thing depends, for me personally, i took the comsae's pretty lightly, and before i had finished memorizing micro , much of the pharm, and a lot of neuro, or even my final run through of FA.

my scores were not great, but in the past few weeks i closed up the gap in my knowledge. id' be dissappointed if my score didnt jump at least 50 points. on the other hand, if someone takes the comsae at their full mental capacity , it's probably closer to what their actual score will be.

last years class saw jumps from between 5 to 60 pts. 30 pts seems to be about average, nbome reports ~ 25-26 if i remember correctly.

 

[desijigga]

Anyone else taking on this beast tomorrow? My plan for today is listen to goljan audio for repro, one more glance at FA pharm, do Micro flash cards and brush over some OMM.

Good luck guys and I pray the test will treat all of us kindly

 

[dr.kicia]

im with you desijigga...im doing combank forthe next few hours and then will read up on some FA especially neuro, maybe go over my DIT hy notes as well i just want this to be over with

honestly i wish i could take USMLE instead...COMLEX is a lottery

 

[karizma098]

i've got the test tomorrow too!

i was so freaked out about repro..but based on what people who took it today said, it was a pretty even spread of crap-o super hard questions, without focus on any particular section, outside of the typical micro/omm/pharm/neuro.

im spending the night just reviewing some omm stuff, and the micro/neuro from first aid. i figure that 40-50% of the test is almost always made up of micro+neuro+pharm+omm, with the other half being a crapshoot. can't prepare for the latter at this point. =)


good luck to everyone taking it tomorrow.

 

[packitinstan]

you guys think that people who take the comlex later in the year like august through october will see a different grading curve? anyone know from others if the content changes as well?

 

[ItzaMiracle]

Took it yesterday, horrible, 4 of my friends had the same test, all said it was brutal. It was I sweat 60% repo, barely ne neuro, pharm and OMM, I feel like alllllll the studying I did, was in vein, I really don't know how I would have studied diff for this test. I just hope I knew enough to pass. I had 4 crainal omm questions. The drugs were doable, but there were alot that weren't in fa. Micro was doable, still hard. Repo either u know it or not. But every thing else in between was overly hard, even the ekgs man. I had one omm rib question, overall it was horrible for 5 people that I know who actually studied ALOTTTT. Oh n I must have had maybe 10 neuro questions. God help me I need a stiff drink, was too tired last night to indulge. Oh n test timin was good, dot worry about it, take ur breaks, n get back to work. If u get the same test I did, the block after lunch, ur gonna want to just give up, but take a deep breath and keep going.

 

[ppatel1185]

I just took the exam today, and it felt like I was taking the OB/GYN boards...Not only that, the other questions (micro, omm, neuro) were all poorly written and had a hard time understating what they were asking. All my friends who took it today had the same impression. Maybe having a harder test is a blessing in disguise...who knows. I just hope that I passed! Good luck to everyone who still need to take it!

 

[desijigga]

That was a killer of an exam, after 7 hours my brain felt like mush. Here is a quick breakdown of big things on my exam.

Micro - Not to bad, lots of bugs and their treatment of choice. I had maybe 5-6 virus questions, and 4-5 parasites. My first 4 hour block it seemed like 20-25 micro questions/block, but the second block barely 6-7. Quite frustating!!

Pharm - DO NOT IGNORE PSYCH PHARM!!!, I think I could have easily had 40 psych pharm questions. Also lots of Cardio drugs, but they weren't too bad. What killed me were Repro drugs, hadn't seen many of them in FA. There were quite a few drugs on there overall that I didn't see in FA, and going in pharm was my strongest subject, and still I think I got killed. Just the way the questions were asked left me sitting there scratching my head.

Repro - I think maybe 10-15% of my test was repro, and I knew going in it will be my weakness. It was hard and I am glad I didn't kill myself over this section, like everyone had said in the past, probably need an ob/gyn book to know most of those questions.

OMM - ALOT OF omm questions, most were not too bad. Some I had no freaking idea, Sacrum saved me (I think I had maybe 15 sacrum questions). Some contraindications ones, lots of Viscero Somatic Qs (20-25). I don't remember having any chapman points, or maybe I did and just didn't notice.

Anatomy - Ya this was a killer, they asked specific crap about lower extremity and some upper ext.

Neuro - Quite a few, Identify the location of lesion, which nerve is affected, diff hematomas, mix of hard questions and some gimmies..

Well those were the big sections that I remember on the test today, I also had Biochem, Immuno, lots of GI, few respiratory and renal. I hope I passed, and am looking forward to the well written questions of the USMLE.

 

[ppatel1185]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that found this hard...

That was a killer of an exam, after 7 hours my brain felt like mush. Here is a quick breakdown of big things on my exam.

Micro - Not to bad, lots of bugs and their treatment of choice. I had maybe 5-6 virus questions, and 4-5 parasites. My first 4 hour block it seemed like 20-25 micro questions/block, but the second block barely 6-7. Quite frustating!!

Pharm - DO NOT IGNORE PSYCH PHARM!!!, I think I could have easily had 40 psych pharm questions. Also lots of Cardio drugs, but they weren't too bad. What killed me were Repro drugs, hadn't seen many of them in FA. There were quite a few drugs on there overall that I didn't see in FA, and going in pharm was my strongest subject, and still I think I got killed. Just the way the questions were asked left me sitting there scratching my head.

Repro - I think maybe 10-15% of my test was repro, and I knew going in it will be my weakness. It was hard and I am glad I didn't kill myself over this section, like everyone had said in the past, probably need an ob/gyn book to know most of those questions.

OMM - ALOT OF omm questions, most were not too bad. Some I had no freaking idea, Sacrum saved me (I think I had maybe 15 sacrum questions). Some contraindications ones, lots of Viscero Somatic Qs (20-25). I don't remember having any chapman points, or maybe I did and just didn't notice.

Anatomy - Ya this was a killer, they asked specific crap about lower extremity and some upper ext.

Neuro - Quite a few, Identify the location of lesion, which nerve is affected, diff hematomas, mix of hard questions and some gimmies..

Well those were the big sections that I remember on the test today, I also had Biochem, Immuno, lots of GI, few respiratory and renal. I hope I passed, and am looking forward to the well written questions of the USMLE.

 

[karizma098]

So i just got home from taking the beast that is Comlex.


i would say it was definitely hard, but i was expecting it to be. Mine definitely got way harder after the lunch break. my test pretty much broke down like this:

1.) Repro/OB: tons and tons of repro and OB. many of the pharm questions, path questions, clinical questions, and even the OMM questions all tied into treating OB problems. Some were easy, some were pretty hard. A lot of the stuff they asked wasn't in first aid, but i'd say 60% of it was...definitely the most annoying section for me.

2.) Neuro. Neuro was difficult. there were a few easy lesions, but for the most part mine were very complex, and when they asked to localize a lesion they were very very picky. ( ie, answer: facial nerve lesions in X foramen, Facial nerve lesion as it crosses X structure, Facial nerve lesion before A or B, etc....) . there were lots of older people who were falling or not able to talk.

3.) OMM. This was a big big chunk of my test. now that i look back and think about it, i probably had 10 - 15 viscerosomatics, 10 sacrum questions, 10 or so inominates and shears, and at least 10 structural questions. The grand total was probably around 60 - for the most part they weren't too bad, Savarese was enough to have me ready for this part of the test for sure.

4.) Micro. for the most part, micro was straightforward. i'd say most of it i was able to figure out by order of elimination or buzz words. not too bad. antibiotics were not stressed too much. mostly bacteria, a couple viruses, not many protozoa or fungi.

5.) Pharm. Pharm was ehhh...It's my weakest subject, so i probably didn't do too hot on it. they asked a lot of cardiac drugs, psych drugs, ob drugs, and a mix of everything else.

6.) Musculoskeletal. This was a pretty good amount of my test. It was blended in with a lot of peripheral nerve/OMM / Anatomy. They were big on the brachial plexus, lesions, and L4-L5 / L5-S1 reflexes, but the way they asked the questions was surprisingly tricky.

7.) Everything else: cardiac murmurs and path were straightforward, there were suprisingly a lot of respiratory phys type questions...at least 10-15 biochem enzyme questions that i was not expecting at all...

looking back at it, it was definitely a difficult test. i found myself making educated guesses on a lot of things, so i dont really have any idea of how i did....I just hope i passed. good luck to anyone who is yet to take it.

 

[prn2oblivion]

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[InTheMaking]

Any symptoms?

 

[singinfifi]

Any symptoms?

Yes, since taking my exam I have been extremely nervous about obtaining a passing score, I find myself reliving my test in my mind, unable to stop myself from making the same stupid mistake over and over again, I'm afraid to go near a prometrics center, and have changed my daily driving pattern to avoid going past the road that the prometrics center is on. I've been losing sleep and can't focus.

 

[redwings54]

So as a lot of other people have said, OB/GYN reigned supreme on my exam as well. Lots of repro pharm, repro physio, repro OMM and repro path. Some were easy but lots were very hard and I dont know where we could have learned it. Also, there was a lot of questions related to kids, ie, this kid has X symptoms, what is the biochem behind the disease process.

Tons of neuro ranging from where is the lesion causing these symptoms to identifying the disease process based on imaging. Lots of images on this exam as a whole.

No audio at all, but there was some EKG's that were pretty straight forward. And some pretty tough images as I stated.

Surprisingly, there was minimal cancer/heme. Just about 3 questions on AIDS/HIV. The micro was incredibly straight forward. Ie. this guy has pneumonia and you see gram (+) dipplococci, what bug? Or this girl has a STD and you see gram (-) dipplococci, what bug?

Lots of OMM viscerosomatic stuff. Really straight forward sacrum/innominant stuff. Only 1 or 2 Chapman's points that were pretty straight forward but arent in Sarvarese.

Overall, I thought that the Kaplan COMLEX questions were right on the money as far as difficulty and depth of questions. The Kaplan COMLEX simulated exam was harder overall than this exam and COMSAE C was harder as well I felt.

There was a lot of stuff that was incredibly simple and some that was completely out of the blue and I dont know where you could have ever seen it. I just hope that I did enough to pass. Good luck to all those yet to take the exam and to those who are waiting on your scores.

 

[desijigga]

Yes, since taking my exam I have been extremely nervous about obtaining a passing score, I find myself reliving my test in my mind, unable to stop myself from making the same stupid mistake over and over again, I'm afraid to go near a prometrics center, and have changed my daily driving pattern to avoid going past the road that the prometrics center is on. I've been losing sleep and can't focus.

Relax, I heard they throw out many of the WTF type of questions and also curve the crap out of the test. Although 400/800 is considered passing, a 3rd year told me NBOME usually curves the exam so you need 45% of the questions correct to pass. Any truth to this?

IMO the test I saw tuesday was way different/harder then Kaplan Comlex, Combank, Comsae C. But I still recommend taking a comsae for the reason then you know what the test format is like.

 

[singinfifi]

Relax, I heard they throw out many of the WTF type of questions and also curve the crap out of the test. Although 400/800 is considered passing, a 3rd year told me NBOME usually curves the exam so you need 45% of the questions correct to pass. Any truth to this?

IMO the test I saw tuesday was way different/harder then Kaplan Comlex, Combank, Comsae C. But I still recommend taking a comsae for the reason then you know what the test format is like.

Hehe. Thanks. I was (mostly ) kidding. Though yesterday I did realize that I f'ed up the VSRs for the heart. Seriously, the heart. Who does that? REALLY? f'in easiest crap on the entire exam and I...*cough* nevermind.

The test I saw last weds was MUCH more difficult then the Kaplan Comlex Qbank, easier then the Kaplan USMLE Qbank, about the same as COMBANK (Though it may have been misleading, it may have been the similar format that made me think that way). It felt a lot like the kaplan full length I took, but with slightly fewer "WTF, why would you even ASK me that" questions.

 

[ppatel1185]

Will the scores be released online before they are mailed out??

 

[prionsRbad]

Will the scores be released online before they are mailed out??

Yes.

 

[abbycornish]

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[JimT30]

Anybody know why NBOME hasn't released step 1 scores since April 27th? Is this normal?

 

[Luke4202]

They finally got to the point where they made such a crappy test that they don't know what to do. I can just see them debating whether or not to pass the guy who scored a 401 while only getting 23% of the questions correct. Of course I say all this in jest... mostly anyway.

 

[ElDOc]

Both COMBANK, COMQuest do an okay job with content.

Thanks radiodoc and to everybody else who has posted such valuable information! I've heard COMQuest is as good as it gets for COMLEX Step 2 from upperclassmen but I haven't been able to find it available for Step 1. Do you know if they have a Step 1 or plan on having one? Thank you again everybody!